Page 98 of One Final Target

She pulled herself up into the seat again, having more controlnow with her hands in front. Jonah had to be stopped, but how? Looking out the windshield, she saw forest and dirt road. They’d turned left. Where was he going? She thought maybe Jonah was on a road that went behind Green Valley Lake but she couldn’t be certain.

She tried to yell and get his attention, but the music was insufferable. Then she realized they were slowing. The acrid smell of burning oil was strong. She could see smoke pouring from under the hood. Ramming George into the mountain probably seriously damaged the vehicle.

A minute later her suspicions were proven correct. The SUV shuddered to a stop.

Jonah cursed and banged on the steering wheel. Thankfully the music stopped and Jodie could hear her own thoughts. Jonah opened his door and got out of the car. Jodie saw the light from his cell phone, and she moved closer to the window in order to overhear.

“There’s been a setback,” he said. “The car died. I’m about ten minutes out.”

CHAPTER53

SAM SAT QUIETLY ON THE SOFAwhile Collins paced, and time ticked away. Sam had gone past exhausted a long time ago, but now was certainly not the time to sleep. Collins had had two energy drinks in the time they’d been here. It wouldn’t surprise Sam if he started bouncing off the walls.

“Who helped you plan all this?” Sam asked, hoping simple conversation would reveal more than Collins wanted to.

“A very smart man. You’ll know soon enough. We planned well until you showed up.”

“Not really well. Jodie survived the blast.”

Collins sneered at him. “Sheer luck.”

“You want her dead because you didn’t make it to the police force?”

A muscle in Collins’s face twitched. “I don’t care. I can make more money hacking, and it’s all tax-free. I’m too smart to be a stupid cop.”

“Then why spend so much time trying to get hired? Martin said you worked really hard—”

“Ha, Martin’s a moron. He washed out after four weeks in the academy.”

“But he got hired and you didn’t.”

“It was all an exercise anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“It didn’t matter. I was learning.”

Sam frowned, not certain what Collins meant. Something was off. “Learning what?”

“I’m smarter than any cop.”

“You’re not smart. You’re a psychopath. You killed four good officers.”

“To prove I could.” His expression was defiant.

Yet Sam wasn’t buying it. Collins was involved, he had no doubt. There was no passion in his tone of voice. Sam was not reading the drive to murder in anything Collins was saying.

He decided to try a different tack. “You hack people’s accounts and steal their money? Martin told me you hacked into the bank.”

“Child’s play. My friend needed some money; I got it for him. No matter the security, I can breach it. I told Sergeant King that my computer skills would be a huge asset to the police department. She was too dense to see it.” He smirked and looked away from Sam.

Why did any of it matter if he really didn’t want to be an officer? Sam wondered. He didn’t say anything because Collins kepttalking. Fine as far as Sam was concerned. He wanted to keep him talking.

“Everyone’s information is on the web. They think it’s secure—it’s not. I can peel away any layer of security and expose them. I can make people look guilty, and I can erase guilt. I even fooled the FBI. Like you—you thought you thwarted me by changing rental cars. Ha, fooled you. I tracked your phone every minute. When it comes to technology, I am god.”

It was easy to clone phones; Sam never thought his had been in danger. When would it have been possible? It couldn’t have been Ian. It had to be the cop, Collins’s partner.

“You should realize this is not going to end well for you or your partner,” Sam said. “You will be caught.”

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