Then I tried to do what the running man wouldn’t expect. Instead of going right to where he was the last time I saw him, I cut into the industrial park and started to circle the building in between us. It was a little trickier here because there were workers coming and going in vans, carrying everything from windowsills to sprinkler pipes.

As I darted around the building, I saw what I needed to see. The guy with the gun was crouched behind a parked van, waiting to ambush me from the other direction. Perfect.

I eased into a line of cars so it wouldn’t be easy for him to notice me. I wanted to say something clever like “Looking for me, asshole?” But I knew the most important thing was to get the pistol away from him.

When I was still a decent distance away, the man glanced over his shoulder. All I could tell from that angle was that he was a white man. I couldn’t identify him specifically. Right now, that didn’t matter. He turned and aimed his gun at me as I ducked behind a parked Honda Civic.

The two shots shattered the rear window of the car and made me crawl back farther away from the trunk. Then I heard a police siren.

I had to catch this guy now and get some answers before he was taken into custody.

I squeezed between some parked cars and crawled under one of them until I was close to the place where the man had taken the shots at me. I sprang out with the pistol up in front of me. There was no one there.

I could see the blue lights of the cruiser and I knew it was time to get the hell out of there.

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I DROVE TO a McDonald’s on the outskirts of Newburgh’s downtown. If you ever want good insight into a city, look through the wide windows of a Mickey D’s. You see everything. The locals, workers from businesses, and the homeless. This intersection can provide a glimpse into the city’s soul. Is it prosperous? Is it a college town? Or is it struggling, ready to chew you up and spit you out?

As I sat in the hard plastic booth, throwing down a hamburger and staring at the key I’d taken from Alton, my mom called. I worked hard to keep my voice calm as I told her there wasn’t really anything new on the case. When I was in the Navy and going through the SEAL course, I always tried to paint the best picture. My mom worried about me. At least now, my job was to make her life as easy as possible.

About an hour after my chase through the streets of Newburgh, I decided it was safe to make my next move.