The men were in the trailer, and she could hear raised voices, but their words were indiscernible in the distance. May knew she had to act and fast.
At that moment, a sketchy plan came to her. It was extremely reckless, highly dangerous, but it might just work — at any rate, well enough to get these thugs out of the trailer, where even now May feared they were beating her suspect into a state where he wouldn't be fit for her to question.
"Owen, I think I know what to do," she whispered, grabbing the car door. "Wait here, and be ready to go in and rescue the Prof."
“Be careful, May!” Owen hissed, sounding anxious.
May eased open the car door and ran out, bursting from behind the cover of the trees. But she wasn't heading for the trailer.
Instead, she made a beeline for the nearest SUV, hoping that she'd be fast enough and smart enough to do what she hoped would work, without getting shot herself.
CHAPTER TWELVE
May knew that to break up this highly illegal and most likely violent action, she herself needed to do something that was far beyond the usual scope of a police officer. That was the only choice, she reasoned. Desperate times called for desperate measures. If her crazy plan worked the way she hoped it would, nobody would be the wiser about what she’d done.
If she did it wrong, she might end up with more holes than a colander, but there was no time to think about that now.
She ran to the nearest SUV, crouching as she did to keep out of sight of the small trailer window, and then she climbed inside.
The keys were in the ignition, as she’d expected. These men had seen no reason to take the keys in with them — another sign they were aiming for a speedy getaway themselves.
She reached over and turned the ignition, and the car started with a roar.
From this moment, May knew the clock was ticking, and the men inside would know she was there.
She wrenched the gearshift into reverse, and hit the gas, swinging the car around.
And then, she leaned on the horn, sending its blaring and distinctive noise resounding into the darkening night, just to hurry the men up and get them outside.
Then May waited, breathing hard, her hands tight on the wheel.
In a couple of heartbeats, the door to the trailer burst open again, and she saw the gunmen rushing out, looking in the direction of the car. It was now too dark to see their faces, but concern was written all over their body language.
Now was the time for fast evasive action. May flattened her foot and sent the SUV roaring down the drive, stones spraying from under the tires as she fled from the trailer.
They were clearly not expecting this. She saw their confusion. They were wondering how on earth this had happened. It was so far outside their frame of reference that for a moment they just stared, frozen. She saw their silhouettes in the rearview mirror, framed by the dim glow from the trailer light.
One of the men fired a shot. The sound cracked the air apart and May ducked instinctively, but she wasn't going to lose her nerve now. Instead, she pushed even harder on the gas, reminding herself of the case, and the women who had lost their lives to a monster of a murderer.
Accelerating to a scary speed, May sent the car flying back down the gravel road, wrenching the wheel through the twists and bends. She hoped that what she'd done was enough, and that she'd created a distraction so sudden and shocking that it would draw all four of the gunmen away.
Behind her — quite far behind — May saw headlights blaze. They were coming after her. With any luck, all four of them were now packed into the car, chasing after the mysterious thief who was getting away with their vehicle.
She was on a downhill slope and could now move on to the second, and equally dangerous, part of her plan.
May hit the brakes. Gravel sprayed, and the car slowed to a stop. She didn't have much time at all and needed to get them far away.
She pulled the handbrake, hearing the engine whine and growl as the handbrake fought the gravity of the slope. In the blaze of the headlights, she checked again that the road ahead was clear because she could not risk endangering another soul in her endeavor.
But the road, which was not really a road, but more of a rutted path, was entirely empty, quiet, and still.
She eased open the driver's door, knowing she had to act fast now, as fast as she could.
Then, before the gunmen could appear over the hill, before the car following her could come into sight, May released the handbrake, and dove out of the open door.
The car rattled and bounced down the slope, gaining speed as it went.
May hit the sand, feeling gravel dig into her arms and head, eating dirt and getting sand in her mouth and eyes as she rolled.