assault on the compound, had altered her view on a lot of things, and it was all about to culminate in the next few minutes.
The truck dipped and bounced as it bulled its way across a rutted desert plain, carved out by a flash flood thousands of years ago.
Her phone rang, and Tracy risked taking one hand off the bucking wheel to flip it open, leaving it on the seat beside her. “Yeah?”
The cell automatically went to speaker. “Tracy, it’s Stephanie. He’s almost at the end of the tunnel, and will be reaching his truck soon. We’re sending a helicopter to back you up.”
“They already shot one down, but I’m almost there—just give me another minute. He’s not getting away this time.”
“Remember, take him alive if you can—he’ll be a wealth of information if we can interrogate him,” Kate said.
“That bastard just killed a Border Patrol agent, almost killed me and came within a hairbreadth of wiping out much of the East Coast, and you want me to go easy on him?”
Stephanie’s calm voice almost soothed Tracy out of her plan. “I understand you’re upset, but you have to look at the bigger picture. Al-Kharzi is a link in a bigger chain, connected all around the world. The people who took that bomb and sent it to his people in Texas, and the people all across the world who funnel them money, those are the people that we’re trying to stop. The ones behind all of this.
But we need the people who know them, who can tell us who they are, to get to them.”
“Well, I’ll see what I can do. I just found him.” Tracy pressed the accelerator to the floor, and the truck leaped forward, its headlights illuminating an unarmored pickup truck. A startled face looked at her from the driver’s-side window. “Yeah, you better look surprised, you prick.”
“What was that?” The phone bounced on the seat, and Tracy thought Stephanie’s voice might have taken on a concerned tone. She smiled grimly. “Have sighted suspect and am in pursuit. Will call after apprehension is made.”
Tracy flipped the phone closed and tossed it on the floor, removing the last distraction from the chase.
There was a small ditch separating the road from the desert, and she didn’t hesitate, pushing the truck as fast as it would go to clear the obstacle. The plain she was on was higher and she cleared the trench and landed on the road with a bone-jarring crash, feeling the stiff suspension bottom out for a moment. Tapping the brakes just enough, she forced the truck into a bootlegger’s turn, slewing it around ninety degrees and ending up facing the direction al-Kharzi had gone. The steering felt looser, and she thought she’d totally fucked up the alignment, but the truck was still moving forward, and that was all she cared about.
Stomping the pedal to the floor, Tracy shifted into two-wheel drive and raced after the fleeing terrorist. No doubt he was heading for the border, but if he thought he’d be safe there, she had a big surprise for him. Tracy had already made up her mind; she’d chase him all the way to Mexico City if she had to.
The modified Ford F550’s powerful V-10 engine roared as it ate up the miles between Tracy and her target.
Although the road was narrow and winding, her driving skills made all the difference as she navigated the dirt lane, gaining on the truck ahead of her with every passing minute. It helped that the terrorist was having a hard time controlling his vehicle, having to sacrifice speed for safety.
Tracy powered around a final turn and her headlights lit up the back of the fleeing truck just as it sailed down a small hill. She followed, gaining enough speed to draw to within inches of his rear bumper.
Okay, now what? Tracy frowned as she realized she had been concentrating so hard on catching him that she hadn’t thought out much of a plan beyond that. The road was too narrow to pull alongside and force him off the road.
Shooting at him was also out of the question; not only would it be a wasted attempt here, but she needed both hands to control the steering wheel. That left only one thing to do.
Flooring the accelerator again, Tracy crept up to within a yard of the other truck’s bumper, then surged ahead, tapping the lighter truck with her much heavier vehicle.
The pickup slewed from side to side as the terrorist fought to regain control.
One more oughta do it… Tracy pulled up and rammed the rear bumper just as they were about to head into a turn.
The additional force kept the first truck going in a straight line. It crashed into the desert scrub, destroying trees and brush as it plowed across the land.
While Tracy had hoped to overturn it, she wasn’t about to miss her advantage. Dropping the SWAT truck back into four-wheel drive, she followed the trail of destruction into the plain, scanning the hardpan for any sign of him.
About twenty yards ahead was the pickup truck, its driver’s side facing the front of her truck. Al-Kharzi was trying to get back to the road. Every detail was highlighted as if the truck were parked in daylight, from its dust- caked fenders and windows to the face looking through the window at her.
Tracy grinned and crushed the accelerator to the floor.
She surged ahead, aiming squarely at the midsection of the truck. Frozen between driving away and running, Sepehr made a halfhearted attempt to move the truck out of her path, then ducked out of sight a second before impact.
The big truck slammed into the pickup’s side with a tremendous screech of crumpling metal and broken glass. It sent the smaller vehicle skidding across the ground with enough force to flip it over, crushing the roof of the cab as the truck completed its roll and landed on its side, the undercarriage facing her.
Thrown into the seat restraints by the impact, Tracy gasped in a breath before extricating herself from the straps and getting out. Her ribs ached each time she inhaled.
Drawing her pistol again, she approached the wreck, every sense alert, waiting for him to pop out and try something.
A part of her hoped he would.
Leading with her weapon, Tracy came around the twisted and dented hood, covering the passenger compartment first.
Sepehr was lying there, half in and half out of the truck. He had smashed out the shattered safety windshield, which lay in one huge, fragmented piece on the ground in front of him, but he hadn’t gone any farther. His face was a mask of blood, and one leg was twisted under him.
Tracy aimed her pistol at him as he stared back at her.
For a moment, the agent and the terrorist looked into each other’s eyes.
Then Tracy lowered her pistol slightly. “Sepehr al-Kharzi, you are under arrest on the charges of intent to commit a terrorist act against the United States, conspiracy to commit a terrorist act against the United States and illegal possession of nuclear materials and a weapon of mass destruction. And by the time we’re done, I’m sure the U.S. government will have come up with plenty more charges to pile on you.”
Through the blood and broken teeth, Sepehr began to chuckle, then laugh. Tracy let him, figuring he’d let her in on the joke soon enough.
“Stupid American cow. There is no more American government. It has been destroyed. Washington, D.C….
New York…all burning now…”
Tracy shook her head. “I thought you might say something like that. But you’re wrong. We stopped your rocket, brought it down in a lake in Illinois. That bomb never got the chance to take out those cities or anywhere else. In fact, we’re recovering the warhead right now. It’s over.”
The terrorist pushed himself up on one arm. “You… lie…you’re lying…”
“I don’t have any reason to lie. You’ll see that your mission has failed soon enough.” Tracy produced a pair of handcuffs. “There are some people back in D.C. who can’t wait to talk to you.”
“No American woman is going to arrest me!” The wounded man grabbed the window frame of the truck, seemingly oblivious to the pieces of broken glass that sliced into his hand. He hauled himself to his feet.
“Stand right there and raise your hands over your head.”
Tracy adjusted her stance and aimed at his chest.
“No American whore is going to arrest Sepehr al-Kharzi!” Biting his lip, he took a step toward her.
