AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Burke for Cindy.
On our demand for proof of life, Blackout was silent.
Wallenger asked me to run the video again, pausing when he and Joe asked me to stop the forward motion for closer looks. They noted Blackout’s methods, checked off the murder locations of the scenes on maps. This was all old news to me, but Wallenger had fresh eyes on the victims and the crime scenes. There was a chance he would see something we’d missed, but our most current “lead” was yesterday’s news: Blackout’s worship of Evan Burke.
Today we had federal backup and Henry Tyler had offered a twenty-five-thousand-dollar reward for information leading to the recovery of Cindy Thomas, no questions asked.
All we needed was a plan of action. But until I heard from Blackout, we couldn’t even draft one.
CHAPTER 78
BRADY SAID, “MIKE, Joe, I’d like to hear your thoughts.”
Wallenger said, “Okay, sure.”
He took off his jacket, hung it over the back of his chair, and I pressed Record on my phone.
The senior FBI special agent said, “We’ve got unimpeachable video evidence of Blackout committing multiple murders including one showing that he has or had Ms. Thomas in a warehouse, location unknown. From what I saw, this guy is strong, fairly young, and proficient with a number of weapons. That leads me to think he may have been trained in the military, any service and really any country.
“This series of unrelated kills, including an unarmed woman and particularly one with an infant speaks to psychopathy. We know that not all psychopaths are murderers, and not all murderers are psychopaths, but psychopathy is a hallmark of serials. In other words, he doesn’t give a damn about human life. He gets off on the thrill of the kill.”
Wallenger continued. “From watching Blackout do his murders, he doesn’t have a preferred victim type.”
”The Fleets were an offering of some sort to Evan Burke,” I said. “From the autopsy notes on Johnston, he didn’t die fast. His killer used two weapons to put him down. The woman in Pasadena and the man outside Vegas were victims of opportunity.”
Joe added, “Blackout’s been careful. Again that goes to a possible military background. There was little traffic, pedestrian or auto, when he’s taken his victims. He wears gloves and leaves no forensic evidence behind.
“Taking life with his hands, with or without a weapon, is what turns him on. Getting Burke’s attention seems to drive him. Does he want Burke’s approval or is this a competition in Blackout’s mind? Is he trying to demonstrate that he’s worthy orbetter? That he’s the man.”
Wallenger and Joe made sense, but we had little to go on. Chi and Michaels found nothing in the alley where Blackout may have been spotted. The SFPD radio room was trying and failing to trace Blackout’s calls, leaving his real name and location still unknown. And we had no leads to Cindy.
There was a knock on the door. Brady opened it for Brenda. I was expecting lunch but Brenda handed me a note that read, “Blackout just called. He’s sent you another video.”
CHAPTER 79
I CLICKED ON the latest email from Blackout, subject header “Blackout Calling.” There was no note. With Joe beside me and the team looking over my shoulders, I downloaded the video.
I was in Blackout’s head, looking through his eyes. The ambient light was dim. It was early. Before dawn. It took a moment for me to realize that Blackout was inside a car, looking into a rearview mirror. The reflection in the glass was of Victorian row houses behind and across the street from his car.
Blackout’s gloved hand came into the frame and he adjusted the mirror so that it was centered on several flights of wooden stairs. A figure was descending them, a woman with long, dark hair. Joe reached out a finger and pointed, saying, “There’s the baby.”
Got it. This was Catherine and Josie Fleet. And they were coming down a path I knew. “Macondray Lane,” I said of the picturesque tree-lined path down the steep hill from Leavenworth that joined with the stairs and ended on Taylor Street.
Now, Blackout was on the move. The driver’s door opened and we watched from his point of view as he crossed Taylor on course to intersect paths with Catherine Fleet.
Blackout’s view of Catherine on the staircase bobbed as he strode across toward her, reaching the steps and starting up. And then he fell. I saw Catherine’s boots on the wooden treads. He looked up past her trousers and the baby in a carrier on her chest. He focused on Catherine Fleet’s face. I saw concern there and heard it in her voice.
“Oh, my gosh, are you all right?”
Again the images swooped and jostled. Blackout was struggling to his feet.
“I’m good,” said Blackout. “Embarrassed is all. I try to impress with finesse.”
I thought,“Don’t fall for it,”even as I knew she had.
I didn’t fully see what happened next because of the camera’s choppy movement. And then I saw Blackout’s gloved fist fill the frame. I thought he was going to punch Catherine until I saw the canister in his grip. He pressed the lever with his thumb, sending a fine spray into the woman’s eyes. She cried out and sat down hard, asking what he had done to her.
Blackout didn’t answer, and the camera view whipped from her face to the stairs above, to the street below and back to Catherine. He was checking for witnesses while she was trying to get the pepper spray out of her eyes. The baby screamed and the video kept rolling.
