Page 279 of Silent Target

“The keys were in the visor,” she said.

I allowed myself one breath of relief. “Seat belt.”

“Seriously?”

“Very.”

Kate fastened it.

The first attacker emerged from behind a line of parked cars.

“Go!”

The truck lurched forward.

Bullets struck the windshield.

Kate ducked but kept her foot on the accelerator. The snowplow slammed into a parked sedan and shoved it sideways.

“Faster,” I ordered.

“There are cars in the way.”

“You’re driving a snowplow.”

“That doesn’t make them disappear.”

“It does if you hit them hard enough.”

She accelerated.

The plow caught the rear of a second vehicle, spinning it out of her path. The truck crossed the garage, gathering speed.

The south wall filled the screen.

For one terrible second, I wondered whether I’d read the plans incorrectly.

Whether the renovation had reinforced the old opening.

Whether I had just sent her into solid concrete.

“Michael?”

It was the first time she’d used my first name.

There was fear in her voice now.

“Keep going.”

The truck struck the wall.

The camera shook.

Concrete fractured around the plow. Cinder blocks exploded into the alley as the truck burst through the side of the garage and disappeared beneath a cloud of dust.

I stopped breathing.

The exterior traffic camera showed nothing but debris.