Молчаливая ночь [with w_cat]

[731] Chris McNally had passed the fender-bender on the exit 41 ramp. Two police cars were on the scene already, so he decided there was no need for him to stop. He had traveled fast, and he hoped that by now he had caught up to any cars that had been ahead of him on line at McDonald’s.

[732] Provided, of course, they hadn’t taken one of the earlier exits.

[733] A brown Toyota. That’s what he kept looking for. Finding it was the one chance. He knew it. What was it about the license plate? He clenched his teeth, again trying hard to remember. There had been something about it… Think, damn it, he told himself, think.

[734] He didn’t for one minute believe the report that Siddons and the kid had been spotted in Vermont. Every gut instinct kept telling Chris that they were nearby.

[735] Exit 42 to Geneva was coming up. That meant the border was only another hundred miles or so away. Most of the cars were doing fifty to sixty miles an hour now. If Jimmy Siddons was in this vicinity, he could look forward to being out of the country in less than two hours.

[736] What was there about the license plate of the Toyota? he asked himself once more.

[737] Chris’s eyes narrowed. He could see a dark Toyota in the passing lane that was moving fast. He switched lanes and drove up beside it, then glanced in. He prayed that it held a single man or a man with a young boy. Just a chance to find that child. Give me a chance, he prayed.

[738] Without turning on his siren or dome light, Chris continued past the Toyota. He had been able to see a young couple inside. The guy was driving with his arm around the girl, not a good idea on an icy road. Another time he’d have pulled him over.

[739] Chris stepped on the gas. The road was clearer, the traffic was better spaced. But everything was moving faster and faster, and closer and closer to Canada.

[740] His radio was on low when a call came in for him. “Officer McNally?”

“Yes.”

[741] “New York City Chief of Detectives Bud Folney calling you from One Police Plaza. I just spoke to your supervisor again. The Vermont sighting is a washout. The Lenihan woman can’t be found. Tell me what you reported earlier about a brown Toyota.”

[742] Knowing his boss had dismissed that, Chris realized that this Folney must be really pressing him.

[743] He explained that if Deidre had been talking about the car directly ahead of him in the McDonald’s line, she was talking about a brown Toyota with New York plates.

[744] “And you can’t remember the license.”

[745] “No, sir.” Chris wanted to strangle the words in his throat. “But there was something unusual about it.”

[746] He was almost at exit 42. As he watched, a vehicle two cars ahead switched into the exit lane. His casual glance became a stare. “My God,” he said.

[747] “Officer? What is it?” In New York, Bud Folney instinctively knew that something was happening.

[748] “That’s it.” Chris said. “It wasn’t the license plate I noticed. It was the bumper sticker. There’s just a piece of it left and it says inheritance. Sir, I’m following that Toyota down the exit ramp right now. Can you check out the license?”

[749] “Don’t lose that car,” Bud snapped. “And hang on.”

[750] Three minutes later the phone rang in apartment 8C, in 10 Stuyvesant Oval, in lower Manhattan. A sleepy and anxious Edward Hillson picked it up. “Hello,” he said. He felt his wife’s nervous grasp on his arm.

[751] “What? My car? I parked it around the corner at five or so. No, I didn’t lend it to anyone. Yes. It’s a brown Toyota. What are you telling me?”

[752] Bud Folney got back to Chris. “I think you have him, but for God’s sake remember, he’s threatened to kill the child before he lets himself get captured. So be careful.”

22

[753] Michael was so sleepy. All he wanted to do was lean against Gran and close his eyes. But he couldn’t do that yet, not until he was sure that Brian was okay. Michael struggled to suppress his growing fear. Why didn’t he grab me if he saw that lady pick up Mom’s wallet? I could have run after her and helped him when he got caught by that guy.

[754] The cardinal was at the altar now. But when the music stopped, instead of starting to offer Mass, he began to speak. “On this night of joy and hope…”

[755] Off to the right, Michael could see the television cameras. He had always thought it would be cool to be on television, but whenever he had thought about it, the circumstances he envisioned had to do with winning something or with witnessing some great event. That would be fun. Tonight, when he and Mom were on together, it wasn’t fun.

[756] It was awful to hear Mom begging people to help them find Brian.

[757] “… in a year that has brought so much violence to the innocent…”