Jackknife 23
Chapter 23 Contact
[ Index ]
[P] [1] [2] [3 [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
[11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
[21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]
Full of fuel and waiting on Ken to bring him some good news took the edge off. Cray veered away from I-90 and stayed on the network of state highways but made as much progress west as he could. If he rejoined the parade, they’d slow his progress.
It wasn’t long until the communications panel sounded an incoming call.
“Cray here. Who’s calling?”
“Cray, it’s Ken. I’ve been in touch with headquarters.”
“Good news or bad?”
“It is kind of a mix. They accepted your view on there being time remaining. “
“Good start. So what’s the bad news?”
“It seems you were at the same establishment as another driver during the storm. All indications point to you two crossing paths. This could be a major contractual violation.”
“You mean Rick? Yeah, we were at the same truck stop. He approached me. Had some pretty wild ideas about Silver Label.”
“So you admit talking to Rick.”
“I didn’t talk, just listened. Couldn’t get him to shut up about conspiracies. How did he get through your screening?”
“That’s a pretty thin excuse. I don’t know if headquarters will buy into it.”
“No excuse, just telling it like it was. He got so drunk I left him sleeping.”
“That’s going to be a hard sell. His rig was found a hundred miles south … abandoned.”
“I’m not really interested in wild man Rick. I want to know if I can still get paid if I make this delivery.”
“Yes, you are still eligible for all pay and benefits. But it is going to be a tight squeeze to make the distance and maintain the contractual limitations.”
“What are you talking about? Where are you, still in Billings?”
“The question is where are you?”
“Down the road a bit. Is your satellite tracking still not working?
“Let’s meet up at Saltese. Unless you want to got as far as Wallace or Coeur d’Alene.”
“Saltese? Tell me you haven’t been driving all night.”
“I have been keeping the rest schedule. There’s just no traffic out here yet, the snow is not all that bad. Easy driving.”
“O.K., we’re enroute. We’ll contact you with our ETA when we get closer.”
“I don’t need an estimated time of arrival. I’ll be looking for a parking spot and a place to get some coffee. You get there when you get there. But don’t make it so long I will miss my delivery schedule. Your not under the same rules for speed, right?”
“Point taken.”
Cray allowed himself a smile of satisfaction as his bluff worked. He’d have to hustle to make it to the town shown on the GPS ahead of his escorts.
[ Index ]
[P] [1] [2] [3 [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]