Chapter 19
Paige
My hand shakes as I lift my third cup of coffee to my lips. I’m probably trembling more from the sugar and creamer than the caffeine. I never drink this much coffee.
When my eyes grew bleary in the early hours, I slept for about two hours. I’ve been back at my desk for several hours. I’m frustrated. I want to find that fucker so badly. I’ve tried every damn camera within hours in every direction of his suspected location.
I have a police radio scanner picking up information from several townships, too. At this point, the best thing that could happen would be for Tombeck to rob another location. At least then, I’ll know where the fuck he is.
The man takes his time. I’m betting he stops at tourist destinations along the way. That would explain the fact that it takes him eight hours to cover about four hours of ground.
I’ve pulled up three other strings of robberies from the past year. Always three in a week. Always four or five hours from the previous one. Usually, he strikes mid-afternoon. Sometimes, mid-morning.
Listening to the scanner is as tedious as locating surveillance cameras. So many calls come in to every station. It’s like static in the background. Hard to focus on.
Suddenly, I hear the code I’ve been waiting for—two, one, one. I nearly jump out of my seat as I scoot closer to the scanner to find out where the robbery is in progress.
My phone rings. It’s Dane. I pick it up. “One step ahead of you, big guy,” I say without a greeting.
“Good. See if you can get footage anywhere in the area. JT is working on it, too. Brant and I are headed in that direction. I’m about fifteen minutes out.”
I jot down the location as soon as I hear it and swivel back to my computer to start hacking into the location’s cameras. “Be careful. I’ll call when I get a hit.” I hang up so I can focus, and it takes me a moment to realize I was rather abrupt. I didn’t even tell him how much I love him. He better fucking be alive for me to tell him after all this is over.
The robbery is taking place at a pawn shop, and there are plenty of cameras, but Tombeck is too smart to let himself end up on any of the footage.
My knee bounces up and down as I watch the police arrive, but it’s too late. Tombeck is gone. He’s always gone. He’s good. When things get messy, he kills everyone inside, but he always gets away.
When I think about all the lives that have been lost since the day I did not die in that bank, I want to vomit.
Still shaking my knee, I open the map wider. “Which direction are you going, you asshole?” I mutter to myself. I look around. He’s not likely to go backward toward his previous crimes, nor is he likely to go to a rural area.
“Come on. Come on. Think, Paige.” I pull up the previous flurry of robberies he undoubtedly committed two months ago and look at the pattern. When I develop a suspicion, I open the string before that and then the one before that.
I grab the phone and call Dane.
“Whatcha got, Paige?”
“He’s going to hide in the national forest.”
“Okay. Can you see where I am? Where’s the best place to get off the highway?”
It makes my heart pitter-patter that Dane never questions me. He trusts me. He takes my word and moves on it.
I pull up Dane’s location and compare it with the enlarged map on one of my many screens. “Three miles. Exit and go right.”
“Got it. Then what? What are you thinking, baby?”
“I think he’ll find a remote place to park and walk into the forest on foot. But, Dane, I bet you’re right behind him. If I’m right, and he gets off at that same exit, you can catch up with him.”
“Got it.”
I look at JT’s and Brant’s locations. “I’ll tell JT to keep going northwest in case I’m wrong, and I’ll send Brant south.”
“Sounds good. Wait! Holy fuck. I see him. He just got off at the same exit you sent me to. Get JT and Brant to head this way.”
“Okay, but don’t fucking hang up. Stay on the line, Dane,” I order before I switch over and call JT.
“This is JT.”
I waste no time rattling off the exit I want him to take and then hang up and do the same with Brant. In twenty seconds, I’m back on the call with Dane. “Talk to me, Dane.”
“I’m keeping my distance, but I have my eyes on him. How far out are JT and Brant?”
I look at their locations. “JT is about five minutes. Brant is twenty.”
“I’ll wait for JT then. I don’t want to confront Tombeck alone.”
Thank fuck. I’d strangle Dane if he did that on his own. “I’ll keep you updated, but what are you going to do?” My voice squeaks a bit. This is it. My man is going to confront my killer. And do what ? The fucker is armed. He’s very dangerous. He will not hesitate to shoot. If he even suspects someone is following him, he’s likely to slam on his brakes and mow down Dane’s car until it careens off the road.
I try not to think morbid thoughts. I can tell by the map the road is about to get windy and rugged. At this moment, Dane is going below the speed limit, but what will he do when JT gets closer?
“Dane…” He hasn’t answered me.
“I don’t know yet, baby. Right now, my goal is to keep him in my line of sight.”
JT is driving much faster, and he’s close to Dane in no time. “JT is on your tail, Dane.”
“Got it. Gonna hang up, baby.”
I go completely rigid and shout, “No, you’re not fucking hanging up on me. You don’t have to talk to me, but leave the damn line open, Dane.”
“Okay. Okay. Bossy.” He mutters that last part. Does he think he’s funny?
I’m pacing while I watch Dane and JT get closer to each other and to Tombeck on the screen in front of me. Thank God I was able to pull the make, model, and plates yesterday. It’s making our lives much easier today.
“He’s speeding up,” Dane informs me.
I don’t respond. He doesn’t need me bothering him. I have to trust he knows what he’s doing and let him do what he’s good at.
“What’s your plan, asshole?” Dane mutters. I know he’s not asking me.
I stare at the screen, not blinking.
“What do you think, JT?” Dane asks. He must have added JT to our line. Thank God he didn’t disconnect me.
“I think he’s onto us,” JT answers. “I say we ride his tail. Force him to pull the fuck over and confront us.”
I purse my lips. I hate this idea. I’m sure Dane and JT have a weapon in their laps, but I’m equally certain Tombeck has more than one, and he doesn’t play fair. He uses a semi-automatic.
I’m watching their speed on the GPS. The road is too windy for what they’re doing. My heart is racing. I’m impotent here. All I can do is watch and wait.
I wish I knew how close they were tailing him. I hate this. If Dane lives through this, I never want to feel this way again. It’s like a horror movie. The bad guy is going to pull a U-turn and kill everyone in a moment.
The only reason I know that can’t happen is because the road is too narrow, and from what I can tell, there’s a cliff on one side. That fact is not making me any calmer.
“He’s speeding up,” JT shouts. “Shit, he’s leaning out the window. Is he going to shoot at us while moving at that speed?”
I gasp and cover my mouth. I might faint. In fact, I collapse onto my desk chair just in case.
“There’s a sharp left ahead, Dane!” JT screams. “He’s?—"
“Holy fuck!” Dane yells.
I’m shaking violently. What’s happening? “Dane!” I shout at the top of my lungs.
A few seconds pass—long seconds—in which I die a thousand deaths.
“I’m here, Paige. I’m fine,” Dane finally says. “Tombeck went over the cliff.”
I hear the skid of tires. I hope that means Dane is stopping. I lift my free hand to rub my temples with my thumb and first two fingers, arching my body as I take deep breaths. I need to be patient.
“Paige?”
“I’m still here.” I’m so relieved to hear Dane’s voice. I’m panting as though I ran up all the stairs leading to this penthouse.
“It’s over. I’m looking over the edge of the cliff now. The car exploded on impact. I know he was in it because I saw him flailing his arms outside the window as he went airborne.”
“Let’s get out of here,” JT says. “I’ll report the smoke on a scrambled line.”
I slide off the chair onto the floor, landing on my knees. As I rock back and forth, I start sobbing. Is it really over?
“Deep breaths, baby. It’s okay. He’s gone.”
I can’t stop, though. I need to release it all. I don’t even care if JT is listening to me. Let him listen. If he spends the rest of his life thinking I’m a pansy-ass girlfriend, so be it. Dane is alive. That’s all I care about.