Dead and Gone by Jack Patterson (universal ebook reader .TXT) 📕

trained on the men. And the men had a hostage. His stomach sank when he recognized who it was: Jessica.

She looked over and saw him. “Cal!” she screamed.

The two men stopped. The man holding Jessica cranked his neck in the direction of the tram. “Hey, you, driver guy. Stop. I need to borrow your tram.”

The driver followed the instructions. He parked the tram and left it running, fleeing into RV city.

Cal jumped up to follow him.

“Not so fast, buddy,” the man said. “You’re going to join us.”

Cal watched as the SWAT team lowered their guns and took no action.

Still clutching Jessica, the man slid onto the same row as Cal. “Nice to meet you, Cal. I’m Bill.” A pause. “I’m the man you need to listen to if you want to live.”

CHAPTER 57

THE TRAM LURCHED FORWARD and Cal stared at his feet. He couldn’t bear to look at Jessica after he’d gotten her into this mess. Half an hour ago, he experienced one of the greatest highs in his career. Now, he thought it was all a worthless endeavor, especially if it meant the end of his life or Jessica’s.

Bill remained quiet as Gary drove the tram toward an unknown destination—at least to Cal it was unknown. Cal went over scenarios in his mind about where they might be headed. With miles of dirt roads in the valley, they could be headed anywhere. And wherever they were going, danger would lurk, that much Cal was sure of.

After ten minutes, the tram stopped.

“Let’s go,” Bill said.

By this time, he’d lowered his gun, holding it in Jessica’s back instead of to her head. Gary jumped out of the driver’s seat and rushed over to help Bill corral the two prisoners. Gary grabbed Cal by the arm and led him forward.

“Let’s move it, you two,” Bill growled.

They walked toward a Chevy Silverado with an extended cab and tinted windows.

“This is perfect,” Bill shouted. With his free hand, he pulled a small device out of his pocket and jimmied the door open. Cal and Jessica climbed into the back of the cab before Gary zip tied their hands together.

Bill then took off his jacket and grabbed a t-shirt from underneath the seat. He dug around in the console and found a pair of beat-up sunglasses along with a pack of Marlboro Lights.

He laughed again. “This is better than perfect!”

Once everyone was secure in the truck, Bill hotwired the engine and pulled onto one of the perimeter roads in RV city. He drove slowly and took a deep breath once he saw the exit, manned by a Maricopa Sheriff’s Deputy.

“No way out now,” Cal said.

“Shut up,” snarled Bill. “There’s always a way out. If you say one word, I’ll shoot the both of you and this dopy deputy.”

Bill rolled his window just over halfway as he approached the officer.

“How are you gentlemen doing today?” asked the deputy, who couldn’t see deep into the truck.

“Doin’ good,” Bill said as he forced a smile.

“Any reason you’re leavin’ while the race is about to begin?”

“Beer run!” Bill said as he turned and high-fived Gary, who was getting into character.

The deputy cocked his head. “You are aware that there’s a Safeway grocery store on the premises, aren’t you?”

Bill nodded. “Yeah, but they’re out of Natty Light.”

“And you didn’t come for the race?”

“Of course, we did. But we really came to party!”

The deputy stepped back. “I need you to step out of the vehicle.”

Bill threw his hands up but remained seated. “What for? We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I just want to make sure you guys haven’t been drinking too much.”

“Well, all right,” Bill said. He kept his hands in the air where the deputy could see them—but it didn’t matter. Bill lunged at the officer and grabbed him by the back of his shirt before slamming his head into the door three times. The officer slumped to the ground.

“Hurry up, Gary, and give me a hand,” Bill said as he scanned the area. Cal looked around to see if anyone had witnessed what just happened. No one else was around.

Cal slumped back into his seat.

“What are we gonna do, Cal?” Jessica asked.

“I—I don’t know,” he mumbled. “I’ll think of something. Just don’t panic.”

“Don’t panic? Don’t panic? Don’t panic?” her voicing rising an octave each time she uttered the phrase.

Cal watched as Bill and Gary finished moving the deputy into his car and positioned his hat over his face like he was taking a nap.

“Look, just calm down,” he said. “Here they come. Just be cool. We’ll figure this out.”

Bill jumped back into the truck and roared west on Indian Springs Road, which ran parallel to the track. They continued in silence for about two miles until they came to the edge of Estrella Mountain Park. The road veered right and Bill drove on until he slammed on his brakes.

Cal lunged forward and hit his head on the back of Bill’s seat. When Cal looked up, Bill’s face was inches away from his.

“Move outta the way!” Bill barked as he looked over his shoulder and rammed the truck into reverse.

Cal leaned back and to the side to view a roadblock about a hundred yards down the road. Then he peered behind him to notice two black Suburbans blocking the road to their rear.

“Everybody hold on,” Bill said.

Cal drew his knees up and tucked his head between them, gesturing to Jessica to do the same.

Wham!

The truck rammed into the two Suburbans as the steel crunched and squealed on impact. The tires screeched and burned while Bill kept the accelerator pedal to the floor to get all the way through. After a few seconds, the truck shook free and sped backward away from the roadblock.

Cal watched several FBI agents with their guns trained on the truck, but they didn’t shoot.

One violent turn and the truck now faced in the opposite direction, headed on a gravel road into the backside of Estrella Mountain Park.

“What have we got