"A prius, Pavlo just had to own a prius didnt he?" Mel thought to herself. A prius was an eyesore and stood out like a sore thumb out here on the roads that were frequented by SUVs and big horse and trailer trucks.
She knew she needed new wheels pretty soon, otherwise she was toast. But she also knew out here where each town was at least an hour's drive apart, it wasnt going to be as easy to come by a ride as it would have been in the big city. Plus there were requirements, these days everyone knew any car was a potential hijack or theft item, and most of the modern cars and almost all fleet cars had trackers installed and she needed to not be tracked.
As her mind wandered on this, she saw the sun rising over the mountains in her rearview mirror. Realizing that she had been driving for 6 hours straight, well maybe the prius wasnt so bad after all with such good fuel economy, but she knew it was time to stop for a rest and food. Seeing a fuel station sign up ahead was just what needed.
Sitting on a picnic bench munching a burger at 6am, Mel tried to sort out what to do next. She knew that keeping still was out of the question, that is how the cops would track her, but if not that, where to? She had never handled a gun in her life nor for that matter knew where to acquire one. With some distance from that city, being betrayed and for now completely on her own, what match was she going to be against a ruthless Nigerian druglord and arms smuggler?
She had stuck around at Pavlo's place for a while after he was out, long enough to drag him to his bed and cabletie his hands to the bed posts, and write a letter apologizing for leaving and promising that she would not damage his car. She had managed to find out that Felix was heading to the Musina border, she had learnt to tap a phone from an ex who for reasons unspecified had known that skill and been listening to Felix's calls since Pavlo's last night. Obviously being the middle of the night, he hadnt had much communication, apparently Nigerian Criminal kingpins didnt particularly feel the need to hide in the shadows of the night. His only outgoing call was to someone called Shan saying that there was "a delivery in Jozi at the regular rendezvous at 8:30am and then the shipment needed to get to the Musina border post by 2pm when the shifts are changing at the border", come to think about it, she could make it to JoBurg by 8:30, but she would need faster wheels if she was going to make it before they had finished unloading.
Looking at her watch, she had another pressing matter to attend to also, calling Steven and bringing him up to speed. By her calculations, there was enough time to use Pavlo's cell to call him for 3 minutes, then leave the cell in the car and get a new ride. Or she could swipe a phone, at this time of the morning on a Sunday the only people around were devout people on their way to Sunday services and folks taking the overnighter bus between the big cities.
Looking around she spotted a truck driver let out flat across the ground fast asleep in the warm morning sun after a long night's drive. Next to him was his bag, keys and cell phone conveniently on top. Smiling to herself, she strode over and in one smooth movement swapped Pavlo's car keys and cell for the one the trucker had and moved towards the trucks parked at the other end of the lot.
The truck was easy to find and Mel only felt a small twinge of guilt as she entered the highway. She kept telling herself that it was just borrowing, no harm would come to the vehicles she was borrowing, and this was a small price to pay for her name being cleared and an international drug and arms smuggling ring being brought down. Hold on, she was about to blow open an international drug and arms smuggling ring?!?! Little insignificant Mel, who had no training with weapons or police and had no backup was in deeper than she knew and had to learn to swim with the sharks now. That thought really caught her throat. But there was no going back, not after all she had done now, including this ginormous 18 wheeler truck she was cruising in.
Enough thinking, she told herself, time to call Steven.
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