A long truck and trailer pulled in front of him, blocking off his exit. He frantically cramped the steering wheel in a crazy zigzag to avoid smashing into the huge truck There was a loud metallic crunch, followed by the smashing of glass and the screech of tortured metal as the bus sideswiped the front end of the truck. The bus, its entire right side gouged and smashed, bounced wildly out of control. Pitt corrected and fishtailed the shattered vehicle until it straightened. He pounded the steering wheel angrily at seeing fluid spraying back over the newly cracked windshield. The impact had sprung the radiator from its mounts and loosened the hoses to the engine. That wasn't the only problem. The right tire was blown and the front suspension knocked out of alignment.
"Do you have to hit everything that comes across your path?" Giordino asked irritably. He sat on the floor on the undamaged side of the bus, his huge arms circled around Maeve.
"Thoughtless of me," said Pitt. "Anyone hurt?"
"Enough bruises to win an abuse lawsuit," said Maeve bravely.
Giordino rubbed a swelling knot on one side of his head and gazed at Maeve woefully. "Your old man is a sneaky devil. He knew we were coming and threw a surprise ply."
"Someone at NUMA must be on his payroll." Pitt spared Maeve a brief glance. "Not you, I hope."
"Not me," Maeve said firmly.
Giordino made his way to the rear of the bus and stared out the window for signs of pursuit. Two black vans careened around the damaged truck and took up the chase "We have hounds running up our exhaust pipe."
"Good guys or bad?" asked Pitt.
"I hate to be the bearer of sad tidings, but they ain't wearing white hats."
"You call that a positive identification?"
"How about, they have Dorsett Consolidated Mining logos painted on their doors."
"You sold me."
"If they come any closer, I could ask for their driver's license."
"Thank you, I have a rearview mirror."
"You'd think we'd have left enough wreckage to have a dozen cop cars on our tails by now," grumbled Giordino. "Why aren't they doing their duty and patrolling the docks? I think it only fitting they arrest you for reckless driving."
"If I know Daddy," said Maeve, "he paid them to take a holiday."
With no coolant, the engine rapidly he
ated up and threw clouds of steam from under the hood. Pitt had almost no control over the demolished vehicle. The front wheels, both splayed outward, fought to travel in opposite directions. A narrow alleyway between two warehouses suddenly yawned in front of the bus.
Down to the final toss of the dice, Pitt hurled the bus into the opening. His luck was against him. Too late he realized the alleyway led onto a deserted pier with no exit except the one he passed through.
"The end of the trail," Pitt sighed.
Giordino turned and looked to the rear again. "The posse knows it. They've stopped to gloat over their triumph."
"Maeve?"
Maeve walked to the front of the bus. "Yes?" she said quietly.
"How long can you hold your breath'""
"I don't know; maybe a minute."
"Al? What are they doing?"
"Walking toward the bus, holding nasty-looking clubs."
"They want us alive," said Pitt. "Okay, gang, take a seat and hold on tight."
"What are you going to do?" asked Maeve.