Crimson Highway by David Wickenhauser (i can read with my eyes shut txt) 📕

The officer left, and Hugh and Jenny got back into his truck. He wanted to have a long conversation with Jenny in the worst way, but he was already late for his scheduled delivery time, and he had to hustle to get there before he lost his delivery window entirely.

Hugh drove in silence to the Walmart Distribution Center delivery destination. His mind on recent events, he was on automatic pilot as he went through the process of checking in and dropping his loaded trailer.

For her part, Jenny wasn’t saying anything, just sitting quietly in the passenger seat, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. Burley, after all, was where she was supposed to part company with Hugh.

He sent his arrival and completion macros over the Qualcomm. And, while hooking up to an empty, he got a message with his next assignment.

“Salt Lake City, and then to Reno,” he told Jenny. “You up for a visit to the state of Utah?”

Jenny’s head snapped toward Hugh, all attention on him. Her eyes begged the question.

“Yes, you are staying with me … for awhile longer anyway,” he said, seeing her eyes moisten at that.

“I can’t turn you loose now to fend for yourself with those guys on the prowl. For all I know, they will try to get revenge because you failed to help them hijack my truck.”

That comment hit Jenny like a shot. She abruptly stiffened in her seat.

“Yes, I know—or rather, suspect,” he said. “But, you are going to tell me everything. Aren’t you?”

Jenny nodded, although she didn't look to Hugh like she was totally committed to the idea.

There were no loads for him to pick up going from Burley to Salt Lake City, so Hugh was to haul his empty all the way there … going dead head, it’s called.

He mused at the comic situation that it would be if they got hit by the hijackers between here and there, and all they would get for their efforts was an empty trailer.

But there was not much chance of the hijackers doing anything any time soon, he figured. Like the officer said, they’d have to ditch the Buick, and find other transportation. They’d also have to lie low for awhile, especially in the state of Idaho. He could bet that Idaho State Police would want to get their hands on those guys in a bad way. And it certainly would go bad for them if they were caught in that state, knowing that cops take a dim view of thugs assaulting their fellow officers.

Then, too, one of them had a gunshot wound to deal with, and another would have some serious knee issues. Hugh knew that every hospital within two hundred miles would be put on alert to watch for a large man with a gunshot wound, and another with a broken leg. Plus, they had to deal with the body of their dead partner.

No, these guys would not be a problem for awhile.

As the miles droned on over much of the same barren landscape that he had been driving through ever since leaving Victorville what seemed like ages ago, Hugh’s thoughts turned to their attempted hijacking of fifteen years ago.

There were just too many similarities to dismiss, and he didn’t believe in coincidences. But to think that these could be the same four guys stretched reality beyond belief.

But, then again, their body shapes were similar. Their method of attack was startlingly familiar. Hadn’t Hugh taken them down with virtually the same strategy as fifteen years ago?

But what about the fifth guy? What had happened to him? If they really have been together this long, then why wasn’t he still involved with this hijacking ring?

Also, what could Jenny’s involvement in this possibly be? She would have been … what? … seven years old, fifteen years ago?

His thoughts were interrupted by Jenny’s cell phone ringing. He looked over at her. She looked at him, and retrieved the phone—only, it wasn’t the flip phone he had seen her with earlier.

The phone she was holding in her hand was a newer model smart phone.

“Don’t answer that.” Hugh warned.

“No,” she mouthed soundlessly, looking at Hugh, shaking her head. It was as if she dared not speak for fear the caller could hear her through the unanswered phone. She held the phone away from her, afraid to even look at it.

Good girl. That’s progress. Now, if she would only open up and tell me what this is all about.

“Where did you get that phone? That’s not yours,” Hugh asked.

She looked at the phone, then looked at him. “I don’t know. Someone must have slipped it into my pocket back there where your truck was.”

He’d have to look into this new development later when he wasn’t driving, and had more time.

She wanted to turn it off, but had no idea how to do that. So she handed it to Hugh. He examined it as best he could while driving, having to keep at least one eye on the road.

Most smart phones were similar, he knew. They usually had a button on the top or along the side that one had to press once to “wake up” the phone, and then press and hold to turn it off.

He showed her which button to try, and told her what to do. She managed to get a menu to come up, and told Hugh what it said. He told her to tap the “Yes” on the screen for “Do you want to turn off the phone?”

She did that, then put the phone back into her pocket.

Just over the border and into Utah, Hugh remembered they had not eaten since their breakfast cereal.

“You hungry?” he asked Jenny.

“Starving,” she said.

“There’s a truck plaza a little farther ahead at Snowville,” he said. “We’ll stop there