The guy was on his feet and through the door in a few seconds. Fiske finally lurched up and raced to the door, holding his shoulder. He heard feet clattering down the steps. He hustled after the man and heard the front door to the building crash open. Ten seconds later Fiske was out on the street. He looked right and left. A horn blew.
Sara rolled down her window and pointed to the right. Fiske sprinted hard through the rain in that direction and turned the corner. Sara put the car in gear, but had to wait for two cars to pass, and then she spun rubber after him. She turned the corner, raced down the next block but didn’t see anyone. She backed the car up and turned down another side street, and then another, growing more and more frantic. She let out a shriek of relief when she saw Fiske in the middle of the street, sucking in air.
She jumped out of the car and ran over to him.
“John, thank God you’re okay.”
Fiske was furious that the man had gotten away. He stomped around in tight circles. “Dammit! Shit!”
“What the hell was that all about?”
Fiske calmed down. “Bad guys one, good guys zip.”
Sara put an arm around his waist and walked him over to the car. She eased him into it. Then she climbed in the driver’s side and they started off. “You need to see a doctor.”
“No! It’s just a stinger. Did you see the guy?”
Sara shook her head. “Not really. He came out so fast, I thought it was you.”
“My size? Distinguishing clothing? White, black?”
Sara thought hard for a moment, trying to visualize what she had seen. “I don’t know about his age. He was close to your size. He had on dark clothing and a mask, I think.” She sighed. “It happened so fast. Where was he?”
“In the pantry. I didn’t hear him on my first pass through, but I heard the floor squeak on my way back out.” He rubbed his shoulder. “And now comes the hard part.” He picked up her cell phone and pulled a business card from his wallet. “Telling Chandler what just happened.”
Fiske paged Chandler and the detective called back a few minutes later. When Fiske told him what he had done, he had to hold the phone away from his ear.
“Slightly upset?” Sara asked.
“Yeah, like Mount Saint Helens slightly erupted.” Fiske brought the receiver back to his ear. “Look, Buford — ”
“What the hell were you thinking, doing something that stupid?” yelled Chandler. “You were a cop.”
“That’s how I was thinking. Like I was still a cop.”
“Well, you’re not a damn cop anymore.”
“Do you want the description of the guy or not?”
“I’m not finished with you yet.”
“I know, but there’s plenty of me to go around.”
“Give me the damn description,” Chandler said.
After Fiske finished, Chandler said, “I’ll get a squad car over there right now to secure it, and I’ll request a tech team ASAP to go over the place.”
“My brother’s briefcase wasn’t at his apartment. Was it in his car?”
“No, I told you we found no personal items.”
Fiske looked at Sara. “Is the briefcase in his office? I don’t remember seeing it. Or his laptop computer.”
She shook her head. “I don’t remember seeing the briefcase. And he usually didn’t bring his laptop to work, since we all have desktops.”
Fiske spoke back into the phone. “Looks like his briefcase is missing. And so is his computer; I found the power cord to it.”
“Did the guy maybe have either of the items on him?”
“He was empty-handed. I know. He clocked me good with one of those empty hands.”
“Okay, so we got a missing briefcase, missing laptop and a dumb-as-shit ex-police officer who I’ve got half a mind to arrest right this instant.”
“Come on, you guys already towed my car.”
“Put Ms. Evans on the line.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Fiske handed the phone over to a perplexed Sara.
“Yes, Detective Chandler?” she said, nervously twirling a strand of her hair.