Starkey laughed. “It’s not as bad as it looks, Lucas. I’ve been tinkering with it for years. It’s got power, so don’t press the pedal down too hard or you’ll be left behind. Remember, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.”
Lucas wasn’t used to driving with manual transmission, and hadn’t driven a car for a long time. He pointed this out to Starkey but in the end they both decided it was the best thing to do, especially when Starkey confessed that Isabella had never visited him before. Their communication had been using devices with scrambler software—something the authorities couldn’t monitor or trace. Starkey also mentioned that the last time he drove the car, he'd driven on the wrong side of the road for a considerable distance. That puzzled Lucas.
A bump brought Lucas out of his reflective thinking. He had a quick sideways glance at the petite Isabella. Why do I have such a desire to protect her? Had some kind of hereditary protective gene kicked in? The car’s heater had picked up her scent and was now distributing it. Lucas had not smelled something as nice for a long time.
They had turned right into Furnston Lane and were about to turn right into Church Street.
“The man is running down the street talking on the phone. Why’s he doing that?”
“Do you know much about your granddad, Isabella?”
“No, not really. I just think he’s a nice man.”
“Well he is, but he’s also a famous scientist and some people appear to be trying to track him down. And you, maybe. You might be the pawn.”
“Ah, great, that’s all I need. I’ve come here for a rest.”
“Let’s be positive and have some fun. We need to watch out for whoever that man is talking to.”
They reached an intersection. Lucas looked down the street and saw a black car reversing out of a parking area. Intuition told him that was the enemy. “Hold on, Isabella.”
The gear changes were getting smoother. Lucas swung the car into River Street, and shot past the bowling club. He had a quick glance in his rear view mirror and saw the black car turn onto River Street. The accelerator was pushed down some more and he raised his eyebrows to Isabella. “See, it’s got some power.” The surge of power pushed Isabella into the seat.
“You seem pretty calm. What was your name again?”
“Lucas. Got to stay calm . . . hold on.” The car swerved and headed towards an intersection. “No cars, no cars, please.” There were cars but Lucas was able to shoot across before he had to give way. The black car was not so lucky.
“This does not look good up ahead, Lucas.”
Lucas slowed down. A policeman stood beside a police vehicle pointing to the side of the road, indicating for Lucas to pull over. This was a critical point. If he made a run for it, he’d lead them to the professor. Was that such a bad thing? Lucas really didn’t want to be on the run from the law. This was it.
“Isabella, call your granddad. Tell him he better make a run for it.”
She looked puzzled.
Lucas pulled over and watched as the black car drove past. Strange. If they were working with the police, they would’ve pulled over. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the window. Lucas wound down his window as the officer stood there unwrapping a tube from some plastic.
“Hello, sir. We are doing random breath testing. Had anything to drink or taken any drugs over the last few hours?”
“Nope.” Lucas followed the instructions given by the officer, who also looked at Isabella. She had just finished her call.
The officer looked down at the reading. “Looks all clear to me. Would you be able to show me your license, please.”
“Ah—"
Lucas saw another officer moving towards the car quickly. “Smithy, quick we got an urgent call.” She looked like Isabella. Lucas decided that his brain’s face processing facilities were rusty and it just picked up some similar face features.
Officer Smith raised his eyebrows and started heading back towards the police car. He turned back to Lucas. “You’re right, mate. Off ya go.”
“Quick. Ring back, tell him it’s okay.” Lucas wasn’t sure what to do regarding the black car. “And ask him what other direction we can go to get to his shack.”
Isabella looked puzzled, but called without questioning him.
Lucas turned the car around and drove off in the opposite direction from the black car. Back at the intersection he needed to give way to a few cars. He waited, then turned right as instructed by Isabella. There was still no sign of the black car.
“You’re pretty calm, Lucas. Are you a great bank robber or something?”
“No, sorry to disappoint you. I’m just an escaped convict.” He was sure she thought that was a joke.
<°)))><
Ava Perdu had turned the black car into the first street past the police check point. As she was doing a U-turn to continue her pursuit, a police vehicle pulled up and blocked their way out. There was a lot of police activity for such a small town. A female officer, who looked strikingly similar to Isabella, walked over to their car.
“Sorry, folks, but we need to seal off this road. There’s some crazy young man scooting around on a dirt bike. He’s been up to some mischief.”
At first Ava thought it was a dog barking but then the bike came into view. The rider paused when he saw his predicament. He spun the wheels and headed back in the direction he came. Puffs of smoke and dust trailed behind as he took off.
The police officers shrugged their shoulders. The Isabella look-alike spoke. “You folks can go now; just let us get our car out of the way.”
When the police officer was out of range, Ava let out a few expletives.
“I think we lost the girl,” said the occupant of the backseat.
“Now that’s stating the obvious,” Ava said. “That car was heading to the target. I wonder who the driver was?”
This town had not been kind to them. They first came here to monitor a post office box receiving items addressed to the person under surveillance. No one came to collect the items, but they saw the occasional mail-drone fly off. They concluded the box owner had paid extra for drone delivery service. They couldn’t follow a drone. Nor, it appeared could they even execute a simple car pursuit.
Ava opened up the police channels on her tablet device to make sure they hadn’t raised any suspicions.
