Drive (18 page)

It was nearly noon when Jordan finally got what she had been waiting for. Detective Mortison had been called to a crime scene downtown and she intended to be there when he arrived.

Jordan wasn’t at all surprised to see a green Durango show up seconds after Mortison and his partner parked their sedan. They were about to get out when Jordan slammed her foot onto the gas and rammed into the back of Mortison’s car at full force. A moment later she was backing up and taking off again. Just to be sure that there was no confusion regarding who had hit him, Jordan rolled down her window and waved at the detective as she flew by.

His shocked expression evolved to fury, turning his face so red it nearly matched Jordan’s ride completely. He shouted something at his partner and they were on the road again, chasing her in their mangled sedan.

***

Gary Mortison wasn’t the only one who had recognized Jordan. The moment she had let the engine roar as it prepared to attack, she had caught Sawyer’s attention. If it was possible, he was even more furious to see her there than Mortison had been.

With no other outlet for his anger, he pummeled the steering wheel over and over again until the palms of his hands began to hurt.

“Crazy fucking stubborn ass!” he yelled at no one in particular as he peeled out of his hidden parking spot and joined the chase.

***

Once Jordan was sure that Mortison would be glued to her every move, it was time to put the next part of her plan into action. Not having heard a call alerting everyone to the stolen Camaro yet, Jordan took matters into her own hands. Using Blake’s cell phone and the name on the registration papers she had found in the car, she called in the theft of the car. When she hung up, she turned up the radio and listened carefully. Within a few short moments, the operator was on the line making the announcement. Jordan felt almost giddy with adrenaline. Things were about to get really exciting.

Mortison was still tight on her heels, never more than a car length or two behind her. He didn’t know it, but Jordan was purposely keeping him positioned just so. She needed him to be close enough the get boxed in once the black and white’s started tacking themselves on the train behind her.

Jordan was carefully choosing her route as she kept up the high speed chase and checking her rearview mirror every chance she got. A grin spread across her face when she heard the sound of sirens, followed by the sight of flashing lights coming up behind her. The radio was blowing up now with different officers calling in sightings of the brightly colored Camaro. Jordan waited until she could count at least five cop cars in addition to Mortison’s before it was time for stage three.

With the portable radio resting in her lap, Jordan dialed a second number from Blake’s phone. She had memorized it a thousand times over in the last
week, still able to picture the note Sawyer had scribbled it on. It seemed like another lifetime now.

Jordan listened for the ring tone and then the front desk person answered.

“May I speak to Detective Gary Mortison please?” she said politely.

“I’m sorry, but Detective Mortison is away from his desk right now. If you’d like to leave him a message I’d be happy to connect you to his voicemail,” the voice on the other end returned.

Keeping completely calm Jordan replied, “It’s really quite imperative that I speak to him immediately. Is there another number I could try to reach him at?”

“Is this about a case?”

“Yes,” Jordan lied.

“Alright, let me patch you through to his cell.”

“Thank you.”

The line went quiet and Jordan used the time to turn the phone onto speaker, then setting it down in the cup holder so she could use the same hand to press down the transmitter button on the radio.

“Detective Mortison.” He sounded flushed and angry.

“Hello Gary, long
time no see. How have you been?”

“Who the hell is this?” Mortison growled into the receiver.

“Honestly Gary, I’m hurt that you don’t recognize the sound of my voice. It’s only been twenty-four hours since we saw each other last.”

“Hall!
You crazy bitch! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Even with the phone sitting down by her knee, his shouting echoed through the car clear as day.

“Never mind what I’m doing. What I want to know is what do you plan to do when one of your brother’s in blue finally gets me to stop and figures out that I’m alive and well after you announced to the world that I died almost a week ago?”

Mortison laughed out loud.

“Is that what you think you’re doing here? You think that if you get caught for stealing the car it will somehow save you and your precious Sawyer? Go right ahead and try. You’ll never get out of this chase alive. After I shoot you for pulling a weapon on me, you’ll be just another Jane Doe down at the morgue and I’ll have someone to pin all of your criminal activities on. Hell, I’ll probably get another promotion by the time all this is over and you my dear, well, like you said, you died a week ago. And Sawyer…well, I’ll make sure he meets his untimely death, too. Right after I get done dealing with you.”

Jordan had to take a deep breath to keep her blood from boiling. She pulled her head from the conversation and focused on the road instead. So far the chase had consisted mostly of high speeds and minor weaving in and out of traffic. She’d only run through two red lights and both times, the intersection had been empty anyway. Jordan was eager to turn things up a notch, but first she needed to finish talking to Mortison, no matter how much the sound of his hoarse voice made her stomach turn.

“I’m glad you mentioned Sawyer. When’s the last time you saw him?” Jordan asked, maintaining her casual light tone.

“Not since last month when he handed off the Esposito shipment schedule. Idiot. Too bad I never put it in the case file. But don’t worry, I’ll be seeing him again soon enough.” He chuckled again. The sound was sickening.

“Funny. I would have thought you’d seen Sawyer this morning. You know, considering he’s been following you ever since you left the police station.”

“WHAT?!”

“Yeah.
Check your mirror. About five cars back, green Durango. You know, if you weren’t so obsessed with getting your fat little fingers on me again, you probably would have noticed. Not exactly stellar police work there, being tailed and not even realizing it.” This time it was Jordan’s turn to laugh. “I bet you’re pretty torn right about now, right? Do you continue to come after me? Or do you hit the brakes and hope that Sawyer slams right into you? Tricky though if you think about. I mean, you’re surrounded by other cops and they’re probably going to get confused when you suddenly drop out of the chase to follow a completely unrelated vehicle. On the other hand, Sawyer’s kind of a major loose end, isn’t he?! Pretty big liability still wandering free and able to tell the world about your dirty deeds. I hear from Gabriel Mancini the list of your crimes goes on and on. Even by his standards you’re a criminal and that’s really saying something, all things considered.”

“So what!”
Mortison spat. “I can break every law in this country and pin every last one of my crimes on Sawyer if I want. There’s not a damn thing either one of you can do about. I’ve got the department and the DA wrapped around my little finger. My word is golden with them, so you go ahead and tell them whatever you want. No one will ever take your word over mine!”

Jordan let the line go silent for a moment as she took a sharp left turn. It was time.

“Then may I suggest you choose Sawyer?”

“Why the fuck should I do that?”

“Because he’s going to be a hell of a lot easier to catch.”

The line went dead just as Jordan floored it.

She threw the mobile radio from her lap into the passenger seat. There would be no more room for distractions. Jordan had done all she could to send Mortison’s confession over the airwaves and now she needed to buy Sawyer and herself enough time for everyone to sort it out. Just as she had suspected, Mortison came after her more aggressively than before. Telling him that she was out of his reach had been all the motivation that asshole had needed to forget all about Sawyer and the threat he posed as long as he was alive.

Jordan watched as the speedometer continued to climb. She gripped the wheel with both hands and jerked it to the left, taking her straight into oncoming traffic. Cars were swerving out of her way left and right as she forced her way through. Behind her, the trail of police cars continued to increase, but Jordan was no longer keeping count. She was barely looking back at all now. The only thing that mattered was moving forward.

Jordan glanced up at the street signs as she flew through an intersection. A small smile crept its way onto her lips when she realized where she was.

***

Travis and his new partner Lewis had just left the hospital when they heard a call come in for multiple car crashes due to a car chase happening downtown.  They were just a few minutes out when Lewis flipped on the lights and sent the ambulance racing down the small side streets that ran parallel to the main drag. At this time of day, they were nearly empty and much easier to maneuver.

Their rig pulled around the corner just as Jordan’s Camaro came by like a shot out of hell, zooming past them like a red bullet. Anticipating an impending crash as the Camaro continued on its path through oncoming traffic, Lewis steered the ambulance in the same direction, following alongside the police cars but remaining on the right side of the road while doing so.

Travis’s eyes were fixated on the Camaro as he watched the sleek little car move in and out of the empty pockets in-between the rapidly approaching cars. When he saw the car flip a bitch at the next intersection and make the same trip coming directly at them, it hit him clear as day.

“Tetris,” Travis whispered. Tensely rubbing his forehead with his index and middle fingers he added, “It can’t be.”

Lewis was too busy trying to get out of the way along with everyone else to register what Travis had said. “What?”

“It’s Jordan. The Camaro – Jordan’s driving it!” Now Travis was frantically pointing at the flashy car as it came flying past them for the second time.

“Man, what the hell are you talking about? It can’t be Jordan. I know it’s hard for you to accept, but she died. She’s not out here leading this insane car chase!”

Travis turned to Lewis, his expression was dead serious. “Listen to me! THAT is Jordan! I sat in the passenger seat of her rig for four fucking years! I would recognize her driving anywhere! Who the hell else can drive like that? Huh?! Look at that car. See how traffic seems to magically open up to let it through? It looks that way because she is so fucking in tune with her surroundings when she gets in the zone that she can literally anticipate how the other drivers will operate their cars before they actually do it.” Travis shook his head, fully aware of how he sounded. “I’m not crazy, man! That, THAT right there, that’s Jordan Hall driving that stolen Camaro.”

“This doesn’t make any sense! Even if she is alive, why the hell would she steal a car and take the entire police force on a high-speed chase through the city?”

Travis stared straight ahead, his eyes still focused on the rogue Camaro. “She wouldn’t…unless she was in trouble and needed to get someone’s attention.”

For a moment Lewis didn’t say anything while he thought it over. Then he reached for the radio. He changed the channel connecting it directly to the radio back at the station. Pressing down the receiver he said, “All available units on the road! Jordan Hall is alive. I repeat, Jordan Hall is alive and she needs back up.”

***

             
The police were branching out more and more in their attempts to capture Jordan. She had already been met with two barricades, the second time only missing their grasp by a hair. Mortison was still on her, although he was clearly struggling, and somewhere in the distance, Jordan continued to see specs of green as the Durango maintained its position in the chase. The only thing that seemed to be changing was the number of ambulances on the road. More and more of them were appearing and it wasn’t long before Jordan realized that they weren’t among the vehicles chasing her. Instead they were randomly popping up in the path ahead of her, using their lights and sirens to clear the road before she arrived and then swaying to the side as she passed through.

             
“Travis,” she whispered as tears began to well up in her eyes. She reached up a hand to wipe them away. Now was not the time to lose it. If anything, now was the time to bring things to an end. Word was out and it was spreading fast. She was alive and judging from the turnout, Mortison would have a hell of a time trying to take her out now that he’d have an audience. Not that it would do him any good anyway. Jordan was positive his confession had been heard by an operator on the other end. Even if they hadn’t known what to do with the information, it would have been recorded and there would be no escaping the evidence against him.