completely on whatever was happening that Ben thought: Now!
Ben lunged across the seat. His fingers wrapped around the trigger guard just as Mike grabbed his arm, but Ben had it by then. The shotgun went off like a bomb, and kicked hard into the steering wheel. Ben jerked the trigger again as fast as he could, and the shotgun thundered again, blowing a second hole in the floorboard.
Mike pulled Ben's hand off the gun as easy as tearing paper, and shoved Ben back into his seat. Ben threw his arms over his head, certain that Mike would beat him or kill him, but Mike put the shotgun back in its place, and started maneuvering out of the parking lot.
Once they were going, Mike glanced over at him. 'You're a tough little bastard.' Ben thought, too bad I missed.
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CHAPTER 24
time missing: 53 hours, 3 minutes
Fallon's car moved in the north parking lot, speeding toward the exit. He would have to drive past the soccer field and the Museum of Flying, then between the office buildings before he came out onto Ocean Boulevard. Once he reached Ocean, he would be gone.
My hands shook so badly that they felt like clubs, but I
punched Pike's number on speed dial.
'C'mon, Joe--answer. C'mon.'
Fallon's car turned past the soccer field and picked up speed. White midsize coupe, looked like two doors. He would be on his way to meet Schilling and Ibo. The limo was big and obvious, and now it was missing a headlight.
They would abandon it soon. Pike suddenly answered. 'I'm moving.'
'Eastbound at the end of the soccer field, white twodoor coupe. He's at the museum. He'll come out on Ocean. I lost him.'
I broke and ran for my car. I ran as hard as I could, phone in one hand, gun in the other, past the hangars and the houses. Pike would be racing north toward Ocean Boulevard, and then he would turn east. He would either spot Fallon's car coming out of the airport or he wouldn't.
309
A woman was walking a small orange dog in the middle of the street. She saw me running toward her with the gun. She didn't try to get away or go to a house; instead, she hopped from foot to foot, screaming aiee, aiee, aiee, and the dog spun in circles. Here was this woman out for a walk, and I thought that if she tried to stop me I would shoot her and her little dog, too. That wasn't me. That wasn't anything like me. Welcome to madness.
I hit the car running and iammed away from the curb so hard that the car fishtailed and the tachometer needle
was swallowed in red.
'qoe ?'
'East on Ocean.'
'Where is he?'
'Stop screaming. He's eastbound on Ocean, wait, turning south on Centinela. I have him. Six cars ahead.'
Centinela was behind me. I jerked the hand brake to lock the back end and spun the cai, smoking the tires out of a one-eighty. Horns all around me blew, but they sounded far away.
I still screamed into the phone.
'Myers is dead. They shot Richard, too. They shot him, and he fell back into the limo. I don't know whether they killed him or not.'
'lust take it easy. We're still southbound. Fallon doesn't know we're still in the game.'
Fallon drove with a low profile so he wouldn't get stopped by a passing cop, but all I cared about was catching him. Ihit eighty on the side streets, turned parallel to
Centinela, then jammed it to a hundred.
'Where is he? Gimme cross streets!'
My car bounced off a dip in the street, but I went even faster. Pike called out the cross streets they were passing.
3IO
I passed the same cross streets running parallel. I caught up to them one street at a time, and then I pulled ahead. I turned toward Centinela with all four tires sliding and blew a valve coming out of the turn. Smoke poured out behind me, and my engine clattered.
Pike said, 'We're picking up speed.'
I was close to Centinela and getting closer, three blocks away and then two. I snapped off my lights and jerked to the curb just as Fallon's car rolled through the intersection and turned toward the freeway. Ben sat in the passenger seat. He stared out the window.
'I'm on him, Joe. I see him.'
Pike said, 'Fall in behind after I make the turn.' Fallon didn't go far, but he wouldn't. He had thought it through well. They would change cars, and then they would get rid of Ben, and Richard if he was still alive. No
