Soft Target (Major Crimes Unit Book 2) (15 page)

“
And your mascara, Leanne: it
’
s
obviously been on for a while, but none of it has smudged.  Have you not been
crying about what
’
s happened today?  Isn
’
t Ashley your baby?
”

“
She is,
”
cried Leanne,
“
and of course we
want to know if she
’
s okay.  I assumed you would tell us if you knew anything.  This is
outrageous.
”

Paul folded his arms aggressively. 
“
How dare you.
”

“
Okay,
”
Sarah said. 
“
Perhaps I
’
m wrong.  If so, I apologise.  The other question I wanted to ask,
is: how do you know Dr Cartwright is a psychiatrist?  We never said so.  We
just told you he was a doctor.
”

“
The police told us,
”
Paul said immediately.

Sarah frowned. 
“
But your wife said that the police gave no details other than Ashley
was wanted in connection with a kidnapping.
”

Howard nodded. 
“
I know the police.  They wouldn
’
t
have shared any information about the suspects.  They wouldn
’
t have mentioned anything specific about Dr Cartwright.
”

“
The man works opposite our daughter in that clinic.  It wasn
’
t a massive assumption to make.
”

“
No,
”
Sarah said. 
“
You said he was a psychiatrist
specifically.  The clinic across the road has half a dozen different
specialists, as well as a GP
’
s office.  It could make sense for you to guess Cartwright was a
doctor, but not specifically that he
’
s a therapist.
”

Leanne shifted in her seat. 
“
Perhaps I have met Dr Cartwright before and just can
’
t remember.  Come to think of it, Ashley might have gone out for a
drink with him one time.
”

Sarah nodded. 
“
That explains it then.  Well, I guess we should get going, we need
to find your daughter.
”

Paul smiled and took a swig of
his tea.  Leanne stood up from the breakfast bar. 
“
Please,
it
’
s early.  Let me grab you some breakfast for the road.
”

Sarah frowned.  She
’
d gotten the feeling that the Fosters wanted she and Howard gone,
but now they were being offered breakfast.

“
That
’
s quite alright,
”
Howard said.

“
At least have some fruit,
”
Leanne insisted. 
She reached toward the middle of the counter where a wooden bowl of apples and
bananas sat. 

“
Stop,
”
Sarah said. 
“
We
’
re fine.
”

Leanne turned back and smiled. 
“
I won
’
t hear of it.
”
  She picked up an apple, which she fumbled to the floor. 
“
Silly me,
could one of you pick that up for me?
”

Howard bent down to pick the
bruised apple up off the tiles.

Sarah shouted,
“
Howard, get down!
” 
She slid the SIG from its holster and pointed it at
Leanne Foster.

Leanne delved into the fruit
bowl, just as Paul slipped from his stool and kneed the bent-over Howard in the
face.

Howard hit the floor.

Leanne pulled a gun from the
bottom of the fruit bowl.  Pointed it.  Squeezed the trigger.

Sarah fired first.

The first bullet struck Leanne
in the shoulder, the following two the chest.  The woman cartwheeled backwards,
dead before she hit the ground.

Paul saw his dead wife and
howled in anguish.  He charged at Sarah, but she was ready for him.  Forgetting
how weak and weary she was, she leapt aside and round kicked him in the belly. 
Paul wheezed, flailed, and then came at her again.  Sarah smashed the butt of
her SIG against his temple and dropped him to his knees.

“
Lie down on the ground!
”
she shouted.

Paul Foster snarled. 
“
You bitch.
”

Sarah snarled right back. 
“
I
’
m the worst bitch from your worst nightmare, so don
’
t even blink if you want to keep your teeth.
”

Howard clambered back to his
feet, clutching his right eye.  He moaned. 
“
I
’
m hurt.
”

Sarah rolled her eyes. 
“
Don
’
t worry about it.  At least your face will go back to normal.  No
hope for mine.
”

Howard smirked and reached
into his jacket.  He pulled out his mob-sat and dialled. 
“
Mattock.  I need an extraction
—”

Blam!

Sarah ducked as gunfire took
over the kitchen.  Coming at them from the back of the room was Ashley Foster,
running and gunning just like she had outside the clinic. 

Sarah narrowed her eyes, weak
yet enraged.

Howard leapt behind the breakfast
bar and pulled out his Ruger.  Sarah leapt up from behind the breakfast bar and
zeroed in on Ashley. 
Time for a little payback.

Paul barrelled into Sarah from
the side, knocking her aim off so that she fired a round into the ceiling.  He
followed it up by almost breaking her jaw with a punch.  She sprawled onto the
ground and couldn
’
t get up.  All of her injuries joined together and left her a sagging
mess on the floor.

Paul stomped over to her and
raised his foot above her head.  He was just about to stamp on her skull, when
Howard let off a shot from behind the breakfast bar.  The shot missed, but it
was enough to send Paul running to join his daughter at the back of the kitchen. 
Howard tried to get off a follow-up shot, but Ashley fired at him first,
forcing him down behind the breakfast bar.

Sarah was still trying to
catch her breath when the Fosters escaped through a back door.

“Howard knelt next to Sarah.  “You saved my
hide.  How did you know she had a gun hidden in the fruit bowl?
”

Sarah blinked away the stars in her vision. 
“
Fruit and I have a
long history.  Now come on, let
’
s
get after them.
”

As if in reply, gunfire rang
outside, preceding the sound of an engine starting up.

Sarah flinched. 
“
Mandy!
”

Howard took off and Sarah
staggered after him.  She held her gun in front of her, ready to take down
anyone who even looked at her wrong.

Howard yanked open the front
door and ducked out onto the driveway.  The sleek black Audi had rocketed, shunting
the MCU
’
s Jaguar out of the way and heading down the road.  Lights in the
nearby houses flipped on like beacons, alerted by all the gunfire, and stock
car racing.

“
We really need to get a mechanic on staff,
”
Howard
said, shaking his head.

Sarah looked at the crumpled
wing of the Jaguar and clucked. 
“
Too bad we don
’
t have the budget for it.
”

“
Oh so it
’
s
‘
we
’
now, is it?
”

“
Come on.
” 
She raced over to the Jaguar and found Mandy still
sitting in the driver
’
s seat.  It was clear from the shattered front windows that Ashley and
her father had fired at him as they made their escape.  He looked none too
happy.  Sarah slid in beside the big man, and Howard threw himself across the
back seat. 

Mandy slammed his foot on the
accelerator.

 The Foster
’
s Audi was fast
–
it roared through the neighbourhood like an angry bear
–
but Mandy
’
s Jaguar was quick too, deceptively so for such a big car.  It wasn
’
t long before they managed to gain a few yards on the Audi.

“
Their car
’
s quick,
”
Sarah said, clocking their own speedometer at seventy.

“
It
’
s a TT,
”
Howard said from the back seat. 
“
They have a few horsepower on us, but we have Mandy.
”

To prove the point, the TT
screeched around a corner unsteadily, while Mandy almost seemed to float round. 
The Audi raced for the highway and they followed, only a couple of car
distances behind. 

But that distance soon became
larger. 

“
They
’
re getting away!
”
Sarah shouted.

Howard grunted. 
“
We can
’
t keep up with them on the straight, but we can cut them off at the
exit.
” 
He pulled out his mob-sat and put another call through
to Mattock. 
“
We
’
re in pursuit of target, heading north on the A4114, Abingdon Road. 
Requesting backup at River Thames, south side.
” 
Howard
listened for a second and then put the mob-sat back in his pocket.  He leant
forward between the front seats. 
“
Mattock will be at
the river in six minutes.
”

Sarah hissed. 
“
That
’
s going to be too late.  We
’
re going to be at the
river any minute.
”

Howard went blank, searching
for an idea.  Up ahead, the TT continued gaining distance.  Sarah pulled out
her gun and took aim through the side window, firing a shot.  The discharge
made no sound in the rushing wind, and the bullet seemed to disappear.  She
fired several more times, but there was too much distance between the two cars.
 
“
Shit,
”
she muttered. 
“
They
’
re going to get away.
”

“
No, they
’
re not,
”
Howard said.  He turned around and rifled through the
back compartment behind the seats.  What he came up with both shocked and
delighted Sarah.

“
Now you
’
re turning me on,
”
she said.

Howard held the L129A1
Sharpshooter against his shoulder and grinned. 
“
A
gift from our American cousins.  I guess size really does matter.
”

The morning roads were empty
and the Fosters were gaining distance every second. 
“
You
need to hurry,
”
she said. 
“
They
’
re going to be out of range soon.
”

Howard rolled down his window
and shoved his upper body out of the car, righting the rifle against his
shoulder.  A few seconds passed and then he let off an ear-piercing shot.

Sarah flinched. 

The TT continued speeding away. 

Howard fired again.  This time
the TT jerked left.  For a second it looked like it was going to flip, but its
safety systems kicked in and the tyres regained their grip on the road. 

A thick strip of rubber flew
from the back of the TT and whizzed by the Jaguar
’
s
windscreen.  Sarah smiled as she realized that Howard had hit the rear tyre. 
Despite the damage, the TT still sped along rapidly.