Serial by Tim Marquitz

hopped in his car. Isaac waited until Mendes started his vehicle, starting his at the same time.
    Mendes wasted no time. He zipped out of the driveway and roared off in the Chrysler. Isaac waited a moment, and then followed. The neighborhood was fairly closed off from the surrounding streets, so he could afford to sit back a little. Too close on his heels and Mendes would spot him.
    Isaac hung back and kept Mendes in sight, but the lack of traffic made tailing him difficult. The detective hopped on the highway as he wheeled his way toward the east side of town, but kept to the speed limit and stayed in the right-hand lane. The only time he shifted over was to pass a slower moving vehicle, but even then he used his turn signals. He was going out of his way to stay legal, and Isaac didn’t know if that was standard practice for the man or an effort to avoid attention. Whatever it was, it forced Isaac to shoot past him as he tried to use a speeding semi for cover. When Isaac slowed and got out from behind the big truck, Mendes was rolling down the off-ramp at the Zaragosa exit.
    Isaac slammed his fist against the steering wheel. He growled and hopped into the far-right lane, but the next exit was two miles up the road. There were too many feeder streets to even take a guess at which way Mendes had gone. There was also a lot of desert nearby.
    Despite the growth of the city and the push eastward, the area still had pockets of empty space between El Paso and its closest neighbor, Horizon City. Littered with strip clubs and low-rent bars, many of the residential areas were pushed into a circle around the area by zoning codes, leaving nothing but open fields or industrial lots. It was the perfect place to snatch a victim. The bar traffic having just let out, there would be plenty of opportunities, even with the public riled up and on their guard. There were also plenty of places to hide and wait. Isaac had lost Mendes.
    Tired and angry that he’d let Mendes slip away, Isaac returned home. He needed sleep. There would be time. If he was right about Mendes, Isaac knew just the right woman to bring Bane out of hiding, and he’d be waiting.

Chapter Fifteen
    Death came with the dawn.
    Isaac set his phone aside and groaned as he sat up in bed. Bane had struck again. It wasn’t the over-the-top slaughter Isaac had expected, but it was all the more disturbing for its subtlety. Rather than paint the streets red with blood, Bane had gone a step further and struck at the heart of the city. He had killed the mayor and his family…in their home.
    The captain’s furious voice still ringing in his ear, Isaac dragged himself into the shower, foregoing his morning coffee and his trip through the news channels. Garcia wanted him on scene immediately. Bane had already tipped off the networks, so there wasn’t any point in turning the TV on. It would only piss Isaac off.
    A half hour later, he was on scene.
    The streets cluttered with camera crews and reporters and dozens of people out for a show, Isaac was forced to park several blocks away and walk to the mayor’s house. He ducked his head and bulled through the crowd, ignoring the complaints and calls from the reporters. A quick flash of his badge and he slipped under the caution tape and made his way through the open wrought-iron gate that led to the driveway. It was barely less crowded there.
    Forensic technicians and uniformed officers milled about the front yard and driveway, some working to keep folks from sneaking in, but most were simply waiting their turn to work. Hurry up and wait. No one could do anything until Isaac finished his part of the job. He wasn’t looking forward to it. Despite himself, he felt his cheeks burning. Mendes had given him the slip and now the mayor was dead. More telling, the mayor lived on the east side of town, a short distance from where Mendes had turned off.
    It infuriated Isaac to think he had been so close to catching the detective in the act. Isaac