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“Wewillshoot you,” another cop yelled.
Shit.
“I’m with the Department of Justice,” Lynch called out. “I’ll show you my ID. The driver of this Escalade may be a murderer. We need to find him.”
Another cop stepped forward. “What weneedis for you to put your gun down in the next five seconds.”
Lynch sighed and placed his gun on the white-tiled floor.
The cops stepped closer to him. “Now drop to your knees and place your hands behind your head.”
“You’re letting him get away.”
“Don’t worry about that. We have about fifty cops en route.”
“I can use your help. Let me show you my ID.”
“On your knees, hands behind your head.”
Lynch sighed. He’d run out of options that didn’t involve his shooting death or the murder of four innocent campus police officers.
Dammit.
He raised his hands and slowly dropped to his knees.
***
Less than forty-five minutes later, Kendra arrived at the aquarium. The circular driveway was crowded with police cars and an FBI evidence collection van. TV news teams had already arrived on the scene, and they were setting up their cameras and lights in the area just beyond the pedestrian plaza.
Lynch rushed out to the driveway to greet her. “How are you? I couldn’t get any information from these cops.”
“I’m fine.” She patted her hip. “Just a bruise. What about the driver of that Escalade?”
Lynch swore. “No sign of him yet. It looks like he exited from a door on the building’s left side. He could be anywhere by now. I wasted almost ten minutes convincing the campus police that I wasn’t the bad guy here.”
“Well, you did steal one of their cars.”
“Any port in a storm. I was walking from the median overlooking the east parking lot when I saw what happened with that Escalade. Good job getting Tricia out of the way. You saved her life.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I do. Anyway, you looked like you were okay, and there was a campus police car just a few feet from where I was standing.” Lynch shrugged. “I removed the officer and borrowed his vehicle.”
“You make it sound so civilized,” she said dryly.
“I’m afraid it was anything but.” He motioned toward the shattered aquarium windows. “Want to take a look at the car that almost killed you?”
They stepped over the broken glass and walked toward the Escalade, which was illuminated by several high-wattage police work lights.
“What do we know about it?” Kendra asked.
“It was stolen from Horton Plaza earlier today. I’m afraid it looks extremely clean. No prints on the wheel or console controls.”
Kendra leaned inside. “Because he wore gloves. Grape grip.”
“You’re sure of that?”
“Yes.” She backed away from the vehicle. “Same odor as in Jackie’s apartment. And I don’t see any of the evidence techs here wearing purple gloves.”
