Enigma (FBI Thriller #21)(23)
A minute later she was carrying Alex to the rear personnel door, sliding in the key card and stepping through, the door closing behind her. Fast and slick.
They watched her walk quickly down five flights of stairs and exit the stairwell into the lobby near the east door.
“Switch to the cameras at the east exit and the parking lots,” Elk said.
Gilly pressed a few keys on his keyboard to bring up the lobby feeds. They saw her step into the women’s room and a few moments later, step out, the nurse’s uniform, glasses, and cap gone, carrying Alex. A man in his midthirties, tall, as fit as she, and dressed just as casually in a shirt and chinos, met her in the lobby and walked beside her as she cradled the baby, his hand on her shoulder. They walked out the east exit, the picture of happy new parents.
“Give me a minute and back that up,” Savich said. “I want to see their faces better.”
Gilly brought it back to when they were nearer the camera and zoomed in on their faces. Savich took several pictures and uploaded them to the CAU. “That’s probably good enough to run through facial recognition. Maybe one of them is in the database.”
Gilly brought up the camera outside the east exit, and they saw them again, a man and a woman carrying a baby directly east onto Parker Street. Kara was right, the woman did favor her left foot, only a bit of a limp, barely noticeable. They paused at the intersection, and an old dark blue Toyota SUV pulled up. They climbed in and drove away.
“Any chance of making out that license plate? Another camera?” Savich asked.
“No, that’s the closest we can get to them from our property,” Elk said, “but there should be Metro cops covering Parker Street. I’ll call in that car, get an Amber Alert started. There are a couple of banks along that street with security cameras. Maybe that will help.”
Savich turned to see Sherlock standing beside the security room door. “The chief’s right. It was slick,” she said. “The woman knew enough about nursing to fool the staff and Kara, stole the right key card and knew how to use it, and she and the man were out of the hospital as quickly as humanly possible. Now the question we have to answer is why. And what does it all have to do with John Doe?”
“I love your brain,” Savich said, touching his hand to her cheek. “You’re only here one minute and you cut right to the core. I want you to speak to Kara, see if she’s remembered anything more, any details at all. The CARD agents should be up there soon. At least we know what they look like, know the woman who stole Alex has a limp.
“Chief Elk, you’re coordinating the search with the Metro cops? And dealing with the media?”
“Yeah, no choice there.”
As Savich and Sherlock left the security office, they heard Elk on his cell calling the public relations department.
Savich and Sherlock saw the CARD agents when they opened the stairwell door onto the maternity floor, speaking with Ray Hunter. CARD Agent Constance Butler, a honed and fit woman with cropped gray hair, spotted Savich, nodded, and introduced herself. The other agent, Bolt Haller, came up, shook their hands. “I understand you’ve been looking at video with Chief Elk. He’s started things rolling on the Amber Alert on Alex and the blue Toyota SUV. Tell us what you saw, Agent Savich, then we’ll speak to Ms. Moody.”
“I’ll leave you to it, Dillon,” Sherlock said. “I’m going to go see Kara.”
12
BOWLER, BOWLER, AND BOWLER
CORNER OF K STREET SW AND 17TH STREET NW
WASHINGTON, D.C.
LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON
Ruth went with her gut and parked her Fiat across from the Blackthorn Building. She watched the staffers pour out, ready for their Monday-evening rituals. She ducked down when she saw the Bowlers’ receptionist, Kendrick, walk out, pause on the sidewalk, and look around. A classic red Mustang pulled up and Kendrick got in. Ruth saw a flash of blond hair and sunglasses at the wheel.
Mrs. Bowler and Magda came out a couple of minutes later, both carrying briefcases, Magda obviously arguing with her mother. About what her daddy had done? Or what the FBI could possibly do to them? They disappeared into the garage beside the Blackthorn Building, and drove out a couple of minutes later together in a dark blue BMW. They weren’t arguing any longer, both staring out the windshield as Mrs. Bowler carefully eased into traffic. Ruth wondered exactly what they knew. How complicit were they?
Duce Bowler came out thirty minutes later, alone, his head down, carrying a briefcase. It looked to Ruth like he was talking to himself, shaking his head, even nodding. Was he trying to decide what to do? Or had he already made phone calls, made all the arrangements? He disappeared into the garage, came out driving a new dark gray Lexus GS F. Unlike his wife, he screeched into traffic, ignoring honking cars, obviously on edge. Good. It was still powerfully hot, even after five o’clock in the afternoon. His windows were rolled up, the AC doubtless on high.
Ruth pulled smoothly into traffic, three cars behind Mr. Bowler’s Lexus. She soon realized he wasn’t going home to Bowleigh, Maryland, he was going to Virginia. She was pleased she’d listened to her gut and started the surveillance early.
Thirty minutes later she was in Alexandria, following Bowler down King Street, past Market Square, and left onto Queen Street. He pulled into a public parking garage and luckily, Ruth managed to squeeze her small Fiat between two SUVs curbside. She watched Bowler come out of the public garage, cross Queen Street, and walk into Bilbo Baggins restaurant with its famous bright yellow facade and red awning.