Page 28 of So Silent

Faith smiled slightly. The woman was an archetype, the neighbor. She was the one who said, “Mr. Thompson was such a quiet man,” or, “there’s never any trouble around here.” The woman was this neighborhood’s self-appointed librarian of gossip and knowledge.

Faith could imagine no type of person on Earth more annoying than that, but such an individual might prove useful right now.

“As a matter of fact, we are,” Faith said. “Do you know her?”

“Of course I do,” Joanna said, grin widening. “Everyone knows everyone around here.”

“Do you know where she is?” Michael asked.

“Well,” Joanna said, “I don’t like to gossip…”

She left her words hanging and looked expectantly at the agents. Faith knew she was waiting for them to tell her why they were looking at her, ostensibly to give her a reason to spill the tea on her neighbor, but really because people like her lived for moments like this. She was about to learn why the FBI was after her neighbor, and she was not going to let an opportunity like this pass her up.

Once more, the need to discover where Elena was outweighed Joanna’s irritating personality. “We believe she has information pertaining to an investigation of ours,” Faith said.

“Ooh!” Joanna exclaimed with unrestrained delight. “What sort of investigation?”

“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say more.”

Joanna’s disappointment was as unrestrained as her delight. Faith was about to resign herself to spilling the full story to the nosy neighbor when Turk barked suddenly.

Faith turned to her K9 to see him staring out of the right side of the car. She followed his gaze and saw Elena just about to leave her own vehicle. She stared at the police cruiser in shock, her face white as a sheet.

“Oh my goodness!” Joanna said with something akin to glee.

Elena got back in her car and sped off, tires screeching.

Michael put the car into gear and followed her, engine roaring as the cruiser accelerated.

The cruiser was indeed significantly faster than the typical cruisers they drove. In most other cases, they would have caught Elena within seconds.

But the burgeoning electric age was fast, rendering the world of internal combustion a thing of the past. Elena's Tesla wasn't the top-of-the-line performance model that advertised supercar performance in a straight line, but it easily outpaced the police cruiser's V-8.

“Damn it,” Michael swore. “Screw these electric cars.”

“For once, you and I are in agreement about something automotive,” Faith said.

She grabbed the police radio and quickly put out a bulletin for Elena’s car. When she finished, the radio crackled almost immediately, and Wanda’s voice came on. “She did a runner, eh?”

“Yep. She’s rounding the corner heading east onto…” Faith waited until the cruiser pulled close enough that she could read the street sign. “Harding Avenue.”

“Got it. I’ll get units to cut her off at Robinson Boulevard.”

“No idea where that is,” Faith said.

“Five miles east of where you are. If she turns again, let me know. We’ll box the sucker in.”

Faith detected an excitement in Wanda’s voice that was disturbingly similar to Joanna’s excitement at the potential for gossip. As for herself, she was…

“Damn it, Michael!” she cried out as Michael swerved down another corner, tires screeching as the car fishtailed.

“I’m sorry,” Michael said irritably. “Was that too fast? Should I have slowed down to follow traffic laws.”

Faith glared at him and tried to calm her stomach down. Ordinarily, Michael drove like a grandpa and groused about Faith’s driving, but when it came to a pursuit, he turned into Jeff Gordon, and Faith… well, Faith liked cars, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed car chases.

“Heading south now on… Jesus!” A minivan just barely avoided t-boning them as they rocketed through a red light after Elena. “Uh… Pembroke Street.”

“Got it. She’s probably heading for the I-5. I have units on both on-ramps. Don’t worry, she won’t get far. At these speeds, she’ll run out of battery in less than a hundred miles.”

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