The Secret of the Stones by Ernest Dempsey (reading fiction .TXT) 📕

more nervous. Maybe it was paranoia from the thought that he could be aiding fugitives, but he could swear that the silver sedan behind them was tailing them.

Allyson had turned back around to face out the front of the truck. She ended the conversation by saying, “Well, I don’t think you as a suspect makes any sense.”

Sean appreciated the confidence she had in him. He decided not to continue the talk. It was probably better that he not mention some of the other evidence that the police were inevitably looking at. The main motive the cops probably had was that if Tommy died, Sean inherited control of the entire IAA and the enormous fortune that went with it.

Detective Morris had more than likely thought of that before anything else.

Looking up in the front seat, Sean saw that Joe was noticeably uneasy. He leaned forward and put his hand on the driver’s shoulder. “What’s the matter with you?”

McElroy was busy checking both mirrors. The sedan that he’d thought was following them had got closer and was only a few car lengths behind. Sean didn’t need a response. His friend’s eyes told him exactly what was going on. Just as he was turning around, he saw a black barrel held by a gloved hand extend out of the passenger side of the silver vehicle.

Instantly, his mind cleared of all other thoughts, and his years of training kicked in. “Get down!” he shouted at Allyson, who had certainly not seen the danger in the car behind. To make sure she obeyed, Sean grabbed her head and shoved it downward.

“What are you doing?” Allyson started at him, angry at the gruff behavior. Then she saw him pulling the gun out of his jacket. She risked a peek in the side mirror just as the glass exploded. The sudden blast brought a scream from her mouth.

“Stay down!” he barked again. This time, she did as told while another round of bullets thudded against the tailgate of the pickup truck. Then, two hit the back window, sending a spiderweb across its surface.

Joe didn’t say anything. His focus was on the curvy road ahead. He swerved the truck back and forth across the lanes, trying to give the attackers a more difficult target.

With the chase speeding up, both vehicles were reaching speeds that were certainly unsafe on the dangerous, tight turns of the mountain road. Guardrails ran along the side of the highway, but they hardly seemed enough to stop a few tons of metal from blasting through and into the chasm beyond.

Sean rolled down his window and bent his body sideways, bracing his back against the front part of the door. With two arms extended, he squeezed off a salvo of bullets at the pursuers, sending a few through the hood and another grouping into the windshield. The driver of the car slowed down slightly and duplicated the maneuvers Joe had used a few seconds before instead of keeping the car steady.

“You get ‘em?” Joe yelled as Sean climbed back into the seat, ejecting the empty clip and replacing it with a practiced ease.

“No,” Sean’s breathing had hardly changed at all. He’d no sooner spoken than the clinking sound of more bullets hitting the truck interrupted him.

Allyson remained tucked away in the front passenger seat, unsure of what she should be doing.

Sean slid across the bench seat to the other side and lowered the window. He shoved the weapon out the opening and squeezed the trigger again. The shots he fired this time were at the gunman, shattering the mirror at the man’s waist. Sean had hit his thigh. Momentarily, the assailant leaned over, grasping his now-bleeding leg.

Pulling himself back into the cab, Sean shouted at Joe. “Mac, I got an idea!”

“Do I wanna hear it?” Another volley of projectiles pounded the truck, one missing Joe by mere inches, piercing the windshield. He reacted by lurching the truck to the right.

“When I tell you, slam on the brakes, and let them hit us!”

“What? Are you crazy?!” His beady eyes were wide with doubt.

“Just do it,” Sean insisted.

“All right,” Joe mumbled. Then he raised his voice, “But you’re buyin’ me a new truck!”

Without acknowledging the comment, Sean reached back out the driver’s side rear window again, this time only peppering a few shots at the car. He turned his head around to look at the road ahead, the wind blowing hard in his face. Joe steered the car around a sharp corner, edging over into the other lane; the force nearly pulled Wyatt out of the window. The road straightened out briefly, but another curve approached rapidly about a hundred yards ahead.

“Mac, just before you get to that turn, hit the brakes!”

Joe didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Sean arched his body out the opening again and launched a few more bullets.

“Hang on, buddy!” Joe shouted back. He looked over at Allyson, who was bracing herself for the collision.

Joe slammed on the brakes. Sean braced himself against the back of the seat as the truck quickly lost velocity.

The driver of the pursuing car did not expect the brash move and swerved immediately to avoid the stopping pickup.

Instantly, Sean turned out the window unleashed a flurry of bullets into the exposed and now-off-balance gunman in the passing car. Crimson liquid erupted from his neck as he slid back in through the window, grasping pointlessly at the wounds.

Suddenly, another gunshot resonated from the front seat of the truck. Sean saw the bullet hit the driver in the shoulder, causing the attacker to jerk the steering wheel left.

The feeble guardrails gave way easily to the head-on force of the speeding vehicle. There was a brief sound of metal grinding on metal as the car vaulted over the edge