Highway Robbery Read online

  "How about Mickey Vane?" asked Frank.

  Fenton shrugged. "A small-time hood, with a few convictions for assault and breaking and entering. He was once investigated for his supposed involvement in labor racketeering, but there wasn't any solid evidence. When he could, he got jobs driving trucks, but they never lasted long. Either he'd quit or get fired. Lombard Hauling hired him two years back and fired him five months later, so Matt's story checks out.

  "Are you ruling Matt out as a possible suspect?" asked Fenton.

  Frank looked at his brother. "My gut feeling is that he couldn't be involved," he said, "but I can't be absolutely certain."

  "Well, I'm certain," said Joe. "He's not part of the gang. What could he gain?"

  "Anything's possible," Frank countered. "Maybe his business was going under anyway, and he's working an insurance scam - you know, burn the place down, destroy the trucks, and then blame unknown villains while collecting the insurance."

  Joe stared at him. "Oh, come on - "

  "Okay, so it's a long shot, but it's possible. Maybe that's why he doesn't want the police brought in. Maybe he hired us because he hoped we couldn't do the job."

  "Well, I like Hal Brady a lot better as a bad guy," Joe said emphatically. "He's more the type."

  "Who's Hal Brady?" asked Fenton.

  "He's a driver at Lombard," explained Frank. "He and Matt don't get along. They had a big fight tonight, and Matt fired him."

  "And," Joe put in, "he made a threat as he was leaving. Something like 'You won't have a business when I'm through with you.' "

  "Could you find out if he's got a record?" Frank asked his father.

  "I suppose I can. Any other suspects at the moment?"

  "We haven't talked to everyone who works at Lombard yet," said Joe, "but I don't think we've eliminated anyone, really. Except for Pat Mulvaney and Matt," he added, giving his brother a defiant look.

  "And Teri Yarnell, of course," Frank shot back, giving Joe a teasing smile.

  "Right. And Teri Yarnell," Joe echoed. Seeing a questioning look on his father's face, he explained, "She's a girl who does office work there."

  "And she's pretty, so she couldn't be involved in anything criminal," said Frank. "Right, Joe?"

  "My instincts tell me that she's not a criminal," Joe said with mock indignation.

  "Anyway," Frank said, getting back to the Lombard case, "we can be pretty sure there's some kind of connection between the warehouse that was selling stolen Ultratech products and what's been going down at Lombard."

  "And the killing of Mickey Vane," added Joe. "But why was he killed? And why did they shut that warehouse operation down so suddenly?"

  "Let's see what we can find out," Frank said, stifling a yawn as he got up and stretched. "In the morning, that is."

  "Oh, Dad," Joe said as he got up, too. He handed his father a piece of paper. "Could you run a check on this license plate number for us? It was used by this gang tonight."

  "Chances are it was stolen," Frank said. "That's the way these types usually work."

  "I'll look into it," Fenton promised. "And - one more thing. This gang didn't need to follow you tonight to know where you live, so keep watching your backs. They may know what you're really doing down there."

  "Don't worry, Dad," said Joe. "We'll take care of ourselves."

  His father gave him a tired smile. "Well, it's too late for me to start worrying now."

  The next morning when Frank and Joe reported for work, they saw Teri Yarnell alone in Felix Kinney's office. Joe walked in to say hello.

  "Where's Felix?" he asked her.

  "When he works late at night, he comes in a little late the next morning," she answered. She studied him for a minute. "I've been thinking about you."

  Joe smiled. "What a coincidence. I've been thinking about you, too."

  "No, really. I can't help wondering - what are you doing here?"

  Joe suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Doing? I'm working here. Just like you."

  "Yes, but why?"

  "To earn money." Joe didn't like telling Teri something less than the truth, but he knew that he didn't have a choice. "I don't get it. What's so strange about working here?"

  She shrugged. "I don't know exactly. You and your brother don't seem like the kind of guys who go to work at this kind of place, that's all."

  "Well," Joe said, hoping he sounded convincing, "we are working at this kind of place." He grabbed a chair and pulled it over beside hers. "And you know, it has its advantages."

  "You think so?"

  "Right now I definitely think so," said Joe.

  "Joe! Frank! In my office!" Joe recognized Matt Simone's voice even before he turned to see the tall, muscular man. Reluctantly, he stood up.

  "One of these days we'll have a chance to finish a conversation," he told Teri.

  "I'll look forward to it," she said, giving Joe a warm smile as he walked out of the room. Matt waved Frank and Joe to chairs in his office, and then sat down behind his desk. "We have a special order from Ultratech to go out today," he told them. "Pat is headed back with the empty truck - what we call deadheading. In the meantime we'll load up a trailer with stock we have in storage here. Frank, you ride with Pat, and Joe and Tony can follow, like yesterday. That okay with you?"

  "Sure," replied Joe. "If it's all right with Tony."

  "He'll be over here by noon," Matt replied. "I figure that - "

  The office door opened and Hal Brady came in, followed by a short, stocky man Joe recognized as Lou Gerard, the union manager he and Frank had seen at the office two days before.

  "Simone, you fired this man without cause," said Gerard, an angry look on his face. "Our contract doesn't allow it. You have to take him back."

  "There was plenty of cause," Matt retorted. "He was giving me nothing but trouble and making threats. I still run this outfit!"

  Gerard leaned over Matt's desk, and said, "Simone, either you put him back on the payroll today - or I pull every union employee out of here right now. Every driver and every mechanic."

  Felix Kinney had come in behind the others, and now he spoke up. "He's right, Matt. You didn't have enough grounds to get rid of him. We can't afford to have a walkout, and you know it."

  Matt glared at Gerard and Brady but then nodded. "Okay. You win. But I can suspend him, and that's what I'm going to do. Go home for the rest of the week, Brady. And remember, I call the shots around here."

  Brady wheeled around and was gone. Lou Gerard stayed where he was. "We still have to talk, Simone."

  "We have nothing to talk about, Lou. Beat it, I've got work to do."

  Gerard turned and called out the door, "Turk! Get in here!"

  A barrel-chested man with a flattened nose appeared in the doorway. "Yes, sir, Mr. Gerard?"

  Matt fixed Gerard with an icy glare. "Listen, Brady is back on the payroll. That's all you and I had to talk about. Take a hike, and take your gorilla with you."

  Gerard slowly shook his head and said to the man in the doorway, "Let's go, Turk. Mr. Simone doesn't want us to talk." His voice was mocking, falsely polite.

  "That's too bad, Mr. Gerard. People ought to talk to people," Turk replied.

  Joe jerked his head around when Turk spoke and studied the beefy guy more closely. Turk returned his look with a flat stare.

  "Yeah, it is," said Gerard. "Come on. Drive me back to the office." He looked back at Matt. "We'll see you around, Mr. Simone."

  Matt left the office to make sure Gerard and his driver were really leaving. After he was gone, Joe leaned over to Frank and said quietly, "Did you notice anything about that guy Turk?"

  "Just that he looked and sounded like an old boxer who's taken too many punches," Frank answered.

  "Right," agreed Joe. "He also sounded like one of the guys who was wearing a ski mask last night. The one who smashed our van with a pipe."

  Chapter 10

  Frank stared at his brother in amazement. "Are you sure this guy Turk was one of t
hose guys?"

  "Pretty sure. I remember that voice. He's the right size and shape, too."

  Before Frank could ask Joe anything more, Matt returned to the office. "Sorry about that," he told them, sitting back down at his desk. "I just wanted to make sure those two went straight out of here."

  Frank gave Matt a probing look and said, "It might make things a lot easier for us if you could tell us what's been happening between you and this Lou Gerard, Matt."

  Matt still refused to respond to Frank's question. Changing the subject, he said, "You two can help get that trailer loaded with the Ultratech stock. We're on a tight schedule."

  Before Frank or Joe could argue further, Matt had picked up a phone and begun to dial. Catching his brother's eye, Frank signaled that they might as well leave.

  Once they were outside the office, Joe grabbed Frank's arm. "We can't just let this go, Frank. We have to make Matt tell us about Lou Gerard. If we tie Turk into the hijackings, and he works for Gerard - "

  "Maybe his work for Gerard has nothing to do with the hijacking," Frank suggested. He was frustrated, too, but he knew they wouldn't get anywhere jumping to conclusions. "Maybe he has a straight job for the union, and hijacking is just a sideline."

  "And maybe Gerard is in it up to his neck," Joe shot back.

  "But what would Gerard's motive be in all this?" Frank asked. "He works for the union local, right? Putting Lombard out of business puts some of his people out of work. It doesn't figure."

  "No. Something is missing, you're right about that, Frank. That's exactly why Matt has to open up. Let's go back and - "

  Joe paused, hearing Felix call to him and Frank from the loading dock.

  "We have to get that trailer filled and ready to go. Give us a hand, guys, we're fighting the clock here."

  As they walked over, Frank said quietly, "Okay, Joe. We'll talk to Matt soon, and we won't take no for an answer."

  As the wooden pallets stacked with Ultratech equipment were piled aboard the trailer, Pat pulled her tractor in, backed into place, and hitched up the fifth wheel. While she started her lengthy predrive check, Frank tapped Joe on the shoulder.

  "Now's as good a time as any. Let's talk to Matt."

  When they entered his office again, Matt looked up from some paperwork. "What's up, guys?"

  "Matt," said Joe. "If we're going to do the job right for you, we need your cooperation."

  Matt frowned. "Listen, I've tried to be cooperative. I - "

  Frank interrupted. "You're stonewalling us, Matt. There are things you won't talk to us about that could be important pieces of this puzzle. You may think you've got good reason to keep things to yourself - "

  "I've told you about everything that relates to these hijackings," insisted Matt.

  "You mean, everything you think relates to the hijackings," replied Frank. "We don't have to agree with you."

  Joe began firing off questions. "Number one. Why do you refuse to bring in the police? Your company is about to go under, and you won't take the most obvious step to protect it. Number two. How did the trouble start between you and Hal Brady? Number three. What's the deal with Lou Gerard?"

  Matt began to protest. "That stuff has nothing to do with - "

  "Matt, you don't know that for sure," Frank cut in. "We have reason to think you're wrong. Now, you want us to do something, but we can't - unless you level with us. You know that anything you tell us is strictly confidential."

  "Anyway," Joe went on, "here's the bottom line. Either you talk to us and give us the facts we need to do the job right, or we'll have to quit. We can't work when our hands are tied."

  Matt stared first at Joe and then at Frank. It was clear that he hadn't expected a confrontation. "You two serious about this?"

  "Joe speaks for both of us," Frank replied. "What's it going to be?"

  Matt held up his hands. "Okay, okay. You win. Look, I'll tell you what. We don't have time to do it right now. As soon as you get back from this haul, we'll sit down and I'll tell you anything you want to know. Good enough?"

  "Good enough," Frank answered.

  "Okay, then. Good luck on this trip, guys."

  **

  Shortly after noon Pat and Frank were on their way in the big rig, with Joe and Tony a couple of miles behind in the van. It was exactly the same setup as on the previous day.

  "Where are we headed?" asked Frank.

  "There's a map in the glove compartment with the route marked out," Pat said. "These components are going to a distribution center west of here, some outfit that delivers to a big chain of electronics stores. Never been there before."

  Frank checked in with Joe on the CB radio. Reception was clear this time, and Joe confirmed that the van was in place.

  "You think that bunch will try to stop us again?" Pat asked.

  "Sooner or later, they will," replied Frank. "It could be this trip."

  "Well, I bet they don't, not today. They need more time to regroup," she said.

  "I hope you're right," Frank told her. He scanned the road ahead, vaguely aware of something not being quite right. The voice of experience was whispering that Pat would lose her bet. He felt restless, edgy.

  "Anyway, if they do hit us, we can take care of them. Right, Frank? Just like the first time."

  "We'll give it our best shot," he told her. "Just remember, we won't have the element of surprise going for us. Now they'll be expecting you to have escorts."

  After a while they turned from a heavily traveled surface road onto a less busy one that went out into open country. Frank called Joe and told him they were turning. The van was still two miles behind them. Keeping his eyes on the road ahead, Frank was searching for possible ambush sites. There seemed to be an awful lot of them.

  "Uh - oh, what's this?" said Pat, slowing the truck down. Up ahead were brightly colored traffic barriers, topped by blinking amber lights. In front of the roadblock, a Day-Glo orange sign said Detour, and beneath it an arrow pointed down a road to the right. Beyond the barriers, the road disappeared around a curve.

  Pat took the right turn indicated by the arrow. "Must be repairs or maybe an accident," she mumbled.

  The new road went up a slight grade and then became steeper. They went through a series of S-curves and found themselves climbing hills that were getting higher and higher.

  An alarm bell went off in Frank's mind.

  "Pat," he said, twisting around nervously. "Hold it a second. I think this could be the - "

  Just then she rounded a curve and hit the brakes, hard. No more than a hundred feet in front of them, a tree lay across the road. It completely blocked their way.

  Frank grabbed the CB microphone. "Come in, Tailender," he said urgently. "I think we have trouble, a little way past the detour - "

  As he spoke, he saw the dense undergrowth beside the road part. Two men came out. As on the night before, they wore ski masks. But this time, instead of clubs, they carried guns.

  Chapter 11

  Frank wanted to warn Joe and Tony about the hijackers having guns, but one of the toughs pointed his automatic straight at him.

  "Put the mike down," he shouted. "Now."

  Frank obeyed.

  "Climb down from there." The speaker was the one Frank assumed was the leader, the tallest member of the gang. "No funny stuff this time. We'll just wait until your friends show up."

  Pat glanced across at Frank, as though she expected him to have some kind of plan and wanted to know what it was.

  "Just do what they tell you," he said quietly. "Don't make waves."

  They climbed down, and Pat surveyed the winding, narrow road they were on. "You're going to have a tough time taking this rig down to the main road," she said.

  The second gunman laughed. "Who says we're gonna do that, lady?"

  "Shut up!" barked the first man. "Don't get sociable with these two. Or their friends. Just do your job."

  A moment later the van appeared, with Joe at the wheel. Joe thought Tony mi
ght try taking the bad guys on, so he reached out to stop him.

  "Not against guns, Tony. That would be a bad move. Be cool, all right?"

  Tony nodded, but he glared at the gunmen as he climbed out of the van.

  The other two members of the gang now drove up in a pickup truck. The traffic barriers and signs were now loaded in the back of the truck. One of the two walked up to the group of prisoners and stood in front of Frank.

  "Hello again, wise guy."

  Although the man wore a mask, Frank recognized his short, barrel-chested build immediately. He resisted the impulse to reply, "Hello, Turk," knowing that if he did so, it would be the end of him - and of Joe, Tony, and Pat. He remained silent.

  "Stay and cover them," the head man called over to Turk. "Let's get busy."

  Two of the gang members wrestled with the fallen tree, lugging it to one side of the road. The leader knelt down and went under the rig, where he started fiddling with the hookups between tractor and trailer.

  "Can you tell what he's doing?" Frank whispered to Pat.

  Pat nodded, suddenly looking pale and frightened. "He-he's cutting the hoses," she whispered back. "The ones that run from the cab to the trailer's air brakes. But there's a backup safety system. It cuts in whenever the regular air brakes fail. It's automatic, unless - "

  She stopped as the tall masked man moved to the back of the trailer, having finished with the hoses up front. There he went to work with a small acetylene torch and a hacksaw.

  "Oh, no," she whispered, biting her lip.

  "What? What's going on?" asked Joe.

  "That guy, whoever he is, knows trucks. He's wrecking the cylinders, so the backup brake system won't work, either. But I don't understand! They won't be able to drive the rig in that condition!"

  "Cut the chatter!" ordered the short goon who was guarding them.

  Climbing out from under the trailer, the boss of the operation now called the two who had been moving the tree. They had succeeded in shoving it over enough to clear a narrow passage on the road.