“No probable cause. Sorry. Our best bet is to make them speed so a state trooper stops them.”
He groaned and slammed the accelerator even harder. They almost lost sight of the Uber, then caught a glimpse of it about a mile down a winding back road, the kind Vermont was famous for, all splendid autumn foliage and a new bend in the road every few minutes. The tires screeched as he took a turn. “What I wouldn’t give for my Audi right about now.”
“You’re doing great. Better than I would. It took me three tries to pass my car chase driving skills test.”
“Is that really a thing?”
“Absolutely not. To be honest, it doesn’t come up that often in Harbortown police work.” She wasn’t sure why she was blabbing like this, except that her nerves were still wildly on edge from that near-miss. “Neither does getting shot at twice in one investigation.”
“Some vacation, huh?”
Nervous laughter spilled from her lips. She couldn’t stop it, even though it was entirely inappropriate at this moment.
They lost sight of the Uber again, and Jack stepped on the accelerator. Another screech of wheels as the road curved the opposite way. Up ahead, driving through shafts of light beaming through brilliant scarlet and yellow foliage, they caught a flash of taillights.
“Damn, he’s getting away from us,” Jack growled.
She checked her phone. “I don’t even have service here. Better step on it.” A twinge of pain in her arm made her realize that she’d opened up the wound she’d gotten at the Bloodshot Eyeball. If that was her only injury, she counted herself lucky. She’d been a sitting duck out there in the open, an easy target for a sniper.
What a fucking idiot she’d been. She should have assumed that Celine would have another way to communicate with her brother, and that they would have figured out she wasn’t the one using Celine’s phone. They’d turned the tables on Tina and Jack and set their own trap.
Of course she’d considered that possibility, which was why they hadn’t waited in the Camry for Adam to arrive. When they’d gotten to the parking lot, she’d scanned every inch of it, along with the hospital itself and every possible line of sight. No weapons were allowed inside the hospital, so she hadn’t examined every window.
But someone had shot at them from the direction of the hospital, roughly the second floor of the western wing. That much she knew. And that meant that she’d failed. The only saving grace was that no one had been hurt.
A sinking sensation spread throughout her body and made her slump against the seat. All those emotions she’d suppressed ever since the Hooper incident—another massive failure—rushed through her. How could she have been so blind? Why hadn’t she picked up on his treachery sooner?
She ought to turn in her badge and find some other line of work immediately.
Mall cop.
Maybe she could handle that. If anyone would hire her.
Perhaps one of her parents’ friends needed a security guard at their place of business. She could keep an eye on any shenanigans in Felicia’s dim sum restaurant or Tiffany’s nail salon. Hadn’t her daughter just opened a chic gallery in Soho? That place must need guarding.
“Would you speak up?” Jack said, irritation threading through his voice. “Why are you talking about dim sum?”
Crap, she’d actually given voice to some of her self-flagellation. “I’m not.” Then she added, “Just considering some other job options.”
“Well, stop it. You have a job. And you better fucking focus because I need you.”
“Of course I’m going to focus,” she snapped. “We’re going to catch whatever his name is, get your sister back, and that’s it. After that, I’m done.”
He swung the wheel again. “Can we put a pin in this convo? This doesn’t seem like the right moment to make major life decisions.”
He had a point there, but tell that to her nervous system. For some reason, tears had decided to fall down her cheeks at this moment. She felt their wetness, but couldn’t stop them, and decided that wiping them away would draw unwelcome attention.
Familiar blue lights up ahead caught her attention. “I think we just got lucky,” she murmured. “Slow down.”
He pulled his foot from the accelerator and they both jerked forward. At a more legal pace, they took a few more bends in the road. Then—there it was, just as she’d hoped. The blue Honda CRV with the Uber placard had been pulled over by a Vermont state trooper.
Jack pulled up behind the police cruiser and put his hand on the door handle, ready to jump out. She stopped him with a firm touch. “Stay here. Let me see what’s going on first. I’m the one with the badge.”
As she said those words, something clicked into place inside her. Being the one with the badge was a responsibility, a solemn promise to do her best. Not to be perfect, but to act with integrity and in service to others.
Which she had the opportunity to do, right now.
She climbed out of the car and strode decisively toward the cruiser. Holding up her badge, she introduced herself and said, “I saw the flashers, figured I’d stop and see if I can be of any help. I saw this vehicle speeding and was just about to call it in. You got the jump on me.”
