Page 56 of 2nd Strike
“And me," Ethan calls. “And Jon."
“If a little friendly competition will get her here faster," I tell JJ, “I’ll suffer the consequences."
I get a text from Matt saying he's six blocks behind us. Grey and Tony are a mile away, coming in from the east. If we can slow Susie down and surround her, we'll have a chance to force her off the road in a controlled manner, so she doesn't hurt anybody.
She takes a sharp right, tires squealing. JJ stays on her tail, and I have to grab the dash to keep from falling over.
“Put onyourseatbelt, Charlie," Ethan gripes at me.
Smart alec. But I do as he says then text Meg.Be safe, little sister.We don't know if she's violent. Try to get her to pull over and let you out.
Three blocks down, JJ has to jerk the wheel to get around a truck backing out of a driveway. Ahead, Susie takes a left and disappears from sight.
There's no return text from Meg, but I didn't expect one. As we finally get to the turn, I look ahead and my stomach bottoms out.
They've disappeared.
I curse under my breath, then my training kicks in hard. Everything inside me goes very still. As we fly down the block passing a set of small businesses on the right, I happen to catch sight of the sedan in an alley.
“Wait!” I yell at JJ. "Back up!"
He doesn't argue, and I nearly get whiplash from the sudden stop before he throws the BMW in reverse. Just as we reach the opening, I see the bumper disappearing out the other end. "There." I point.
JJ wheels us down the alley, my car’s rear fishtailing and banging into a dumpster. Flying down the narrow passageway, we follow, and then go left, finding ourselves in a large shopping center’s parking lot.
There are rows of cars everywhere I look, even though there’s a considerable amount of empty spaces. We'll never find them in here, unless we scan up and down all of them.
“Dammit." I bang my fist on the dashboard. “Where did they disappear to?"
Susie could’ve driven through the lot and around the back of another store, for all I know.
Ethan sits forward again. His finger shoots out near my shoulder. "There! Jon said they're behind that delivery van by the building."
At the far side, the furniture store has multiple trucks. There are a dozen cars parked near them, probably employees.
JJ slips in beside a four-wheel drive pickup where we can partially see the backside of Susie's car. I'm already texting the address to Matt, who’ll share it with Taylor, Grey, and Tony.
“Sit tight. We don't want to scare her off again," JJ says.
The last thing I want to do is sit here, helpless. I wish I knew Meg was okay—she still hasn't answered. "What's Jon saying now?" I ask Ethan.
“His mom is arguing with Meg. Charlie?"
I glance at him. "What?"
His eyes are big in his face. "There's no way this woman ismyreal mother, right?"
Poor kid. For a second, I consider telling him I'm not sure, but what good will that do? He needs hope as much as I do right now. “It sounds like Susie and her sister, Amelia, kidnapped you and Jon both. Most likely, your mom is still out there, and we'll find her, I promise.”
Sirens blare in the distance. I don't know if they’re coming for Susie or someone else.
A car door flings open, and Jon bails out. He starts heading our direction and I whip around to look at Ethan again. "Did you tell him we were here?"
He just looks back at me, the answer in his eyes. "I told him to get the hell out as soon as he could and you’d protect him."
It hits me right in the breastbone. That this kid has so much faith in me when I let him and everyone else down.
"How do you want to handle this, Charlie?" JJ asks.
