Todd stood in front of the police car, enjoying the sunset. The sound of a vehicle distracted him from this pleasant activity. He looked back. A green Toyota was coming with high speed but not above the limit. There were two people inside. The hoods of sports jackets entirely covered their heads. Todd shook his head. The day was almost warm. Why did some people consider style more important than comfort?
The car had nearly reached the woods about a kilometre away when Todd heard the call.
"Town station to all patrols."
These words interrupted Todd's tranquility. He had never heard such a call during the years of his service. Something unusual had happened in the town.
"Half an hour ago, there was an armed robbery at the gas station," said Michael, the man on duty in the town police station. "The suspects are two, a man and a woman, in a green Toyota."
Todd smiled. What a lucky coincidence! If he hadn't wanted to see the sunset, he would have returned to the town long ago. The policeman reported what he had just seen and got in the car. He had to catch up with the suspects. Brian and Stephen were coming. They would help him with the arrest.
In less than ten minutes, the police car crossed the forest. Todd saw the highway. He frowned and looked around. Were the suspects that fast? Very implausible. They had probably turned onto one of the dirt roads through the forest. This act would slow them down a lot, but it had the advantage of providing several different escape routes. Three police cars were not enough for such a chase. Todd bowed his head but immediately raised it.
"Patrol two to Town station. Take out the drone and look at the forest with the infrared camera."
"Todd, you'd better tell us what's going on there with you."
"Listen to me! Please!" Todd managed to turn his impatience into a sharp growl. "I drove like crazy but didn't see them at all. If they didn't go to the highway, now they are somewhere in the forest. Use the drone. I think we can see their car through the trees if we use the infrared camera."
He stopped and took a deep breath, "There are no other vehicles, I'm sure. Do it now, or they will go too far away."
Todd was pleased to hear silence. He went back and stopped when he saw the lights of the other two cars. They checked all the detours to the forest without finding any trace. The call from the town stopped this useless activity.
"Town station to all patrols. I see a stationary car by the lake, between Dave's houses."
"Smart people," Brian looked up at the faces of his colleagues one after another. "It is now clear why they stole so much food and drinks."
Stephen slapped the roof of his police car.
"We know where they are," he said, adjusting his glasses with his index finger. "This is the most important fact for us if you ask me."
The police cars crept along the gravel road. After a couple of kilometres, the flat terrain turned into a slope, and the water surface shone through the trees. The men stopped and continued on foot.
The lake has an almost triangular shape. Its thin side was near to the place where the policemen were standing. Eight wooden houses on its left shore were the remnants of Dave's dream. This lake was unattractive for the locals and for the tourists too. The buildings were almost invisible among lines of trees and bushes, growing freely without human care.
"The car is between the houses," Michael said. "The sixth and seventh from your point of view."
The police officers went to the buildings. Todd grinned soundlessly, watching Stephen's efforts to hide his height by squatting and hunching. The untamed greenery was enough to conceal all of them together. Brian was the last in the row, almost running in an attempt to follow the pace of his colleagues.
They crept along the line of tall bushes in front of the sixth house. Todd peered from behind the green wall and jumped back with narrowed eyes, biting his lip.
"We have a problem. There is sex in the car," he said, looking down at his shoes.
His colleagues looked at each other. One by one, they also glanced at the car. Todd was right. A woman was standing on all fours in the back seat of the Toyota. The man was behind her, leaning forward over her back. His body swayed. The movement was slight, almost imperceptible at the head, but intensified to the waist.
The police officers stepped back a couple of meters.
