Page 89 of In Cold Blood

Cyrus turned.

“Can I have a word?” Noah said as he began to cross the pub. Cyrus’ eyes bulged, he turned and burst out of the brewery.

“Callie!” Noah cried out as he took off in pursuit.

Outside a hard rain was coming down. It had turned the ground into a slick surface of puddles and mini streams. Noah had made it only a few feet beyond the pub’s main entrance when gunshots rang out.

He ducked.

Cyrus raced into the maze of vehicles under the cover of night.

“Where did he go?”

The sound of an engine revving and tires screeching answered that. A slick red Trans Am burst into view, tearing out of the lot.

Noah was already within a few feet of the Bronco. All the commotion had stirred Axel from his nap. Noah climbed in and fired up the engine just as Callie got in the other side.

Only the glow of taillights in the distance provided an indication of which way he’d gone. Noah floored it, giving the engine as much gas as he could. The tires bit into the asphalt and the Bronco surged out of the lot.

“Son of a bitch opened fire.”

Callie wasn’t listening, she was already on her cell phone calling dispatch to get them on the lookout for a 1970 red Pontiac Trans Am and give them directions on where it was heading.

Cyrus tore around the roads, swerving and dodging traffic and narrowly avoiding collisions as if he was in a Formula One race. As new as the Bronco was, it was having a rough time trying to keep up. At some point, Noah lost him in one of themany neighborhoods nestled in the woodland not far from the main stretch.

“You see where he went?”

“Nope.”

As they crawled along, they glanced at every single driveway on the chance that he might have parked and shut off his lights. Someone darted out in front of them, a woman in her early twenties. “You looking for a Trans Am?”

“Yeah. You seen it?”

“It went that way. Nearly ran my kids over.”

“Thanks.”

He tore off, heading down another road that looped back to the same road they’d come in on just off the city’s main downtown. Noah slowed again, and Callie asked a couple if they’d seen the vehicle.

They nodded and pointed further down the road.

As they came around the next bend, they were met with a collision.

A Ford van had pulled out and the Trans Am had crashed into the side of it. Noah brought the Bronco to a halt, climbed out, and withdrew his service weapon. Callie called through to have dispatch contact all cruisers in the area.

“Where is he?” Noah shouted to a pedestrian.

They pointed to a six-story hotel. “He abandoned the vehicle and darted in there.”

Noah went to the rear of the Bronco and popped the door open. “Let’s go, Axel.”

All eager, he bounded out. They hurried over to the collision. Noah kept his eyes fixed on the hotel, unsure of what they would face. He only knew that they were dealing with someone armed and dangerous. “You all okay?” he asked those who had been in the van. Fortunately, they had made it out of the accident with just a few cuts and bruises.

Not wasting any time, Noah and Axel took off toward the hotel.

As soon as they entered, the staff pointed without saying anything. The fear on their faces was palpable. “Does he have a room here?”

The staff members shrugged.