“I know,” Jack said. “But this guy is veering off-script. I don’t believe this was planned. We shook him with the news report and now he’s trying to outdo himself. The bomb will be basic whatever it is. A homemade device. I’ll keep him talking as long as I can to give you a chance to work and for us to get the civilian out.”
“What about the perp?” Rikes asked.
“The perp I’m not too worried about,” Jack said.
Rikes grunted and said, “Just me and Dojo.” And then he grabbed the blast container and whistled for his dog and they were off.
Jack strapped on his bulletproof vest and then tossed an extra one over my head and Velcroed it around my middle.
Jack’s phone had been ringing continuously on the drive here, and several of the calls had been from Carrie Colson. It rang again, and then I realized the sound was amplified as other phones around us began to ring in surround sound.
Cole stared at his ringing phone, a curious look on his face. “This is Cole,” he said. And then his expression turned to granite and he motioned for Jack.
“Look on social media,” Cole said. “Early is livestreaming from inside the theater.”
I didn’t have social media, so I wasn’t even sure what to look for, but Martinez had already found it and passed his phone to Jack.
“I need someone to move these cars back,” Jack yelled. “Move the perimeter back and make sure all of these buildings are empty. Go now!”
“He’s going to want to put on a show for his audience,” Cole said, his anger palpable. “Don’t even think about asking me to wait out here. I’m going in. We can cover more ground.”
“I’m going in too,” Martinez said. “This is the risk of the job. We’re all willing to take it.”
Jack nodded and turned to me, and I could already tell what he was going to say, but I shook my head.
“I told you,” I said. “I go where you go. And you’ll be wasting time trying to argue with me.”
“He’s going to blow this building to kingdom come, Jaye,” he said. “You’re not a cop.”
“Don’t pull that crap on me now,” I said. “I’ve been doing cop stuff for years with you by my side. It’s what we do. Do you trust your commander?”
“Of course I do,” Jack said. “But there’s always a last time.”
“And what am I supposed to do if you get yourself blown up? Live without you? Don’t be stupid. I’m going with you. We promised till death do us part. This seems like the time to test that.”
He narrowed his eyes and said, “Fine.” And then he handed me the snub-nosed revolver he kept in his ankle holster. “Hard head.”
Jack pulled up the livestream video on his phone and we watched, deciding the best course of action to take.
Like his letter had said, Lily was center stage, but she didn’t look conscious. She sat in a hardback wooden chair much like the one Jody Burkett had been found in, and he’d removed all of her clothing except her underwear.
The chair was propped back on two legs and was held steady by rope that stretched across the stage. Lily’s arms and legs were bound to the chair with zip ties and a noose was around her neck. The angle of the video showed the trapdoor in the stage was open behind her. If the rope that was holding the chair steady was untied, she’d fall back into the trapdoor and the noose would snap her neck.
Rick Early stood next to Lily at the center of the stage, still dressed in his FedEx uniform and wearing the long wig that was tied in a tail at the nape of his neck. He’d ditched the hat, and I could tell he’d done something different with his nose, and his cheeks seemed fuller somehow. In his hand was a buck knife, beautifully sharp under the stage lighting.
“I’m going to kill that bastard,” Cole said.
“You and Martinez take the alley entrance,” Jack said. “Come in behind him. We’ve got to trust the Rikes to do his job. The goal is to save the civilian. No matter the cost.”
“No matter the cost,” Martinez and Cole both said. And then they peeled away and moved like shadows into the alley and disappeared.
“You ready?” Jack asked.
I nodded and said, “Let’s go, partner.” And his lips twitched.
“You move where I move,” Jack said. “Stay to my left. We’re going in the front.”
The front doors of the theater were propped open where Rikes had already entered, and Jack and I stepped into the darkness of the lobby. It smelled of Pine-Sol and stale popcorn, and there was an eeriness in the emptiness. Theaters were meant to be full of people.
All of the double doors leading into the auditorium had been propped open, I assumed by Rick, so he could see who was coming and going out of his theater. But then I realized it was probably impossible to see anything beyond the front row with the stage lights on.
“Jack and Jaye, Jack and Jaye,” Rick Early said in a singsong voice that made my skin crawl. “Are you there yet? You’re late for the show.”
Rick paced back and forth, much like he’d done in the gallery when he’d been talking to Lina.
“Don’t get any funny ideas, Sniper Jack,” he said, holding up a small remote. “If you take your shot the whole place goes boom. Come out, come out, where I can see you.” He used the same singsong voice and I looked at Jack to see what he was going to do.
Rick moved quickly to Lily’s side and pressed the point of the knife against her throat. Lily still hadn’t moved. He’d either drugged her or hit her harder than he’d planned.
“I said come out!” Rick screamed. “You’re part of the cast now. How does the cop handle this situation?”
“I’m here,” Jack said, stepping through the doorway.
“And what about your lovely wife?” he called out.
“She’s here too,” Jack said. “What are you going to do? This is your play. You’re the director.”
“Come closer,” Rick said. “I want you to have the best view in the house. Everyone else is just getting to watch it on their phones, but you’re special. You’re getting to see it live.”
“I don’t know,” Jack said. “So far I’m not impressed. Maybe the theater really isn’t your thing. I’m sure there are lots of jobs a middle-aged guy like yourself could find and be halfway successful at.”
“Shut up!” Rick screamed, moving away from Lily and coming toward the front of the stage. “I was made for the theater. I was made to be a star. My mother always told me so. But then Mrs. Burkett told me I had talent elsewhere and to not keep wasting my time auditioning for play after play, year after year. She never cast me once. I was always the stage manager. It was humiliating!”
“It sounds to me like she was giving you good advice,” Jack said. “Maybe you should have listened to her and you wouldn’t have turned into a murderous lunatic.”
I had no idea what Jack was doing, but I sure hoped he did. Jack normally didn’t antagonize killers, but he must have understood something about Early’s psyche that I didn’t.
To my surprise, Rick’s maniacal laughter rolled through the auditorium.