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“Stop!” she screamed again.
She had only a nanosecond to decide what to do. He was already backing out of the bay. Following him in her car would leave her at a severe disadvantage and he’d leave her in his dust. And in any case, what would she do if the guards at the gate refused to raise the boom for her and prevented her from giving chase?
She had a dreadful feeling he was going to get away unless she did something. Anything.
The guards, she suddenly thought. The boom.
Already, the Mercedes was swinging around, and Owen had to leap out of the way of the veering hood or it would have hit him. Jessop gunned the motor, and the car shot forward.
But May had a new plan in mind.
She ran straight for the exit boom, her legs pistoning across the immaculate paving. This was the only way out. He’d have to take it.
With a smoking of tires, the Mercedes raced for the exit, heading for the boom, which the guards were already raising.
But May was fast enough to cross the short distance before Jessop got there. She leaped up, grabbed the boom, and with her full weight on the end of it, pulled it down so it was blocking the entrance.
Let him smash through it if he wanted, she thought, hanging on with grim determination. It was a solid boom, and it would wreck his car.
Jessop clearly reached the same conclusion.
Brakes shrieked. The car squealed to a stop, leaving black, smoking tracks behind it. The hood stopped an inch away from the boom.
In a moment, Owen was at the driver’s door, pulling it open and yanking Jessop out. That was easy as he hadn’t even had a chance to put on his seatbelt.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he yelled in panic at Owen. “Get your hands off me! This is private property, and you have no right to be here!”
“What do you think you’re doing?” May said firmly. “You were supposed to be meeting with us. Not making a getaway down the fire escape.”
He glowered at May, aghast and furious.
She looked him up and down, seeing his designer clothes, his well-groomed hair and sideburns, and his expensive shoes. Owen was still holding onto his arm firmly.
“I’m no criminal,” he insisted.
“We’re police officers!” May held up her ID for him to see.”You committed a felony by refusing to obey a direct request from an officer of the law.”
Jessop was momentarily lost for words. His face twisted with rage, but after a moment he regained control.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he protested. “I never heard you say anything to me. I was told about a meeting elsewhere. I was late for it, and getting there as fast as I could. And you can let go of me. I’m innocent. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“We’re not letting go of you. We don’t trust you,” May insisted.
“Why don’t you trust me?” He attempted a charming smile. “If you have any questions, you can ask me now. I have nothing to hide.”
“You’re going to have to come with us to police headquarters, Mr. Jessop,” May said coldly. “And please prepare yourself to be fully cooperative. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time for questions when we get there.”
*
Fifteen minutes later, May walked into the back office of the Chestnut Hill police department where they’d been working earlier.
As soon as Kerry saw her, she leaped up from the desk. She’d been hard at work, May saw. Three different laptops were open in a semi-circle surrounding her. On the other side of the room, Adams was busy taking screenshots of something official looking on a fourth laptop.
“May. Did you manage to get that footage?” Kerry asked. “I’ve been sending you a stream of information. I hope it’s been useful?”
“I did better than that,” May said. “We got the footage, showing Emily climbing into the car with him two weeks ago outside the sports center. And then we got Jessop.”
“You brought him in?” Kerry looked impressed.
