touched them together the engine roared to life.
In the distance, Quinn could hear sirens. They weren't nearly as far away as he would have liked. Soon the street was going to be flooded with police.
'I've got to go,' he yelled toward the back of the van. 'Are you done?'
'They're all here,' Orlando answered.
'Okay,' Quinn said. 'We're back on plan. I'll take the van. You guys run point.'
Something pinged off the hood of the van. Quinn looked out the windshield. Someone was standing at the end of the block pointing a gun at the van. Quinn shifted into drive and hit the gas.
'I'm still in here!' Orlando shouted.
'Hang on,' Quinn yelled back.
They raced down the street. Quinn had no choice but to go in the direction of the man with the gun.
Bullets kept coming, but none had yet to pierce the windshield. The shooter was obviously torn between stopping the van and not putting the cargo in danger. As Quinn got closer he ducked below the dash, keeping the accelerator pressed to the floor.
Another ping, this time off the passenger-side door, followed quickly by two more. Then there was the squeal of brakes and, very near, the wail of a siren.
Quinn looked up. They had passed the building and were in the intersection just beyond. Coming at them from the side was a cop on a motorcycle. The driver had apparently not anticipated the appearance of the van, and was coming at them too fast. At the last second, he turned to the left, laying his bike down in a storm of sparks and screeching metal. The cop rolled off his bike just before it smashed into a light pole, silencing the siren.
Quinn continued to race forward. He was in the middle of a deep breath when there was a bang from the rear of the van. He glanced into the side-view mirror. One of the rear doors, flapping back and forth with the movement of the van.
'Are you all right?' Quinn called out.
'Yeah,' Orlando answered. 'He shot at me as we went by, but it went wide.'
'Didn't want to damage the boxes,' Quinn guessed, then added, 'We almost hit a cop.'
'Yeah. That was kind of hard to miss.'
'Are there any more of them back there?'
'Not yet.'
'What about Nate?'
There was a pause, then, 'I don't see him.'
Quinn turned left at the next intersection. Again, the doors banged against the side of the van. 'We've got to get those shut,' he said. 'No shit.' Ahead the light was turning red. There were two
cars in front of him, so there was no way he was going to make it. 'When I stop up here, you get out and shut them,' he said.
He halted at the end of the line of waiting cars. From the back, he could hear Orlando jump out and close the doors. A few seconds later, she was opening the passenger-side door and hopping into the seat next to him.
As the light turned green, Quinn moved the van forward with the other cars. But instead of following them through the intersection, he made a right turn onto the less trafficked side street.
'So that didn't exactly go as planned,' Quinn said.
'I wasn't going to say anything,' Orlando told him.
'But you were thinking it.'
'I was thinking it.'
For five minutes, they were alone on the road. No pursuers, but no Nate either. Quinn didn't want to even think about the possibility that Nate had been captured again.
'I think there's someone back there,' Orlando said. She was looking through the side-view mirror mounted to the passenger door.
Quinn looked through the mirror on his side. There were several cars behind them.
'Which one?' he asked.
'The black Mercedes. Three cars back.' She paused, still looking in her mirror. 'The silver one behind it might be with him.'
Quinn moved the van slightly so he could get a better look. 'Okay. I see them. I'll make a couple turns. Keep an eye on them.'
Quinn made a quick left turn.
'Still there,' Orlando said after a moment.
Quinn made another turn, this time to the right. Before Orlando could confirm anything, there was a familiar ping off the side of the van – another warning shot.
'Yeah,' Orlando said. 'They're following us.'
Quinn glanced back at his side mirror. The rear driver's-side window of the black Mercedes was open, and someone was leaning out, a gun in his hand. Quinn immediately swung the van over, blocking the shooter's
