Chapter 5 - The Chase at Elm Ridge
“We found Marcus’s getaway vehicle on the security cameras leaving the hospital parking structure three minutes ago,” Detective Cole declared, looking at his tactical tablet inside the police cruiser. “He used the power outage his mother created as a distraction.”
Delaney sat in the back seat of the reinforced police SUV, wrapped in a warm blanket, her head wrapped in light medical bandages. She had adamantly refused to stay in the hospital bed.
“He’s going back to the house,” Delaney said with absolute certainty. “He knows Patricia failed. The wall safe in the basement office—there’s a secondary lockbox inside containing five hundred thousand dollars in bearer bonds and untraceable foreign currency. He kept it there for a getaway scenario.”
“We already have three units en route to Elm Ridge Drive,” Cole informed her, turning on the siren as the cruiser accelerated through the rainy night streets. “We’ll intercept him before he can clear the property.”
Five minutes later, the police convoy pulled up to the darkened driveway of 442 Elm Ridge Drive. The sprawling, two-story modern residence was completely dark. Rain poured down in heavy sheets, splashing against the manicured front lawn.
Detective Cole drew his sidearm and signaled to the three tactical officers accompanying them. “Establish a perimeter around the back exit. Do not engage until we verify his location inside.”
Delaney watched from the safety of the armored vehicle as the officers moved silently across the wet grass. Suddenly, the garage door of the mansion roared to life, rolling upward at high speed.
A heavy, black luxury SUV surged out of the darkness, its headlights blinding the officers. The driver slammed on the accelerator, tearing across the lawn, ripping up sod, and smashing directly into the side of a parked police cruiser to clear a escape path.
“He’s breaking out!” Cole roared over the tactical radio, jumping back into the SUV.
The black SUV spun its tires against the wet asphalt and accelerated down the winding suburban road. Cole slammed his foot on the gas, the police vehicle roaring in pursuit, siren wailing through the quiet neighborhood.
Delaney gripped the grab handle tight as the high-speed chase cut through the storm. She watched the black SUV ahead swaying wildly on the slick roads. Marcus was driving recklessly, desperate, cornered like a rat.
Up ahead was the steep, winding incline of Blackwood Ridge—a treacherous stretch of mountain road lined with sharp cliffs and narrow curves overlooking the river valley below.
“He’s out of his mind trying to take those turns at eighty miles an hour in this rain!” Cole shouted, fighting the steering wheel as their cruiser skidded slightly on a patch of black ice.
Through the rain-streaked windshield, Delaney saw the brake lights of Marcus’s SUV flash frantically as he approached the sharpest hairpin turn on the ridge. The heavy vehicle slammed its brakes, but the combination of high speed, bald tires, and torrents of water caused the tires to lose traction completely.
The black SUV spun violently out of control, smashing through the heavy wooden guardrail with a deafening crunch of metal and splintering timber.
Delaney screamed as the vehicle plummeted over the lip of the ravine, flipping twice before slamming into a dense grove of oak trees fifty feet below, coming to a rest upside down in a crumpled cloud of steam and smoke.
“Dispatch, heavy accident at Mile Marker 14 on Blackwood Ridge!” Cole barked into his shoulder mic as he pulled the cruiser to a sudden halt. “Send emergency rescue, fire, and ambulance immediately!”
Cole leaped out of the car and sprinted toward the broken edge of the cliff, his flashlight illuminating the wrecked vehicle below. Delaney scrambled out after him, leaning against the cold metal guardrail frame, peering into the dark abyss.
May you like
Through the rising steam, a single figure could be seen crawling slowly out of the shattered driver’s side window of the overturned SUV, dragging a heavy canvas duffel bag behind him.
Marcus was alive.
