Obsession

Serpent: Chapter 51

Mike Ballard and Don Pierce were among the officers who had intercepted Regina's call and her suspicion that Joshua Hart was hiding out at the public high school. They were patrolling within the vicinity of the school in one cruiser, and two other officers were in a second cruiser.

While the other two officers responded to the Sherriff's call and headed for the school, more officers on the way to provide back up should her suspicion be true, Ballard and Pierce scoped out the surrounding area for a vehicle matching the description of what Josh was suspected to be driving.

Pierce was behind the wheel, and he steered the cruiser slowly, both officers carefully peering out into the streets, into every alleyway they passed by.

"Hold on," Ballard blurted, and the cruiser halted. "Back up. I think I saw something."

Pierce put the gear in reverse and backed up slowly to the alleyway they had passed by. The alleyway was dark but light from the streets running adjacent to the buildings on either side of the alley threw enough light to illuminate the silhouetted shapes of a large metal trash bin and a large vehicle.

Ballard shone the beam of his flashlight into the alley and then both men exchanged looks. They got out and crossed over into the alley, dancing the flashlights across the dark blue Ford pick-up truck. They flashed the lights into the windows finding no one. There was only a plastic tarpaulin neatly folded and chucked on the floor of the backseat behind the front passenger's.

"That look like it matches the vehicle's description?" Pierce queried.

"Exactly like it. I'll run the plate on the computer," Ballard replied and returned to the car. He typed up the license plate into the system and within less than a minute, the results came back.

The vehicle was registered to Ray Olsen, purchased two years prior.

"That's the one," Ballard informed. "Josh has a hostage. If he ditched the vehicle here, he probably won't be far. Maybe he really took refuge at the school."

Pierce turned and leaned against the side of the cruiser, radioing in that they had found the vehicle, sending out a warning for the police officers and the Sherriff on-route to the school to proceed with caution. There was a possibility that Josh was armed and dangerous.

Police sirens wailed in the near distance as Ballard called in the forensics team to transport the vehicle to a safer location where they would sweep the pick-up for any traces of forensic evidence.

The sirens grew louder as two police cruisers zipped past the street they were parked on heading down to the school.

Inside the school building, Joshua Hart grew anxious at the growing volume of the approaching police cars.

"It's now or never, Josh," Duncan taunted.

"Shut your mouth," he snapped frantically. He ran out of the cafeteria and looked down the hallways, running down the one that looked out into the school parking lot. He saw the flashing lights and heard the sirens before he saw the vehicles and his heart began thumping loudly in his chest.

He had to get out of there now. He didn't have a lot of time and he had no desire to spend his life rotting in a prison cell. They all deserved everything they got.

Lyssa Isaacs and her mother. And even that jerk, Nico Hoffman. Perhaps Duncan did not deserve what was happening to him, Josh would admit that. He was simply getting too close to the truth. Too close for comfort.

That didn't matter now, though. They knew. The police knew. The town knew.

Gabriel knew.

Josh ducked back into the cafeteria, gripping the shotgun tightly. He pulled a pocket knife from his jacket pocket and cut the ties around Duncan's ankles before pulling him to his feet.