Dangerous Mountain Mission, page 13
She glanced over at the two thugs as she struggled to get a deep breath because of the panic she felt. “How are we going to get out of here? They’ll follow us for sure.”
Both directions were miles and miles of rural roads, with only tiny towns dotting the landscape. There might not even be that much.
“I need time for this drug to wear off, and we need to find a safe hiding place for that hard drive. They got their drugs back. That’s why they didn’t kill us outright. If they find the hard drive on us, we’re dead.”
His words sent a new wave of fear through her. She finished pumping the gas. The man in Dale’s four-wheel drive, Larry, had parked away from the truck stop. The highway patrol must have not been able to detain him as long as it took to question him.
“Jesse, what do we do?”
“Let’s go inside the truck stop and sit until we can figure something out,” Jesse said. “I need this brain fog to go away before we try anything.”
With the men still watching them, Abigail got behind the wheel and pulled the van closer to the truck stop. She felt the weight of the hard drive against her stomach in her pocket.
The thing that could prove Jesse’s innocence was also the thing that would get them killed.
* * *
Once they were parked close to the truck stop, Jesse got out of the van and waited on the sidewalk for Abigail. It still felt like his brain was scrambled eggs. They walked into the truck stop together. He chose a table in the middle of the room, one that would not be completely visible from outside.
A waitress who looked like she couldn’t be more than eighteen came over to them. “What can I get you folks?” Her name tag said Taylor.
“Is a waitress named Mary still around?” Abigail scooted forward in her chair.
“Mary went off shift about ten minutes ago,” said Taylor.
“I’ll have a coffee.” Jesse glanced at the menu, choosing an item at random. “And the breakfast burrito looks good.”
“I’ll have the same,” said Abigail.
Once the waitress left to go put in their order, Jesse’s gaze rested on Abigail. “Who’s Mary?”
“Just a waitress who was helpful. She called the highway patrol for me. Maybe we could do that again.”
“Maybe, but we need a phone.” He wasn’t sure about getting the locals involved. He’d used a credit card to pay for the gas and the bed-and-breakfast. DEA would be able to track him and might have alerted the locals that he was wanted. If he was in a jail cell, it would be that much harder to prove his innocence, and Abigail would be in danger. “I think we’re better off figuring this out on our own.”
“Thank you for coming for me and getting me out of there. That was brave.” He couldn’t hide the admiration and even affection that he felt for her in that moment.
“Like I said, we’re in this together, right?”
He liked the softness in her eyes when she gazed at him.
“Another agent couldn’t have done better than you did, Abigail.”
Color rose up in her cheeks. The rosiness made her look even prettier. “I know you would do the same for me.” She stared at the table for a moment.
His heart fluttered. Jesse cleared his throat, breaking the intense moment of attraction that had formed between them.
The two men who had held him captive came into the café. They took a table that gave them a full view of where Jesse and Abigail sat.
Abigail stared at the table. “We’re trapped here. What do we do now?”
The waitress set down their coffees. “Cream and sugar are right by the napkins there. Your order should be here shortly.” She walked away.
Jesse waited until she was out of earshot to answer. “I’ll think of something.” He poured cream and sugar into his coffee.
Abigail tilted her head toward one of the big windows. “Our van is being watched by the guy who took Dale’s four-wheel drive.”
They were trapped. Every move they made would be known. Nothing would happen to him or Abigail as long as they stayed where there were witnesses, but they couldn’t stay here forever. He had to think of some way for them to escape.
They sat through the coffee and the meal with the two men watching them. Jesse could feel the weight of their stares as he dipped his last bite of burrito. His head had cleared enough for him to start to generate a plan. The café connected with a shop that sold things truck drivers might need.
“For starters, we’re going go over to that store and get a pay-as-you-go phone,” he said.
“Oh, good, I was afraid we were going to have to order more food.” Abigail wiped her mouth and tossed her napkin on the table.
They stood up. He could feel the gaze of the two men on his back as he went to the counter to pay his bill. They entered the shop and walked toward the sign that indicated where the phones were. When he looked over his shoulder, the dark-haired man had left the table and was moving toward the shop.
They selected a phone and walked up to the counter. The thug meandered through the shop, positioning himself so he could keep an eye on them.
Jesse stared through the window at all the semitrucks, some parked, some fueling up and some getting ready to pull out. They had to do something unexpected.
He squeezed Abigail’s elbow as she turned away from the counter where they had paid the clerk. Outside, across the lot, a trucker crawled into the cab of his truck, clearly getting ready to pull out.
He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Run for it.”
He took the lead, sprinting toward the door that led outside. The truck’s wheels had already started to rotate.
The thug from the shop raced after them. He grabbed the hem of Abigail’s jacket. Before Jesse could react, Abigail whirled around, kicking the man in the shin hard enough to make him let go.
Though moving at a snail’s pace, the truck was rolling through the parking lot. Abigail leaped up on the running board and swung the door open. “Can I have a ride?”
The truck driver gave a one-word answer Jesse couldn’t decipher.
She crawled in. Jesse raced alongside the truck, jumped up on the running board and climbed in.
“My friend is coming with us,” she said. “Hope you don’t mind.”
The truck driver, an older man with white hair and a bushy white beard, looked stunned but kept driving. “What are you two kids up to?” Suspicion colored his words. “Are you running from something? I got a sidearm right down here if you think you’re going to try anything.”
Jesse stared out the window. Larry, in Dale’s four-wheel drive, had pulled up to get the dark-haired man, who had followed them out of the shop.
“We’re not kids. We’re with the DEA and we’re on a case.” He included Abigail because it had begun to feel like they were partners in this whole thing, even though she wasn’t really an agent.
The truck driver pulled out onto the road, gaining speed. “Can I see your credentials?”
“I’m undercover. I don’t have them with me.” Jesse realized how phony his story must sound. If the guy stopped and made them get out, they’d be picked up by the thugs.
“Please believe us. We’re not out to harm you in any way,” Abigail said.
The truck driver gave them a nervous glance and then stared straight ahead at the road for a long moment before he spoke up. “Well, ain’t that a fine kettle of fish. No doubt, you’re working on slowing the drug traffic in and out of the Bakken. That place is a hole. I deliver up there. That’s where I’m headed right now.”
Jesse checked the side-view mirror. The two cars were following behind them.
“I don’t suppose you’re stopping anywhere along the way.” Jesse stared at the phone, which was still in its packaging. If he could get in touch with Dale, he might be able to come and help them.
The truck driver shifted gears. “I usually pull over for a few minutes to stretch my legs. Got a schedule to keep, you know. My name is Tony, by the way.”
The man seemed to be warming up to them. “I’m Jesse and this is Abigail.”
“So you two are with the law?”
“I am,” said Jesse.
Tony’s forehead crinkled. “She’s with you because...?”
“It’s a long story.” Jesse glanced over at Abigail. “She’s been a tremendous help to me.” Jesse reached over and patted Abigail’s leg. “She’s a very capable woman.”
She offered him a warm smile, which sent a charge of electricity through him. She really was quite wonderful.
While Abigail and Tony made small talk about things they had in common, Jesse took the pay-as-you-go phone out of the packaging and activated it. He stared at it. “No signal.”
They passed a sign that indicated a rest stop was twenty miles up the road.
“I’ll be pulling over there just for a few minutes,” said Tony.
A vague plan had started to form in Jesse’s mind. He was certain the men would follow the semitruck into the rest stop. He prayed there were enough people parked at the rest stop so the men would not be able to abduct them as long as they stayed out in the open. But what then? Could they try to get to one of the vehicles and escape that way, or should they stay with the truck driver? Tony seemed like a decent man. He sure didn’t want to put him in any danger.
Tony slowed his rig and hit his blinker, veering toward the exit ramp that led to the rest stop.
Jesse took in a deep breath and prayed for a clear escape route.
THIRTEEN
Abigail wondered what Jesse was thinking as Tony brought his big truck to a stop. Jesse had been staring at the phone for several minutes.
“I’m only here for five minutes,” said Tony. “Long enough to use the little boys’ room and stretch my legs.”
“I think we won’t need to ride with you any farther,” said Jesse. “Your help has been much appreciated.”
Tony pushed open the door. “All right, then. I wish you all the best in the world in catching the bad guys.” Tony hopped down.
Abigail gripped Jesse’s arm. “What are we going to do?”
Jesse opened the door.
Abigail tensed as Larry in Dale’s four-wheel drive pulled into the huge parking lot. A man was also in the passenger seat.
“I’m not sure yet.” He glanced around. “There are people around here. We’re safe as long as we stay out in the open.” He lifted the phone. “Looks like I can get a signal here. I need to get in touch with Dale.”
The rest stop wasn’t exactly teeming with activity. There was a motor home parked in a far corner. An older woman walked a tiny dog on a leash around the motor home. Another semitruck was pulled over at the edge of the parking area. No sign of the driver. He must be sleeping. The only other car contained a family with three kids, two running around, a boy and a girl not more than seven or eight years old. Another older child sat in the back seat of the car, his head bent as if he was reading something. Two people who must be the parents sat on a bench, looking at their phones.
The rest stop was not visible from the road due to a line of tall evergreens.
Before they had even gotten down from the truck, the car that contained one of the two men who had held Jesse captive pulled into the parking area on the opposite end of the lot from the four-wheel drive. The men had positioned their cars so that they were on either side of Tony’s semitruck.
The dark-haired man got out of the four-wheel drive and paced the sidewalk by the bathrooms.
Once again, their every move would be watched. Would this be a test of wills to see who blinked first?
With Jesse walking beside her, the two of them headed toward the sidewalk, keeping their distance from the thugs. Jesse slipped his hand into Abigail’s and led her toward the now-empty bench. The mom and dad had put their phones away and gotten up, and were calling to the two children running around to get back to the car. Tony came out of the bathroom, waved at them and then got up into his rig. He pulled back out onto the road.
Jesse started to dial Dale’s number. He glanced at the thug on the sidewalk. “I don’t know how long it is safe to stay here.” He held the phone to his ear while it rang on the other end.
“What if we tried to get the car that only has one guy in it and make a run for it?”
Jesse shook his head. “Those other guys would be on us so quick.”
“Even with these people around.”
“I don’t know. It might work.” Jesse drew his attention back to the phone. “Hey, Dale.”
Though she could only hear one side of the conversation, Abigail gathered the gist of the exchange. Dale had been doing lots of research and making calls. The thug Dale had overtaken at the cabin wasn’t talking, though he had a record a mile long. Agent Frisk was working operations in the Bakken and had been doing so on and off for over two years. Jesse’s name had been so sullied that it would be hard to find an agent high up in the chain of command who didn’t think he was guilty. Jesse described the truck stop where they were.
He clicked off the phone. “He’s going to get here as fast as he can.”
The old lady who had been walking her dog disappeared inside the motor home. The mom and dad had gathered up their wandering children, gotten into their car and were backing out, headed toward the road.
A tense hush seemed to fall over the entire parking lot. She watched the taillights of the car that contained the family disappear behind the trees that blocked the view of the road.
Larry, the thug in the four-wheel drive, got out of the car and edged toward them. The third man got out of his car, as well.
Abigail glanced at the semitruck and then the motor home, which had its curtains drawn. She prayed that another car would pull into the rest stop or that the people in the motor home would come back out.
Jesse whispered, barely moving his mouth. “Back away. We can’t run toward the road. They’ll cut us off.”
“Maybe we can get to the motor home,” she said. She didn’t like the idea of putting the old woman in any danger.
Together they both burst to their feet just as the men made a run for them. Their path to the motor home was cut-off.
“Let’s try to circle back around,” said Jesse.
They hurried to the back of the rest stop, which had a small pond with ducks swimming in it. Jesse ran toward the trees that surrounded the water.
Abigail glanced over her shoulder. The men emerged from either side of the building. They wouldn’t be able to get back to the parking.
They ran for ten minutes. The men stayed close at their heels.
A single gunshot reverberated behind them. They ran out into an open field. Two of the men, Larry and the dark-haired man, chased after them. The soil in the field had been turned over for planting. Their shoes sank down in the soft dirt. Jesse raced toward a corner of the field, where a piece of farm equipment stood.
One of the men fired off another shot. The bullet came so close to hitting her that her eardrum felt like it had been hit with a tiny mallet. Reflexively, she drew her hand up to her ear.
Jesse sprinted toward the enclosed tractor that sat in the corner of the field. He jumped up and swung the door open. “Get in.”
The men were about forty yards away.
Abigail climbed into the cab of the tractor with Jesse right behind her. He gripped the steering wheel and stared at the control panel, and then at what was probably a gearshift. “How do you operate this thing? We’ll just take it to the edge of the field, so the farmer can still find it. It’ll provide cover and give us a head start.”
The men were getting closer. One of them had stopped to raise his gun again.
Abigail looked at the dials on the tractor and saw a key. She turned it and the tractor roared to life. “Looks like you have a clutch and a brake down there.”
A bullet pinged off the metal of the tractor cab as it jerked into motion.
Abigail slipped lower in the seat. Through the back window of the tractor, she could see the men still running toward them.
Jesse increased the speed of the tractor. “This isn’t exactly NASCAR.”
They were maybe going fifteen miles an hour. Though the men continued to run after them, they slowed as the distance between them increased.
She lifted her head and craned her neck. The landscape was completely flat. The men were still making their way across the field, though they had become small figures in the distance.
The tractor bumped along. There wasn’t really any road around here.
“Take my phone and let Dale know what’s happened.” Jesse recited the number for Abigail. “The other guy must have waited back at the rest stop. I don’t want Dale to run into an ambush.”
Dale picked up on the first ring. “I’m on my way.”
Abigail told him the situation, explaining they had run at least a mile behind the rest stop, with no roads or landmarks in sight.
Dale paused for a moment. “I can’t find you unless you can get up to a road or some landmark that would show up on GPS.”
She stared out at the barren land. There was not so much as a farmhouse in sight, let alone a road they could identify. “We’ll let you know as soon as we’re in a place where you can come to us.”
“Let me look at a map on my phone and see if I can tell you where the closest road would be in relation to the rest stop and the direction you ran,” said Dale. “I’ll call you back.”
“Okay.” She clicked off. Their phone was a cheap model that wouldn’t pull up any maps. Would an area as remote as this even be mapped?
They came to the edge of the field.
The tractor motor made a grinding noise as the flat land turned into rolling hills with tall, thick, wild grass.
“We better get out,” Jesse said. “The farmer needs to be able to find his tractor when he comes looking for it.”
