On The Grind

Chapter 47

As soon as I turned onto the street I knew Carmen's suggestion was a good one. It was lined with massive hundred-year-old oaks. Huge branches completely overhung the street. I shut off the headlights as we streaked under the sheltering canopy. I was looking for an open garage or deep driveway where I could ditch the Mustang. The night sun from the chopper was shooting hot streaks of white light through pinholes in the leafy overhead. They shifted and moved, dancing on the asphalt as the chopper changed position above, trying to spot.

"I have an aunt who lives on this street," Carmen shouted over the din of the lowering helicopter.

A few blocks back, two Haven Park patrol cars, going almost fifty, were smoking turns onto the street.

"Which one is your aunt s?" I shouted.

Carmen pointed to a brightly painted stucco house with barred windows in the middle of the block.

"I'm turning at the next corner," I shouted. "Once I've stopped — everybody out. Get behind the bushes in front of the corner house, then we'll make our way back up the street to your aunts."

"They're too close!" Rocky shouted.

"I've got a plan for that," I told him.

I floored the car, picking up speed. The two squad cars also sped up and were now only a block and a half back. I made a quick right at the corner, then immediately slewed the Mustang sideways to a stop, blocking the narrow street. I set the emergency brake and the three of us jumped out, abandoning the car. We sprinted for the shrubs and dove behind them, flattening out in the dirt. A few seconds later two cop cars rounded the corner with lights and sirens blaring. The lead unit T-boned Carmen's car, slamming into the passenger door. The second shop immediately pounded into the back of him.

While the cops were busy getting out of their busted units with guns drawn and advancing cautiously on the Mustang to clear it, we rose up and sprinted across the lawn in the dark, keeping low, working our way toward Carmen's aunt's painted stucco.

"I know where she keeps the hide-a-key," Carmen shouted and dug it out of a nearby pot. We ran for the back porch and Carmen slipped the key into the lock, then swung the door wide.

"Auntie Anna, it's Carmenita," she called out as we entered the house. I closed and locked the door behind us.

"Keep the lights off," I instructed.

"I'll check her bedroom," Carmen said and headed down a dark hallway.

Overhead, Air One was coming lower, working back and forth above the street. I could hear its rotor pitch whine and buzz as the pilot worked the chopper's collective and cyclic controls to circle overhead.

A few minutes later Carmen exited the back hallway with a short, middle-aged Hispanic woman who was belting her robe and pushing a sleep-ruined hairdo back up into place.

She was looking up at her ceiling, where, above the roof, the helicopter was making a racket.

"Auntie, it's the police. They're trying to kill Rocky."

"Aye, aye, aye," Carmen's Aunt Anna said, but asked no further questions. She knew how justice was delivered in Haven Park.

"Carmen, get out of those clothes," Rocky said. "Put on one of your aunt's nightgowns and wrap your head in a scarf or something. Maybe if they come in here they won't recognize you."

Then he turned to me. "If we stay, we could get them both killed!"

"I agree." I turned to Carmen. "Rocky and I are gonna take off. There's an FBI agent named Ophelia Love. Get in touch with her through the Homeland Security office on Wilshire. Tell her what's going down."

"What are you going to do?" she asked Rocky.

"I'm not that far along with my plan yet," Rocky said.

"We've got a better shot if we split up. I've got a tracker in my belt. If they're using it, maybe I can lead them off you," I told him. "One of us has to be alive to testify against these guys."

"Querido," Carmen said, putting her hands up to Rocky's face. "I love you. I couldn't stand to lose you."

He leaned forward, kissing her, putting his arms around her waist. "I couldn't stand to lose me either. Te amo. Soy tuyo."

"This is a really nice moment," I whispered. "But can we please get the hell out of here?"

Just then there was a heavy knock at the front door.

"Police! Open up!" somebody shouted.