Harry did and immediately saw Kent’s point. “Both e-mails were sent over the same wireless router,” he said. “The router here, in this house.”
“So whoever sent the e-mail was in this house,” Steven said.
“Exactly,” Kent said. “Genie’s message might have been sent from a PDA or a laptop. Either way, Genie was not at the bus station when she sent it.”
Harry nodded. “I’ll get out an Amber alert.”
Atlanta, Saturday, February 3, 6:05 p.m.
“Miss Vartanian, wake up.”
Susannah woke with a start. She’d fallen asleep in the chair next to M. Jane Doe’s bed. She blinked up into the face of Ella, Jane Doe’s night nurse. “What time is it?”
“A little after six. You have a call at the nurses’ station. It’s the GBI office.”
Susannah blinked. “Why are you here if it’s only six? Where’s Jennifer?”
“Jennifer got sick and had to leave, so I came in early. Your caller is waiting.”
Susannah took the phone from a nurse at the desk. “This is Susannah Vartanian.”
“This is Brianna Bromley, one of the GBI stenos. I have a message from Agent Papadopoulos. He wants you to meet him at the entrance of the ER. It’s urgent.”
Her heart began to pound harder. “When?”
“He gave me the message fifteen minutes ago. He should be there any minute.”
“Thank you.” Susannah ran, shivering when the cold air hit her face. She searched for Luke’s car, but instead saw a familiar face. “Jennifer? Ella said you were sick.”
The day nurse’s eyes were red, her face pasty. “I’m waiting for my ride.”
“You don’t look well. Have you been waiting long?”
Jennifer’s jaw tightened. “He’s an hour late.”
“How rude.” Just then a car entered her peripheral vision, headlights momentarily blinding her. She was blinking from the glare when it hit her that the car was black with its dark tinted windows up. As it approached, the passenger side window began to glide down and too late Susannah saw the glint of metal.
“Down!” she shouted, dragging the nurse to the ground. She heard the shot splinter the air, her head jerking up to see the car’s license plate as it peeled away. DRC119.
Horrified, she stared after it until a gurgling sound made her look down.
“Oh shit, oh shit.” Susannah dragged in a ragged breath, her eyes now locked on the red rapidly spreading on the nurse’s scrubs. “Jennifer. Jennifer. Somebody help.”
Jennifer Ohman’s eyes fluttered open. “Bobby,” she said. “It was Bobby.”
Footsteps smacked on the pavement around them and Susannah leaned closer to the wounded woman. “Bobby who?”
Behind her, tires screeched and a door slammed. “Oh my God.”
It was Luke, but Susannah kept her eyes on the nurse’s face. “Who is Bobby?”
“Move, lady,” one of the medics snapped.
Luke lifted her to her feet, his eyes anxiously examining her. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” Then she was crushed against him, his arms around her, tight and strong. His heart thundered under her ear. She gripped the lapels of his suit and hung on, pressing her cheek against his chest. He was solid. But he was shaking.
“I heard the shot. I saw you go down.” His voice was gruff, breathless. “Are you sure you’re not hit?”
She shook her head, wanting to stay where she was, safe, but she needed to tell him. Struggling for calm, she tugged on his lapels until his arms loosened. But he didn’t let go. She met those black eyes, once again her anchor. “She said ‘It was Bobby.’ ”
He frowned, confused. “Who’s Bobby?”
“I don’t know, but she said the name twice. ‘Bobby. It was Bobby.’ ”
His hands moved from her back to grip her upper arms. “Can you stand?”
“Yes.” She forced her hands to release his lapels. “I’ll be all right.”
He leaned over the gurney. “Jennifer. Who is Bobby? What about the girl?”
“You have to move, now,” the doctor commanded. Luke followed them into the ER.
DRC119. “Luke, wait. Luke.” Susannah started after him, but stumbled, still dazed.
“Susannah.” Chase was suddenly there, holding her up. “What happened?”
“I was just… standing here next to Jane Doe’s nurse. She was waiting for her ride and the car came. It was the black car, Chase. DRC119.” She pursed her lips, trying not to hyperventilate. “I tried to push her out of the way, but I was too late.”
“Sshh. Just wait.” Chase radioed for all available units to search for the black car. Then he led her into the ER as Luke came out of the patient care bay, his face grim.
“Jennifer Ohman’s dead,” he said.
Susannah had to fight to breathe. “She was standing next to me. She’s dead because of me. Gretchen was standing next to me. Oh God. Oh God.”
Luke took her cold hands in his warm ones, steadying her. “Susannah, take a deep breath and tell me exactly what happened.”
“It was the black car. It drove by, the window came down and I saw the gun. I tried to push her out of the way, then I heard the shot. I saw the license plate as they drove away. DRC119.”
“The same black car that followed you this morning?” Luke asked.
“You’re sure, Susannah?” Chase added.
She glared at them both. “Dead sure.”
“I’m sorry,” Luke said. “I didn’t mean to doubt you.”
Her legs felt like rubber. “It’s damn hard for me to believe, and I was there.”
“Why were you there?” Luke asked.
She blinked up at him. “Because you asked me to come down and meet you.”
The two men shared a look and Susannah felt a new shiver race down her spine. “You… didn’t ask me to come down and meet you?”
“Who called you?” Luke asked, very quietly.
“It was a woman. Her name sounded singsong. Brianna Bromley, that’s it. She said she was a stenographer in your office and that you’d asked her to call me.”
“I didn’t ask anyone to call you,” Luke said.
“And we don’t have any stenos named Brianna Bromley,” Chase added grimly.
Susannah’s heart had gone from racing to a slow, painful thud. “So I was lured.”
“I’ll trace the call,” Chase said. “Luke, did the nurse say anything before she died?”
“Only what she said to Susannah.”
“ ‘Bobby,’ ” Susannah quoted. “ ‘It was Bobby.’ Luke, if you didn’t call me, what are you doing here?”
“I got a call on the hotline from a woman saying she knew information about Jane Doe. It must have been the nurse.”
“But… If Jennifer called you, then who called me? And why?”
“We now know two names-Bobby and Rocky. One or both had to have been in the black sedan. I think they wanted you to see Jennifer shot.”
“So they had to know Jennifer would be standing there, too,” Chase said. “Which means either they were watching Jennifer…” He paused grimly. “Or we have a leak.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Susannah said. “Tonight I’m standing next to Jane Doe’s nurse and she’s shot. Earlier I was standing next to Gretchen French in the cemetery and she’s shot by Kate. Was I the target both times or were they?”
“I don’t know,” Luke said. “But Gretchen wasn’t shot by Kate Davis. There was at least one other shooter. Kate was murdered.”
“But…” She looked from one man to the other. “I saw the police draw their guns.”
“They never fired, Susannah,” Chase said gently. “We found the gun that killed Kate Davis. Someone was standing between you and Kate.”
“Off to the left,” Susannah murmured.
Luke leaned forward until his face was inches from hers. “How did you know that?”