The Sacred Vault_ A Novel - Andy McDermott [28]
The blocky bulk of a cable car loomed through the fog to their right on a collision course.
‘Srati!’ yelled Zec as the Nemesis shot over the hill crest and went airborne. The cable car’s driver saw its headlights just in time and yanked the brake lever, sparks flying from the metal wheels. The 4x4 flew across the vintage tram’s track, clearing it by an inch before crashing back down. Fernandez gasped in relief.
Behind, the cable car screeched to a stop in the middle of the crossroads, blocking the street.
Eddie and the biker ducked and swerved in a deadly two-wheeled dance. The MP5K spat fire; Eddie heard - and felt - a burst of bullets crack past as he veered back across the street.
The other man tried to cut behind him. Eddie braked and swung the other way. If the raider got on his tail, it would expose him to an attack from behind. But if he slowed too much, he would make himself an easy target.
The road ahead steepened sharply, the front forks of both bikes compressing with a whump as they hit the incline. The other rider, tracking Eddie, was less prepared for the impact. His bike lurched.
Eddie saw his chance.
He blasted past the other man, racing up the hill. A VW was in one lane at the top; he moved to pass it. He needed to open up a gap on his enemy and catch the Nemesis. If he got close enough to the 4x4, it might deter the other man from firing.
An intersection was just ahead—
And a cable car right in his path!
5
There was no way Eddie could turn fast enough to avoid the tram - and if he stopped, his pursuer would kill him.
If he couldn’t go round—
He twisted the throttle as far as it would go and aimed at the sloping rear of the Beetle, pulling the bike into a wheelie. The Honda slammed into the back of the Volkswagen - and continued up over it. The rear window shattered, metal buckling under the bike’s weight, but Eddie was already clear, flying skywards . . .
Over the cable car.
The biker was less lucky, not seeing the tram through the fog until it was too late—
He smashed into its side at over sixty miles an hour.
The XR650R disintegrated into a mangled scrap as it hit the tram’s heavy steel chassis. Its rider was thrown through antique wood and glass panels, bursting from the cable car’s other side to crash down in the intersection of Taylor and California Streets - minus an arm, which spun past and bounced along the road.
A painful impact pounded up Eddie’s spine as he landed. He swerved violently to avoid the severed arm. Headlights loomed in his path. This section of Taylor Street had two-way traffic, increasing the risk of a head-on collision. He yelled and swung to the right, bringing the bike back up to speed after the retreating lights.
‘Car 643, 643,’ said the dispatcher. ‘LoJack shows you on Taylor approaching Pine, please confirm.’
‘This is the mayor,’ said Boyce into the handset. ‘I confirm.’
‘Be advised of a traffic incident at California and Taylor, use caution. Units are setting up roadblocks ahead of you. Other units about to enter pursuit from both sides of Washington.’
‘Excellent work, dispatch, thank you,’ said Boyce, voice switching effortlessly from panicked passenger to patronising politician.
‘What does that mean?’ Nina asked.
‘It means,’ he said with rising excitement, ‘they’re completely boxed in. We’ve got them!’
The Nemesis shot across the junction of Taylor and Washington. Zec glanced nervously to his right, seeing red and blue strobe lights cutting through the fog towards him. Another SFPD cruiser was powering down the hill to the left, further away.
‘Just stay ahead of them,’ said Fernandez, voice tense but confident. ‘Only four more blocks . . .’
Eddie heard multiple sirens ahead, getting louder. If they could cut off the Nemesis—
No such luck. Flashing lights swept out of a street to the right behind the speeding off-roader.
He eased off slightly, considering his options before deciding to keep going. The cops might be able to stop the Bowler - but they would still need to be warned about the other bikers. If they turned and came