Time to Steal

Book 3: Nick of Time

by John Gilstrap

Genres: Action & Adventure; Crime Fiction; Suspense

Synopsis

Part Three of the Suspenseful Five-Part E-Serial Novel! DANGER—CURVES AHEAD In the third pulse-pounding installment of John Gilstrap’s five-part novel, a nationwide manhunt for two young lovers spins out of control—and where it stops, nobody knows . . . Nicki Janssen knows she can’t cheat death. But she can live out her last days in the arms of her beloved Brad—at least until the police catch up with them . . . Brad Ward knows the road ahead will be filled with twists and turns. But if he hopes to beat a murder rap, he’s got to outrun the cops—with Nicki by his side . . . They’ve stolen a car. Witnessed an armed robbery. And crossed state lines from Virginia to North Carolina. But prosecuting attorney Carter Janssen knows that his daughter is about to hit one major roadblock. Nicki needs medicine to stay alive—and every minute without it brings her closer to a dead end . . . “Gilstrap is one of the finest thriller writers on the planet.”—Tess Gerritsen “When you pick up a Gilstrap novel, one thing is always true—you are going to be entertained at a high rate of speed.”— Suspense Magazine “Gilstrap pushes every thriller button.”— San Francisco Chronicle Includes a preview chapter from John Gilstrap’s next thriller, Friendly Fire

Release date: April 26, 2016

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Print pages: 103

Sample

Carter Janssen hadn’t moved from the spot there in the parking lot, and when the police cars arrived, they came as a six-pack. Warren Michaels was first to step out onto the concrete.

“You missed them!” Carter shouted. He was furious.

Warren said, “I got a radio report from one of our men on the front door. He told me that you had tried to get them to come along.”

“They wouldn’t,” Carter said.

“They should have,” Warren said. “This is the only thing that made sense. Somehow they knew we were coming. Did you see them?”

“I talked to her,” Carter said. He closed his eyes and saw that look of confusion in his daughter’s face all over again. “I tried to convince her to stay, but she went with him anyway.”

“What were they driving?” asked the lieutenant.

“A Honda,” he said. “Red, I think, but it might have been blue. They were gone before I could get a tag number.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Warren said, reading his thoughts. He squeezed Carter’s shoulder then let it go, a gesture of commiseration. “Besides, Ward is a smart guy. Chances are, he’s already switched those plates out for someone else’s.”

“I tried to yell to you,” Carter said, a little calmer. “There in the hallway, but I couldn’t get your attention.”

“I understand. The good news is, there can only be but so many Hondas out on the street tonight. We’ll put the word out on the radio and stop every one of them if we have to. We’ll get ’em.”

Carter closed his eyes and tried to push away the approaching headache. Please just let it be that simple. “What did you find in the room?”

“They were definitely there,” Warren said. “And they left quickly. All that formal wear and such, they left it all behind.”

Carter sighed. “I guess that’s good news.”

“But there’s bad news, too, I’m afraid.”

The tone of the cop’s voice caused a spear of pain to pierce Carter’s body. As the cop reached into his suit coat pocket and pulled out its contents, the pain blossomed even more. “These bottles have Nicki’s name on them. I suppose they’re important?”

It was all of her meds. All of them. “Oh, my God,” Carter said.

Nicki watched with amazement as Brad went to work.

The Honda lasted all of five miles, zigzagging from the highway off onto back streets, before he slowed to a crawl in a residential neighborhood.

“We need new wheels,” he explained. “Your dad’s probably got the license number, and even if he doesn’t, at this hour, the cops’ll be stopping anything that looks like a Honda.”

“So you’re just going to steal another car?”

Brad shrugged. “What difference does one more make?”

“So, when the owner wakes up in the morning, he’s going to report his car missing, and when that happens, we’re right back where we began.”

Brad laughed, just a chuckle at first, and then a real laugh, like one you’d hear at a comedy club.

“What’s so funny?” She wasn’t sure why, but deep in her gut, Nicki felt offended.

“Think about it. You’ve got a fatal illness, you’re wandering through the night with a convicted murderer, we’re both probably gonna die in a hail of gunfire, and you’re worried about getting caught stealing a car. It really is pretty funny.”

Nicki was not amused. “Maybe I’m just too tired.”

“Your head is in the right place, though. The trick is to find a car that no one will notice is missing.”

“How do we do that?”

Brad stopped the Honda and pointed past Nicki at a house on their right. “Like this,” he said. “Look at this place. The people aren’t home.” And sure enough, there was an old Toyota parked alongside the curb.

Nicki followed his finger, but couldn’t follow the logic. “Brad, there’s a light on in the house.”

“Exactly,” he said, pulling into the driveway. He killed the lights on the Honda. “What’s the last thing your father does before he goes to bed at night?”

“How should I know?”

“Think about it. Before he goes upstairs for the last time, what’s the last thing he does?”

Nicki pondered the question, but the answer wasn’t there. An ember of anger started to burn.

“He turns out the lights, right?”

She thought about it. Yes, that was the last thing he did.

“It’s the last thing everybody does,” Brad explained. “But what does he do before he goes on vacation to make people think there’s someone at home?”

Now she really did see it. She smiled. “He turns on a light.”

He slapped his thigh triumphantly. “Exactly. Not just any light, mind you, but a light downstairs. I’ve broken into my share of houses, and I’ve got to tell you, at three in the morning, the ones with lights on are the ones that are empty.”

“How do you know somebody’s not sick?”

“If they were, then an upstairs light would be on, or maybe the foyer light. But look there. That’s like a living room light. You can tell because of the bay window.”

Nicki released a chuckle. “You know, there aren’t any rules for that stuff. You could be wrong.”

He flicked his hand in a dismissive gesture and made a face. “I’m never wrong.” He opened the car door and got out, leaving the Honda running in the driveway.

Nicki followed. “What are you doing?”

“I’m making a trade,” he said. As he approached the driver’s side of the Toyota, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a ring of what might have been keys, but from what Nicki could see, they all had an odd shape about them.

“What are those?” Nicki asked.

Brad scowled and brought a finger to his lips. “One of the first lessons in thief school is not to shout, okay? We call it stealth.” He stooped to the side of the door and stuck one of the thin black objects into the lock, while his other hand stuck a tiny Y-shaped strip of metal into the top and bottom of the key slot. “These are lock picks,” Brad explained. His tone was that of a master explaining to an apprentice. “I stick the pick in the lock while holding tension on the cylinder with the tension bar.” He raked the pick in and out of the slot, then withdrew the pick and reinserted it. “These older Toyotas aren’t as hard as some of the other cars. This is a 1992, I’d guess. Beginning in ’95, the lock technology got pretty tough.”

“What are you scraping?” Nicki asked.

“The pin tumblers. There’s a diamond-shaped point on the end of the pick, and as I push the tumblers out of the way, the cylinder turns a bit, and the tension keeps them from popping back in. When I get them all”—Nicki heard a distinctive click, and the lock turned all the way, raising the lock button just inside the window—“the lock opens.” He stood and pulled the door open, triggering the dome light inside, which he extinguished by turning a knob on the dash.

Nicki’s jaw dropped. “I don’t believe you know how to do this stuff.”

Brad beamed, clearly proud of his accomplishment. “But wait,” he said in a strange announcer’s voice, “there’s more.” He produced the Leatherman and again folded out the needle-nose pliers.

“First we have to unlock the steering wheel,” Brad said. Slipping into the driver’s seat, he grasped the steering wheel with both hands and wrenched it violently to the right.

A loud crack! made Nicki jump.

“It’s just a pin,” Bra. . .