He hit eighty, ninety, and then a hundred miles an hour and saw a red light ahead, brake lights glowing as cars slowed. Unwilling to slow down, he gunned into a bike lane.
Bursting through a gap at the intersection, still he pressed on, zigzagging around cars and using the bike lane when necessary. Making a turn, he accelerated toward a long line of cars, and with nowhere to go, he cut through a gas station parking lot at close to thirty miles an hour, making people jump out of the way.
The police were on their way… but it still might not be soon enough.
His mind raced frantically, wondering whether Lester had already forced Maria into a car, where he might have taken her…
Or if he had already shot her.
Another turn, this time to the left, and for the first time, he was forced to come to a complete stop at a crowded intersection. He pounded the steering wheel, then held his breath as he plunged into multiple lanes of traffic. He watched as another driver slammed on his brakes, missing him by only inches.
Speeding through a residential neighborhood at sixty miles per hour, he scanned for children or other pedestrians or pets, houses passing in a blur.
Another turn. Tires screeched and the rear of the Camaro fishtailed left and then right, Colin struggling for control. On this block, cars were parked on either side of the street, limiting visibility, and Colin reluctantly slowed the car. Just ahead, he could make out a couple pushing a stroller on the sidewalk; a kid playing catch with his dad on the opposite side of the street; a guy walking his dog with a long retractable leash…
Another turn and a clear road with better visibility; Colin sped up again, finally recognizing the Sanchez neighborhood.
It had taken him nine minutes.
He began to bank into the final turn at top speed… and almost hit a blue Camry that was approaching fast in the middle of the road. Colin swerved automatically to the right, as did the other car, the Camaro fishtailing again, tires screeching. Colin felt another sudden adrenaline surge as his heart hammered. He briefly glimpsed two men in the front seat with startled expressions, their eyes wide as the cars slid past within inches of each other, too close. Way too close, and he gripped the wheel hard, regaining control. Barely.
He was almost there, the Sanchezes’ street up ahead. A single turn to go, and he didn’t hit the brakes until he was almost there.
Fear taking over now.
Praying he wasn’t too late.
Shearing into the turn, he heard a siren behind him. In the rearview mirror, he saw the flashing lights on top of the squad car as it barreled around the same turn he’d just made. Colin slowed only slightly, but the squad car was closing fast and Colin heard a squawk from the loudspeaker.
“Pull over!”
Not a chance, Colin thought. No matter what happens to me.
CHAPTER 24
Maria
M
aria couldn’t take her eyes from the gun… or the person holding it.
Lester Manning.
Margolis had been wrong. Lester wasn’t in the hospital.
He had been waiting for her here. The knowledge paralyzed her, and she watched as he snatched the phone from her hand. His face contorted into something she barely recognized.
“No calls!” he shouted, making her jump. The tone was off-key, on edge. “No police!”
As he backed away, her senses heightened and she saw it all: the unkempt hair and ratty canvas jacket, faded red shirt, and torn jeans; the dark holes of his pupils and the rapid rise and fall of his chest. In her head, the words ran together: delusional disorder; acute phase; persecutory delusions.
And the gun. He was holding a gun.
Her mom and dad were inside, as was Serena. Her family was in danger and it was dark and no one in the neighborhood was out…
She should have run as soon as she saw him coming, sprinted for the front door and locked him out, but she’d stood there like her legs belonged to another person…