“Yeah. We don’t know if Glover plans on ever coming back home, so he might have the place rigged to blow,” Diane said. “Jack and Gonzales are standing by in case we need them, and the techs are still trying to hack into Glover’s Web site. Richie thinks they’re getting close.”

  Diane called Andrea again and advised her that Glover appeared to be keeping his appointment with Sully, despite having no human “merchandise” to sell, and that she and Officer Rodriguez needed to move over to the meeting site and get ready for Glover’s arrival.

  While Diane was on the phone, Lee continued to follow Glover’s pickup north on the mountain highway. It was dark, but he’d have had no trouble even if Glover’s taillights weren’t clearly visible.

  Lee’s phone began to vibrate and he picked it up. “Grand Central Station.”

  “Lee, this is Hal. Glover just made a call. All he said was ‘Clear my tail.’ The other party, same one as last time, we think, said, ‘Okay.’ That’s it.”

  Lee checked the rearview mirror and could see headlights. He’d noticed them earlier, but they’d been too far away for him to get a make and model of the car, though the vehicle was white—the basic color of the county’s sheriff’s department units.

  “Glover called his backup. It might be the vehicle behind us, but be ready from any direction.”

  “I think we need to identify ourselves as cops, just in case the deputy isn’t dirty,” Diane said. “We can’t afford to give Glover too much room. Andy and Felix are ready and know Glover is heavily armed, but the guy is a shark. We need to stack the deck heavily in our favor.”

  “Agreed. If the deputy acts up, we’ll leave him in handcuffs for Jack and Gonzales to pick up later.”

  Lee glanced back again. “He’s closing up the distance, and it looks like Deputy Harmon. If he pulls a weapon, we’ll have to neutralize him quickly.”

  “In the meantime, what about Glover?” Diane, having looked in the rearview mirror, was now looking forward again, trying to locate the taillights of the pickup.

  “Once we get pulled over, he’ll speed up. So let’s settle this with Harmon right now.”

  Lee slowed quickly, signaling to pull over, even though Deputy Harmon still hadn’t turned on his emergency lights or signaled them in any way.

  “Just don’t let him get around us, Lee.”

  “Don’t worry.” Lee watched Harmon’s reaction. Surprised by their sudden drop in speed, his vehicle closed the gap so quickly for a moment Lee wondered if the deputy was going to ram them.

  There was the sound of skidding tires, sudden bright lights from behind, then red and white flashes and a touch of siren.

  “That’s our cue,” Diane said, placing her hand in her jacket pocket as Lee pulled onto the shoulder of the narrow highway and came to a stop.

  Lee and Diane both got out, knowing it would send an honest cop’s heart pumping—the danger of a quick, unexpected attack. But time trumped caution tonight.

  Deputy Harmon hesitated, not expecting this kind of reaction. Then he opened his door and stepped half out using the door as a shield. “Get back in your vehicle—now!”

  “We’re law enforcement officers. Get back into your unit, Harmon, and don’t interfere with our investigation,” Diane yelled, holding up her gold shield as she walked toward the deputy’s blue-striped unit.

  Seeing Diane on one side, and Lee moving straight toward him also holding his badge up in the light, the deputy did the totally unexpected. He ducked.

  CHAPTER 20

  Lee looked over his shoulder. “Glover!” Lee yelled, hearing the pickup coming back toward them, headlights off. Sudden blasts erupted and flashes of gunfire appeared as Glover fired some sort of weapon with his left hand out the driver’s side window.

  The first few bullets whistled overhead, then Lee felt the impact on his back as rounds struck him. He dove between the vehicles as more hits struck window glass and thumped against metal.

  Lee rolled off the narrow gravel shoulder into the ditch beyond, groping for his pistol and looking down the road for Diane. He saw movement in the tall grass, which meant she’d also reached cover. Glover continued shooting and there were two louder-than-usual pops.

  Tires screeched. Then an engine began accelerating away and Diane returned fire. Lee scrambled over to the hood of the SUV, pistol out, and took aim at Glover’s fleeing pickup. Headlights blocked his sight picture, and Lee held fire as a car came upon the scene from the north, passing by Glover. The driver, an old woman, saw Lee, his pistol aimed in her general direction, and quickly accelerated past them to the south.

  Diane raced out into the road, stopped, then got two more quick shots off. “Shit! I missed.” Then she turned and looked toward him. “Lee? You okay?”

  He walked out from behind the SUV into the glare of the headlights from the cop car. The flashing emergency lights gave an eerie, strobe effect to the scene, as they always did. “I took some hits to my vest. No AP rounds this time, though. He had a carbine of some kind.”

  Diane trotted over, then cursed again, looking at their SUV. “Crap, Glover shot out our tires.” Lee turned for a look at the driver’s side tires, then remembered the two strange pops he’s heard.

  “Deputy Harmon. Where’d he go?” Lee said, then brought his pistol up again, swinging it around toward the bullet-riddled open door of the county unit. He inched forward cautiously, seeing Diane coming back around to his left, providing cover as he moved in.

  In addition to the bullet holes in the door, there were hits in the front fender and the driver’s window had been shattered. As Lee inched around the door, he saw the deputy’s head first. A bullet had struck him in the left temple and there was a growing pool of blood on the asphalt. Harmon had sagged backward onto the pavement. His eyes were open, but it was clear that whatever he was seeing now wasn’t of this world.

  Lee put his pistol away, then motioned to Diane. “He’s very dead. Climb in. We’re going to need this car to catch up to Glover. Even without kidnapping, we’ve got enough on him now to send him to jail for the rest of his life.”

  Lee brushed out most of the glass on the seat, then climbed in, reaching over to unlock the passenger door for Diane. As soon as she was in, he put the car in reverse, turning the wheel as he backed up to avoid running over the body. “Call—”

  “Already on it,” Diane said, punching out the number for Officer Moore. She paused. “Damn, Andy’s talking to someone else. Pick up, woman.”

  Lee checked the mirror for oncoming traffic, then pulled out onto the road, hitting the gas. The department unit responded sluggishly and Lee looked down at the gauges. There was a red light on the dash. “Damn, Glover must have hit a fuel line or something.”

  “Go as long as we can, Lee. I’m still trying to get through to Andy.”

  “Try Felix instead.”

  She punched out another set of numbers. “Busy, too. They might be talking to each other. Come on, Felix. You’ve got call waiting!”

  Diane looked over at Lee. “You smell gas?”

  He nodded, backing off on the accelerator pedal. The deputy’s unit had barely made thirty miles an hour and white smoke was starting to drift up from the engine compartment.

  He touched the brakes. “We’re in trouble.”

  There was a sudden whoosh, then the hood blew up with a bang, rattling loudly as it bounced over the top of the car. “Lee!” Diane yelled.

  “Hang on.” He held the car straight, allowing it to coast for a few seconds before he felt for the brakes again and managed to bring the cruiser to a stop. Black smoke was billowing now and orange flames leaped up from the engine. “Get out before it blows!”

  Lee threw open the door, not worried if any cars were coming, and jumped out. “Hurry Diane. Get back!” He saw her still standing beside the open passenger door, looking for something.

  “My cell phone, it’s on the floor somewhere.” She started coughing, choking from the billowing cloud of smoke inside the car and around the front end.

  “We’ll use mine. Get back!” He dove across the top of the car headfirst, ducked, and rolled to his feet, then whirled around, planning on pulling her out of the car, if necessary. But she was already moving on her own.

  Shielding her face with her arm from the heat and glare, Diane yelled as they ran. “How far?”

  “More!” He reached around her with his arm, scooping her up and carrying her faster than she could move on her own. They reached the shoulder of the road and he stumbled into the weeds. There was a flash and roar, and the wave of heated air struck them like a tornado from hell, throwing them down a split second before the shreds of flying metal flew past with a shriek. Lee pulled Diane against him, covering her as much as possible with his body.

  Glass and debris rattled and clunked on the road, but only a few small pieces actually struck them, and the hot pieces were easy to brush off after the explosion subsided.

  “Sorry if I was too rough,” Lee said, rolling over and taking his weight off her.

  “I forgive you—this time,” she mumbled, pushing away some weeds that had gotten in her face.

  Lee sat up and reached for his phone. “Damn!” Only the top half was intact. The bottom section, below the hinge, had a dime-size hole right through it. Half a circuit board was gone, along with the battery. “We’re screwed. Glover killed my phone.”

  Diane stood, then looked up and down the road. “We’ve got to catch a ride. We need to cover Felix and Andrea. Screw Sully.”

  They both began to run in the direction Glover had gone.

  “Move as quickly as you can, and once a ride comes, catch up to me. And be careful, in case Glover decides to come back this way again.” Lee accelerated to a pace only a vampire could maintain, knowing that he could cover a mile in two minutes easy. The pavement was a good, hard surface, the night cool, and the darkness complete enough to hide his beyond-normal ability. Pistol secure in his belt, he concentrated, letting every muscle of his half-vampire body work with the strength, efficiency, and endurance the unique “affliction” gave him. He’d long ago cast aside wishing he were a full vampire and even faster. The extra vulnerability to sunlight wasn’t worth the bonus in speed and strength. Too bad that turning into a bat thing was strictly fiction, though. He could use a little shape-shifter boost right now.

  Remembering every twist and turn of the road, Lee knew that once he completed the next turn, there was a straight section of highway directly ahead. Then almost at the end of that stretch was the left-hand turn that led into the FAC housing development. Officers Moore and Rodriguez were supposed to be there—and Sully. The pervert was in a dead-even tie with Glover for achieving the lowest form of humanity, but Lee had assumed responsibility for Sully’s safety. And the officers? No way Lee was going to let them go down. Hearing gunshots in the distance, his heart skipped a beat, then he really poured on the speed.

  Lee sprinted down the highway, keeping to the left lane. He had his pistol out and ready, held tightly in his right hand. Glover’s red pickup was visible ahead, parked right beside the yellow VW that Andy was using in Katie’s stead. Sully’s Camry was gone and Felix was supposed to be inside with him.

  Lee noticed the thin mist of dust still settling across the road from the vehicles. The Camry had gone that way, obviously. But who was driving now?

  Nobody was in sight. Lee glanced over his shoulder, detecting a noise behind him on the road. From the engine rattle, it was a diesel coming his direction, and at a good clip. Slowing down was necessary to hide his half-vampire speed, but people ahead might be wounded—or worse.

  Or he might just get run over. He slowed to Olympic sprinter’s speed and moved across the highway to the softer gravel on the right shoulder. He was hoping to reach the vehicles before the approaching vehicle came into sight and it looked like he would. Perhaps the hillsides of the small canyon behind him had amplified the sound of the approaching car.

  Pistol ready, Lee yelled as he jogged up to the VW. “Andrea, Felix?” He looked down and found a cell phone—at least what was left of it.

  The door to the yellow car was open, but nobody was inside. Andrea’s purse was on the passenger’s seat cushion. Then he heard somebody groan. Lee hurried around to the other side of the VW. Sully was there, dead from a bullet in the forehead, but Felix Rodriguez was alive. He was bleeding from his arm and upper body, but the officer had managed to turn over onto his back and was conscious.

  “We were doing our hooker-pimp act when Glover caught us off guard. He sucker punched Andy, then pulled out a forty-five and shot me and Sully,” Felix managed. “I got a round off, but Glover must have been wearing a vest. He flinched, then shot me again. Tossed us out of the car. Heard him drive off.”

  “Where’s Andy, Officer Moore?”

  “She’s not here?”

  “No. Hopefully, Glover took her as a hostage.” Lee checked Officer Rodriguez’s injuries. He’d been shot in the upper arm and shoulder and had a bloody spot on the side of his head. Glover must have thought the wounds were fatal, or not cared, knowing Felix would be sidelined, incapacitated.

  “You’re going to make it, Felix.”

  Lee heard a vehicle’s horn, then turned. It was one of the pickups from the house, flying up the straightaway. The big truck geared down with a mighty whine, then slid to a stop about fifty feet away. Diane jumped out first, followed by Gonzales and Jack Allen.

  Lee stood. “Call the EMTs. Rodriguez is down. And bring a first-aid kit. We’ve got some bleeding to stop.”

  Diane ran up, saw Sully, then shook her head. Jack stopped and brought out a cell phone. Moving quickly, Gonzales stepped back over to the big pickup and climbed inside.

  “Glover took Andrea, which means she’s still alive,” Lee told Diane, bending down to check out the wounded state policeman again.

  Diane looked down at Felix, who tried to smile. Gonzales ran up with the first-aid kit just then. “I’ve got it, Lee.”

  Lee stood, then he and Diane walked toward Jack, who was still on the phone. “Pass any Camrys on the way?”

  Jack shook his head. “Just some old woman speeding away. Diane said she passed through during the incident.”

  “My guess is that Glover hauled ass up that road.” Lee pointed toward the FAC development. “Or spun around in the dirt and drove north.”

  “More backup units have the highway covered just this side of Tijeras,” Jack said. “I’ll tell them Glover may have a hostage and advise them of the Camry.”

  Diane nodded. “Do you suppose Glover knows Andy’s a cop?”

  “She wasn’t wearing a vest—her call—and I don’t think she had time to pull her weapon. It may still be in her purse in the VW. Hopefully, her ID is in there, too, and he never saw it. Felix said Glover walked right up and sucker punched her, then started shooting. Maybe he believes Sully already has the boy and was going to stiff him.”

  “Hopefully, Andy wasn’t injured too badly and she’s playing dumb. She’s obviously got a brain. Wanna take the truck?” Diane suggested.

  “Yeah. We’ll take Jack and have Gonzales stick with Felix until help arrives. You ready to roll?” Lee said to Jack, who’d just hung up.

  “Just a sec. I called the techs at your house and they’re going to be ready if Glover comes back home or tries to do a number on them. Let me tell Gonzales what’s going on, then we’re gone.”

  Lee and Diane ran over to the VW and got Officer Moore’s purse. Inside was her ID and handgun, which suggested that Glover hadn’t discovered that she was really a cop. With her youthful looks, attitude, and slender shape, Andy might have been able to pull off her cover as a civilian. Having worked vice might have kept her alive.

  A call from the techs yielded some important information. They’d locked in on Glover’s cell phone, which was turned on, and had traced his location. He was on the move, in an area west of the highway, but there weren’t enough cell towers in the area to get anything more precise.

  They crossed over into the development and drove to the model home first. Outside, security lights were on and a quick look through the garage window confirmed no white Camry inside. They moved on, quickly checking the driveways, and spotted another of the popular Camrys, but of a different color. They’d taken the back entrance to the development, planning on circling around back to the highway, when a call came in from Richie.

  “Glover has moved south again and is not too far from his home?” Diane repeated aloud what she’d just heard, turning to Lee, her eyebrows raised in question.

  “Don’t tell me the bastard is out to hit our place again,” Lee said. “The guys need to shift over to defense.”

  He looked over at Jack, who was listening closely. “Back to the house, best speed.”

  Jack nodded, took a left turn instead of the right he was halfway into, and everyone felt the pull of their seat belts as the truck slid, then gained traction again. They were only a half mile or so from the highway, but the road was bumpy.

  “We’re going back. Watch out for Glover. He’s on the warpath,” she told the person on the phone. “Why would he go back, Lee?” Diane asked, lowering the phone for a second.

  “Take out the other guys, get something he left behind. Money, drugs, lipstick, and a plus-size dress? Who knows?”

  Jack’s eyebrows went up, but he kept his eyes on the road.

  “There is no sign of the Camry, Lee, but they’re getting a better fix on his cell phone,” Diane reported. “It’s within a mile, give or take.”

  “I’ve got a feeling he’s going to ditch that car. But if he’s on foot and Andy’s still alive, and with him, she’ll be slowing him down,” Lee said. “Tell them to concentrate on a visual and less on their gear. And remember that Glover might just decide to set off some explosives.”

  “Cheerful thought.” Diane repeated Lee’s warning and then asked the men to keep the line open, not wanting to continue to distract if Glover was now within range.

  Ten very anxious minutes went by before Jack reached the turnoff to Quail Run. Suddenly, Lee had a thought and told Jack to pull over by the mailboxes.