“What do you want me to do? Rip their arms out?”
“I expect you to do more than talk!”
Sheriff Allen somehow managed to maintain a calm, level voice. “The only way I see that we’re going to get through this barricade is to get some sledgehammers and take out these barrels. And we can’t do that now, after dark. It’s going to have to wait for tomorrow, if I can get enough men together, or Monday, most likely.”
“Goddamn it!” The driver yanked off his cap and threw it to the ground. “I’m so sick of these sanctimonious pricks screwing up our work. They think they can get away with anything!”
“Sir, please remain calm.”
“I’m sick of it. Sick! Sick of the law looking the other way. They’re not scared of anything. Because time and time again, they get away with it.”
Sheriff Allen reached out. “Sir, why don’t you come with me-”
The driver slapped his hand away. “Goddamn it, if you won’t put some fear into these people, I will.”
“Sir, please.”
The driver didn’t listen. He turned and went running back to his truck.
“Sir? I can’t allow-”
Allen’s voice was drowned out by the roar of the semi’s engine. A moment later, his headlights came on, glaring into Maureen’s eyes.
“Oh my God,” Maureen whispered.
She could see the driver’s face through the windshield, could see the crazed determined look in his eyes.
“No. Please no.”
Sheriff Allen ran toward the truck, screaming and shouting, waving his gun in the air. It made no difference.
The driver wasn’t listening. He was oblivious to outside interference. There was only one thing on his mind now-as he shifted into first gear and pressed down on the accelerator.
Chapter 60
Ben felt his knees shaking, which in turn caused his body to begin trembling. He willed his body to stop, but unfortunately it wasn’t listening.
“Pretty dumb,” Vincenzo said. His lips were curled in an exceedingly unpleasant expression. “Coming out to a dark alley alone.”
Ben took a deep breath. “I wasn’t expecting trouble.”
“You’re running around town accusin’ me of some murder, and you weren’t expectin’ trouble? You must be some kind of stupid.”
“I’m just a lawyer.” Ben was trying to keep his voice even, without much luck. Ben wondered how long it would take Vincenzo to cripple him. The time would be measured in seconds. “I’m trying to defend my client.”
“I got no problem with that,” Vincenzo said. The scar above his eye seemed to throb as he spoke. “But when you started trying to pin the rap on me, that’s when you screwed up.” He poked a finger in Ben’s chest. “Big-time.”
“I know you’re behind the new designer drug here in Magic Valley,” Ben said. Flapping his mouth could get him killed, he realized, but he had to try to get some information out of this man while he had the chance. “I know you had contact with Dwayne Gardiner.”
“Is that so?”
“And I know you went after my investigator.”
Vincenzo’s head twitched. “How is he, anyway?”
“He’s fine, no thanks to you.” Ben checked both sides of the alley. If only someone would happen by-like a cop. If only Christina would come zooming up in a getaway car to rescue him. But none of that was likely to happen. He was on his own. “What is it you want from me?”
“I want you to keep your mouth shut!” he barked.
“And if I don’t?”
Vincenzo stepped even closer. His head hovered just above Ben’s. “There is no ‘if you don’t,’ Kincaid. Either you stop talking about me, or you stop talking-period!”
“I have an obligation to my client,” Ben said, breathing fast. “I won’t back away from anything that might save his life.” He raised his chin. “So if you’re planning to kill me, go ahead and get it over with.”
Vincenzo’s neck and shoulders throbbed and pulsated. His face twisted up with rage. He looked as if at any moment he might boil over and explode.
Ben clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the first blow to land.
And then all at once, Vincenzo’s rage seemed to dissipate. He stepped away from Ben.
By the time Ben had his eyes open again, he was startled to see Vincenzo was laughing.
“Damn, Kincaid, you really are a tough customer, aren’t you?” He laughed again, then slapped Ben on the shoulder.
Ben was so surprised he didn’t know what to do or say. “Does this-does this mean you’re not going to kill me?”
Vincenzo shook his head and smiled. “Relax, Kincaid. I’m a cop.”
“No,” Maureen gasped, under her breath. “It isn’t possible …”
But it was. As she watched, horror-stricken, chained to the cement barrel, the man driving the truck shifted into first gear and started toward them. And he was only a hundred feet away.
“Stop!” Sheriff Allen shouted. The rain had picked up, and he and the loggers were getting drenched. “Stop right now!”
But the driver didn’t stop. Maureen doubted if he could hear over the roar of his own engine. And she doubted if it would have made any difference if he could.
Deirdre screamed. She was just to the right of Maureen, so the scream was piercing and startling. Maureen would’ve jumped a foot-if she hadn’t been anchored in place. Trapped like a fly in amber.
“He’ll stop short,” Maureen said, trying to calm the rest. “He’s just trying to scare us. He’ll stop.”
But he didn’t stop. He kept inching forward. Fifty feet, then forty, then thirty, gaining speed all the way …
As the truck careened forward, Maureen could see the expression on the face of the driver. He was wild-eyed, excited. Enjoying himself. And going faster by the second …
“No!” Deirdre shouted.
“Brake now,” Maureen yelled. “Now, or it’ll be too late.”
A moment later, they heard the sound of the driver hitting his air brakes. But the truck didn’t stop.
The front left wheels hit a slick mud slide, a road hazard created by the fresh rain. Despite the hissing of the brakes, the truck continued to careen forward, gaining speed from its own momentum.
Time seemed to slow for Maureen. Even though she knew everything that followed occurred in the blink of an eye, it seemed like a long, protracted horror, like a nightmare that wouldn’t end.
“No!” Deirdre shouted. “Please, God, no!”
Sheriff Allen, standing in front of the barricade, waved his hat and fired into the air. It did no good. The other loggers scrambled for cover, desperate to get out of the way. At the last possible moment Sheriff Allen dived to the side of the road.
Through the windshield, the driver appeared frantic. He jerked the steering wheel to the left, almost jackknifing the truck. But still the cab continued moving forward, coasting on the slick mud. It veered left, aiming toward the side of the road.
But it was too little, too late. The truck would miss the dead center, but was certain to clip the left side …
Where Doc was chained down between two cement barrels.
Maureen saw Doc’s eyes fly open, his lips part. But he was too scared to scream.
Maureen clenched her eyes shut. She did not want to see, and she didn’t. But hearing was almost as bad. She heard the squealing of tires, the hissing of air brakes, followed by the sound of a huge semi impacting on a man’s body, the sickening popping sound as the body was ripped away from its arms, the crunching sound as the body was ground under the truck’s huge wheels.
The horrible thud after what was left of the body was spit out the back and flung seven feet across on the dirt road.
“Doc!” Deirdre kept screaming, over and over again. “Doc!”
But there was no answer.
Chapter 61
“A cop?” Ben said incredulously. “You?”
Vincenzo nodded. “DEA agent, actually.”
“But … but … I thought-”
“You thought what you were supposed to think. What we wanted you to think.”