Page 104 of One Wrong Move
“They all look still, and from this vantage point, empty to me.”
“You’re right. We need to get up close to each. See inside.” He pulled the Equinox into an open slot and cut the engine. “You go left. I’ll go right, starting with the purple Dodge Dart.”
“I didn’t know those even existed anymore,” she said, stepping out of the vehicle and rounding it to meet Christian before he had a chance to open her door.
Her hand by her gun, ready to pull it if necessary, Andi strode for the first car on the left while he moved to the relic of a car, his hand ready to pull his weapon as well. He glanced in the car, both the front and rear seats, his gaze casting on the floor of it. Nada.
Andi indicated the cars she’d cleared, but she had two to go while he still had three. He moved for the silver pickup truck, but before he reached it, the engine roared and it reversed out of the slot, the same man Andi had shot driving.
“Get down,” he hollered as the truck passed by her position. She did so, and the truck squealed on, its tires leaving a burning smell as it peeled out.
They raced back to the Equinox, and within a minute were flying out on the road after the truck with only a vanity plate that said CrissY.
FORTY-NINE
“THERE IT IS,”Andi said after a minute of thinking they’d lost what, given the vanity license plate, had to be a stolen truck. “Six cars ahead on the right ... now left.”
“I got him,” he said. The truck was swerving in and out of traffic.
Christian pressed the accelerator, speeding ahead, weaving safely in and out of traffic, then speeding up even more once they hit an open stretch of road. He had a short distance to catch the man before they ended up in the heart of downtown Santa Fe where Christian could easily lose him in the Sunfest crowd. The three-day-long festival packed the sidewalks, overwhelming the streets with traffic.
The truck pulled ahead and increased its speed. No one else was on the stretch. Now was his chance. They started to gain on him, pulling closer.
The man rolled down the window and...
“Duck!”
A bullet ricocheted off the hood, then thankfully deflected into the mesa.
Another one whizzed by the window just before a blue minivan swerved out into the road from a side street, cutting them off.
Christian hit the brakes, his tires squealing, the odor of burnt rubber filling his nostrils. He moved into the other lane, trying towave the minivan back, fearful the man would fire again, but the truck had pulled far away.
They were headed for the center of downtown.
“What’s all this?” Andi asked as they came to an abrupt stop with a line of cars at the light with no sign of the truck. He must have made it through the light.
“The Sunfest festival,” he said, tapping his fingers along the wheel.Come on. Turn green.
Finally, the light switched, and the three cars in front of him moved forward painfully slowly. He tapped the wheel harder.
Andi scanned the area. “There!” she said, pointing a good block ahead to the truck parked along the sidewalk.
Great. He was no doubt on foot.
“I’ll double-park. You stay in the vehicle, and I’ll check his, but I’m sure he’s blended into the crowd by now.”
“You’re in the driver’s seat. I’ll hop out.” And she did so before he could argue. Hand ready to pull her weapon, she moved along the truck. Then shook her head after clearing it.
She hopped back in the car. “We find a place to park and go after him.”
Christian surveyed the mass of people spreading far and wide before them. They’d get on foot, but they’d already lost him.
¦¦¦
After stopping at Urban Outfitters to grab fitting clothes for their investigation, Deckard followed Harper into the FBI building in Albuquerque, swiping through to the crime lab with special permission for him to visit by Harper’s boss, Greg Dunkirk, the forensic director.
“You okay?” she asked as they made it through security and headed for the elevator.
