As she headed to her vehicle parked outside Vancouver General Hospital, her phone rang.
“We’ve got another drive-by,” Rodney said.
“Shit. Really?”
“Yes,” he said, “and another old blue truck, according to the witnesses.”
“Crap, can we get it on video at least? I’m heading out now. Tell me where.”
“Texting you the address. I’ll meet you there.”
Getting to the scene took her a bit, as traffic was heavy. When she finally arrived, she parked at an angle across the road, thankful that the scene was at least blocked from traffic, as she headed over to Rodney. “What have you got?”
“Four witnesses off to the side,” he said, pointing at them. “They were all out walking. The victim is a friend of theirs.”
She looked at the young man lying on the street, a sheet partially tossed over him. “Same age group as the other two?”
He nodded. “Doesn’t mean they’re related though.”
“Nope. It’s just one more similarity.”
“Meaning he picks victims who are young and healthy.”
“Oh, that’s not a bad thought,” she said, turning to look at him, considering.
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe he’s aging or diseased, or he’s the same age and is disabled and is taking out his anger at the world on healthy people around him.”
“Well, that would suck. So just because you’re having a shit life, you turn around and make others pay for it?”
“Well, we’ve seen a lot worse,” she said quietly.
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“No,” she said, “none of us do.”
Rodney shook his head. “Well, we don’t really know what’s going on yet, so let’s keep an open mind.”
She walked over to the first of the four witnesses and pulled the woman aside. “What did you see?”
“Just this old truck,” the young woman said, tears streaming down her face. “We were all just talking and laughing.”
“Were you laughing at the truck?”
She looked at Kate sideways. “Maybe. It was one of those really old beaten-up trucks, you know? Nothing special.”
“Do you think he heard you?”
The girl looked at her, shocked. “Oh God,” she said. “I don’t know. Is that why he shot Billy?”
“I don’t know,” Kate said quietly. “We’re looking for a motive.”
The witness shook her head. “Well, we wouldn’t have said anything if we thought he would react like that.”
Kate wondered how many times people had to get a bad result before they would understand the effects of their shit talking. Sometimes you don’t get a second chance to change. Like Billy. “Have you seen the guy before? Did you recognize the truck?”
The young woman shook her head. “No,” she said. “I’ve never seen it before.” She started to cry.