“The woman’s been lucky,” said Al. He’d be patient, but only to a point.
“I don’t buy that,” said Heberling. “Now tell me, do you have any idea where she is at this moment?”
“I’m not positive,” admitted Al.
“Meaning you’ve lost her,” snapped Heberling. “Well, I can tell you where she’s been. She’s seen Dr. Krause and scared him shitless. Now we’re afraid she’s planning to visit the other PAC officers. Dr. Tieman’s the most vulnerable. I’ll worry about the other physicians. I want you and your orangutans to get your asses to San Francisco. See if she’s there, and whatever you do, don’t let her get to Tieman.”
16
May 24
IT WAS JUST BEGINNING to get light as Al followed Jake and George down the jetway to San Francisco’s central terminal. They’d taken an American flight that first stopped for an hour and a half at Dallas, then was delayed in Las Vegas on what should have been a brief touchdown.
Jake was carrying the suitcase with the vaccination gun they’d used on Mehta. Al wondered if he looked as bad as his colleagues. They needed to shave and shower, and their previously sharply pressed suits were badly wrinkled.
The more Al thought about the current situation, the more frustrated he became. The girl could be in any one of at least four cities. And it wasn’t even a simple hit. If they did find her, they first had to get her to tell them where she’d hidden the vaccination gun.
Leaving Jake and George to get the luggage, he rented a car, using one of the several fake IDs he always carried. He decided the only thing they could do was stake out Tieman’s house. That way, even if they didn’t find the girl, she wouldn’t get to the doctor. After making sure he could get a car with a cellular phone, he spread out the map the girl at Budget had given him. Tieman lived in some out-of-the-way place called Sausalito. At least there wouldn’t be much traffic; it wasn’t even 7:00 A.M. yet.
The operator at the Fairmont placed Marissa’s wake-up call at 7:30 as she’d requested. Marissa had been lucky the night before. A small convention group had canceled out at the last minute, and she’d had no trouble getting a room.
Lying in bed waiting for her breakfast she wondered what Dr. Tieman would be like. Probably not much different from Krause: a selfish, greedy man whose attempt to protect his own wallet had gotten out of control.
Getting up, she opened the drapes to a breathtaking scene that included the Bay Bridge, the hills of Mann County, with Alcatraz Island looking like a medieval fortress in the foreground. Marissa only wished that she was visiting under more pleasant circumstances.
By the time she’d showered and wrapped herself in the thick white terry cloth robe supplied by the hotel, her breakfast had arrived, an enormous selection of fresh fruit and coffee.
Peeling a peach, she noticed they had given her an old-fashioned paring knife-wood handled and very sharp. As she ate, she looked at Tieman’s address and wondered if it wouldn’t be better to visit him at his office rather than at home. She was sure someone had contacted him after her visit to Dr. Krause, so she couldn’t count on really surprising the man. Under such conditions, it seemed safer to go to his office.
The Yellow Pages was in one of the desk drawers. Marissa opened it to Physicians and Surgeons, found Tieman’s name and noted that his practice was limited to OB-GYN.
Just to be certain the man was in town, Marissa dialed his office. The service operator said that the office didn’t open until eight-thirty. That was about ten minutes away.
Marissa finished dressing and dialed again. This time she got the receptionist, who told her the doctor wasn’t expected until three. This was his day for surgery at San Francisco General.
Hanging up, Marissa stared out at the Bay Bridge while she considered this new information. In some ways confronting Tieman in the hospital might even be better than at his office. It would certainly be safer if the doctor had any idea of trying to stop her himself.