Page 30 of Slack Tide Kill

Sirens wailed loudly. Sally dropped onto the track and staggered after the SUV. It reached Dungeness Road just as the first police car drew up.

Liam's dark Audi.

Rook slammed into it. There was a rending crash, the Audi's windshield fractured, the airbag slammed into Liam's face and the whole vehicle was forced sideways across the road.

"Shit!" Sally croaked and tried to speed up, her legs barely holding her weight.

The Range Rover reversed, the wheels spun then it rammed the Audi again, rolling it off the road and down an embankment into the marsh.

Red tinged Sally's vision. Her foot sank in a watery pothole and she almost fell. By the time she reached the head of the track, the Range Rover was receding rapidly to the south. She turned north, where more sirens and lights were incoming.

She turned to the Audi, lone light on the roof still flashing. Liam slumped over the deployed air bag, blinking. Sally grabbed the door and yanked. It clanked then opened on the third try. Liam twitched and blinked up at her.

"What the hell?"

"It's OK," she said, delving past him for the seatbelt clasp. "Hang in there."

"Sally?" His eyes ran over her mud-covered figure. "What happened to you?"

"Got in a fight with Roarke Rook."

The belt released and Liam gasped, hands going to his face. "Ah, shit. Airbag packs a punch. Who hit me?"

"Roarke Rook. The bastard hit us both. Come on out before you sink."

Sally took his arm and pulled. He managed to get one leg out, but it didn't hold and he sank softly into the marsh. It swallowed half his body in a second and Sally couldn't help but laugh.

He tried to push himself up, but his arm slipped and the whole side of his head sank into the mud. It only made Sally laugh harder.

"It's not funny," Liam grumbled, managing to find a firm patch of ground. "It's so damn," he searched for the right word, "wet."

Sally helped him up, sobering as a wailing police car pulled up, light bar flashing. DCI Mayhew surged from the passenger side.

"What the hell happened here?" she demanded, taking in the sinking Audi. "O'Connell? And is that Rogers?"

Sally wiped mud from her face. "Roarke Rook and his two brothers took off in a green Range Rover." She pointed south. "He tried to kill me in the marsh and he hit Liam's car."

"He tried to kill you? What did you do?"

Sally started laughing again.

"She's an officer in pursuit of her duties," Liam snapped before Sally could say something damning. "That's all you need to know right now, DCI. Now get in sodding pursuit!"

Mayhew stared at him, then slapped the patrol car roof. "Get after that vehicle!"

The patrol car shot south. Mayhew clicked her shoulder radio. "All units, intercept a green Range Rover moving south on Dungeness Road, should be heading past the reactors now." She looked at Sally. "Plate reg?"

Sally supplied the license plate number and Mayhew repeated it into the radio.

"Caution, three Rook brothers in the vehicle, highly dangerous, just involved in two officer assaults." Her eyes locked on Sally. "Units 3 and 4, block the Coast Drive by Greatstone. If they get past you there, they're loose. Unit 1, get to Lydd-on-Sea and deploy across the shingle in case they try by foot. Unit 2, get to us here by Umberside Lodge. And DI Gemmell, get CSM Akilota back from Dover, we'll need him for this."

Her radio squawked back and she turned away, holding it close to her ear.

Liam put a hand on Sally's shoulder. "That bastard tried to kill you?"

She let his hand rest for a moment. It felt good; like the partnership they'd started to build on Dark Peak. "Tried's the key word there. Did you stop the van?"

He searched her eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. It came right at us and we almost crashed. That's why we're late here. It was covered in blood or something?"