AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sheila shook her head. "I don't know, but wherever it is, he's in a hurry to get there."
Suddenly, Blake's car swerved sharply, cutting across two lanes of traffic.
"Damn it," Finn said, gripping the wheel tighter. "He's made us."
Sheila flicked on the siren and lights. "No point in hiding now. Stay with him!"
Blake's sedan accelerated, weaving dangerously between the few cars on the road. Finn matched his speed, the chase now in full swing.
"He's heading for the mountain road," Sheila said, her stomach tightening. The winding route was treacherous, even in broad daylight.
As they hit the first curve, Blake's car fishtailed, nearly clipping the guardrail. Finn's knuckles were white on the steering wheel, his face a mask of concentration as he navigated the hairpin turns.
"Sheila to dispatch," she barked into the radio. "We're in pursuit of a suspect on Mountain View Road. Suspect is Thomas Blake, driving a black sedan, license plate—"
Her words were cut off as Blake's car suddenly spun out, hitting the guardrail with a sickening crunch of metal. The sedan flipped, rolling once before coming to rest on its roof, smoke billowing from the engine.
Finn slammed on the brakes, bringing their vehicle to a screeching halt. They both leapt out, weapons drawn, approaching the wreckage cautiously.
"Blake!" Sheila called out. "Thomas Blake, can you hear me?"
There was no response. As they got closer, Sheila could see Blake hanging upside down, held in place by his seatbelt. He wasn't moving.
"Cover me," she told Finn, holstering her weapon and kneeling by the driver's side window. She reached in to check for a pulse.
"He's alive," she said. "Unconscious, but alive."
As Finn called for an ambulance, Sheila worked to extract Blake from the wreckage. Just as she managed to unbuckle his seatbelt and ease him onto the ground, his eyes fluttered open.
For a moment, Blake looked confused. Then his gaze focused on Sheila. "Please," he whispered, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. "Don't tell Leanna. Whatever happens…don't tell Leanna."
Sheila, confused, watched as Blake's eyes rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness again. Her gaze drifted to the sedan, where Finn was pulling out Blake's duffel bag. Finn set it on the ground and unzipped it.
"Sheila," he murmured in a strange voice.
"What?" she asked. "What is it?"
He turned it toward her, showing her the contents.
It was full of cash.
CHAPTER NINE
Sheila jolted awake, her heart racing as she felt someone shaking her shoulder. For a moment she was disoriented, the sterile white walls and antiseptic smell of the hospital room confusing her sleep-addled mind. The harsh fluorescent lights made her squint, and she could feel a crick in her neck from the awkward position she'd been sleeping in.
"Sheila," Finn said, his voice cutting through her fog. "Blake's out of surgery. He's awake."
She blinked, memories flooding back: the chase, the crash, the bag of cash. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but exhaustion had finally caught up with her.
"What time is it?" she asked, her voice rough with sleep.
"Just after nine in the morning," Finn replied. "You've been out for a few hours. I tried to wake you earlier, but you were dead to the world."
Sheila stood, stretching out the kinks in her back from sleeping in the uncomfortable hospital chair. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to make herself presentable. "Any word from the station?"
Finn nodded. "They counted the cash: a hundred grand, even."
Sheila let out a low whistle. "That's a lot of green. Let's go figure out what he was planning to do with it."
