Double Cross

range. The only things in my ear now were my own pulse and the taxi’s racing engine.

Chapter 69

    I KNEW THAT the sports coupe could outrun me on a long straightaway, but that was the one advantage the driver didn’t have here. In fact, I could swear she was letting me get closer.
Was that really happening? Was it a trap? Was that what this was about? Separating, then grabbing me? Was I the target? Kyle Craig would think up something like that. Was Kyle
here?
Was he involved
?
    Then I saw what was actually going on. With no warning or brake lights, the coupe shot left onto a narrow side street, shimmied twice, and kept moving like a Pocket Rocket.
    I missed the intersection completely. No way I could have made the turn. Another came up fast, though, and I took it, hoping for a grid somewhere up ahead.
    Tall apartment buildings rose on either side of me so that I couldn’t see over to the next block. Straight ahead, the road came to a T with another main artery.
Boston Street
, I thought. I knew that beyond Boston was the harbor. That cut off some options, anyway. Made this a little easier. I hoped.
    I can get her—take her down. And that’ll be the biggest break yet in this case.
    The coupe whizzed by as I approached the intersection, and I accelerated blindly around the corner.
This could be it. One way or the other
.
    We were in two lanes of inward-bound traffic now. The Miata wove through other cars expertly, passing on both sides, but it couldn’t slip away from me. I was holding on so far. And I had my Glock out again.
    When the driver tried another surprise right, I was ready for it. The taxi’s outside wheels barely held the pavement, but I made the turn with an inch or two of safety.
    A tree-lined residential block appeared ahead. I spotted pedestrians.
    My chest tightened up. Kids would be out on a nice night like this. The coupe wasn’t slowing down. She was barreling straight ahead, even picking up speed.
    I laid on the horn! Maybe I could keep the road clear of people. The coupe rocketed up several blocks, and all I could do was follow at a close distance.
If you ain’t first, you’re last
. Ricky Bobby in
Talladega Nights
.
    When the driver tried the next turn, the street was too narrow for the speed. The Miata slowed sharply—and I came up fast on her.
    I slammed into the back fender again, not exactly on purpose this time. I knew I’d just messed up the taxi pretty good.
    The coupe fishtailed around the corner and hopped up onto the sidewalk, then somebody’s lawn. I heard a woman’s scream in the darkness. Two people dove out of the way.
    My focus narrowed and also intensified. I saw the Best Western up ahead.
What the hell
? On top of everything else, I had just been taken on a giant circle jerk ride around Baltimore and the harbor area.
    It wasn’t until I saw the highway up ahead that I got it. The driver had figured out how to outrun me.
    And I couldn’t let her do that!

Chapter 70

    BREE’S VOICE WAS BACK in my earphone. “
Keep all exits secure. Repeat. Keep all exits secure
!” She was obviously in control. I wished I could say the same. “
Alex? Alex? Can you hear me? Alex
?”
    “Bree! I’m here!”
    “What’s going on? Talk to me. Where is
here
? Are you okay?”
    The coupe took exactly the turn I thought it would and paralleled the thruway toward I-95. We were only a block from the hotel now, our starting point.
This whole trip had been another game, hadn’t it? Was that right
?
    “Whoever it is, they’re going for the highway! The Miata’s headed to I-95! I still might take her.”
    “Where, Alex? Which entrance?”
    “Right by the damn hotel!”
    I gripped the wheel, ready to take the ramp, but then the coupe flew right by it! A second later, so did I.
    Now what?
    Almost at the same time, the coupe’s brake lights showed. I heard the skid and saw the car do nearly a one eighty.
    Even as I slammed my brakes, the Miata accelerated back in my direction. It swerved to miss me, and before I could even get turned around, the coupe was up the ramp, still accelerating. And gone in a cloud of dust.
    “North on 95!”
I yelled for Bree. “I’m still on her tail! For the moment.”
    I sped up to the highway and maxed out the taxi at close to a hundred for a couple of exits. Eventually, I took my foot off the accelerator and slammed my fist into the passenger seat.
    I turned around at the next exit.
    Back at the hotel, Bree and Sampson were waiting out front,