"Supposed to."I ease the truck off to the shoulder, putting it in park, needing a second before I trust myself to drive anywhere."Doesn't mean they will.Doesn't mean he doesn't just pull off somewhere they can't find him before they even get a unit in position."
"You know him personally?"
"Not personally.I know what he did."I stare out at the empty road, jaw tight enough to ache."He's the reason Macie showed up at my house a couple weeks ago, scared out of her mind, bruises all over her face.He's the reason her apartment got torn apart.He was pissed because the mother of his baby had a restraining order against him, and Macie told him that the mother chose not to let him see that baby.Now I just watched that motherfucker drive straight through my hands because I couldn't cross a goddamn invisible line on a map."
Van's quiet for a second, letting that settle."That's rough, man."
"Yeah."I exhale hard, forcing my grip to loosen on the wheel."It is."
The radio crackles again, Calvert County dispatch confirming they've got a unit heading toward the last known direction of travel, but I already know how this is going to go.Gerald's had time to cut off onto a side road, ditch the truck somewhere, disappear into whatever hole he's been hiding in this whole time.Men like him don't get caught by luck.They get caught because someone finally corners them with nowhere left to run.
"What happens now?"Van asks.
"Now I file a report, flag the plate for every department in a fifty mile radius, and call it in to Laurel Springs PD since it's tied to their open investigation."I pull back onto the road, heading back the direction we came from, adrenaline slowly draining out of me and leaving something colder in its place."And I call Macie, because she needs to know he was close enough today that I damn near had my hands on him."
"That's gonna scare her."
"Yeah, it is."I don't sugarcoat it, because Van needs to understand this job doesn't come with easy answers, not when the person you're chasing has a personal stake in someone you love."But she deserves the truth more than she deserves me protecting her from it.She's dealt with enough of this already."
We drive the rest of the way back toward the station in silence, my mind running through everything that just happened, replaying the moment dispatch confirmed the plate, the second my whole body went cold with recognition, the way Gerald's taillights disappeared over that rise when he’d won the race between us.
But I have to remind myself that he hasn't won anything.Not really.But watching him get away today reminds me exactly how much further we've got to go before Macie can actually breathe easy, before she can walk through a parking lot without checking over her shoulder.
I pull out my phone the second we're parked back at the station, Van heading inside ahead of me to start the paperwork, and I sit there for a second longer than I need to, gathering myself before I dial her number.
She deserves better than a scared, angry version of me delivering this news.She deserves someone strong, someone who can tell her the truth without making her feel like the ground's being pulled out from under her feet all over again.
I take one more breath, then hit call, already dreading the way her voice is going to change the second I tell her exactly whose truck we chased today.
Chapter19
Macie
I'm on the way home.It still makes my stomach do funny things when I think of Darren's house as home.It's true though, since I moved to Laurel Springs, it hasn't felt like home, but with him?It completely does.My phone rings in through the bluetooth, and I see Darren's name.
"Hey," I answer."I'm on the way home right now.Your mom is there with Nicole, do you want to invite her to stay for dinner?"
"Yeah, I'll reach out and invite my dad too.But there's something I have to tell you first."
The tone of his voice is scaring me, because it sounds like he's trying to keep himself together."Are you okay?"
"I had Gerald Simmons in my sight today.Fucking chased his goddamn truck all the way to the Calvert County line, and the motherfucker got away.I'm so sorry, babe."
He sounds like this is the worst news he's ever had to deliver.I want to reach through the phone and hug him."You don't have to be sorry.I'm sure you did everything you could.I still feel safe with you, eight pack."
The laugh he lets loose is like a balm to my soul."God, if I had gotten him..."
"Well maybe it's a good thing you didn't.Who knows what would have happened."I can just imagine Darren roughing him up for roughing me up, and I don't want that for the man I love."I'll see you at home."
"Yeah, I'll see you."
"Hey," I stop him before he hands up.
"Yeah?"
"I love you, too."There's a silence between us, but I know it must be for him the same way it was for me.But I'm waiting for him to respond.I hope I didn't spook him the same way he spooked me.
"You heard that huh?Didn't exactly mean to let that fly in front of the entire ER, but it felt right."
