Broken Hero

Chapter 10

Helder saw Thornton's car pull into the gas station and the sheriff's cruiser pull onto the side of the road in response. "Pull in there," he told the driver while pointing at the gas station.

"Won't he see us?" the driver asked.

"He's more concerned with that cop car, and he doesn't know we're looking for him. Pull in."

The driver complied, finding an empty parking space near the convenience store. Helder watched as Thornton jogged across the parking lot into the store, getting a good look at the thief and wondering what Calloway had in store for him once they brought him back. "You want us to grab him now?" the second goon asked.

"In front of all these witnesses? You're kidding, right?" Helder got out of the truck, partially to stretch his legs but also to get a better look at what else Thornton was up to. The thief was standing in line for the cashier looking about nervously, especially out the window, so Helder slipped inside to be able to observe him without drawing suspicion. He retrieved four large bottles of Gatorade and some sandwiches for himself and his associates, and paid for them while surreptitiously looking through the window to check on Thornton, now gassing up while continuing to look around nervously.

He exited the convenience store and got back in the truck. As he handed the sandwiches and Gatorades to the others, he said to the driver, "Get ready to follow him again once he leaves. I want to put us between him and that cop."

"Got it."

Thornton jogged back to the convenience store, and reemerged a few moments later with a sandwich of his own and a bottle of soda. He climbed back into his car and headed back out onto the road. The driver backed their truck out of the parking space, put it into gear, and followed.

Kevin looked in his rearview again after getting back on Route 28 North. This paranoia was really beginning to get to him, but he had no other choice if he hoped to get away. He saw an old Chevy Suburban behind him, one that he thought he remembered seeing in the gas station parking lot. It could be a coincidence that they were both heading in the same direction, but these days he couldn't risk it. That empty Glock and the brick of ammo were all burning a hole in his front passenger seat, and his desire to get it loaded as soon as possible was becoming unmanageable.

The Suburban kept the same course he did. It wasn't like there was anywhere else for it to go, but Kevin wanted to make absolutely sure of its intentions. As the outskirts of Derry loomed, he remembered the tactic that cops often offered to people to determine whether or not they were being followed: make four right turns in quick succession and see if anybody behind you does the same. To pull it off, he needed to get deeper into Derry where he knew there'd be better urban planning rather than isolated developments on cul-de-sacs where they could easily hem him in.

Route 28 North turned west for a brief distance, then back north at the Birch Street intersection. Kevin turned onto it, and so did the Suburban. He noted the Parkland Medical Center on his right, figuring if he could lose these jerks he could duck inside, lock himself in a bathroom or supply closet, and finally load that Goddamned Glock. He also saw the signs for Wilson Avenue and Grove Street beyond it, and decided that would be his best bet to pull this trick off. After passing Wilson Avenue, he executed the turn onto Grove Street without signaling, then did the same onto Oak Street, then Wilson Avenue, and back onto Birch Street.

The Suburban matched his turns every time.

That settled it for Kevin. He turned left hard onto South Avenue, then followed that to Railroad Avenue, turning right on that in order to turn right again on North Avenue and then right once more back onto Birch, reversing his original direction of travel. He stomped on the gas so he could get to Parkland Medical Center faster, with its bright lights and surveillance cameras and security guards and in-place procedures to deal with threats like whomever was in that Suburban. His right hand went to the gun bag to make sure it was still there, then inside it to feel the hard edges of the boxes contained inside.