Baxter fired again, more bullets searing down the street—
They hit the Hyundai’s tail as Adam flung the car around the corner, cutting off his line of fire. It would take the Suburbans several seconds to come about and rejoin the pursuit — but the government-issue SUVs were equipped with upgraded suspensions and more powerful engines than the standard civilian models. The station wagon stood no chance of outrunning them. And unlike the police, the STS pursuit team had direct access to his tracker, pinpointing his position.
No escape. And Baxter had fired not at the car, but its occupants. He had been given clear instructions.
Kill the fugitives.
Chapter 42
Field Surgery
A section of the video wall had been switched to the live feed from the UAV’s camera. The drone was still several blocks from its target, the view partially obscured by buildings — but enough of the street was visible to show flashes of fire coming from one of the Suburbans. ‘Whoa!’ exclaimed Kyle. ‘Are Baxter’s guys shooting at them?’
Tony rounded on Morgan. ‘Martin, what’s John doing?’ he demanded. ‘If he kills Adam and Bianca, we’ll never find out what the hell all this is about!’
Morgan hesitated uncomfortably before replying. ‘Orders from Harper. Use whatever force is necessary to take Adam down.’
‘Take him down — or take him out?’ Tony turned to Kiddrick. ‘What’s on that disk that’s worth killing him for?’
‘The contents of the disk are classified,’ Kiddrick said stiffly.
‘Even from Adam? How the hell can somebody’s own memories be kept a secret from them?’
‘We have our orders,’ said Morgan, face grim. ‘If Adam had surrendered immediately, it wouldn’t be necessary.’ He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself as much as anyone else.
Tony made a disgusted sound and looked back at the screens. All three Suburbans had rejoined the pursuit, panthers bearing down upon their smaller and weaker prey.
Bianca risked lifting her head enough to peer into the wing mirror. ‘Oh God! They’re catching up!’
‘Stay down,’ Adam warned her. But he couldn’t follow his own advice, needing to see the street ahead through the damaged windshield.
And that was not the only part of the Elantra that had suffered injury. He heard a piercing hiss from the engine compartment — steam escaping from the bullet-punctured radiator. The Hyundai was dying.
But he couldn’t stop. That would spell death for more than just the car.
Sirens ahead — several of them. Getting closer.
He looked in the mirror. The Suburbans were about two hundred yards behind, but quickly gaining. Without Holly Jo’s guidance he no longer knew which way to turn to evade the approaching cops — although if they beat him to the next intersection it wouldn’t make any difference.
He willed the car to go faster, but the stench of boiling coolant and oil told him that the hope was futile. The speedometer needle, which had been pinned at seventy, started to fall.
Wisps of steam blew back along the hood. The engine was overheating, strained beyond its limits.
Sixty-five. Sixty. The chase was almost over…
The Elantra shot through the intersection just ahead of three charging police vehicles off to the right.
Adam checked the mirror. The lead cruiser appeared—
But it didn’t follow him. Instead it screeched to a stop, the two other cars following suit to form a ragged barricade across the junction. Cops jumped out, raising weapons — but not at the Hyundai.
They were aiming at Baxter’s team.
‘What the fuck?’ yelled Baxter as the MPD vehicles blocked his path. Cops took up position behind them, aiming pistols and shotguns over the hoods and trunks. ‘What are these assholes doing?’
‘Stop your vehicles!’ boomed an amplified voice. ‘Stop or we open fire!’
The driver looked at Baxter in alarm. ‘What do I do?’
There was not enough room to get past without ramming the cars aside — injuring or killing the cops behind them. ‘Stop,’ Baxter reluctantly ordered, the cold thrill of the pursuit replaced by anger. The driver braked hard, the Suburban halting ten yards short of the roadblock. The other two SUVs pulled up behind it. ‘I’m gonna rip someone a new one for this…’
Morgan blinked in surprise as he watched the aerial view of unfolding events. The cops advanced on the stationary Suburbans, weapons drawn. ‘What the— What are they doing? Why are they stopping Baxter’s team? Get me the Metro commander, now!’ he barked at Holly Jo’s replacement. ‘And keep track of Adam!’
Kyle zoomed out, catching the Hyundai just before it made a turn and was lost to view behind buildings. ‘Get him back in sight!’ Kiddrick demanded.
‘Let me just switch to X-ray mode,’ Kyle said sarcastically. ‘Patience, brah. Another thirty seconds and the drone’ll catch up.’
Morgan was connected to the police commander. ‘What the hell’s going on? Your guys just stopped my pursuit team!’
‘The hell are you talkin’ about?’ was the truculent response. ‘We’re doin’ what you told us to do!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I got your APB right here! “Highest national security priority, stop and detain armed and dangerous suspects in three stolen black US government Suburbans.” That’s what you asked for, and that’s what we’re doin’, right now!’
‘That’s not what we told you!’ Morgan said, bewildered. On the screen, the cops were making the SUVs’ occupants get out at gunpoint. ‘Our suspects are in a Hyundai station wagon — you’re arresting the agents who were chasing them!’
‘Look, I’m just goin’ by what you gave us,’ the commander complained. ‘First you told us it was the Hyundai, then you sent an update about the Suburbans.’
‘We didn’t send—’ Morgan broke off, casting an accusing glare over the Bullpen’s occupants. ‘All right. I guess Holly Jo isn’t the only person trying to help Adam. So who else has a good reason to feel loyal to him?’ His gaze fell upon Kyle. ‘Someone he saved from being shot down by a Russian jet, maybe?’
‘I’m just flying the UAV!’ the young man protested. ‘I don’t even have access to that kind of stuff.’
Kiddrick moved to Morgan’s side, sour-faced. ‘But I can think of someone who does.’
‘So can I,’ said Morgan. ‘Levon? Did you change the APB?’
Levon looked up at him with a guilty expression. ‘If I say yes, do I get some leniency?’
Exasperated, Morgan waved to another pair of guards. ‘Put him in with Voss.’ Levon held up his hands in surrender and stood as they approached.
‘We’re gonna need more security guys in here,’ said Kyle as the two men took Levon away.
‘We’d better not,’ Morgan rumbled. He turned back to the screens. ‘Where’s Adam now?’
‘I’m on him,’ Kyle assured him. ‘Okay, got a fix with the auto-tracking.’ A blue outline was overlaid on one particular vehicle as it reached an intersection. ‘He’s going west — no, wait, he’s turning again.’
The Hyundai pulled on to an access road running behind a large office building of dull red brick. It headed down a ramp beneath the structure. ‘We’ve got him,’ said Kiddrick. ‘If he tries to hide, the police can just sweep the place floor by floor until they find him.’
‘That’s not why he’s gone in there,’ said Tony. As if in response, the green square began to jitter, before vanishing entirely. ‘He’s blocking the tracker!’
‘Will this work?’ asked Bianca as Adam brought the car into the underground garage.
‘Hopefully. They’ll know we’re in here, but they won’t be able to pinpoint exactly where,’ he replied.