Heat Storm (Castle) by Castle Richard

Author:Castle, Richard [Castle, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Titan Books
Published: 2017-05-02T04:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

STORM

At sixteen thousand acres, the Prince William Forest Park was the largest protected natural area in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

From high in the air, which would have been Jones’s vantage point of it, it was the first significant chunk of solid greenery as you headed south from the nation’s capital.

Except not now. Now it was just gray. A cool fog had rolled in, blanketing the Potomac River valley in a fine mist. Between that and the trees, Derrick Storm was sure he had confounded Jones’s satellites. Even geothermal couldn’t penetrate that kind of soup.

Derrick could imagine the rueful, dour countenances the nerds wore as they told Jones they had lost their quarry; he could see Jones, always unflappable, tugging at his collar, which was about as demonstrative as he ever got. He could practically hear them admitting defeat.

That thought warmed Derrick. Little else about their surroundings did. The broken back window of the Buick allowed the damp, chilly night air to pour in. They had turned off the engine to save what little gas they had left. The $9.57 Derrick now had in his pocket wouldn’t get them very far once they needed more.

Having gone as deep into the forest as they could, they had finally pulled off the main road. They were sitting in the middle of a narrow dirt service road used by the park rangers and perhaps the occasional hiker who was looking for a shortcut back to asphalt. They didn’t know where the road led, or how it ended—or if it ended at all. But it was, they deemed, a safe spot to ride out the night—or at least as safe as they could get under the circumstances.

Carl Storm had moved to the backseat, where he was lying uncomfortably on his side. Much like Carl himself, the cushioning under the Buick’s cloth seats had grown stiff with age.

His son was in the passenger seat, which he had reclined as far as it would go. He crossed his arms inside his T-shirt, which made him a little warmer. But only by so much.

Neither bothered complaining. And even though they had their eyes shut, neither was sleeping, either. Their ears were tuned to the sounds of the forest, which was—save for the occasional hooting of an owl bragging to his girlfriend that he had caught dinner—silent.

It was for this reason they were able to hear the hum of an engine in the distance. Derrick was the first to sit up and turn toward the sound. His movement made Carl do the same.

The vehicle was still a ways off. But it sounded like it was getting closer.

“Okay, I am sure I didn’t order pizza this time,” Carl said. “You?”

“Definitely not,” Derrick said, already shifting to the front seat.

He started the Buick, wishing it were quieter, hoping the fog and the sound of the other engine would dampen their noise. He kept the lights off as he began rolling forward over the rugged road.

“Okay, how did they find us this time?” Carl asked, now turning and looking out the glassless back window.

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