Time to Run by John Gilstrap Page A

tone in your voice, it sounds like I’ll want to drive faster.”
    The detective sighed deeply on the other end of the phone. “Okay, here it is. We had a tough time tracking down the right Bradley Ward, but I think we’ve got him.”
    â€œBut you’re not sure?”
    Detective Tu hesitated. “Well, I guess we are sure. This is the Bradley Ward about whom you reached an agreement with his foster parents to have him removed from the household in return for dropped charges on some burglary thing.”
    Carter felt himself blushing. He’d forgotten that there was a letter in the file. Had he remembered, he would not have fudged his knowledge of how the boy came to disappear. “Okay, go ahead.”
    â€œAfter he left the Bensons’ house, he pretty much fell off of the radar screen, mostly showing up in the occasional brawl at a homeless shelter here and there. It was enough to get him a record and get me a set of fingerprints to work with. Here’s the part you’re not going to want to know: two and a half years ago, he was sent up for murdering a bystander in the robbery of a little bodega in Lansing, Michigan. I don’t know how he got to Michigan, but the way he got out was via the back door of his prison. In fact, he’s a ‘person of interest’ in a couple of prison murders, too. He’s been a fugitive for almost six months now.”
    Carter lifted the turn signal lever and moved into the right-hand lane, slowing down to the speed limit. Chris Tu was right; this was the sort of news for which one should stop the car. “So, that means that the FBI is after him, too. Interstate flight.” He worked hard to keep the panic out of his voice.
    The detective didn’t bother to stifle his chuckle. “Yeah, and we know what kind of priority those cases are getting these days, right?”
    Carter let a sigh escape. The FBI had been focused so exclusively on the fight against terror that sometimes it seemed as if those were the only laws on the books anymore. “I’m surprised that he’s an escapee,” Carter said, thinking out loud. “I get those bulletins every month, and would have thought for sure that the name would jump out at me.”
    â€œAh, well, that’s the point I neglected to tell you,” Tu said. “He doesn’t go by Bradley Ward anymore. He goes by Bradley Dougherty. I’m not sure what the origin of the name was, but it’s strictly an alias. My guess is, he’s got a whole new one by now.”
    Carter ran it all through his head, trying to decide on the best course from here. He checked his watch. Seven-thirty. “Have you put the announcement out on the wire yet?”
    â€œI put it out on Dougherty, yes, but I wanted to wait to talk to you before I mentioned Nicki. What do you want me to do?”
    It was a tougher decision than it might appear at first glance. “Clearly, we’ve got the best chance if we put pictures out there for both of them, but can you make it clear in the announcement that Nicki is not wanted for any crimes? Say that they’re traveling together, but make it clear that they’re not actually together. Can you do that?”
    â€œSure I can. And since you think that they’re most likely to be headed toward the DC suburbs, we’ll be sure to get their pictures to the media outlets in time for the eleven o’clock news, and then again for their morning broadcasts.”
    Carter nodded. “That’s good. And if you can, make sure that all the police agencies east of the Mississippi get an alert in their morning updates.”
    â€œI can do that,” said Detective Tu.
    â€œI’m still heading to Brookfield,” Carter said. “See what I can put together at the bus station.”
    â€œYou holding up all right?”
    Carter allowed himself a bitter laugh. “Chris, the way these past few years have gone, this just feels