One of the men Daeng had seen was now standing between two parked cars, pointing his phone at Howard’s BMW. There was no doubt in Daeng’s mind he was taking a picture.
Daeng could feel Misty’s tension across the divide between their seats. “It’s going to be okay,” he said.
She made no reply.
As soon as Howard passed Peter’s building, the man standing on the street turned his phone toward the Camry.
“Keep it casual,” Daeng said, his lips barely moving. “Make him think this is our neighborhood.”
He chanced a quick look at her, and knew they were in trouble. Her forced smile screamed, “I’m hiding something.”
When they were only a dozen feet away, the man lowered his phone. He’d taken his shots, and by the look on his face, he knew something was up. As they passed him, he was turning to his colleague.
Daeng heard him shout, “That’s them!”
Glancing at the rearview mirror, he saw both men running in the same direction, and knew they were going for their vehicle.
So much for staying under the radar.
He shoved the accelerator to the floor.
“That’s them!” Teig shouted to Holt.
Both men started running to their Audi sedan.
“Are you sure?” Holt asked, not breaking stride.
Just then the Camry’s engine roared.
Teig glanced back and saw it racing away. “Hell, yeah, I am,” he said.
As they reached the end of the block, Daeng slowed only enough to take the turn without flipping the Camry, then sped up again until they were right behind Howard’s BMW.
He checked the rearview mirror. For a moment, he thought perhaps the others had decided not to pursue them, but it was only wishful thinking. Before he even had a chance to move his gaze back to the road, a dark Audi sedan skidded around the corner.
Following Howard’s lead at the next intersection, Daeng turned again, right this time. As the Camry’s tires screamed in protest, Misty’s arms shot out, bracing herself against the dash.
“Oh, God,” she muttered more than once.
They went up the block and turned again, causing a car coming in the other direction to screech to a halt and blare its horn. Unfortunately, Daeng knew that it didn’t matter how many turns they took. While Misty’s Camry was fine for everyday life, the ancient vehicle was nowhere near the same performance class as the BMW or the Audi.
“You have your phone?” he asked.
“It’s in back,” Misty said, her hands still pressed against the dash. “It’s in my purse.”
“Take mine. It’s in my pocket.” He twisted his hips so that she’d have easier access to his jeans pocket on the right, but she didn’t move. In a calm voice, he said, “Misty, please get my phone. We need to call Steve.”
It took a few more seconds, but she finally reached over and worked the phone out. After he talked her through unlocking it and finding Steve’s number, she placed the call, putting it on speaker.
Howard answered right away. “You guys okay back there?”
“This Audi’s got us beat,” Daeng said. “No way I can lose him in this. We need a diversion and I’m open to ideas.”
The line went quiet for a few seconds. “I have one. You guys hang tight.”
“You want to give me a hint?” Daeng asked.
Howard had already hung up, but he gave them a hint nonetheless as his BMW suddenly shot ahead in a burst of speed the Camry couldn’t even dream about matching.
“Where’s he going?” Misty asked.
Since Daeng had no idea, he didn’t answer.
They watched as Steve turned down another street. When they reached the intersection, they turned, too.
All they could see ahead of them was empty road.
Holt was behind the wheel, while Teig was on his radio, filling in Central.
“Not sure if it’s two or three,” he said. “We think the Camry the woman and the man are in is following another car driven by a male alone. A BMW. He passed by us a few seconds before they did. I was able to get pictures of all three.”
“Send them to me,” Central said, as if this was the first thing that should have happened.
Teig retrieved his phone and sent the images in a single e-mail. “You should have them any second,” he said as the message left.
There was a pause. “All right. I’m going to see what I can find out from here.”
“What do you want us to do? Follow or capture?”
“Do they know you’ve made them?”
Teig hesitated. “Uh, yes.”
“Then just following is out of the question, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Teig, do not lose them.”
“We won’t.”
Teig replaced the radio in its harness and looked down the road. The Camry was about three quarters of a block away, the BMW still in front of it.
“Don’t worry about being seen,” he told Holt. “Close in.”
As Holt increased their speed, the BMW turned onto a new road. As soon as the Camry reached the intersection, it turned, too.
That cinched it. They had to be together.
For the next several minutes, Teig and Holt zigzagged through the neighborhood as the others tried to lose them, but that was a contest the Camry could never win.
Suddenly the BMW, which had been driving only fast enough for the Camry to keep up with it, zoomed ahead and took a turn. It was several seconds before the Camry and the Audi followed suit.
“Looks like the other guy took off,” Holt said.
The BMW was nowhere in sight.
Smart man, Teig thought.
“Do we stay on the Camry or go try to find him?” Holt asked.
“The Camry,” Teig ordered.
Daeng checked the mirror again. The Audi had moved in close, and was now a mere half car length behind them.
Daeng kept taking turns, hoping they’d catch a break, but so far that hadn’t happened.
“You doing okay?” he asked Misty.
“Not really,” she said. She had one hand still on the dash, while the other was now gripping the handle above the door.
He hoped whatever Howard had in mind was going to work, but he knew he couldn’t count on it, and needed to come up with his own solution. Shooting the other driver would have been the easiest thing. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a weapon.
No, he realized. That wasn’t exactly true.
There was always the Camry itself. What he needed to do was create the opportunity for the Audi to come alongside. If he did it right, a quick whip of the wheel would send the other vehicle smashing into a parked car.
He eased back on the accelerator a bit.
“Come on,” he whispered as he looked in the mirror. “Come take a look.”
Teig knew it was almost over.
Without the BMW to guide it, the Camry was starting to slow, the driver no doubt realizing he didn’t have a chance. If Teig really wanted to, he could have Holt bump the back corner of the Toyota and spin it out right now. The only drawbacks were potential injuries or deaths. Orders were to bring at least one of them in alive.
If they could get around front, they could cut off the Camry. That should do the trick.
He scanned past the other car at the road ahead. Another intersection was coming up, and after that the street widened a bit. The perfect place to perform a takedown.
He explained to Holt what he wanted to do.
“What are you waiting for? Come on,” Daeng said. His gaze bounced from the mirror to the road and back.
“What are you talking about?” Misty asked.
As they passed through the next intersection, Daeng glanced over, intending to reassure her. But the car racing down the intersecting road stopped him from saying anything.