Page 48 of I Will Find You

“He hung up right before that.”

“How long before that?”

“Uh, I’m not sure. Maybe a minute. I can check the exact time.”

“Do that later,” Max said, still staring at the computer screen. “How did the call end?”

“I was supposed to call him back when the copter was ready.”

“That’s what he said to you?”

“Yes.”

Max frowned at Sarah. Sarah shrugged. “Go on.”

“The rest, well, it’s all on the video,” Semsey said. “When the warden’s car enters the tunnel, we lose sight of them.”

They play that part on the computer screen.

“Burroughs knew that, right?” Max said.

“Knew…?”

“He mentioned there was a copter in the air, didn’t he?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess so. He made the copter, what, fifteen minutes earlier. He told us to get it away from him.”

“But you didn’t comply.”

“No. We just moved it farther away so he couldn’t see or hear it.”

“Okay, so they enter the tunnel,” Max prompts.

“They enter. Our copter waits on the other end because, well, we can’t see into the tunnel. The ride from one end to the other shouldn’t take more than a minute or two.”

“But it took longer,” Max says.

“The warden’s car didn’t emerge for over six minutes.”

Max presses the fast-forward button. He hits play again when the warden’s car exits the tunnel on the other end. Almost immediately, the car pulls to the shoulder. The warden gets out on the driver’s side and starts to wave furiously.

The end.

“So what do you think?” Max asked Semsey.

“About?”

“What happened with Burroughs.”

“Oh. Right. Well, we know now. The warden told us. Burroughs knew the copter couldn’t see him in the tunnel, so he made the warden stop in the middle of it where no one could see him. Then he carjacked another car. We have roadblocks set up.”

“Is there CCTV in the tunnel?”

“No. They have like a booth in there, but it’s rarely manned anymore. Budget cuts.”

“Uh-huh. Sarah?”

“Yeah, Max.”

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