No Going Back (19 page)

Dead
, I decided, was a good choice of word.

22

Fortune shone on Jay in a totally unexpected fashion. The cellphone was proving wholly unpredictable, and when she’d tried to patch through to the local police the line had been so weak that she couldn’t hear what the dispatcher was saying and suspected that her words were equally garbled. Frustrated, she’d pulled in by the side of the road, but when that had failed to make any difference she chanced calling Hunter’s friend instead. She had no luck, but had the idea to write a text message instead. An old hand at SMS messaging, she filled a page with a brief description of what had occurred and a description of the Logan ranch’s location in no time. She pressed the send button and it failed, but then set it to retry. The cell would automatically resend the message and she didn’t have to concern herself with it while she drove nearer to Holbrook. Throwing the Yukon into drive, she was pulling back on to the highway when she saw a vehicle approaching. Her first fear was that it was the old pick-up truck, but in the next instant she yelped in joy as the gumball light rack on the roof of the vehicle became visible. She brought the Yukon to a halt and got out, running towards the police cruiser waving both arms over her head.

The police cruiser coasted to a stop a hundred yards from her position. Jay understood how crazy she must look and couldn’t blame the officers for approaching her cautiously, but it didn’t stop her. Both front doors opened and an officer exited each side of the vehicle, both resting their hands on the butts of their sidearms.

‘Help me!’ Jay yelled. ‘Help me for God’s sake!’

‘Ma’am, stand still and place your hands on top of your head.’

Jay couldn’t believe that they thought her a threat and continued towards them. The taller, younger of the two officers drew his sidearm. The other, a balding man whose gut shadowed his belt buckle, merely dug his thumbs into his gun belt. The two officers shared a measured glance. Then the younger repeated his command. ‘Stand still. Place both hands on your head. I will come to you.’

Jay stumbled to a halt. Fifty yards still separated them. ‘I need your help. My friend has been kidnapped.’

‘Just take it easy, ma’am, and we’ll have things sorted in no time.’

The younger officer continued to approach her, alert for any sudden movement. He also checked the desert on each side, and Jay wondered why the hell he’d do that. What did he think: that she had some friends hiding by the roadside ready to jump out on him? Who in their right mind was going to try to hijack a cop car? ‘My friend and another girl have been kidnapped! You have to do something.’

‘Everything’s under control, ma’am, now take it easy.’ The young cop turned to call back to his colleague, but kept one eye on Jay. ‘You hear what she said, Sarge? Maybe you’d best call it in.’

‘I’ll try but you know how these power lines cause interference.’ The older cop leaned back into the cruiser. Jay expected to hear his voice in stereo, coming from both the cruiser and the radio set clipped to the younger cop’s shirt. She heard neither, and realised that the set in the car must work on a different frequency to that for the radio the cops carried. It didn’t matter, some kind of action was being taken and that was all she cared about.

The young cop was now within ten feet of her and Jay saw a handsome, clean-cut face, a well-developed body. A badge pinned to his uniform shirt identified him as Officer Lewin. Jay opened her mouth to speak but the cop pre-empted her. ‘Tell me your name, ma’am.’

‘Jay,’ she said. ‘My name’s Jay Walker.’

She saw the man’s eyes narrow slightly at her name and again he glanced quickly at his partner. The older cop was still busy at the handset in the cruiser. Officer Lewin appraised her, taking in the bruising on her face, her dishevelled appearance, the dust adhering to her clothing, and believed her words. His gaze slid to the Yukon and it was as if he recognised it, though she couldn’t imagine how. His next words made things clearer to Jay. ‘The man who was driving the GMC, where is he?’

Jay turned to look at the vehicle as if it would help order her mind. ‘He’s called Joe Hunter. He helped me escape but has gone back to get the others out.’

‘Joe Hunter.’ Lewin nodded his head, confirming the name was the same one he had lodged in his memory. ‘He’s a private investigator from Florida?’

‘Yes,’ Jay said, eager to relate the rest of her tale. Her words came in a rush. ‘They murdered those people at the gas station, the other day. They kidnapped a girl called Ellie then came after me and my friend. They still have them: Nicole and Ellie. You have to do something
now
!’

Lewin moved closer, doing a visual check of her body a second time, and frowning. ‘OK, slow down. You said your name is Jay?’

‘Yes, Jay. It’s actually Joan Walker, but I go by Jay.’

‘OK, Jay. Tell me again: who committed murder, who took the other women?’

Jay threw a hand towards the desert. ‘A family from out there. They’re called Logan. Three of them.’

A dark cloud descended over Lewin’s features. He looked back towards the cruiser and saw his partner staring back at them from behind the windshield. He lifted a hand to indicate that all was fine. When he turned back to Jay, his brow had knitted into a frown. ‘You’re sure it was the Logans?’

‘They’ve held us prisoner for the last three days. Of course I’m sure. Carson, Brent and Samuel. They’re monsters. They killed those people at the gas station and if you don’t do something quickly they might kill the others.’

For a second time Lewin turned to regard the other cop. The older man slid out from the cruiser and stood with his thumb hooked in his belt. After a moment of reflection he began to walk towards them. Returning his attention to Jay, Lewin said, ‘OK. The Logans.’ He was thinking hard, and Jay sensed he wasn’t figuring out a way to handle the situation, but his superior. He caught her looking and shot her a cautionary glance. ‘Wait here,’ he said.

He went to meet the sergeant halfway.

Jay stood watching as they conversed, but couldn’t hear their voices. The sergeant scrubbed his palm over the back of his neck, a sign that he wasn’t happy with what he was hearing. The older man snapped something guttural, then marched towards Jay. Looking abashed, Officer Lewin fell into step behind him. The sergeant looked angry with her and Jay couldn’t guess why.

‘What is this madness?’ he demanded.

Madness?

‘It’s the truth. A family called Logan murdered those people at the gas station then kidnapped me and my friend. They also took a teenaged girl called Ellie Mansfield. I think they also took another woman. Helena Blackstock.’

Behind the sergeant, Officer Lewin slowly closed his eyes.

‘Could you be confusing their names?’

Jay went from one foot to the other, restless, and eager to see action. ‘Like I told your colleague, they’re called Carson, Brent and Samuel Logan. Aren’t you listening to me? They murdered those people and are going to do the same to my friends
if you don’t get a move on
!’

The sergeant’s hand went to the back of his neck once more. He shook his head, turning to appraise the younger cop. Lewin must have felt the sergeant’s eyes on him because he slowly opened his own to meet his superior’s stare. Jay felt a tremor pass through her: it was as if both men stood on different sides of the same fence, and she was unsure which way things would go with either. Jay saw the sweat on the sergeant’s palm. Not all of it was from the palpable heat surrounding them. His hand slowly lowered to rest again on his belt, an inch or so from the snap holster holding his sidearm.

Jay knew instinctively that something was about to happen, but she was rooted to the spot, unable to make sense of the sudden note of challenge emanating from both men. Though she was baking in the desert heat, she fancied that a cold wind was blowing and she shivered. She heard their voices as if they came from inside a deep cave.

‘You said you’d checked the Logans’ place.’

‘I did.’

‘You can’t have. Not if what she says is true.’

‘I checked it. There was no one there.’

‘You also said you checked their place when Helena Blackstock was taken. You put me off going out there myself.’

‘I did check it, but I didn’t have a warrant to search the entire ranch. She could have been anywhere, and anyway, their alibi checked out.’

‘Their alibi wouldn’t have held water if you hadn’t also said you’d seen them in town. I think you lied about that, and I think you’re lying about all the rest.’

‘I’m not.’

‘I think you’re lying and covering for that damn family of yours.’

‘They ain’t my family.’

‘They are. They’re your blood. It’s why you’ve always covered their asses.’

‘You’ve no proof of that.’

Jay listened with a sense of dawning dread. She couldn’t believe what she was witnessing here, or begin to understand the implications of what was being uncovered. She looked from one officer to the other, finally catching Officer Lewin’s attention. He nodded at her, just once, short and sharp, to confirm her suspicions. Then he lifted his gun.

Jay flinched, but the gun was aimed at the sergeant.

‘What the hell do you think you’re playing at, boy?’ The sergeant straightened his shoulders.

‘You’re an accessory to murder and kidnapping. I’m arresting you, Sergeant
Logan
.’

‘This is ridiculous!’ The sergeant twisted to look back at Jay and found her standing with both hands at her throat, a look of terror on her face. ‘Don’t believe him, ma’am. He’s talking garbage.’ He spun back to stab an accusatory finger at Lewin. ‘In fact, why’d you even call me that? I’m not called Logan! It’s you who’s a goddamn Logan!’

Lewin shrugged his broad shoulders. Then he shot the sergeant, the bullet knocking the man down on the pavement. The sergeant wasn’t dead; his bullet-proof vest saved his life. The impact was enough to stun him, though, and he rolled over on his back and lay there a moment. Jay wanted to run, but the shock of what she had just witnessed held her in place. Oh, my God, she thought, oh, my God, this can’t be happening. She saw the badge on the sergeant’s chest: Sgt Espinoza. Then her gaze tilted up to the young cop, and she saw the family resemblance. He was a younger, fitter version, his hair cut short, his uniform neat, but he could be mistaken for a cleaned-up Brent Logan. Lewin sneered across at her as he moved alongside his sergeant. ‘Don’t know how I’m gonna sort this one out, Sarge, but I’m sure I’ll find a way.’

Sergeant Espinoza craned round to stare up at Jay. His mouth was hanging open in dismay, not just at the realisation that the young man he’d patrolled with had turned out to be a monster, but that he’d failed in his calling. Protect and Serve: it wasn’t something you could do lying on your back at the side of a road. ‘Get outta here!’ he croaked at her.

Jay wanted to run, but everything was moving in slow motion. Officer Lewin didn’t seem so inhibited. ‘Don’t move, goddamnit, or the next bullet’s yours.’

Espinoza grabbed at his gun, but he was partly lying on top of it and it wouldn’t clear the holster. Lewin stamped on his elbow, pinning down his arm. Espinoza reached across with his free hand, trying to push Lewin away. Lewin shot him again. This time the vest couldn’t protect him, because Lewin had aimed low. Espinoza screamed in agony, his left knee shattered.

‘Did you call this in, Sarge?’

‘Goddamn you!’

‘That isn’t helpful.’

‘Yes, I called it in. You’re finished!’

‘Now who’s the liar?’

‘I used the set in the cruiser. Back-up’s coming.’

‘No one’s coming. I had my radio on scan; you didn’t get a line to the dispatcher because of the power lines.’ Lewin moved the gun so it was pointing directly at Espinoza’s face. ‘Sorry things had to turn out this way, Sarge. I kinda liked you, but you know how it is. Blood is thicker than water.’

The crack of Lewin’s gun startled Jay, but also set her in motion. She screeched out a cry as blood spattered next to her feet, and turned her jump of fright into a run for the Yukon.

‘Stop!’ Lewin’s shout was almost as loud as the gunshot of a second before. ‘I’ve just killed my fucking sergeant: don’t think I’ll go any easier on you!’

Jay didn’t stop.

Earlier she’d thought that death would be preferable to being taken again by the Logans, but thinking it was one thing, quite another when a bullet could take out your heart in the next instant. She didn’t want to die, and her body reacted without guidance, making her run faster than she’d ever done in her life. Behind her came the slap of Lewin’s boots on the road.

She made it to the Yukon, and having left the door open when first seeing the police cruiser she was inside it within seconds. The engine was still purring. She pushed it into drive and put her foot on the gas. But it wasn’t enough. Lewin was already there, reaching inside and grappling her. The car shot forwards, knocking Lewin aside, but she had no control of the wheel and the Yukon went down off the road and into a dry ditch. The collision with the opposite bank threw her foot off the pedal and the Yukon’s engine cut out at the same time. Frantic, Jay looked around. Lewin was at the side of the road, stunned, but already clambering back to his feet. She twisted the keys in the ignition and relief flooded her as the engine kicked to life with a low grumble. She gave it throttle, but even such a large vehicle couldn’t push its way perpendicular. She threw it into reverse and tried again.