Blood Feud Read Online Free

while.”
    “That would be . . . I’d like . . . Yeah.”
    But we weren’t destined to. At that precise moment I noticed a gang of teenaged Bycrafts screeching around the T-junction of the Coastal Range Highway and the road to Big Town, in what could only be a stolen car.
     
     
     

Chapter 2
     
     
     
    Crammed into an unfamiliar late-model red Commodore, the Bycraft juniors zoomed off towards town at least fifty kilometres over the speed limit, the stereo blasting out horrible doof doof music. That was bad enough, but what made it worse was the identity of the driver – Chad Bycraft, a notorious car thief but not yet old enough to even hold a licence. The Commodore was definitely not one of the Bycraft family’s fleet of ancient rust-buckets, meaning that Chad had probably ‘liberated’ it from its owner in a shopping centre carpark back in Big Town.
    Not people naturally attracted to early rising, the fact they were driving around at this time of the morning meant a couple of things to me. They obviously didn’t plan on going to school today, and were probably returning home after spending an entire night rampaging around Big Town, a spree most likely started the previous afternoon.
    I immediately threw on the siren and lights and sped up after them, dodging around the other cars and semi-trailers travelling in both directions on the highway.
    “Hold on,” I warned Kevin tersely. He clutched the arm rest, his eyes round with fearful anticipation.
    I checked the mirrors carefully before I pulled out onto the other side of the road to overtake another law-abiding vehicle travelling at the speed limit.
    After a few more kilometres, it became obvious the young Bycrafts had no intention of stopping in response to our siren and lights. That conviction became a certainty when two of them stood on the back seat to press their bare butts against the rear window in a blatant show of disrespect. Kevin gasped a sharp intake of breath, shocked at the audacity, but I didn’t react, by now rather immune to their insolence.
    “I’d say Mikey’s and Sean’s butts judging from the shape,” I decided after a moment’s consideration.
    Kevin stared at me. “How . . . How . . .?” He probably wondered if we kept a database of butt shots as well as mug shots in this town.
    “God knows I’ve seen them enough,” I explained. “Bycraft boys aren’t shy about showing off their bodies.” I waited for a semi-trailer to zoom past us before pulling out to overtake a slow moving van. “Actually, come to think of it, neither are the Bycraft girls.”
    Chad performed a reckless overtake, forcing the car in front of him to slow down and drive half off the road to avoid a side collision with him.
    “They’re going to drive through town at that speed,” I noted through clenched teeth. “They’ll kill someone. It’s nearly time for the primary school to start for the day.”
    All I could think about was that my good friend’s darling little daughter, Toni, was one of those children at risk. And with that dream about Nana Fuller fresh in my memory, red rage swamped me as I imagined Toni’s tiny body being struck and broken by Chad Bycraft’s speeding car.
    “Shouldn’t you . . . You know . . . I just thought . . . We’re told . . .”
    “What, Kevin?” I snapped impatiently. “ What? ”
    An ugly burgundy flush blossomed over his neck and up to his face. “To call it in,” he managed to spurt, a little upset by my tone.
    “Nope, I’m not doing that. There’s no point. They’ll just tell us to abort.”
    “But . . . I mean . . . High speed chases . . . Sergeant Maguire said . . .”
    “I’m not calling it in, Kevin,” I said firmly. “We’ll deal with this ourselves. It’s our town and our problem.”
    Technically, we were meant to confer with the district communication centre in Big Town about a range of policing activities before we proceeded. But in reality the cops there inevitably proved patronising