[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

Quinn continued to race forward. He was in the middle of a deep breath when there was a bang from the rear of the van. He glanced into the side-view mirror. One of the rear doors, flapping back and forth with the movement of the van.

'Are you all right?' Quinn called out.

'Yeah,' Orlando answered. 'He shot at me as we went by, but it went wide.'

'Didn't want to damage the boxes,' Quinn guessed, then added, 'We almost hit a cop.'

'Yeah. That was kind of hard to miss.'

'Are there any more of them back there?'

'Not yet.'

'What about Nate?'

There was a pause, then, 'I don't see him.'

Quinn turned left at the next intersection. Again, the doors banged against the side of the van. 'We've got to get those shut,' he said. 'No shit.' Ahead the light was turning red. There were two

cars in front of him, so there was no way he was going to make it. 'When I stop up here, you get out and shut them,' he said.

He halted at the end of the line of waiting cars. From the back, he could hear Orlando jump out and close the doors. A few seconds later, she was opening the passenger-side door and hopping into the seat next to him.

As the light turned green, Quinn moved the van forward with the other cars. But instead of following them through the intersection, he made a right turn onto the less trafficked side street.

'So that didn't exactly go as planned,' Quinn said.

'I wasn't going to say anything,' Orlando told him.

'But you were thinking it.'

'I was thinking it.'

For five minutes, they were alone on the road. No pursuers, but no Nate either. Quinn didn't want to even think about the possibility that Nate had been captured again.

'I think there's someone back there,' Orlando said. She was looking through the side-view mirror mounted to the passenger door.

Quinn looked through the mirror on his side. There were several cars behind them.

'Which one?' he asked.

'The black Mercedes. Three cars back.' She paused, still looking in her mirror. 'The silver one behind it might be with him.'

Quinn moved the van slightly so he could get a better look. 'Okay. I see them. I'll make a couple turns. Keep an eye on them.'

Quinn made a quick left turn.

'Still there,' Orlando said after a moment.

Quinn made another turn, this time to the right. Before Orlando could confirm anything, there was a familiar ping off the side of the van – another warning shot.

'Yeah,' Orlando said. 'They're following us.'

Quinn glanced back at his side mirror. The rear driver's-side window of the black Mercedes was open, and someone was leaning out, a gun in his hand. Quinn immediately swung the van over, blocking the shooter's view.

Ahead, a traffic light was turning from green to yellow. Quinn raced through the intersection just as the light turned red. He checked his mirror and grimaced. Both Mercedes had followed him through the light, ignoring the cross traffic, honking horns, and screeching brakes.

Quinn's only advantage was they wouldn't want the shipment harmed. They were probably instructed to get Quinn to stop the van with minimal damage. Then they could kill whoever was inside.

Another traffic light was turning red. This time there were several cars between Quinn and the intersection.

'Hold on,' he said.

At the last instant, instead of stopping, he whipped the van around in a U-turn, pulling in front of two cars in the oncoming lanes. There was the loud squeal of tires as one of the cars spun sideways, nearly ramming into the back of the van.

The black sedan was in position to continue the chase. The silver one, at least for the moment, was trapped on the other side of a delivery truck. The black Mercedes swung around, coming up on the driver's side of the van.

'Roll down your window,' Orlando said.

He glanced at her. She was holding the Uzi. Without any further hesitation, he did what she asked.

As soon as the Mercedes came into view, she barked, 'Duck!'

Quinn leaned forward as she unloaded a burst of fire over his head. The bullets sliced into the side of the Mercedes. As soon as she stopped, Quinn popped up again, glancing out at where the other car had been, but it was gone. His eyes flicked to his mirror. The Mercedes was sitting sideways on the far side of the road. All the windows on the side that had been facing the van were shot out. There was no movement from inside.

Quinn could hear more sirens converging on their location, but he saw no flashing lights yet.

'Grab on to something,' he said.

He whipped the steering wheel quickly to the right, turning them onto a narrow side street. He made a left, then two more rights before the sirens began to fade. He started to smile, but then as he looked in his side-view mirror again, his jaw tensed.

The silver sedan was still behind him.

They began a game of cat and mouse, Quinn never quite able to lose them, and the silver Mercedes never quite able to get the drop on him. Nate was still a no-show; that was troubling. Orlando had tried calling him twice, but there had been no answer.