Dennis stared at him in shock and then swore again, racing outside, around the corner of the building. Greyson followed him, jumping down from the loading bay in front of the cops, two of them now running behind him. As Dennis got out to another parking lot, he swore even more, stomping his feet. “God dammit to hell. My truck is gone,” he said. He walked to the empty spot and said, “This is my space right here.”
“What kind of truck is it?”
He turned, pulled up his phone, and said, “This is my baby. It’s a blue Ford with lots of grillwork.”
“And how would he have started it?”
“The kid’s been stealing cars since grade school. He knows how to jump-start rigs,” Dennis said. “He could’ve taken any one of these.”
“But he took yours. Why?”
“Why the hell do you think? He’s my brother, so Frank probably thinks I wouldn’t report it stolen because I’d know he’s the one who took it.”
“Security cameras?” he barked, looking up at the side of the building.
“Not here, but in the front, yes.”
A cop immediately said, “We need to access it right now.”
“How else can you get out of here?” Greyson asked Dennis.
“Another gate’s on the far side,” Dennis said, pointing. “It lets you onto a different street.”
“God dammit.” Greyson turned to the cop and said, “I’ll leave you here while I track down Frank.” And, with that, he ran back to his truck. As soon as he got there, the cop who had been leaning against his grandpa’s truck straightened and stood. Greyson gave him an update. “Frank stole a truck and got out on the far side. He’s driving a blue F-150,” he said, as he passed over the license plate number. “It’s his brother’s truck. His brother, Dennis, works here. I’m going after Frank again.”
Without giving the cop a chance to argue, he hopped in and turned on the engine. Looking over at Jessica, he said, “Sorry, but you’re in for another ride.”
“Just don’t kill us,” she said.
“Actually you should probably sit here and wait,” he said. “The cop said that’s your ambulance.” She hesitated, and he shook his head. “No,” he said. “Go. Let’s make sure that your boy is okay.”
Obediently she hopped out and stood nearby, while he peeled out of the parking lot, headed to the back gate, the same place that Frank had taken his current stolen vehicle. Kona stayed with him, more than anxious to stay in the hunt.
Greyson didn’t realize it was a gate until he was almost upon it. It was still partially open. He hopped out, pulled it open, got back in, and took off, while getting his phone out. “Badger, we need Stone again. The asshole took his brother’s truck and went out the back way.”
“Interesting,” Badger said in a calm voice. “I’m patching it through. Just hang on.”
Next thing he knew, Stone was on the line. “He’s driving a blue F-150 with lots of grillwork,” Greyson told Stone, reading the license plate to him. “He’s alone. It’s his brother’s truck, and he’ll be on the run now.”
“We’ll find him,” Stone said. “Is the little boy okay?”
“He’s got some bruising to his temple area,” he said. “It’s quite likely that idiot hit Danny to knock him out. Right now, he and his mom stayed behind with the cops, waiting for the ambulance to check out the boy.”
“Good,” Stone said. “Let’s go find that bastard. We’re running air surveillance. Give us a minute.”
Minute after minute ticked by as they did a lot of searching, and Greyson drove around a lot of blocks doing random searches.
“I’m sorry, man. No sign of that truck,” Stone said.
“I can’t believe it,” Greyson replied. “What about traffic cameras?”
“That industrial section is a little slim on those,” he said, “so we’re running through some of the companies that have private property cameras running right now. Nothing so far, but—oh, wait—about twenty minutes after you left the place,” he said, “one of the cameras picked him up about four miles away. Hang on while we figure out where he’s gone from there.”
Greyson took a left back onto the freeway and headed back the other direction.
“So he just came here, dumped the kid, and grabbed a new set of wheels?”
“That’s quite possible,” Stone said. “Think about it. If he’s caught with a stolen vehicle and a kidnapped child, it’s a whole different story than if he’s just driving his brother’s truck without permission.”
“And he would have known the kid would be okay there. Eventually somebody would have surely come and checked out a car parked in front of the loading bay.”
“It’s quite possible and at least makes this guy seem a little bit more human,” Stone said. “Don’t worry. I still hate him though.”
“You and me both,” Greyson said. “Please tell me that you found where this guy went.”
“Yeah. He went ahead to the McDonald’s, parked the vehicle, and went inside, but that was over forty minutes ago.”
Greyson pulled into the McDonald’s lot ten minutes later. He slowly cruised past the parking lot full of vehicles and pulled up beside the blue F-150 with all the chrome. “I’m pretty damn sure he’s ditched it here,” he said, as he hopped out and walked around the vehicle.
“I would think so,” Stone replied. “I would. It’s pretty damn easy to pick up any other vehicle.”
“Even if he didn’t get another one right here,” he said, “a mall’s across the road, and a great big used car lot is on the next block. No shortage of choices here. His brother said Frank was pretty damn quick at hot-wiring vehicles, so he could be anywhere by now. Looks like we lost him.”
Chapter 9
Jessica couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t rest, and no way she would move more than a foot away from her son. It was now midmorning. The sun was up high; she’d had one pot of coffee and sat at the kitchen table, wondering how she would get through the day. She
