by F J messina
Sonia turned back into the room. She saw the green numbers on the digital clock. 3:07 AM. “That son of a bitch,” she whispered. “Figlo di puttana. Son of a bitch. Ugh.” She pushed open the bathroom door. The light spilled over her, dissolving the seductive shadows in the room. She stepped into the bathroom and turned on the water as hard as she could. She scrubbed and scrubbed her face. She walked back to the bedroom, yanked off the silky top, wrestled off the uncomfortable bra, and tugged off the panties, which had found a way of creeping up into places they should never have gone. She tossed them all across the room, the top resting sprawled on the TV. She put on her much warmer dark blue pajamas with the pink lace around the neck and the bottom of the legs, said, “Son of a bitch,” one more time, and crawled into bed.
43
Sonia was rudely awakened by a knock on the door at precisely five thirty in the morning. After such a terrible night, her nerves were jangling. She popped out of bed and walked to the door. This time, when she looked through the peephole she saw Brad Dunham standing outside her door. The bastard had a smile on his face.
“What is it?” she asked. She knew her voice sounded less than entirely pleasant─just the way she wanted.
“Open the door.” It sounded like he was having fun.
“Why?”
“Because it’s five thirty in the morning and I’m trying to talk to you without waking up every other person in the hotel.” He was half whispering.
“Just a second.” Sonia stepped back from the door and ran her fingers through her hair. She put her hand in front of her mouth and breathed out, checking her breath once again, then opened the door a few inches. She stood there in her dark blue cotton pajamas, with the pink lace at the neck and the bottom of the legs. No way I was hoping you’d come knocking in the middle of the night, asshole, was the message she hoped her attire was sending.
“Well, good morning, Sunshine.” His smile broadened, and Sonia could tell he wanted to step into her room. “Listen, we’ve got to be ready to move out early if necessary. We have no idea what these guys will be up to today, and it may not even be today. We─”
“Wait. You mean we might have to stay here a whole day just waiting?”
“Could be.” He shrugged. “I guess it could be a couple of days.”
“Ugh.” She turned and walked back to her bed, finally letting him into the room, but scooting quickly past the TV to remove the silky top from its unseemly perch. Plopping down on the bed she asked, “So what do you want from me?”
His eyes roamed around the room as he spoke. “I need you to get dressed and ready to leave. We’ll go down to the restaurant and order some food to go. If we have time, we’ll stay and eat. If we hear that GPS alarm go off, we’ll just grab the food and run.”
“Sounds delightful,” Sonia said, using the same tone of voice people use when telling their dentists they understand why they need a root canal. She stood, waiting for Brad to take the hint. She felt him linger. “Okay, get out of here and let me get going.”
Brad looked at her, confusion darkening his expression. Then he seemed to let it go; he turned to leave. “Be ready to go in half an hour.” Just as he reached the door, however, he looked back at her. “By the way, you’re beautiful in the morning.” Then he slipped out the door.
“Son of a bitch!” Sonia shouted silently, as she threw a pillow at the door. Then she marched right into the bathroom, took off those freakin’ dark blue pajamas with the pink fringe at the neck and at the bottom of the legs, and jumped into the shower. When she got out, she simply ran her fingers through her hair, put on a marginal amount of mascara and lip gloss—just enough for her own self-respect—slipped into the same clothes she’d worn the day before, and walked out of the room.
Sonia knocked on Brad’s door, her light green duffel dragging on the floor. “Forty-five minutes,” he said as he opened it. “Not bad.” He nodded his head in the direction of the elevator. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs and get you some food.”
The restaurant was nearly empty at six-fifteen in the morning and chilly. The temperature had been turned down during the night and the space had not yet been warmed by any human-body heat. It was made even chillier by Sonia’s disposition.
She sat staring at the silverware that was waiting for its first use of the day. He looked across the table at her. “Not much of a morning person?”
“Depends,” she said. On who the hell I’m with.
Sonia watched him order an egg, ham, and cheese biscuit. She wound up ordering oatmeal in a Styrofoam cup. “Don’t order anything you can’t pick up and run with,” he’d said. They’d each ordered a large coffee to go as well.
They ate in silence. Brad was finished, and Sonia almost so, when the GPS alarm went off. “Before seven and our boy is moving out,” said Brad smiling. “I guess they’re still trying to make up for the deliveries they missed right after the Hensley thing.” He threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table and started for the door. “C’mon babe. Time to roll.”
Without a single word, Sonia stood up, grabbed the duffel bag and her purse, picked up her coffee, and followed.
Within a few minutes, they were able to use the GPS locator to find the truck, and Brad established a position a reasonable distance behind it. “I’m guessing this guy is going to drag us through some pretty heavy traffic this time of day.”
“Uh, huh.” Sonia’s reply articulately communicated a whole world of information. She was pretty certain that Brad’s silence indicated that he was getting the message. She twisted her lips. Or are you so wrapped up in yourself you didn’t even notice? She watched in silence as they drove on through the heavy morning traffic. Eventually, they were out of the city and on I-40, heading back toward Nashville.
“Bet that boy’s pretty tired after yesterday’s haul.”
Sonia watched the computer in silence.
A few minutes later Brad tried again. “At least we’re not following him in the rain or anything.”
Sonia let that comment go as well.
Finally, Sonia relented just a bit. “Looks like we’re on our way back to Lexington.”
Brad didn’t let the opening slip by. “Pretty sure you’re right. But I’d be surprised if it’s a direct shot. Who knows what this guy’s route really looks like.”
Sonia’s eyes never left the computer. One tiny break was all she was willing to give him.
They had ridden in silence for well over an hour when Sonia’s phone rang. She looked down at the screen. Her eyes flashed to Brad for an instant.
“Hello . . . .” Her voice was syrupy. “Oh, good morning, Johnny, how are you? . . . Well, I’m already out on the road for the day, but I hope to be back in town by mid-afternoon. Would you like to get together for dinner? . . . That sounds great, I’ll give you a call when I get into town and you can tell me where we’re going . . . . You have a great day as well, Johnny. I really look forward to seeing you tonight, you know, for dinner, and, well, whatever.”
Sonia ended the call. She looked straight ahead─silent.
A full minute went by before Brad asked, “Sergeant Adams?”
“Detective Sergeant Adams.” Her tone was terse. “He’s taking me to dinner tonight. I’m sure we’ll have a pleasant time. He’s a very nice guy . . . a real gentleman.”
Brad made no response. And although Sonia was dying to see what the expression on his face was like, she avoided looking at him in the same way she had avoided looking in the side-view mirror of the truck the day before. Silence filled the car for the next hour and more.
Around ten o’clock, just southwest of Nashville, Sonia looked down at her feet and noticed a change on the computer screen. “Wait a minute. Looks like the truck is leaving the interstate. He’s turning left. He’s heading north on 48.” She put the computer on her lap. “He’ll pass a travel stop almost immediately.”
“Okay, then.” She could hear relief in his voice. “We may well be on our way to the first dro
p-off.”
“I guess so,” said Sonia, mustering zero enthusiasm. “It looks like the road has a couple of big turns on it before it kind of straightens out.” Her foot started tapping.
The ‘Vette reached the interstate exit for Route 48. “This is us,” she said. “Get off here and start heading north.”
Brad maneuvered the ‘Vette off the interstate, turned left, and started following the truck’s GPS signal through some beautiful Tennessee forested areas and then past some small farms.
As much as she tried, Sonia was unable to keep herself from getting excited─and fearful. After several minutes, her tapping quickened. “It looks like he’s just turned left onto a real local road. I’ll bet it’s small and secluded, just like Pisgah Pike. And he must be going pretty slowly on the smaller road because we’re getting pretty close. Be careful not to run up on him.”
“Yes, ma’am” Brad responded.
Sonia noted the sarcasm in his voice. “Look!” she exploded, banging her fist on the ‘Vette’s console. “I’m pretty sure that guy saw us last night, and I damn well don’t want to run into some trap. So just be careful that he doesn’t see us now. Is that okay with you?”
Brad was silent for several long moments as he turned onto the road the truck had taken. Finally, he said softly, “Farms again. Use a feed and hay truck to deliver the drugs, you’ve got to deliver them to farms. But I don’t think these are horse farms.”
Sonia didn’t respond. They rode on in silence for several minutes, then Sonia said, “He’s stopped. I can’t really tell if he’s on the right side of the road or the left, but he’s definitely stopped. What do we do now?”
Brad slowed the ‘Vette to a stop. “Well, I’m guessing that as soon as he’s made his delivery, he’s going to head back to the interstate. That means he’ll be coming right back at us. There’s no big parking lot or anything for us to hide in, so he’ll eyeball us for sure. I think our best bet is to try to get close to the farm he’s on and then make a decision about whether or not we can drive past it without getting seen.”
“Right past the farm?” Her anger at Brad was starting to be overcome by her fear of what was about to happen next. Her foot was tapping again. She brushed a wisp of hair out of her face.
“Right past the farm . . . if we think we can pull it off. That way, we get beyond the farm, turn the car around, and wait for him to leave. We give him enough space as he drives toward the interstate and he never sees us. All we have to do is make a note about which farm he stopped at.”
“Sounds crazy to me,” Sonia said, almost inaudibly. Tapping, tapping, tapping. She was slouching down in the seat, her arms crossed.
Brad gave her a quick look, his eyes appealing for trust. “Look, I know it sounds risky, but we don’t have a lot of options out here. How far away from the farm are we?”
“Looks like it’s just around that curve.” It was not the answer she wanted to give him.
Brad inched the ‘Vette slowly forward. “Okay then, nice and slow, hoping no one comes up behind us, and we just creep our way around the curve until we get a sense of what things look like.” Eventually, they could see the farm.
Brad’s voice brightened. “Excellent. Look how long that driveway is. And it curves. I can just barely see the end of the truck. That’s the best we’ll get.” Without another word, and certainly without asking Sonia’s opinion, Brad hit the gas. The ‘Vette flew quietly past the farm at a speed that wouldn’t attract attention but that left only a few moments for them to be noticed.
As Brad pulled off the maneuver, Sonia kept her eyes down. She swallowed hard. I hate this.
When they were past the farm, Brad asked, “What was the name of that farm? Did you get any kind of address?”
“No.” She looked straight ahead.
Brad glanced at her quickly. “No?”
“No, I wasn’t looking.”
His voice rose and he glanced at her again. “Why weren’t you looking?”
Sonia’s head turned away from him. “You didn’t ask me to look, did you?”
Silence filled the ‘Vette for a moment. Brad’s eyes stayed on the road. “Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just fine.” Her arms were still crossed. She stared out the window. Nothing she saw registered.
“What’s wrong babe? What’s going on?”
Sonia hated that word─“babe.” She kept staring out the window. “Nothing. It’s just a lot of pressure, and I didn’t get any sleep last night. It’s just a lot to handle. I’ll be okay.”
Brad’s voice softened. “Yeah, you’ll be okay. I tell you what. As soon as this guy has gotten us back on the interstate we’ll try to find a place to get you another cup of coffee. And we’ll get the name of the farm as we drive out of here.”
“Sure.” Clueless. He’s so damn clueless!
Sonia watched as Brad tried to find a place to turn the car around. The country road was narrow and full of curves. Sonia realized that every place Brad might have tried a three-point turn, he would have been at risk of having some truck or farm vehicle come around a curve and T-bone them.
After passing on a few options, Brad did find a spot along a little bit of straightaway, and with a small patch of grass on either side of the road. “This will just have to do.” He cranked the steering wheel hard to the left. With a few other quick moves, he had the car turned around and pulled as far off to the side of the road as he could get it.
The ‘Vette purred quietly as they sat in silence, waiting for the truck to make its delivery and get rolling again. Finally, Brad asked, “Is it something I’ve done? Have I said something to hurt your feelings?”
Sonia let out a long breath. Oh, Dunny, don’t you know? Can’t you tell how you hurt me last night? Why did you make me think you might come to my room and then not show up? Why can’t you just be honest with me, one way or the other? She said nothing.
Brad was left with nothing to say as well. The silence in the car was palpable. It went on for minutes. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sounding of the GPS alarm. “Okay,” Brad said with noticeable relief, “Here we go.”
Sonia watched the blip on the GPS screen move closer to them as it came down the long driveway. Then it turned right. “It turned right.” Then with real alarm in her voice, “It turned right. He’s heading right for us.”
“No shit. Are you sure?” Brad leaned over to look at the screen.
Sonia pointed at the blip on the screen. The intensity in her voice rose. “I’m sure. He’s heading right for us.”
“Holy crap, what the hell is he doing?” Brad checked his mirrors. “Damn, we’ve got to get out of here.” He threw the ‘Vette into reverse, laid on the gas pedal, and took off backward down the road.
“Turn around! Turn around!” She couldn’t believe they were going backward.
“Can’t! No room! No time! Got to keep going ‘til we can turn!”
Sonia swallowed. She looked down at the screen. “He’s coming right at us. He’s coming fast. Faster than before.” The roar of the engine filled her ears.
Brad’s not-so-ex-Marine voice rifled the words. “GPS shows a place we can turn?”
“No, nothing changes on this road for forever.”
Brad kept the ‘Vette flying down the road backward, veering at times as he struggled to keep the car stable around all the curves.
“Still coming at us,” said Sonia, her voice now flat.
“Just keep watching, keep watching. Ho-ly shit!”
Sonia instinctively knew to turn around and look out the ‘Vette’s back window. Her heart stopped. Behind them was a large green tractor, pulling a flatbed that filled almost the entire expanse of the road. She screamed.
Careening toward the tractor, Brad had just an instant to react. “Hold on!” he yelled. He stomped the ‘Vette’s gas pedal as hard as he could. The four hundred and twenty-five horsepower engine made the ‘Vette respond as few cars in the world could. Brad cranked
the steering wheel hard to the right. That forced the car off the road, to the right of the tractor, and up one of the few grassy embankments the road offered. Flying more than three feet up the embankment, the ‘Vette was literally suspended sideways as it flew past the tractor and flatbed, held up only by the centrifugal force created by the powerful engine and the speed at which they were tearing up the soft surface of the embankment.
At the top of the arc created by his maneuver, Brad cranked the steering wheel hard to the left. Not only did that bring the car back down to the road, it threw it into a wild, one hundred and eighty-degree spin.
Sonia had closed her eyes just as the ‘Vette left the road. When she opened them, she found that they were facing almost completely in the opposite direction of the farm they had just passed. Whipping her head around, she looked out the car’s back window, only to see the tractor and flatbed still bouncing down the road, away from them. All she heard from Brad was, “Let’s get the hell outta here.”
44
Brad jumped on the gas pedal. The ‘Vette took off down the road, flying around hairpin curves. Sonia was thrown from side to side in her seat while Brad braced himself with the steering wheel. Both he and Sonia were silent for long seconds. Then Brad asked, “What are we headed toward?”
Sonia had lost control of the laptop. Reaching down between her legs, she pulled it back into her lap. She was relieved to see the blinking GPS marker. Manipulating the image as best she could as the car leaned hard left then hard right, she yelled, “Nothing but country roads out here!” Her foot, which had been trying to push its way through the floorboard a minute ago, started tapping again.
“Got to keep moving. Find something we can turn onto. Could be forever out here in farm land.” Brad was breathing normally again, but still sharply focused.
