Middle Of Nowhere

   "It goes through Montlake to the U-District."

   Boldt speculated, "He wants her in areas where there are a lot of kids her age. First Broadway, now the U."

   "We can beat the bus there, L.T. And get me into the field—onto the street. If she tries to use the crowds to lose us . . . I'm already on the ground and running."

   Boldt felt somewhat obliged to let Shoswitz orchestrate the manpower, but Gaynes was right: They had a window of opportunity, and though a gamble, it seemed worth taking.

   Reading his thoughts, Gaynes said bluntly, "This woman is not getting off in Montlake, L.T. He wants her in the U."

   Boldt turned away from his assigned route without reporting in, while the radio spit static as Shoswitz hurried to comprehend bus route 43. Gaynes reached for the radio's microphone.

   "We gotta call it in, L.T."

   "Wait," Boldt instructed. He continued north on 10th Avenue, making for University Bridge.

   As Shoswitz began to bark orders, Boldt keyed Gaynes to report that they were already under way to the University bus stop.

   "We don't know she's headed to the U," Shoswitz objected over the radio.

   Boldt took the microphone from Gaynes, and said, "Yes, we do, Captain. I'm getting there ahead of time to put Gaynes on foot."

   "You'll stay in formation," Shoswitz ordered.

   "We're crossing University Bridge. I'll report when we have Gaynes deployed." He put his foot to the gas, in part to cover the sound of Shoswitz screaming.

* * *

By the time the 43 pulled to a stop and Samway disembarked, clutching the box given her by Manny Wong, Boldt was parked across the street from the University's transit hub while Gaynes watched from inside a nearby KFC. For all his efforts, Shoswitz had outsmarted himself. With two cars stuck in traffic he'd been reduced to Boldt's van and a couple of cruisers. With the cruisers unable to show themselves for fear of scaring off Samway, Boldt and Gaynes led the surveillance. Samway headed out on foot into the crowds of college kids. "She keeps checking her watch," Gaynes reported, now following on foot. Ten minutes passed, by which time Shoswitz had reassembled his crew. The Ford, driven by Lee and now once again with Jilly Hu as passenger, parked on 45th Avenue. Danny Lincoln amazed everyone by arriving on his bike, his messenger's backpack strapped on tightly.

   "We're coming back toward you," Gaynes reported. "I smell another bus. This guy is careful."

   Boldt relayed the information to his team, believing Flek may have used the stop as part of his plan: While Samway walked around the U, Flek could buy himself time to move to the next location and set himself up with a viewpoint. Thankfully, no one from Boldt's team had followed her off the bus—something Flek may have been watching for. Boldt reported his theory to Shoswitz, warning that Flek might be a step ahead at each phase of Samway's progress, suggesting the cruisers be pushed out well away from the center of the action. Shoswitz concurred. The team now came down to Boldt's van and the Ford.

   Samway led Gaynes right past Boldt's van, reentered the transit hub, and boarded the 67, whose electronic display carried the words "Northgate P & R."

   Gaynes slipped in beside Boldt. "Now he wants to lose her in the mall," she said.

   "He's watching," Boldt warned. "It gets tricky now."

   Boldt drove on. The bus headed north. Again, traffic became the nemesis. To part the traffic with a light or siren was unthinkable, and yet both Boldt's van and Lee's Ford fell farther and farther back as traffic worsened.

   "This keeps up," Gaynes warned, "and we lose her."

   "Suggestions?"

   "We slip over to Eighth or Fifth, running parallel, and use our stuff if we have to."

   "I like it," Boldt said. He nudged his way left, his blinker flashing. A Navigator let him through with a polite flash of its headlights. The Ford remained behind the bus. Gaynes called in the change of plans.

   "Was about to suggest that," Shoswitz said. It was the only time Boldt had smiled in the last two hours.

   Boldt ran red lights on Eighth Avenue and quickly passed the bus's reported parallel position.

   Gaynes suggested she leave the van upon their arrival at the mall. "I can be in that parking lot ahead of her."

   The 67 made one stop after the mall. "We don't know the mall is her destination," Boldt said.

   Gaynes pushed. "Is he going to have her ride the bus all the way out here, and then skip the mall? He can get her lost in there, L.T. It has to be the mall." She hesitated. "This is one time you're going to have to gamble."

   Boldt pulled to the curb. To his right, he spotted the bus two blocks away, also slowing. "Go!" he shouted.