'Til Death Do Us Part (49 page)

“
Who are you?
”
a
voice asked tremulously, I almost fell backwards out the door.

“
Department of Transportation,
”
I said
, recovering quickly.
“
Doing
a vehicle inspection, I
’
ll only be a moment.
”

“
Where
’
s
Slight?
”
t
he female voice asked.

“
Umm cursory d
umpster inspection,
”
I answered.
It
was all I could think of on short notice.

“
Why are you wearing his clothes?
”

I was starting to get a little flustered that
I had been so blatantly caught.
I did the only thing I knew how to do, I went on the offensive. I was turning towards the sleeper portion of the cab as I was talking.
“
Is there a reason why you feel the need to ask so many damn questions?
”
T
hen I gasped. A young woman, more like a girl was handcuffed to a handhold.
“
Shit…
are you alright?
”
I asked going back towards her.
I stopped when she flinched.

“
Who are you?
”
She asked.

“
I guess I
’
m the guy that
’
s coming to save you. Do you know where the key is for those things?
”
I asked
,
pointing to her restrictive jewelry.

She was eyeing me distrustfully.
“
How do I know that?
”

“
Do you think I would be willingly wearing clothes that were three full sizes too small?
”

“
The cuff key is on his key ring,
”
s
he told me.

“
This key ring?
”
I said as I tried to fish them out of my pocket, but the pants were so tight
that
I couldn
’
t even fit two fingers in to try and pull them out.

“
You might want to hurry.
”

“
I
’
m trying, it
’
s like they
’
re super glued in place.
”

“
Horatio is on his way back.
”

“
Are you precognitive?
”
I asked.

“
What? No.
”
She thrust her chin towards the front windshield. Horatio was surrounded by three or four other truckers
. H
e was trying to talk
,
but his shattered jaw was making it difficult
.
However,
his slender legs seemed to work just fine as a growing throng was heading ou
r
way.

“
Turn away,
”
I told the girl, she again eyed me suspiciously but did as I asked. I undid my belt and rolled the top of my pants down so
that I could get to the pocket.
I ripped
the pocket completely
free
and
the keys plopped into my hand. I quickly rolled the
pants
back up as best I could and fumbled around until I got her cuffs off.

She rubbed her raw wrists.
I saw her looking at the passenger door.

“
I won
’
t stop you. Would you have a chance out there?
”

She shook her head
‘no’
.
“
You a trucker?
”
s
he asked.

“
I
’
ve driven before.
”

“
On a scale of
one
to
ten
,
ten
meaning you could qualify as an
Ice Road Trucker
and
one
meaning you like to pull on the horn, how would you rate your skill level?
”

“
Six maybe seven,
”
I stretched.

She looked at me long and hard.

“
Four.
”

“
Really?
”

“
Three and a half.
”

“
Move over,
”
s
he told me.

“
What are you like fifteen?
”

“
Twenty and I
’
ve had my CDL for
two
years.
”

I moved over.

Horatio and his growing throng started moving a little quicker when they noticed the twin stacks on his rig begin to blow smoke as my new traveling partner started the engine. I had no clue how she was going to get the truck
out of the massive parking lot.
I would have had a hard time with my jeep. There were people, gear
,
and trucks all over the place. She really didn
’
t care as she turned the big wheel and began to navigate us out of there taking out the occasional cooler or grill, a tent or two and maybe a few small cars, it was too difficult to tell as I kept my hand over my face a fair amount of the time.

“
Well I could have done that,
”
I told her as she smashed a small Geo against the front of one of the trucks.

She gave me the finger.

I heard a shot or
two and ducked down accordingly.
My
driver never did.

“
Warning shots,
”
s
he sneered.
“
They wouldn
’
t dare shoot me.
”

“
And me?
”
I asked.

“
You
’
d probably be better off ducking.
”

“
Who are you?
”

“
I don
’
t think you want to know.
”

“
Are you an IRS agent?
”
I asked her.

“
What? What
’
s the matter with you?
”
s
he asked. The cab was bouncing around
with
the truck hit
ting
its fair share of things as we approached the exit.

“
Are they going to chase us?
”
I asked as I looked in the side mirror.

“
Oh
,
I would imagine to the ends of the earth.
”

I turned to look at her.

“
Glad you got involved?
”
s
he asked
,
looking over quickly and smiling.

I smiled
back
weakly.

“
Oh they
’
ll chase me
,
mister.
”

“
Mike,
”
I told her.

She paused for a moment and stole a quick glance at me before she spoke again.
“
Okay
,
Mike, they
’
ll chase me…but not yet.
You’re
safe for the moment. I
’
ll drop you off when it
’
s safe and you can go about your merry little way.
”

“
Who will chase you exactly?
”
I asked, a pit of suspicion beginning to form in my stomach.

“
Listen
,
the less you know
, the better off you are,
”
s
he said to me.

“
Wow, that
’
s usually my line.
”

S
he again looked over at me—
this time a little longer as we had finally found our way
out of the station.
S
he was
right;
we did not have any company…
at least for the time being.

“
Listen
,
I came here with someone, I left him sleeping by the side of the road.
”

She looked at me incredulously. “H
e
’
s sleeping while you
’
re navigating your way through enemy territory looking like your blind momma dressed you?
”

“
Once you meet him you
’
ll understand.
”

I
directed her to where John was. H
e was still snoozing deep
ly when we pulled up. The girl—I guess young woman—
helped me to put him up in the cab and fi
nally the sleeper in the back. T
he truckers at the rest stop were watching us but none were in pursuit. I
could only think of one person
(
I mean
thing
)
that could put that much fear into people that they wouldn
’
t even act.

I went with the direct approach.
“
What
’
s your involvement with Eliza?
”

The truck which had just started rolling came to a quick halt.
“
Did you hear the trucker
’
s talking about her?
”

So my suspicion was confirmed. I could have done without that little affirmation.
“
Let
’
s just say I
’
ve had my own encounters with her.
”

“
Mike…
as in Michael Talbot?
”
s
he asked.
“
Well
,
I can see by
your reaction I got that right.
She
believes you
’re
dead.
”

“
Oh
,
if I had a nickel for every time someone thought I was dead, I
’
d have a quarter.
”

“
You really are Mike?
”

“
One
and
the same.
”

She looked disappointed.
“
I expected more,
”
s
he said as she got the truck rolling again.

‘
Well fuck you
, too!
’
I wanted to say.
“
Who just got your ass out of that jam?
”
I asked in defense.

“
Me.
”

“
Okay
, you drove.
Who
gave you the ability to do that?
”

“
You
’
re right
,
I
’
m sorry, let
’
s start over. My name is Azile,
”
s
he said as she stuck her hand out for me to shake.
I gave it a couple of pumps before she had to use it to shift gears.
“
We heading to Maine?
”

“
Are all those trucks heading there?
”

She nodded tersely.

“
Shit, Philly first.
”

“
Are you sure?
”

“
I promised John back there that
I
’
d look for his wife.
”