He grabbed the lapel mike from the officer’s uniform and pressed the transmit button. “Officer down, south parking lot, Belmont Park. Officer down.” He re-clipped the mike to the officer’s uniform. “Don’t try to get up. Backup’s on the way.”

The dispatcher came back immediately. “Unit with last transmission, please repeat. All other units stay off the air.”

He didn’t respond. Didn’t need to. Every unit on that frequency had just heard the officer-down call and would be screaming to this location.

Wincing from the sting of his feet, he hustled over to the prone security guard and rolled him over. Dead.

Precious seconds were ripping by with no sign of Grangeland. He had no choice. He returned to the cruiser, used the officer’s cuffs to secure Montez’s hands behind his back, jammed him into the backseat, and slammed the door shut. Montez stirred to consciousness but had nowhere to go. Designed for prisoners, the cruiser’s rear compartment would afford Montez no means of escape.

He retrieved the officer’s weapon and holstered it for him. He didn’t like abandoning a defenseless cop or taking his cruiser, but he had to clear the area. Either that or yield control to the SDPD. They’d both be taken into custody, where Montez would be given a chance to lawyer-up. Not an option.

Once in the cruiser, he turned off the light bar and headlights, and sped toward the south entrance to the parking lot. A glance to his left confirmed his suspicion. Three police units were racing along West Mission Bay Boulevard toward Belmont Park, probably from Harv’s location. He figured he slipped away with less than thirty seconds to spare.

“Do you really think you’ll get away with shooting a police officer and stealing his vehicle?” said Montez from the backseat.

“I’ll be asking the questions from now on.”

“You sound pleased with yourself.”

“Would you like to be gagged again?”

Montez didn’t answer.

A thought came to Nathan. Grangeland. She’d be driving into a gauntlet of SDPD’s finest. He used the recent call feature on his phone and hit send.

“Nathan?”

“Change of plans. Keep going south on Mission Boulevard past Belmont Park. Make a right at the very end and find me. I’ve still got Montez. He killed a security guard. Look for a parked SDPD cruiser. Where are you?”

“Westbound on Sea World Drive. Seems like every cop in the city is converging to your location. I’ve been passed by two code-three cruisers doing over a hundred.”

“Call if you have any trouble finding me.”