Jeff Abbott: Panic

Durless said, ‘We would always look deeper than the surface.’

‘But it would be the first and most obvious theory.’

Evan’s cell phone rang in his pocket. He answered it.

‘Evan?’ It was Carrie.

‘Carrie, oh, God, I’ve been trying to find you-’

‘Listen. You’re in danger. Serious danger. You need to get your mother and come back to Houston. Immediately.’

‘My mother’s dead, Carrie. She’s dead.’

‘Evan. Oh, no. Where are you?’

‘With the police.’

‘Good. That’s good. Stay with them. Babe, I am so sorry. So sorry.’

‘What danger?’ Her first words rang in his head. ‘What the hell do you know about this?’

Suddenly a car passed them, cut them off hard, forcing the patrol car into a manicured front lawn, a blue Ford sedan skidding to a stop, Durless yelling, ‘Holy shit!’ as the brakes threw him forward into the windshield. Evan wasn’t buckled in and the brake-jam slammed him into the back of the front seat. He dropped the cell phone.

He looked through the front windshield, aware of Durless cussing, aware of the patrol cop opening the driver’s-side door.

On the other side of the windshield, the bald-headed man got out of the blue Ford. Raised a shotgun. Aimed it right at Evan.

E van fumbled at the door handles. But he couldn’t get out of the car; the locks were controlled from the front seat. The mesh and glass trapped him.

The young officer hit the pavement, crouching down as he swung open the door. Bald jumped onto the police car’s hood, then roof, pivoted the shotgun in a blur, felled the policeman with two precise blows on the side of the head with the shotgun’s butt stock. The officer crumpled. Bald jumped down from the hood and leveled the shotgun through the driver’s door at Durless, who bled from a gash on his nose.

‘That’s him!’ Evan yelled. ‘The guy from my house!’ He heard Carrie’s voice calling his name, sounding tinny on the dropped phone.

‘Hands where I can see them,’ Bald ordered in a voice of total calm. ‘Don’t be an asshole.’

Durless raised his hands.

‘Unlock Evan from the back.’

‘Durless, he’s the guy!’

Durless threw himself out his door, and Bald vaulted over the cruiser, skidding across the hood. Durless landed on his back on the grass, freeing his service revolver in a smooth yank, firing. He missed. Bald slammed both feet onto Durless’s chest, a brutally efficient blow that purpled Durless’s face. Bald kicked away the service revolver onto the well-trimmed green of the yard.

Bald leaned down, nailed Durless with two sharp blows in the jaw.

It had taken all of ten seconds.

Evan pivoted onto his back, kicked at the window. It was reinforced; the glass held. ‘No need for that,’ Bald said. Evan scrambled off the seat onto the floor.

Bald leaned in the driver’s side, studied the controls, and popped the back door locks.

Evan leaned forward and pushed the passenger-side door open. But Bald already had the driver’s-side door open, the shotgun nestled against Evan’s back. Evan froze.

‘You’re coming with me,’ Bald said.

‘Please, what do you want?’ Evan yelled.

‘It’s for your own safety. Come on.’

Evan was suddenly full of a determination not to go with this man. Bald had dispatched a much younger cop and Durless with shocking ease. The police might have heard the attack over the radio. Or Carrie, she might be calling 911 in Houston and reporting the attack. Or a busybody on this street might be peeking out his window, dialing for help. The cops might arrive at any second. ‘No. I’m not going anywhere.’

‘Goddamn it,’ Bald said. ‘I didn’t kill these cops when I could’ve, you think I’m gonna kill you?’

‘Who are you?’ Evan spoke louder. Carrie might hear this conversation. He had to give her information to help him. ‘What do you want with me?’

‘I want goddamned cooperation. You’re dead in a day unless you come with me. I’ll tell you everything. I promise. But you’ve got to come with me.’

‘No! Tell me what this is about. How do you know my mother?’

‘Later.’ Bald seized Evan by the hair and hauled him from the back of the car. Then Bald closed fingers around Evan’s throat with a practiced hand, squeezing on the rope burn. Black circles widened in the air before Evan’s eyes.

Bald jammed the shotgun’s barrel up under Evan’s jaw. ‘I don’t have time to coddle you.’

The barrel was cold against his throat and Evan nodded.

Bald lowered the shotgun, shoved Evan toward his Ford. ‘You drive. You disobey me, I shoot you in the leg. Cripple you for life.’

A passing car slowed – a Lexus SUV, a mom driving, a teenage boy in the passenger seat, staring at the police car in the yard. Bald raised his hand – the one not holding the shotgun – in a friendly wave. The Lexus zoomed away.

‘She’ll call the cops. We got seconds,’ Bald said.

Evan got in the driver’s seat, his hands shaking. Bald slid in next to him. He rested the shotgun so that it aimed at Evan’s thigh.

Evan glimpsed the unconscious officers in the rearview. ‘They’re hurt.’

‘They’re lucky they’re breathing,’ Bald said.

‘Let me check them, be sure they’re all right. Please.’

‘No way. Go,’ Bald said, jabbing Evan with the shotgun. Evan drove the Ford off the curb, roared down Shoal Creek Boulevard.

‘Turn east onto 2222,’ Bald said.

Evan obeyed. ‘What do you want with me?’

‘Listen carefully to me. I’m a good friend of your mom’s and she asked me for help.’

‘I’ve never seen you before.’

‘You don’t know me, but you also don’t know shit about your parents.’

‘You know so much, tell me who killed my mother.’

‘A man named Jargo. Done on his orders.’

‘Why?’ Evan shouted.

‘I can explain everything, once we’re settled. We’re going to a safe house. Turn right here.’

Evan veered south onto another major thoroughfare, Burnet Road. Safe house. A place where the hit men couldn’t find you. Evan thought he’d stepped into a mobster movie. His guts clenched, his chest ached as if it were being wrung from muscle into string. ‘Did you see their faces, can you identify them?’

‘I saw them. Both of them. I don’t know if one is Jargo or if they just work for him.’ Bald glanced through the back of the window.

‘Why would this Jargo kill my mother? Who is he?’

‘The worst man you can imagine. At least the worst I can imagine, and my imagination is pretty twisted-sick.’

‘Who are you?’

‘My name is Gabriel.’ Bald softened his tone. ‘If I wanted you dead, I would have shot you back at your house. I’m on your side, I’m the good guy. But you must do what I say. Exactly. Trust me.’

Evan nodded but thought, I don’t know you and I don’t trust you.

‘Do you know where your father is?’ Gabriel asked.

‘Sydney.’

‘No, where he really is.’

Evan shook his head. ‘He’s not in Sydney?’

‘Jargo may already have grabbed your father. Where are the files?’

‘Files? What the hell are you talking about?’ Evan’s voice broke in fury and frustration. He pounded the steering wheel. ‘I don’t have any goddamned stupid files! What do you mean, grabbed my dad? You mean he’s been kidnapped?’

‘Think, Evan. Calm down. Your mother had a set of electronic files that are very important. I need them.’ Gabriel’s voice softened. ‘We need them, you and I. To stop Jargo. To get your dad back safe and sound.’

‘I don’t know anything.’ Tears burned in his eyes. ‘I don’t understand.’