He was right. Keeping the vehicle in sight would be much easier for us, but that didn’t mean we could afford to leave a lengthy distance between us and them. Doing that would be to risk losing them in the traffic. So, as advised by Chico, Jared kept two car spaces between us and the Handlers as he drove. He was careful not to remain directly behind them by changing lanes every now and then. At one point, Max and Butch positioned the cars either side of the Handlers, so that we had all effectively boxed the SUV in.
About ten minutes into the pursuit, we came to a roundabout. Startling the hell out of me – and I’m pretty sure it equally startled the others – the Handlers didn’t take the first, second, third, or final turn; they instead continued to circle the roundabout…leaving us no choice but to drive on ahead of them, or expose that we were following them. Bollocks.
Chico, too, had been forced to take the final turn or expose himself. In the visor, I was able to see that the SUV actually circled the roundabout three times. At that point, they then took the same turn that we had taken, placing them six car spaces behind us.
Stuart took the words out of my mouth. “What the hell was all that about?”
“Chico thinks they’re testing to see if anybody’s following them,” said Jared.
“They’ve sensed that they have a tail?”
“It’s more likely that they’re doing a standard test. Chico said a lot of guys do things like quickly change their course, or enter a public building.”
I thought it wasn’t a bad idea, actually. “Circling a roundabout…I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“Chico’s pulled over up ahead,” Jared told us. “He’s going to fall in from behind and take our place at the rear of the Handlers. We’re going to now take his place at the front.”
“Oh, right,” I said. “I suppose the question is, though…how do you follow someone from the front?”
“Well, according to Chico, I shouldn’t watch for signals. He says that most drivers take a couple of seconds before flashing the light to signal that they’re turning. I should watch the driver and the tyres.” So that was exactly what Jared did. And he did pretty well at it. That was most likely a lot to do with the fact that Jared’s vision enabled him to observe very well.
But then the Handlers turned down a side-street.
“Shit,” Jared uttered.
“It’s okay. Chico or one of the others can stick with them.” But Stuart was wrong. Chico didn’t stick with the Handlers. He instead stopped just before reaching the corner, where Salem hopped out and proceeded to follow the Handlers on foot.
Having crossed the intersecting street, Jared made a somewhat illegal U-turn and drove down the opposite side. He parked outside a Chinese takeaway, placing him parallel with Chico. It was at that moment that Salem had returned to Chico’s car.
“They’ve parked at the end of the one-way street,” revealed Jared, obviously having telepathically heard the info from Salem. “Apparently there’s a white van waiting there. A van that looks a lot like the mobile hospital that Erik had.”
“Stuart, time to go spying.” My announcement was met with an excited smile. Then Stuart reduced himself to molecules that went zooming out of the slightly open window and across the road. “Where are Max and Butch?” I asked Jared.
“One of them is parked at the end of this road, and the other is waiting at the end of the other side.”
I understood why; this way, both possible routes that the Handlers could take were covered.
“Nervous?” Jared suddenly asked me, and I understood that he wasn’t talking about the assignment.
I smiled. “Not in a way that means I’m unsure. But I’m nervous of being the centre of attention. And of seeing the dress that Fletcher played a part in designing.”
Jared’s brows arched. “He did? Good. I always like the stuff that Fletcher picks out for you.”
“That’s because you’re a pervert.”
He gave me an unapologetic, devilish grin. “So you’re not going to try to run on me?”
I shook my head, still smiling. “You’re stuck with me.”
“I like being stuck to you.”
Just then, the molecules returned to the backseat. “They’ve just collected their ‘package’,” revealed Stuart, angrily, once he shifted back. “How can people sell babies? How can they kill their mothers and sell their babies? It’s fucking sick.”
“You’d be surprised what people would do for money,” said Jared, “especially those who want it there and now – which seems to be the case with the vampire running this op. He wants a lot of cash, and he wants it fast. I’m guessing he has to be young in vampire years. The longer a vampire has lived, the more time he’s had to accumulate money. An older vampire wouldn’t need to do this, or to take these kinds of risks.”
Stuart leaned forward. “Do you think he wants it fast because he needs it fast?”
“No. Maybe he was used to a certain lifestyle as a human and he wants it back. I’m willing to bet that he was involved in criminal activity as a human and this is the only way of life he knows.”
“Good theory. Hey, maybe when he was a human he was involved in an operation where he had a role similar to Wendy’s, and maybe he saw too much and they Turned him rather than kill him.”
“Maybe,” allowed Jared. He stiffened as he added, “We have movement.”
The Handlers turned out of the side street and crossed the intersection, placing them on our side of the road.
I took a long breath. “Right, let’s go slaughter the fuckers.”
Jared slipped behind the SUV. “Sounds like fun.”
As before, he kept two car spaces between us and them as we followed the SUV down more roads. It wasn’t long before Chico was once again in front of them, and Max and Butch had taken a place on either side of them. Jared did all the usual things; he sped up when he needed to, he slowed down when necessary, and he switched lanes often. Always he managed to keep the Handlers in sight, and all without drawing attention to himself.
Things got a little worrying, though, when we started to enter a rural area. Although, on the upside, it meant that the traffic wasn’t hectic, it also meant that we would stand out more. Obviously sensing my concern, Jared spoke reassuringly.
“It’s okay. Chico’s giving me some advice.” Listening to that advice, Jared kept a reasonable distance between us and the SUV as he drove; only closing some of that distance when turning corners so that he didn’t lose sight of the SUV. Once back on a straight section, he pulled back, giving them a wide berth again.
Butch and Max followed that same example, keeping far behind us, as parallel surveillance would arouse suspicion at this point. The thing with rural areas was that everybody tended to know everybody, and strange vehicles would attract attention. Four strange vehicles…Not great.
“We need to all split up,” I said. “The next time we come across somewhere that would be a good idea to park and conceal the cars, tell them to pull in. We’ll catch up with them after we’ve seen where the Handlers stop.”
Jared nodded. “Good idea.” He was quiet for a short moment, and I knew he was communicating with the others. “I’ve also told them that if we see another good hiding area on our way, we’ll tell them to head to there.”
About fifteen minutes later, the SUV took a right turning. Jared sped up until he reached the corner.
“It’s some sort of converted farmhouse,” said Stuart.
Rather than stopping, Jared kept going straight.
“Want me to go take a closer look?” At Jared’s nod, Stuart switched to his other form and flew out of the window.
Jared puffed out a long breath, clearly agitated. “There’s nowhere to park around here. Not unless we want to stick out like a sore thumb, anyway.”