Ahead, the lights of Memphis beckoned as they approached the turnoff that would take them toward the eastern part of the city. She bit down on her bottom lip as the tires squealed and they barreled along the exit and onto the city’s loop highway.
The car shook, and she wondered how Adam could remain in control of the speeding car, but he appeared to be having no problem. Even this late at night heavy traffic rolled along the expressway. Adam wove in and out of the cars as if they were on a racetrack. Another glance to the rear told her that the other car hadn’t given up the chase.
Finally she could keep silent no longer. “Have you been able to tell if the car looks like either of the ones James and Peter were driving?”
He shook his head. “I still can’t tell, but it has to be somebody connected to what happened earlier tonight. Hang on. I’m going to get off this highway.”
Claire gasped as the car swerved along the next exit and roared down Poplar Avenue headed east. Claire looked behind, but the car wasn’t in view. Traffic was lighter on this street, but that could be expected at eleven o’clock on a weeknight. Adam didn’t slow the car as he wedged his way into a line of traffic in the right-hand lane. Then the lights of another car flashed in the distance, and Claire wondered if they’d been spotted amid the vehicles that moved down the street.
“I think he’s behind us again,” she said.
Adam didn’t reply. Instead he made a sharp right turn into the parking lot of an all-night discount store. A flashing sign next to the street advertised a midnight sale, and the area around the store was filled with cars and people standing in line waiting to get inside.
He drove into the parking lot, found a spot between two cars and pulled in. He quickly killed the engine and turned off the lights. From where they sat they had a good view of the street. Several cars drove by, and then one sped by in the direction they’d been traveling.
Adam exhaled a deep breath. “That looks like the car Peter was driving.”
“Do you think we’ve lost them?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, but I hope so. I don’t want them finding their way to Jessica’s apartment.”
With their followers out of sight, Adam started the car again and pulled back onto the street headed toward the interstate they’d been on minutes before. Thirty minutes later he pulled into the midtown apartment complex where his sister lived.
Claire let out a sigh of relief when they parked. “You did a great job of losing whoever was chasing us. In fact, you’ve done a good job of everything tonight. Thank you for helping me.”
He looped his arm over the steering wheel and swiveled in the seat to face her. “The things I’ve done tonight require the skills I’ve picked up from the work I do. It’s not easy bringing fugitives back to face the court. If they wanted to go to jail, they wouldn’t have run away to start with. I hope what you’ve seen tonight has shown you how foolish it was for you to think you could bring Peter Willis in.”
His words stung, and she fought back tears. “I’m glad to see nothing’s changed with you. I’ve always been foolish as far as you’re concerned. Now you’ll have one more thing to add to your long list of complaints about me.”
She pushed the car door opened and tried to step out onto the pavement, but he reached out and grabbed her by the arm. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to Jessica’s apartment.”
He shook his head. “Wait a minute, Claire. You need some help.”
Before she could protest, he’d jumped from the car and walked around to the open passenger door. He reached into the backseat and grabbed her crutches. Then taking her by the arm, he helped her to her feet and positioned the crutches in place.
Claire braced herself on the supports and took a tentative step, but she staggered. Adam’s hand grasped her arm. She tried to jerk free of his grip, but it was no use. She sighed in resignation. “Okay, you win. These are a bit harder to maneuver than I thought.”
He didn’t say anything but tightened his hold on her as they slowly made their way into the building and to Jessica’s apartment. They stopped outside the door, and Adam pushed the buzzer. The door flew open right away, and Jessica stood there, her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders and her eyebrows pulled down in a worried frown.
“Where have you two been? I’ve nearly gone out of my mind waiting.”
She pulled Claire into the apartment and helped her to the sofa where she dropped down with a groan. “We had a little problem getting here,” Claire said.
Jessica looked at Adam. “What happened?”
“I had to lose a tail. I didn’t want to bring him straight here.”
Claire propped a sofa pillow behind her back and frowned at Adam. “It’s a wonder we got here alive at all the way you were driving.” She turned to Jessica. “Don’t be surprised if your brother decides to take up stock car racing. He’s got all the skills.”
Jessica’s eyes grew wide, and she looked from her brother back to Claire. “What are you talking about?”
Adam waved his had in dismissal. “Claire’s exaggerating. I had to outrun a car, so I had to move fast.”
Jessica nodded as if she understood before she turned back to Claire. “Adam told me a little of what happened tonight when he called, but I want the whole story. Why were you at a cabin in the Mississippi woods trying to bring in a bail jumper?”
Claire closed her eyes and shook her head. She’d known telling Jessica about her father’s failing business and her efforts to keep it afloat was going to be difficult, but there was nothing she could do about it now. “I’ve been having a hard time ever since my father’s death,” she began.
For the next few minutes she related the problems she’d discovered about her father’s murder, fugitive bail jumpers, penalties that had accumulated from the courts and how she had decided the only way to save her business was to go after some of the fugitives herself.
Jessica didn’t say a word until she finished, then she reached out and grasped Claire’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell me this? We would have helped you.”
“It’s not your family’s responsibility to take care of my problems. Besides, I thought if you can do it, so can I.”
Jessica arched an eyebrow and regarded Claire with a skeptical look. “You’re forgetting I was a police officer before I went to work in my family’s business. I’ve had training that you haven’t. You could have been killed tonight.”
“I couldn’t ask you or your family for help. I felt like I needed to do it on my own.”
Jessica pursed her lips and shook her head. “You’ve always been too independent, Claire. There are times when a person needs help.”
“That’s what I told her,” Adam said.
Jessica glanced up her brother and smiled. “Then I’m sure you’ll be glad to help her.”
“Oh, no,” Claire interrupted. “He’s already done enough tonight.”
Jessica pushed to her feet as if she hadn’t heard Claire and faced her brother. “It looks to me like the guy you’re after and Claire’s bail jumper are tied together some way. So if you find one of them, you’ll be able to find both of them. Adam, you need to bring these guys in. Then Claire can get paid for Willis. That will be a start toward helping her and toward putting her father’s killer in jail.”
Claire tried to push up from the sofa, but she couldn’t. “Jessica, listen