The Chase (34 page)

They waited in silence until the light turned green and the cars in front of them began to move. Earl eased up on the gas and moved forward until he was first at the light, then put the car in park and turned on the flashers.

“Now?”

Earl nodded. “Yeah, then stand out there and wave the cars around us. When I give you the signal, drop the hood and get your ass back in here.”

When Zach was out of the car, Earl looked over his shoulder at Kendall. “Move over behind my seat and fasten your seat belt.”

“Why?” she asked, doing as he said.

“You’ll see.” Earl stared at the highway, drumming his fingers restlessly on the steering wheel.

Zach’s face appeared from behind the hood. “I hear a siren,” he shouted, pointing towards the west.

Earl nodded at him and straightened in his seat.

Kendall’s mouth grew dry as she scanned the road, waiting for the ambulance to come into view. As the seconds ticked away, she realized she was holding her breath, and she wiped her sweaty palms on her shorts and forced herself to breathe.

Earl gave a short blast on the horn. “That’s it!”

Zach dropped the hood and dashed back to the passenger seat.

Kendall watched an ambulance with its flashers on roll along Route 7, followed by a sheriff’s car. The ambulance slowed to allow a car in front of it to pull over, then moved on, gaining speed until it was at the intersection, where it hovered briefly before accelerating into the turn.

“Hold on!” Earl yelled as he punched the accelerator, steering the car directly into the path of the ambulance.

“Oh my God,” Kendall screamed, gripping the door armrest with one hand and bracing herself against the back of the driver’s seat with the other.

Earl continued on a steady course, gunning the car headfirst towards the ambulance, and then, just before the moment of impact, he turned the wheel hard to the left, directing the brunt of the force towards Zach’s door.

K
endall heard a man’s voice in the distance, faintly calling her name, but she was too dazed to figure out where it came from. She heard the voice again. Then someone shook her shoulder, causing a throbbing pain to shoot down her arm.

“No,” she moaned, trying to pull away from the person’s grip.

“Kendall, come on, get out of the car.”

Kendall forced her eyes open and saw Stephen Lloyd leaning over her, tugging at the seat belt buckle. She tried to speak, to ask him where they were and what had happened, but she couldn’t get her lips to move.

He released the buckle and yanked the seat belt off her chest. “Come on,” he said, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her from the car.

The pain that shot through her was unbearable. Kendall groaned and tried to lean away from him. “Stop. That hurts.”

“All right, settle down.” He let go of her arm and grabbed her around the waist. “Let’s go.”

Kendall leaned against him and let him lift her from the car. “What happened?”

“Can you stand up?”

“I think so.” She frowned at him as he dropped his arm and let her feet fall to the ground. “Where are we?”

He tightened his hold on her waist and drew her with him towards the back of the car. “Come on, there’s no time for this shit.”

Kendall stared at him.
Why was Stephen talking to her like that? And where were they?
There were people shouting behind her and she struggled out of his grasp and turned around.

“Oh my God,” she said, staggering backwards. The right side of the car she had been sitting in was crushed, and a group of rescue workers were huddled around the front passenger door. An ambulance with a dented front end was parked a few yards away.

She felt Stephen’s arms encircle her middle and almost lift her off her feet. “Get moving, damn it, or I’ll make a call to Zelda.”

Zelda
. Suddenly, it all came back to her.
He wasn’t Stephen Lloyd
. His name was Earl. And he and Zelda McGraw had kidnapped her and the girls.

Kendall heard a whistle and saw a sheriff’s deputy standing near the front of the car. He waved his arms at them. “Move back. Clear the way for the rescue squad.”

Kendall turned to Earl. “Is Zach still in the car?”

“Yeah.” He dragged her towards the rear of the nearby ambulance.

“Aren’t you going to try to help him?”

“Forget about Zach. There’s nothing I can do for him now.” Earl continued towards the ambulance, without even so much as a glance towards the car.

“Okay, this is it.” He paused and gave her a hard stare. “Remember, Kendall, those kids’ll die if you don’t do what I say. Got it?”

She nodded.

“Good.” Earl pulled her towards a sheriff’s deputy who stood by the back doors of the ambulance. He looked young, probably in his early thirties. He was a good six inches shorter than Earl and had a much slighter build.

“Deputy, I need your help. My wife was in the car accident and she’s hurt. She hit her head, and I think she broke her arm. Can she lie down in the ambulance?”

The deputy looked at Kendall and shook his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am. They’re transporting an inmate in this ambulance. The rescue workers from this ambulance are busy with the injured passenger right now. There’s another ambulance on the way. It should be here in a few minutes.”

Earl stepped to the side, turning his head so the deputy couldn’t see his expression, and glared at Kendall. “Do something,” he mouthed.

Kendall put a shaky hand to her forehead. “I’m feeling faint. Is there someplace I can sit down?”

The deputy reached out to steady her, and Earl whipped out his gun and hit the deputy hard across the side of his head, catching him under the arms as he slumped towards the ground.

“Open the ambulance doors,” Earl ordered.

Kendall couldn’t raise her left arm, and her right hand was shaking so hard that she could barely grasp the handle.

“I said open it!”

She tried, but her hand slipped off the handle.

“Worthless bitch.” Earl supported the deputy with one arm and yanked the door open with his free hand.

He aimed his gun inside and took a quick look, then grabbed the deputy under both arms again. He nudged Kendall with his shoulder. “Get on in there.”

Kendall climbed into the ambulance and hesitated in the doorway. There were no rescue personnel in the ambulance, just a man lying on the stretcher, clad in orange-and-white-striped clothing.

Earl shoved her towards the foot of the stretcher and hoisted the deputy into the ambulance. “Move over.” He hopped up after the deputy and slammed the door closed.

“Hey, man, get these cuffs off me,” the man on the stretcher said, sitting up as far as he was able with his hands secured to the bar of the stretcher. “The key’s on the cop’s belt.”

Earl searched the deputy’s belt and removed the key for the handcuffs. “Long time no see, Zeb,” he said, leaning over the stretcher and unlocking the handcuffs.

Kendall shrank closer to the door.
The man on the stretcher was Zeb McGraw
.

McGraw sat upright and rubbed his wrists. “Everything going the way we planned it?”

“Like clockwork.” Earl squatted down next to the deputy. “Help me get his uniform off.”

McGraw and Earl removed the deputy’s uniform down to his T-shirt, boxers, and brown socks, then handcuffed him to the stretcher.

“All right, man, get the uniform on and we’re ready to roll.”

McGraw eyed Kendall as he stripped off his prison clothing. “Who’s she?”

“The kids’ camp counselor,” Earl said, checking the ammunition in the deputy’s gun.

“So you know my little friend, Samantha.” McGraw sneered at her, revealing a set of stained, crooked teeth. “I can’t wait to see her again.”

Kendall lowered her eyes and didn’t respond.

McGraw stepped into the deputy’s trousers, swearing as he tugged at them. “These pants are too fucking small.”

The whoop of a siren sounded nearby and Earl peered out the window. “Shit. The other ambulance is here. Forget about putting the uniform on; we’ve got to make a run for it.”

McGraw pulled his prison pants back on and Earl grabbed Kendall by the arm. “As soon as I open the door, we’re making a run for it. Remember, I’ll have a gun to your back. If you try anything funny or hold me back, I’ll shoot you. You understand?”

Kendall nodded.

Earl tightened his grip and eased the door open a crack. “We’re heading for a brown Toyota parked across the highway with its hood raised,” he said over his shoulder to McGraw.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

Earl drew a deep breath. “It’s show time.” He flung open the door and thrust Kendall out first, then jumped out behind her.

He poked her in the back with the gun, propelling her forward. “All right, get moving.” Earl walked briskly as he steered her around the back of the sheriff’s car and headed for the grass median.

“Hey, wait a minute,” someone behind them shouted, and Earl pushed her into a run. They sprinted across the wide grass strip and into the lane of westbound traffic, causing tires to screech as drivers slammed on their brakes to avoid hitting them. Kendall heard the sound of pounding footsteps behind them, but she had no idea whether they came from McGraw or from someone who was pursuing them.

“Stop or I’ll shoot,” a voice bellowed behind them.

Earl stopped and swung Kendall around, his gun pointed at her head. “Drop your gun or she’s dead,” Earl shouted, continuing to move sideways towards the car.

The deputy who had waved them away from the rescue squad was approaching them from the median, his gun drawn.

“I mean it!” Earl thrust the barrel of his gun against Kendall’s temple. “Drop the gun.”

The deputy hesitated for an instant, then slowly placed his weapon on the ground.

“Get behind me,” Earl said in a loud hiss to McGraw. “We’ll get in the car from the passenger side. I’ll drive and you sit in the back with your gun on her.”

McGraw ignored him, leveling his gun at the deputy. “I’m gonna take him out.”

Earl gave a quick sideways glance and shook his head. “Forget about him. Close the hood and open the doors.
Now.”

A
nne had just finished giving Samantha her medicine and tucking her back into bed when she heard the front doorbell ring. “I’ll be back up in a minute,” she said, kissing Samantha on the forehead. “You try to get some sleep.”

“Okay, Mommy. I’m really tired.” Samantha rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

The doorbell sounded again, and, as Anne hurried downstairs to answer it, the phone began to ring. She grabbed the cordless phone off the hall table as she passed by on her way to the front door.

“Hello?” She held the phone to her ear as she turned the handle to open the door.

“Good afternoon, Anne; it’s Patrick Talbot.”

“Hello, Patrick.” Anne opened the door. Samantha’s guard, Ben, stood outside, along with a woman, and Anne pointed apologetically towards the phone and motioned for them to step inside.

“Do you know where I can reach Doug?” Patrick asked.

“He’s transporting a horse; you can try him on his cell.”

“I already tried that, but I didn’t get an answer.”

“I spoke with him about an hour ago and he was getting ready to leave the Equine Medical Center and head for Richard Evan Clarke’s farm. The cell service isn’t the best in that area. He was probably out of range when you tried him. Do you want me to give him a message when he gets home?”

There was a long pause. Patrick cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. I had hoped to speak with Doug.”

Anne frowned and perched on the edge of one of the hall chairs. “What’s the news?”

Another pause. “I just learned that Zeb McGraw has escaped from jail.”

Anne gasped. “
What?”

“I’m sorry to have to tell you over the phone, Anne. I’ve assigned Ben and another guard to stay with you in the house. They should be there any moment.”

Anne glanced at Ben and the woman. “They just arrived. Tell me what you know. When did this happen?”

“The details are sketchy at this point. The only information I have is that McGraw escaped sometime this morning and is on the loose.”