Witness to Murder (8 page)

The next time Joe slowed down, the car behind them pulled up beside the van. The driver tried to force Joe off the road. But Joe swung left onto the shoulder, then swerved hard to the right and speeded up, leaving the other car behind.

"Any suggestions?" Joe asked, sarcasm in his voice. "You're in charge of this little game."

"I hadn't planned on Cutter's following us," the man answered.

Joe was tensed for action as he sped off into the tunnel of light that his headlights cut into the dark. He pulled into the passing lane and drove faster.

"One of them has a gun, Joe!" Annie screamed. The car had pulled up beside them on her side. "An Uzi. He's going to shoot."

Joe didn't think the guy would shoot Annie if he believed she knew where the diamonds were. But better not take chances. Flicking a switch, he brought bulletproof panels down to cover all of the windows. Now Joe could use the van almost as a tank. He slowed, then glanced into the other lane. Speeding up, he left the smaller car far behind. Now the only thing he had to worry about was their shooting out his tires. , Annie said, glancing at Joe, "I'm starting to believe maybe you can take care of us."

Deftly weaving from lane to lane so the guys behind him couldn't get a clear shot at his tires, Joe became aware of every muscle in his body. He hungered for action, a real confrontation to end this chase. But instead he called up his powers of patience.

He knew that eventually the state police would have to pull him over. The way he was driving he had to attract attention — at least that was what he was hoping. And when the police did stop him, the car behind them wouldn't stick around. But with the kind of luck Joe was having lately, the trooper on duty would be taking a coffee break. Not much action in the wee hours of the morning.

Joe pressed his speed higher and higher, continuing to weave back and forth. He guessed the guys pursuing them weren't going to shoot because they would have gotten off a couple of rounds already. They didn't want to risk Annie in an accident.

"Good idea, Joe," the voice behind him commented. "Attracting the state police is smart. In fact, the police do seem to be the perfect answer here. Take the next exit."

The man had to be bluffing. He couldn't really want the law to stop them. But Joe decided that the tall man must have figured that if their action got Cutter's men off their tail, he was all for it.

"Hang on," he said to Annie. He needn't have bothered. She was clutching the door in a death grip.

Joe braked and took the off ramp at a speed that sent the van careening dangerously. Without stopping, he made a right-hand turn that led eventually onto the main street of a small town. The small car fell behind.

The streets of the town were brightly lit but devoid of people. One all-night gas station was closed up tight. But they were in luck. A policeman sat in his patrol car in the parking lot of a local cafe. Probably he had been dozing or listening to his radio, but he came to life when Joe shot by.

Light swirling, siren screaming, he pulled out after the van. Gratefully Joe pulled up to the curb, flipping a switch to roll the window shields down. He'd take the ticket gladly. He was happy, though, that Frank had been driving in New York City. Both the Hardys' driving records were getting badly tarnished by this case.

"Tell him you want to go to the station. Say you have an incident to report. And don't try getting away — either of you," their passenger growled.

Before Joe could react to the stranger's surprising behavior, the policeman was at his window.

"Out for a little drive, are you?" he asked as Joe rolled his window down and handed him his license.

"Sir, I can explain. There was an incident on the highway that I need to report. A car tried to run us off the road. My friend here and I felt we were in danger."

"Please help us," Annie added in a voice that was filled with terror.

The officer looked at Joe's license, then handed it back slowly. "All right. But this had better be good. Third street, turn left, second building on the right, back entrance. I'll be right behind you, so don't try any funny stuff."

"No, sir," said Joe, and groaned with relief after the officer turned away. He'd tried all the funny stuff he knew earlier.

"Very good, Joe. You sounded very much like a law-abiding citizen. And our friends have stopped following us."

Right, Joe thought, and the first person to be reported to the police will be you. If he played his cards right, they'd be rid of both opponents in a couple of minutes. But Joe wondered why the tall man was being so cooperative. Why was he going along to the station? Didn't he know Joe would turn him in?

The station was empty except for one dispatcher and one clerk, a woman in uniform at the front desk. Joe and Annie headed for the desk, followed by the police officer and the tall man.

The tall man had pocketed his gun as they got out of the car and seemed to have forgotten that he and Annie were there. After Joe arrived at the front desk with Annie, he noticed that their kidnapper had stopped the officer to talk with him in private. After a brief conversation, the two headed down the corridor and into a room. The door quickly closed behind them.

"Miss," Joe said to the officer at the desk. "That man in there with the patrolman, he's armed and has been holding us captive."

She looked at Joe as if he were hallucinating but picked up the phone and punched in an extension.

"I see. Thank you," she said after reporting jloe's accusation and listening a moment. "You're to wait here," she instructed Joe and Annie. "Sit down anywhere. It'll be a few minutes."

Joe felt as if he were being left out, and he felt he had every right to know what was happening. Also he discovered he was exhausted. He'd give anything to wake up and discover he'd been dreaming the whole incident. He followed Annie to a group of chairs, but instead of sitting down, he headed past them toward the closed door where the officer and the tall man had disappeared.

"Sir, I'll have to ask you to be seated." The policewoman's sharp voice stopped Joe. "But — "

"Those are my orders. I suggest you comply."

Joe sat and crossed his legs at the ankles. Nervously he tapped one foot up and down in a frantic rhythm. Annie sat nipping through the pages of a magazine, as though she were casually waiting for an appointment. Only a slight tremor in her hand revealed her anxiety and fatigue.

"What do you think's going on, Joe?" she whispered to him finally.

"I have no idea. And I don't like not knowing. We've been here over half an hour."

Finally Joe returned to the desk to demand some information. "Officer." He had to speak to get her attention. She acted as if he were invisible.

"Yes?" She walked over to the counter where Joe was standing and fuming.

"I'd like to see the man who came in here with us."

"What man?" the woman asked as if she'd never seen Joe before.

"When the officer brought us in, there was a very tall man with us. He was over six-six. I'd like to see him, Officer Lloyd," Joe said, reading the woman's name tag.

"I'm sorry, there's no one here of that description."

"But—I came in with him." No tall man? Joe couldn't believe it. "At least let me talk to the officer who brought us in."

"He's not here, either. He went out to answer a call."

"He's gone?" What was going on? "Look, Officer. I was brought in here for a traffic violation. You can't keep me all night. Just give me my ticket and I'll leave."

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Didn't anyone tell you? You're free to go. I have no information about a violation. It must have been dropped."

Joe was too stunned to move for several seconds. Finally he did spin around and stride back to Annie.

"Come on, we're getting out of here." "What's going on? Where's the tall man?" "I have no idea, but I'm not going to argue with anyone because I'm not getting a ticket. This is bizarre."

Annie didn't question the reason for their freedom. "I'm exhausted, Joe. Can we go back to your place? I felt safe there."

"My plan exactly. So far we've gotten nowhere—fast. And I have an appointment at ten in the morning — this morning."

Outside the station the sky was beginning to lighten. Before they got in the van, Joe checked it over carefully but found no evidence of tampering. Also there was no sign of the man who'd held them captive on the wild ride down the highway. It was as if he had never existed, and the incident had never happened.

He glanced around the small, quiet town, but it seemed empty. No one had started leaving for work yet, no joggers were pounding the streets. There was no sign of the car that had followed them.

"Who was that man?" Annie asked out loud. "And where did he go? I don't understand why he keeps appearing and disappearing."

"I'd like to know what story he told the police," Joe said. "But right now, I'm starving. It's almost light. We can at least have breakfast before we go."

Joe pulled the van in front of the cafe that now was open. The aromas of freshly brewed coffee and bacon frying greeted them when they entered. "I'll take a number one and a number four," Joe told the waitress at the counter, and handed the menu to Annie. "To go."

"Are you sure that'll be enough, Joe?" Annie smiled. "I'm not sharing. I'm starving, too." She gave the waitress her order.

They each drank a cup of coffee while they waited, and Joe ate two sweet rolls. Then he handed the bag to Annie and paid for the food. A couple of sleepy men wandered in as they walked out. Joe glanced in all directions, then climbed into the van. He felt almost relaxed as he swung onto the highway. Now was the time to ask Annie some serious questions.

"I must say, Joe Hardy," Annie started before he had a chance, "spending the night with you is not boring."

Joe didn't laugh, and Annie looked over to see why.

"Sorry, Annie. I've got some bad news — the Excitement may not be over." Joe's two big breakfasts turned to lead in his stomach. "We may have lost the mysterious stranger, but I don't think we've lost Cutter."

Annie stared into the side-view mirror, her face slowly turning into a mask of pure terror. "No, Joe! We can't let them get us. I know them! They'll force me to talk and then they'll kill me!"

Joe sped up in a desperate attempt to get away but the car behind them was determined not to lose its quarry again. Pulling alongside Joe, the chase car kept pace with Joe.

"Joe, they're pointing Uzis at us!" Annie screamed, and ducked down in her seat.

Joe again flicked the switch that brought down the bulletproof shields. The round of bullets hitting the van spurred him on. The bullets were obviously being aimed at the van's tires now. The men must have decided to chance killing Annie for the opportunity to talk to her. Surviving this assault, Joe decided, would be a matter of blind luck.

"We're dead, Joe." Annie was crumpled up in the seat beside Joe.

"Hang on, Annie. I can lose them — I promise. I know the area. My dad used to bring us fishing around here."

Joe swung off the expressway. The car chasing them sped by, brakes squealing. Almost immediately after the exit ramp, Joe took a narrow dirt road that led to a thickly forested plot of land. The road, a one-lane rutted path, wound upward, and the van bounced and skidded until Joe was forced to slow down.

The road became narrower and steeper until it leveled out and headed downhill. It was on the downhill side that the van began to cough.

"What the — " Joe glared at all the gauges. What he saw made his heart sink. "Oh, no!" "What's wrong?" Annie asked. "We're out of gas." Joe grinned sheepishly. "Out of gas? Joe, you're kidding. How could you run out of gas?"

"Easy. I had a lot on my mind." He looked around quickly, his mind clicking now. As the van coasted to a stop, he maneuvered it off the road. "Come on, we're bailing out." "Joe, there's no place to go." "Sure there is." He turned off the ignition. Deep forest surrounded them. After jumping out, Joe locked the van. He had no choice but to leave it. Cutter's car had no doubt made a U-turn by now and was headed in their direction. The van wasn't hidden completely, but someone would have to know where to look to see it.

Joe reached for Annie's hand, and within seconds they were in the forest, hidden by trees and brush. The birds immediately grew silent, aware of the intrusion. But a squirrel overhead scolded, complaining about the visitors.

The ground crunched with each step because of the carpet of leaves underfoot. To Joe they sounded like a couple of bears crashing about, and there was no way to be quiet. Any minute Cutter's thugs could catch up and hone in on them.

Annie wobbled along beside him. It was all she could do to keep upright. Joe looked at her shoes. She still had on the high heels.

"Take them off," he advised.

"It would be even slower going. I can't run barefoot." ' .

"Why don't girls wear sensible shoes?"

"I didn't know we were going for a hike in the woods," Annie complained.

Joe clutched Annie's hand tightly and slowed down. He was looking for a clearing not too far from where they'd left the van. Just past the clearing there was a small fishing cabin he and his father had rented some years earlier. If they could find the cabin, if it was still there, they could take refuge, or at least stop and assess their situation.

"I'm sorry, Joe." Annie's breath came in short bursts. "I can't go much farther without resting. If they followed us—"

"They would have caught up by now, Annie." Joe tried to reassure her. He felt sure they were being followed, but he didn't know how far behind Cutter's men were, or how good they were at tracking. There were several ways he and Annie could have headed from the van. With any luck, the men could have taken a wrong trail or split up, leaving the odds better for Joe.

Joe swore at himself under his breath. He was a fool, stupid and careless — an amateur. How could he run out of gas. They'd had a head start when the chase car had flown past the exit. Maybe he and Annie could have gotten across the dirt road to the state highway, then pulled into one of the little towns over there and hidden out. Any number of small roads crisscrossed these wooded hills, and Joe knew most of them. Sometimes, bored with fishing, he and Frank had ridden dirt bikes for miles.