[RJCE] t from the rack beside his seat

[Bibiano D. <tro...@um...>]

F the control seat. Suddenly, the fugitive car spun sideways, bogged in
the wet snow and muddy ground beneath and stopped. Clay bore down on it
and was about two hundred yards away when the canopy of the other
vehicle popped open and a sheet of automatic weapons fire raked the
patrol car. Only the low angle of the sedan and the nearness of the
bulky patrol car saved the troopers. Explosive bullets smashed into the
patrol car canopy and sent shards of plastiglass showering down on the
trio. An instant later, the bow cannon on the first of the cut-off
patrol units opened fire. An ugly, yellow-red blossom of smoke and fire
erupted from the front of the Travelaire and it burst into flames. A
second later, the figure of a man staggered out of the burning car,
clothes and hair aflame. He took four plunging steps and then fell face
down in the snow. The car burning and crackled and a thick funereal pyre
of oily, black smoke billowed into the gray sky. It was snowing heavily
now, and before the troopers could dismount and plow to the fallen man,
a thin layer of snow covered his burned body. * * * * * An hour later,
Car 56 was again on NAT 26-West, this time heading for Wichita barracks
and needed repairs.