by F J messina
Sonia jumped at the sound of Brad’s voice, realizing she must have held the “TALK” button too long. Then she turned to Jet and they both snickered. “No one we didn’t need. Don’t you worry about it, Brad. I told you, we’ve got this covered.” Sonia made certain to release the “TALK” button.
A few moments later the walkie-talkie squawked again. “Here we go, ladies. The truck is on the move. I sure hope you haven’t screwed this thing up.” Brad was clearly pissed now.
“Copy that,” said Sonia, smiling again at Jet.
Jet fired up her gold Camry. It only took about two minutes for the truck to appear at the castle and turn right onto Route 60. Sonia watched the truck, as Jet maneuvered the Camry into the outside lane and slowly passed it. Sonia, sitting in the passenger seat, made certain not to look at the truck. It was the first time in her life that not looking at something seemed so incredibly important. Then she watched as Jet moved over, sliding in front of the truck.
A minute later, Jet spoke. “I just picked up Brad’s ‘Vette in my rear-view mirror. Here he comes.”
“His ‘Vette?”
Jet looked at her. “Yeah, why?”
Sonia looked over her shoulder and tried to see Brad’s car. “I thought he’d be driving that gray Corolla.” She pushed the “TALK” button. “Why are you in the ‘Vette? I thought the Corolla was better for surveillance.”
“Sweetheart, that’s visual surveillance.” His voice was relaxed, lacking the frustration that had been so evident a few moments before. “We’re doing electronic surveillance, GPS locator stuff. And it’s a hell of a lot more comfortable making a long trip in the ‘Vette than in that old Corolla.”
Sonia was pretty certain his frustration had been replaced by condescension. And that pissed her off. She took a deep breath to calm herself. A moment later, she looked at Jet. “No one else is around, right?”
Jet checked her mirrors. “Right.”
“Then let’s put some space between us and the truck so Brad can slip in between us.”
Jet pushed on the accelerator just a little harder. Soon, there were at least two or three car lengths between Jet’s Camry and the truck. “Time for you to slip in there, Brad,” Sonia said into the walkie-talkie.
Brad didn’t reply, but when Sonia looked briefly over her shoulder, she could see the dark blue ‘Vette pulling smoothly past the truck. Not wanting to be obvious to the truck driver, Sonia turned her head forward again. After a moment she asked Jet, “Is he in?”
Sonia knew Jet was in her glory when her language changed, and Jet was in her glory playing this kind of game. “Oh my, my, yes,” she said with a southern accent so thick it seemed covered in grits and white gravy. “I believe our gentleman friend has just entered the danger zone. He’s like a critter caught ‘tween a hound dog and a gator. Should we commence this afternoon’s festivities?”
“No, not yet. Let me check with Brad.” Sonia pressed the “TALK” button and asked, “Are you ready Brad? Are we a go?”
There was a pause, then she heard back. “This is it. We’re a go. But tell Jet to move up a bit. We want to make it look good, but not so good that I wind up wrecking this brand-new car.” Sonia could hear the excitement in his voice and the smile on his face.
Jet turned her head and smiled at Sonia. “Here we go, Colonel. The fray begins.”
Sonia felt herself thrown forward against her seatbelt as Jet slammed the Camry to a very sudden stop. Hearing Brad’s brakes squeal, Sonia held her breath, hoping that she wasn’t about to hear Brad’s ‘Vette smashing into Jet’s car. The instant she was certain they had avoided that crash, her ears strained, waiting to hear if the truck they were trying to trap was going to plow into Brad. With a squealing of brakes and a world of squeaks and rattles, Sonia heard the truck coming to a tortured stop as well. One, two, three seconds went by . . . no crash. Sonia looked over her shoulder. What she saw half amazed her. Brad’s ‘Vette couldn’t have been more than twelve inches behind Jet’s Camry, and the feed and hay truck was no more than three or four feet away from Brad.
“Ho-ly hell,” Sonia said softly, expelling a long breath.
Jet, the southern belle, followed with, “Now, that dog’ll hunt.”
Sonia would have laughed at Jet’s use of another southern colloquialism, but she was too busy. She looked back again and put her hand on the door latch. “Here he comes. Go! Go!”
Brad had jumped out of his car and was approaching Jet at full speed. He stayed tucked in the right lane as the normally busy traffic moved past him on his left. Sonia had no idea if he were going to play the angry motorist or the concerned citizen. Apparently, it was the former, because in a moment or two she saw his arms flailing and she could hear some pretty uncomplimentary sounds coming from him, though she couldn’t quite understand the words.
Jet had jumped out of her car, also hanging close to the stopped cars and playing the damsel in distress. Sonia thought she could hear a few, “So sorry,”s coming from her lips. But as Jet and Brad were playing out their vignette, Sonia noticed Brad looking inside Jet’s car, as if to say, ‘Time to move.’
Sonia jumped out of Jet’s car on the passenger side. Then, with a little effort, she pulled the new character in the afternoon’s drama out of the back seat─Jet’s big, black German Shepard─Diogi. Acting as if the dog needed to be walked, Sonia led him over to the side of the road, then back toward the truck.
Sonia thought the look on Brad’s face was priceless. He was obviously shocked to see the dog, but apparently pleased as well. With his back to the truck driver, Sonia could see him break into a smile, even though from behind it would have appeared that he was reaming Jet a new one.
Then it really was Sonia’s turn. Trying to look relaxed, and concerned with nothing but getting Diogi to do his business, Sonia kept walking slowly back toward the truck and beyond. She knew it was important that she never look in the direction of the truck driver, but it was hard for her to resist.
The plan had been for the driver to be a bit shaken by the near accident and totally focused on the ruckus the two drivers were creating in front of him. Half-way down the length of the truck, Sonia simply couldn’t resist finding out if that part of the plan had worked. Trying to look as casual as possible, she turned around and looked into the large mirror on the passenger side of the truck. Her heart rose into her throat as she locked eyes with the driver, who had anything but a pleasant look on his weathered face. What was worse was that he was on his cell phone. She could hardly breathe. She bent down slightly in order to touch Diogi’s back. She did it, not because the dog required it, but in order to settle herself down─to ground herself.
As Sonia reached the rear of the truck, she was almost certain that the driver was still staring at her in his side-view mirror. She desperately wanted to look back into the mirror again to see if that were true, but she knew she couldn’t get away with it a second time. She simply had to continue to play her part. With her eyes steadfastly forward, she covertly threw a small piece of raw beef onto the ground behind the truck, knowing full well that this would certainly get Diogi’s attention.
Diogi all but knocked Sonia off her feet, pulling her behind the truck. Unfortunately, another vehicle had just pulled up behind the truck as well, a young couple in a faded, old, brown, Ford Taurus. Sonia didn’t know what to do. She was standing right in front of their car, and both the young man and young woman were looking directly at her. She had to find some way to avoid looking suspicious while she bent down to place the GPS locator on the truck.
Failing to come up with a better idea, Sonia bent down and looked directly into Diogi’s face. She scolded him for pulling her behind the truck. At the same time, she slipped her right hand into her pocket and pulled out the GPS locator. Awkwardly reaching back and to the right, she found the truck’s bumper. Without looking, she stuck the locator under the bumper, hoping desperately that she was getting it attached firmly enough that it wouldn’t fall off.
Sonia stood and made direct eye contact with the young couple, trying to give them a “That’s-what-you-get-for-having-a-dog,” smile. She thought that perhaps she had pulled off the deception until she grasped the looks of confusion on their faces. Fortunately, at that very moment, the male driver turned, looked over his shoulder, backed the Taurus up about twenty feet, then took off around the truck. Sonia gave them a sheepish wave as they passed by.
Pulling with all her might, Sonia dragged Diogi out from behind the truck as if he were simply misbehaving. Her heart pounded as she ached to see if the driver had fallen for her ruse, if he had even noticed. Sonia stood tapping her toe. Damn, this better work. Nothing to see here, just a lady and her dog. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just taking care of my dog.
As if on cue, Diogi circled a few times and then did his business, just as nice as could be. Sonia chuckled. She had no idea if the truck driver was watching or not, but she felt confident that if he were, Diogi’s performance had been the coup de gras of the event.
Sonia marveled at their good luck. First, the Taurus had eventually pulled around. Therefore, whenever he was good and ready, the truck driver would be able to back up and go around Brad and Jet. He would be leaving them behind, or so he would think. Second, Diogi’s need to take a dump couldn’t have been more fortuitous if it had been scripted for her crew of “not-ready-for-primetime-players.” Sonia smiled. Diogi’s antics seemed right out of Jet’s playbook.
Sonia gave Diogi’s ear a good waggle and began walking back toward Jet’s car. The truck’s engine revved up and Sonia watched it slowly back up thirty feet or so. Continuing to walk forward, she looked up into the large side-view mirror on the truck one last time. A chill ran down her spine. The driver was looking directly at her. She sighed a breath of relief, however, when he gave her a big semi-toothless smile and ran his fingers through his obviously dirty, greasy hair. She smiled back at him, or at least tried to. Her lips weren’t cooperating as much as she wished they would. Sonia wondered. Was he smiling because he’d figured out what she was doing? The thought sent another shiver down her spine, a deeper one than before.
Within a minute, the feed and hay truck had slowly moved around the ‘Vette and taken off down the road. The only ones left standing on the side of the road were Brad, Jet, Sonia, and Diogi. A few other cars were passing them in the far lane, but the stress and fear of the experience had started to drain away from all three of them.
“Great job girls. Great job. That dog thing, outstanding. Got to hand it to you. Seriously, one hell of a job.” The smile on Brad’s face was radiant.
The girls hugged each other. Sonia bent down and waggled Diogi’s ear again, while Jet scratched him in his favorite place, right at the base of his tail.
“Okay,” Brad said to Sonia, moving to the back of the ‘Vette and opening the trunk. “Get your stuff and throw it in here. We’ve got to get off this road before the police come and we get too far behind.”
Sonia hugged Jet one last time. “You. Are. The. Best.”
“Frankly, Scarlet,” said Jet, “I don’t give a damn.” She was Rhett Butler to Sonia’s Scarlett O’Hara.
Sonia shook her head and smiled. She grabbed her stuff and jumped into the ‘Vette with Brad. It took off, following the truck down Route 60. Looking in the side view mirror, Sonia could see Jet making a U-turn and heading back to town. “She’s the best,” she said softly. A little quiver of warmth went through her heart when Brad responded, “Only one of the best. Only one of ‘em.”
Jet reached out and stroked Diogi’s head. He had been afforded the opportunity to sit in the front passenger seat of her gold Camry, based on his fine performance─and the fact that it was his normal seat. “Good boy, Diogi. Good, good boy. You done real well out there. We’re gonna have a real nice treat for you when we get home.” She had slipped back into her quasi-southern accent, this one not put on for effect, but rather, a reflection of her real upbringing.
As she watched Brad’s Corvette slip around a curve, headed toward Versailles, Jet couldn’t help but think of the town in which she had grown up. She wasn’t picturing the quaint downtown with the big, white Methodist Church that sat perched squarely at the end of the main drag into town. It was a little community on the edge of town that filled her mind, a community in which the term home meant a small, two-bedroom house at the end of a not-so-pleasant street.
The sound of her own teen-aged voice rang through her memory, that and the sound of her mother’s deeply southern drawl.
“Ugh, Mama. Why do we have to live in this tiny house anyway? It’s so small and dark. And why doesn’t Daddy paint it nice like Mr. Joseph’s? I feel like we’re the poorest folks on the street.”
“Now you mind your tongue. Your daddy brought us up here from Savanah so he could learn to work with the horses. Someday he’ll be a trainer, maybe even an owner.”
She remembered a time when her mother’s voice had been smooth, almost velvety. But there had come a time when it became harsh and shaky, the result of too many battles with Jet’s father . . . and too much bourbon.
Those were not happy times. Nor were the days when only a quick and humorous tongue could fight off the barbs and insults a high-school girl could encounter when the clothing she wore made clear the community in which she lived. “Thank God for running,” she said softly, thinking about her one saving grace in high school.
Shaking off her memories, Jet leaned over and pulled Diogi’s head close, wrapping her arms around his thick neck. “Well, they’re off now, buddy. They’re gonna follow that truck and track them boys down. And they’ll be home soon, safe and sound, God willin’ and the creek don’t rise.”
She checked her side view mirror then pulled a quick U-tie, turning the Camry back toward Lexington. She couldn’t help but chuckle at her use of that last expression, pure southern, remembering when she’d heard some preacher use those very words from the pulpit one fine Sunday morning some twenty-something years ago.
Part VI
39
There was a definite celebratory sense in the car as Brad and Sonia drove down Route 60. Sonia settled back and tried to relax, the smell of the leather seats filling her senses. But adrenaline still pumped through her system, and she started talking to Brad─fast.
“Wasn’t that just epic? I mean the way you and Jet trapped the truck. I thought for sure you were going to plow into her, and worse, that the truck was going to plow into you. And then I had to walk right past that guy, and I thought he was looking at me.” She was almost breathless. “And then having to stick that thing on the truck. And Diogi, wasn’t he great, you know, taking a dump just when it was perfect timing. I mean, wasn’t it just something?”
Brad just smiled. Sonia could tell he was definitely pumped and pleased, but he was a bit less ebullient than she. After all, she knew this wasn’t his first rodeo. Still, she appreciated it when he said, “Again, babe, that was outstanding work. I almost lost it when I saw that damn dog. Whose dog is that, anyway?”
“Oh, that’s Diogi. He’s Jet’s.”
Brad gave her a quick look. “Diogi? What the hell kind of name is that?”
“Diogi!” She smiled at him. “Don’t you get it? D-O-G?”
Brad paused for a moment, then he smiled. “No kidding. Very punny.” He shook his head.
“Well, yes, Captain, so it is.” Sonia had Jet’s southern belle accent.
“Well, it worked like a charm. You guys had me going there for a while, but it worked like a charm.” He turned again and looked right at her.
Sonia didn’t respond, but she felt like a Disney princess, surrounded by bunny rabbits, with a bluebird sitting on her shoulder. She could almost hear a cricket whistling, “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
After a pleasant moment of silence, Sonia heard Brad get down to business. “Now, open up that laptop of yours and let’s get a fix on this truck before we lose him.”
Sonia got her laptop open an
d fired up the GPS tracking program. “According to this, the truck has already left Route 60 and headed south on The Bluegrass Parkway.”
Brad nodded. “I thought that was a possibility. Looks like he’s headed for Elizabethtown, and probably points south. I guess it’s time we settle back and just enjoy the ride for a while.”
Sonia took a deep breath and relaxed into the soft, supple seat. Her eyes traveled around the cockpit of the incredible machine in which they were floating down the road. Gauges and lights. Burled wood and soft leather. Sonia ran her fingertip along the binding of the seat. I could ride in this thing forever. Especially sitting next to those blue eyes.
Sonia watched the miles slip by and finally decided she could put the laptop on the floor between her feet. She knew that even if she reclined her seat she would still have a clear view of the screen.
Brad leaned over and peeked at the laptop on the floor. He gave her a questioning look.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got this. I can see it.” When he simply turned his eyes forward again, she smiled to herself. Don’t worry, Mr. Semper Fi. I do have this.
Sonia relaxed into her seat again, enjoying the fact that she had the situation in hand. That was until something started gnawing at her, a new feeling of distress. She remembered the heat that had coursed through her body the night before when she was kissing Johnny Adams.
Sonia drifted into silence as her mind went back and forth, excited about the man next to whom she was sitting, still aching physically for the man she had just left behind. Am I a fool for hoping that Brad will finally let his guard down and open himself to a real relationship with me? Or am I a fool for keeping Johnny at arm’s length.
“You okay?” Brad asked.
Sonia blinked. “Oh sure, just thinking.”
“Thinking about what?” He gave her a caring look.
“Oh, lots of things.” She picked up her purse, which was heavier than usual, and rummaged through it looking for something to put in her mouth. “I can’t believe what a beautiful day it is. It really felt like spring when I was out there with Diogi. Would you like a mint?”