Double Jeopardy

22

1:20 A.M.

TRAVIS EXITED STEMMONS FREEWAY and headed for the West End Historic District, just north of Commerce and west of Lamar. He pulled into the empty parking lot on the opposite side of the railroad tracks. It was the closest open parking; he hoofed it from there.

The streets were quiet; all the restaurants and boutiques were closed. The West End had been refurbished several years before and converted into a trendy upscale shopping and dining haunt. A less panoramic version of San Antonio’s Riverwalk. The yuppies were all in bed tonight, though, as any sensible person would be at this time of the morning.

Travis jogged over to the main cul-de-sac, the last of several smaller sequential culs-de-sac, just outside a glass-walled shopping mall. He tried to pretend the run didn’t bother him. It was barely a fourth of a mile. A sprint like that couldn’t tire a he-man like him, could it? He laughed bitterly. Of course it could. He was old and out of shape. A punching bag for bathroom bullies.

After weaving past several closed buildings, he arrived at the Butcher Shop. It was his favorite restaurant in the West End. Most of the other joints served prissy sculpted food in minuscule portions, usually topped with sun-dried tomatoes or asparagus tips. California food, he called it. The Butcher Shop was about the only place in the entire area you could get a decent steak, something you could sink your teeth into.

Steak—my God, he remembered that. Vaguely, anyway. A delicacy from his presalad days. He jogged back and forth outside the restaurant, swinging around an iron lamppost, trying to shake off the chill. It was a brisk night for April; downright cold, actually. He hoped Moroconi wouldn’t be late. He began to realize how nebulous his instructions had been. What exactly was their plan? If Moroconi was going to turn himself in, why didn’t they just meet near the police station? And where exactly were they going to meet? Should he be looking in the alley behind the building, in the trash bins, or what?

Fortunately, Travis didn’t have to anguish over these questions for long. He heard tires squealing in the distance; probably not all that loud, but jarring in the silence. Soon he could see the source of the commotion—a large black pickup truck. But these were pedestrian-only streets. How …?

He immediately saw the answer to his question. The truck exploded through a ground-level barricade without even slowing down. Splintered wood flew skyward, but the truck kept coming. From one of the smaller culs-de-sac, the truck roared up the curb and advanced along the main sidewalk. It burst through a sidewalk café, crushing white wire chairs under its wheels and sending tables flying. The truck passed through another small cul-de-sac, jumped another curb, then dropped into the main cul-de-sac.

Travis froze in his tracks.

The truck executed a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn, laid rubber with all four tires, and came to a squealing stop in front of the Butcher Shop.

Moroconi leaned out of the window. “Whaddya think? Am I ready for the Demolition Derby?”

Travis gripped the truck door. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I didn’t want to be late. Since you’re such a hot-shit lawyer and all.”

“Where’d you get the truck, Moroconi?”

“It’s a loaner from a buddy down at Orpha’s Lounge.”

“I’ll just bet.” Travis opened the truck door. “Get out of there, you moron. We’ll take my car to the station. No reason to volunteer additional felony charges.”

“Shee-it!” Moroconi shook his head. “You are some kind of stupid, aren’t you? Did you really think I was going to let you haul me back to the cops?” He thunked Travis in the center of his chest. “That I busted out just so you could drag me back?”

Travis’s forehead became one long furrow. “I don’t understand. If you’re not coming with me, then why—”

Travis never had a chance to finish his sentence. Suddenly, they were both engulfed by brilliant white light emanating from the other end of the cul-de-sac.

“Who is it?” Travis shouted, squinting into the light. “Who’s there?”

No response.

Without saying a word, Moroconi pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and shoved it into Travis’s hand.

“What’s this?” Travis asked. “I don’t want this. Who’s shining that light?”

Travis stared into the white sheen, his eyes watering. It had to be a supercharged searchlight, souped up to a couple thousand or so candlepower. He could make out the shadowy outline of the man holding the light, and at least one other man standing beside him. Each had his right hand extended. Travis assumed they were holding guns.

One of the men spoke. “If you hand over that piece of paper, Byrne, it’s just possible you’ll live to see the sunrise.”

“What, this?” He held out the paper. “I don’t want this. What the hell is it?” Travis stared into the blinding light. “Who are you?”

There was no answer.

“Moroconi,” Travis spat, “what’s going on?”

Travis saw Moroconi ease back into the truck.

“Stay right where you are,” a second voice shouted. After a moment’s hesitation, the voice added: “Police.”

Police? Travis could understand why they might come after Moroconi. But this was hardly standard police procedure, unless a lot had changed since he left the force.

Moroconi gunned his engine. Travis whirled around. My God, what was he doing?

The first voice returned. “One more move and we start shooting!”

Moroconi leaned out the driver’s-side window. Travis’s heart sank when he saw Moroconi leveling a gun. Moroconi fired, and a nanosecond later, the bright light went out. Travis heard glass smash and clatter onto the sidewalk.

Moroconi threw the truck into first gear. Gunfire erupted almost immediately. Travis shoved the paper into his pocket and dove away from the truck. The hell with attorney-client loyalty; he was getting out of the line of fire.

Travis rolled back onto his feet and surveyed the action. Whatever else he might say about Moroconi, he couldn’t accuse him of being gutless. Instead of trying to escape, he was careening straight toward the shadow men on the sidewalk, who continued to fire off shot after shot. One of them hit the windshield, shattering it into a million pieces. Moroconi kept on coming.

At the last possible moment the men leaped away. The man on the right got clear of the truck; the other one didn’t. He screamed, his terror-stricken face transfixed in the headlights. The truck crushed the man against the red brick wall of the Butcher Shop. The impact was loud and sickening, a horrifying crunch of metal and flesh. Travis wondered if Moroconi had killed himself as well.

He didn’t have to wonder long. The truck jerked into reverse. It separated noisily from the brick wall and did an about-face in the cul-de-sac.

Travis rose to his feet and saw the remaining shadow man do the same. He was groping around on the pavement—must have lost his gun.

Suddenly Moroconi swerved around and aimed the truck at the gunman. The man plunged into the darkness, making a beeline for a narrow alley between buildings. Moroconi couldn’t possibly follow him. He reversed the truck and headed back toward the sidewalk café he had trashed on his way in.

Just as Travis thought the worst might be over, he heard the unmistakable sound of a bullet whistling by not more than a foot from his head. Guess the man located his gun, Travis thought; he must be firing from within the alley. And Travis was a sitting duck.

In the split second during which Moroconi’s truck approached, Travis realized it was his last chance to elude the gunman. He could hardly outrun him, and recent events had indicated he wasn’t likely to overpower him in hand-to-hand combat either. He watched the truck carefully, concentrating on its speed, its direction. As the truck swerved around him Travis jumped onto the back bumper and clutched the tailgate for dear life.

Moroconi blasted through the café again. Naturally, he was too stupid to follow the path he’d cleared before. He had to annihilate more tables and chairs, making the ride good and rocky. Travis glanced back and saw the gunman run to the center of the cul-de-sac. The gunshots sounded like distant claps of thunder. They weren’t even close. It was too dark, and the truck was moving too quickly.

Moroconi took a sharp curve, flinging Travis sideways against the tailgate. He held on desperately, gripping the back of the truck with all his might. Moroconi hit another curb, and Travis felt the full impact shoot through his arms and shoulders. He knew he couldn’t hold on much longer. But he also knew he had to get farther away. If that goon with the gun had a car nearby, he could easily drill Travis before he got back to his own car.

The wind blasted through Travis’s hair and stung his eyes. His arms were beginning to ache. Travis saw Moroconi glance into his side-view mirror, then grin from ear to ear. He knew Travis was hitching a ride.

Moroconi began to swerve back and forth for no reason, sending the truck lurching over the road. Travis gritted his teeth and held on tight. His hands were sweating profusely, making it even more difficult to maintain a solid grip.

Moroconi hit the railroad tracks flying. The impact knocked Travis into the air. His hands slid crossways, then his chin struck the tailgate. He was practically horizontal across the back bumper, hanging on by his fingertips. Moroconi took another sadistic swerve, and it was over. Travis flew off the bumper and smacked down onto the gravel.

He lay motionless for a long moment, taking a physical inventory. He knew it was only a few feet from the tailgate to the ground, but he felt as if he had fallen off the top of the Statue of Liberty. He hurt like hell, but all his extremities were still attached. He opened his eyes in time to see Moroconi leaning out the truck window, laughing hysterically as he drove off into the distance.

Travis forced himself to his feet. His chest ached. The pain was so sharp he could barely catch his breath, but he made himself jog the rest of the way to the parking lot. He had to reach his car before the man with the gun did. From there he could try to determine what was going on.

And what the hell he was going to do next.