Bruce Wayne

Chapter 25: From the Shadows

Bruce raced outside and started up the van. While waiting for Alfred, Bruce considered getting a faster car for emergency situations like this one.

Although he appeared calm on the outside, Bruce's stress level was high. Gordon was one of the few people Bruce trusted, and he considered the officer a friend. The threat to Gordon wasn't the only thing on his mind. Cunningham had orders to eliminate Harris and Judge Leeson. If the crime boss, Fairbanks, was cleaning up loose ends, it wouldn't be too long before Cunningham was added to the list. All the evidence gathered so far would be for nothing if Fairbanks managed to eliminate everyone involved before their misdeeds could be brought to light. Bruce had to save Gordon first, but Harris, Leeson, and Cunningham needed to stay alive long enough to bring down Fairbanks as well. He required a plan, but the urge to protect Gordon was taking priority in his thought process, blocking any other reasoning from going too far.

Alfred exited Wayne Manor, shutting the door behind him and quickly climbing into the back of the van.

"No one seems to know where Gordon went," Alfred reported as he turned on the monitors lining one wall of the van and activating the wireless connection with the computers in the house. "Cunningham, however, didn't show up for work this morning. I accessed the police car registry and got a location off his GPS. He's headed west, out of town."

"Let's see if we can intercept him," Bruce suggested.

Bruce dropped the van into gear and slammed his boot down on the accelerator. The tires squealed in protest, throwing out clouds of smoke before regaining traction. The van roared away from Wayne Manor, barely allowing enough time for the automatic gate to open at the end of the driveway.

Alfred brought up two different maps on a pair of monitors beside each other. The left display showed the real time location of Cunningham as his car drove out of town. The other monitor held a map centered on the current location of Bruce and Alfred in their speeding van. The setup allowed Alfred to keep an eye on their target while providing driving directions to Bruce.

The van went past the bridge to Arkham Island before Bruce took the next turn onto a different bridge. Leaving Gotham behind, Bruce and Alfred continued to follow the GPS signal on Cunningham's car.

"If Lieutenant Gordon wanted to keep Harris safe from the criminals in Gotham, leaving the city would be a good way to do so," Alfred commented.

"It also means the GCPD are outside their jurisdiction, so anyone trying to order him back would have no authority over him," Bruce added.

The crowded city slowly thinned into rural communities, getting further and further from civilization and the highly populated areas where a protected prisoner might be recognized.

"Cunningham's car has stopped," Alfred reported. "It's just a few miles more down the road."

Bruce pushed the accelerator down further, exceeding the speed limit to close the distance before someone else he knew was gunned down. He realized he was taking a chance of being pulled over by local cops, but the possibility of saving Gordon's life made it worth the risk.

"It's the next right," Alfred informed him, and Bruce slowed down so as to not flip the van when he made the turn.

Three cars were parked in front of the dilapidated farmhouse. Bruce assumed one belonged to Gordon, another to Cunningham, and the last one was owned by the cop Gordon trusted with his protected prisoner. Lacking the time to approach stealthily, Bruce parked the van behind the other vehicles and climbed out while putting in a new earpiece. Alfred remained in the van but switched his computers to a satellite view of the area with thermal cameras.