Молчаливая ночь [with w_cat]

23

[778] Cally knew she had to call police headquarters to see if there was any word about little Brian. She had told Detective Levy she didn’t think Jimmy would try to reach Canada through Vermont. “He got in trouble up there when he was about fifteen,” she’d said. “He never did time there, but I think some sheriff really scared Jimmy. He told him he had a long memory and warned him never to show up in Vermont again. Even though that was at least ten years ago, Jimmy is superstitious. I think he’d stick to the Thruway. I know he went to Canada a couple of times when he was a teenager, and both times he went that way.”

[779] Levy had listened to her. She knew he wanted to trust her, and she prayed that this time he had. She also prayed that she was right and they got the boy back safely, so she could know that in some small way she had helped.

[780] Someone other than Levy answered his phone, and she was told to wait. Then Levy came on. “What is it, Cally?”

[781] “I just had to know if there’s been any word… I’ve been praying that what I told you about Jimmy taking the Thruway helped.”

[782] Levy’s voice softened even though he still spoke quickly. “Cally, it did help, and we’re very grateful. I can’t talk now, but whatever prayers you know, keep saying them.”

[783] That means they must have located Jimmy, she thought. But what was happening to Brian?

[784] Cally sank to her knees. It doesn’t matter what happens to me, she prayed. Stop Jimmy before he hurts that child.

[785] Chris McNally had known it the minute Jimmy spotted him. The radio was open between him and headquarters and was tied in to One Police Plaza in Manhattan. “He knows he’s being followed,” Chris reported tersely. “He’s taking off like a bat out of hell.”

[786] “Don’t lose him,” Bud Folney said quietly.

[787] “We’ve got a dozen cars on the way, Chris,” the dispatcher snapped. “They’re running silent and on dim lights. They’ll surround you. We’re bringing in a chopper, too.”

[788] “Keep them out of sight!” Chris pressed his foot on the accelerator. “He’s going seventy. There’s not many cars out, but these streets aren’t completely cleared. This is getting dangerous.”

[789] As Siddons raced across an intersection, Chris watched in horror as he barely missed slamming into another car. Siddons was driving like a maniac. There was going to be an accident, he knew it. “ Passing Lakewood Avenue,” he reported. Two blocks later he saw the Toyota skid and almost hit a tree. A minute after that, he yelled, “The boy!”

[790] “What is it?” Folney demanded.

[791] “The passenger door of the Toyota just opened. The inside light’s on, so I can see the kid struggling. Oh God… Siddons has his gun out. It looks like he’s going to shoot him.”