“Look out!”
Lutz braced for the collision. A van had just jumped the median and was heading directly at them. Frank cranked the wheel, hit the car on the cruiser’s right, and sent it careening over the sidewalk and into a front yard. A school bus nearly tipped on its side as it swerved to avoid a head-on collision.
Hand over hand, Frank turned the wheel the opposite way, spun the cruiser to the left, and jumped the median.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“That’s a van and the apartment is empty. Put two and two together, Boss. Jesse is inside that runaway vehicle.”
The van bounced off cars on its high-speed collision course four vehicles ahead of them.
“Shit!” Lutz got on the radio and yelled out to stop the out-of-control red van that was heading north in the southbound lanes of South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. “Get Patrol to lay spike strips, block the road, and divert traffic before somebody gets killed!”
Frank gunned the cruiser until he was right behind the van. “I have to pit it. It’s the only way to stop it!”
Lutz yelled out. “Just do it!”
Frank inched up on the van’s left side then smacked the rear quarter panel with the cruiser’s front passenger-side bumper. He immediately backed off so they wouldn’t get tangled in the spinning van. Cars crashed, and pedestrians scrambled to safety. The van smashed into a utility pole and finally stopped in the middle of the median.
Lutz and Frank bolted from the cruiser, guns drawn, and screamed out orders. Henry and Kip surrounded the van with their cruisers and leapt out too. With a half dozen guns pointing at the van, officers and detectives yelled commands. The passenger door finally opened, and Jesse fell to the ground.
“Secure that van! Get paramedics here immediately,” Lutz yelled when they realized who the blood-soaked person was.
With the van surrounded, the unconscious driver in cuffs, and the dead woman in the back secured, the detectives and Lutz knelt at Jesse’s side.
Frank leaned in. “Partner, can you hear me?”
Jesse moaned as he did his best to respond. “Is it over?”
“You bet, buddy. It’s definitely over, and the paramedics are on their way. You’ll be okay. Just hang tight.”
In a whisper, Jesse asked if the women were dead.
“Only the one in the back,” Lutz said. “The other hit the driver’s-side window and has a gash on the head, but she’s alive.”
Jesse coughed. “That’s Lynn.”
Frank patted Jesse’s shoulder. “We know, pal, but she’s really Gail Fremont. Now, lay still. We’ve got this. The paramedics are a few minutes out.”
Lutz pushed off his knee and stood, then he yelled out to the officers on-site to direct traffic to neighboring streets. He turned to his detectives. “You guys know what to do. Get Don out here, check to see if people in those crashed cars are injured, the whole nine yards. Henry, you’re in charge.”
“Yes, sir.”
Minutes later, two ambulances arrived at the scene. Lutz flagged the first one down.
“This is my lead detective. Get him the best care possible. Definite head injuries and who knows what else. The other injured person with a head contusion is in that van. My officers will escort you. She’s a criminal and needs to be cuffed at all times.”
“Yes, Commander, and they’ll both be transported to Chicago Mercy Hospital.”
Lutz nodded and turned to Jesse. “They’re taking you to the hospital, buddy, and we won’t be far behind.”
The coroner’s van arrived within five minutes of the ambulances. Don climbed out and approached Lutz. “What have we got, Bob?”
“Dead female in the back of the van. We’ll find out the details later when Jesse is stable. From the looks of it, she got cracked in the head with the tire iron.”
Don grimaced. “I’ll check it out.”
Lutz shielded his eyes and scanned the scene. Crashed cars, mangled signs, and torn-up curbing and grass were strewn everywhere. He waved Henry down. “Frank and I are heading to the hospital. Keep me posted and call more ambulances if they’re needed.”