Eagle Day - Robert Muchamore Page 0,16

of the tunnel and he quickly picked up the gist. ‘Why’d it have to be tonight?’ he screamed. ‘Of all the shitty luck you can have. Jeannot, did you see more cops out there?’

‘Nope,’ Jeannot answered.

Miles led his sons out of the hole. He burrowed inside his trousers and pointed at the truck. ‘PT, get in the front and get the engine running. Jeannot, in the back with the money and make sure the doors are locked behind you.’

As his sons entered the truck Miles jogged up the ramp, where he found his eldest son slumped against the gate. The cop car was still parked across the exit, but Officer Vernon had passed out from the pain.

Miles wanted to stop and say goodbye to his eldest son, but he only had time to take back his shotgun and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Once Miles had the weapon he found a key in his pocket and swung the vehicle gate open before running down to the truck. He sat in the driver’s seat and took a quick glance through the window into the back.

‘You got them doors locked, Jeannot?’

‘Yes, Dad,’ Jeannot shouted.

Miles let the handbrake off too early and they rolled down the ramp for a couple of metres before he got the clutch in and powered up the ramp in a plume of diesel fumes.

‘Brace yourselves, boys,’ Miles shouted. ‘We’re going in hard.’

PT was alarmed to see the cop car blocking the gate and Officer Vernon sitting in the snow beside the open passenger door.

‘You’re gonna hit him,’ PT shouted.

‘Bastard shot my son,’ Miles yelled, angry beyond reason.

The truck smashed into the police car, crushing Vernon and sending the vehicle spinning out into the road. PT felt the jolt in his neck, but he’d held on to the bag of money his father had tucked between his legs before his final ride through the tunnel and the crumpled notes saved him from a nasty blow against the dashboard.

Miles hadn’t anticipated the forces involved when they hit the police car. His face hammered into the steering wheel, knocking him cold.

‘Dad!’ PT screamed, jerking up in his seat as the truck ploughed on.

It rolled on across the street on to a median planted with flowerbeds and bushes. Hitting the cop car had taken most of their speed off and knocked the engine out of gear. The bags in the rear shifted about and Jeannot got thrown into the truck’s metal side as PT reached between the seats and grabbed the handbrake, bringing them to a complete stop with shrubbery lodged between the wheels.

He turned back and looked through the hole into the cargo area. ‘Jeannot, you all right?’ he shouted.

One of the back doors had flown open and there was enough light to see Jeannot slumped amidst the money bags. PT jumped out of the cab as he heard the police sirens closing from a couple of blocks south. He had to run, but wanted to take Jeannot if he could.

‘Jeannot?’ PT yelled, leaning in the back and scooping cash-stuffed bags out of the way.

Jeannot had a bloody nose and a nasty split in his lip. He was breathing, but unconscious, and PT wasn’t strong enough to carry his brother much more than a few metres.

The sight of Jeannot and the thought of his other brother lying dead by the gates across the street broke PT’s heart. But there were two dead cops on the scene and PT knew if he stuck around he’d be on the wrong end of a savage police beating.

‘You’ll be all right,’ PT said, reaching out to give Jeannot a quick pat on the ankle as the sirens grew louder. Then he turned back towards the street and started to run, with a single white cotton bag in his right hand.

CHAPTER FIVE

PT read the label on his cotton bag and saw that he had $3,800* in twenties, tens and fives. He tucked it into his waistband, ran north through the ice and took a cab up to Grand Central Station. After ditching his overalls in a toilet cubicle and a quick splash to wash clay off his face, he caught one of the first subway trains running out to Queens. Being a Sunday, the cars were empty and his heart thudded, imagining that the cops were gonna jump aboard and nab him at every stop.

Miles was a known bank robber who would have been identified within minutes, so PT didn’t dare head home. His