Pausing as she moved across the parking lot, the woman smiled, shifting the bundles in her arms.
"Beautiful," she murmured.
Before her sat a large Peterbilt truck, its metal-flake emerald green paint gleaming in the light. On the side of the sleeper, a mural depicted peach trees silhouetted before a setting sun. Above, gilt letters spelled out the words "Carolina Skye". Seeing a figure standing by the door, she frowned, walking quickly forward.
"Something I can help you with?"
The stranger, a thin, somewhat nervous looking man in a suit, turned quickly. 'Oh, pardon me," he said in a nasal voice, "are you Miss Skye?"
"No. Now would you mind moving away from my rig?"
"I'm sorry, the man said, "but my employers gave me explicit orders to speak with the driver of the truck named Carolina Skye."
"That," the woman said, setting her bundles on the truck's running board, "would be me. "Carolina Parker. And that would make you...?"
"Oh," the man said, "of course." He extended a hand. "Hamilton Avery III, at your service."
Turning, the woman dug keys from her pocket, reaching up to unlock the truck's door. Behind her, Avery let his hand drop. "May I call you Carolina?"
"My friends," she replied, "call me Lina. You, of course, aren't on that list, so you can call me Miss Parker, like any other lawyer you might think of."
"What makes you think I'm lawyer?"
Lina turned, slowly looking the man up and down. "You're kidding," she finally said, "right?" Pulling open the door, she asked, "So what do your employers want you to talk to me about?"
"I believe they have a job they wish you to do," was the reply, "though I am unsure as to why they don't simply contact one of the larger companies. That would be much simpler, I would think."
Lina grabbed her bundles from the running board, placing them inside the truck. "What kind of job?"
"I'm afraid I was not given the details. I was told to inform you of the pay. If you are interested, I am to tell you where to meet a representative of my employers for details."
"And the pay is?"
Avery quoted a number that made Lina's eyes widen slightly. After a second, she said, "Done."
"Very good." Avery handed her a slip of paper. "If there is any difficulty finding the location, you may call the number on the back. Have a good day, Miss Parker." With that, he turned and walked away.
"This," Lina said softly, "could get interesting." Grabbing the hand rail, she pulled her tall, slender frame into the truck, careful not to kick over the bundles on the floor. Closing the door, she turned and pushed her head past the curtains into the sleeper.
"Hey," she called out softly, "wake up sleepy. We have a job."
In the center of the sleeper, a mound of blankets stirred, a tousled head emerging. "Job? What kind of job?"
Lina began moving bundles onto the floor of the sleeper in front of the bunk. "Put this stuff away for me, will you?" Turning, she settled into the seat, reaching for the ignition. "I'll get us moving, and we can discuss it on the way. Oh, and put some clothes on this time."
"Prude."
Grinning, Lina brought the big diesel engine to life. "Get a move on," she called back as she slipped the truck into gear, "or your butter pecan is going to melt."
"Butter...?" Hearing the rustle of motion from behind the curtain, Lina's grin widened.
Moments later, as Lina drove through town, the curtains parted, allowing the occupant to slip into the passanger seat, fingers of one hand running through her short blonde hair. Shorter than Lina, but more generously curved, she glanced down to where the nipples on her large breasts poked against the tight shirt she wore. "Better?"
Lina shook her head, her own chestnut locks perfectly brushed, the ends just below her shoulders. "Barely," she replied.
"So what's this job?"
"I have no idea," Lina said, handing over the slip of paper, "but I do know what it pays."
"And that is?" Hearing the number Lina gave her, the other woman's eyes widened. "Damn. Illegal?"
Lina nodded. "Probably," she replied.
The blonde shook her head slowly. "Why is it," she asked, "that all of the jobs that pay real good run the risk of jail time?"
"Finish your ice cream," Lina replied, "then get some more clothes on. We'll find out what's going on when we get there."
Slightly over an hour later, Lina pulled to a stop at an isolated rest area. Setting the brake, she killed the engine and dropped to the ground. From the tool bin below the sleeper, she took two lawn chairs, carrying them to the back of the truck and unfolding them. Her blonde companion, now wearing tight cut offs to go with the tight shirt, soon joined her.
Moments after they'd settled into their chairs, a large car with darkly tinted windows pulled up beside them, the door opening to admit a tall man in a dark suit. Glancing at the side of the truck, he nodded.
"Very good," he said in a soft voice. "The famous Carolina Skye." Turning his gaze toward the two women, he asked, "and which one of you would that be?"
"I'm Carolina," Lina replied.
"And I'm Skye," added the blonde.
"Cute." Reaching into one pocket, the man produced a sheet of paper.
"The job is simple," he said. "Pick up the trailer from the first address, deliver it to the second. Do not open the trailer, and do not, under any circumstances, allow the payload to be inspected. You will be paid on delivery."
"Half," Lina corrected him. "We'll get half on delivery, because we'll have the other half before these wheels even think about turning."
Nodding, the man reached into another pocket, pulling out a check. "Acceptable?" When the two women simply sat looking at him, he nodded. "Right." Returning the check to his pocket, he opened the passanger door of the car and pulled out a briefcase.
"I'll take that." Putting the case in her lap, Skye snapped the catches and opened the lid. "Oh," she breathed, "I do love the sight of zeros in the morning." Lifting a bundle of bills, she riffled through it.
"It's all there," the man assured her.
"Oh," she replied, "we'll count it anyway, as we go. And if it's short, you'll know about it come delivery time."
Nodding, the man returned to his car. After he'd gone, Skye wiggled bare toes and grinned at Lina.
"Drive," she said, "or count?"
Rising, Lina folded her chair. "Get some shoes on," she said, lifting the case from Skye's lap. "it's my turn to play with the green stuff."
"What do you think?"
It had taken nearly four hours to reach the first address on the paper. Now, looking at the trailer parked in front of a small building on a narrow country road, Lina frowned.
"I think," she replied, "we're gonna have one hell of a time getting out of there without taking the end of the ditch."
"There's another drive at the corner of the property," Skye said. "I saw it as we came in, and it's wide enough we can just angle out. I mean, what do you think of this job?"
"I'm trying not to."
With an expert hand, Skye swung the truck into place, then backed it until the trailer's kingpin almost touched the fifth wheel. Time to hook up," she said, taking the truck out of gear and setting the brake.
Within moments, they had the trailer connected and ready. After carefully backing toward the building, Skye wheeled the truck toward one corner of the property. As predicted, the drive there was wide enough to allow easy access to the narrow road.
"This," Skye said as she ran the truck up through its gears, "is strange. We've got no weight on at all, almost like we're pulling an empty. Still, that's the hard part over, I hope."
"That," Lina said, "was the easy part." Glancing at the road atlas in her lap, she frowned. "You won't believe some of the roads we'll have to use to get around the scales in this area."
"Bad?"
"Ever seen a Saint Bernard try to get through a cat door?"
Skye laughed. "Coming from someone who thinks two whole lanes is too narrow, that doesn't bother me much." Teasingly, she began singing the chorus to Give Me Forty Acres. Hearing this, Lina couldn't help but laugh.
"Bitch," she said, smiling. Slipping from her seat, she turned toward the sleeper. "Try to stay out of the ditches,will you? I need to shut my eyes for a while."
Lina woke to pitch darkness. Slipping back into the passanger seat, she watched as Skye slowly maneuvered the truck around the curves of a narrow road. Buckling her belt, she forced herself to relax. For all their joking, she knew, the blonde at the wheel was one of the best drivers she'd ever seen. If anyone could make it through this, it was Skye.
"How goes it?"
"Hush." Eye on her side mirror, Skye was easing the truck around yet another curve. "I've got my outside two hanging in mid air, and I kind of need to focus."
Lina nodded. "Just let me know when it's safe to talk."
"Rock," Skye said moments later, just as the cab of the truck entered the next straight stretch. Almost immediately, the entire truck lurched. "Boulder," Skye amended. "Had to go up and over."
Before Lina could reply, the two women were startled by a crashing sound behind them.
"Damn," Skye swore. The load, such as it is, must have shifted." She glanced over at Lina. "What do you think we should do, partner?"
"Pull it over," Lina replied, "and we'll check it out."
"There is no over," Skye pointed out, pushing in the clutch and letting the truck roll to a stop. "This is all the road there is. And aren't we supposed to not be opening the trailer?"
"Gotta check for damage," Lina replied, opening her door and carefully climbing down. Hearing the hiss of air as Skye set the brakes, she opened the tool bin on her side of the truck and pulled out a flashlight. Carefully, she made her way to the back of the trailer. When Skye joined her, she was examining the stout lock that held the doors closed.
"Ok," she said, "open it."
"If you say so." Looking doubtful, Skye produced a set of picks and soon had the lock open. Swinging back the trailer doors, the two women stared inside.
"Um, Lina," Skye said slowly, "I think we may be in trouble."
The load, they saw, was a number of long wooden boxes piled in the nose of the trailer. Behind them, the broken remains of a single box lay on the trailer's floor, probably spilled from the stack when they'd hit that rock. It was the contents of the box, now plainly visible, that had prompted Skye's observation.
For a moment, they simply stared at the naked woman squirming on the trailer's floor. Leather straps encircled her body at various points from ankles to shoulders. while wide eyes stared at them from above the panel of what could only be a gag.
"Lina," Skye whispered, her voice shaken, "we can't deliver this load."
"No," Lina replied, slowly pulling herself up into the trailer, "we can't." Once inside, she held down one hand, pulling Skye up beside her. "The question now," she added, "is what do we do now?"
Altogether, there were fourteen women bound and boxed in the nose of the trailer. Freed, they huddled together as Lina dropped from the trailer.
"We," Skye said as she dropped to the road beside Lina, "are in deep shit this time."
Frowning, Lina nodded. "The problem now," she said, "is figuring out what to do with these women, and how to avoid winding up in a couple of those boxes ourselves once whoever's waiting for us realizes we're not going to show up."
"We have to go to the law," Skye said.
"We may not have time." Turning, Lina glanced behind them. "With what they paid us already, and what they're supposed to pay us on delivery, those women are worth a fortune. I'd be surprised if they didn't have someone keeping an eye on us."
"Not possible," Skye insisted. "I've had at least one eye on the mirror since we hit these curves, and there's been no sign of lights behind us."
"With today's technology," Lina pointed out, "who needs lights? No," she went on, "somebody's back there, and by now, they probably know we opened the trailer. We need to move, get somewhere else, and we need to figure out what to do before we get there." Pointedly, she eyed her blonde partner. "With those curves," she said, "you'd be in a box in nothing flat."
"Who's driving?"
"I'm good," Lina replied, "but you're better. Ladies," she added, turning toward the trailer and raising her voice to address those inside, "have a seat and hang on. Things are going to get a little bit bumpy."
"How's it look?"
Skye frowned. "Not good," she replied. "You routed us so far into the back country, we're to hell and gone away from any kind of civilization. And," she added, glancing at the dash, "we're getting low on fuel. If we don't find something within an hour or two, we're dry."
By now, they had left the curves behind, Skye powering the truck along a flat, straight stretch of road. Flipping on the small overhead light, Lina opened her atlas.
"There has to be a highway somewhere around here," she said. "Highways lead to towns, and towns have stations."
"If they carry diesel, that is," Skye pointed out. "I say we....shit!" she yelled, as the steering wheel suddenly jerked itself nearly out of her hands. At the same time, a loud noise penetrated the cab, followed by screams from the trailer as the truck swerved wildly.
"Hang on!" Skye shouted. "We just lost a steer."
Hearing this, Lina went pale. At this speed, she knew, having a front tire blow could be fatal. Helplessly, she watched as Skye fought the wheel, struggling to keep the truck straight.
"Brake?" Lina reached toward the air brakes, only to pause as Skye shook her head.
"Tractor brakes would nose us down," she said, "make the rim dig into the road and probably flip us. Better to coast it in."
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the truck drifted to a stop. Unclenching her hands from the wheel, Skye leaned back in her seat, chest heaving. "Now," she said softly, "you can hit the brakes."
Leaning over, Lina yanked the knobs, filling the cab with the hiss of air. "Why don't you," she said, "go back and see about our passangers?" Opening the door, she added, "I'll take a look and see how bad we're damaged."
"Are you crazy?"
Leaning back, Skye stared at Lina. "Didn't you say," she demanded, "that someone was probably following us? And you want to take off on foot?"
"I saw lights," Lina replied, "a couple miles back. Maybe it's a house. If it is, maybe they have a phone." She held up a packet of money from the briefcase. "Or maybe I can pay them to take me to the nearest town. Either way, I can get us some help."
"And if you get caught?"
"I'll cut through the trees," Lina said. Smiling, she reached over and ruffled Skye's hair. "You're not the only country girl here, you know," she said teasingly. "Besides, you can't go. You're still shaking from keeping us alive."
"I don't like it."
"No choice." Opening the glove box, Lina pulled out their pistol and a box of ammunition. "I'll take this with me, just in case. You keep Hilda with you."
Skye leaned forward, reaching under her seat and pulling out a shotgun. After checking that both barrels were loaded, she snapped the shortened barrels back into place. "Get going, then," she said, reaching past Lina and pulling a box of shotgun shells from the glove box. "And come back safe. I'm not training a new partner."
Carefully, Lina made her way through the thick trees, keeping close enough to the road that she could occasionally catch glimpses of it. Once, she thought she saw moonlight gleaming on a metal surface, but didn't dare move any closer to see for sure. Instead, she focused on where she was going, eventually standing outside a small house.
Seeing a light in one window, she moved to the front door, tucking the pistol into her waistband at her back. Afraid to make noise, but seeing no other option, she knocked. At first, there was no response, but after a couple more tries, a voice emerged from within.
"Ok, damn it, hold on."
Moments later, the door opened to reveal a stocky man in rumpled pajamas. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry to bother you," Lina told him, "but I broke down and I really need to use your phone."
"Don't have one," the man replied. "No cell service either."
"Is there any way you could give me a ride into town? I can pay you."
"And who do you think might be open at..." Pausing, he glanced behind him. "...at three in the morning?"
"I was hoping a station or something like that?"
For a moment, the man gazed at Lina quietly. "You're in some kind of trouble, aren't you?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Lady," the man said, "I was a county sheriff 'til I busted up my knee last year, and an Army Ranger before that. I can smell trouble, and you stink of it."
"If I tell you," Lina said, "it could put you in danger."
Once more, the man looked at her silently. "I'll be ready in five minutes," he finally said. "I'm Jeff, by the way."
"Lina."
The trailer, when they arrived, was dark, empty. Nearby lay Hilda, broken open, both barrels empty. After looking around, Jeff joined Lina on the road.
"Women, you say?" Slowly, Lina nodded. "Damn slavers. I'd heard they might be active around here. Hell, a friend of mine lost her daughter not even a week ago, vanished without a trace. Could have been one of the women you had, for all we know."
"But they're gone," Lina said softly. "And Skye with them."
"Skye?"
"My partner," Lina said. "My friend. My..." Her voice broke.
"You say you saw a car on the way to my place?" Slowly, Lina nodded. "And it didn't go past before you got there?" This time, she shook her head. "Well, we didn't see them on the way, so they must have gone on. This road tees off about three miles up. Dead ends both ways. Only thing out that way is..." He paused.
"Nice rig," he finally said. "Got a CB in it?"
Grunting into the gag that filled her mouth, Skye struggled against the straps encircling her naked body. Around her lay the women from the trailer, all as helpless as she was. For long moments, she fought her bonds, finally relaxing as the uselessness of her struggles became clear.
Damn Hilda, she thought, staring into the darkness. Always running out of shells when you need her most. Not that she'd hit anything, she thought bitterly, before they grabbed her while she was trying to reload. And there'd only been two. It would have been easy, she thought, to fight them both, if only some of the others had helped. But they'd just watched as she was taken, already too cowed to resist.
Now, laying silent, Skye found herself wondering where Lina was. Damn it, she thought, you'd better be ok. If they get you... Once more, she tugged at her bonds, but they remained as tight as ever.
What now? She didn't, she quickly found, have to wonder long, as the men who'd grabbed her appeared, lifting her from the floor and carrying her through the large house they'd brought her and the other women to.
"Like it?" As her captors lowered her to the floor, Skye stared up at the man in the dark suit. "Years ago," he said, "it was a hunting lodge. Pretty popular in its day, from what I understand. Now, only the locals even know it's here, and they all think it's abandoned."
Squatting, he ran one hand over Skye's thigh, ignoring her attempts to twist away. "Which means," he said softly, "that nobody will be coming for you. Well, your partner might stumble across you if she looks in the right direction. If she does, she'll join you."
For a moment, the man was silent. "I told them," he finally said, "that it was a bad idea to hire you. But they liked your reputation for getting things delivered with no questions asked. Guess I was right after all. And I get a bonus."
Slowly, his hand slid up to cup one large breast. "The contract," he told her, "was for fourteen items. Now, thanks to you, I have fifteen. Which means I can keep the extra for myself." Slowly, he squeezed, tears springing to her eyes at the tightness of his grip. "You and I are going to have a lot of fun once we get the others shipped out. Well," the man amended, "I am. You, not so much."
"Fun's over."
Springing to his feet, the man whirled to see Lina standing in the doorway, her pistol pointed at him. "How did you get past my men?"
"Your men?" Lina smiled. "Oh, you mean those guys out front? The ones with the big lumps on their heads? Or maybe the ones inside? They're getting to know some new friends of mine."
Lina glanced down. "You ok, hon?" Eyes wide, Skye nodded slowly. "When this is over," Lina said, "remind me to latch onto some of those straps. They look good on you."
"You won't shoot me," the man declared.
"Maybe not," Jeff replied, stepping into the room behind Lina. "But she might." He nodded toward a woman who stood behind him, rifle in hand. "We found her daughter in the other room, so she's slightly less than happy with you at the moment."
Slowly, the man shrugged. "Ok," he said, "go ahead and arrest me. I'll be out within the week."
Jeff shook his head. "Your fancy lawyers," he said, "don't pull much weight around here. And the federals are already on their way. Personally, I'd just as soon shoot you where you stand, but they say they might cut you a deal if you help them take your bosses out of circulation. Bobby!"
A young man in uniform slipped into the room. "Everything ok?"
"Just fine," Jeff told him. "Want to take our friend into custody?"
As Bobby led his prisoner from the room, Jeff glanced down. "Might want to let your friend out of there," he told Lina. "She's very pretty, but a young lady like her needs to have clothes on."
"Got a call about a job."
Skye squirmed in the leather straps the bound her. "Lina, do you have to talk about work now?"
Lina grinned, glancing around the room, paid for with money from the briefcase. "Well," she said, "the rig's fixed, so we might as well get back on the road."
"One more night," Skye said pleadingly. "I'll even let you gag me again."
Smiling, Lina sank onto the bed next to the helpless blonde. "As if you had a choice," she whispered, running one hand along the bound woman's body. Closing her eyes, Skye moaned softly.
"Ok," Lina said, "one more night." Softly, she squeezed one breast. "Or maybe two."
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27.07.16