SurvivorZ

38

CHARLIE

"Are you out of your mind?" Charlie shouted.

"Save your breath," Dave growled. "I'm doing this."

"Look at yourself. You can barely stand up. What are you going to do when we catch up to Blahey? Fall on him?"

Dave coughed into his fist and wiped dark blood on the leg of his sweatpants. Charlie glanced at the stain and frowned at him. Dave glared back.

"I'm going with you," he said. "You need backup."

"You're in no shape—"

"I know I'm dying, Charlie," Dave cried. "I can feel this thing burning me from the inside out. Whatever time I have left, I'm not interested in spending it on my back, waiting to check out. Even if I'm only good for a distraction, let me help. I owe Maureen that much."

Charlie sighed and stared at the tiny ornamental heads lining the walls around Judith's kitchen. With her staying home to look after Lee and Emily, there was no denying he could use some help against the rogue officer. He just wasn't convinced that Dave was up for the challenge.

"I can do this," Dave reaffirmed.

Charlie tightened his lips and nodded. He knew from the determined expression on his friend's face that nobody was going to talk him out of coming. It was the same look Dave Redmond wore when pushing himself to the lead in most every sporting event they ever played.

Charlie looked around. The fading sunlight gleamed on a meat cleaver Judith left to dry in the sink dish rack this morning. He handed it over to Dave, who accepted it with a grateful nod. Though not as deadly as the axe in Charlie's hand, it looked sharp enough to handle much worse than chopping up supper.

"Found it," Judith called out. She came running into the room with a map unfurled in her hands. Lee hurried in behind her. Everyone gathered around the dining table as she laid the street map flat on its surface.

Lee placed his phone alongside it, opened to the screen showing the last known coordinates of Danielle's cell before it suddenly cut out.

Judith produced a pen, compared the display with the roadmap, and circled a subdivision on the east side of town. "Danielle's transmission was last detected in this area."

"Hopefully, we'll be able to spot his police car in the driveway," Dave said.

Charlie traced a finger over the map. "As I see it, we've got two choices, neither of them good. Either we head down this way and take our chances driving past North Cemetery..." Charlie tapped a green-colored property on the map, dangerously close to Blahey's neighborhood. "...or we head further south and go around, which means passing through the university."

Dave raised his good hand. "I vote we avoid that."

"There's a third option." Judith pointed at a spot in the middle of the map, less than a mile north of the university. "Lot 44."

"The university parking lot?"

"There's farmland north of there. It used to be the old Wysocki place, before the university bought it and turned it into their agricultural learning center." She pointed along the map with her pen. "You should be able to find a trail leading to these subdivisions on the east side of town through there. This way, you'll be able to hit Blahey's place while avoiding any trouble spots."

"We're going to need something better suited for off-roading than Maureen's Altima," Charlie said.

Judith brushed past him and fetched a key ring from a hook on the wall nearby. She held it out to him. "My Honda's outside in the garage, all gassed up and ready to go. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?"