Highway Robbery Read online

  "If you say so, Uncle Matt," answered Tony, but he seemed a little uncomfortable with the idea.

  Just after Tony left, a woman entered Matt's office. In her mid-forties, she was tall and fair with light brown hair. Her jeans and work shirt were grease stained.

  Matt smiled. "Pat! Come in, sit down. This is Joe Hardy. He'll be learning the ropes in the garage. And his brother, Frank, here, is going to crew with you as your helper. Boys, meet Pat Mulvaney."

  As they exchanged hellos, Pat noticed Joe staring at her. "Something wrong, Joe?"

  Joe's face got red. "Well, no - I figured - that is, you're a woman!"

  Matt laughed. "Say, you are a detective, aren't you! She's a fine driver, too. And she happens to be my wife's sister. She's someone I need and trust. So I want to let her in on why you two are here."

  Pat listened, looking Frank over carefully as Matt explained. "You look healthy enough," she said with a smile. "It's about time Matt got someone to help get those crooks." Pat turned and headed back out the office door. "When you're finished talking with Matt, come out to the garage and I'll start your lessons."

  After she'd gone, Joe said, "Mr. Simone - "

  "Please. Make it 'Matt.' "

  "Okay, Matt. I'm sure you're right to trust Pat about who we are, but - "

  "Pat's my right arm around here," Matt interrupted, frowning.

  Frank could see how defensive and gruff Matt was, but they had to get him to understand how important it was to maintain secrecy. Leaning forward, he tried to pick up where Joe had left off. "Matt, what you have to understand - "

  Frank stopped abruptly as a shrill scream from the garage echoed through the room!

  Chapter 5

  Matt jumped up and ran out of the office into the garage, Frank and Joe at his heels. The workers inside were staring at Pat Mulvaney, who was comforting a pretty dark-haired girl. The girl was shaking and trying to hold back tears.

  "I - I'm s - s - sorry, I - it was just that I didn't expect it ... " the girl stammered.

  "What happened?" Matt demanded when he reached them.

  Pat's face was grim. "Teri wanted some papers that I'd put in the cab of this truck. She opened it - and found this."

  Pat reached up into the cab and pulled out a large rat with a paper tied around its neck. "Is this someone's idea of a joke?" she asked no one in particular.

  Joe took the rat from her and handed it to Matt.

  "Is it - is that - real?" Teri asked with a small shiver. "Is it - dead?"

  "It's not real," Joe reassured her. Just then he took a good look and noticed how cute Teri was, even though she was still terrified. "It's just an imitation, the kind of thing you'd buy in a joke shop. But it does look gross, all right."

  Matt opened the note and studied it. Frank and Joe leaned in to read what had been printed in large block letters. It said: "RATS GET HURT WHEN THEY WON'T WISE UP."

  Matt crumpled the note in his fist, his face red with anger. "When was this put here? You have any idea?"

  "It could've happened any time since I pulled in yesterday," said Pat. "There've been a lot of people around."

  Matt turned to the girl. "Teri, are you all right? It was just someone's bad idea of a joke, that's all."

  Teri smiled weakly. "I know, it just caught me by surprise. What does that note mean? It sounds like a threat. Is someone mad at Pat?"

  Matt shook his head. "No, honey, it's supposed to be a joke, and the joke is supposed to be on me." Joe was hoping Matt would explain what the so-called joke was about, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it. Matt just smiled at Teri and changed the subject. "Oh, hey, let me make some introductions, here. Frank, Joe, this is Teri Yarnell. She works with Felix on the books. Frank and Joe Hardy are our newest employees, Teri. Joe and Teri, you two come with me. Frank, stay here, and Pat can start showing you the inside of the cab of a big rig."

  Frank didn't miss the sudden interest his brother was showing in Teri, and he smiled as Joe instantly struck up a conversation with her.

  "Frank," said Pat, "hop up in the driver's seat, and I'll show you around."

  Frank climbed up into the cab - and it was a climb. The seat was a good six feet off the ground, and Frank had to make his way up a series of metal rungs and footholds built into the cab wall. As he sat behind the wheel, he realized for the first time the wide view of the road a big rig driver has. On the dashboard in front of him was a bewildering collection of switches, knobs, dials, and lights.

  Pat sat in the passenger seat. "Now, this particular truck has a standard or stick-shift transmission," she began. "You know what that means, right?"

  Frank nodded. "It means you push in the clutch pedal to change gears." He tapped the pedal with his left foot.

  "Right," said Pat. "Except in these rigs, you have to double-clutch - push the pedal once to get out of a gear and then again to get into the next one. Some trucks have automatic transmissions, but I don't care for them. Most truckers don't. Shifting is where we get one of the names we call ourselves - gearjammers. We do a lot of shifting. This truck has twelve forward gears. For the first six, you move the stick on the floor here, like this." She demonstrated the six gears. "And then you pull this lever and go through the same motions for gears seven through twelve.

  "The cab is hooked to the trailer with what we call a fifth wheel - that big round thing you can see out the back window, there. See it? Okay. When you back this up into position in front of a trailer, a heavy pin in the trailer - the kingpin - locks into the notch in the wheel, and you're attached. Then you hook up a lot of cables and wires, so you can control the lights on the trailer from the cab. And the air brakes, too, of course."

  "Whoa! Slow down a little," said Frank, holding up his hands. "I'm still trying to figure out twelve forward gears."

  "Oh, don't worry, Frank," Pat told him. "You won't be driving an eighteen-wheeler for a long time yet." She pointed to some of the controls and gizmos and went on. "This light warns you if your fifth wheel connection is loose, and this shows the pressure in your air-brake cylinders. This toggle switch here controls - "

  "Pat - "

  "The safety lights. Over here - "

  "Pat! Hold on a minute!"

  "Am I going too fast?" she asked with a grin.

  "Even airplane cockpits aren't as complicated as this," Frank said, shaking his head.

  "Learning how to drive a truck like this one isn't like learning to drive your dad's car. It takes years to learn how, and a lot more years to get to be as good as I am."

  "How long have you been at it?"

  Pat laughed. "Never mind! Quite a while. I've got almost two million miles behind me, if you want to put it that way."

  Frank whistled. "Two million!"

  "Pat! Frank!"

  Frank turned at the sound of the deep voice and saw that Matt was standing by his office door, motioning to them. "In here!"

  Frank and Pat climbed down and went to the office. Joe was already there, standing beside Matt's desk.

  "Ultratech has a shipment to go tomorrow," Matt told them. "The trailer will be loaded and ready by mid-afternoon. Pat, are you willing to take it out late tomorrow afternoon?"

  She glanced at Frank. "Sure, if my helper is."

  "I'm game."

  Matt asked, "Got any ideas on how to keep the shipment from being swiped?"

  Frank shrugged and thought a moment, then he asked, "Have all the trucks been stopped on deserted roads?"

  "Yes."

  "Will there be any deserted stretches tomorrow?"

  Matt handed Pat a sheet of paper, which she studied for a moment before saying, "There are a few spots that are pretty deserted."

  Frank met his brother's eyes. "If you and Tony could follow us in the van, we could keep in touch by CB. We might be able to trap this gang."

  Joe nodded. "We'd have to stay far enough behind so we wouldn't be seen, but close enough to get to you fast if trouble happens. Maybe a mile behind you."
<
br />   "Let's say two, just to be sure you won't be spotted. You could still get to us in a couple of minutes."

  "Then what?" Matt asked, frowning. "Say there are four guys, like the other times. There'd be four of you against four of them. With the numbers even, how could you be sure they wouldn't get the shipment?"

  "We figure the gang counts on overpowering a driver and getting away fast," Frank said. "The first time they run into organized resistance, they're likely to scatter. If we're lucky, we should be able to bag some of them. At the worst, we'll keep the shipment."

  Matt didn't look convinced. "That's what you think, huh?"

  "Right," Joe replied firmly. "That's what we're here to do, isn't it?"

  "Well - okay," Matt finally said. "I just hope you - "

  The door to Matt's office swung open, and Frank and Joe watched a man in jeans and a T-shirt stride in. He was tall and well-built, with reddish blond hair and a baseball cap pushed back on his head. His expression was angry and worried.

  "What's this about Mike being in the hospital?" he demanded.

  "You ought to knock, Hal," said Matt. "He's going to be all right."

  "Matt, I told you I should be driving that Ultratech stuff!"

  "Then you'd be in the hospital instead of Mike," Matt replied tersely. "Guys, meet Hal Brady, one of our drivers. Hal, Frank and Joe Hardy."

  Frank stuck out a hand. "Glad to - "

  Hal ignored him. "Well, I'm going to take the next shipment, right? Those creeps wouldn't take my truck, I can tell you that!"

  "Pat's driving the next load, Hal," Matt told him. His tone left no room for argument.

  Hal's face reddened, and his fists clenched at his sides. "Matt, this is crazy! A woman in a situation like this - "

  "Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself," Pat snapped.

  Frank looked over at Joe, who gave a slight shake of the head. It was obvious his brother felt just as uncomfortable as he did.

  Hal's voice rose. "Matt, you've got to - "

  Matt cut him off, slamming his hand down on the desk with a loud thwack. "Enough! As long as I'm running this business, I'm making the decisions around here. And I say Pat is going to take that shipment!" His jaw was clenched tight, and veins in his neck stood out.

  For a second Joe thought Hal might leap across the desk at Matt, but he just growled, "You won't have a business if you keep making dumb decisions like this." He turned and left the office.

  There was silence for a moment. Finally Pat said, "Well, I've got to get some work done on that engine. Frank, see me when you're done here." Then she, too, was gone.

  Frank and Joe were left in the office with Matt, who was staring stonily down at his desk.

  "What did you make of this business with the rat out there?" Frank asked after a moment, trying to get back to the case. "If that was meant for you, then you're being warned. What's it about?"

  Matt folded his arms across his chest. "It's nothing - not worth worrying about. Just one of a series of bad practical jokes someone's pulling on me - phone calls late at night, that kind of stuff. Probably someone I had to fire who has a grudge, that's all."

  "But why did whoever it was leave the rat in the truck and not in your office?" Frank pressed. He wasn't convinced.

  Matt shrugged. "Because they could sneak it into the truck easier than they could sneak it in here," he replied, sounding irritated. "They'd know that the message would get to me eventually."

  "If you don't mind me asking," Joe said, "why not use Hal? He looks like he could handle himself pretty well in any situation."

  "First of all," replied Matt, "Pat is every bit as good a driver as he is. Second, Hal has been giving me a hard time lately. Thinks he should be top driver around here, and I don't. Third - " He sighed and suddenly seemed very tired. "She is family. This gang is getting inside information somehow, and I hate not being able to trust my people, but - I have to go with family."

  "Has Hal been with you long?" asked Frank.

  "Five years," Matt answered. "Oh, he's not bad, but - "

  The phone on Matt's desk rang. He picked it up. "Matt Simone ... Yes ... Right, we're taking it tomorrow afternoon ... " The voice on the other end went on for a while. Matt tried to speak at first, but then he gave up and just listened, a grim expression on his face.

  "I understand," he said at last. "Yes, you made yourself very clear. Yes - we will, you can count on it ... Right." Then he slowly set the receiver into its cradle.

  "That was the head honcho at Ultratech," Matt said. "I sure hope you guys know what you're doing, because if this truckload doesn't get through, Ultratech is going to find another shipping company - and that'll be the end of Lombard Hauling."

  Chapter 6

  Frank and Joe studied Matt's grim expression. "Somebody once said," Joe began, breaking the silence, " 'It ain't over till it's over.' Don't count Lombard out yet, Matt. It's our turn to call the shots."

  Matt smiled wearily. "I just hope you boys know what you're doing."

  The next day, by mid-afternoon, the Ultratech trailer had arrived, and Pat was backing her tractor up to hitch on. Her rig was a "cab-over," which meant that the motor was under the cab rather than in front under a hood. Frank watched as she expertly set the big machine in exactly the right place, then hopped out to see to the hookups.

  "Before I go out on the road," she told Frank, "I want to be sure that everything is just the way it's supposed to be. Stick around and watch. You might learn something."

  Joe, who would be following in the van with Tony, was excused to leave early. It would take another hour or two before they were ready to go, so Joe took the time to talk with Teri Yarnell. Going over to her desk, he saw that she was writing down columns of numbers in a ledger.

  "Are you a relative of Matt's?" he asked her. "It seems like half the people here are."

  "Not me," she said, smiling up at him. "But I feel like I might as well be. Everyone here is so nice. Mr. Simone is so sweet, except lately, and that's because he's been real worried. And Felix - Mr. Kinney - well, he's been teaching me how to use the computer. He's very patient, and he says that once I know how to use it, I can take some courses and get a better job somewhere else. Although I don't know - I think I'd rather stay here."

  "But if you could get a better job - "

  "The thing is," she said, giving Joe a serious look, "a better job might mean longer hours, and I don't know if I want to spend so much time at a job. I mean, Mr. Simone works long hours. And Felix - well, it seems like he spends most of his evenings here lately, working with that computer."

  "Doesn't leave much time for having fun, huh?" said Joe. "I guess your boyfriend wouldn't like it if you worked evenings."

  "No, he sure wouldn't," said Teri.

  Joe tried not to look disappointed but didn't quite succeed, and Teri seemed to suppress a giggle.

  "If I had a boyfriend, that is," she added, closing the ledger.

  Joe shot her a big smile. "Well, since you don't, and since you don't have to spend your evenings at a job ... "

  He was interrupted when Felix Kinney stuck his head out of his office. "Teri, come in here, will you?"

  "Be right there," she called. Then, turning back to Joe, she smiled and said, "Well - I'd better go. See you later."

  "You can count on it," Joe replied.

  ***

  Frank was astonished at how many details Pat dealt with before the truck was ready for the road. Every coupling, electrical system, and warning light had to be tested twice. She checked the brake cylinders, hoses, the eighteen huge tires, the oil and other fluids. Most important, Pat told him, was the way the trailer's cargo was stored and fastened down.

  "If your cargo isn't tied down tight, or if it isn't balanced right, you could have some real trouble." She went through the trailer, tugging at the straps that held the stacked cartons in place on their wooden pallets. "These electronics could get damaged, or even worse, you could lose control of your rig. Th
at's never happened to me, and it won't happen this trip, either. But the only way to be sure is to check it all out yourself."

  Finally, late in the afternoon, she was satisfied and told Frank to climb aboard. He watched curiously as Pat made some involved maneuvers with the pedals, gearshift, and steering wheel. The big diesel engine under their seats roared to life, and they slowly pulled away from Lombard Hauling. They were on the road.

  A couple of hours later, when they were moving smoothly along a stretch of interstate highway, Frank called Joe on their prearranged CB channel.

  "This is Big Brother calling Tailend Charlie. Do you read me, Tailend Charlie? Over."

  There was some crackly static on the line, but Joe's voice could be heard over it. "This is Tailend Charlie, back at you. You're coming through, but there's some interference, over."

  "We passed Exit Thirty-four a couple of miles back, are you in position? Over."

  "Big Brother, we are just coming up to Exit Thirty-four now, we will close up the gap a little, over."

  "I copy that. Big Brother over and out."

  The truck raced through the fading light. "When will we get there?" asked Frank.

  "This is a short run. We should pull in at about midnight," answered Pat. "Unless we have an unscheduled delay, that is."

  From the passenger seat, Frank sat and gazed out at the flat country dotted with factories and industrial parks. Soon the land they passed through was even less developed, and the traffic thinned out to almost nothing. It was nearly dark, and Pat had turned on all her lights. "We take the next exit," she said. "We'll be on a surface road for a while."

  "Why not just use the interstates?" asked Frank.

  "Because this way is shorter, takes less time and less gas. That way we keep our cost down. Otherwise, some other trucker would underbid us."

  As she turned on her directional signal, she added, "Better make sure your friends know we're getting off here."

  Frank picked up the CB microphone. "This is Big Brother calling Tailend Charlie, are you there? Over."

  "This is Charlie, over," came Joe's voice. The interference was worse now.