The Pagani was twenty feet to the right of them, but they were almost even with it now instead of eating the car’s dust.
Pine said, “See if you can shoot out a tire.”
“Of a Pagani?”
“Yes, of a fucking Pagani. But just make sure you don’t hit her. We need her to tell us who the last victim is.”
Laredo pulled his gun and reluctantly took aim.
Right before he could fire though, the Pagani accelerated at a blistering rate.
“Jesus,” said Pine, who had her gas pedal to the floor.
The Pagani hit the asphalt and accelerated so fast it was nearly out of sight by the time Pine reached the pavement.
“We’ll never catch her.”
Laredo pulled out his phone. “We can set up roadblocks. And the Pagani has one weakness. It gets lousy gas mileage. She can’t run the thing at that speed for very long before she sucks the tank dry.”
But, as it turned out, they didn’t have to worry about that.
As they rounded a bend and the Pagani came into sight they saw a deer bounding across the road right in front of the Pagani.
“Oh, shit!” exclaimed Pine.
The Pagani cut hard to the right, then back to the left. But it was too late. The rear wheels started to fishtail.
“She’s lost it,” exclaimed Laredo.
A moment later the entire rear of the car lifted off the road. The front wheels turned right and left, and then they rose off the asphalt as well.
The airborne Pagani missed the deer, which had frozen in the middle of the street, and it sailed past the animal. The deer was gone in a blink onto the other side of the road and disappeared into the thick wood line.
The Pagani slammed sideways into a thick stand of oaks fronting the shoulder of the road. The punctured gas tank ignited, and the flame ball was so fierce that Pine had to slam on her brakes, shift into reverse, and floor it so as not to be engulfed by the fire and concussive force.
They sat in the truck, staring at the smoke pouring into the sky.
“It’s gone. The whole damn car is gone.” Laredo looked like he might be sick.
“And she’s gone,” said Pine. “And that means the last victim is dead.” She beat her fists against the steering wheel.
Chapter 72
AFTER CALLING THE POLICE and fire department to come to the scene of the car crash, they drove back to Britta’s place and met up with Max Wallis. They explained to him what had happened. When the police and forensic crew arrived a few minutes later, they hauled Myron’s body out of the pool and laid it on the deck.
They gathered around him and looked down.
Pine had explained to Laredo and Wallis what she had found out about Mary and Joey Pringle and also what Britta had told her.
“He was really financing porn films?” said Wallis.
“Yes,” said Pine.
“After what happened to his daughter?” said Laredo. “And his son? What a bastard.”
“He was too logical,” said Pine. “Too interested in making money. To the point where he lost his heart. I’m sure it was very hard for Britta to live with that.”
“But it doesn’t excuse what she did,” said Wallis.
“Nothing could excuse that,” replied Pine.
Her phone buzzed and she answered it.
Carol Blum was on the line and her normally calm demeanor was frayed.
“Cy Tanner was just here.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Jenny, his granddaughter.”
“What about her?”
“She’s disappeared.”
* * *
Pine made it back to town in record time. Blum was waiting in front of the Cottage.
She, Laredo, and Wallis jumped out of the SUV and ran up to her.
“Where’s Cy?” asked Pine.
“Out looking for Jenny.”
“How did she disappear?” Laredo wanted to know.
“She was out in the backyard playing. When Mrs. Quarles went to check on her, she was gone. They looked everywhere, then called the police.”
“How long ago was this?”
“About two hours,” said Blum.
Laredo glanced at Pine. “She could still be alive. Rebane, Gillespie, and Gomez were taken long before their deaths.”
Pine looked around at the empty streets. Then she heard gunfire.
“What the hell?” she exclaimed.
Blum said sharply, “No, it’s only the reenactment. They’re just starting. The parade was this morning. Everyone’s over at the Civil War Village.”
“Civil War reenactment,” said Pine, almost to herself.
“What?” asked Laredo, noting her strange look.
“Rebane in an old veil laid out on the main street. Gillespie in an old tux with his body on top of a Civil War grave. Frankie in the drummer boy’s uniform in a museum on the