So Forgotten, page 12
And there it was, at last. Ahead of them, accelerating up the road. It was compact in size, a panel van with the back windows painted over. Ellis didn't seem to be wasting any time as he drove. He was pushing the van.
"I was wondering," Cami said hesitantly, looking at the speed that Ellis was driving. She’d been feeling pleased that her GPS hacking had got them here so easily. But now she was wondering if the chase was over, or if there might be more trouble to come.
"What?" Connor asked. For once, he didn't glance at her. His gaze was pinned ahead, as they closed in on their suspect.
"I was wondering - that receptionist in the office who told us she didn't know where he was. She might have warned him?"
There was something about the manic way the van was flying along the road now that was causing Cami's suspicions to prickle.
"Yes," Connor acknowledged. "She might have done that, because he's going fast."
He turned off his lights, but Cami realized with a twist of anxiety that this might have been too late.
If Ellis Zackey had been checking his mirrors - and perhaps all the more often if he'd been worried that they were on his trail - he would already have seen those lights.
"He is speeding," Connor muttered.
The only saving grace was that the hotel was ahead.
“According to the map, I see he does have a delivery stop here,” Cami said, feeling relieved.
The hotel was on the horizon now, on the right side of the road, a big, sprawling, gracious building.
A low wooden fence and tall, stone-clad gateposts were now visible against the snow. Ellis Zackey would soon turn in through the gateposts and follow the winding drive, lined with trees, up to the hotel building itself. That was a large two-story building that Cami saw was decorated in an Alpine style, with sloping roofs, wooden beams, and pine trees surrounding the hotel, with walking trails and paths criss-crossing the neat looking grounds.
But as they neared the hotel, she started worrying all over again.
What if Ellis didn't turn into the hotel? What if he had seen them, and was planning on running from them, and he sped right past the hotel and up into the hills, and they had to chase him down in this unfamiliar, ice-covered network of narrow roads?
Cami felt a surge of utter relief when she saw the van's brake lights flash crimson, and a moment later, the vehicle veered to the right, speeding in between the gateposts, and heading into the hotel grounds.
"That's a relief," Connor muttered, his hands relaxing on the wheel, and Cami realized he'd had the same thoughts as her. He'd also been worrying their suspect was on the run.
Connor slowed, turned, and sped up the winding drive. It led past clusters of pine trees and smaller outbuildings. It was pretty and scenic and peaceful. Finally, after rounding a small knot of trees, the hotel buildings were fully in sight once more.
The parking lot was on the left, and there were about twenty cars parked in it. An attendant was busily cleaning and de-icing the vehicles.
But there was no white van with a blue stripe. No tire tracks were even leading into the parking lot, or else they would have seen them in the thin layer of fresh fallen snow in the lot.
"Maybe there's a delivery entrance?" Connor wondered aloud.
"I guess that would be at the back of the hotel?" Cami said.
Connor swung the car away from the guest parking and followed the driveway around. It led between two large wooden barns, past a couple of buildings that she guessed were staff accommodation, past a tennis court with a walkway heading down to a lake.
And then they were around the hotel, all the way at the back.
There was a delivery vehicle parked there, a bigger van with a fruit and vegetables logo on the side. Steam was billowing from its exhaust.
But there was no sign of the white van. No sign of Ellis Zackey, and with a sinking feeling in her stomach, Cami knew the worst had happened.
He'd seen them following, and he'd turned in here - and somehow, he'd lost them.
The GPS route wouldn't help her any longer, because Ellis wasn't following it. The screen had gone blank. No more dotted line.
He'd turned it off.
Their suspect had outwitted them, and done a sneaky maneuver - she remembered that Dave had said he was sneaky.
She stared around in a panic. Where could he have gone?
Could he have driven all the way around the hotel and rejoined the main road, going faster this time?
"He might have gone back to the road, but we need to check if there’s another way out of here," Connor said, echoing her thoughts, looking at the strip of paved road that ran around the hotel.
Then Cami caught her breath as she spotted another way. Behind the barn, she glimpsed a narrow lane, leading out into the hotel's grounds. There were faint, but recent, tire tracks on it.
"There!" she said, pointing. "Could he have gone there?"
Connor didn't answer, but swung the car in that direction and hit the gas.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Sneaky was the word. As Connor sped up the dirt road, which was snow-covered with patches of treacherous ice, Cami felt anxious that they wouldn’t catch up in time.
Ellis Zackey had deliberately evaded them. He'd gotten wind of the pursuit - either from a phone call or else because he was expecting someone to come after him. And he'd cunningly used a back route that he knew well while turning off the GPS and making himself invisible.
Now, they were hurtling down the snow-covered track in pursuit of a target they could no longer see. Cami was extremely nervous that he might have somehow double-bluffed them and got back on the main road after all.
But Connor was getting that base covered.
He was on the radio, organizing for additional police patrols and roadblocks along the other road.
"We're tracking the suspect on a dirt road leading out of the hotel. There's a possibility he fled along the asphalt road, either back toward Boston, or else out of town. We need cars in both directions, looking out."
"Copy. I can see on the map where we need to get to," the agent replied.
Connor read out the van’s license plate.
"Small, white panel van, blue stripe."
With the details sent, he could focus solely on his driving, as they headed along the track that wound its way up into the hills.
At least the tire tracks that were visible every so often on the snow, were cluing them that they were going in the right direction, Cami thought. There had definitely been a vehicle traveling this way this morning. And it must be the van, it surely must. This was how Ellis Zackey was trying to escape them.
It didn’t help that this road was becoming borderline dangerous.
Connor's unmarked vehicle was a powerful sedan, the ideal car for fast and unobtrusive driving about town. But it was not designed for the tough, snowy terrain in which they now found themselves.
It wasn't too bad while the hotel was in sight. But then they crested a hill, and the track suddenly got a whole lot rougher. Cami gasped as the car was airborne for a moment, flying over a hidden dip in the road before bouncing down again and sliding sideways.
They were on a collision course with a tall pine. She drew in a sharp breath, grabbing for the dash as the car careened toward it, tires slipping on the snow, the solid, gnarled trunk of the tree getting bigger and closer with ever moment that passed.
"Looks like we're in for some fun here," Connor said through gritted teeth. Easing off on the gas, he carefully steered out of the skid, fighting for control every inch of the way. They flew past the tree trunk with a foot to spare, snow spraying as they rejoined the road, branches scraping and scratching against the car's sides, so loudly that Cami flinched.
"Guess we'll have to send it in for a paint job," Connor joked, and Cami let out a nervous laugh. She'd be deeply relieved if a coat of paint was the only thing the car needed after this hellish pursuit - and the man they were chasing was still nowhere in sight. What if he'd somehow managed to veer out of the way and hide while they roared straight past? The snow was rougher and icier out here, festooned with pine needles, and although Cami strained her eyes to see any sign of tire tracks, there were no obvious ones at this point.
Not to her, anyway.
"Are you sure he went this way?" Cami asked, doubting herself, feeling anxiety surge as she worried
"I see a couple of dents in the snow," Connor said. "Every so often. And there's been nowhere he could have turned off the road. No sign of tire tracks heading left or right."
Cami guessed that Connor's eyes were sharper than hers. This was his area of expertise, and now, his experience was showing as he deftly maneuvered the treacherous path, swerving to avoid hidden rocks and potholes that she could barely pick out, and this time, slowing the car enough that they didn't get airborne when cresting the bumps in the road.
She wished she could be more helpful right now, but out in this increasingly desolate terrain, chasing over ice-bound tracks, she wasn't sure there'd be wifi signal at all. And the van hadn't been an electric model. It was a basic diesel vehicle. She felt like her hands were tied, acknowledging that if they caught up with him now, it would be thanks to Connor's expertise. The most she could do was watch out for the van.
Surely they were getting close?
And then, as Connor powered around a hairpin bend in the road, Cami caught sight of it. Just for a moment, but the flash of blue between the trees was unmistakable. But it wasn’t coming from the road.
Was she correct? Yes, she was. It was way too far over to the side.
"He's there! He's gone to the right!" Her voice sounded breathless.
"To the right?"
Connor hit the brakes - carefully, easing the car slower, and as he did, Cami saw where the van was headed.
There was a gap in the trees that they might have missed if they'd been going at full speed. It was barely wide enough for a car to fit, but now that she looked closely, she saw two faint indentations in the snow.
"Well spotted!" Approval resounded in Connor's voice as he swung the van hard right, and they bounced along the narrow track. It was little more than a trail. Trees loomed overhead, lining the road closely, and branches scraped the car's sides again. But now, they were gaining. Cami picked up the flash of brake lights ahead, which warned Connor to slow, swerving around a boulder in the tiny gap that the trees offered.
For the first time, Connor was in sight. The back of the van was in view, but then she heard the roar of the engine as he saw them, and accelerated away.
This ride had just gone all the way from risky to dangerous.
Snow sprayed from his tires. The exhaust smoked and steamed. The engine bellowed. In his desperate flight, Ellis was taking crazy chances on this winding, little-used road. He was flying along. She saw him swerve desperately, the back of the car spinning out, to avoid something that was almost invisible on the snow-covered road. For a heart-stopping moment, she thought he was going to crash. The van went sideways, the back bumper brushing against a massive, snow-covered branch. Snow cascaded down in a heap as the van slewed into the tree. And then, the tires found grip and Ellis sped on.
Following behind, Connor was able to avoid the obstacle - a hidden tree branch - more easily, and gain some ground. Now they were just twenty yards behind Ellis, and panic was causing him to drive more erratically. He was making mistakes. The van was sliding. He was using his brakes too much, overcorrecting, and as she watched, wide-eyed, he skidded again.
This time, he didn't come back from it. Cami gasped aloud as the van reached the edge of the track, and then the back wheels spun out and it tilted, righted itself, spun a complete circle in the snowy ground, and stopped, with its front bumper up against a tree.
The wheels spun violently. Spun again. Snow and mud sprayed up in a gray shower. But the van was going nowhere. With its back wheels mired in snow, its bumper against a tree, and its front wheels spinning helplessly, Ellis was well and truly stuck.
Now they had him, Cami thought. At last, after a chase so nerve shredding her legs felt weak - and she hadn't even been doing the driving.
She thought it was over, but it wasn't.
As Connor stopped the car and jumped out, Cami saw to her alarm that the van door was bursting open.
There was Ellis Zackey. A tough, broad-shouldered man with a mean expression and a determined glint in his eyes.
Ellis wasn't giving up. He scrambled out and headed into the trees at a full run.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Cami gasped in dismay. Ellis Zackey was doing whatever it took to avoid being caught. Up to, and including, fleeing on foot in the snow. She'd thought they had him, but now he had a lead again, and there was a real risk they could lose him.
"Ellis Zackey, FBI! This is an order! Stop running!" Connor shouted, his voice sharp and loud in the quiet air.
But Ellis didn't even hesitate in his headlong flight.
Connor set off, powering after him as he raced into the woods. Cami hesitated, climbing out of the car, twisting her fingers together indecisively. She should follow - but she'd never catch up. This man was running scared, and she didn't think he had a plan anymore. His plan was now just to keep ahead of Connor.
In which case - an idea came to Cami. Maybe there was a way she could get ahead and cut him off.
Running around to the driver's side of the car, Cami took a look at the map on Connor’s GPS.
That was where they were now, she established, orienting herself. This winding strip was the road, becoming more and more of a zigzag as it headed up into the hills. And that tiny track was going in the direction that Ellis had fled.
The track intersected with the road again a couple of hundred yards later. So, surely that meant that if Ellis kept that course, scrambling uphill along the icy, slippery, stony track, then he would burst out of the trees and connect with the road again?
If he did, she could be there, waiting for him.
Without any further hesitation, Cami jumped behind the wheel of Connor’s car, pulled the seat forward, and set off.
Immediately, she acknowledged Connor's driving skill. He'd made this look easy. In fact, it was horrendous. The car was bumping and slipping and sliding over the track. Just keeping it on course was a massive challenge, never mind trying to do it at speed. She really wasn't sure how Connor had done it. It reinforced her boss's skill to her all over again.
Now, here was the bend ahead. She needed to get around this without skidding out, and she needed to get up some damned speed. No point in crawling up to the intersection point to find Ellis had already run past.
"Come on, you can do it," Cami urged herself through gritted teeth. She steered through the bend, feeling the car's wheels catch on a snowy drift, biting her lip as she worried she'd be caught there, helplessly mired, just like Ellis himself. And then she was through, powering up the hill, daring to push down harder on the gas as the car surged forward.
And glancing once more at the map. She was approaching the intersection point. If he followed the trail, he'd come out here. Ahead.
She slammed on the brakes. Got the handbrake up. Jumped out, breathing fast.
There he was. She'd judged it right - almost. The trail led onto the road a few yards further up the hill, so Cami rushed to meet it. She wasn't sure what she'd do, but she knew she had to do something.
"Stop!" she yelled, as loudly and authoritatively as she could.
Luckily, that shouted word, combined with the shock value of seeing her in front of him, had an effect.
His head flew up. His pace slowed. She saw the consternation in his eyes as he stared at her.
And then, he took in who she was. Five-six at the most, even in her Docs. A slim build. And she saw his gaze veer down to her hands as he realized she wasn't holding a gun.
His expression hardened, and he squared his shoulders, and he broke into a full run again. This time, running at her.
Cami braced herself. She was going to have to try to tackle him, but she feared that he was going to simply plow through her. If she was lucky. If she wasn't so lucky, he might take the time to stop and purposely hurt her.
But then, in a shower of snow, Connor burst out from a side path on the trail, running hard.
Connor didn't hesitate. He launched himself at the ex-convict with all his power in a mighty tackle that sent Ellis's feet sliding straight from under him.
Ellis landed with a thud on his side, shouting and struggling, arms flailing. Cami rushed over to help, leaning in, doing her best to grab hold of something. She caught hold of his jacket sleeve and held onto it doggedly, with both her hands and all her strength.
Connor had the cuffs on one of his arms. Then the other. And finally, their suspect's chase was over.
Breathing hard, Connor stood up, holding tightly to Ellis's stocky arm as he scrambled up - not the easiest job on an uneven, snowy and icy track with his hands cuffed behind him. As he skidded on the ice, he swore.
"I'm bruised. I should sue you. You hurt me there! You’re bullies! You did this to cause me grief and injury!"
"You disobeyed a direct order from law enforcement to stop running," Connor pointed out, turning him around and maneuvering him to the car. A volley of swearing from Ellis accompanied his actions. Their suspect was mad, and showing it. He resisted, digging his feet in and causing Connor to have to shove him forward.
In the car, Connor attached the cuffs to the handle in the back seat, placed there for that purpose. Only when he was sure that Ellis was firmly attached to the handle, did he close the door and go around to the driver's seat and climb in.
Cami got in the passenger side. Connor gave her an appreciative nod.
"Good work there," he said. "Good thinking. Let’s get this suspect into a police building. It’s freezing out here, and the drive will give him some time to settle down."
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