“Every family’s different. My folks didn’t give a shit when I went to bed.”
Just then a man in a button-down plaid shirt and slacks came into the girl’s room. He spoke to the mother a long while and then tucked the girl into bed and kissed her goodnight. The adults left the room together and turned off the lights.
“All’s good here,” Gunn said. “Can we go now?”
“Henry had his hair done. Let’s wait a minute.”
Gunn sighed but didn’t say anything. He ruffled through some papers and magazines in the backseat and came out with a Sports Illustrated. He read silently by the light of the streetlamps while Stanton kept his eyes on the house. A few lights went on and off minutes later. He saw the wife in a bathrobe go into a bathroom. The man came to the door and said a few things before grabbing his keys in the kitchen and disappearing from view around a corner.
“You ever smoked weed, Jon? I mean as like a kid ‘cause I know you got the Bible up your ass right now.”
“No.”
“I think you would really like weed. It would mellow you out. Hey, so I’m going skydivin’ tomorrow. You in?”
“I’ve never been.”
“What better time to go? I know you love surfin’ but wait until you get up in the air. I got my instructor’s certificate so you can just tandem with me. Come on, I’m not takin’ no for an answer.”
“Do we have to spend money?”
“What the fuck kinda question is that? Why do you have to be so weird all the time?”
“It’s the Sabbath. I’m not spending money on the Sabbath.”
“Holy shit. All right, Jon Stanton, I swear to you that you will not have to spend any money tomorrow on a Sunday. Ever. I however am going to get drunk after the jump and get into some pussy.”
“You’re a true gentleman. Hey, there he is.”
Henry’s garage opened and his car turned on, the brake lights lighting up the dark a deep red. The car, a Subaru, pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. Stanton instinctively ducked down as Gunn did the same, bringing up the magazine over his face as if that would help.
Gunn turned the car on a few moments later and they flipped around. Stanton could see the Subaru up ahead. It turned right at an intersection after coming to a complete stop. Gunn sped up and kept close, running lights and stop signs to keep up.
The Subaru stopped at a gas station and Gunn parked across the street. Henry leaned against the door of his car as he filled his tank with gas.
“Weird lookin’ fucker,” Gunn said.
“Why?”
“I don’t know, just looks weird.”
“You’re just sayin’ that now ‘cause of what you know. Otherwise you wouldn’t notice him if you walked past him.”
“He doesn’t look gay.”
“What does someone gay look like?”
“I don’t know. Skinny, dressed well, not fat. This guy looks like a fucking lumberjack.”
Henry got back into his car and pulled out of the gas station and continued down the road. Gunn followed. Stanton kept his eyes glued to the car, trying to see if Henry was glancing into his rearview or side mirrors. It was too dark and they had put a lot of distance between them. It was impossible to see.
“So what’d your girlfriend think of Benny’s report?”
“She won’t look at it.”
“Why not?”
“I honestly don’t know. I don’t think she likes cops.”
“Oh, good. I’m sure you guys will be happy together.”
“What about you? I heard you were-Stephen.”
“I see it.”
Henry had gunned it through a red light, forcing them to blare their horn when they went through as a truck had to slam on its brakes and swerve to avoid a collision. Gunn went into the opposite lane and oncoming traffic was scattering like insects at his approach. He tapped his brakes and twisted into the right lane and floored the accelerator.
“What the fuck!” Gunn shouted.
“He made us. Don’t lose him.”
“I won’t.”
The Subaru sped through a stop sign and then angled right, just barely missing a couple that was crossing the street. The tires were screeching and it looked like it was about to tip but the brake lights never came on.
Gunn made the same turn and went up on the sidewalk as the couple was still in the street. Several people had to jump out of his way before he could get the car back onto the road. The Subaru was still racing ahead. It ran another red light and caused a collision between two sedans. Gunn swerved around them.
“He’s heading to the freeway,” Stanton said. He called dispatch, giving the make and model of the Subaru and the direction they were heading. He asked for a chopper and dispatch told him that both choppers were occupied but they’d get one there as fast as possible.
The on-ramp was clear and the Subaru sped up and quickly merged, getting over two lanes before Gunn had even made it past the on-ramp.
“Get to the left lane,” Stanton said.
A semi was behind them and Gunn kept trying to get over and the semi would speed up. Gunn blared his horn and flipped him off. The driver kept speeding up so Gunn took out his firearm and held it out the window. The semi immediately slowed down and Gunn got over two lanes.
The freeway was busy but not congested. The Subaru was up ahead maybe sixty feet. It was darting in and out of oncoming traffic. It was in the far left lane and it suddenly twisted violently to the right as it tried to maneuver into another lane and it spun all the way around before crossing three lanes of traffic and crashing into a barrier.
“We got him,” Gunn said.
The door opened and Henry got out, blood leaking down from a cut on his forehead. He ran into traffic and nearly got clipped by a mini-van before jumping over the railing and down a slope.
Gunn hit his brakes in front of the Subaru and the two men leaped out and started running. Gunn was over the railing without looking and Stanton took a moment to catch sight of Henry who was racing down the hill. Stanton hopped the railing and followed them. Gunn was yelling, “Police!” but Henry wasn’t slowing down.
Out a hundred feet or so were some abandoned buildings. They had been used as factories and warehouses and went bust years ago when the real estate market bottomed out. Now they sat vacant, too expensive to rent and too much of a hassle to buy.
The first building was maybe six stories. It was rusted and broken down with graffiti and boarded up windows. Henry swung open the door and ran inside, Gunn right after him. Stanton pulled out his Desert Eagle and followed.
The interior smelled like burnt oil and dust. Henry’s and Gunn’s footfalls were so loud that it felt like they shook the building. It was too dark to see where they were; the only light was the moon coming in through the broken windows, but Stanton could hear them a floor above him now. He took out a penlight and saw some stairs at the far side of the room he was in.
The stairs creaked and shook as he took them two at a time. He saw Henry on the far side of the space running up another set of stairs to the next floor. Gunn was right behind him, no more than twenty feet. Stanton sprinted for them but by the time he got to the next set of stairs they were already heading to the next floor. But he could hear the wheezing and the swearing. Henry was tiring.
“I got you motherfucker!” Gunn bellowed through the warehouse. A loud crash and a scream.
Stanton raced to the other set of stairs and to the next floor. He put his penlight in his teeth and went gun first along the railing. He saw a mass of movement in front of him and saw Henry on his back as Gunn was punching him in the face.
“That’s enough,” Stanton said. “We got him.”
Gunn struck him several more times and then stood up, shaking his fist, which was now covered in blood. “Faggot bit me.”
“Let me see.” Stanton shone his light on Gunn’s hand. There were indentations of teeth, but they didn’t break the skin. “You’ll be okay.”
Before Stanton could stop him, Gunn kicked Henry so hard he twisted to his side and vomited. Stanton grabbed him, pinning him against the railing.