The last part was a bluff.They didn’t have a warrant, and with the media following this case like a cloud of flies, Faith didn’t want to risk bending the rules.
If Craig heard the bluff, he didn’t fall for it.No one came to the door.
The door to the right opened, and a leather-faced old man who could have been any age between eighty and one hundred rasped, “He ain’t there.Probably up Locust Point.He’s got a girl there he sees from time to time.”
“Do you have an address for her?”
“Hell no.I look like I get involved in other people’s business?”
Faith shared another look with Jessica.“Have you noticed anything suspicious lately?Anything—”
“I ain’t seen nothin’, the man spat, turning around and closing the door.
Faith heard the latch click and asked, “What do you think?Is he hiding something, or he just doesn’t like law enforcement?”
“I think it’s the latter,” Jessica said.“This strikes me as the sort of place where it pays to stay out of other people’s business.”
“Hmm.”Faith folded her arms across her chest.“Okay.So do we put an APB out for this guy or just visit him at work tomorrow?"
“I’d rather deal with a pissed-off suspect than a dead body,” Jessica said.“I say put the APB out, and if we’re wrong, we just smile sweetly and say, ‘We’re sorry, Mr.Daniels.’”
“Yeah, works for me.Make the call.We’ll head back to the motel and keep our cell phones on.”
Jessica called Baltimore PD with the request as they descended the stairs.No other neighbors came out to see why the FBI was here.Like Jessica said, this was the sort of neighborhood where locked doors and shuttered windows were preferred to watchful eyes and listening ears.
That was another reason why crime was prevalent in neighborhoods like this.People looked the other way.Better to pretend crime didn’t exist than to put oneself in the crosshairs of a desperate, bitter killer lashing out against his circumstances.Better to hope that when those killers inevitably lashed out, they struck someone else, someone less willing to ignore the plight of others in favor of their own safety.
CHAPTER TEN
The Expert didn’t really think there was anything wrong with dispensing judgment to those who deserved it.In fact, it was necessary.Without accountability for their actions, these people would continue to make lives difficult for people like the Expert who could only succeed as far as their tools allowed them to.They would continue to put innocent people in danger by hampering the Expert and others and preventing them from doing their jobs.
Like these ones, the people the Expert was punishing.They didn’t trust their experts or support their trackers.They created poor working conditions and allowed shoddy workmanship and poor camaraderie to reign supreme.That was the cause of the Tragedy.It wasn’t the fault of the Expert or the trackers involved.It was the fault of the incompetent leaders who made it impossible for the Expert to do the job correctly.
And people needed to know.They needed to understand.If the world was set up to support people the right way, the Expert would just tell everyone exactly what happened.The incompetents would be executed, as they deserved.Lives would pay for lives.The world would balance itself, and the Expert and others would be allowed to perform their jobs properly.
But the world wasn’t set up right.So the Expert had to be careful, had to speak in riddles.It would eventually get the message across, but hopefully without causing the Expert to suffer for it.If that happened, then it would be treated like just another crazy person killing people.No one would even look at the message.
The risk had to be taken, though.People had to know.
The Expert looked at the device, fingertips rising to the facial marks left by the last incompetent.The device looked good.It would work.People would understand.
The Expert placed the device in a container that would keep it intact and stable for transportation.It was incredibly unlikely that anything would cause the device to detonate, so unlikely that it wouldn’t be wrong to just say it was impossible, but part of being an expert meant showing caution where caution was necessary.One had to exercise good judgment.
The Expert scoffed.If only the incompetents had shown good judgment.Oh well.
Two down, one to go.
The Expert reflected on that.It would be difficult to get to the final one.The Expert would have to be patient.The Expert would have to wait until the perfect opportunity, then strike fast and hard.For this last one to work properly, it would need to be spectacular.Brilliant.Loud.
The Expert stared at the bomb and wondered.Was it necessary that this last one be symbolic?Put more directly, would this one not better symbolize judgment if it illustrated in more spectacular manner the consequences of the incompetent’s leadership?
Maybe.Maybe this one should go off.Maybe this one should be real.Maybe the Expert had spoken in too many parables.Maybe it was time to state the truth bluntly.
The Expert carefully removed the device from its container and got back to work.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Faith’s phone rang just as the clock on the nightstand turned to nine o’clock.She sat up, awake but alert only in the most rudimentary sense of the word.