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She bolted out to follow after the most recent man that had scrambled out of the back door. He heard her right away, turning to spot her as soon as he was off of the concrete slab of the porch. He hesitated for just a moment, the sight of her confusing him. But the moment she showed interest, he started running.
Rachel’s own speed surprised her at first. And good Lord, did it feel good to be in action again. Sure, it had only been a little over a month, but she supposed when you have convinced yourself you were never going to experience something again and then found yourself doing that exact thing, there was something freeing about it. She knew that she was closing in quickly on him even as they went around the corner of the house. Ahead of her, she could see where the others had already started scattering out into the street.
Rachel didn’t bother wasting her breath by screaming after the man. She simply kept her eyes locked on his back and ran. She was closing in on him so quickly that she didn't think he'd even be able to make it to the street before she'd be able to take him down. But this confidence was rocked when a sudden wave of dizziness rocketed through her head like a bullet. She felt herself swaying, but she was so accustomed to the sensation that she was able to correct it without much trouble. And even as she continued to run after the frail-looking man ahead of her, she did understand how dangerous this could be for her.
But just two more steps,she thought.Two more steps, and I’ve got him…
This turned out to be correct. Two more strides forward, and she was able to reach out and grab the man by the collar of his shirt. She hooked her fingers into the collar and pulled back violently. The shirt tore, but the force of her pulling was enough to not only stop him but send him down to the ground as well. It wasn't until he was on the ground that Rachel understood that she could have very well overreacted. This man could be innocent. This man could have absolutely nothing to do with their case. And if that was the case, she had just made a terrible mistake... a mistake that might not even affect her but could be devastating to Jack.
The man on the ground let out a startled shriek, and Rachel had to physically hold herself back to not follow through like she usually would—pinning him down with a hand or her knees until he could be cuffed. As it turned out, though, the act of having been thrown down onto the ground had been enough to take the fight out of him.
That, or his visibly sickened condition. He was skinny and red in the face. His eyes looked hollow, maybe even lifeless.
“Seth Redman?” she asked.
“Who areyou?”he gasped from the ground.
Rachel fought another small wave of dizziness. She thought twice about giving her name and said simply, “FBI.”
As if summoned by those three letters, Jack came rushing around the side of the house with his gun drawn. He made a direct line to Rachel and the fallen man—a man she was quite sure was indeed Seth Redman—rather than giving chase to the others. Rachel looked quickly in their direction and saw that two of them were getting into a pickup truck parked about a block further down the street.
“Is this him?” Jack asked.
“Not sure. I think so.”
“My name is Jack Rivers, a federal agent,” he said, dropping down to his knees. He holstered his gun and quickly whipped his handcuffs out. “Are you Seth Redman?”
“Yes! But what the hell…how… I wasn’t even…”
But his words tapered off as he let out a scream. It was a nearly primal sound, a roar that sounded like it might burst his chest open. He started to fight, but Jack was quick to grab one of his thin arms and start to pull it behind him. When he did this, Rachel saw just how frail he was. She also saw some light bruising on the inside of his elbow. Considering the syringes she’d found in the garbage, it wasn’t hard to understand where the bruises and marks came from.
“Rachel, are you okay?” Jack asked as he snapped the handcuffs in place.
“Yeah,” she said. She almost told him about how she’d felt a few little dizzy spells but chose not to. It wasn’t like the exclusions in the past, though; now, she didn’t mind if he knew she was feeling them. She simply didn’t want to tell him now because she thought he might try to blame it on himself—that he hadn’t put up much of a fight when she’d asked to come along.
Seth Redan continued to scream as Jack got him to his feet and led him to the bureau sedan.
“Jack what was going on in there?” she asked as she got into the front passenger seat.
“I’m not exactly sure,” Jack said, sounding a little upset about the entire situation. “But after I drop you off,” he said, looking directly at her without any trace of playfulness or humor, “I plan to ask Mr. Redman all about it.”
He started the car and pulled away from the sidewalk. And as they headed back toward the field office, Rachel could only listen in as Jack placed a call for a clean-up screw to the Archer Street address—an address where it seemed a wide variety of crimes were being committed. As Jack spoke, Rachel looked into the rearview, into the back seat where Redman was no longer screaming but making a series of growls, salivating slightly.
She was pretty sure this was drug related, but a response of pure anger. Because even on her lowest days, Rachel had never felt anything that primal.
And as far as she was concerned, it was yet another trait that made her think Redman was, in fact, the killer Jack was looking for.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
It wasn’t until Rachel was about to get out of Jack’s car that she realized Redman could cause them quite a bit of trouble. If he chose to do so, he could complain about the woman that had thrown him to the ground. He could mention the female partner that had ridden with Agent Rivers from the Archer Street address to the field office and, even then, into a parking garage where he let that female agent leave and get into her own car.
Fortunately, with the state Redman was in, she didn’t think that was going to be much of an issue. He remained in the rear of the car, the back of his head reclined against the back of the back seat. He was switching back and forth between low-pitched whimpers and something like a prolonged growl. He’d cough every now and then, a series of wet, choking noises that he punctuated with a strange grunt.
Rachel was pretty sure it might be some form of involuntary detox. It wasn’t too unheard of, especially not when people were getting accustomed to using heroin on a regular basis. She would be surprised if Seth Redman was aware that he was even in a car.
“Well, it was scary for a while,” Jack said, “but it was nice to have you with me for a bit.”
“Same. I just hope it was worth it.”
