Murder in the Forest, Chapter 41
Bamka wove his way carefully through back streets and alleys until he found the remote road he wanted and headed for the cabin where his friend was even then packing to leave with Melissa Winters.
He had gone barely a mile when he saw a roadblock, with a Washington State Patrol car and a sheriff's unit blocking the road. He braked hard and spun the Pathfinder around to retreat. But a second sheriff's car darted into the road behind him and turned crosswise. Both deputies in it got out and one used a loudhailer (bullhorn) to order him to stop and remain where he was, out of the car. The deputy without the bullhorn lifted a rifle.
Bamka grabbed the cell phone from the console and rapidly called Mason. He got his answering machine. Speaking rapidly Bamka said, "Valhalla. Repeat, Valhalla. No drill. They've just trapped me. Get out while you can." The Valhalla code word also meant to kill both girls and to burn the cabin and to flee to wherever Mason meant to go in extremis.
One of the cops spoke into his radio and before long, Bamka heard an incoming helicopter. There would also be more cars arriving. If he stayed here, he would be arrested and he'd be doomed as evidence of his crimes emerged. He thought briefly of shooting himself, and then decided to make a run for it.
He got back into the SUV and raced into the grass and dirt by the side of the road, intending to bypass the two cars blocking the road. The ground was too rough to try to drive cross-country. He'd have to bypass the cop cars and keep going as they maneuvered to get underway and chase him.
Alarmed, the police ahead ran to the side and one officer blared out a message to halt from his car's speaker. Then, the second, fearing that Bamka was about to ram them, raised his shotgun and put a 12 gauge slug through Bamka's windshield. A second slug hit his Nissan's grill and crashed into the engine. A third nearly struck Bamka as he closed on the cars.
He steered into the rear of one police unit, hitting it on the fender, spinning it aside. He swore as he raced past the damaged cop car, feeling that he might actually evade this ambush and go on to start a new life. If only that shot that hit his engine hadn't done too much damage...He reached the main road and floored the accelerator.
XXX
As he loaded Melissa into his vehicle and left, Mason got Bamka's phone call. He listened and made up his mind what he had to do. The first thing was to ditch this phone, which the cops would probably be able to trace to him once they arrested his partner. As for the rest...
He looked at Melissa's blindfolded face and decided what he needed to do about her and about the Cassidy girl. It was a pity, but circumstances sometimes force actions that would otherwise be avoided. He turned back toward the house. What was it that MacBeth or his wife had said about murdering King Duncan? If 'tis well 'twere done, 'tis well 'twere done quickly...Yes, he'd need to hurry, and then leave before some damned helicopter showed up. Once that happened, escape would be almost impossible. He left the chained, blindfolded, gagged Melissa in the blue van and ran into the house to deal with Courtney and the rest.