The Botanist (23 page)

A tear escaped her eye and slid down her face, leaving a skewed trail of moisture on her cheek. “Don’t you get it, Cody? He has someone to torture, which means he’s less likely to be wandering around looking for me. This whole plan to bait him tonight might not work.”

Cody hadn’t thought of it that way, but she was right. If he wasn’t desperate to capture Alex right
now,
he might not show tonight.

“Do you want to call it off, Alex?”

At that, she hesitated, then shook her head. “No. I think we should try either way, and I’m willing to. I just think there’s a much smaller chance of success now.”

“That’s true.”

Cody looked up to see Frank, Court, and the captain standing in the doorway. The three of them filed into the room, and Frank closed the door.

“I’ve just spoken with a uniform who was patrolling the area,” the captain said. “We radioed out for a unit where she was abducted. They just got back to us with what they found. I brought Court and Frank in here to tell them because I wanted to spare poor Jillian a complete meltdown.”

Cody’s heart went cold. He held his breath, wondering if they’d found Melissa’s body.

“What was it?” Court whispered. He and Frank looked as worried as Cody felt.

The captain seemed nonplussed. “Three houses down from the safe house lying on the sidewalk were three pale blue tulips, just like the ones on the mass graves. There was nothing anywhere near them.”

Cody let his breath out, but the relief wasn’t total. Melissa wasn’t dead—not yet—but this was confirmation that she’d been taken by the Botanist.

“I still think we ought to try our plan,” the captain continued grimly. “Everything’s in place already, and who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky. If you want to back out, though, Alex, everyone will understand.”

Alex sat straighter. “No. If he comes for me, it may keep Melissa alive long enough to give her a chance. We have to try.”

Cody suppressed a sigh. He couldn’t expect Alex to keep herself completely out of danger, but he didn’t have a good feeling about this. Not at all.

Chapter 36

Before darkness fell, three SUVs that would serve as a command center for the operation were moved into place. They were hidden under an overhang near where the Botanist had disappeared. The vehicles couldn’t be seen from the road, and the mountain above them had been scouted to make sure they couldn’t be seen should anyone emerge from a cave or gaze from an outcropping.

Tiny glows from computer screens and low-powered flashlights were the only permitted light. No headlights, spotlights, or Maglites were allowed. The van Alex had driven to the hospital was parked nearby. Four SWAT team members loitered beside it.

“Are you ready for this?” Cody looked down at Alex. She was wrapped in a blanket and holding a still-full cup of hot cocoa. The blanket and cocoa would have to stay behind when she got into the van. In order for the ruse to work, it had to look as if she hadn’t received any help since she drove away from him yesterday.

Alex hunched her shoulders against the cold wind. It wasn’t ferocious, but it was getting there, blowing a summer storm in. Every so often, the low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.

“As ready as I’m going to be.”

“If you have any problems, if you get too tired, if you feel funny about
anything—”

Alex nodded. “I’ll be fine, Cody. I’m not backing out. I wanna get this guy. I’m more worried about being out here all night for nothing.”

“I’ll be nearby.”

She smiled up at him in a perceptive sort of way. “I know.”

She looked down into her cocoa cup, and for a moment he thought she might actually drink some of it, but she didn’t.

“Cody, um.” She cleared her throat. “About earlier—”

He shook his head and held up his hands. “Let’s not get into what happened earlier. You need to be focused on
this.
Don’t worry about it one way or the other. This is happening now. Let’s deal with it, and we can talk about everything else later.”

After a moment, she nodded, but it wasn’t convincing. A blustery wind blew her hair back, off her shoulders, and she squinted against it when she looked up at him. Cody was suddenly overcome with the urge to kiss her again, but they were surrounded by bustling cops. Even in the near-darkness, everyone would see.

As if reading the thought, Alex smiled at him, then looked down, suddenly shy. He smiled back at her, the sweetness of the moment filling him up in a way he rarely felt these days. He wanted to make it last, and the only way he could think of to make it more real was through touch. He rested a hand on her wrist, letting his thumb run over the back of her hand.

“Cody!” It was a yelled whisper.

Cody turned to see Frank and the captain walking toward them. Even in the dark Frank looked suspicious. His gaze went pointedly to Cody’s hand on Alex’s wrist, but Cody didn’t let go of her.

“We’re about ready to go,” the captain murmured as he approached. “Everything’s in place. You’ll be stationed up on the ledge there.” He pointed to a ridge above them where another cop was already lying on his stomach, readying binoculars and other equipment.

Cody looked at Frank, but Frank’s eyes were hooded, and Cody couldn’t read their expression. “Why am I staying here?”

The captain looked confused. “Where else would you go? Everyone not assigned to the route is staying here.”

Cody didn’t answer. He supposed he should have expected that. Hidden fox holes lined the route Alex would be driving, but only SWAT and snipers were in them.

“I would’ve thought you’d like that post, Cody,” the captain continued. “You’ll be able to keep eyes on the entire course from there.”

“It’s fine,” Cody said, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice.

The captain frowned, but when Cody didn’t volunteer anything else, he turned to Alex. “It’s best to get you out there now. The moon’s behind the clouds, and we don’t want him knowing where you came from.”

“Those clouds are holding rain,” Alex said, tilting her head back to take in the inky sky. “The moon might not come back out at all.”

“That’s what headlights are for,” the captain said. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” She handed Cody her mug and her blanket. Beneath it, the shirt they’d given her was torn and spattered with fake blood. Her hair was mussed, and they’d even gone so far as to spatter some of the paint as high up as her neck. The effect was a little too realistic for Cody’s peace of mind.

Alex climbed into the ancient van; the SWAT team piled into the back. Everything inside had been removed to make room for them. The van had been swept for trace evidence, and it had yielded plenty of DNA, but it would be days before lab results came back.

It was fifteen minutes before Alex was ready to drive out. The concealment of the SWAT team members was carefully checked and rechecked. Equipment was given last minute performance tests. Alex was asked again and again how she felt.

Cody stood by her window and watched her handle it with a graceful elegance that he envied. When she wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, she looked out over the steering wheel, and Cody could swear there was fear in her eyes. After she did it a third time, he realized it wasn’t just fear, but stark terror. She was petrified, but she hid it well, smiling patiently when they asked for yet another sound check, or inquired yet again if she needed anything else.

Finally, it was show time.

Cody put his hand over hers, which rested on the van’s open window. “It’ll be over before you know it.”

She looked unconvinced, but she forced a smile anyway. “Sure. Thanks.”

Cody stepped back as Alex put the van in drive and pulled forward, wishing there was something else he could say. There wasn’t. He willed this night to pass quickly.

As soon as the taillights disappeared around the red rocks that concealed the command center, Cody put his ear piece in. Everyone was linked in and could hear what was happening with Alex, as well as the captain’s voice.

“How’re you doing, Alex?” the captain asked.

“
Fine.
Just approaching the loop.”

Cody got into position on the ridge just as Alex reached the pre-plotted course she would drive over and over again. Even from this distance—probably a half mile away—he could vaguely make out the headlights. The binoculars made it much easier.

The route they’d mapped for her was basically a mile-long figure-eight in front of the mountain that the Botanist most often appeared around. She would be instructed by cops who were high up on the ridge to deviate this way or that to make it look random, and somewhat erratic. Hopefully the Botanist would think she was suffering from fatigue, the elements, and her injuries. There would be times she would have to drive almost into the mountain itself, come to a stop, back up, then go again. The hope was that he would think she was confused—altered even—and that when she drove up to a dead end and had to back up, the Botanist would try and grab her. Handfuls of cops were hidden around the designated stop-and-go spots so that if the plan worked, they would easily apprehend him.

Cody sighed. His arms already ached from holding himself up while lying on his stomach, and lifting the binoculars at the same time. Despite what he’d said to Alex about it being over quickly, they were in for a long night. It might be hours before anything happened.

Cody glanced at the middle-aged cop beside him. “I’m Cody Oliver.”

“Helam Merriton. From Sigurd.”

“You walk a beat?” he asked, though he doubted Sigurd actually had a beat. It was a blink-and-you-missed-it sort of town.

“Nah. I just live there. I’m not really a cop. I’m an equipment specialist for the entire county. Work almost exclusively with law enforcement though. You?”

“Detective here in Mt. Dessicate.”

“Ah. Brave girl, eh?”

Cody nodded, peering through the high-power binoculars again. “Yeah. Very brave girl.”

Three
hours later, nothing much had happened, other than Cody growing dizzy from watching Alex complete the loop over and over again. At the speed she was going, it took about ten minutes to do the entire thing, but still . . .

As she completed it yet again, Cody glanced at his watch. It was after midnight. They were still a long way from dawn. Alex’s voice came onto the com, startling him.

“This isn’t working, Captain,” she said. “He’s not falling for it.”

“He may not know we’re here yet, Alex,” the captain’s voice intoned. “Once he realizes it, he may act.”

“Or maybe he does know, and he’s hanging out, watching us, knowing better than to approach the van. He probably knows I’m not alone inside.”

“There’s no way to know that for sure, Alex.” The captain’s voice was calm and reasonable. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Through the binoculars, Cody watched the van’s movements. He could make out the vague shape of the van, but only because of the outline of her taillights.

She reached the far side of the route. She was supposed to loop around and head in the other direction. Instead, the van came to a stop. Cody wondered if she would back up, rather than looping around, just to change it up. He waited. Nothing happened.

She was obviously distraught. Cody could picture her, staring out over the steering wheel and thinking. When a full sixty seconds passed and still the van hadn’t moved, he pressed the button to speak into the com system.

“Alex, what are you doing? Why have you stopped?”

Nothing. Just dead air.

“Alex? What’s wrong?”

When she didn’t answer again, Cody went from his stomach to his knees. Then the captain’s voice was in his ear.

“Alex, respond please. What are you doing?”

Alex’s voice answered almost immediately. “I . . . I’m just trying something.”

Cody knew he ought to let the captain take the lead, but he couldn’t help himself. He pressed the com button again. “Trying
what?”

Merriton sucked in his breath beside Cody, but Cody didn’t have time to figure out what had caused the man’s reaction. He was too preoccupied with what Alex was “trying.”

Suddenly the equipment specialist was tugging at Cody’s shirt sleeve, frantically whispering his name. “Detective? Detective Oliver!”

Cody swatted him away, still looking through the binoculars.

“Alex, you need to keep moving,” the captain said into the com. “If you stop, you need to do it at one of the designated sites. If he blitz attacks you there, our men are a bit far away for comfort.”

“Detective Oliver! Detective Oliver!” Merriton’s hiss was urgent.

“What
?
”

When Cody looked over at his binocular buddy with exasperation, Merriton snatched is binoculars from him.

“Merriton, what are you—?”

The other man clicked a small button on the top of the binoculars and they suddenly glowed with a greenish light.

“What’d you do?”

“Turned on the night vision.”

“These have night vision? Why weren’t we using it all along?”

Merriton got defensive. “
I
was. I didn’t realize you didn’t know you had it until just now.”

Cody rolled his eyes, thoroughly annoyed, but Merriton was flicking his hands out frantically in Alex’s direction.

“Look what she’s doing!”

Throwing one last glare at Merriton, Cody jammed the binoculars against his eyes, giving himself a mild headache, and looked out over the now-illuminated terrain. When he found Alex and the van, he gasped, simultaneously jumping to his feet and jamming a thumb down on the com button.

“Alex, get back in the van! Right now!”

“Is she out of the van?” the captain sounded alarmed.

“Yes. She’s walking twenty feet behind where it’s parked!”

“Alexandra Thompson, you get back in that van.” The captain sounded like the father he was.

With the night vision binoculars, Cody could see Alex clearly. She turned in the general direction of the command center and folded her arms.

“Do you boys want to catch this creep or not?” She spoke softly, as if trying to mask the volume of her voice and its potential to scare nearby listeners.

“Not if it means compromising your safety, Alex,” Cody said.

Alex sighed into the com. “Look guys, he’s not going to come at me if I’m in the van. I can feel that much. If I stagger around on my own, he’s more likely to think me vulnerable and try and get me.”

“That’s because you
will
be more vulnerable.”

“Cody, lie down,” the captain said. “Anyone who looks this way will see you clear as day.”

Cody fell into a crouch, but didn’t lie back down on his stomach. He had no intention of doing any such thing until Alex was safely back in that van.

Cody cursed softly. How had that happened? He’d thought of the killer’s van as a safe place. It wasn’t. Nowhere out there was, not for her.

“Alex,” the captain was saying, “this isn’t what we discussed. It’s not a good idea. We can’t protect you well enough if you aren’t in the van.”

“I’ll stay on the same route, Captain, only walking rather than driving five miles an hour. Your people will be the same distance away.”

Cody’s heart sank as the silence on the com stretched. The captain was considering it. When the captain voice came over the com again, it was confirmed.

“Does everyone have eyes on Ms. Thompson? Start with Desert-1 and tell me.”

The person in each position called in.

“Desert-1. Affirmative.”

“Desert-2. Yeah, I can see her.”

“Desert-3, that’s a yes.”

“Desert-4 . . .”

Only those at the far end of the loop couldn’t see her, but they would when she was closer to them.

“Captain, don’t let her do this. It’s asking for trouble.”

“I don’t think we have much choice, Cody. She’s right. He hasn’t tried anything yet, and we need to be realistic about the reasons for that. I don’t believe he doesn’t know she’s out there. Alex, you can proceed, but with caution. And stay on the loop. One more misstep from you and I’ll bring up the spotlights and shut this whole operation down. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Captain.” Cody knew he was out-voted, but he couldn’t accept the situation. “She needs more protection than that.”