The Road to Round Mountain II - The Alliance: By C.G Roberts
Page 21
out one of the back packs that were loaded with C-4 explosives. To my delight, another backpack was behind the first one. I knew that there were three backpacks, but two just might do the trick.
The Captain regained his original upright position, wiping off the residue from
his mouth. I picked up both backpacks, one in each hand and showed off my find. “Looks like we can still make a certain Mountain go Boom”, I declared. The Sheriff smiled, but the Captain rained on his parade, “That’s great but Thomas had the phone that was going to set off the explosions. I don’t believe that we’ll find that phone in working order”, the Captain quickly blurted.
The Sheriff reached out for one of the backpacks to which I handed it over. He unzipped the top and rummaged for a moment before pulling out a phone with a sticker on the display. “Billy, open up the other one”, the Sheriff asked while showing me the phone he found inside. I obliged his request and took it to the light in the near corner and unzipped. I looked and smiled at the Sheriff and the Captain as I pulled out a similar phone with a sticker on its display as well.
“Bill, I’d say that th e phone issue has been taken care of, and we’re damn lucky that stuff didn’t go off earlier”, the Sheriff ended. “Okay, we have the boom boom stuff, just where are we supposed to put it? By the way, does anyone know how to get there, since I believe we’re about sixty miles from our destination”?
The Sheriff’s smile digressed into a sneer. The Captain looked at both of us
for an explanation. I was about to state that I’ve got nothing when it hit me, “What do you think the chances are that those vehicles parked out front just might still be in running order”, I offered? “That’s worth a shot provided that guy didn’t nuke them as well”, The Sheriff answered.
“So, are we going to head there now? I think that maybe after a few minutes
out in the fresh might help me clear my head a bit if you don’t mind”. The Sheriff and I exchanged nods and pointed our arms towards the entrance so the Captain could lead the way.
Coming outside was a great idea. It was still on the warm side, but the smell of anything other than what was inside was greatly appreciated. Looking back at the
entrance door or what was left of it brought back the nauseas feeling in my
stomach along with the sorrow of losing friends again.
The Sheriff went over to the Expedition and saw that all four tires were flat. I followed as he went over to the Blue Ford Explorer and found that all the tires were flat on that one as well. It must be contagious. The final vehicle was an older dark colored Buick regal. To our surprise as the Captain joined us, we found the Regal to be untouched.
The Sheriff went to the front of the car and popped the hood. I’m not sure
what he was looking for, especially in the dark, but who am I criticize. He reached
around for a moment then came back out and dropped the hood into place. “Looks like they forgot one fella’s it appears we have transportation”. Out of habit I reached in my jacket pocket and pulled out a smoke. The Sheriff and the Captain seemed to be willing participants a s well. I do remember the Sheriff having a smoke in the shower room back at the Jailhouse in Astoria, but I’ve never seen the Captain have one.
With the three of us puffing away, the Sheriff was staring at Bill, “Don’t look
at me in that tone of voice Walt, I know it’s been two years since I’ve had one, but damn”, as he pointed to the remains of Thomas’s fortress. Walt understood his stress level as he nodded.
Walt checked his phone and it was four a.m. “Well gents, what do you think?
It will take about an hour or so to get there and I know that we take highway 6 east until we hit highway 376 and head north. Does anyone have any suggestions”? Bill scratched his head to indicate he had nothing. The Sheriff was pondering but nothing came to mind. What was it that Thomas had mentioned to
Hank about the truck? I recall then talking to each other, but I seem to remember Thomas mentioning some name or letters that the truck drivers see on a sign so they know where to turn for deliveries. SBL, no, BSL, no not that either. CSL, that sounds right, consolidated something, maybe laboratory.
“I think we look for a sign that says, CSL, I know that the word consolidated
and laboratory is in there somewhere, then I guess we follow” I offered. “That sounds right Walt, I overheard a consolidated something, that must be it”, the Captain added. The Sheriff pondered that for a moment and replied, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a delivery truck and just drive up to the front door”, he said with a sly grin.
“I’ve seen that grin too many times Walt. Are you talking about what I think you’re talking about”, Bill inquired sheepishly? There was no response and that spoke volumes to the Captain. “Someone what to catch me up”, I was falling
behind. They explained to me about high jacking the truck that was making a delivery in a few hours. Perhaps I’ll be able to employ my expertise from grand
theft auto. Probably not, but it would be nice.
This would require some thought. Hooray, my first carjacking. I really
shouldn’t be this excited, but I was.
The first order of business was to make ourselves presentable upon inspection of our current condition of our apparel. The Sheriff went to the Expedition and opened the rear door and pulled out all three of our bags and or backpacks and handed it to us. “What do you think Walt”, Bill asked with
renewed enthusiasm? The Sheriff looked at Billy, “How much money you got
left”? Without hesitation I replied, “About fifteen hundred”.
“I say we grab a couple of rooms at that hotel we passed just passed where we had dinner last evening, get cleaned up, grab some grub then cuss and discuss then go blow that sucker right off of the map”, the Sheriff announced proudly.
The She riff and Bill were walking to the Buick as Billy finished his smoke. “Holy crap Walt where did he kid get that kind of money? What did he do, rob a bank”,
Bill wondered? The Sheriff just looked at Bill and replied, “Kind of, Yeah”. That
made Bill shake his head as they opened the doors to the Buick.
The keys were in the ignition, I was in the back seat with my backpack and the Captain was riding shotgun as the Sheriff was behind the wheel. The Buick roared to life much to the delight of those inside. The Sheriff maneuvered a U-turn, spun some gravel and we headed down the winding road to the highway.
4:30 a.m. traffic in Astoria would be almost nonexistent. Here in the middle of
nowhere it was nonexistent, which was fine by me since our latest encounter had
me shaken but not stirred. Yeah it’s late but I still tossed in a James Bond
reference anyway.
The curvy trail ended and the Sheriff took a left heading west on highway 6. Back to the bustling metropolis of Tonopah we came to the only building with any substantial lighting and it was the Mizpah hotel. It was a five story building that
looked like it could have been used for any movie set in the nineteen thirties. It had a casino inside which was fine for The Sheriff and the captain, but did me little good since turning 21 was just over three years away.
We parked the Buick out front along the side of the highway. It seems that this was by far the tallest building in Tonopah. We grabbed our gear and walked up a small incline to the entrance of the Hotel. I didn’t see many cars outside, but the Casino had a crowd of at least one hundred people. I was star struck by the fancy lights and noises as the sheriff had to yank on my arm to get me to follow.
“Billy, how about you give me a couple of hundred dollars. That should cover me and Bill, and I’ll use the rest to get your room as well. I was handing over the money that I pulled from my wallet, but pulled my hand back just a bit. “I want you boys to know that this is coming out of your allowance”, as I smiled at them. They did not appreciate my sarcasm and if the looks on their face could kill, I�
��d already be worm food. I handed over the money without any more fanfare.
I saw a gift shop and decided to venture inside since my humor fell on deaf
ears. I turned to the Sheriff and he and the Captain had broken out laughing. Okay, they got me on that one. The gift shop had a strange array of items for
sale. I was checking out some fancy decks of cards as a couple of people had come through a curtained door that led into adults only room. The clerk behind the counter notice my curiosity and said, “Don’t even think about it kid”.
I was not impressed with his mind reading abilities, although I was curious as to what was hiding behind the curtain. Having a short attention span came in handy as I saw three shelves just to my right that had various ball caps on them. An idea was brewing and was hoping that it would help us out a little later. I found three
grey ball caps with no writing on them, all adjustable to fit any size. I could have
chosen one that said, “I lost the Family Fortune at Mizpah casino”, but that would
not serve our purpose.
I purchased the hats much to the dismay of the Jabba the hut sized clerk that I
chose something without the word ‘Mizpah’ on it.
I joined the Sheriff and the Captain and showed them my find. I handed them each a hat and added, “Here, now at least we can pass for delivery drivers now”. The Sheriff took the hat and gave it a quick once over and replied, “Is this coming out of my allowance as well”. The Sheriff and the Captain giggled as I muttered, “Ugh, Kids”!
The Sheriff handed me my room key which was actually a key instead of the
ones that look like a credit card. We were walking down the hall from the lobby when my nose was invaded by the smell of bacon. It must have hit the Sheriff and Captain at the same time. The Captain looked up at one of the signs hanging from the ceiling and noticed the word buffet, and almost bolted if not for the Sheriff grabbing the collar of his jacket. “Hang tight there Bill, you look like you were just pulled from a fire”. “I was dammit, let’s eat”, Bill countered.
After a moment of clarity and the fact that we all looked like various forms of crap, it was decided that we hit the rooms and clean up and then eat. The Sheriff wanted to go over some last minute items concerning our future attempt at truck jacking.
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The water from the shower head didn’t hold much pressure and I could havecared less as it felt great . I took a quick peek in the mirror before I stepped into the shower and understood why Jabba the clerk kept an eye on me. I looked like a dried up version of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, when he crawled through that sewer pipe to escape.
Freshly showered and dressed I took a moment to try and send Jenny a quick
text. I rummaged through my jean jacket and came up with a lighter, a semi crushed pack of cigarettes and no phone. I dug into my backpack and found no signs of a phone. I did pull out a fresh pack of smokes since my current pack had issues with events earlier in the night.
My search didn’t take long since my current belongings are few. I was upset that I had no phone; it was my only conduit to Jenny. I wanted to talk to her; I needed to talk to her. She had a way of calming me down that I could really use right now. I miss her. I had told the Sheriff that I would only need fifteen minutes to get ready but I didn’t check what time it was when I came in the room. As I was about to leave the phone in the room rang.
I was sure that it was the Sheriff telling me to hurry up so I quickly answered so I could apologize. “Sorry Sheriff that it took so long, I was looking for my phone. I must have lost it at Thomas’s place”. There was silence on the other end. “Hello”, I tried again.
“Yes, I’m sure that your phone is still at Thomas’s, that was quite a show tonight wasn’t it”, the voice on the other end stated casually. “Who is this and how did you know about what happened”, I belted out in a panic? “Who I am is not important at this moment, but just remember that I know your every move and have since your arrival at Columbia Memorial Hospital the night you were struck by lightning”.
I didn’t realize that I was shaking so I got out a smoke and sat on the edge of
the bed. I needed time for this as I exhaled and pulled the ashtray from the end table and set it on the bed next to me. “I don’t blame you for being a bit unnerved and I too enjoy a good cigarette when I need to relax. I see that you smoke Marlboro’s; nice choice”, the voice just chilled my bones.
How in the fuck does he know what I’m doing? I took the phone with me to the window and didn’t really know what I expected to find but looked anyway. “Honestly Billy, I’m disappointed in you. Do you think for a minute that you could possibly locate me by looking out the window? It won’t do, it just won’t do”, the voice added. Now I’m freaking out. I don’t know who this is, but he knows all about me and can see me moving these outdated curtains to peek out the
window.
“Okay, so what do you want”, I tried to ask in a calm manner? “Want, what does anybody want? All I want is your cooperation, and by cooperation I mean total devotion to my needs. To summarize I will warn you not to proceed with your plans. This is bigger than both of us and once the picture becomes a bit clearer, you will come to understand my meaning, after all blood is thicker than water, don’t you think”?
There was a knock at my door. “You should answer that, but remember you can’t destroy your destiny. I’ll be watching” and the call ended. I felt confused, not to mention a tad violated so I cradled the phone and ran to the door. I opened it quickly and the Sheriff waved his arm to Bill to hurry up and get in the
room.
I shut the door behind them of course I may have slammed it, I don’t
remember. The Sheriff’s brows were burrowed as he looked at me with concern.
“What the hell just happened here Billy, you look as white as a ghost”. I was still shaking but didn’t realize it until I tried to put out my smoke in the ashtray. I sat on the edge of the bed and tried to explain and that wasn’t going to be easy.
“You mean to tell me that as close as we are to putting an end to this shit, this guy just calls out of nowhere and knows what we’re doing, and is telling you not to continue with our plans. This is getting too weird and he says he’s been watching you from day one”, The Sheriff asked as if he just got the wind knocked
out of him.
“This is scaring the crap out of me now. He even knew that I went to the window as if I would be able to see him”, I added. “The part that confuses me is what he meant about blood being thicker than water. That’s what relatives say to each at a family reunion”, the Captain offered.
I’m officially scared, confused and need a beer even though I don’t drink. “Oh crap Billy, I forgot to tell you that Jenny called and said she couldn’t get ahold of
you and was worried”, The Sheriff said in an apologetic manner. That was weird as well since I was just thinking about calling her and she calls me instead. “Did she say why she called so early in the morning”, I wondered?
“Here”, as the Sheriff tossed m e his phone. “She wouldn’t say but only that it
was important”. I called.
“Oh Billy, Thank god, are you alright”, Jenny asked but sounded flustered? “I’m fine, just real confused, are you okay”? “No Billy, I just got a call from some guy that said that it would be in my best interest to convince you to stop what you’re doing. He said that you should be proud of the work that’s being done and the weird part was that he made some bizarre reference that you should feel
what he feels because that’s how it is with twins, and that you would understand.
Do you have a clue what he’s talking about Billy”?
Twins are you kidding me! “I haven’t a clue except that he is somewhere
close to us and can see my every move which is freaking me out”, I replied. The
Sheriff wanted the phone. “Hold on sweetie, the Sheriff wants t
o talk to you”, as I handed the phone to him.
“What was that all about”, The Captain wondered? “Damned if I know, Jenny
said something that I should fell what he feels, and some shit about being twins”,
I was flustered.
I lit another smoke and the Captain joined me as I kept going to the window like I was actually going to see something. The Sheriff continued to talk to Jenny and I puffed away nervously. I kept playing back what Jenny had told me, perhaps a clue that might mean something. I came up with nothing except that it hit me when she said, “That it would be in my best interest to convince me to stop”.
“That asshole threatened Jenny, indirectly, but still a threat”, as I explained it to the Captain. I started pacing back and forth on what’s left of the Navajo design rug in the room. He better not hurt her. But what could I do since he already have her number and how in the hell did he have her nu mber? Should we just
quit and run back to Astoria to protect her. That would be a big fat no since I was
chased out of town.
“What did he mean about the twins thing Billy. Is he saying that he is your twin”, The Captain gave a shrug. “I’m clueless and scared. I’m scared because I’m clueless. Why the hell do these people keep popping out of the woodwork every
time we seem to have a handle on things”, I rambled?
The Sheriff ended his call to Jenny. “Well”, I asked impatiently? The Sheriff came a few steps closer and said, “She wanted me to give you something”, he said hesitantly. “What, what is it”? The Sheriff puckered his lips and made a smacking sound. “There, she said to give you a kiss and that’s as close as it gets”, he muttered with a grin.
That was somewhat disturbing to witness, but let the record show that the
message was relayed. “Okay, I’m having Jenny go over to my house and stay with
Anne. She is familiar with rule number one in home protection, Shoot first and ask questions later”, He offered. That made me fell somewhat better since I knew that she was a good shot since the sheriff was the one that taught her.