shouted, “Go, go, go!”
Genie sped down the narrow space, looking in her rearview mirror.
“Is someone chasing you?”
“Yes.”
“Who? I don’t see anyone.”
“I don’t know!”
The bumper clipped a garbage can and the crash of metal made Lucy jump.
“Don’t slow down!” Ivy cried.
Lucy turned in her seat and looked through the back window of Genie’s sedan.
“I don’t see anyone,” she said. “Genie, slow down.”
“I got it under control.” She glanced at Lucy and grinned. “You look green.”
“I don’t like car chases.”
“Let’s just get to the station.”
“No!” Ivy screamed. “Please, no!”
Lucy looked back again and saw a van turn down the alley from a side street.
“Genie! Van, dark blue, behind you.”
“Can you see the driver?”
“White male. Baseball cap.”
“Tags?”
“There’s no front plate. He’s gaining.”
Genie turned out of the alley, but the street was also narrow, parallel to but higher than the main road. A low guard railing separated them from a steep drop. She called in the pursuit.
Lucy said to Ivy, “I’m sorry we have to meet like this. I’m Lucy Kincaid-I’m an analyst for the FBI, and I can help.”
“You did-you got me away from that guy. Now let me out.”
“You’re in danger. This is Detective Genie Reid with DC police; she’ll put you in protective custody. She’s investigating the murder of your friends.”
“You don’t understand. Just let me out!” Ivy hit the seat.
“Who else is in danger? We can protect them as well.”
The unmarked car wasn’t designed for carrying prisoners, had no shield separating the back from the front. Lucy watched Ivy’s hands, realizing she had been impulsive, that Ivy could have a gun, she could be dangerous.
“Ivy, please trust me.”
Ivy snorted. “I can’t trust anybody.”
“Do you know who killed Nicole and Maddie?”
“How-” She stopped talking.
“I know about your sister.”
Silence.
“Mina, right? Where is she?”
A screech behind them caught Lucy’s attention. The van had gained on them.
“Shit!” Genie exclaimed.
The van was on their bumper. The driver hit them hard. Genie barely kept the car on the road.
“That’s him!” Ivy said. “Can’t you drive any faster?”
“Officer in trouble!” Genie said into her mic. “Cleveland near Thirty-first. Dark blue van-shit!”
The van hit them again. A red light was ahead, cross traffic in front of them. Genie had her grille lights flashing. She flipped a switch on the dashboard and a siren whirled then died, whirled then died.
The cars ahead of them slowed, blocking the intersection.
The van rear-ended them and Lucy let out a startled yelp. Ivy had a grip on the door, as if debating whether to jump out.
Genie veered to the wrong side of the street and turned the wrong way down a one-way street. It bought them only a few seconds. The van squealed, sideswiped a parked car, and followed.
He stuck his hand out the window. Metal flashed in the sunlight.
“Gun!” Lucy cried out.
The gunman fired at the tires and missed. He fired his gun again and her back window cracked.
“Stay down!” Genie ordered.
A crossing guard guiding small children was right in front of their car. Genie turned the wheel sharply right, down an embankment, losing control of the vehicle. It was going too fast, and then it hit the bottom and almost went end over end. The airbags exploded, sounding too much like a gunshot. Lucy’s head banged hard against the airbag. Her body was jerked sharply back and suddenly the car fell on all four tires.
Lucy coughed from the powder released with the airbags. “Genie?”
The steering column was wedged tight against the detective and blood was dripping down her face. She was unconscious, but breathing.
“Ivy, are you okay?”
Ivy had a cut on her head and was coughing as well. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” She tried her door but it wouldn’t open.
Lucy’s vision was blurred, but she located her handbag on the floor by her feet and retrieved her gun.
“Don’t,” Lucy told Ivy. She spit blood out of her mouth. Her head was spinning. She tried to unbuckle the seat belt, but it was jammed.
Their attacker had started down the embankment. He had a gun. There were onlookers at the railing looking down. Any of them could be a hostage or get caught in the line of fire. Lucy didn’t trust her aim because of double vision; she would have to wait until he got closer to fire.
She heard sirens at the same time as the gunman. He hesitated. She fired her gun at his feet-both pairs of them-then ducked. Screams from the road above cut through the ringing in her ears. He fired once into the side of her car, then a much closer siren and bullhorn sounded from the road below the embankment.
The attacker ran back up and jumped in his van.
Lucy leaned back.
“He’s gone,” she told Ivy. “You’re safe.” She had to convince Ivy to trust her, but how? All she had was a theory. “I know about Wendy,” she said. It sounded like she was talking in a tunnel.
Ivy stared at her. “What?”
“The room. The recordings. Let me help you.” Lucy reached up and touched her head, came away with blood.
“I have to go!” The door was still stuck. Ivy climbed out the shattered window in the back.
“Ivy. Stay-”
She stumbled through the thick shrubs along the embankment and disappeared.
Lucy tried to unbuckle her belt, not knowing if it was really stuck or she was more seriously injured than she thought.
Genie moaned, but didn’t open her eyes. The radio played static, but Lucy fumbled with the channels. “Officer down,” she said. “Need ambulance.”
Two uniformed officers approached from the road below. Lucy closed her eyes. She needed a minute to catch her breath. Just. One. Minute.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Sean bypassed the nurse’s station and went straight to Lucy’s room. No one tried to stop him. As long as he looked like he knew where he was going, and didn’t make eye contact, he’d bet his Mustang no one would intervene.
And if anyone tried, they would fail.
