Excerpt
‘Let’s take my car.’ He indicated the SUV to Adele.

They jumped in and started the chase, turning on the siren and the emergency lights installed on the dashboard.

‘You may not use this car very much, but you’ve got it pretty well kitted out,’ she commented, struggling to fasten her seat belt, while the acceleration squashed her against her seat.

The Volkswagen turned left on Gloucester Place at high speed, cutting off another car coming from the right. A cacophony of honks filled the air just as Eric did the same dangerous manoeuvre.

The traffic light ahead was green, but it turned amber just as Garnish was crossing Marylebone Road, overtaking a van, and heading towards Park Road. A moment later, it turned red, but Eric didn’t slow down. The sound of screeching brakes accompanied his car as he crossed the intersection. A motorcyclist, who pulled up at the same moment, swerved, lost control of his bike, and tumbled down on the tarmac. The detective saw him get up in the rear-view mirror and flick the V. Evidently he wasn’t hurt too badly.

‘Basically, we are on the A41. If he keeps going this way, we’ll lose him,’ Adele exclaimed.

‘I bloody know that!’ Eric accelerated, but the runabout was much more agile in the traffic than his car. The light from the sun going low on the horizon hit his eyes too, making his pursuit that much more difficult.

They reached a large roundabout and headed onto Wellington Road. Ahead of them, but not too far, was another green traffic light. Garnish had plenty of open road and accelerated again. A man was walking on the pedestrian crossing. The car turned just in time, but smashed into a low sign on the traffic island. This slowed it just enough for the light to turn amber. But then he stepped on the accelerator again.

At the intersection, however, he was blocked by a bus, while the right lane was partially obstructed by a lorry manoeuvring. The bus slowed down to stop at the traffic lights.

‘Gotcha.’ Eric smiled to himself.

But Garnish wasn’t going to give up. His car came to a lurching stop, and he jumped out. Abandoning the vehicle, he ran across the street.

Eric stopped right behind the Volkswagen and got out, gun in hand, determined to catch him.

‘Eric,’ he heard Adele cry. Then the sound of the door slamming and the footsteps behind him.

Garnish seemed to be in excellent shape. He slid across the top of a car manoeuvring to park, angering the driver, then scuttled into Circus Road. Running on the pavement, he hit two girls, knocking them both down.

‘Police, move aside!’ Eric shouted. ‘Stop right there!’

But the suspect kept running, and when he reached the second side street, he turned right.

Eric, who had just passed the first one, heard Adele’s voice behind him, yet when he turned around, she was nowhere to be seen. But he couldn’t stop now.

He followed Garnish into the side street, which was narrower than the one they’d been on, but also completely empty. The man had gained quite a few metres and Eric could feel his lungs burning. His legs refused to move at the speed he wanted them to.

He noticed that the alley was a dead end. His prey was trapped. But the quarry dashed to the right, disappearing from view. Eric accelerated his stride until he saw there was a narrow pedestrian passageway between two buildings. Garnish had almost reached the far end. If he made it, he’d be out on a much larger street. Eric would lose him. He couldn’t keep up.

All at once, a figure appeared, blocking the end of the alley and aiming a handgun.

‘Race is over,’ Adele said.