The Escape (US Marshals #1) - Lisa Harris Page 0,46
and sprinkled with a few narrow trails, but for the most part was left wild, leaving a feeling of isolation and being almost completely off the grid. But something still seemed wrong about the whole situation. She’d seen Barrick’s profile as she read through his files. Holing up in a cabin and waiting didn’t sound like something he would do. So what was his plan?
If she were Barrick, she would never rely on someone like Mary Margaret to arrange his escape beyond the cash she’d offered him. He was going to need someone who could get him what he needed and quick.
Someone let out a yell to her right. Weapon in hand, Madison hurried through the shadows toward Officer Ferrer, who had been walking parallel to her.
She pulled out her radio. “We’ve got a distress signal from Officer Ferrer. I’m on my way to the location now.”
“Stay alert.”
“Roger that.”
Madison hurried through the thick underbrush. Ferrer had been in her sights only moments before. Now there was no sign of her.
“Officer Ferrer, what’s your status?”
“Do you see her?” Jonas asked over the radio.
“Negative.”
She heard twigs snapping behind her and turned to see Jonas approaching.
“She was there just a few seconds ago, walking parallel to me.”
They found Ferrer a minute later under a tree, holding her ankle.
“I’m sorry.” The officer’s jaw tensed. “I fell, twisted my leg, and now I’m not sure where my radio is, but someone’s out there.”
“Our suspect?”
She nodded. “I didn’t get a good visual, but from what I did see—from his height and build—it very likely is Barrick.”
Madison clicked on her radio. “We’ve got a possible sighting of our suspect, heading north-northeast. We found Officer Ferrer, but she’s injured from a fall.”
Jonas helped Ferrer to her feet. “Do you know if he was armed?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. We’re going to assume he was.”
“Leave me here. You need to go after him, and I think I can get back.”
Jonas nodded. “Stay here while we go after him. We’ll radio and have someone help you back.”
Madison glanced up at the rain clouds hovering above them and started praying for both wisdom and direction. If a storm came or darkness fell, it was going to be a lot harder to find the man out here.
They converged on the trail and headed in the direction that Ferrer had seen their suspect traveling on foot. So far, Barrick had been ahead of them every step of the way, but all it would take was one misstep by him, and this would be over.
The image of Ryan Phelps’s wife and kids pushed its way to the forefront of her mind, along with the sick feeling she’d had for days. Their job was to get guys like Barrick off the street so things like this didn’t happen. It was too late for Phelps, but she wasn’t going to let Damon Barrick destroy another life.
“Sheriff,” Madison spoke into her radio, “we’re heading in the direction he was moving. Where’s he going?”
“You’re not as isolated as it seems. Two miles in that direction leads to the main road. To the south is a back road, but that’s heading away from any towns. I don’t know how well he knows the area, but if I were him and had the authorities after me, I’d head to the main road and try to flag down a car.”
“What about the roadblocks?”
“If he keeps going east on foot, it’s possible he could miss them, but we could move them farther out a mile or two.”
“Do it.” Madison pocketed her radio and followed along behind her partner.
“Madison,” Jonas said, “fifty feet ahead of us.”
She saw movement, then clicked on her radio. They had him. “Suspect is in view. Still heading toward the main road.”
They picked up their pace and ran across the uneven ground. Once they were close enough, she held up her gun and yelled. “US Marshals. Put your hands where we can see them and turn around now.”
The man paused, then turned around slowly. Her heart sank. It wasn’t Barrick.
“Drop to your knees!”
The man hesitated again, then obeyed, raising his hands in the air and dropping to the ground. “I don’t know who you’re looking for, but I’m just here on holiday. I’m looking for my dog.”
Jonas searched the man for weapons, then took a step back.
“He’s clean.”
“Of course I am. Let me see your badges, then tell me what in the world is going on.”
“What’s your name?” Jonas asked, holding up his badge.