Chapter 182
Mr. Matthews squeezed his son tighter. Adam's face turned a deep shade of red. "You two are wanted for murder." He looked at his wife. "Are these the people you've been lettin' my kids hang with? Answer me!"
Barbara remained silent, her arms covering her head as her husband moved toward her, dragging Adam along with him.
Jack didn't want to hurt the man, but Adam was turning purple. Jack picked up one of the knotty-pine chairs circling the kitchen table and bashed it across the man's back, careful not to hit Adam.
Adam broke loose as his father crumpled to the ground. The boy coughed and held his neck as he caught his breath.
Kate rushed to Barbara's aid and helped the woman to her feet. Jack took the bottle from Brooklynn and tossed it in the garbage. "Is everyone okay?" Jack asked.
Adam nodded.
Jack checked on Adam's father. The man was out cold, but he was breathing. He reeked of booze.
A knock at the door prompted everyone to stop what they were doing. Adam peeked through the curtain. "It's the cops." He pointed to the door where Jack and Kate had entered. "You better hurry and get out of here."
"We won't tell them you were here," Brooklynn said. "Right, Mom?"
Barbara nodded and Kate and Jack quickly slipped outside and ran back the way they had come. As they reached the bottom of the path, Jack noticed a speedboat weaving a path around the other boats. Horns sounded as a warning, but the speedboat didn't slow or pay the other boats any mind.
"Get in the house, Kate!"
Barney appeared out of the edge of the woods. Kate scooped up the dog right before Jack took hold of her arm and pulled her toward the house.
"The keys to the truck are on the counter," he shouted as he ran down the hall. "I'll get the computer."
"What about the police?" she asked from the hallway.
"I have a feeling they're the least of our worries."
In the guest bedroom, Jack shoved everything he needed into the backpack he'd found earlier. A high-pitched scream coming from the master bedroom sent chills shooting up his spine. It was Kate. He ran that way. Kate held her hand over her heart while A.J. tried to comfort her.
Jack's adrenaline soared. "Thank G.o.d, it's you," Jack said to A.J. "Where have you been? I've been sending you messages all day."
His friend looked as if he hadn't slept in a week. Gray shadows made half circles under his eyes.
"Becky's dead."
"How?"
"A bomb. The a.s.sholes planted a bomb with a trip wire at my place. It was connected to the gas stove. I had taken a picture of a license plate. Turns out the plates belonged to Monahan. I've been going through stacks of records, Jack. I came here to tell you that the whole f.u.c.king agency has gone bad."
Jack didn't know what to say about Becky. What could he say? It was obvious A.J. was in shock.
Jack heard a noise. He glanced out the bedroom door toward the family room. Nothing.
"I know who Ben Sheldon is," A.J. said. "Sheldon's real name is Benjamin Greene. He's a sailing enthusiast."
That got Jack's attention. Harrison was also big on sailing.
"Makes you wonder where Sheldon got the badge, doesn't it? And get this," A.J. said. "He's an HIV/AIDS specialist. Ten years ago he worked in Indonesia on a health policy project based in the Ministry of Health. He's a civil servant and yet he owns a couple of houses in the Mediterranean. He's also an elite member of the Blue Water Yacht Club in Miami."
Jack thought of Harrison and the large deposit. "Somebody is paying Sheldon and his friends a lot of money to keep us quiet."
"It all keeps coming back to AIDS research," Kate said.
Jack looked back toward the family room again. He thought he saw a shadow move outside the door. "I think we have company. There was a speedboat making its way across the lake. If we don't scram, they're going to be on top of us before we can get out of here."
Kate hitched her bag over her shoulder.
A.J. led the way and Kate followed. Jack went to the guestroom to grab the backpack. As soon as Jack stepped into the hallway, he saw Kate and A.J. standing in the middle of the front room with their hands raised in the air.
Monahan stepped into view, gun pointed. "Get your hands in the air, Coffey."
Jack glanced past Monahan to the dock outside and saw another man waiting there. "Justice and the American way, huh Monahan?"
"Yeah, that about sums it up, Coffey. I don't have time to reminisce though, so I'm going to make this quick and painless. I don't want to have to come back." He waved his gun at A.J. "I thought I already took care of you yesterday. What are you, f.u.c.king bomb proof?" He lifted his arm and aimed his gun at A.J.
A.J. went for the gun tucked in his waistband, but Monahan was ready for him. A shot rang out and A.J. crumpled to the ground. Monahan raised his gun again and aimed it at Jack.
Jack pushed Kate out of the way, hit the floor, and shouted for Kate to run.
Another shot rang out, only this time it was a BOOM with a reverberating crackle and pop.
Monahan staggered backwards. Blood seeped through his fingers as he clutched at his shoulder and fell back against the gla.s.s door. Jack looked over his shoulder to see where the shot had come from. Barbara Matthews stood within the doorframe leading from the garage, a rifle propped at her side. Adam stood just behind her.
"I owed you one,"
Jack turned back to A.J., thankful to see his friend alive. He helped prop A.J. in a sitting position against the wall.
Barbara Matthews gasped and Jack turned to see Monahan reaching for his gun. A.J. pulled out the knife he'd been carrying around since childhood, and with a quick flick of his wrist, he released the blade and snapped his fingers back.
Monahan twitched before he fell onto his back.
Jack went to Monahan's side and checked for a pulse. "He's dead."
A.J. nodded while Kate checked A.J.'s wound.
Jack picked up Monahan's gun and tucked it into his waistband.
"Those policemen are at the house with Dad," Adam said, his voice cracking. "Dad's car is at the bottom of the driveway ready to go," he went on. "Mom said you could borrow it. It'll get you wherever you need to go a lot faster than that old truck."
"You and Kate better go," A.J. said through gritted teeth.
Jack frowned. "I'm not leaving you."
Kate disappeared and returned with a long-sleeved s.h.i.+rt. She ripped the s.h.i.+rt in half and wrapped strips of cloth tightly around A.J.'s left arm.
"Hate to be a party buster," A.J. managed, his voice weak, "but I think I'll stay here and hitch a ride to the nearest hospital." He gestured with his chin toward the lake. "Looks like we've got some more fireworks coming our way." He looked at Kate. "Hand me my gun, will you?"
Monahan's pal must have heard shots because he was moving across the lawn, gun drawn. The police heard the shots, too, because they were scrambling down the side of the hill.
Kate handed A.J. his gun, then turned to Jack. "What about Adam and Barbara?"
"We'll stay here with this dude," Adam said as he helped his mom reload the rifle.
"We've got it covered," A.J. said to Jack. "Somebody needs to find out who's in charge of these thugs. Get out of here, Coffey, and get me some answers, would you?"
Jack hated leaving any of them, but A.J. had a point. Until he could read the disc, until he had proof of his innocence, until he had more answers, he needed to stay on the run and gather information. If Harrison was involved, Jack's chances of climbing out of this h.e.l.lhole were slim to none.
After instructing Adam and Barbara to stay hidden, Kate headed for the garage.
Jack turned back to A.J.
Gunshots sounded outside.
A.J. grimaced. "Get the h.e.l.l out of here, Coffey!"
Jack grabbed the backpack from the floor, headed through the garage, and sprinted down the gravel driveway. He tossed the backpack through the open window to the backseat, slid behind the wheel, and shut the door.
Kate sat in the pa.s.senger seat, ready to go. Jack put his foot down hard on the accelerator.
"They'll be fine," Kate said, reading his mind as Jack guided the Mustang across a ribbon of Route 66 and made his way onto I-15 toward San Bernardino.
An ambulance raced by.
Sweeping views of the southern California deserts beneath rolling white clouds unfolded before them. At ninety miles per hour the ride was smooth. There were hardly any other cars on the highway. Jack glanced at Kate, saw the worry etched across her face and decided to try and get their minds on other things. "Ever think of having kids of your own someday?"
"Can't say that I have," she answered. "How about you?"
"I've thought about it on occasion."
"You think about the future a lot, don't you Jack?"
"It depends on what you consider to be 'a lot.' I think I spend a healthy amount of time pondering future goals and dreams."
"You're such a nerd."
"You're such a hard a.s.s." So much for changing the subject. Glancing at the rearview mirror, Jack said, "We have company." The police car that had been parked in front of the Matthews' rented house was now behind them, approaching fast, red lights flas.h.i.+ng.
Kate looked over her shoulder and out the back window as Jack slowed the Mustang from ninety to seventy-five.
"Don't pull over," Kate said. "It's Monahan's friend." She ducked just before a bullet ricocheted off the back b.u.mper of the car.
Jack floored it, wheels squealing, taking the car to over ninety in seconds.
The patrol car rammed into the back of the Mustang. Kate jerked forward; her knee slammed into the glove compartment.
Jack hit the accelerator. The speedometer reached one hundred and twenty. As he neared one hundred and thirty, the police car came up close to the Mustang's right side.
Kate rolled down her window. The moment she saw the man, she felt numb. It was the same man she'd seen in Haiti, the guy with the beard and the sling and more importantly the dark sungla.s.ses. Only now, he'd shaved and he wasn't wearing sungla.s.ses. Chills crawled up her arms. "It's him," she said.
"Who?"
"The man who has been haunting my dreams for the past ten years...the same man who killed my father." Her hands shook as she pulled out her gun. She waited for the police car to come up close again. Then she fired a shot and missed.
"Hold tight," Jack said as the police car swerved to the right before coming up close again. Jack jerked the steering wheel to the right and slammed into the car. Wheels screeched as the police car swerved to the shoulder and then back onto smooth pavement. This time Kate lifted her gun with a steady arm and aimed at the man's head. A shot rang out; the window shattered, but the car was still on their tail.
Jack sped up, topping out at one-forty.
Kate unlatched her seatbelt and climbed halfway out the window to get another shot off. She aimed at the front tire. The driver hit the brakes.
"Get inside, Kate!"
A white van was approaching in the other lane. The driver laid on his horn and swerved to avoid being hit head on by the police car. Dirt sprayed. A cloud of dust temporarily blinded Jack's view. When he could see again, he didn't like what he saw. A big rig was headed straight for them. The police car fell back, giving Jack no choice but to cut to the truck's right. "Kate!" Jack shouted again.
Kate pulled herself inside and flipped her hair out of her eyes.
Gravel and dirt spit up from beneath the tires as he squeezed past the truck with only inches to spare.
"A little more warning next time."
"I'd feel better if you'd strap yourself in," he ground out as he struggled to get the Mustang back on pavement. The big rig disappeared in his rearview mirror.
The police car was on their tail again. Kate climbed over the seat and fiddled with her gun in the backseat.
"Dammit, Kate. You're going to get yourself killed."
The police car was gaining on them, coming up on Jack's side this time. Kate already had the back window rolled down. Jack watched her through the rearview mirror and didn't like the look he saw on Kate's face-fiery determination. She looked like a stuntwoman who shot at other cars for a living. She was hunched low, hands steady, her breathing even, and just as Jack spotted the police car coming up close, she leaned out the back window and took two shots, hitting both tires. The police car swerved across the two-lane highway, wheels screeching and gravel flying before the vehicle flipped, landing belly up in the desert. In the rearview mirror, Jack saw a cloud of dust covering the road. "Nice shot."
"Go back, Jack."
"Are you nuts?"
"Now, or I'll jump out of the car." She slid closer to the door and started to open it.
"Okay, okay." He pulled onto the strip of dirt on the side of the road. "I know what you're thinking," he said. "Killing that man is not going to solve your problems."
She climbed out of the car and began walking toward the wreck. Jack put the car in reverse and stayed even with her. A gold BMW swerved a wide arc around them and honked as it pa.s.sed.
"Get in," he said. "I'll turn around and take you back."
She looked at him, her eyes filled with determination, anger, and a lifetime of blood, sweat, and tears. She came around to the pa.s.senger side and climbed in. The roads were clear as Jack turned back over the center divider and headed the other way, back to where the police car had rolled, landing in a heap of smoke and twisted metal.
Kate climbed out of the Mustang before Jack could come to a complete stop. As she neared the overturned car, a shot rang out.
"Kate!" Jack shouted, but she didn't slow her pace. Instead, she rushed toward the man, stomping down on the man's wrist before he could fire another shot. He was pinned beneath the steering column, face up. Apparently, the man was as determined as Kate to have the last say.
Kate scooped up his gun and used the muzzle to move the collar of his s.h.i.+rt, revealing the tail of a serpent tattoo. Straightening, she aimed the gun at his head, her finger on the trigger.