“We transfer Sadun out of Atwater at 4 pm,” Grace answered. “Any other alterations?”
“Yeah. Rent an SUV with a real spare tire, and room in the back cargo area. I’m going to drop you two off on the outskirts of Merced. I’ll call in an anonymous tip about an SUV rocking around on the side of the road when I’m a half hour out of Merced.”
“I hate you.”
“Don’t make me have to remind you who it is that’s responsible for this cluster fuck, Gracie. You and Tim will be heroes, hijacked, and stripped of a prisoner, obviously set up by a leak in the department.”
“I hate you.”
*
“Where are you taking me,” Sadun asked.
“We told you,” Grace answered. “It’s not safe for you here. Someone killed your lawyer. It was a professional hit. We’re moving you to a safe-house in Sacramento until other arrangements can be made.”
Sadun chuckled. “Is that what you have been told? We have another plan which will work much better for me. Perhaps you two will live through it.”
“Oh shit,” Tim mumbled. The highway they were on was desert, with no traffic. What looked to be a California Highway Patrol car was angled across the road with a uniformed patrolman waving them to a stop. Behind them, an SUV type vehicle was speeding toward them from the rear. Tim pulled his 9mm Ruger, while Grace followed his example. “We’re screwed.”
“Put down your weapons, fools! My men will not shoot you unless they have to!”
Tim glanced back at Sadun. “They’re going to have to.”
“Idiots!”
Tim gauged the approach of the vehicle behind them in the rear view mirror, figuring on ramming the patrol car ahead, and taking their chances in the gun battle that followed. At that moment, the windshield on the trailing vehicle shattered, and the SUV pitched to its side and rolled. Tim focused on the patrolman in front of him, who had now brought a machine pistol to bear on them. The patrolman’s head seemed to explode toward them. A large caliber, high velocity round burst from his forehead, expanding as it exited, and taking most of the man’s upper face with it. Two other men began exiting the patrol car, firing wildly. They took shots to the chest.
“Wha…what has happened?” Sadun stared from front to back in stunned shock, his eyes wide, and unblinking. “Why are you laughing, woman!”
“It’s like this… idiot,” Grace replied, watching the scene tensely in front of her. A hooded figure in tan fatigues approached the patrol car, and fired a round from a pistol into the heads of each man only wounded. The figure looked at their SUV, smiled, and waved. Tim waved back. “You planned an escape, which means we have yet another damn leak somewhere. You must have had a warning the moment we were given our orders. A very professional bunch hustled into place to free you from our clutches. Unfortunately for you, we have a stone cold killer watching our backs. Remember the guy we told you not to mess with after he questioned you in the van before we turned you in?”
Sadun began thrashing around in the back, “You cannot do this! Take me to the safe-house. I will tell you everything!”
Tim grinned at him with a sigh. “That ship sailed already, Amigo.”
Another vehicle skidded to a stop next to them as the hooded man approached. Tim holstered his weapon. “It’s Gus.”
“How do you think he knew?” Grace put away her weapon too, and opened the door.
“I guess we’ll find out.”
“Hi guys,” Nick said. “Nice ambush. Uthman… boobie… pal… how the hell are you? Long time, no see.”
“Stay the fuck away from me!” Sadun scrambled into the far corner of the rear seat.
Nick waved a finger at him. “That’s not nice, Uthman. Well, kids, I have good news for you. Thanks to the unsuccessful Uthman ambush, I’ll only have to put you two to sleep. This will be a wild one for them to figure out. I took pictures and fingerprints of the three in the front, but I don’t have time for the guy in the rear. C’mon, Uthie. We have to go. Don’t make me have to shoot you in the dick.”
When Nick took aim to do exactly that, Sadun worm crawled to the door Nick held open for him. “Good boy.”
Nick put him into the backseat of his escape vehicle with Gus guarding him. Nick gestured at the back of the SUV while taking out two syringes. “Get comfortable in the back after you put your pistols on the ground. I’ll give you something for a couple hours rest, and put your weapons under the front seat.”
Tim put his Ruger on the ground, and curled inside first. Then Grace put her weapon on the ground, and climbed into the SUV cargo area in front of Tim. She muttered, “I hate you.”
“Another leaky/leaky, I see. You two are lucky I got into position long before Uthman’s wild bunch showed. Anyway… sweet dreams, kids. I’ll text you who it is that tipped off Uthie.”
“Thanks, Nick,” Tim said.
Grace turned away as Nick pressed the syringe to her neck. “I hate you.”