Ponytail said, "Will you at least tell me where you're taking me?"
O'Clair went left on the next street that ran parallel to the alley and gunned it, the Land Rover surprising him with its power. He slowed for a stop sign, rolled through it, took a right on a street called Henrietta and watched the Audi come out of the alley, turn right and stop at the traffic light at Maple Road.
It couldn't have worked out better. He was behind Karen in a luxury SUV, and she didn't have a clue. O'Clair looked straight ahead at a storefront with the word "Anthropologic" on it, and wondered what kind of stuff they sold in there until he focused on women's clothing on mannequins in the windows.
The light turned green and Karen took a left. O'Clair followed, giving her room.
Pony started in again: "If you let me go, I won't say anything."
O'Clair couldn't take any more of his whiny voice. He reached in his sport coat pocket and brought out the Browning 9, reached across the console, aiming it at his face, and said, "One more fucking word…" O'Clair didn't finish, but Pony looked at him and seemed to finally get it. He didn't say anything else. Jesus, he was annoying.
Bobby came out of the parking garage and watched the silver Audi head down Pierce and take a left in the alley just south of Maple, right behind the exclusive Pierce Street condos. Lloyd pulled up in the Mustang and he got in and Bobby said, "How'd she get past you?"
"I don't know," Lloyd said.
"What the hell were you doing?"
"Nothing."
They went after Karen but Bobby didn't hold out much hope of finding her. Lloyd took a left on Merrill, heading west and Bobby couldn't believe it, a silver Audi appeared, coming out of the alley, moving parallel to them on the other side of Shain Park. He watched it turn right on Henrietta, disappearing in traffic.
Lloyd took Merrill to Chester and went right, Bobby thought they'd circle around and catch her driving by on Maple. This was trendy Birmingham, rated as one of the best walking towns in the country Bobby had once read, a square mile of boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants and bars. They waited at a traffic light, a store called Linda Dresner on his right, a few mannequins posing behind the glass in high-style gowns. Smith & Hawken was across the street with its window displays of plants and gardening equipment. He saw the silver Audi turn left on Maple, heading toward them. "Turn," Bobby said to Lloyd, but he couldn't. He saw the Audi go right on Bates. The light turned green but they couldn't move, cars were still blocking the intersection. Lloyd honked and said fuck and started giving people the finger. When the intersection cleared, he floored it, crossed Maple, taking Bates that turned into Willits, curving around a four-story apartment building with restaurants on the first floor and a valet stand on the sidewalk. They drove all the way to Old Woodward and crossed it.
Bobby said, "She must've gone the other way. Turn around."
Lloyd gave him a sour look and said, "Yes, sir."
Karen waited for the light to change. What was taking so long? She checked the rearview mirror, watched a Land Rover pull up behind her. She scanned the cars creeping by in front of her searching for O'Clair, searching for Bobby and Lloyd. A skateboarder appeared out of nowhere, glided by the side of her car and took a right down the sidewalk next to a store called It's the Ritz. Karen was jumpy, nervous. She took the Mag out of her purse, not sure of anything, and put it on the seat next to her. She watched a group of teenagers crossing with the light in front of her, the girls looking full-grown mature, breasts showing under skimpy tank tops, and the guys looking like little kids, short and scrawny, waiting to hit their growth spurt.
The light turned green and Karen eased the clutch up and accelerated. She took a left on Maple, cruised to Bates and went right. The Land Rover appeared in her rearview mirror again. She went left on Willits, gunning it now, the Land Rover disappeared and then reappeared, trying to stay with her.
At the top of Willits Hill she floored it and hit fifty at the bottom and seventy going up the incline on the other side. She looked back and saw the Land Rover come over the crest of the hill, airborne, landing hard, off balance, the shocks taking the punishment.
Karen took a hard right through a residential neighborhood, the Audi bouncing hard on the uneven blacktop. She held the wheel in both hands, looked in the rearview. The street was empty and she let out a breath.
She pulled in the driveway of a house that had a "For Sale" sign in front and drove behind it and parked, hoping the people weren't home. She got out of the Audi and went to the side of the house where she had a view of the street and saw the white Land Rover speed by. She ran out and watched it go to the end of the block, slowing down at a stop sign and then accelerating.
She got back in the Audi and did a 180 and rumbled down the driveway. She looked right and saw the Land Rover coming back down the street, and gunned it. The back end slid out as the tires made contact with the asphalt, and she shifted into second.
Karen saw the Land Rover closing in fast, its grille filling the rearview mirror. She thought it was going to ram her until the turbocharger kicked in and the Audi picked up speed. She took a hard left at Willits. The Land Rover didn't make the turn and went off the road into the woods behind a small apartment complex and crashed into a tree. She could hear a horn blaring like it was stuck, and drove back up the hill and passed Bobby and Lloyd going by her in the red Mustang.
Bobby saw the Audi pass them and said, "Jesus, that's her."
Lloyd hit the brakes and spun the wheel. They went off the road, down an embankment and shot back up to the top of the hill. Lloyd braked hard, the engine rumbling. Willits, the street they were on, met Haynes, which turned at a forty-five-degree angle around a building.
Lloyd looked at him and said, "Okay, now what?"
Bobby looked one way and then the other. He didn't see a silver Audi A4 in either direction. But he knew she wouldn't have gone left and risk getting caught in slow-moving traffic in town. He said, "Go right."
Lloyd looked at him and said, "How do you know?"
Bobby said, "You're just going to have to trust me."
Lloyd popped the clutch and the rear tires squealed and locked on the pavement and they were moving. They went right again and Bobby saw the Audi about three hundred yards ahead on Maple Road, making the turn up the hill. Lloyd went through a red light at Southfield. Bobby was looking for police cars. He looked left and looked behind them on Maple, and then looked down the side streets they passed, going up the hill toward the waterfall at Quarton Lake. They went all the way to Telegraph Road, had to be six miles, without seeing a silver Audi with a good-looking redhead driving it.
Lloyd pulled into a gas station, glanced over at Bobby and said, "Got any more ideas, smart guy?"
He didn't. Not at that particular moment. Karen had gotten away from them again and he wondered if they'd get another shot at her.
The force of the collision set off the airbags. O'Clair's face made contact with the one that came out of the steering wheel and it felt like somebody hit him with a bag of sand. The hood was buckled and steam was pouring out of the radiator, and the horn was stuck on, making a racket. He was dazed, trying to focus. Ponytail was slumped over, unconscious, leaning against the passenger side airbag. O'Clair pulled the door handle but the door wouldn't open. He put his shoulder into it, but couldn't budge it. He pressed the window button and the glass went down and now he brought his legs up and squeezed through the opening head first, hands making contact with grass and dirt. His legs came out the window and he landed on the ground.
A voice said, "Sir, are you all right? Do you need help."