Page 80 of The Last Close Call

“I don’t think he’ll go back there,” Heidi said. “Not after a direct confrontation with a cop.”

Skinner frowned. “He actually confronted someone?”

“I heard him in the woods and tried to chase him down,” Jack said. “He nicked me with his knife.”

It was more than a nick. The gash in Jack’s arm had bled all over his Jeep and required a trip to the ER. But whatever.

“Any idea why he went back?” Skinner asked.

“Maybe he was worried he’d dropped something,” Jack said. “Otherwise, why risk sticking around as the cops showed up?”

Bryan gritted his teeth as he thought of the missed opportunity. If he’d been out there, things might have gone down differently. Jack was in good shape, yeah, but he was thirty-eight and a runner. He wasn’t experienced at hand-to-hand combat. If Bryan had been in that creek bed, he would have had the guy in a headlock in no time, and they probably wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.

“I assume you combed the area?” the profiler asked.

“We did,” Hood confirmed. “We didn’t find anything promising. Just some litter in the woods. We did get a shoeprint near the tree he was hiding in. Our CSIs made a cast of it, and we’ll see if it’s a size twelve.”

“Well, like I was saying, his strict adherence to his MO may be your best advantage,” the profiler said. “I would scope out neighborhoods like this one, likely in the greater San Antonio area.”

“What about Austin?” Liz asked.

“He’s got ties there, too, but I think that’s because it was his original stalking grounds,” the profiler said. “He revisited there in the fall—probably after some triggering event that set him off after his five-year hiatus. Maybe he lost a job or had a breakup or some other kind of setback, and he went back to his old comfort zone. But with the two most recent attacks being in San Antonio, I think it’s likely he’s living here now.”

“So neighborhoods that back up to parks or greenbelts. Or creek beds or woods or utility easements.” Heidi tossed her pencil on the table. “Great. That narrows it down.”

“You’ve also got his early warning signs,” Skinner added. “Don’t ignore reports of prowlers or burglars or women calling in saying they got home and the back door was open—even if someone didn’t steal anything.”

“We need to have a press conference,” Hood said.

Bryan was surprised by the suggestion. His lieutenant in Austin hated press conferences and did his best to avoid them. But maybe Hood was one of those who liked to look in charge in front of the cameras.

Heidi’s phone vibrated on the table beside him. She flipped it over and checked the screen, then pushed back her chair.

“Excuse me,” she said, slipping out of the room.

“We need to let people know, without causing a panic,” Hood said, “that they need to report any break-ins, even if valuables aren’t taken.”

“When we did that in Austin six years ago, we were inundated with calls about footprints in the backyard and noises at night,” Jack said. “We were getting called out for meter readers and pool guys and possums in trash cans.”

“Better than not getting called out,” Liz said. “I’ve been saying for years we can’t blow off women who report stuff.”

“Since when do we blow off women who report stuff?” Jack asked.

“You don’t, but try talking to Property Crimes. They don’t give a damn about panty raids and Peeping Toms. I mean, wake the fuck up. These guys are sexual predators sitting there jerking off and working up to the big event.”

“I’ll get with our public information officer,” Hood said. “We need to come up with a message that gets our point across and puts people on alert without causing a panic like they had six years ago.”

Jack lifted his eyebrow, and Bryan knew what he was thinking: Good luck with that.

“I agree, we need a press conference,” Liz said. “Like Dr.Skinner pointed out, he’s escalating. And he didn’t get what he wanted last night, so he’s probably already trolling for his next victim. We need a joint press conference, and we need it soon, before the media gets wind of the story and we lose control of the message.”

“Too late.”

Everyone looked at Heidi as she stepped back into the room. She held up her cell phone.

“That was a reporter. The press already has it.”

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