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. It s okay.I vegot a better car I can get. He opened the Honda s trunk andwaved the gun toward it. Get in. I don t think I can fit, Tony stalled. If you don t fit, you can stay here with Pinski.Tony put his bound hands on the sill of the trunk and triedto fold himself into the tight space.He banged his back againstthe edge and the impact jarred a yelp from him.Brad s lip curled. Hey, you hit me with a car, Tony snapped. I m entitled tobe sore. Stupid little-assed piece of shit, Brad said.Tony wasn t sureif that was aimed at him or the car that Brad used to hit him. IfI d got my hands on a Hummer you d be dead.The car, then. I m shutting this, Brad said, hand on the lid and the gunaimed at Tony s face. Get your fingers inside or lose them.Tony curled himself tight as the lid slammed down.It waspitch black.This car was too old for the lovely, glowing, insidetrunk release that his Prius had.In fact, fumbling with his handsaround the top, as the car started and began to bounce its wayout of the yard, failed to reveal any inside latch at all.The car wasrusty, but Tony had no delusions he would be able to kick his waythrough the metal.He was trapped until someone let him out.He bit back panicked claustrophobia and struggled to get hispanting breaths under control.No way was this space airtight.Hewasn t going to suffocate.It was uncomfortable as hell, and thenausea was getting worse, but he would survive.At least until thatlid opened again.* * *Mac used the lights and siren to bull his way throughcommuter traffic on 394 as the OnStar information tracked thecar to the western suburbs.Oliver was on the radio coordinatingwith the police in Wayzata, then Corcoran, trying to get a line of216 Kaje Harpersight on the silver Mercedes. It s stopped for five minutes now, Hanson reported fromthe backseat. Somewhere out in the boonies in Corcoran.There snothing but farms out there. Hope like hell he s holing up, not changing cars, Olivergrunted, relaying the exact information to the forces ahead ofthem.Marked cars were to keep their distance.This was stillconsidered to be a hostage situation. We re about fifteen minutes away, Hanson estimated. Unless Mac rips the suspension out of this thing.Mac cursed as he was forced to slow behind a pair of obliviousdrivers.He switched the siren to whoop at them and finally theypulled to the side.Damn this traffic! They were barely making thespeed limit even with the siren. Hey, Mac, Oliver said in a conversational tone. What? Mac snapped, taking the car onto the shoulderaround a big SUV. I was in a bar last night, Oliver told him.Mac spared him aperplexed glance. I asked the bartender for something cold andfull of rum.He suggested his wife.Mac snorted. What the fuck? Lighten up, Oliver said. You re going to grind your molarsto stubs.We re going to get this guy.He s young, stupid, andscared, and he reacts when he should hold still.He ll leave a trail.No way he s cool enough to stay hidden. Right. Mac shut his mouth tightly to hold back the rest ofit.Young, scared, and impulsive was not a good thing when thisguy had Tony.God, I don t want to catch this guy by nailing him for Tony s murder.Please.City roads opened up into fields interspersed with newdevelopments, the creeping edge of suburbia.It wasn t familiarto Mac, except in its generic sameness.Clusters of beige and grey LIFE LESSONS 217boxes built window to window on denuded lots which crownedeach hill.Down in the hollows, where wetland easementsprevented building, Minnesota s mosquitoes were probablycheering the new food supply.A few big oaks, permitted tosurvive the clearing and grading, loomed over the sticks of newtrees just planted.Not Mac s taste.He was a city boy.It would be easy to hide a car here.Small clumps of poplarand aspen screened some of the driveways, and new multi-cargarages alternated with long farm lanes and old barns.ThankGod for GPS.It gave them a chance.The radio crackled with the report of a Corcoran officer.Hehad headed in on foot toward the location of the stopped car.From a screen of trees, he reported that the Mercedes was parkedoutside a small old house.There appeared to be one person in thedriver s seat.No other people or cars were visible and nothingwas moving.Oliver directed the man to try to get close to the back ofthe house, if he could do it without being seen, and check forsigns that Parker had gone inside.Mac glanced at his watch as hesteered onto smaller country blacktops.They were perhaps fiveminutes away.He switched off the siren, but left on the lights.The call came back.No people in the house as far as theofficer could tell, but it was too far out in the open for him toapproach the windows.The driver in the Mercedes had notmoved since first seen.Other officers had moved into place tosurround the property. Okay, Oliver told them. We ll be there in minutes.Holdyour positions.As soon as we arrive, we ll move in on the car [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]