"Adriana! Adriana De Soto, Open up, this is the police!" Commissioner Gordon bellowed, slamming his fist into the door.
There was no reply.
Gordon motioned to the officers holding a heavy cylindrical object resembling a battering ram. He sidestepped out of the way before allowing the men to charge forward, thrusting the weight of the cylinder and themselves against the door. It only took one solid hit to throw open the entrance to the loft, and soon the entire place was filled as officers poured in, scurrying around to secure the rooms.
Gordon was the last one to enter the home. He looked around as each of his men stated the rooms clear one by one. Gordon swore under his breath as the last room was cleared and slammed his palm against the table.
She had taken off.
"Sir!" One of the officers in the bedroom waved to Gordon. "We've got something here! You better come take a look at this!"
Gordon breezed past various policemen and headed into the room. The officer who called him pointed at the wall opposite the bed. Gordon grew numb as his eyes scanned the wall. It was covered with articles, photos, magazines, everything imaginable. Four of the photos had been enlarged and were smeared everywhere with black paint. There were handprints on some faces, Gordon guessed Adriana must have gotten a little angry and hit the wall with paint on her hands.
The faces behind the smeared portraits were hard to see, but very clear once brought out into the light. They were the four murder victims.
Gordon, dumbstruck, stared at the pictures and shook his head. Adriana was the one targeting those men. She had it planned for so long. Gordon looked up and spotted another picture. This had Bruce Wayne's mug enclosed in a black circle.
She must not have had time to mark the victim's photo, or she had heard that he was still alive.
Gordon had to get this stuff. He picked up his phone and dialed frantically, listening as the dial tone hummed in his ear. After what felt like an eternity, there was a click and voice on the other line.
"Rachel Dawes, district attorney."
"Ms. Dawes? This is Commissioner Gordon. Listen to me. I need an emergency warrant now."
"Oh? What for, commissioner?"
"We found the girl who's been targeting those well-to-do men uptown."
"You caught her?"
Gordon sighed in frustration. "No, she took off before we got here. I really need this warrant. It needs to cover photos, papers, documents, computers, medicines or drugs, anything and everything that was involved in those murders."
Rachel hesitated on the other line, but Gordon could hear the gentle scritch-scratch of her pen.
"Alright sir, I will definitely try to get this warrant as soon as possible."
"No, please don't try. You have to get this warrant."
"Alright commissioner. I'll get it for you. Goodbye." Rachel murmured and hung up the phone.
Gordon stormed back to the main room of the home and looked around. Perhaps he missed something. Something out of the ordinary or something so small it would have been ignored.
As he searched, his eyes landed on the coffee table in front of the television. He frowned, spotting an overturned bowl of fruit on the ground, and crouched to get a better look at it. She must have been eating when she left. Recently. Gordon looked up at the table and spotted a napkin resting there, messy writing scrawled on it. He picked it up, holding it at eyelevel, and grimaced.
Gordon, long time no see. Well, actually, I'm not there to really see the look on you and your boys' faces when you look around my home. I expect you to be somewhat surprised.
I hope you find everything to be in order. I like to keep my house clean, so please do not mess it up.
Well, now that you have found out my little hobbies, what else can I say? It's been…real fun.
But don't worry, you'll hear more from me soon enough. Perhaps, if your lucky, you can track me down and we can just laugh about all that's happened.
Oh…one more thing. If you see him, tell the BAT that I'll be waiting. For him.
There was no signature. But Gordon knew Adriana had written it for him. He handed the napkin to another officer.
"Evidence. Get off fingerprints, DNA, anything you can, off of this."
"Yes sir."
Gordon stuck his hands in his pockets and sauntered over to the large window as it grew speckled with rain. He let out a long sigh when something suddenly caught his attention. He squinted, focusing on a dark figure looking across the street atop one of the various buildings there. Gordon turned to his comrades and hurried towards the door.
"You boys keep working. I gotta take a…uh…phone call."
"Sure thing boss."
Bruce was perched on an air duct on the roof, decked out in his full fledged bat-suit, watching as policemen scurried in and out of the building.
He knew Gordon had seen him and decided to make his way down the building to meet him below, waiting in the shadows.
Gordon stepped out of the building, searching around the street for Batman. He scratched his head, throwing it back to take a look at the large building in front of him, and cocked his head curiously. Where was he?
"So," a gruff, gravelly voice started, catching Gordon's ear, "I take it the girl isn't there?"
Gordon stepped towards the alley and saw the outline of someone standing in front of him.
"News travels fast I see…"
Batman stepped forward, his face mostly hidden in the shadows as he continued. "You looked pretty angry there…I only assumed she had taken the back door. Any idea to where?"
Gordon couldn't see him very well, but he could see the determined, hard look in his eyes. Too bad he knew less than Batman did.
"Hey, I'm as curious about it as you are. She's good, real good, at covering her whereabouts, although, she did leave enough evidence behind to convict herself twofold. A little messy if you ask me."
"Evidence? Like what?"
Gordon pinched the bridge of his nose, images circulating through is head. "She had photos of the men she killed in her room, as well as tons more pictures and articles. It's obvious she was targeting them. One of the victims, Bruce Wayne, wasn't marked yet, but you could see how she was hell-bent on getting that guy." Gordon shook his head sadly. "It's so strange…she's been practically nonexistent since her husband was—"
"Yeah. I know. I was there." Bruce snapped, cutting him off. He could see that night perfectly in his head. Almost a month ago. He hadn't noticed the officer behind him, or he wouldn't have stepped out of the line of fire. Batman masked his grimacing face with a deadpan look.
"Any clues to where she might be?"
"No. She's probably on a train to who-knows-where right now." Gordon paused, then held his chin. "But she did leave a note. She said she had to leave, but promised to continue making headlines." He stopped and looked up at Batman. "She mentioned you as well."
"Me?" Batman growled, taking a dangerous step forward. "What about me?"
Gordon's face crinkled as he grew deep in thought. "She said…she said she'd be "waiting for you"." Gordon shrugged. "That's all she gave me." He looked up again, but the Dark Knight had disappeared. Gordon stood in the rain as it sprinkled around him and shook his head. Of course. Every time he talked to that guy, he was left empty handed or stuck outside with nothing.
Bruce sped down the rain-slick streets, his face growing hard each time he echoed the thought of what Adriana had said in that note…
"I'll be waiting. For him."
Bruce slammed on the brakes, sending water spraying from the tires as he came to an abrupt stop and swerved into a dark alley.
No one ever…ever threatened him. Especially if she had tried to kill him once before.
He leaned back into his seat, listening to the patter of droplets on his car and closed his eyes. There had to be a way to find her. She had to be stopped.
'Think Bruce, think. Gordon said she's probably on a train by now…but if she said to keep looking for her in the news…no. She wouldn't back out now at the last second. From what I can see, she's in it for the long haul. Plus she's waiting for me. I don't think she'd run if she throws out something like that.' Bruce let out a snarl and slammed his fists against the steering wheel. 'So where can she be?'
He looked out the window of the vehicle and scowled. Slowly…ever so slowly, something began to emerge. He began piecing bits and pieces of the puzzle together. What Adriana was trying to do was get back at him. He knew the feeling, going to the trial of the man who killed his parents…He was focused on killing that man. He could almost sympathize with her. Almost.
Bruce ran a hand over the wheel and grimaced. "Then what about the poison? What was that for? It was either just a distraction for the police or…"
Bruce blinked. "Or…another way to get my attention." She had almost killed him as Bruce Wayne, drugging him and leaving him for dead. She was so meticulous about the other murders…why be so messy for this one? She was expecting him to drop dead and get more attention focused to catch her. She knew "Batman" wouldn't stand for the people of Gotham to be terrorized. She wanted him to catch her.
Bruce knew exactly where to go. She only had one last place where she could run to.
Her precious Carlos.