The three of them passed through a stockroom and burst through the rear door facing the freeway. They hugged the wall as they traversed to the northwest corner of the property. All of them heard it. An engine started, followed by the squeal of tires as a vehicle accelerated toward the east. Nathan was limping but kept up with Harv and Grangeland as they ran toward the SUV. Blood had already soaked his sock and shoe.

“Harv, you drive. Grangeland, follow us in the Crown Vic. Let’s move.”

Just as Nathan closed the passenger door, another deafening explosion rocked the night.

The island under the diesel pumps vanished in a white flash. The freight truck parked at the island was blown ten feet sideways from the force of the blast. Lying on its side, one hundred gallons of diesel fuel in its cab tanks ignited, sending a fiery mushroom up to the bottom of the metal canopy covering the islands. Eerie flame spread along the underside of its surface and shot skyward at the edges. Some of the truckers parked in the transient area began driving their rigs out of the danger zone. Men and machines were going every direction. People were screaming and running for cover. Like black ants against a red background, the SWAT team sprinted for the protection of the convenience store, two of them dragging a wounded comrade.

Harv turned right out of the parking lot. With the windows of the SUV gone, they could hear the roaring headers of Ernie’s retreating vehicle. It was running east with its lights out.

“That’s him. Punch it, Harv.” He flipped on the thermal imager and immediately saw the heat signature of the fleeing vehicle’s exhaust. “Straight ahead, four or five hundred yards.”

The Expedition’s engine answered the call. Within ten seconds, they were doing eighty miles an hour. Harv stomped the accelerator and brought their speed up to 110. “Stay with him, Harv. Wait one. He’s slowing, turning south. I’ve still got him. We’re coming up on the turn in five hundred yards.”

“Nate, put the NV visor on my head, we should go dark.”

Nathan reached into the duffel bag on the seat between them, grabbed the night-vision visor, and saw blood covering the lower half of his arm. He turned the device on, removed the lens cap, and placed it on Harv’s head before pivoting the scope down to his partner’s eye.

Harvey made a slight adjustment and said, “Good to go.”

Nathan keyed the radio. “Grangeland, we’re switching to night vision. Hang back a little. We’re going dark.”

“Copy.”

Harv killed the headlights and the road disappeared into blackness. Behind them, Grangeland also went dark.