28. STOP AND FAST
STOP AND FAST
The second Chris saw the black Suburban break through the north service road, he knew Diego had no intention of surrendering.“Diego’s moving!”Chris was already running.Logan came beside him.“Which vehicle?”“Black Suburban.”“There are three black SUVs.”
“The one doing ninety before it reaches the gate.”
“Right.”Chris caught the keys thrown by an agent standing beside an unmarked FBI Charger.He opened the driver’s door.Logan stopped at the passenger side.Looked at Chris.Looked at the car.Then looked back at Chris.“Oh, fuck.”Chris climbed in.“What?”
“I’ve seen you drive.”
“Then you know to buckle up.”
“I was hoping you’d say we’re waiting for another unit.”Chris started the Charger.
“Why would I say something stupid like that?”Logan climbed in and slammed his door.
“You realize you’re exactly the reason federal employees need enhanced life insurance.”
Chris shifted into drive.“Seat belt?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Walker—”Chris floored it.The Charger launched out of the warehouse lot.Logan’s body slammed back against the seat.“Jesus Christ!”Chris smiled.“Still glad you came?”
“I didn’t come voluntarily!”
“You opened the door yourself.”
“You were leaving!”
“Sounds voluntary.”The radio crackled.“Secondary target northbound, industrial access road. Multiple vehicles.”Chris keyed the microphone.“Walker in pursuit. I have visual.”Mercer’s voice answered immediately.“Maintain containment. Units are moving ahead.”
“Copy.”Logan looked over.“Did you hear the part about maintaining containment?”
Chris’s eyes stayed on Diego’s taillights.“Yep.”
“Because it sounded like you heard, ‘Catch him personally at all costs.’”Chris accelerated harder.“Funny.”
“Not joking.”Diego’s Suburban was six vehicles ahead.Two cartel vehicles formed a moving barrier behind him.One dark pickup.One black Tahoe.Chris recognized both from the warehouse.“Those are Diego’s people.”Logan leaned forward.“Sure?”
“Pickup was behind loading bay three. Tahoe was carrying duffels.”
“You memorize every vehicle you’ve ever seen?”
“Yes.”Logan stared.“That was rhetorical.”
“Should’ve asked better.”Chris changed lanes.The Charger pushed through ninety.
Then ninety-five.The road ahead remained mostly empty.Industrial district.Warehouses.
Truck yards.No pedestrians.No cross traffic for almost half a mile.For now.Logan watched the speedometer.“One hundred.”Chris didn’t look.“Congratulations.”
“For what?”
“Counting.”
“Walker.”
“What?”
“This isn’t your training course.”
“I know.”
“You don’t look like you know.”Chris’s expression changed.The humor disappeared.
“I know exactly where I am.”He backed off slightly as they approached an intersection.A civilian sedan crossed several hundred feet ahead.Chris waited.Let it clear.Then accelerated again.Logan noticed.Chris wasn’t reckless.That was the part people misunderstood.He was fast.Aggressive when necessary.Completely comfortable pushing a vehicle to limits most drivers never approached.But civilians changed the equation instantly.The road mattered.
Traffic mattered.Visibility mattered.He wasn’t racing Diego.He was pursuing him.
There was a difference.A big one.The pickup behind Diego began dropping back.
Chris narrowed his eyes.“Here we go.”Logan looked ahead.“What?”
“Pickup.”
“What about it?”
“It’s coming for us.”The truck slowed until it was three car lengths ahead.
Then swerved left.Chris moved right.Pickup followed.“Blocking.”
“Yep.”
“Can you get around?”Chris’s mouth curved.Logan immediately saw it.
“Oh, no.”
“What?”
“That smile.”
“What smile?”
“The one that makes my organs nervous.”Chris downshifted.The Charger’s engine roared.The pickup drifted right.Chris waited.Half second.One.Then shot left.
The driver reacted.Too late.Chris pushed alongside.Logan looked through the passenger window.The pickup was close enough that he could see the driver shouting.“That’s too close.”
“I know.”
“I mean really too close.”
“I know what you meant.”The pickup swerved.Chris held steady.“Walker!”
“Relax.”
“Stop saying that!”The pickup tried forcing them toward the shoulder.Chris eased off.
The driver immediately moved farther over, expecting the Charger to retreat.Exactly what Chris wanted.Chris braked.Dropped behind.The pickup overcorrected.Chris moved right.Accelerated.The Charger shot past before the driver could block again.Logan stared at the truck disappearing behind them. “You baited him.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not normal.”
“Never claimed to be.”The Tahoe was next.And Diego was still getting farther away.
Mercer’s voice came across the radio.“Walker, highway patrol units moving to Highway 16.”
“Negative roadblock ahead of target.”A pause.“Explain.”
“He’ll push through.”Logan glanced over.“You know that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Diego doesn’t surrender.”Chris changed lanes.“He sees flashing lights blocking the road, he’s not stopping. He’ll use whatever vehicle is in front of him as a battering ram.”Mercer answered.“Copy. Units stage off roadway.”Chris pressed harder.
Diego’s Suburban was now visible between the Tahoe and a commercial truck.
“Air unit has target.”Good.That meant Chris didn’t have to risk everything keeping visual.
He backed off as traffic began increasing.Logan noticed.“Wow.”Chris glanced over.“What?”
“You know how to slow down.”
“Occasionally.”
“I thought the pedal only went one direction.”Chris smiled faintly.Then the Tahoe’s passenger window lowered.Chris’s smile vanished.“Down.”Logan immediately ducked.“What?”
“Window.”The first shot cracked.Chris moved the Charger.Gunfire struck asphalt.
“Shots fired!”Logan grabbed the radio.“Shots fired from black Tahoe! Passenger side!”Chris created distance.He didn’t return fire.Couldn’t.Not from a moving vehicle with civilians ahead.Another shot.Then another.A rear window on the Charger shattered.Glass sprayed across the back seat.Logan swore. “Son of a bitch!”
“You hit?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”Chris checked himself.Fine.More importantly—traffic.Three civilian cars ahead.
Minivan.Motorcycle.Delivery van.Chris immediately slowed.The Tahoe continued.
“Why are you backing off?”
“Civilians.”The cartel vehicle passed the motorcycle dangerously.Chris didn’t.He waited.
The road widened.Motorcycle cleared.Chris accelerated.“Mercer, they’re firing from the trailing Tahoe. Need intercept units away from civilian traffic.”
“Copy. Air tracking.”Another transmission:
“Target taking eastbound connector.”Chris’s eyes narrowed.
“Fuck.”Logan looked toward him.“What?”
“That’s heading toward downtown.”
“More traffic.”
“Yeah.”Chris keyed the mic.“Need units discouraging eastbound access. Do not block them directly.”Logan looked over.“You’re giving traffic strategy now?”
“I know Diego.”
“You’ve worked around him for months.”
“Exactly.”Chris stared toward the vehicles ahead.And Diego knew him too.That worried him more.In the lead Suburban, Diego looked into the mirror.Charger.Still there.Of course.
The man beside him looked over.“We can lose them downtown.”
“No.”
“More traffic.”
“That’s the problem.”Diego’s voice was cold.“Walker won’t drive through civilians.”
The passenger looked at him.“You know him that well?”Diego laughed.“I know his weakness.”He looked at the rearview mirror again.Not the driving.Not the badge.Camila.
Chris Walker had one weakness Diego understood perfectly.And Mateo’s sister didn’t even know how useful she was yet.“Call the second car.”
“What do you want?”
“Make him choose.”Chris saw the Tahoe suddenly accelerate.Too fast.It moved toward the delivery van.
“What the hell?”Then it swerved directly toward the van.The civilian driver panicked.Braked.The van slid sideways.
“Shit!”Chris slammed the brakes.Turned.The Charger missed the van by feet.Logan grabbed the dashboard.The Tahoe escaped through the gap.The delivery van came to rest crooked across two lanes.Traffic behind began locking up.Chris stopped.Logan looked at him.
“Go!”Chris didn’t.He looked toward the van.
Driver moving.Conscious.Another civilian vehicle clipped the rear quarter.Metal slammed.Traffic stopped completely.Chris keyed the radio.
“Major obstruction eastbound connector. Multiple civilian vehicles. Need medical and traffic immediately.”Logan stared at Diego disappearing.
“We’re losing him.”Chris’s jaw clenched. “I know.”
“Air has him.”
“I know.”Then the helicopter radio came through.
“Target leaving eastbound. Turning south on freight route.”Chris looked for an opening.Cars everywhere.No safe path.He hit the steering wheel once.
“Fuck.”Mercer’s voice:“Walker, hold position until traffic clears.”Chris’s jaw tightened. “Negative. I can reverse out.”
“Walker.”Chris looked in the mirror.Three cars behind.Then a gap.“I can make it.”
Logan stared.“Can you?”Chris’s mouth tightened.“Yes.”
“Do I want to know how?”
“No.”Chris shifted into reverse.Backed quickly but controlled toward the previous ramp.
A civilian driver honked.Chris stopped.Let them pass.Then continued.Logan held the grab handle.“You drive backward faster than most people drive forward.”
“Helpful skill.”
“Terrifying skill.”Chris spun the Charger around once they reached open road.Tires protested.He accelerated back toward the alternate connector.“Walker,” Mercer said through the radio. “Air has target. You do not need to close immediately.”
“Copy.”
“Did you actually hear me?”Chris glanced toward Logan.Logan smiled.“Everyone knows you.”Chris keyed the radio.“Heard you.”Mercer sighed through the channel.“Good.”Chris took the ramp.The speed climbed.Seventy.Eighty-five.Ninety-two.Open freight road.
No civilian traffic.Diego six miles ahead according to air support.Chris pushed faster.
Logan looked at the speedometer.Then at Chris.
Chris glanced over.“What?”“Training course.”Chris smiled.“You remember.”
“You hit one twenty-three.”
“One twenty-three?”