Road Test

by David Wickenhauser

  There it is. All this to get the ride-along announced in her newspaper article. Hugh thought parts of Charlie’s made-up story sounded plausible. He’d give her credit for that. But nothing she said could overcome the sheer impossibility of the coincidence.

  Hugh clapped his hands, applauding her performance. Her great job of acting. “Congratulations. I bet that’s some of your best fiction writing yet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I don’t buy it for one minute.”

  “Hugh, really …”

  Hugh interrupted her. “It’s getting late, and I need to eat.”

  Hugh put a couple of his mom’s frozen dinners into the microwave and offered Charlie one of them.

  It made him angry to realize he was sharing his mom’s home-cooked meals with the hated reporter instead of his beloved Jenny.

  After eating, Hugh walked Charlie to the truck plaza for a final restroom visit.

  Charlie finished her business in the restroom. As she exited the Women’s, William came up behind her, grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her down the short hallway, around the corner to the maintenance area, out of sight of the store.

  Kent was right at her elbow as well.

  “Let go of me!” Charlie snarled at William.

  William let go of her arm, backed up a step, and held his hands up at shoulder level. “OK,” he said.

  “You son of a bitch!” Charlie said. “You were damn rough with me back there.”

  “We had to make it look real,” William explained. “Did the trucker buy it?”

  “Yeah, I’m on board … just barely, for now. That guy isn’t stupid. I think he sees right through my story.”

  “But he’s letting you ride with him?”

  “For a while. I don’t know for how long.”

  “OK. That’s good.”

  “Where’s Jason?” Charlie’s head had been covered with the bag during the roadside excitement, so she hadn’t seen the fight between Hugh and Jason.

  “He’s in the hospital. Concussion, and some internal injuries.”

  “I warned you.”

  William handed her a cell phone and charger. “Listen, we don’t have much time before the trucker gets suspicious. Take this.”

  He told her to be careful not to be caught with it. He had muted it. No ringer, no vibrating buzzer.

  “Make recordings if you can. And be sure to stay in touch. Keep us updated.” They began to walk away.

  But William turned back. “And don’t forget what we told you about failing. Don’t fail. We’ll be watching you. Get it?”

  Charlie found Hugh outside the entrance of the plaza.

  “Can you wait here a bit? I need to pick up a few things. Tooth brush, tooth paste, like that.”

  “Sure. You have enough money?”

  “Yes. I’ve got a little cash.”

  In their van parked in the passenger vehicle area of the truck stop, William had tapped the contact icon to dial Frank Rico at Rico Investigations. He and Kent had decided to stay overnight at a nearby hotel to make sure Charlie would be with the trucker when he left the truck stop in the morning.

  “Hello, boss,” William said, when the call rang through. “We’re done here, and we’re heading back in the morning.”

  “How did it go?” Frank asked.

  “She’s on board. The trucker is not happy about it, and he doesn’t completely buy her story. But, she’s got a ride, and that’s what counts. She knows what she has to do.”

  “Good work, thanks. Is everybody OK? Did your resistance look real enough?”

  “Jason is in the hospital. Does that answer your question?” William replied. “That trucker is pretty tough. I decided to give the girl up easily rather than get into it with him. I choose my battles.”

  “OK. Keep me informed with her updates.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The atmosphere in the truck’s sleeper that evening was more than a little strained between Hugh and Charlie. He hadn’t accepted her explanation for the huge coincidence of their meeting, and he had sensed she realized that.

  Charlie stood in the sleeper, looking every bit like someone who doesn’t know where to look, or what to do with her hands.

  But Hugh was fresh out of sympathy for the reporter. In fact, the more he thought about it the angrier he became. Her story didn’t hold up, and it relied way too much on implausible coincidences.

  “So, what happens now?” Charlie asked.

  “What happens now is you climb up into the top bunk, and you stay there until I decide what to do with you. There are a sleeping bag and pillow. You get up there and shut up.”

  “You don’t have to …” Charlie started to argue with him.

  “Look. I don’t believe for a minute we accidentally met on the side of a road in the Nevada desert. I don’t know how you managed to arrange it, but I don’t buy it. Coincidences like that don’t happen,” Hugh said, with anger rising in his voice.

  “Hugh, it happened exactly like I told you.”

  “Charlie!”

  “What?”

  “Drop it! One more word out of you that isn’t the truth, and I’ll put you out right here. Right now!” Hugh moved to the passenger side door to open it for her.

  “No. Hugh, please wait.”

  Hugh saw all of the big-city reporter composure he had seen in Charlie at their first meeting had evaporated, replaced by what Hugh could see was genuine fear. Surely she didn’t believe her own story about the mob.

  “Is there something you want to tell me?” Hugh asked.

  He could see conflicting emotions in Charlie’s expression. Fear, and resignation. Then finally acceptance that her ploy had failed.

  She nodded.

  Hugh sat in the passenger seat, which he had swiveled to face the sleeper. He gestured for Charlie to sit on his bed. She sat on the edge, obviously uncomfortable about it.

  “You can start by explaining why your need to write about us is so important you’d go through all this trouble to stage a kidnapping to get a ride with me in my truck.”

  “It actually isn’t about my investigative assignment.”

  “What?”

  “No. You need to know the followup article and the ride-along was never my idea. That came from my editors. They are the stupid shits who added the last paragraph to my article.”

  “That makes some sense,” Hugh admitted. He remembered he and Jenny thinking the difference in tone between Charlie’s two emails to Hugh had signaled something had changed.

  “Didn’t you think the article I wrote from our interview was a good one?”

  “Yeah, we thought so at the time.”

  “The problem is, I’m not being paid to write soft features. My editors were really pissed off about it because of the expense of the interview. They ordered me to do a followup.”

  “OK. Go on.”

  “But after I heard your message on my voicemail I had given up the idea of trying to get another interview with you … and certainly about getting a ride-along with you.”

  “That doesn’t explain why you are here now.”

  “That’s where it gets a bit more complicated.”

  Charlie repeated for Hugh as much as she knew about being contacted by Frank Rico of Rico Investigations, and the mission she was on for him. She told him she was tasked with getting a ride on Hugh’s truck, getting him to open up to her, and then digging dirt on him to report back to Frank.

  “Who’s this investigator’s client?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Hugh leaned over and started to open the passenger door.

  “Hugh, really. I don’t know.”

  Hugh kept his hand on the door handle.

  “Here. Look.” Charlie dug a cell phone out of the front pocket of her slacks. “One of their thugs handed this to me outside the restroom.” She handed it over to Hugh. “It’s my only contact with them.”

  “Thugs? The guys who helped you
stage the fake kidnapping?”

  “Yeah, the leader’s name is William. The other guy, the one you didn’t see, was Kent, and Jason’s the guy in the hospital.”

  “Hospital?”

  “Yeah, William said he’s got a concussion and internal injuries.”

  Hugh nodded. Sounded about right. He warned them.

  “Something is missing here,” Hugh said. “It still doesn’t explain why you are here. Why did you agree to go along with the client’s crazy scheme?”

  “Two hundred thousand dollars.”

  “What?”

  “They paid me a hundred thousand up front, and the rest when I give them what they want,” she said, and pointed to the cell phone in Hugh’s hand.

  “Sorry about you losing the second hundred thousand,” Hugh said. He was being sarcastic, not the least bit sorry.

  “I’m afraid there is more to it.”

  “Spill it.”

  “They have threatened me a couple of times now with what could happen if I failed. I think these guys are serious. I’m really afraid if I’m kicked out of the truck they will hurt me. That part of my story is true.”

  Hugh thought for a few moments, going over everything she had told him.

  “Wait a minute. How did you guys know exactly where I’d be, and at the exact right time?”

  “I don’t know. They didn’t share that with me.”

  Hugh’s hand began edging toward the door handle again.

  “Please stop doing that. You’re making me nervous,” Charlie said. “All I remember is William saying their insider at WestAm had given them your load information. That we needed to be in a certain spot at a certain time.”

  An insider. Could be anyone of dozens who worked in the Phoenix terminal who would have access to Hugh’s schedule, from dispatchers, to load planners, to fleet managers. Even the safety department could know where Hugh would be at a given time.

  But it still begged the question as to who was behind this, and why. A huge amount of money must be involved given the amount already been spent to get Charlie onto his truck.

  “Like it or not. You’re here now,” Hugh said. “Go ahead and climb up onto the top bunk.”

  Charlie did as she was told. Her demeanor was a far cry from the self-assured, composed, take-charge investigative reporter who Hugh and Jenny had first met. Hugh was now in charge. His rules.

  Hugh climbed into his own bunk.

  “Wait a minute,” Charlie said, as she was getting settled into the bunk above Hugh. “I just remembered. Where’s Jenny?”

  “The insurance company insisted I send her home for the time being.”

  “Insurance company?”

  “Yeah, we were in an accident in Phoenix. My carrier thought it best I don’t have a passenger along while attorneys are thrashing out liability for insurance purposes.”

  Having said that, the irony of Hugh now having a passenger, one who wasn’t Jenny, wasn’t lost on him.

  “Oh, wow,” Charlie said. “That’s it!”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know how I missed it. All this time I had been thinking this client’s big plot to get me aboard your truck had to do with your hijacking incidents.”

  “It wasn’t?”

  “No. It’s got to do with your accident in Phoenix.”

  Hugh was beginning to follow her reasoning.

  Charlie said, “I’m betting the client is an attorney looking for a big payout from your accident. That’s why he’s willing to spend so much money up front. The payout he’s expecting must be huge.”

  “Fifty million,” Hugh said, and continued thinking out loud. “It all makes sense now. An attorney representing the surviving husband has already filed a settlement claim, which my company has turned down.”

  “Then he’s going for a huge lawsuit,” Charlie continued Hugh’s thought.

  “But it wouldn’t have been successful. My carrier and I are being completely exonerated,” Hugh said.

  “So, there you have it,” Charlie said. “That’s exactly where I come in. I’m the key to the whole thing.”

  “No wonder they’ve spent so much money to get you here, and are threatening you to make you succeed. A lot of money is at stake,” Hugh agreed.

  “Those are the exact words William used when he first recruited me,” Charlie replied.

  “OK. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow. I’m tired and need to sleep,” Hugh said.

  But sleep came slowly to Hugh, as his mind kept turning over all of the implications of what he had learned since this strange meeting with Charlie.

  Chief in his mind was a fear that if the Rico Investigations client had been desperate enough to stage something as expensive and complicated as this fake kidnapping, when he learns it has failed might he be desperate enough to do a kidnapping for real?

  Would Jenny or some other member of his family be in danger?

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Hugh had forgotten to pull the window shades before bed. The dawning sun bored straight through his windshield, insisting he wake up. At the same time, Charlie stirred above him. Hugh would bet she hadn’t slept well, unaccustomed as she would be to such a different environment.

  He got out of his bed first, and told Charlie to hop on down. They’d go to the truck plaza for the restrooms and coffees.

  “I’ve got hard-boiled eggs here for us for breakfast. Would that be OK with you?”

  “Sure. I like eggs.”

  The mood in the truck was considerably less tension-filled than it had been yesterday evening. Hugh hadn’t worked out exactly what he would do about this strange situation thrust upon him by Charlie and her co-conspirators. But he was confident they had arrived at an unspoken, but mutual, agreement during their conversation last night.

  They walked together to the plaza. Hugh and Charlie both keeping an eye out for any sign of William or Kent stalking them.

  “We need time to talk, but I need to get on the road. So, I guess you are staying with me for a while,” Hugh said. “As long as we can agree you are no longer working undercover for the client, or as an investigative reporter for the newspaper either for that matter.”

  “Hugh, believe me. That’s over. Both of those things.”

  “Good to hear.”

  “And besides, I’m finding out you really are a decent guy.”

  “Yeah, that’s what all my female hitchhikers say.”

  “No. Really. You didn’t have to stop to help me during the fake-kidnap thing. You didn’t have to take on two guys like that. So, thank you. And if I can do anything to make this better, please let me know.”

  They were having this conversation as they walked back to the truck from the plaza.

  They sipped their coffees and ate hard-boiled eggs. As soon as they were finished, Hugh performed his pre-trip, cranked up the engine, and pulled out of the truck parking area.

  Neither of them had noticed the two men in a van watching them drive away. If Hugh or Charlie had spotted them, they would have seen the driver make a thumb’s up gesture to the other guy.

  Hugh got on the I-15 freeway going south, then immediately took the Bruce Woodbury Beltway exit to cut across North Las Vegas to hook up with Highway 95 North.

  “A Walmart is down the road here a little way,” Hugh told Charlie. We could stop there if you like, if you need to pick up anything. I know you don’t have anything, especially a change of clothes, toiletries and such.”

  “I’ve got my new toothbrush,” she said, as she held up the toothbrush she had bought at the truck plaza.

  “If you can hold off on stopping before we park tonight, we’ll be staying at the Walmart in Susanville. It’s exactly halfway to Portland, which is our destination. There isn’t an actual truck stop in the area, but the Susanville Walmart has a huge parking area, and the manager allows trucks to park overnight if they arrive late and leave early.

  “I’m good,” Charlie said. “I can wait.”

  “W
e’ll hit Portland the night after, and our deliveries are first thing the following morning.”

  In answer to the questioning look Charlie gave him, Hugh told her he’ll take her all the way to Portland, where it would be easier for her to catch a flight back to Boise.

  “We need to talk some more. I’ve been thinking we could come up with something that could help both of our tricky situations.”

  Hugh was still not used to the idea he was holding a conversation with the hated reporter Charlie, who was now sitting in Jenny’s seat in place of Jenny. He had to admit, though, he appreciated the Charlie he was talking to right now compared to the Charlie he and Jenny had known before.

  “Speaking of Jenny,” Hugh said. He caught Charlie’s look, and shrugged his shoulders. “I need to call her and let her know what’s going on.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, telling her I am riding in your truck?”

  “I don’t know what kind of relationships you’ve had, but Jenny and I don’t play games with each other. We’ve been through a lot more in the past couple of months than most people ever have, and we have a strong bond because of it.”

  Hugh put on his Bluetooth headset. At least Jenny’s side of the conversation would be private.

  “Call Jenny,” he told the headset.

  “Hey, honey.” Jenny answered sweetly on the first ring. “I was hoping to hear from you today. How is it going? Miss me yet?”

  Boy did he. More than she could know.

  Hugh looked at Charlie. She couldn’t hear Jenny’s part of the conversation, but he wasn’t comfortable with her hearing his part either. He decided to get right to it. Break the bad news.

  “Honey, I’ve got to tell you something.”

  “Uh, oh.”

  “Honey, listen, I need to tell you …”

  “Hugh. Spit it out.” Jenny was using her impatient voice.

  “Honey. Charlie is in the truck with me right now.”

  Silence.

  “Hi, Jenny,” Charlie spoke loudly so Jenny could hear her through Hugh’s microphone. “It’s me.”

  “Did I hear what I thought I heard,” Jenny said, with more than a little anger in her voice.