Auntie's Hotel

Ch 5 The Chase

The Chase

The violent rays of the sun beat down on the earth, eating away at the cool of the morning and bringing the heat of the day with it. Little invisible rays spread across the hood of the car, which created a bright white reflective shine that caused their eyes to squint and visibility to be limited when they faced the direction of the sun. Not even the visors were able to push back the rays that invaded their sight. In the rear view, red and blue lights rotated in harmony with the siren warning everyone that the police were close, and they needed to hurry to get out of the way.

"Faster!" Billy yelled. "Go faster!"

"Would you like me to just pull over, Billy?!" she warned. "Would you like to drive this pathetic excuse for a machine?! I'm going as fast as I can!"

Jaimie was right. The speedometer jittered at 90 mph. The needle would not move a millimeter, nor would the pedal. The gas gauge was the only needle that moved in any direction, and this was not favorable.

"Lose them!" Billy shouted as he looked through the rear window.

"Where should I lose them, Einstein? Should I veer off the road and drive through the corn?! Or dive into the ditch and disappear in the muck?!"

There was only one road out of town and it wound back and forth weaving through the countryside. If the sun weren't where it was, they would be able to see the other cars and homes in the distance. Right now, Jaimie was simply trying to keep the car travelling on the road, in the direction of the sun.

Jaimie shoved the pedal to the floor. It wouldn't budge any further than she already had it. A sharp curve quickly approached, she slammed her foot on the brake for a second to regain control of her speed just before she would slide off the edge of the pavement and into the ditch. Coming out of the curve, she punched the accelerator again. The vehicle jerked and weaved and skidded and slid. It didn't want to go as fast as she needed it to go. It didn't want to move in the directions she wanted it to.

"He's right on us!" Billy yelled as he looked back."

"Shoot them!" she screamed. She couldn't believe she heard the words when she said them. It was just not the way she would have things done.

"What? Are you insane?" He looked at the empty water gun. "Even if it were loaded..." he showed it to her and tapped it on the dashboard. "It wouldn't even get him wet!"

Brian Jensen hadn't had this much excitement on a day of work for a very long time. Domestic quarrels, a fallen tree, or a passed out drunk usually filled up his mornings. The paper work would take up the majority of the afternoon and by the time he was finished, his work day would be done. He couldn't have guessed this day would turn out to be so much better. Sitting at the kitchen table, when he received that call, he would never have guessed it would turn into a chase.

Now, he chased the two suspects in a bank robbery. The two he witnessed fleeing the scene. This was his first bank robbery in his 10 years of service. He couldn't even remember anything like this ever happening in Chesterfield when he was a child. Today, bless his luck, he was the only one on the road. With one of three vehicles being operational, he was glad he took such good care of the cruiser.

"Budget cuts, budget cuts, budget cuts," he muttered to himself as he controlled the cruiser with ease as he darted along the smooth curves of the road. He spun the steering wheel hand over hand tracing the contour of the road with his eyes as the car in front of him wove from side to side, slowed down, and sped up. "Amateurs."

The bridge out of town set up a straightaway for Jaimie. The arched curve of the bridge forced the car into the air and they bounced on the road as they landed on the other side. She slammed the accelerator to the floor and tires tore at the asphalt of the road. Now, she had a better understanding of what the green bump sign sitting on the side of the road, just before the bridge, meant. Actually, she didn't even see the sign until it was too late. Had she... it wouldn't have mattered. She would have still hit the bridge as fast as she could.

The muffler dislodged as the rear of the vehicle struck the road forcing it to ricochet off the bumper, crunching under the pressure and tumbling off to the side of the road.

"What was that?" Billy shouted as the car suddenly became volumes louder.

"Is he shooting at us?" Jaimie yelled back, not knowing the muffler had just gone.

"No..," Billy replied. "He doesn't seem to be having as much trouble with the road as you are either!"

The car vibrated with a deep bass sound as the accelerator became stuck and the engine pushed harder to go forward. A black spray of clouds pushed out behind them and the car suddenly jerked forward.

"My God!" Officer Jensen said aloud to himself. "What are they doing?"

He watched as the car smashed the pavement and the muffler shot out from beneath. Over the bridge, they would be far from town, if they somehow managed to keep their vehicle on the road.

Officer Jensen pushed the cruiser a bit harder than he had been and it shot forward, easily able to catch up with the robbers. The guard on the grill of his car served as an excellent ramming device. He nudged the already out of control car and it swerved and spun in the middle of the road. Having spun almost completely around, the vehicle stalled and stopped.

Jensen stopped his vehicle, threw the door open and squatted behind the open door so that it was a shield between them and him. If they decided to shoot, it would be harder for them to hit him, but they didn't look like they were going to act.

"Step out of the car!" he commanded at the top of his lungs.

"No!" the male perp replied.

"Shut up!" Jaimie commanded. "Shut up!" she slapped him. "That gun is the real thing, moron!"

"You'll have to shoot us!" Billy ignored her commands. "Start the car, Jaimie! Don't give up yet! Think about the kids."

How could she not? There hadn't been a moment during this entire clustered event that she hadn't had Lance and Lilly on her mind. If they get caught, the children would be stuck with Mr. Cook while she rotted away in some jail. His stories about their parents not caring enough would seem true.

"Shoot you?" the officer yelled back. "Are you insane?"

"Start the car!" Billy commanded as he reached for the keys. "Start it now!"

Brian Jensen stood behind the cruiser door with his gun out in front. "Get out of the car, now!"

Jaimie turned the ignition and after several failed attempts, the car slowly sputtered and sparked back to life. The cylinders protested moving within their chambers with a series of clanks and clunks before the engine sparked to life.

"Yes!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

The car shot forward and swerved wide of the cruiser.

Billy shouted, "Turn here! Through the woods! Turn now! There's a path!"

Jaimie turned the wheel. The car went off the main road and dipped into the woods. It jerked and jolted and scraped the earth of the dirt path. The jostling of the car forced it to slow a bit and become uncontrollable.

"What are you doing, Jaimie? Don't slow down!" Billy demanded. "He's not following! Don't slow down!"

Officer Jensen scrambled to the seat of the cruiser and slammed the door just in time to avoid it being ripped off by the other car.

"They're insane!" he shouted as he gripped the gear shifter and prepared himself to follow. "This is crazy!"

Brian Jensen watched them frantically fight amongst themselves as they drove past. Their car jerked right, leapt over the gap of a deep ditch, and dove into the woods head first.

He could not see a path. He could not see any way to make that leap of faith. The cruiser would surely land in the ditch and be wedged without any hope of getting out. Yet, where did they go? How did they make it? It just vanished. How could they have made that jump?

Officer Jensen picked up his radio. "Beth," he said not sure what to say next. "You're not going to believe this..."