CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
The parking deck was comprised of three levels, the third serving as the uncovered roof. Because Rachel had spotted Nick Nelson heading to the left upon walking inside, she also went in that direction. The door to the stairway was there, closed and with no window or other break in it to see past it. Rachel recalled the speed with which Nick had come out of the Life Fulfilled building and couldn’t imagine why he’d slow down coming through the parking garage. She highly doubted he knew she was on to him, that she was not Abby Granger but instead an FBI agent who had been hunting him down for the last two days. Given that, she doubted he was waiting behind that door, primed to attack her.
Opening it and quickly pivoting inside with her arms drawn up in a defensive fighting posture, she found that she was right. The stairwell was empty. She could, however, hear the faint sound of footsteps overhead and the sound of a heavy door either being pushed open or sliding closed on its hinges.
She hurried up the stairs, moving carefully so that her own footfalls would not be heard upstairs. When she came to the door, it was less than an inch from closing back into its frame. Rachel held her hand out to stop it and in a deft move, pushed it slightly open and slid out into the space of the second floor. Her right hand flinched as it fought the instinct to go for her Glock—a Glock that was, of course, not there.
The second level was just over half full. She figured there were thirty cars occupying roughly fifty spaces before a left-hand turn led to a ramp that stopped at the third level. What truly alarmed her, though, was that she did not see Nick Nelson. He couldn’t have been any more than half a minute ahead of her when she’d entered the stairwell, but he seemed to have disappeared. Rachel stood still for a moment, listening for the sound of an engine starting. Maybe, she thought, he’d already gotten into his car.
But ten seconds passed and she heard no such thing. She walked out into the second level, walking directly in the center of the lane that separated the parking spots to her right and those to the left. She peered through the windows of every car she passed, looking for any sign of Nick Nelson simply sitting there, biding his time. But by the time she was halfway down the row, she’d not seen him and she also had not heard any engine starting up.
She took another step forward and froze in place as she heard a voice behind her. It was her name, in a whisper: “Rachel.”
It came from behind her, somewhere every close by. This was unnerving because as she’d looked through the windows of the cars she’d passed by, she’d also looked to the spaces between the cars. She assumed Nelson could have easily been hiding by kneeling down in front of a car and then maneuvering around behind her. But as she turned around, she still didn’t see him.
And just like that, she was no longer the one in pursuit; she was the one being pursued.
She thought of the “unofficial capacity” he’d spoken about and how he was trying to help those on a waiting list he should not have access to. It was more than enough to solidify in her mind the idea that he was indeed the killer. In his twisted mind, he was doing those people a service.
Then again, he’d just said her name—her real name. He knew somehow. But the question remained, did he believe everything she said to be a lie? Did he somehow have a radar within him that had latched on to her story about the tumor and knew it to be true, unlike the alias she’d given?
She turned, facing in the direction she’d heard his voice. There were two cars behind her and then a concrete pylon, a column that ran from the pavement to the girders along the underside of the third level. She eyed the cars carefully as she took two more steps forward and then her eyes went to the pylon. She clenched her fists, not sure what to prepare herself for.
And then she felt a dizzy spell coming on, pushed forward by a slight pulsing ache in her head.
No. No, not now…
She took a deep breath and summoned all of her focus and concentration. She knew that everything was riding on what might happen in the next few moments—catching a killer, closing this case. She’d told Jack she could get a handle on this, so now was the time to prove it. She focused on her breath, trying to lessen the way her adrenaline wanted to take control. She focused on the opening and closing of her fists, felt the breaths coming in and then pushing out of her body.
Slowly, the dizziness faded. The dull, pulsing ache remained, but it was virtually nothing, just a buzzing in the back of her head.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Rachel took a swift step to the side of the pylon, but there was nothing there to see. With her fists still clenched, she took a step back and when she did, she caught a blur of motion out of the corner of her left eye. She moved just in time to avoid the blow that was coming her way. As she dodged hard to the left, she saw Nick Nelson following through with his attack. There was something in his hand, a short, blunt object that looked like an old-fashioned club or lead sap. It struck the pylon with a loud whack. And then, realizing right away that he’d missed, he brought the club around in a back-handed attack.
She was so caught off guard and in the middle of her first dodge that Rachel was not able to completely dodge this blow. It struck her hard on the meat of her shoulder and sent her stumbling a bit.
Nelson came charging at her with the club raised over his shoulder. “I just want to help,” he hissed while barreling ahead.
Still in mid-stumble, Rachel planted her hands on the pavement and kicked out hard with her right foot. It connected squarely with Nelson’s hip, driving him back. He struck the bumper of a minivan and rebounded with a gasp as the breath went out of him. Still, he had the strength and wherewithal to lash out with another attack. But because he’d had the wind knocked out of him, there was very little strength behind it.
That was her single saving grace, as she was getting to her feet and regaining her balance. The club landed a glancing blow on the side of her head. It honestly didn’t hurt all that much but the entire world instantly grew dizzy. She stumbled backwards again, her arms pinwheeling for balance.
Nelson surged forward, this time raising the club overhead. Rachel was seeing two of him and did her best to narrow her vision, squinting her eyes to find the open target of his throat. She delivered a hard right-handed jab that caught him just below the neck. Nelson dropped like a sack of bricks, gasping and coughing. Meanwhile, Rachel waved her hand out to find the pylon that she’d peered around just twenty or so seconds ago.
Just a few feet away, Nick Nelson was scrambling to his knees. Though Rachel did not have her full balance back, the world still reeling and rocking from the soft blow to her head, she advanced on him. She did her best to deliver a knee to his ribs and though she did make contact, she was also unable to stay on her feet.
Nelson screamed in agony as something in his side popped. Both of them fell to the pavement in a heap, Nelson’s sap clattering around somewhere near Rachel’s head. She reached for it and grabbed it, bringing it to her. She slowly made it to her knees again only to see that Nelson, still gasping and now heavily favoring his left side, was ambling away. He wasn’t able to sprint, but had taken on a lopsided jog toward the stairwell door.
Rachel grunted and got to her feet. Her head was starting to pound a bit now and as she tried to follow after him, she wondered what sort of effects a blow to the head might have on someone with an inoperable tumor in their brain. The parking garage still seemed to be swaying all around her, but she did her best to stay within the lane between the two sides of the parking area.
Ahead, she saw Nelson open the door and enter the stairwell. She knew she had to get there quickly, not sure if he’d go up to the third floor or try an easier retreat down to the first. Yet as she closed in on the stairwell, she saw that she wasn’t going to have to decide after all. She watched the door come flying open again as two men came bursting through it.
One was Nelson. The other was Jack. They were in a sort of Greco-Roman wrestling tangle. Slamming against the side wall of the garage, Nelson screamed again, but was also able to throw a punch that connected with Jack’s face. Rachel rushed forward, and this time it was she who raised the club over her head.
Rather than connecting with his head and potentially killing him, she went low. Just as Nelson tried to start running away from Jack, she threw the club in a side-armed arc. It caught him directly between the shoulders and Nelson went sprawling to the pavement. Jack wasted no time, diving onto Nelson’s back and starting the process of cuffing him.
“You’re a liar!” Nelson screamed from underneath Jack. “You told me you were a patient…wanting to get on the waiting list! But you’re with the FBI! At the front desk…I asked and she told me who you were and why you were there. You…but you’re sick! I could see it. You were…you’re a liar!”
Rachel ignored this as she leaned against the wall. Her vision slowly started to level out and she started to feel a central sort of throbbing where the club had struck her head.