Final Victim

Chapter 15

Malavida saw his opening when he first scanned the building graphics on the Hoyt Tower computer, but he wasn't quite sure how to use it. He knew Lockwood was sharp and had a tender ear for bullshit. Malavida figured this was going to be his only chance to escape, but he had a few problems to solve: First, he had to get the handcuff key out of Lockwood's pocket and into a place where he could get at it; second, he had to lure Lockwood, Karen, and the two Atlanta patrol officers into the file room he'd spotted on the sixth floor. Fortunately, Detective Stiner had been forced to leave on another call. The question was how best to do it. He had been turning over the problem in his mind for almost an hour while he'd worked with Lockwood and Karen, uncovering potential clues the killer had left in the Atlanta building's computer. He knew he could send the security system a time-delayed command, but once he set events in motion, the timetable would be critical and there would be no turning back. Half an hour ago, he'd started to write a pirate program that would accomplish his plan. It was now almost complete, but time was short. He could see that Lockwood was getting ready to pull out. In the last hour, the Customs agent had become restless. That could work to Malavida's advantage. He knew that once they were on a plane headed to Washington, his chances of escape would diminish drastically. All of these things were playing in his mind when God stepped in and changed the flight schedule.

The electrical storm which had been hovering at the edge of the horizon all night finally rolled back in and pelted the eight o'clock traffic with BB-sized hailstones. A thick cold front moved in behind the storm and buried Atlanta in a blanket of fog. Lockwood called the airport, but it was closed. The agent was staring morosely out the window at the gray soup, unable to even see the drugstore across the street. His body language indicated that he was in a different place. Jumpiness had been replaced with an uninterested calm. Malavida knew now was the best time to try his escape. He hit Enter on his computer, then surreptitiously uploaded his pirate program into the building's host computer.

"Gotta go to the bathroom, Jefe," he said softly.

Lockwood continued staring out the window at the thick fogbank. "One of the patrolmen will take you," he said, not turning from the window.

"You gotta uncuff me."

That got Lockwood's attention. The Fed turned from the window and looked at Malavida.

"Not very damn likely," he said, his voice flat as an Iowa landscape.

Malavida leaned forward. "Gotta shit, man. How'm I supposed to do that with these on, huh? Dumb and Dumber over there can cover me while I take care a'business," he said, indicating the two Atlanta cops.

Lockwood was not paying very close attention to Malavida's request. His mind was replaying the dark fugue of self-destruction he had orchestrated for himself.

"Come on, man… What's with you?"

"One of you guys go with him," Lockwood finally said to the two Atlanta cops as he pulled the handcuff key out of his pocket and moved over and unlocked the bracelets.

Malavida got up and stretched elaborately. He had deliberately left his computer on. The screen showed a computer graphic of the sixth floor, which included the windowless steel-doored file room he had found. He assumed it was part of the building's management complex. His pirate program had now pre-set his commands into the Hoyt Tower security computer. He had given it a fifteen-second delay from the time the computer in the file room was accessed. He hoped that would be enough time. Now all he had to do was lure all of them up there and activate the plan. That was going to be the tricky part.

The taller of the two Atlanta patrolmen got to his feet and accompanied Malavida as he went into the lobby in search of the men's room. It was ten to nine on Monday morning and the building was now filling with employees of Cavanaugh and Cunningham. They got off the elevator like reluctant children, talking in low, tense voices as they moved to their desks and set down briefcases and purses. Candice's murder had been on all the weekend TV newscasts. The employees looked around, their eyes darting over Lockwood, Karen, and the one remaining Atlanta cop. Then, with hooded glances, they looked for the spot on the floor where Candice Wilcox had made her last stand.

The men's room on the fourth floor was a white tile rectangle, over-lit with bright fluorescents. The police officer watched, demanding Malavida leave the stall door open as he dropped his pants and sat on the toilet.

"Can I take your order, please?" Malavida smiled at the cop, who stared back at him as if he'd not spoken.

After he'd finished and washed his hands, they headed back to Cavanaugh and Cunningham. The short patrolman told Lockwood they had to get moving, and Lockwood nodded. He turned to put the cuffs back on. Malavida tried to avoid him, suddenly leaning forward with feigned interest, staring at his computer screen. "Son of a bitch," he said, convincingly.

"Put your hands out," Lockwood barked, grabbing his wrist and cuffing him.

"Look't this… How could I've missed this?" Malavida went on undeterred. He was eyeballing the computer graphic on the screen.

"What is it?" Karen asked as she moved across the room through the gawking employees of Cavanaugh and Cunningham, who were still looking on in dismay and sorrow.

"What is it?" Lockwood asked, staring at the graphic on the screen, the handcuff key, forgotten for the moment, in his hand.

"This guy went into the file room. See this here…" Malavida pointed at the security entry/exit logs for the file room that were displayed on the screen. "This room on six was opened around ten-thirty that same night. That would have been just around the time of the murder."

They leaned in and looked at the columns of time logs on the screen. Malavida had accessed the daytime logs on the file room for the previous Thursday. He had found a 10:30 A. M. entry and was pointing at it, hoping desperately that they would not look at the top of the screen, where the wrong date and daytime listings appeared.

Thursday, April 11, A. M. Personnel Traffic Log

It was the only listing he could find for a 10:30 entry into the file room. "Maybe this guy wasn't wearing gloves when he went in there," Malavida volunteered.

"Why would he go into this file room?" Lockwood pondered.

"Why? Is that the question, Zanzo?" Malavida shook his head in disbelief. "We ain't exactly dealing with a normal wiring diagram. This guy's got his clock wound backwards. He kills these women and then joints 'em, remember?"

He was trying to keep Lockwood distracted, hoping he wouldn't discover the deception. The Customs agent was staring at the screen.

"Let's go take a look," Karen finally said. "If he's right, there might be some trace evidence in there."

Lockwood hunched forward, looking at the computer, his brow furrowed. "It's a file room," he said slowly. "What could be in there that he'd want?"

"Names of other victims, employee records?" Karen suggested. "You sure he was in there?" Lockwood looked at Malavida.

"Not positive. Maybe it was the security guard went in. But somebody was in there just before the murder."

"Let's look," Karen repeated. "We can't get out of this town anyway. Airport's closed."

The file room on the sixth floor was salvaged space that had been gleaned from the interior wall configuration. It was a long, narrow room that got wider as it went toward the back wall. There was a gray metal desk at the front of the room with a computer on it to access files. The walls of the room housed file cabinets for computer disks and metal racks that were being used for stationery storage. Malavida knew from the two hours that he'd already spent working on the host computer that the file room terminal was hooked into the building's network. He reached out his manacled hands and turned on the computer. His plan was now only seconds from going into action. His pirate program had left a command with the host computer, which had already accepted him as its root. It had reprogrammed everything he asked. His program also told the host to activate the security locks on the sixth-floor file room fifteen seconds after the computer was logged on. He had also instructed the host computer to lock out the file room terminal from access to the building's computer net for the next hour. That would keep Karen Dawson, with her limited hacking skill, from getting the door unlocked. He had also instructed the host to turn off the phone, keeping his pnsoners incommunicado.

He had the computer booted up and, while Karen and Lockwood were walking the room looking for evidence, and while the two Atlanta cops standing behind him were looking at their watches, Malavida logged in to the host, triggering his pirate program. His escape plan was now fifteen seconds from activation. He had no wristwatch to keep track of the seconds, so slowly he began to count them, being careful not to let his adrenaline speed him up. If he went early, it could end in disaster. One thousand one, one thousand two, he counted in his head.

"We gotta get outta here. We're gonna miss EOW," the tall cop said, referring to his shift's end-of-watch. "Is this gonna take much longer?"

"I'll be damned. Look't this, I found something," Malavida said to the two patrolmen, who, after a second, moved forward sluhly and looked at the screen without interest.

"What?" they said simultaneously, both staring blankly at a monitor crowded full of time logs.

One thousand seven, one thousand eight, one thousand nine…

The cops were on both sides of him now, looking at the gibberish on the screen. Lockwood and Karen were walking back toward him, only fifteen feet away. One thousand ten, one thousand eleven, and Malavida suddenly lunged to his right, hitting the tall cop with his shoulder, shoving him into a file cabinet. Then he lunged left, knocking the other startled policeman off balance. He turned and bolted for the door. One thousand twelve. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lockwood going for his gun, but Malavida already knew he was a free man. One thousand thirteen. Once out of the file room, he grabbed the metal door. One thousand fourteen. He slammed it shut. "One thousand fifteen!" he shouted and he heard the electronic security locks buzz shut. Then Lockwood was pounding on the door. "Get fucked, asshole," Malavida shouted through the thick metal; then he moved quickly to the elevator. He went back down to four, into Cavanaugh and Cunningham, and over to Candice's computer. While the startled employees looked on in disbelief, with cuffed hands he picked up Karen Dawson's purse, pulled out her wallet, and removed several hundred dollars in cash plus one credit card. Then he looked at the roomful of openmouthed employees.

"I'm sorry about your friend," he announced. "Somebody will catch the animal who killed her."

They murmured back at him in stunned agreement; then he leaned down and typed a message on the screen, sent it into the building's computer net, shut off the computer, picked up his cracking kit, and left.

In the file room, Lockwood had given up on the door and turned back to the computer. Karen slammed down the phone in disgust. "Phone's off," she growled.

"That son of a bitch lured us up here and set those locks to go off.

Damn," Lockwood said. But for some reason, he felt no anger. He knew that his career at U. S. Customs was over. He had missed his IA review and now, more importantly, he had lost a prner whom he'd released illegally. It was a simmering pork stew, and he had the apple in his mouth. From now on, it would turn into a familiar feast where his bones would be picked clean, like carrion. Internal Affairs Inspectors would all march solemnly to his final trial board. Waiting at the end of this sit-down dinner would be certain dismissal and disgrace. Old friends would stare expressionless, while the music of defeat played.

Lockwood could not manage to feel anything. Was this what he'd been hoping for?

Then the computer gave off a series of beeps. On the screen, in irritating bold caps, came Malavida's message:

LOCKWOOD:

.