the warehouse.
This building was long and thin — a rectangle—with loading bays on both sides. As he ran for the nearest bay, Frank could see straight through the building to the other side. The perfect shortcut — provided the two goons didn't station themselves on the far side.
He heard the car spin its wheels, but he knew he had it beat to the warehouse. Catching a ragged breath, Frank threw himself at the nearest loading dock—and nearly went into shock as a pair of strong arms gripped him.
Joe grinned down at him. "I thought you'd done enough," he said, walking into the warehouse with Frank. "While you kept those clowns occupied, I managed to get Shauna all the way over to the bluffs. There's a sort of path up there, and this bozo won't be able to drive after us. I guess we're lucky they didn't know at the warehouse what we did. They had to split up to search for us. Speaking of which," — he pointed to the bays on the far side of the building — "those goons plan to catch you as soon as you go out over there."
His grin got wider. "But they won't be expecting two of us, and I'm rested, so I can take the heat from the driver for a while." He led the way across the warehouse floor. "I have a plan."
Joe was right — the two guys weren't expecting two people to come out of the warehouse. Guns in hand, they'd positioned themselves at either end of the building, so that if Frank came for one, the other could cover him. When an attacker leapt on both of them, however, they weren't ready.
Frank jumped on his guy from the loading dock. The gunman dropped like a sack of potatoes. Joe had his man pinned to the ground, grappling with him. He gestured with his head for Frank to get going.
As Frank ran, he heard the sound of the compact car's engine laboring around the warehouse building. This was bad. There was no place to hide at all — just a few stunted weed-trees, and beyond them, railroad tracks. The tracks could throw the car out of control if it hit them, but that wouldn't stop the driver from going for him.
Then, as the car swerved around to aim for Frank, two shots rang out. He turned back and saw Joe smashing his adversary's gun hand against the ground.
Frank couldn't believe it. One bullet had taken out the car's left headlight, the other, the left front tire.
The driver had a new target now. His car barreled at Joe, who jumped safely aside. The driver came close to hitting his own man, who now lay out of it on the ground.
Joe got up and trotted, tauntingly slow, toward the far end of the building. It took the driver a little longer to take his battered car through the turnaround. But when he saw Joe almost reach the corner of the building, he floored the gas pedal to get him.
The car shimmied wildly but moved as fast as a rocket. Joe pretended to be unaware that it was coming, as he strolled toward the corner. But when Joe did turn and saw the car, a look of horror crossed his face. He'd made his move too late. Even if he got around the corner, the driver could cut him down.
Joe raced around the corner and flattened himself against the building as the little car pursued him on two wheels.
The car slammed into a telephone pole. It shuddered and fell down right on the hood of the car.
That ended the chase.
The steep climb up the overgrown path wasn't easy, but Frank, Joe, and Shauna handled it quickly. They didn't want to be hanging around when their pursuers regained consciousness.
Shauna found a pay phone to call the police to report the accident. If those guys needed any help, they'd get it. In the meantime, they hoped, the police would keep them off the streets for a while.
"Where to?" Joe asked.
"Back to Fort Needham for a moment," Frank said.
"But it's dark," Joe said.
"It's lit up at night and looks very beautiful," Shauna said.
"I just want someplace pleasant where I can think," Frank replied. While he'd been busy escaping and running for his life, he hadn't had a chance to put together
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes