Tony jumped off the loading dock and started walking back to the side of the building. Should be someone around, but they must have knocked off or something. He hesitated, then decided he had to go around front, so he kept walking.
There were a few cars up there and he thought he could see somebody in the front window. He walked in and turned left to the gal sitting behind a desk messily covered with papers.
“Hey,” he nodded to her. She looked up with fatigue in her eyes, but he thought she brightened a little at him.
“Yes, can I help you?” she answered, managing a little smile.
“Yeah, I got a delivery, and there’s nobody around out back.” He didn’t want to get anybody in trouble so he left it at that.
“Yeah?” She looked puzzled and annoyed. Not really her problem, but she better take it. “Let me check. Hang on a sec.” She picked up the phone and punched a few buttons.
Tony stepped back a little, but continued to size her up out of the corner of his eye. He normally liked brunettes, but blondes were nice too. He gave her a little smile.
She warmed a little back at him, holding the phone, but apparently there was no answer. “They must be on break or something. Whatta you got?”
“Uh, paper, and uh, office supplies, stuff like that.”
She glanced at his uniform. “Trenton Supply Company?”
“Yeah.”
“Hang on.” She reached back to a file cabinet, pulled out a drawer and finger walked through the files, pulling out one. “Here it is.” She scanned it quickly.
“Uh, okay, go on back and I’ll let you in.”
He nodded, walked out and around to his truck. He started it up, but waited to see which door might open. Finally the right hand door inched up, revealing very nicely the blonde, who did good justice to a print mini-dress.
Backing in, he had trouble focusing on the loading dock with those great legs and black heels standing there. He thumped the ramp a little too hard and cursed to himself.
But she was grinning at him when he hopped out and up on the dock, opening his door. He grinned back, hopeful that she was in fact interested in playing the game.
“You get stuck with warehouse duty on top of everything else, huh?”
She smiled. “Yeah. You know. You do what you gotta do.”
“Yeah, ain’t it the truth.” A short pause, then he stuck out his hand, “My name’s Tony”.
“Becky.”
“Nice to meet you, Becky.” He was pouring it on now, as much as he could. He started moving his pallet dolley under the first pallet, jacked it up and began pulling it into the warehouse.
“Where you want it?”
She looked surprised. “Oh yeah…um…over there I guess,” she said, pointing.
He pulled the load easily, at least he hoped he looked like it was easy, over to the spot she’d shown, but as he got about five feet away, suddenly stopped. The pallet nearly banged into his heels. He stared into the corner and saw…what was that…a foot, a leg? He left the pallet and edged slowly closer, bit by bit revealing more and more of what was clearly a body layed out in an unnatural twisted position, with some kind of dark pool beneath him.
It took a few seconds for his brain to process all the facts, then he jerked back. Then he stopped. Wait, maybe the guy isn’t dead, maybe he needs help. He moved back slowly, bending down, intending to feel for a pulse, maybe on his neck, when he saw the face and knew immediately.
“What is it,?” Becky called out behind him, and he remembered she was there.
Turning to her he was about to speak when he saw out of the corner of his eye something in the shadows near the door leading back to the office. It was a man. Holding a gun. He turned away. Apparently the guy with the gun didn’t see him yet.
What to do? He looked up and saw Becky’s puzzled look and knew.
“Hey Kiddo,” he began walking up to her. “Lemme show you something over here..” he reached her, grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear, “Listen, you’ve got to trust me. There’s somebody over there with a gun. Don’t look! Just come around to the front of the truck with me.”
Becky’s eyes flared in surprise and anger. “Wha…?”
“Please, there’s a guy with a gun. Come with me.”
She hesitated, but for some reason believed him enough to start walking with him.
Just then the man in the shadows jumped out and aimed his gun at them.
“Run!” Tony yelled, half pulling, half lifting her into the cab. He shoved her in, jumped in after her, fired up the truck and gunned it. He cursed the slowness of the diesel, but continued stomping on the gas till the rig pulled around the corner. Something smashed thru his side window and blew glass all over his lap. He peeled out on the road, never slowing, realizing his load was being thrown around, and even, crap, out the open back door.
“You got a phone?” he nearly yelled at his terrified passenger.
“Yes. No! I left it on my desk.”
“There!” he pointed to the glove box. “In there, call 911!”
She immediately began scrambling for the phone, but at the same time answered back, “And tell ‘em what exactly?”
“Tell me there’s a guy shooting at us. We’re on the road… and…and…” he tried to think, there was something else.... Oh yeah. “Tell them there’s a dead body back there!”
The phone was in her hand and she was punching the numbers, but managed to say, “A dead body?! Who?”
He didn’t answer, because he didn’t know who, and because he was staring out his mirrors. After a few seconds, he breathed out a long sigh. Didn’t look like anyone was following them.
Becky began telling 911 what had happened, struggling at first to control her breathing, but calming pretty quickly. Good girl, he thought. Listening in to their side of the call, it sounded like they were being told to find a safe spot and park it till someone arrived. Becky nodded uselessly to the 911 operator and said ok, we’ll call you back when we get somewhere.
His own breathing was slowing and he began to look for a spot to pull over, hopefully someplace public and safe. Ahead on the right was a strip mall that looked like it would do, and he began edging over.
“Don’t do that.” Becky said calmly next to him.
He glanced at her, then stared, his mouth dropping.
She had the biggest old 45 revolver he’d ever seen, pointed at him.
Several thoughts lightning bolted through his brain at the same time: 1)What was she doing? 2)Damn, that was a big gun. And 3)Where the hell had she been hiding that?
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