The Wager (18 page)

Gus looked toward the second truck.

"What's Bourbon doing? Looks like he's got something he's shaking around."

Linda and Gus walked over to Bourbon.

"I'll get that out of his mouth."

Linda walked up to the thrashing pit bull. She gave him a massage on his back and patted him until he managed to calm down. She worked her hands around his mouth and tugged on the object. Bourbon opened his jaws suddenly and the object sprang loose. Bourbon whined.

"What's that he's chewing?"

Gus put his flashlight on the object.

"Someone's pants and boxer shorts!" he said in absolute astonishment. "They've even got their belt attached."

Then the light caught Norm Dixon's shoe. Gus picked up the items ignoring Bourbon's pleas for him to give them back.

"Pants, boxer shorts and a shoe." Gus reached into the pockets but nothing was in them.

Gus's fingers felt something wet. He placed the light on the objects.

"Blood! God, someone must have been trying to get into the truck and Bourbon chewed them up."

"We had better get out of here right now," Gus decided. He went back to the motorhome and Linda could hear him rousing everyone to get up. She took Bourbon into the front of one of the trucks, praised him for chasing off the intruder and then went back to the motorhome to dress herself.

Within ten minutes Gus had the two trucks and the motorhome back on the freeway and approaching the state border. He was now leading the way in Tyler's truck and as they passed the state line he headed off the freeway toward the Coastal route, slowing slightly to make sure that Tyler and Malcolm had followed.

"Whoever that was won't think we switched highways," he said confidently to Gloria next to him in the cargo truck.

In the motorhome Linda was having a battle with herself. Despite what had happened she realised that Malcolm's physical presence so close was still sexually turning her on. One part of her mind wanted to finally confide to Malcolm that she was attracted to him. Another was telling her that she was going to make a complete fool of herself if she did. Instead she told Malcolm what had happened outside.

"Whoever that was must be half naked and bleeding," she ended with a laugh. Malcolm joined in the laughter but then changed the subject.

"We've got to stop sleeping together in that small bed," Malcolm confided. Linda's mouth fell open in shock.

"My sentiments exactly!" she replied.

"I need to raise my lower leg higher. I can't even get a pillow in between you and me."

"Wait till the others fall asleep, I'll move onto the floor." Linda's hopes shattered.

"Next time we stop for gas, I'll pick up an air mattress for you."

"Thanks."

"You were uncomfortable, too?"

"Yes, too cramped," Linda lied, glad that she had not revealed her true feelings.

Back in Tyler's truck Turk O'Brien and Bea were wondering what was going on. Turk moved forward and knocked on the window between the cab of the truck. Honey Pratt shoved it open.

"What's going on?"

"Cleo woke Linda up. Seems there was someone trying to get into your truck. Bourbon must have stopped him. Chewed him up quite a bit by the look of it. Left his pants when the dog wouldn't let go I imagine and his shoe. Linda saw the car lights when whoever it was left the campsite."

"Maybe that detective?"

"Likely."

"Damn!"

Tyler broke in to say that Gus had shifted them all to the coastal route to throw the fellow off if he came back.

"Can you stop at the next town? I want to pick up a gun."

"No way, Turk," Tyler warned. "You can't take those things across the border."

"At least stop and get us a couple of coffees."

In his mind Turk decided to secretly try and get hold of a weapon any time they stopped.

Honey Pratt nodded. "Sure, Sugar, it must be like a sensory deprivation tank in there."

Three hours later Norm Dixon's heart nearly stopped as he drove back into the RV campsite only to discover his fugitives gone. He roared around and moved back onto the freeway with a vengeance.

"Good thing this is a powerful car," he thought. And that all night general store and gas station sold pants, boxer shorts, shoes, meat and a first aid kit. Norm stepped on the gas and quickly reached thirty miles per hour past the speed limit. He tried to ignore the irregular thumping of his heart and the pain in his seat and foot. He realised that he was thoroughly traumatized at the ordeal he had gone through.

"Can't be any cops on duty this time of the night," he said to himself. "A good thing that general store guy didn't question me about what happened to my pants and shoe? Believed me that some dog had attacked me for no reason. A good thing I had my wallet in my jacket pocket. And the jacket to cover my chewed up ass. Hope I don't get some god awful disease from those bites." Norm bit his lip to ignore the pain as his bandaged foot was still throbbing and his disinfected, bandaged seat was still burning from Bourbon's attack.

By dawn the frantic detective admitted to himself that either the rigs had pulled off somewhere again or they were not on the freeway.

"I'll need a plane to find them," he realised. He pulled over to the side of the freeway and took a look at a map of the state. He was an hour from a major airport.

"Surely there's a pilot and plane I can rent. I've got to get possession of that woman before they go over the border."

By noon he had covered the entire freeway to the California state line and all of the RV sites within ten miles of it. Norm was oblivious to the serenity and wild beauty of the area.

"They must have switched highways," he concluded. The pilot landed at a small field to refuel again and Norm directed him to fly to the Coastal Route. By three o'clock he was half way through Oregon on the Coastal Route when he spotted the convoy.

"That's them," he yelled to the pilot. "Where's the nearest landing spot with a rental car agency?"

The pilot told him it would be about twenty minutes flying time. Norm motioned him to go for it.

"Newport," Norm looked at the map. "They are near Newport. I bet they pull off before dark. They'll be three-quarters through Oregon." Norm reached for his package of fresh steak.

"Those dogs ain't going to turn away from this," he thought confidently.

B
y dusk Gus figured out that he had better find somewhere to stop for a while. He was starting to go to sleep at the wheel. The landscape was getting hard to see.

"I'd better take the next well-lit, RV sign, Darling," he told Gloria.

"Edgar's Roost, " Gloria shouted several minutes later. Gus pulled off the highway onto a narrow road and slowed to make sure Tyler and Malcolm had followed. The phone on the dashboard rang. Gus picked it up.

"Inferno to Hollywood 1."

"Hello Inferno,"

"Don't go into the RV spot," Tyler warned. "Whoever that was they would expect us to be in one."

"Roger Inferno." Gus passed Edgar's Roost. He drove on for another half an hour and then spotted a white church with a fairly large parking lot. Gus pulled in and parked around the rear of the church. The others parked beside him. They were not visible from the road.

By dawn an increasingly anxious Norm Dixon had checked out every RV access off the southern and middle sections of the Coastal Route of Oregon. The package of meat in the passenger seat had started to smell.

"I'll have to go back to the air," he sighed. "Hope

Broughton has enough money to pay for this." Norm pulled over and checked out his map again. He headed for the closest airport that looked big enough to have a plane rental.

Gus stepped out of his bedroom and nearly stepped on a slumbering Linda Daniels in the aisle of his motorhome.

"My God, Malcolm's still not sleeping with Linda," Gus shook his head in disbelief. "Newport," he said to himself. "Three quarters of the way through Oregon. He glanced at Malcolm Brooks, snoring slightly on the bed. " Malcolm, I'm going to go for it."

By the time Gus had checked on the dogs and given them a run in the churchyard Gloria and Linda had breakfast cooked. Gus ordered everyone to take their food with them and get back on the road.

"We seem to have been lucky," he told them "but I'm not taking any chances. Going to head back over to the freeway now."

"If that fellow is still following you're going to drive him nuts," Tyler laughed.

By three p.m. Norm Dixon had flown all the way down to the Mexican border. He was now thoroughly exhausted and depressed as there had been no sign of the motorhome and the cargo trucks on the Coastal Highway.

"They've vanished into thin air," he cursed. "And I've run up a small fortune in plane and pilot rentals." The package of fresh meat he was carrying with him was now smelling pungently. The detective felt desperation taking over his mind. He forced it to be still.

"The freeway," he sighed as he realised the convoy must have headed back onto it. "I'll land for the night, charter the pilot for the next morning and find a doctor to take care of my seat and foot before I develop gangrene." The large detective was feeling awful.

He told the pilot to land at the nearest airstrip and chartered him for the next day. Desperation forced him to think out a contingency plan if he was not able to locate them on the freeway the next day. His desperate mind worked out a possible solution to the problem.

"They have to come to the border sometime the next day after tomorrow or the one after," he realised. "That worker in the funeral home said that his boss always uses the Nogales border crossing. They'll likely stop for gas and Mexican car insurance at a station and Mexican insurance sales before they go across. All I have to do is watch for them just before the border. I can contact the American Border guards if I have to. They'll cooperate if I can assure them two fugitives are hiding in those trucks. But I have to be sure."

Later in San Francisco, Gus pulled into a large Walmart parking lot for the night. Tyler and Malcolm pulled in beside him.

"Walmart lets you stay for free in their parking lot," Gus explained as the others parked beside him and trudged into the motor home complete with their dogs. Even the dogs seemed tired. They slumped obediently on the floor.

"That fellow will never think of finding us in a Walmart." Tyler laughed. "How about we let Bea and Turk out of that tin can for a while."

"Good idea," Malcolm seconded.

"There's a dining room across the street," Honey Pratt pointed out the widow. "How's about we'all go and have a decent meal for a change?"

Tyler nodded enthusiastically and Gus gave a weary OK.

"We'll bring back some burgers for the dogs."

Bea and Turk blinked their eyes as they looked furtively around the large Walmart. The sunlight coming through the

windows was in sharp contrast to the semi-darkness of the cargo truck.

"I have to act fast," Turk told Bea as he searched for the hunting and fishing section of Walmart. "They're expecting us at the restaurant across the street. He located the gun section and quickly purchased a hand gun. The he and Bea hid the weapon in Turk's coffin inside the large truck. They both ran across the street to the restaurant. Turk's mind was on the man pursuing them.

"Got a funny feeling that fellow hasn't given up!" Turk warned his friends as they all ordered steaks, drinks and desert. Bea ordered a Lava Flow.

"Think the switch back and forth between the highways threw him off," Gus replied.

"For how long?"

"We'll do it again. In the morning. I'll switch back to the coastal route for the run into Los Angeles."

Gus told the group that they would stay in Los Angeles for the next night and then head to the border through San Diego and Tucson. Tyler told them that the border at Nogales would require them to get automobile permits for one hundred eighty days and that they would be stopped a second time at the Federal Inspection Point, about twelve miles into Mexico, where the permits and baggage would likely be inspected. He told them they would have to pick up Mexican automobile insurance before they went over the border.

"We'll stop at one of the RV camps for the night and then get the insurance, gas and head into Mexico in the morning," Gus decided.

Gus had made certain that he sat next to Linda. Malcolm watched with growing concern as Gus engaged Linda in private conversation. He was paying much too much attention

to her and Gloria was taking the opportunity to chat with him. Malcolm was finding it difficult to follow Gloria's conversation and monitor Gus's interaction with Linda at the same time. When Gus asked Linda to dance and she agreed Malcolm felt himself growing more and more apprehensive. Tyler and Honey took the opportunity to dance as well and Malcolm was left with a chatty Gloria, Bea Broughton and a visibly worried Turk O'Brien.

"I'll join you in the motorhome tomorrow," Gloria informed him. His worst fears had been confirmed. "Gus says he wants to have a long talk with Linda. About the dogs."

"Uh, thanks but I need Linda to keep an eye on Trump. He's still pretty restless and I don't want him interfering with my driving."

"Trump can join her in the truck with Gus," Gloria replied as if the switch was a done deal. Malcolm realised he had to do something drastic or Linda was going to be propositioned by Gus and Gloria was going to hit on him. The thought sent him into a fury.

"Linda can take care of herself," Malcolm tried to reason through his anger. "But look what happened to Blanche," some part of his mind warned him.

"That was thirty years ago," another part shot back.

Gloria got up to dance with Turk and Malcolm was left alone with Bea Broughton. His thoughts about Linda and Gus continued to whirl through his head. He had difficulty thinking about anything to talk to Bea about. He was too busy staring at Linda and Gus on the dance floor. They seemed to be having a great time. When the band switched into a Tango and Gus aggressively manoevered Linda through some very sexy moves Malcolm felt himself losing complete control of his emotions.

"Too bad about your engagement ending, Malcolm."

Malcolm stared at Bea.

"It's for the best," he reassured her. "Monica and I are not suited at all. She loathes animals and I like to have them constantly around."

"I understand. Your ex-wife Blanche felt the same way as Monica, you know. She simply didn't understand why you had to have all those pets. That's why she left you."

"That's why Blanche left me?" Malcolm couldn't believe his ears.

He had always assumed that it was because he was an inadequate lover. And that she had discovered that fact when Gus managed to seduce her.

"Yes. Didn't she ever tell you that she was allergic to fur and animal dander?"

Malcolm gasped. Bea was blowing his mind. He was suddenly thrown back to memories from thirty years ago. When he searched his memory, he recalled Blanche complaining time and time again that his pets were causing her asthma attacks. Malcolm realised that he had not paid any attention to his former wife's objections to his animal collection. Malcolm realised he was having a long overdue fash of insight into the reason behind his wife leaving him.

"My God," he confessed to Bea. "I just kept telling her to get allergy shots. I guess I'm not a very good listener."

"Oh well, that's all water under the bridge," Bea sighed as Turk and the others came back to the table.

By the time everyone reached the motorhome and Bea and Turk had returned to Tyler's cargo van, Malcolm was overcome with a strange mixture of emotions. His mind was spinning.

"Bea must be wrong. A wife wouldn't leave just because of your animals. No, it was because of Gus."

Fury took over Malcolm's mind.

"I'm not going to let what happened to Blanche happen to Linda," he vowed. "I guess Bea is partly right. I never listened to Blanche's concerns about my animals and she got even by taking Gus as a lover."

"My God. I wonder what Linda has been trying to tell me and I haven't been listening." Malcolm forced his memory to recall his interactions with Linda over the years. He recalled the way she looked into his eyes when they were having deep conversations and the small gifts she had always left on Christmas and his birthday. Insight finally struck Malcolm as he realised that Linda must have had a crush on him for many years.

"She's been trying to tell me but I haven't been listening."

Malcolm went over to the sink in the galley of the motorhome, pulled out a small blue pill, gulped it down with a drink of water, waited until everything was quiet in the van and Linda started to get up from their bed to pull out the air mattress. He intercepted her as she started to crawl over him and pulled her close. To his surprise Linda did not put up any resistance.

"She loves me," Malcolm decided. Her body relaxed as he kissed her firmly on the mouth and her body folded into his. Malcolm could feel his own body reacting as Linda deepened their kiss. Malcolm moved into a deeply penetrating kiss. Linda responded in kind. Malcolm moved his hand behind Linda's seat and started to massage her in sensual areas. He was amazed at Linda's response. Before long Malcolm was reaching to undo Linda's pajamas and slide them off her. He caressed her breasts and stomach with his mouth.

It was Linda that finally inserted Malcolm into her. She

moved on top of him and found a rhythm that made him gasp. He managed to withhold ejaculation long enough to satisfy Linda and then released himself with a passion that surprised himself. Linda withdrew and he cuddled her close. Her tears dropped onto his face to his surprise.

"If you only knew how long I've wanted you to do that," she told him as she held him close. Malcolm felt strange, warm vibrations around his heart.

"She needs me," he decided. It's been half a lifetime since I've felt like this," he said to himself in shock.

"I'm so sorry," Malcolm confessed. "I'm not a very good listener, am I?"

"No, you're not."

"I'll improve. I promise."

The next morning as Gus came out into the aisle of the motorhome Linda was still laying naked and entwined with Malcolm. Both their sets of pajamas were lying crumbled in the middle of the aisle. Gus smiled broadly as he took a closer look at both of his friends sleeping soundly.

"Finally," he said to Gloria as he retreated into the motorhome. "Finally we've got those two together."

"It's about time," Gloria responded, laughing loudly. "I was beginning to get a complex from Malcolm's continued rejection."

Gus got back into bed with Gloria.

"If we have to wait for them to wake up we might as well do it too," he laughed. "Good idea!" Gloria pulled her husband of many years firmly against her.

The motion of rocking shook the motorhome and the sound of chanting reached them from the bed above the driver's seat. Gloria realised that Tyler and Honey Pratt were having some kind of sex in the cab of the truck.

"That's everyone here, finally," she thought with a huge feeling of accomplishment. She wondered about Esther Goodenough and Art Malones. "The bet will have to be split at least four ways."

"You're an incorrigible matchmaker," Gus accused his wife as later they dressed for breakfast. "How many marriages are you responsible for now? I should make a movie about you."