The Persona Protocol - By Andy McDermott Page 0,151

. do you know what he’s doing?’

‘No – but I trust him too. Do what you can to help him. I’ll try to get Levon and Kyle on board.’ He moved away, leaving her staring after him in surprise before she returned her attention to the screens . . . with a surreptitious glance at Morgan to see if he was watching her.

He wasn’t, instead finishing giving instructions to Kyle. The UAV pilot hopped from his seat and headed across the Bullpen – to be intercepted by Tony. ‘Kyle, hold on.’

‘What is it?’ Kyle asked.

Now it was Tony’s turn to check that Morgan wasn’t eavesdropping. ‘You trust Adam, don’t you?’ he said quietly.

‘Course I do. The dude saved my life!’ It took a moment for him to realise that the question had a subtext. ‘Whoa, hold on, brah. You asking what I think you’re asking?’

‘There’s more going on here than we think. Adam and Bianca are the only ones who know what that is. Try to help them if you can.’ Another sidelong glance, and he saw that Morgan was glaring impatiently at them. ‘Use the computer’s auto-tracking to tag all the MPD vehicles,’ he said, more loudly. ‘Their trackers aren’t as accurate as ours – we need to know the exact positions of everyone involved in the pursuit.’

‘Huh? Oh, yeah – sure, brah,’ Kyle said, finally getting it. He hurried from the room.

Tony went back to Morgan, just as the director’s phone rang. ‘Yes?’

‘It’s Baxter,’ came the reply. ‘We’re just leaving STS. Where is he now?’

‘I’ll tie you in,’ Morgan told him. ‘Levon! Relay all our tracker data to the mobile units – and put their positions on the screen.’

Levon nodded, then turned back to his computer. A couple of seconds later, new symbols appeared on the map: three green triangles. They moved east, then quickly turned north, heading after Adam.

But another symbol was much closer. One of the DC police cars was now less than two blocks from the Hyundai’s position, racing to intercept it.

‘I can hear a siren,’ Bianca warned.

‘I’m surprised it took this long,’ Adam said, grim-faced. He looked ahead. There was a red light at the approaching intersection. The street they were on was one-way, all four lanes filled with stationary vehicles. ‘Hold on!’

He pressed one hand on the horn and swung the station wagon up on to the sidewalk. The well-worn shock absorbers compressed with a bang as they mounted the kerb, the steering wheel jerking in his hands.

He kept control and straightened out. The sidewalk was only narrow, a tree at its edge forcing him to smash through some small bushes beside a building to avoid it. Another yank on the wheel to dodge a fire hydrant, and the station wagon pounded back on to the road. Bianca shrieked.

‘You should put your seat belt on,’ he told her.

‘I would if I could!’ she protested, still trying to keep hold of the luggage on her lap.

He brought the Hyundai back on to the northbound street. There was another set of traffic lights not far ahead, but these had just turned green. Only two lanes were occupied. A twist of the wheel took the Elantra into an empty one. He accelerated.

The siren was getting closer. On the left—

They shot through the intersection at over sixty. The other traffic had just pulled away from the lights – only to stop abruptly as a police car, strobes pulsing, tore through the red in front of them and made a screeching, skidding turn to pursue the station wagon.

Bianca looked back in dismay. ‘I don’t think we’ll outrun them in this thing!’

Adam pushed the accelerator down harder, but he knew she was right. He could hardly have chosen a less suitable getaway car. The Hyundai had been far from over-powered even when brand new, and the general poor condition of the elderly vehicle implied that maintenance and tuning had not been high on its owner’s agenda. The engine was already straining to reach seventy.

Another intersection at the end of the block. The lights were green. Only one of the lanes was empty. He wove round a slower car to get into it, feeling the Elantra wallow on its suspension. A glance in the mirror. The MPD Crown Victoria grew larger even in the brief flick of his gaze.

This was going to be a very short chase.

He shot through the intersection – and realised in a split second that something was wrong. Even though the lights were green on the