Page 75 of Race to Save Her

Katie could hear voices as she approached and recognized McGaven’s. She made it to the open door, where there were two security officers with nametags identifying them as Bowers and Randall.

“Hey,” said McGaven. To security, “This is my partner, Detective Scott.”

The two officers nodded their introductions.

There were monitors all over the hotel and parking garage. It gave Katie some hope they would have good footage and would be able to get a clear facial shot of the man.

“They’re going to give us copies,” said McGaven. “I think we might be closer to identifying him.”

That was what Katie wanted to hear.

Katie leaned in to see what was going on when she and McGaven first arrived. She watched as they entered the bar and then when Katie lifted the hotel keycard. Over several cameras in different areas, the detectives saw themselves chase the man in real time: from the moment Katie entered the stairwell, to when the man first entered the second-to-last room on the seventh floor, and then the intense hunting and waiting from the detectives before the man jumped, followed shortly by Katie’s plunge.

Katie realized how insane her jump was as she watched herself. Her obsession with getting the killer had almost got her killed. It stopped her ice-cold. That woman who went after the perpetrator without hesitation for her own life made Katie see that she was on a slippery slope of no return.

She looked up to see McGaven and the two security guards staring at her. It wasn’t with respect—it was more of concern and disbelief.

“What about after he ran off from the pool?” she said, hoping their disapproving stares would go away.

“He took the parking garage route and then disappeared, hitting the street, where no other camera was tracking him.”

Katie was disappointed. She also realized she didn’t want to see that look in her partner’s eyes ever again. She had failed him and put him in danger—she could not live with that. She was going to do everything she could to gain that trust back.

The manager entered. He was tall with slicked blond hair wearing a very expensive suit. “Are you the detectives?”

McGaven stepped forward and introduced them.

“Are you responsible for this?” he pointed his index finger at the freeze-frame of the dives.

“The cameras don’t lie,” said Katie.

“You think this is funny?”

“Definitely not,” she said.

McGaven gave her a look that suggested she back off. It was unusual for him to do that.

“Are we good on the footage?” she asked the security team.

“Yep,” said Randall. He handed her a thumb drive. “If you need anything else, let us know.”

“Thank you.”

“We are after a very dangerous man and—” started McGaven.

“I have sympathy for your plight, but next time you need to have your presence cleared by management before any of this type of heroics,” said the manager. “We don’t tolerate this type of behavior.”

“Thank you for your discretion,” said McGaven.

“I will have to report you.”

“Do what you have to do. We will continue to do what we have to in order to catch a killer.” McGaven paused as he towered over the manager to make his point.

The detectives left.

Katie didn’t know what to say as they walked in silence to the parking garage.

“I’ll take this back to the department. Maybe John can make the images clearer,” McGaven said.