Page 15 of Trucker
“Oh, and by the way.” I nodded. “I have everything planned. Breakfast, tour of the property, the first visit to the station. You told me he’s a runner and there are plenty of places on my land he can run. His room was cleaned and the windows open for air to flow through—trust me, I’m ready.”
“Good.” She sounded relieved. “This man means a lot to me. I’m feeling some kind of ways asking him to take this on. But your cadets need the best and Trucker—well, he’s one of the best.”
“Thank you for taking such care of them. They’re young and the work they’re signing up for is dangerous. People underestimated them, especially our lone female.”
“I get it, trust me.” Zoom sighed. “My own parents looked down on me when they found out what I was doing.”
Exhaling, I finished my conversation with her and went back to look at the pages on this Mayson Calhoune she was sending my way. There wasn’t a picture and though I was curious, it would probably be weird to ask for one.
I supposed I’ll be surprised the next morning.
MAYSON “TRUCKER” CALHOUNE
Before havingto leave the city, Zoom ensured I received a couple of days off, with pay to rest and prepare myself.
The first morning, an apartment building was on fire that required all hands and two other fire stations to get the burn under control.
There went my day of rest.
After I packed, I used the rest of the day for a failed nap, and a few episodes of an anime Lena wanted me to watch.
It wasn’t my thing, but I did it for her.
Maybe it was because I couldn’t stop thinking about work. My concentration was off.
I’d try watching it from beginning again at another time.
The morning I left for Albright, a light rain persisted from the night before. The temperature had plummeted unseasonably low, and I had to pull a sweater on over my graphic t-shirt. The sun was barely up, but I needed to hit the road to avoid most of the traffic.
After a quick check to ensure everything was as it should be, I climbed into my truck and started the engine.
I was barely on the road when Zoom called.
She’d wanted to be there to see me off, but I didn’t want that. It wasn’t as if I was leaving forever—the last thing I wanted was some emotional send off.
The three-hour ride ahead would be long enough without me worrying about her being sad.
I stopped a few more times that necessary. But I didn’t really care about time—I had a few days before I officially started working. Besides, I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and didn’t want to be too exhausted while doing the haul.
After filling up the truck and removing my sweater, I bought some snacks.
I took a moment to stretch my legs by taking a short walk, then with Pink Floyd blasting from the speakers, I sped the rest of the way to Albright—keeping my eyes out for cops.
The moment I saw the typical sign, welcoming me to the town, I slowed down to the speed limit. I also slowed down to be inquisitive—check out my surroundings without being too obvious about it.
Where the hell did they send me?
While people stared, I didn’t turn the music down. I merely rested my elbow on the window, lounged back in my seat and glanced at the GPS.
It had gone silent as the screen went black and I knew why. No one had mapped Albright yet—it was driving into a technological black hole where not even light would catch me.
Well, shit.
When I turned onto the dirt road leading toward the house, I did turn off the music and slow down. Since it was a private space, there were no speed limits posted but I knew I could hit a moose or something if I wasn’t careful.
And besides, the gravel road had my truck rocking a little from side to side over the moving and unpaved surface.
My truck rocked from side to side to accommodate the loose dirt underneath the massive tires.
