CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Cami ran out, behind Connor, feeling resolute as they chased after their latest, strong suspect who was in IT and who had been in the vicinity of both victims’ homes a day before the crimes.
This might be a chase-down. She’d never been involved in those before. And, as Connor jumped into his car, pulling off at high speeds before Cami had even gotten her seatbelt on, she knew this was going to be totally different from what she’d ever dreamed she’d be doing in this job.
She struggled to do up her belt, nearly slewing sideways as Connor sped away, driving totally differently from the way he usually did. The car whipped around a corner. The radio was crackling, and they were flying along on the main road in the fast lane.
Connor was on the radio, communicating with the other teams on the road, and putting the word out for other available cops to join them.
Cami couldn’t make out everything that was being said. Her ears weren’t tuned to the sounds of the radio or to the lingo that they used in their communication.
“We’ve located the suspect’s car.”
That one, she did hear clearly, with a jolt of excitement. Someone ahead was on track to stop Francois Leeming.
“Flagging him down. Requesting him to stop.”
The voice on the radio sounded so routine, as if stopping a suspected criminal for questioning was all in a day’s work. Cami guessed it was.
But then, the voice spoke again, this time with a note of panic, and clearly enough for her to hear.
“Suspect has failed to stop! He’s made an illegal turn and is now heading down the slip road to the highway. We have to backtrack.”
“We’re on it!” Connor said.
Cami thought they had been in a chase before now. She realized she’d been wrong as Connor hit the gas, hard, and activated the siren.
The car flew down the main road and the view seemed to telescope ahead of them as he sped up. And then, reacting to something indiscernible he heard in the radio feed, he hit the brakes, slewing it sideways, speeding down another slip road. Cami’s heart jolted in time with the wheels as she felt the magnitude of the situation. This was truly last-moment decision making. What if they missed him?
Now they were on the highway itself, racing at a furious speed.
“We might need to be ready to make a turn. We’re going the opposite way to him. Approaching where his vehicle should be,” he said in a clipped voice.
Cami nodded, trying to ignore the way her stomach was skipping, and her heart was beating like a drum. It was all she could do to stop herself from grabbing the dash as Connor hit the brakes, swearing, when another car veered into their path.
“What are we going to do if we do locate it?”
“Stop it. If we can, without risking the lives of any civilians.”
Cami kept her eyes on their surroundings, as Connor checked and changed lanes, speeding along at a furious rate. Where was the black BMW with Virginia plates? Would they see it suddenly, in this busy lunch time traffic, and if so, would they be able to catch up? The way Connor was driving, Cami thought that would be likely.
The radio crackled, and Connor replied, his voice urgent.
“Copy that. We’re turning.”
Cami gasped as he hit the brakes, screaming practically to a stop in the fast lane, before veering sideways across the highway. Now, she really did clutch at the seat as the car sped the opposite way, accelerating furiously in the fast lane heading south, as horns blared and traffic swerved around them.
It would have been exciting if it wasn’t so scary. This was no video game, this was real life, and Cami felt acutely aware of the risks Connor was taking. Calculated risks to be sure, but even so, chasing down a criminal was a next-level adrenaline rush. And they wouldn’t stop until they caught this man. They couldn’t. But where was he?
Cami heard the voice of the officer they’d dispatched to follow-up the location of the vehicle. The one who was now collating information from various cameras and reports.
“It’s heading in the same direction as you. On the same road.”
Ahead, she could see the cars all pulling to the left, onto the slip road. The last of them was a black one.
Cami felt her heart leap as she saw it, even at that distance.
“We’ve got it!” she said, breathless. “We’ve got it.”