Wow, you guys are demanding, aren't you? Here, have a fruit roll up. Aren't you gonna eat it? Aw for chrissake! How about a chapter instead? I don't recommend eating it though. Short chapter, but it's a chapter nonetheless. I'll get my butt in gear and abandon my jewelry making for a bit and get up the next one soon. Promise. Enjoy!
**************************************************************************************
The thin sliver of the waxing moon did little to provide illumination on the ground below, making traversing the uneven landscape. There is silence hanging like a shroud over the grand park, only broken by the steady trilling chirp of crickets and the soft beat of raptor's wings on the air. The Camels themselves are lit from the hill across the road, and moths and other nocturnal insects swarm in the beam. The rocks themselves look as red as they do in daylight with the illumination, catching the eye and providing a striking picture in the darkness. The calm of the night is broken, and the crickets pause a beat, interrupted in their summer song. The roar of an old big block carbureted engine roars up the road into the Garden, reverberating loud against the sandstone. It is followed quickly by another big V-8 engine, this one electronically fuel injected and catching fast. An owl in the trees is the only witness to the chase, its large glowing eyes taking in the parade of vehicles that are following it into the park. The lone light that illuminates the Kissing Camels is no longer the only illumination as strobing flashers atop police cruisers bounce off the rock wall along with the reverberations of their engines and their wailing sirens. The owl's head turns, following the commotion until it is out of sight around the bend. A different sound draws its attention, and it swoops down with grace onto a field mouse in the grass below.
*****
Lindsey was extremely glad for the supercharged engine and the heavy duty suspension in her Vic as she tapped the breaks coming up around the first corner in the park. She heard the tires squeal against the pavement and the car slide. A grimace crossed her face as she held fast to the wheel, body straining against the shoulder belt. She felt sorry for a quick moment, as Clarice was in the passenger seat and had little more then the standard 'Oh Shit' handle above the door to grasp too. The moment didn't last long as the Crown Victoria leapt after the old Chevy they were pursuing. Although she had driven through the park only days ago, Lindsey couldn't anticipate the turns as well as the Chevy's driver did, and that resulted in narrowly missing the guard rail as they came up a short rise into a tight turn. The right front fender grated against the metal noisily, causing Clarice to stare worriedly out the window at the edge of the road that was a bit too near.
"Watch it!" she cried, tense as Lindsey braked heavily completing the turn in time to floor the V-8 and avoid running into a rock wall on her side of the road. A white Acura sat in the parking lane there, the passengers no doubt necking in the darkness. So much for that, kiddos, Lindsey thought as they shot past the Acura, catching a glimpse of a wide eyed couple. The police screaming up the road behind her would get them out of here. Head lights blinded her for a moment as they came up on the turnoff for a small handicapped parking lot. Clarice braced herself as the Vic laid a trail of rubber from the brakes being forcibly stomped on. The Chevy didn't pay them any heed and flew out in front of them once again. Lindsey edged up on his bumper, tapping the Chevy. If she could end this chase without an accident…
The warning tap did nothing to dissuade the driver of the Chevy to slow, or pull over, or do anything that would be logical. The chase continued, winding through the park, doing more than three times the legal speed limit of twenty miles per hour. Lindsey slowed remembering that there was a particularly twisted portion of the road coming up. Their subject did not slow, and amazingly made it through the first turn with only two wheels running off the road. The road dropped sharply into another turn and she knew he was going to lose it even before he entered the turn. Sure enough, the Chevy went straight off the road and into the scrub oak that lined the road. Lindsey slammed on the brakes, screeching to a halt inches from the bumper of the Chevy. The smell of burnt rubber hung in the air as she immediately jumped from the car, gun drawn and up, approaching the Chevy quickly.
Clarice was on the radio telling the police behind them that the suspect had been run off the road, she came up on the passenger side carefully. The door was slightly open, held there by a broken branch caught in it. Lindsey was peering into the empty car, as Clarice did the same on her side of the car.
"God fucking dammit!" Lindsey cried out as she slammed a fist against the roof of the car. There was a rustle in the trees ahead of her and she dove into the scrub oak.
"The suspect is on foot, I repeat, the suspect is on foot!" Clarice heard her partners angry outburst and looked up in time to see the younger agent go headlong into the darkness. She threw the radio aside without thinking, it landing in the dust in front of the Crown Vic's right front tire. "Dammnit, Lindsey!" There was little she could do but go after her. Damned kid, was she ever this stupid at that age?
*****