Next to her, punching buttons on his phone slaved to the on-screen navigation, Aaron said, “Take your next left. We’re going to have to zigzag to it. Can Pike give us anything else?”
Pike’s voice entered her earpiece, saying, “Koko, Koko, this is Pike. I have a moving grid. I’m looking at your route of march and you’re about six blocks away. I’m sending it to your phone, but it’s moving. From this position, it’s headed southeast on Vincente López. You copy?”
She dug out her phone and tossed it to Aaron saying, “I copy. Send it,” then turned left off the avenue, leaving the broad, open thoroughfare for the cloistered streets of the city.
Aaron looked at her phone, then at the screen in the dash, saying, “Left again, then straight. If he’s headed southeast, we need to go farther down to intersect.”
They reached a large park filled with families and teenagers, surrounded by a low iron fence with trees and paths threaded through it. Aaron said, “Next right past the park. That should be Vincente López.”
She took it and they began driving more slowly, passing intersections and carefully watching every car that went by them, looking for the green Renault Fluence described in the rental agreement.
Three blocks up, it finally passed them, a male driving with a woman in the passenger seat. Jennifer said, “I think that guy driving is the one from the hotel passports.”
Aaron said, “The woman is Hezbollah. She’s the one we were tracking in Iguazú.”
Jennifer looked in the rearview mirror, watching them getting farther away. Aaron got on the net, saying, “Pike, we have jackpot. Temporarily unsighted, but we’re re-engaging.”
Jennifer waited for another car to pass, then executed a three-point U-turn and began heading the other way, one car in between them and the Renault. She saw it take a right and followed, now directly behind it. She clicked on the net saying, “We’ve got five-five now. What do you want us to do?”
“I’m trying to get the local police involved through a liaison with the diplomatic security guys on the SECSTATE’s security detail. Just keep eyes on it. If they leave the vehicle, let me know immediately and clear the area. I think that thing is a VBIED.”
Off the net, Jennifer looked at Aaron and said, “Great. We’re chasing a slow-moving smart bomb.”
The car made another right and she followed, calling Pike back, “He appears to be driving in circles, making one right turn after another. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s doing a surveillance detection route.”
The car drove for about a half mile, then made another right turn, ending back on Vincente López and stopping at a traffic light. Jennifer followed and said, “Pike, my heat state is boiling. I’m going to have to let him go.”
“That’s okay, that’s okay. We have him with the phone lock. I’ve got the diplomatic security service guys working the problem. We’re okay unless he gets spooked. Go ahead and back off.”
The light went green and Jennifer saw the reverse indicators of the Renault illuminate. Aaron put his hands against the dash and said, “Shit. Too late.”
Before she could react, the Renault came flying backwards and slammed into her front grill, throwing both her and Aaron forward. The Renault shifted gears and tried to sprint away, the back bumper locking for a split second and causing the tires to smoke against the asphalt. It finally broke free and the Renault began flying up the avenue.
Jennifer sat up, looked at Aaron and said, “You okay?”
He said, “Yeah, I’m fine, but he knows somebody’s chasing him now. He’s going to park that car at the first place he can, then run and initiate it.”
Pike came on, saying, “What happened? What was that noise?”
“He slammed into us. He’s running and we’re burned.”
“Get on him! Don’t let him out of your sight! He won’t initiate while he’s in it, and he won’t stop while he’s being followed. DSS is telling me the police are inbound.”
She hit the gas, closing the gap with the Renault, saying on the net, “Pike, are you sure? What if he’s a suicide bomber?”
Aaron pulled out his pistol and said, “Get up to the driver-side door. I’ll shoot him and stop the vehicle.”
She accelerated, saying, “It’s a fucking bomb! Am I the only one that sees the problem here?”
“He can’t initiate it if he’s dead.”
She kept the pedal to the floor, muttering, “This is insane.”
The park they had originally passed coming into view, she drew abreast of the Renault, shouting, “Don’t miss! Don’t miss!”
Aaron rolled down the window and waited for his shot. His door came parallel to the driver’s side window and the man behind the wheel pointed a pistol with his right hand, the left clamped on the wheel. He began wildly pulling the trigger.
The bullets flew inside their vehicle, puncturing the windshield and causing Jennfier to jerk the wheel to the left. She regained control and Aaron jammed his shoulder into the frame pillar, holding his pistol in two hands and taking careful aim.
