Chapter 16 - Manhunt
Mac leaned against the vehicle, her heart was beating so fast she almost couldn't put fuel in the car. She paid cash and much to her chagrin, the officer that parked behind them had taken an interest in her. "Afternoon, ma'am. Need any help?"
He was young and smiled a big toothy grin, his eyes immediately scanning her body. She shook her head, managed to hide an eye roll and offered a terse smile. "No officer, I can figure out where the gas goes."
"Just looking out for ya. A woman shouldn't be traveling so far all alone." He pointed at the license plate. "What part of Virgina?"
"Alexandria, my boyfriend lives there. It's close to Washington." When she mentioned the word 'boyfriend' the cop's smile faded completely. "We're doing a little cross country trip, stopping at all the touristy places. Thank you for your concern, officer. I'm sure he'll be happy to know that you're looking out."
"Oh, yeah…sure, sure." His eyes scanned for the tall man he'd seen jump out of the passenger side of the SUV. He found him standing at the payphone staring their way. "Well, have a nice day."
"You too."
Mac breathed a sigh of relief once the cop car was on the road and far away from fne gas station. She expected an ambush where police from multiple counties bounded out and arrested both of them. But as the minutes ticked on by, no one came.
She finished topping off the tank and them
moved the vehicle to a spot near the picnic tables where she could keep an eye on Harm.. From her vantage point she could see that he held the receiver in a vice, occasionally scrubbing a hand over his face when he spoke to whomever was on the other side. She could sense his frustration and when he turned to look at her, Mac knew something was wrong and it was in regards to her.
Chegwidden was a smart man, she understood that her sudden need for a mental health vacation would be suspicious. Perhaps she should have planned her own escape a little better but, in the rush to help Harm out of Leavenworth, her safety took second place.
Mac understood that she was aiding, abetting and harboring a fugitive; she simply didn't care. The system that she believed in had destroyed a good man and allowed a woman that was his superior to orchestrate an elaborate scheme that pushed her rival out of her way. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair. As a result, he would die and part of her would die with him - she knew that.
"He knows I'm with you doesn't he?" She asked when Harm slipped into the driver's seat after she placed the keys in his palm. The conversation with the police left her too shaky to drive and he looked like he needed something to do.
"You sent him the information on Crenshaw."
Mac winced at his accusation but when she turned to face him, it wasn't anger she saw. He grinned and shook his head as if playfully minding a child. She shrugged and was surprised to find him leaning over the center counsel to kiss her; a muffled "thank you" breathed over her lips.
"Let's head home."
"Yeah, home." At this moment, home was wherever Mac was.
They traveled back through North Carolina, nearing the Virginia border when a light started blinking on the dash of the SUV. It forced them off the road and into a small town with one gas station, one 'hotel', a cafe and a tiny movie theatre with the paint chipping off the walls. Mainstreet may have once been bustling and booming but, most of the stores were closed now and the relative lack of patrons at any of the remaining shops made the place something of a ghost town.
Mac couldn't shake the odd feeling that something big was about to happen. It made the hair stand up at the back of her neck and her internal clock was skipping several beats like it did when she was nervous.
They needed to get back on the road quickly. The longer it took to reach the cabin, the more exposed she felt. "Anything yet?"
"Yep. The oil cap is busted. We can't keep going like this."
"Shit."
Harm wiped his hands on his jeans and glanced around the sparse town. He'd have to seek help from the gas station and hope they had the piece he was looking for. "Stay put, let me see if I can get help."
He jogged down the road, finding the station was closed. Not just closed but it looked as if it hadn't seen a patron in ten years. The windows were filthy but it was clear that there was nothing left on the shelves of the convenience store. He cursed and decided to walk around the building. A roll down door was partially open, leaving about two feet of space from the ground.
Harm squatted and looked beneath, finding the darkened maintenance bay to have two vehicles within its bowels. Each were blanketed in a heavy film of dust and it was abundantly clear the whole place had been abandoned for some time.
He came down to his knees, rolled under the door and made a beeline for the first vehicle, a Ford van that was missing much of its front end. Harm was thankful that the doors were left open, allowing easy access to the latch that unlocked the hood. After just a few minutes and a lot of muscle, he was able to remove the oil cap from the vehicle and rejoin Mac.
She stood outside of the Land Rover, her face glowing in relief once he approached holding his treasure. "We need to go. I have this…this…gut feeling."
"Female intuition?"
"Whatever it is has been nagging me since we left Virginia." Mac watched him work and nearly jumped for joy when the cap fit the engine.
"We didn't lose much oil either." He said after replacing the dipstick he had pulled out. "Turn the engine on and pump the gas a little, I need to make sure it holds the seal."
Mac revved the engine each time he asked until Harm had her stop so that he could adjust the cap. That's how the police found them, her behind the wheel and Harm bent over the engine.
An old cruiser passed and then looped back around stopping just next to the SUV. "Hey there folks, car trouble?"
Since when was she so afraid of the law, Mac wondered. There was nothing suspicious about a couple, pulled over on the side of the road with the hood popped. Harm looked nothing like a criminal and given the costly SUV, the police would likely mistake them for some sort of Suburban yuppies rather than fugitives. "Oil cap busted. Got it fixed."
The officer motioned towards the old gas station as Harm straightened. "You wouldn't be the tall fella Josie saw loiterin' around the gas station would ya?"
"Afraid so. I thought it was open but it looks abandoned."
"It is abandoned." The officer glared at Harm noticing the dirt and dust that covered his jeans and shirt in patches. "That don't mean you can break in."
"I wasn't-"
"Put your hands on the hood, I'm gonna have to take you in, sort this out." He stopped the car and hopped out, his hand shivering loosely above his pistol. The man was older, balding, short and stocky. He had a name tag that read 'Elliott' and Sheriff's star pinned to his blouse. "Turn that engine off and join your boyfriend, little lady."
Harm put his hands in his pockets and pulled out a $20. "Officer, I'll pay for the oil cap, this really isn't necessary."
"It's Sheriff. Sheriff Elliot and I don't take kindly to strangers." He was pulling out a set of cuffs while reaching for a gun that he was too slow to deploy, the 'little woman' had disarmed him. "What the hell?"
"Typical male." Mac said while pointing the revolver at the Sheriff. "Always underestimating women. You put your hands on the cruiser and you stay there." She went to the driver's side, pulled the keys out of the ignition and then tossed them into a grassy area where they would be hard to find.
Mac took the cash Harm held, stuffed it into the Sheriff's pocket as the man mumbled something about them being a "goddamned, no good Bonnie and Clyde." She tossed the gun in the same direction of the keys and hurried back to their car.
Harm drove out of the town going slightly over the speed limit but when he reached the on-ramp for the freeway, he didn't anticipate the highway patrol which sat in wait. The sirens blared even before Harm had a chance to turn them around and find an alternate route.
"No! God no!" That feeling finally made sense, the one that sank her heart to her gut with each mile they sped away from the cabin. She didn't expect to live there forever but there had to be some resolution better than a high speed chase.
"I have to stop."
"You stop and you're back in prison with extra charges added." Mac yelled as the two police vehicles followed. "We can lose them."
"You're right, we can." He chose to take the next exit, slowing through the dense part of town where, for a moment, he managed to lose the tail. He drove through the main streets and towards a sign that pointed towards the local mall. They needed to ditch the Land Rover and hot wire another vehicle that was less conspicuous.
The police found them before he made the turn into the heavily populated shopping center. "There's two more behind us!" Mac yelled and that was when Harm made the decision to run.
They drove onto a backroad, his conscience unable to let him speed in the populated parts of town. Harm pushed the accelerator as far as he dared, thanking God for pilot reflexes that kept the car steady at high speeds.
He knew some of the police would stop chasing once they crossed the state line, jurisdictional laws making it impossible for them to follow. That's when they would ditch the car and hurry back to the safety of their cabin.
Virginia was just ten miles away when a hole in the road blew a tire out. It sent the SUV sliding, skidding, the wheel he tried to hold still until the car violently fought back and flipped over.
It rolled three times, nearly knocking out the man and woman inside until a tree stopped the forward progression. Harm was almost unconscious, near the brink of passing out when he heard the rear windows being kicked in.
His ears rang and his head ached, for a moment it felt like some supernatural force was raising him from the ground until he felt the rough hands yanking him out of the broken SUV. He saw the men rushing towards Mac's side, guns drawn and at the ready.
In that moment he knew he'd lose her for good but attempted one last effort to keep her free of his curse. "Don't hurt her! She's my hostage! She's my hostage!"
Harm yelled the words over and over again as he saw her being pulled out of the overturned vehicle. But in the melee, the sounds of screaming, of sirens and tires skidding to a halt drowned out his words. He saw the police grabbing Mac, saw the blood from a wound on her head that was dripping crimson down her beautiful face.
"Is she okay? Tell me, is she okay, please!" She seemed dazed as far as he could tell but before his eyes could focus clearly, the men slammed him against the asphalt. "Ooof."
They were gentler on her. Mac expected the police would cuff and pin her against the vehicle. Instead the lead officer took her face in his hands and studied her eyes for signs of any brain trauma. She felt woozy, dazed and each time he asked if she was okay, Mac nodded. "That bastard won't ever hurt you again, ma'am."
Bastard? What bastard? In her haze she wasn't clear on the past events until she heard her name being yelled over and over again above the loud noises that swirled around them. It helped snap the fog right out of her mind when the audible sound of fist hitting flesh made her focus on the sight just fifty feet away. They were hurting him.
The more Harm fought to get loose the more punishment he took. It wasn't bad enough that he was slammed to the ground but this time, the officers ganged up on his flailing form that they were unable to subdue. A punch came to his face and then another hard hit to his midsection. He was told to stop fighting but he wouldn't, he couldn't until he knew that Mac was alright.
And that's when the thunderous crack echoed across the scene like a bolt of lightning had crashed nearby, its deafening sound causing an eerie deafness that muted the voices from the men around him.
Mac had run. Some sort of crazed, impulsive energy had her rushing towards him at a clip that made one of the younger officers nervous. She was trying to reach Harm and stop the hits they inflicted on him. She couldn't stand by and watch them hurt her innocent man.
And she was close, so damned close until the officer nervously took out his side arm and shot.
From the ground Harm saw Mac fall; her body plummeting as if in slow motion. The blood that spread from beneath her was a pool of crimson that spread so quickly he knew the shot was fatal. "Sarah!"
As he was plucked from the ground and dragged to a waiting van, Harm saw Mac's dazzling amber eyes fade to darkness - he would never love again.