“Katie!”
She wasn’t there. He hit dirt hard; a jut of rock nailed him right in the gut. The belt slipped out of his hand and he tumbled down the steep hill. He looked in front of him and watched as the car gained more and more speed. His momentum caused him to flip over and land hard on his back. When he managed to sit back up he saw the car slam into the trees at the bottom. A second later an explosion ripped the air as the gas tank ignited.
Shaw grabbed on to everything he could get hold of, bushes, branches, dirt, and rock to stop his slide. If he went another twenty feet, there was no stopping and he would end up in the inferno down there too. He finally slammed against an old stump.
“Katie!” he yelled. “Katie!”
She didn’t answer him.
CHAPTER 91
THE PHONE CALL WOKE FRANK from a sound sleep.
It was the FBI agent they’d been working with.
Frank sat up, already groping around for his clothes that he’d dropped on the end of the bed when he’d turned in. “What’s up?”
“One of the people on the St. Albans list, Richard Pender, was just found murdered in his home.”
Frank’s feet hit the floor. He pinched the phone against his ear with his shoulder while he hopped into his pants. “Sonofabitch!”
“And that’s not all.”
“Yeah?” Frank said warily.
“A neighbor of Pender’s phoned the police; that’s how they discovered the body.”
“Why’d they phone? Did they see something? Pender’s killer?”
“He saw what looked to be two people being carried out of the house and put into a car.”
“Two people! Could they ID them?”
“It was dark. He couldn’t be sure. But the man was big. It took three guys to carry him. And the other appeared to be a woman.”
“Did they see anything else?”
“He got the license plate of the car they were put in.”
“And?” Frank slid into his shirt and tucked it into his pants and then slipped on his socks. “Oh shit, don’t tell me.”
“We traced the plate. It was James’s rental car.”
Frank stuck his feet in his shoes and roared, “What the hell were they doing there? We hadn’t gotten a search warrant yet.”
“Looks like they were doing a little independent snooping.”
“Have the police tracked the car down yet?”
“No. They put out an APB, but nothing yet.”
“Has anyone tried to call Shaw or Katie?”
“Yes. No answer. We sent people to their rooms. Nothing.”
“When did the neighbor phone this in?”
“About two hours ago.”