AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’ll check the victim real fast and then go catch Cody.” Ryder checked his watch. “Let’s move it.”
Beth ran back to the truck with Styles and they took off following Ryder’s cruiser down a tree-lined driveway to an older-style ranch house. The front door was wide open and bloody footprints led outside. They were small and obviously from the aunt who’d gone to check in on Mrs. Cody. Beth pulled on booties, gloves, and a mask and followed the men inside, stepping with care around the bloody footprints. In the doorway of the kitchen, they all stopped and peered inside. It was a bloodbath, and floating in the blood was a paper plate of cookieswrapped in plastic film. A woman was slumped to one side in a chair and had sustained massive head injuries. Beth stood back as Styles went closer and checked for life signs.
“She’s been dead for at least an hour. The blood spatter is congealing.” Styles shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do for her now. Best we go and leave this to Wolfe.” He led the way outside, pulling off his face mask and gloves. “Cash, we’ll park away from the store and walk down. I’ll call you if his vehicle is in the alleyway. Block his getaway. You and Beth go in from the alleyway and I’ll go through the store.” He looked from one to the other. “Put on your liquid Kevlar vests. We’re not taking any chances with this guy.”
“Gotcha.” Ryder tossed his gloves into a bag Beth held out for them and then opened his door and pulled out his vest. He removed his jacket and pulled it over his head. “We’ll need to tape up the door.”
As Styles called Wolfe, Beth assisted Ryder to attach crime scene tape across the front door. She waited impatiently for Styles to relay precise details and the coordinates. Time was ticking by and the window of opportunity was closing. To make the arrest, they’d need to be in position to catch Cody. Heart pounding, Beth removed her booties, gloves, and mask and dropped them into a bag along with the others’ protective gear. Sealing the bag, she climbed back into the truck and dumped it by her feet.
“I’ve explained everything to Wolfe.” Styles slid behind the wheel. “He’s on his way.” He shook his head. “This is one twisted individual but I’m guessing you’re right about his mother. He just couldn’t take it anymore.”
Zipping up her jacket, Beth shrugged. “It was just a hunch but that in there is overkill. He could have killed her with one strike but he wanted to make sure she was dead. Violence like that is personal, so maybe I’m right about him. Right now he’sa barrel of gunpowder. One spark and he’ll explode. You’ll need to be very careful how you handle him. Don’t turn your back on him.”
“I’ve been taking down criminals for a long time, Beth.” Styles accelerated back to town. “I’ll make some excuse to show him something inside and cuff him in the back office. The loading dock is too open and anything might happen. You’ll need to keep well out of sight until I’ve restrained him.” He looked at her, his expression serious. “If everything goes as planned. I’ll ride with Cash back to the sheriff’s office. We’ll need you to cover our backs when we transfer him to the cells.”
Concerned, Beth nodded. “Don’t underestimate him. He kills indiscriminately without a second thought. For him, you’re just someone in the way. He won’t see you as authority or anything else. You’ll need to be on your game, Styles… even with us right outside.”
FORTY-THREE
Trees flashed by as Styles took off at high speed, the newly budding vegetation blending into green and brown flashes as he accelerated. His red truck lifted and the engine roared as they flew along the highway. As they tore through the industrial end of town, Beth gripped the side of her seat. It wasn’t the speed that concerned her but how close Styles passed the parked vehicles. She had confidence in his driving, and in fact, she preferred him to drive. She always had so much on her mind, and so many things to do between destinations. It had been a practical solution. They slowed as they reached Main and Styles stopped to back the truck into a space outside the drugstore. The vehicles angle-parked along Main on the busy side of town and alongside the curb opposite the river. Ryder had parked outside his office and she watched him climb out of his cruiser, check his watch, and then head inside. She checked her own watch. It was a quarter after three. She guessed Ryder was taking the time to check on Cody’s aunt before getting into position.
Not taking her eyes off the road, Beth scanned back and forth, waiting for the delivery van to show. A few trucks went by and then the delivery van she’d spotted on Cody’s webpage came into sight. It moved slowly past them and she could see Cody,with a phone plastered to one ear. The next moment, the van took off at high speed, barely missing an elderly couple crossing the road with their dog. “That’s him. He looks in a hurry.”
The next moment, Ryder burst from the sheriff’s office and dived into his cruiser. Styles’ phone buzzed and he frowned as Ryder took off along Main. Ryder’s voice came through the Bluetooth on the radio.
“He’d just found out we know about his ma.”Ryder swore under his breath.“His aunt called him with the bad news she’d found his mother. He said he was heading out to the house. I’ll follow him at a distance.”
“I’d say he’s making a run for it.” Styles started the engine and headed along Main after him.
Beth could make out the van in the distance, but it didn’t turn at the crossroads that led to his mother’s house. He went by and took the on-ramp to the highway. “He’s heading for the highway. Go. Go. Go.”
“Hang on.” Styles mounted the sidewalk and drove along to avoid a line of vehicles heading for the local fresh-food market and they bounced back onto Main. Once out of town, he floored the gas and they shot off at high speed, following Cody onto the highway.
The wide blacktop wound its way through the mountains and was often busy midafternoon. Interstate trucks would spend the night parked at the roadhouse just outside of town rather than drive through some of the dangerous mountain passes in the dark. Rain and sleet were forecast for later, and from the sky, later would be sooner than expected. The higher they climbed up the mountain the colder it became, and soon, ahead of them Ryder’s cruiser disappeared in a low cloud. Driving at speed in this weather was suicidal and Beth called Ryder. “Can you see him ahead of you?”
“Just his taillights. It’s like an ice rink ahead. The road is wet and freezing.”Ryder sucked in a deep breath.“It will ease some when we drop down the other side of this cutaway. Problem is Cody is overtaking everything in front of him. At least three eighteen-wheelers have passed me so far. I’m not following him. It’s too dangerous in the cruiser.”
“We’ll follow him.” Styles gave her a confident nod. “My truck can handle the terrain. It’s built for it and I have fog lights.” He flicked on the lights and had caught up with Ryder’s cruiser in a few minutes. “I’m passing you now.”
Gripping the seat with both hands, Beth held her breath as they crossed over to the other side of the highway to pass Ryder. Seconds later an eighteen-wheeler sounded its air horns and its lights came out of nowhere. Styles held his ground, moving back into their lane just as the massive vehicle flashed past them, rocking the truck with its turbulence. Beth pressed a hand to her chest. “That was a little too close.”
“Nah, we had heaps of room.” Styles’ eyes never left the road. “It’s downhill now. There’s a sweeping bend at the bottom and then we head back up the mountain.”
As the fog lifted a little, sleet hit the windshield like buckshot. The wipers moved so fast back and forth, back and forth, it reminded Beth of being on a very fast train, everything out of her control. Ahead she made out Cody’s vehicle fishtailing down the mountain. He’d just passed a slower vehicle and was having trouble righting the bouncing van. She glanced at Styles. “When we catch up with him, what are your plans? We can’t ram him off the road, not here. He’ll fall down the mountain.”
“When we start to climb again, I’ll get up beside him and push him into the rockface.” Styles shrugged. “My truck is damaged anyway. It won’t make that much difference. The department is taking their own sweet time replacing it.” He glanced at her. “Maybe we should be driving your ride?”
Snorting, Beth shook her head. “My personal vehicle is for me. Unless it’s an emergency. Since I’ve been here, this will be the second time you’ve wrecked your truck.”
“I haven’t wrecked it yet. Just a few scrapes, is all.” He accelerated as the road began to climb again. “Here we go.”
More eighteen-wheelers flew past and Beth held her breath as Styles waited for a break in the convoy to come alongside Cody’s van. To her surprise, Cody swung the wheel of his van and tried to push Styles’ truck in the path of oncoming traffic. Tires screamed, and suddenly thrown forward as Styles hit the brakes, Beth pressed her hands on the dashboard. The truck slid sideways then straightened and ran along the guardrail that prevented drivers from plunging hundreds of feet to their deaths. The metal on Styles’ door screamed as it dragged along the guardrail, but he didn’t stop. He yanked the steering wheel around and took up the pursuit again.
“He’s onto us.” Styles’ expression was grim but he had a determined set to his shoulders.
Beth gaped at him. “You think?” She checked her seatbelt. “I figured we were going to take a ride on the front of that eighteen-wheeler all the way down to the bottom of the mountain.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” Styles flinched as the side mirror flew off his truck and took off high in the air like a missile. “He telegraphed his move. I saw him look in the side mirror, and knew he planned to pull out. We’re fine and I’ll stop him next time.”
