Officer Jones

Chapter 90

My speedometer hit triple digits-everything was a blur. I’d driven Zycko hundreds of times in my life, but I’d never seen it in fast-forward. My familiarity with every nook and cranny was the only thing keeping me alive.

“I thought I told you to back off!” Benson’s angry voice filled my car.

By the irritation in his voice, I knew the moment of truth was upon us. The intrusion of the van into his plan had struck a nerve.

“For Gwen to live, you need me, Warner-so you better come to your senses real quick,” he warned.

But there was something different about the answer. Every previous response was measured and scripted. But this one was different. It was as if he were improvising. And then it hit me-he was stalling for time, just as I was doing. And I knew why. He needed time to end this on his own terms. I pressed on the accelerator.

Hawkins shouted into my phone, “We have everything we need now to take Benson down. I’m moving the van forward and going in. Consider me back in charge.”

I set down the phone, ignoring Hawkins. No threat of his could match Benson’s threat to Gwen’s life.

“Where is she? Tell me where Gwen is!” I shouted into the receiver.

“Back the van off. I see you getting closer!”

Clarisse regained control of the phone. “JP, he’s headed for the bridge. He’s going too fast-we’ll never catch him. I think he’s going over the edge!”

Benson ended our interview, “I bid you farewell. I’m sorry, Warner. I lied about giving you Gwen’s location-but don’t worry, she won’t die alone, like your brother. Your enabler Jeff Carter will die with her.”

“You’re a sick bastard.”

“History will be the judge of that. And since you will be the one writing the final story, it will be up to you how I’m portrayed. My only hope is that you mention that Noah was the most satisfying, because his crime was not against a stranger, but against someone he claimed to love-someone who trusted him, yet he betrayed that trust.”

Benson shut off his radio. The silence on the other end was the worst sound I’d ever heard.

Samerauk Bridge was now in my sights. As I sped toward it, I pictured Noah falling on the rocks below. I was tempted to let Benson go over with Maloney.

Benson’s police car entered my radar, speeding in the opposite direction, and careening for the guardrail. I thought of my mother telling me it was just a matter of time for me. I thought of the bedroom she kept the same, knowing her son would certainly die a premature death. I thought of Gwen, and was glad we got one last chance to make things right.

But most of all, I couldn’t believe I was about to sacrifice my life to try to save Bobby Maloney’s sorry ass. I turned my headlights off and shot toward the bridge.

I heard Agent Johnson screaming into the cell phone, “He’s really going to do it, JP-he’s going over the side!

I made a mad dash across the bridge and beat Benson to the spot like a player taking a charge in a basketball game. Metal smashed on high-speed metal. I had spent a career avoiding gunfire and car bombs, but as Carter always said, the last one always hits you.

My luck had run out.