Page 47 of Just Hide

"Down this road. The signal's moving fast," Cami said, her voice tense.

"Okay, we have a make and model," a voice crackled through on the radio. "Car is a white Mini, last year's model, and I'll read the plate to you now."

Cami listened carefully as the control room operator read out the number plate, feeling a little bit more hopeful as they reached the end of the street. Now, they'd be able to see the car.

Or not. Where was it? She looked around, feeling tense and worried.

"There she is!" Connor shouted. "Hold on!"

Cami braced herself as he floored the gas pedal.

The Mini was hurtling up the road toward the highway, and they would need to hustle if they were to follow successfully.

Connor sped along the road, siren blaring. Their speed felt reckless in this slippery, wet weather with the rain hammering down on the car, and Cami gripped the handle on the door for dear life.

The Mini swerved at exactly the same time Cami said, "I've lost her. She's disappeared off the map."

“Must have been warned. She's turned her phone off. But now we've got a visual on her, and we have to keep it," Connor said.

He sped into the turning lane for the highway, but at the last moment, tires squealing, the Mini veered out of that lane and slewed across the two-lane road, horns blaring.

Connor swore, wrenching at his own wheel, checking the mirrors frantically as he tried to maneuver away from the path that he'd been committed to taking.

Cami heard the loud blare of a truck's horn behind them and saw the grille looming large in the mirrors. Gritting her teeth, she braced herself for a collision, but Connor powered the car forward just in time, veering into the other lane and out of danger.

She could see the Mini in front of them, skidding and swerving as the driver tried desperately to outpace the police.

Connor was using all his skill to keep up with this nippy, powerful car.

"She might be turning right," Cami shouted, knowing that it probably wasn't helpful, but feeling she had to try and help somehow, with the phone turned off. "No, no she isn't. She's veering left again!"

Luckily, Connor hadn't listened to her the first time. He hadn't committed to that right-hand turn, clearly having learned from the previous maneuver that she was a sneaky driver who took serious risks.

Now, with Nadia veering across the road in her efforts to misdirect them, he'd actually gotten closer. Cami was encouraged that he was just a few car's lengths away from her and gaining.

"We're going to get her," Cami said. "I think we can do it."

"Backup needed," Connor said into the radio. "We're heading down Church Street in the direction of West. We need backup to help corner her. Are any vehicles available?"

There was a moment of silence and then the operator came back on. "No backup available. All vehicles are on other scenes. Closest timeframe is ten minutes."

"Ten minutes is going to be too late. We need help here. This suspect is driving recklessly, and she’s going to cause an accident."

“Copy that. I’ll see what I can do,” the operator said.

But it didn’t sound as if help was going to arrive in time.

Cami listened to this exchange with a sinking heart, dreading that Nadia was going to find a way out of this before FBI backup could arrive. Or else, that she’d cause a serious accident and hurt someone else in her efforts to escape, and that somehow this would end up being Connor’s fault, and he’d get blamed for it.

Connor was going to have to do this singlehandedly, and fast.

"We have to get her!" she blurted out. "We're so close. We're going to have to get her, Connor."

"We're going to try," he agreed.

Cami gripped the seat again, bracing herself as Connor attempted to close the distance and bring the Mini to a stop.

The Mini was swerving, the driver trying desperately to keep Connor off her tail, but he wasn't letting up. He was edging closer, and now he was right on her tail.

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