He looked out of the passenger side window, to the lush and well-tended lawn beside them. The sixty-one-year-old man inside was fine with a police presence sitting outside of his house, so long as they didnt knock on his door and want to ask him questions all of the time. Theyd spoken to him and the daughter that was caring for him and now they were just waiting for Stanhope to send a patrol car over to relieve them. It was yet another positive about Stanhope: he understood that the FBI were their guests and, as such, should not have their time wasted by surveillance tasks when there were cops available to do it.

So heres what Im thinking, Rachel said, tapping her ballpoint pen against the list. I think we can cross off anyone who is actively under protective custody. As of right now, that knocks eleven people off the list right awayas potential victims, anyway. I still say we need to consider the fact that if the killer is killing for someone else, the person they are killing for might not even know.

Good point. Also, according to Stanhopes last update, it could be as many as thirteen people within the hour. He and Brown dont have many men to work with, but the ones they do have are busting their collective asses.

Right. Now, I initially thought we could also cross off people that were currently in the hospital, but that isnt necessarily a safe bet.

Seems safe to me, Jack said. Why isnt it again?

It still seems like someone would need to have some sort of connection to a medical organization of some kind in order to be able to get the transplant list. Not only that, but it seems to me it would be a bit easier to take out people if you had them trapped in a hospital room.

I agree with all of that. But it conveniently ignores that none of the victims have been killed in a hospital.

No…but two of them were found outside of medical facilities.

Good point.

And thats why Im not fully prepared to take those people off of the list just yet.

She crossed out each name that had agreed to police protection and then circled the names of the victims. She read over each victim and tried to think of some way they might be linked. Also, she found it odd and refreshing that while in Jacks presence, she could look over the list and not be assaulted by the sorts of thoughts that had stormed through her head the previous nightthoughts of chemo and sickness, of trying to make a go of beating her cancer so Paige might have a chance at having a mother and a somewhat normal childhood.