Full Blast

Louise put down the pot. She glanced across the diner. The trucker was draining his own drink. He stood and crossed to the counter, pulling money out of the pocket of his baggy Levi’s jeans. He was a big man, barrel-chested, and could have moved his rig without the aid of the tractor. He glanced at Schwarz’s shoulder rig, then the bruises.

“You boys cops?”

“Justice Department,” Schwarz said. “Passing through. The bruises come with the job.”

The trucker nodded, satisfied, then turned his attention to Louise. “Good as ever, Lou,” he said.

“Where you heading this time, Charley?”

“Over to Flagstaff. They got me another load waiting.” He counted out the cash and placed it on the counter. He squared his battered Stetson and nodded at Schwarz and Grimaldi. “Is she a good cook or what?”

“You said it,” Grimaldi agreed. As Charley turned to go, he added, “Hey, you drive easy, fella. Have a good run now.”

“Thanks.” He eyed Schwarz. “Next time, try ducking, buddy.”

They all waited until he was outside, crossing the lot to his rig.

“Louise?” Schwarz prompted.

She fixed herself a coffee, walked out from behind the counter and crossed to one of the tables. The Stony Man pair joined her. Louise sat and watched the big semi swing around and pull out of the lot, leaving a thin haze of dust in its wake.

“See the other side of the road? Just beyond that mess of brush?”

Grimaldi was the first to spot the dusty shape of a car.

“How long have they been there?”

“On and off the last day or so.”

“Obvious question is why?”

Louise glanced across at Schwarz. “Cassie Stone,” she said. “She isn’t why you’re here?”

“Never heard of Cassie Stone. Is she the one in trouble? Maybe you’d like to tell us about her.”

“Remember I said about local girls meeting up with soldiers from the base? Cassie is one of them. She took up with this sergeant. Young feller. Real nice guy. Name of Luke Jacobi. This goes back two, three months. I guess they really took to each other. Whenever Luke got time, he’d come in here and see her. Cassie works part-time for me. They met in here first off. Anyhow, things were okay until a week ago. Cassie came to me and said she was scared for Luke. Seems he’d walked into some kind of problem at the base and didn’t know what to do. I never saw him again after that. He stayed away. Cassie told me he’d called her a few times. Last she heard, he told her he was really desperate. He was sure someone was out to get him, but he didn’t know who he could talk to about it.”

“What about his base commander? General Gardener?”

Louise smiled, her expression bleak.

“It was Gardener he was scared of. Cassie told me Luke said it was Gardener behind all the trouble. He’d found something out that had made him a target. He told Cassie he had to get away from the base. She wanted to help, but he wouldn’t tell her what he’d found out because it would only drag her in, as well. He said if they came looking for him she had to say she didn’t know where he was.”