Corrector

by Blink, Bob

  “This won’t happen,” he promised her. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t.”

  He turned and started for the door, stopping just before he left. He looked back at Dave. “Stay with her. I know you don’t understand, but something can be done. I know how, but I need information. Thanks for calling me. I might have missed the window if you hadn’t.”

  Jake hurried out of the room and headed down the hall to the elevators. He had two chances. He could go back and be waiting in the Square hoping to locate Karin and Ellen before it happened. He had a clue from what Dave had told him. They had been in the Chocolate Factory. He could wait there for them. But it was a crowded place, and Dave might have been wrong. Besides, if he was looking for them just before the shooting he couldn’t be doing anything about the shooter. He also couldn’t alert the police. If they attempted to follow up, the place would be a madhouse and the disruption might result in a change in Karin’s movements and he might miss her. Depending on how effective the police were at stopping the tragedy, she might still get hurt. Better overall if he could get to them before they ever came to the Square. He could prevent them from being there, and simultaneously try and affect the overall event.

  He stepped off the elevator in the lobby and headed out the front door. He wasn’t about to do any more driving around the city. He hailed a cab and told the driver to take him to Saint Francis Hospital.

  Ellen wasn’t awake when he arrived, and it took him a while to gain access to her room. Finally, he was escorted to the room and allowed to go in. Ellen already had two visitors. Her mother and father Jake was certain. He could see some of Ellen in the older woman.

  “Yes,” the woman asked as Jake stepped into the room.

  “I’m Jake Waters,” he explained. “I am Karin’s boyfriend, or I was until a short time ago. I wanted to ask Ellen a couple of questions.” Jake looked over at the silent figure on the bed. She appeared to be breathing normally at least. “How is she?”

  “She’s sedated,” the older man who had to be her father said. “They gave her something a short time ago. We were about to leave. She’ll be out until visiting hours in the morning. What kind of questions?”

  “I wanted to know where she and Karin were staying before this happened. You don’t happen to know, do you?”

  “Not in the City,” Ellen’s mother said. “Oakland or Berkeley, I think. It didn’t seem important.”

  That wasn’t going to help. Jake needed specifics.

  “When will she be able to see visitors next?” he asked.

  “In the morning. We’ll be here at nine when they allow family in.”

  “Might I come in with you? I promise you I won’t be long and for reasons I can’t explain easily, it is very important.”

  The woman looked at her husband, who nodded after a moment’s thought. “I guess it would be okay. But promise you won’t upset her.”

  “Thank you. I’ve got to go back to see Karin again now. I’ll see you first thing in the morning.”

  “You’re back,” Dave Wolter noted when Jake stepped back into the room. “Did you learn whatever it was that was so important?”

  Jake shook his head. “She’s sedated and won’t be awake until morning. I’ll have to go back then. Look, what time do they chase you out of here. I need to check into a hotel, and perhaps we can talk.”

  “They’ve given me permission to stay all night,” Dave said. “I haven’t eaten all day, so we could get you situated, have a bite, and then come back.”

  “That’ll work,” Jake agreed.

  Dave stood and walked over to the bed. He let his hands trail across the sheets. “Hang in there, sis. I’ll be back soon.”

  “That’s the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever heard,” Dave said after Jake finished explaining what he was able to do and what he intended.

  “I realize it’s difficult to accept. I also have no time or an easy way to prove it to you. But if I can locate where Karin and Ellen were staying, I can go back and stop them from being hurt.”

  “And all of this won’t have happened?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Jake, you’re out of your mind. No one can do what you say. Did you ever tell Karin about this?”

  “Actually, it’s what came between us. I proved to her I can do what I say, but she wasn’t comfortable with some of my actions using the information.”

  “What kind of actions?”

  “In cases like this I try and stop the guy who did it.”

  “That doesn’t seem like a bad thing. Why would she be bothered?”

  “Sometimes my actions have to be rather direct. Put bluntly, I have had to kill the shooter before he can cause the massacre.”

  “You personally kill him? Why not turn it over to the police?”

  “As I told Karin, that frequently doesn’t work out. In this case, it might be necessary to approach it that way, but I want Karin out of the area before then.”

  “I don’t think I believe any of this. I’m a little concerned about you. But assuming what you say is real, what is your plan?”

  “I’m going to see Ellen again in the morning. She should be able to tell me where they stayed the night before. I’ll spend tonight and part of tomorrow seeing what information the police have learned and released to the media. If I can get a name for the nut, I can stop him before he ever gets to Ghirardelli. Then, sometime tomorrow I’ll head back to Nevada.”

  “You’ll be leaving? Why? What about Karin?”

  “I need to be physically close to where I was last week when this happened to be able to back-track. That means I have to be in Sparks where I was. I know it seems odd to you, but this will have never happened. You and I will never have this conversation when I’m done.”

  “Why not wait until . . ?” Dave didn’t want to say until Karin died.

  “Time is working against me. This is day three since it happened. I’ll need time to plan, and I’ll want to back-track a couple of days before the event. There is a limit to how far back I can send my memories. That means I can’t afford to wait. That would put Karin at risk.”

  “I don’t understand this. After this is over, you’ll have to prove to me this works.”

  Jake nodded and agreed. Dave still didn’t get it. He would never know of Jake’s ability, because with the changes, Karin would be fine and Dave would have never flown out here from New York to watch over her. This discussion would never happen.

  Chapter 17

  Jake was waiting in the lobby of the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital at 8:45 the next morning when Ellen’s parents arrived. They looked fresh and upbeat this morning.

  “They’ll let us go up in about fifteen minutes,” Ellen’s mother said after they exchanged greetings. Ellen’s dad still looked as if he was uncertain that having Jake present was a good idea or not. Jake had to wonder what Karin had told Ellen about their situation, and how much of that Ellen had, in turn, passed along to her parents.

  “She’s feeling better this morning,” Ellen’s mom said.

  Jake looked at her questioningly.

  “We talked to her on the phone a bit earlier. We can call her room even if we can’t go up.”

  For a moment Jake wondered f this would have been handled more easily that way, but then changed his mind. Ellen had to know that he and Karin were having difficulties and would be far more likely to talk with him in person.

  “I told her you were here and would be coming by,” Ellen’s mother said. “She sounded a little surprised.”

  So much for an advantage from a surprise visit. Jake hoped that Karin hadn’t told her too much about their situation. He suspected not. The story sounded too far out, and Karin had always respected people’s privacy, even when she had an issue with the person themselves.

  “It’s time,” Ellen’s dad informed them.

  As a group they headed toward the elevators along with a dozen or so other people who had been waiting for the same reason. The first elev
ator was filled by the time they arrived, and they had to wait and then crowd into the second one.

  Everyone got out on the same floor, and there was a moment of confusion as the small groups of people sorted out where they were and which direction they needed to head to get to their respective rooms. Soon enough the three of them were headed down the hall, walking past rooms that with doors partially closed with the sounds of people behind each one. When they reached Ellen’s room, her dad knocked lightly as he proceeded inside without waiting for a response.

  “Good morning, dear,” her mother said as she walked over toward the bed. “You’re looking good this morning.”

  Jake had to agree. Ellen looked almost normal this morning, albeit somewhat thinner than he remembered her. He hung back so the greetings between herself and her parents could be completed without interference.

  After greeting a hug from her dad, Ellen looked across the room where Jake stood waiting. She was a bit hesitant as she said, “Good morning Jake. How come you’re here? How’s Karin?”

  Jake could sense that Ellen feared the worse. He wondered if she was aware how badly Karin had been wounded in the attack.

  “She’s not good,” he admitted. His voice was tight as he continued. “I don’t think she is going to make it. Even if she lives, she won’t ever be herself. One of the bullets hit her in the head. They had to go inside and the results were not favorable.”

  “God no!” Ellen said, raising her free hand to her mouth. The left arm was still encumbered by a pair of tubes and a blood pressure cuff. “No one told us and I was out after the shooting. Why aren’t you with her?”

  “Her brother Dave is with her at the moment. She is in a coma and doesn’t know that anyone is there. At least, that’s what the doctors say. I’ll be going back over there when I’m through here, but I have a few questions.”

  He wouldn’t be going back to the hospital. That was a lie, but was what they would expect to hear. Dave would be upset when he didn’t return as well, but there were things he needed to do and limited time if he was to have a chance to prevent all of this.

  “What kind of questions?” Ellen asked. “I didn’t see anything. One minute we were coming out of the shop and then there was yelling and screaming and the sound of shooting. Something hit me and that’s the last I remember. What difference does it make? There’s nothing you can do anyway. I heard on the news that the police haven’t been able to find the man who did this. I hope you don’t think you can do that.”

  “No,” he reassured her. “My questions are different, and might seem strange, but for reasons difficult to explain are very important.”

  “I’ll try and help,” she said.

  “To start, where is your hotel?” Jake asked.

  “Our hotel?” she asked, clearly surprised. “How can that matter?”

  “Please. Trust me that it is very important.”

  She shrugged. “Okay. We were staying at the Best Western Inn up in Vallejo. Room 235.”

  Vallejo. Jake recalled passing through the town on his drive into the city the other day. He had never been there before and it seemed a long way out. He would have to have a look at the hotel on his way home.

  “Why so far from the city?”

  “It’s a lot cheaper there, and it’s not that far of a drive. You just jump on the Richmond Bridge and come in across the Golden Gate. Besides, we were planning on going to Sea World the next day.”

  “You drove into the city the morning of the shooting?”

  “That’s right. We drove in and after stopping on the bridge for a while we came straight to Ghirardelli.”

  “How long were you there before the shooting started?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe an hour.”

  “How about your car? Where did you park?”

  “Oh my god! I forgot about my car. I’ll bet they towed it away by now?”

  “If so, I’m certain it will be easy to recover. All it will take is a call to the police and explain who you are and why it was left. You won’t be the only one. They might even have left everything in place given the circumstances. It depends on where you parked.”

  “We parked on that steep little hill just a couple of blocks away from the Square,” Ellen said. “In the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. Down near the bottom. It’s a white Corolla, a couple of years old.” She gave him the license at his prompting.

  Jake considered. He knew where they were staying and when they had arrived. He also knew where they had parked. There were a number of possibilities open to him. Ellen had told him where they had stayed in Los Angeles the previous week as well. He couldn’t see where he needed much else.

  “Thank you, Ellen. I think that’s all.”

  “I can’t see why any of that would be so damn important,” Ellen’s dad said. “Couldn’t you have simply waited and got that information if needed later?”

  Jake stood and smiled at the man. “I know it seems strange, but it really is something I needed right now. I’ll get out of your way now. I should head back to the other hospital and check on Karin.” Jake nodded to Ellen. “Thanks for your help. I’m glad to see you are doing better.”

  Ellen smiled at him, a small tear on one cheek. “I’m sorry about Karin. She wouldn’t tell me what had happened between you two, but it was pretty obvious she was very unhappy with how it turned out. She wanted to find a way for you to get back together. Remember that Jake. She loved you.” Jake swallowed. “Thank you. I feel the same. Now to do something about it.”

  Jake walked purposefully down the hall to the bank of elevators, his mind thinking about what he wanted to do. This was already day four since the attack. If he could finish here in the city soon enough, he could probably be home late tonight. That would be good. Worst case, he would be back in Sparks sometime tomorrow. He wanted a little time with his computers there to complete his searches, but he already doubted there would be much he hadn’t found watching television and surfing with the iPad. Only an unexpected breakthrough would change the situation.

  His car was still back at the hotel, so he flagged another taxi and asked them to take him to Ghirardelli Square. It wasn’t far, and ten minutes later he was walking down the steep hill where Ellen had said they parked. Near the bottom where she had said she had parked he found her car. It hadn’t been moved as she feared. He looked around to commit the spot to memory. Today there weren’t many cars here, but it had probably been crowded the day they had arrived.

  Satisfied he could find the vehicle easily if the need arose, he hiked back up the hill and turned along the street toward Ghirardelli Square. He wasn’t too surprised to find the entrances blocked by yellow tape and a cop standing off to one side to discourage anyone who felt inclined to ignore the fragile barrier. He walked up to the tape and stared inside where it had all happened.

  “The Square is closed,” the cop yelled his way. “It won’t open again until this weekend. You’ll have to wait.”

  Jake nodded but continued to stare across the open courtyard and at the tall building in the far corner with the Ghirardelli sign high above it. That was where the shooter had been. Somehow he had gotten onto the roof and found a spot where he could shoot down on the crowd below. Jake would like to see inside the building so he could try and understand how he’d done it. That wouldn’t be possible now. He’d have to wait until he could look over the scene before this had happened.

  The cop had wandered over his way while he’d been scanning the area behind the tape.

  “I said it was closed. You should move along. Are you one of those people who gets his kicks from something like this?”

  “My girlfriend was inside there when it happened,” Jake said softly. “I had to see what it looked like.”

  The cop’s attitude changed quickly. “Hey, I’m sorry. Is she alright? Your girlfriend?”

  “She died,” Jake said. “Not here, but in the hospital afterwards.” That wasn’t true, at least not yet, but Jake didn�
�t want to explain to someone else why he was here rather than by Karin’s side until the end.

  “That’s rough,” the cop said. “It doesn’t change anything though. You can’t go inside. Better not to be here anyway.”

  “They’re not going to get him, are they?” Jake asked. He doubted the cop had any information that wasn’t public knowledge, but one never knew.

  “We’ll get him,” the cop said confidently. A confidence Jake didn’t share. “It might take a while, but he’ll slip up and we’ll be on to him.”

  Jake shook his head. “He left all the evidence here and it hasn’t been of any use.” That was true. The gun, the spent magazines had been found on the rooftop along with the backpack that the shooter had worn to transport the weapons. The items have yielded nothing to lead the police toward the shooter. He had known what he was doing. He had fled with the screaming crowd, just another terrified face, leaving behind the only items that would tie him to the killings.

  “Go home,” the cop urged. “You’ll see. He won’t get away with it.”

  “I promise you that,” Jake muttered softly. He had intended the last to be silent, but it had slipped out. The cop looked at him more sharply, suddenly more official.

  “Do you have any ID on you?” he asked unexpectedly. Jake knew it was more than an idle question. He’d stupidly tripped the man’s professional interest.

  He smiled and reached for his wallet. He couldn’t afford to be detained here. Best to go along and then get out of here. He handed the man his driver’s license. Now he wished he had one of his fake ID’s with him.

  “Jake Waters from Nevada,” the cop read, then compared the photo to Jake’s face. He noted the name and address on a small pad he’d taken from his pocket. “What was the name of your girlfriend?”

  “Karin Wolter,” Jake responded. He could have given a fake name, but on the off chance he wouldn’t be dismissed before the cop checked somehow, he felt it was better to give a real name. They might have lists of the victims available.