Her hand tightened on the receiver. “Don’t get in the car!”
“I don’t un—”
Reynaldo would be at the door any second now.
“Run, Brandon! Just run!”
• • •
Kat pulled out her gun and sprinted down the block.
In the distance, she could see Brandon was putting up a good struggle, almost breaking free. Someone on the street came over to help him, but then the driver of the SUV got out.
He had a gun.
Pedestrians began to scream. Kat yelled, “Freeze!” but the distance and the screams drowned her out. The Good Samaritans backed away. The driver hurried around toward Brandon.
Kat saw him lift the gun and bring it down hard on Brandon’s head.
The struggle ended.
Brandon fell inside. The back door slammed shut.
The driver hurried back toward his door. Kat was getting closer now. She was about to take a shot at him, but something akin to instinct made her pull up. There were too many civilians on the street to risk a gun battle, and even if she got lucky and hit him, whoever was in the backseat—whoever had grabbed Brandon—could be armed too.
So what to do?
The black SUV quickly shot out and made the left onto Columbus Avenue.
Kat spotted a man getting out of a gray Ford Fusion. She flashed her badge and said, “I’m commandeering this car.”
The man made a face. “You’re kidding me, right? You’re not taking my car—”
Without breaking stride, Kat showed him the gun. He raised his hands. She grabbed the keys from his right hand and hopped into the car.
A minute later, she was heading down 67th Street behind the SUV.
She grabbed the cell phone and called Chaz. “I’m following a black SUV, turning right on Broadway at 67th Street.”
She gave him the license plate and quickly filled him in on what had happened.
“Someone on the street is probably already calling nine-one-one,” Chaz said.
“Right, look, make sure they keep all marked squad cars away. I don’t want them spooked.”
“You have a plan?”
“I do,” Kat said. “Call the FBI. Tell them what’s up. Let them get a chopper in the air. I’ll keep tailing them.”
• • •
Sitting in the back of the SUV, Brandon was still dazed from the blow to his head. Titus pointed his gun at him.
“Brandon?”
“Where’s my mother?”
“You’ll see her soon enough. For now, I want you to stay still. If you do something I don’t like, your mother will be killed immediately. Do you understand?”
Brandon nodded and stayed still.
Titus was nervous as they crossed the George Washington Bridge. He feared that the police might be on them, that someone who had witnessed Clem’s exuberance on 67th Street might have notified the authorities. But the traffic had been slim on the West Side Highway. The ride took less than fifteen minutes, not enough time, Titus surmised, to start mounting a full-fledged APB on their SUV. Still, Titus had Clem pull over at the Teaneck Marriott right off Route 95. He debated stealing another car, but it would be better to just change license plates. They found another black SUV parked in the back and using a battery-operated screwdriver, Clem switched plates in a matter of seconds.
They drove back onto the New Jersey Turnpike and headed south toward the farm.
• • •
“Do they have the chopper up?” Kat asked.
“They said it’ll take another five minutes.”
“Okay, good,” she said. Then: “Wait, hold up.”
“What?”
“They just pulled into the Marriott.”
“Maybe that’s where they’re staying.”
“Let the feds know.”
She took the ramp, staying two cars behind them. She saw them pull into the lot and circle toward the back. She stopped on the side, inching her way so that she had an angle but could stay out of sight.
The driver got out. She considered making a move, right here and now, but as long as she couldn’t see what was going on with Brandon in the back, it would be too risky. She waited and watched.
A minute later, she was on the line again with Chaz.
“They just switched license plates and headed back onto the road.”
“Which way?”
“South. Looks like they’re getting on the New Jersey Turnpike.”
• • •
Reynaldo ran with everything he had toward Bo’s bark.
If that woman has done something to Bo, if she has so much as touched a hair on his head . . .
Reynaldo now wanted her to die slowly.
Bo was still barking when Reynaldo reached the clearing. His legs pumped hard as he ran with everything he had toward the house. He leapt the steps, landing hard on the wraparound porch.
Bo had stopped barking.
Oh God, oh God, please don’t let anything happen to . . .
He started running toward the front door when Bo appeared. He dropped to his knees in relief.
“Bo!” he shouted.
The dog ran toward him. Reynaldo spread his arms and hugged his dog. Bo licked his face.
From inside the house, he heard Dana scream, “Run, Brandon! Just run!”
Reynaldo took out his gun. He was only a few steps away from the doorway now. He rose, ready to end this problem once and for all, when something made him pull up in panic.
Bo’s paws were covered in blood.
If she hurt my dog, if she hurt this sweet innocent dog who never did anyone any harm . . .
He checked the front paws for wounds. Nothing. He checked the back paws. Nothing. Reynaldo looked into Bo’s eyes.
The dog wagged his tail as though to tell Reynaldo he was fine.
Relief flooded his veins, but then another thought hit him.
If the blood didn’t belong to Bo, whose was it?
He had his gun at the ready. He put his back against the door. When he turned and entered the house, he ducked low just in case she was waiting for him.
No movement.
Then Reynaldo saw the mess on the floor that had once been Dmitry.
Had Dana done that to him?
Rage consumed him. That bitch. Oh man, she was going to pay.
But how? How had she done that to Dimitry? Answer: She must now be armed. She must have grabbed something from the barn. There was no other explanation for so much blood.
Next question: Where was she now?
Reynaldo spotted the bloody footprints on the floor. His eyes followed them to where they stopped—at the kitchen door. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and called Julio. “Are you at the back of the house?”