The Templar Reprisals (The Best Thrillers Book 3) by James Best (read any book txt) 📕

across the road. Evarts should have stopped closer to the bend to surprise them. No time to reposition. What would he do if he saw a vehicle partially blocking the road? Hit the Interceptor close to the front or back bumper to spin it out of the way. If he hid behind his car, it would crush him as it swung around. He jumped into a shallow drainage ditch alongside the shoulder and laid down flat.

He had just brought the M-15 to firing position when the sedan barreled around the corner. He saw the car hesitate as the driver’s foot lifted, but then it almost immediately picked up speed as it aimed at the back end of his car. Smart, fast thinking. The rear end was lighter, and the vehicle would swing out of the way with little resistance.

As the car approached at about sixty miles an hour, Evarts took aim at the tires. He squeezed off three shots at the right-side tire and then three at the left. By the time he came back around to the right side, the car was swerving slightly. Steel core radials didn’t blow like tires of old, but the veering motion meant he had hit the tire on that side. Without hesitation, he shifted his aim to the engine compartment. He put at least ten rounds into the engine. A 5.56 mm bullet wouldn’t penetrate an engine, but many drive-critical parts were vulnerable. He would have shot more, but the sedan spun the Interceptor aside and speed down the road.

Evarts jumped up and followed the car on foot, examining the road. About twenty feet beyond the impact point, Evarts saw liquid that had been leaked from the sedan. At least one flat tire and leaking cooling fluid. Possibly other problems. That car wasn’t going far.

He called dispatch on his phone.

“Chief Evarts. Assailants ran roadblock I set up at Twinridge. Shots fired by officer at vehicle. Perp car damaged. Tire and radiator. All-points BOLO. Arm and dangerous. Intercept and use caution.”

“Roger that.”

Evarts put the phone in his pocket without terminating the call. He ran back to his prior position in the ditch and waited for the second car.

Chapter 23

Would the second group give chase or run for the hills? Evarts pulled his phone and reestablished contact with the dispatcher.

“A second car may have gone east. Block Route 154, north and south of North San Marcos Road. Four perps in white rental sedan. Armed and Dangerous. How long?”

“Roger that, one moment.” She went silent as she checked the availability of patrol cars. “Fifteen, tops, chief.”

Too long. “Okay, roadblock thirty minutes only, then assign one cruiser to roadside observation for another thirty. Priority remains damaged car last seen at Twinridge.”

“Roger.”

He looked up the street. He saw nothing. He heard nothing. Crap, they ran in the other direction.

He would give it five more minutes.

As he waited, he thought. Twice he had been chased away from his home. Twice he had been summoned to Washington. It was beginning to feel like he was a character in the movie Groundhog Day. Then a new thought occurred to him. Were a couple of these assailants the same men who attacked him the first time? If so, then they were persistent. Usually when you elude a trap and kill two of the perps, the survivors turn skittish. And how much was that reward anyway? It must be a lot to pay a team of four and then a team of six to attack him at his house. He had not played this smart. He kept going home expecting normalcy. Trish had been the one to think clearly. She got the hell out of Dodge.

Evarts heard a car. It was coming around the bend!

A minivan. When the driver got closer, he pulled over well before reaching his bashed-up Interceptor.

Evarts stood up from the drainage trough, keeping the M-15 hidden alongside the back of his leg. He waved and the driver lowered the window. He recognized the man as a distant neighbor.

“You okay, chief?”

“Yeah, fine, Jeff. I wasn’t in the car when it was hit. Someone ran my roadblock. Did you see any cars up the road?”

“Nary a one. Why did—”

“How about by my house. Anything odd?”

“No, sir. Not that I noticed. Is there anything I should be concerned about? My family’s at home.”

“Not really … but call and tell your family to stay inside and not to let anyone into the house. Then pull over here. There may be trouble further down this road.”

“Did you get attacked again?”

Evarts had forgotten about the newspaper reports of the first attack. If this kept up, they might kick him out of the neighborhood.

He smiled. “Not exactly. Just suspicious activity. Maybe I overreacted because of that last episode.”

“Overreacted? Do law abiding people crash through police blockades?”

He had been foolish to try subterfuge. He swung the M-15 around and pointed it in the air. “Yeah, Jeff, sorry. I was attacked again. This time no one was hurt, and the perps ran away. Right through my roadblock. There was a second car that never came through, so I believe they headed east to 154. Make that phone call. Squad cars are on the way, and one will escort you home to check on your family.”

Jeff nodded and dug out his phone.

Within a few minutes, Jeff had warned his family, two squad cars arrived with sirens blaring and lights flashing, and dispatch had reported that the damaged car had been found abandoned on a long driveway a little way down the hill. There were only two houses in the immediate vicinity. Evarts had ordered a full lockdown of the area with priority on the evacuation of civilians. He urged caution and warned that the perps may have holed up with hostages.

Evarts jumped into one of the squad cars and instructed the officer to drive back down the road. They came up on the hidden driveway in less than a thousand yards. Another patrol car blocked the