Chapter 46
“Why would he be going downtown?” Jackie asked while she braced her feet against the floorboard and clung to the door handle to keep from flipping across into Nick’s lap. They were losing ground again on Shelby and Drake, who continued to pull corners at speeds defying physical laws. There had been four wrecks thus far, and more to come if the bastard was going to drive like that through the heart of Chicago’s downtown. Traffic there never really died down.
“No idea. We never detected him over here, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some other place arranged to keep the girl.”
“We’ve got him tracked on air and ground now. He won’t be pulling a vanishing act this time,” Jackie said, but she didn’t sound sure even to herself. “Someone is going to get killed with this kind of chase. You should call off Shelby. Maybe that will slow him down.”
“She won’t listen to me. You want to tell her?” A bus slammed its brakes as the Escalade and BMW turned a corner in front of it. Sparks went up from the motorcycle as some part of it scraped the asphalt. The bus continued its skid, and Nick was forced to swerve around behind it.
“Goddamnit,” he said, barely muttering the words. He turned a one-eighty, facing the Porsche the other way, and sent it over the corner sidewalk, behind the light posts and in front of the doorway to a corner office building.
“Fuck! You’re going to kill someone!” Jackie yelled at him.
He slammed on the breaks a moment later, the car coming to a halt halfway down the block. “Don’t worry about my driving. I won’t hit anyone.”
Jackie noticed a second later why Nick had come to a stop. “Where did they go?”
She had no time to consider the options, however. The screeching sound of tires to their left answered the question. An alleyway in the middle of the block disappeared into blackness. The Porsche backed up to where they could see down the narrow street, and Jackie saw-just as Nick did-the looming specter of red eyes rushing at them from the darkness. He threw the car into reverse, gunning the engine, but the reaction came a split second too late as the Escalade bounced across the street and clipped the front of the Porsche, spinning it back around in the opposite direction. Nick swore under his breath and continued to back up, this time toward the escaping taillights of the SUV as it gunned off down the street once again.
When he spun the car back around, Jackie watched the Escalade turn the next corner without the pursuing motorcycle. On top, clinging to the luggage rack of the Escalade, was Shelby’s black, leather-clad form.
“Jesus. She’s on the fucking roof.” Jackie dialed up Gamble, but aerial recon had apparently already informed him. “I’m going to arrest her after this is done. She’s a damn civilian. She can’t do this shit.”
“If anyone has a chance to break up his plan right now, it’s her,” Nick said and gunned the Porsche back down the street after them.
The Escalade, two blocks ahead, turned short of the next intersection and disappeared from view. Nick slowed as he approached, and Jackie noticed that the last half of the block was comprised of a large multistoried parking structure. Above, a helicopter flew low overhead, and down at the intersection, four federal cars skidded to a halt to block passage.
Jackie keyed in to Gamble again. “Hostage team on standby?”
“They’re coming in,” he replied. “Fifteen minutes probably.”
“Shit, Gamble. That better be enough.”
“Let’s keep him busy then.”
Jackie hung up. “Could this be some kind of trap?”
“If you want out, say so right now,” Nick said quickly. “I’m going up there.”
“Go,” she replied before thinking about it. The three seconds of conversation could have just blown their chance.
The Porsche wheeled into the garage even as she said it, heading in and up the spiral ramp. Above, Jackie heard the sound of squealing tires. The Escalade was still going up. She clutched the door handle while Nick had the Porsche skidding its way up the levels. She wanted to get her gun out, but she was afraid to reach for it and lose her grip. After eight dizzying circles, Nick launched out onto the upper deck and brought the car to a sliding stop.
Halfway across the upper lot, the Escalade stood for a moment in the pale light of an overhead lamp. She noticed the back window had been knocked out. Where was Shelby? An instant later, two flashes went off inside the Escalade in quick succession. Jackie’s heart jumped a beat before she opened the door. Nick opened the glove box and pulled out a gun very similar to her own. He stepped out, crouching behind the protection of the front of the car. Jackie climbed over the driver seat and got out next to Nick, just in time to hear the tires screeching once again.
“Damnit!”
“Tires,” Nick said, taking aim with his pistol braced across the top of the hood. “Shoot for the tires.”
“There’s a little girl in there, you idiot.” She kicked at Nick, whose first shot went firing harmlessly off into the night sky. “What are…?” Her voice trailed off when she realized why Nick was shooting.
The Escalade did not turn around. It didn’t turn at all. It just kept going, accelerating until it hit the concrete barrier another fifty yards away at the far end of the lot. It had to be going forty by then, maybe more, but that small detail was lost on Jackie as she watched the concrete wall explode outward in a shower of rock and rebar.
For a moment, it hung there, suspended on the edge of nothing, and Jackie began to run, not truly believing what she was seeing. Then the SUV tipped forward, its back end swinging up toward the sky, and it dropped toward the street below.
Chapter 47
Nick let his head slump forward until his forehead rested on the warm hood of his car. The air shook a moment later with the thunderous boom of the Escalade exploding in the street below. He let out a long, slow sigh. “Shit.”
Drake and Shelby were gone. He could no longer feel their presence in this world. Drake no doubt had popped back over to the other side before impact. Shelby and the girl, on the other hand… Why? Why kill the little girl? It made no sense. He would have wanted to drain her, show Nick the body, and drag him through the end like a long, torturous fingernail pull. Had they really ruined whatever plans Drake had? The whole chase seemed too contrived, too over the top. It had to be a show. So what had happened?
Nick looked up and watched Jackie finish her walk to the edge of the parking platform. She thrust her hands into her pockets, looking down. She looked back toward him for a moment and then back toward the street. Don’t worry, Jackie. That should be the last bit of death bloodying these old hands.
The sound of squealing tires came up behind, and Nick stood up, putting his gun into his pocket. One of the cars stopped beside him while the other cruised on toward Jackie. Nick didn’t bother to look at who stepped out of the car, but he recognized the voice.
“Hey,” Gamble said. “Nick?”
“What?” His voice came out low and harsh. He was not in the mood to discuss anything. “Need a statement or something?”
“No. Just making sure everything was okay up here.”
Nick turned and glared down at Gamble, who shrunk back away from his car window. “Peachy. Unless you need me to make one, think I’m going to go home.”
“I’ll call you if we need you to come in,” Gamble said. “Jackie all right?”
“She’ll be okay. Don’t be surprised if Drake’s body isn’t down there.”
“What?”
“He’ll have vanished like before. I’m almost positive.”
“So he’s still out there somewhere?”
Nick shrugged. “Somewhere.” He opened the door to his car and sat down in the seat. The air had become particularly heavy. “I’ll be at home. You have my number.”