Jordan chose a unit across from the one Sawyer and Fish were staying in, granting her good visual of the penthouse whenever someone turned on a light. With no expectations of sleep, Jordan did her best to get comfortable on a stack of plywood, wrapped up in her hoody while she kept watch, waiting for Sawyer and Fish to make their next move. The hours seemed to drag on as Jordan stared out into the night, her mind wandering from one dead end to the next in search of a solution. With no way of knowing the span of Mortison’s reach within the law enforcement community, it was nearly impossible to determine who could be trusted and who couldn’t. Repeatedly, Jordan found her thoughts circling back around to Travis. She knew in no uncertain terms that he would do whatever she asked, partners or not, he would always have her back. Only involving Travis was not an option. Not considering how much he had to lose. Jordan would never be able to live with herself if something happened to him, or worse, his family.
It was dawn when Jordan finally had the epiphany that would save them all. Eager to avoid any run-ins with the construction crew, Jordan quickly got ready and took off, making sure to leave the place behind the same way she had found it the night before. She went about her business as casually as she could and made her way back to the parking garage across the street. After carefully examining her choices, Jordan settled on a Camaro with a blood orange paint job. It took a few tries of trying to remember how Sawyer had done it, but eventually, she was able to get inside where she went about trying to get it started. It was surprisingly easier than getting past the locked doors had been. Once she was up and running, she sunk down into the seat as far as she could while still maintaining Fish’s Jeep within her view. Next, she waited.
Barely an hour went by before Jordan saw Fish and Sawyer walking up with Jet. They moved cautiously through the dimly lit parking garage, taking their surroundings into account as they went. It escaped both of them that Jordan was sitting just a few feet away, watching their every step. She was only planning on following them briefly. She just needed to stay on them long enough to figure out how they intended to approach the Mortison dilemma so she could properly proceed with her own course of action to bring down the man who had attempted to hand both her and Sawyer over to their doom while getting Fish caught in the crossfire.
Staying two or three cars behind at all times, Jordan tracked the Jeep until she saw it pull off into a parking garage a few blocks down from the one they had just left. Jordan sat outside in the Camaro and kept watch. She knew it was only a matter of time. Soon enough, Sawyer and Fish would pull out onto the main drag again cruising in a completely new ride.
A few minutes later, an older Dodge Durango in a hunter green came rushing out again. It had to be from the early 2000’s given that it still had the original shape. Jordan had wanted one about as bad as anyone could want a car, but at the time she hadn’t had the money. She remembered vividly how her dreams had been crushed in 2004 when Dodge revealed the new Durango. Never again would she look at it the same way after what they had done to it, turning it into something a minivan that had a one night stand with a pick up might have birthed. Now, she felt a twinge of jealousy as she spotted Sawyer in the driver’s seat. At the same time she couldn’t help but wonder why he had chosen a vehicle that old. Of course, then she caught sight of Jet’s tail poking ever so slightly out of the cracked back window and remembered.
From there, Sawyer and Fish seemed to be headed to the police station. Jordan had expected as much. One way or another Sawyer was going to have a showdown with Mortison and chances were only one of them would walk away alive. Jordan suspected they’d spend the day trailing him while Fish did his part and attempted to find some sort of a virtual paper trail left behind from Sawyer’s dealings with Mortison. They wouldn’t be easy to find. In all likelihood, Sawyer had used disposable cellphones and other means of untraceable communication to avoid precisely such a trail. How ironic it seemed now that the very link that could have gotten Sawyer killed every day of the last two years would now be the only thing that could save them all.
Satisfied with her findings, Jordan pulled off into traffic and left the guys behind. She had a lot to get done and not a lot of time to do it in. She knew that the Camaro she was driving in would be reported stolen eventually, in fact, she was counting on it, and she needed to be ready when it happened. In the meantime, she needed to stay below the radar which meant speeding and erratic driving were not an option. So, Jordan never strayed from the general flow of traffic as she inched her way toward her destination, grinding her teeth in frustration the entire time.
Shift change had already taken place when Jordan pulled up at her old station. She could see a few stragglers still lingering around waiting for a job to come in, but most of the paramedics working that day seemed to be out on calls already. Not wanting to attract any attention yet, Jordan slowly rolled on until she was just beyond the building’s parking lot. Then she went back on foot, careful not to come face to face with anyone that might recognize her. There were only a handful of ambulances parked in the depot and they were parked near the end of the otherwise empty lot. Jordan covered the open ground as quickly as she could, anxious to gain concealment from hiding between the large busses.
Jordan’s car boosting skills were already improving and she managed to pop the lock after only two tries this time. Not that she was after the rig itself, no, she was after what as in it. Within just a few seconds she had swept the interior clean of the supplies she wanted, including some basic first aid items to treat the swelling on her face and most importantly, the mobile radio. It took some doing to detach it from where it was mounted, but it had to be done. The radio was a vital piece of the puzzle and she’d need it to make everything else fit.
With everything stuffed securely into a small navy blue backpack she had found in the stolen Camaro, Jordan moved away from the ambulance and away from the exposure that came from being out in the open . There was one more thing she needed and she knew exactly where she would find it. Ducking behind cars as she went, Jordan searched the employee parking lot for a little blue Jetta. It belonged to a guy named Blake. It was common knowledge around the Station that Blake kept his phone in the glove compartment of his car to avoid having to answer it while he was at work. Not that it kept his girlfriend Jennifer from tracking him down via the mainline in the house, but at least he was free of her whenever he was out on a call. Jordan hadn’t ever understood her obsessive need to call him every five minutes until a group of them went out for drinks one night after work and she saw Blake in action. That boy didn’t need a leash, he needed a shock collar. After that night, Jordan was all too happy to pursue Blake with the phone anytime his girlfriend was on the line.
When Jordan found the Jetta, she was ecstatic to find that Blake had left the window cracked.
“Dumbass,” she mumbled as she reached her arm down into the car to unlock the door. Shortly after, she popped open the glove compartment and retrieved his phone. It wasn’t even ten am and he already had twenty-seven missed calls.
Jordan shoved the phone into her backpack along with everything else and hurried back to the Camaro. She immediately got back onto the road. Jordan wasn’t about to screw up a perfect robbery by wasting time on her getaway.
While she was driving, Jordan kept her left hand on the wheel and used the right one to get into her bag of goodies. After some fumbling around, she managed to pull out the radio and turn it on. It wasn’t until she heard the constant chatter of the operators conversing with everyone about the different calls coming in, that Jordan realized how much she had missed the comforts of something so familiar. Enjoying the murmur of voices, she turned it up another notch to help her tune in to what was going on. There was really only one voice she was interested in hearing and she knew she would recognize it the instant it came on the line.
Chapter 19: The Chase
It was nearly noon when Jordan finally got what she had been waiting for. Detective Mortison had been cal
led 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.”
Drive Page 15
