Road Trip (2018 Wattys Long List)

Chapter 15

Dan stopped at every one of the places that he had thought that he might find these old folks. Nothing. He knew this was the only highway going west around the lake head. They had to be traveling this way but no-one that he had spoken to so far had seen them. He should have overtaken them by now. He was sure that he was driving fast enough to do that. He began to wonder whether he might have passed them somewhere. Time to backtrack, look for their trail again. It had become stone cold again. What could he have missed? Son of a bitch, these old codgers are really getting under my skin. I should have collared them before now, he thought! They were making him look like a rookie, and that didn't sit well with Dan at all.

He spun around, heading back the way he had come, at a high speed. He traveled for several hours, stopping here and there along the sparsely populated highway to ask if anyone might have seen them. He had just left the most recent diner when a blue Toyota, fitting the description of Stewart's car, passed him going the other way. Realizing that this could be it, he swerved onto the shoulder, spinning the wheel in an attempt to catch up to them quickly.

A deep blast of a horn, immediately followed by a loud bang and a violent jolt, and Dan's car was thrown sideways by the business end of a huge logging truck. When the dust settled, Dan felt himself all over. He seemed to be in one piece, as far as he could tell. Shaken, and a little dazed but otherwise ok. His head hurt, and the driver's door window was smashed but still, he felt pretty lucky.

He climbed out of the car to survey the damage and he was immediately pounced on by the irate truck driver. "What the hell you think yer' doin'! You pulled right out in front of me. This truck don't stop on no dime, bud! Where the hell you expect me to go?"

"Police officer. I think I just saw my suspects, headed the other way," Dan said guiltily, flashing his badge at the disgruntled trucker. "I guess I never looked in thereat view mirror.

"Well, a cop should damned well know better. Lucky you weren't killed, man!"

"Believe me, I know that", said Dan, squatting to examine his front tire. The driver's door and front fender of his car were crushed in, but that didn't seem to be presenting an immediate problem. On the other hand, the front tire was flat. That certainly was a problem.

The blue Toyota passed the log truck without incident, but even with the windows closed, they heard the loud bang and the horn blast. Looking back in the rearview mirror, Stu, who was now driving, saw the cloud of dust swirling over the truck.

Holy shit!", he exclaimed, braking to a stop and then quickly reversing the Toyota. The others twisted their heads to see what had happened behind them. Pulling to a stop on the opposite shoulder of the highway, directly across from Dan's car, Stu lowered his window, and called out, "Everyone OK?"

Dan looked up from where he was squatting, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. A blue Toyota, with three elderly men, an old woman and teenaged boy occupying the vehicle, right here, before his very eyes.

"Are you people recently from Glenwood Retirement home by any chance? I'm detective Dan Colbeck. If you are then I need to speak with you folks right away."

"Pleased to meet you, Dan", but we gotta' go", Stu said. He stepped on the gas, in a panic, and they sped away.

Dan leaped to his feet, and ran down the highway, waving his arms frantically. "Come back here!", he yelled, coming to a stop as the Toyota raced out of sight.

So they were this close to getting caught, Stu thought. We had better boogie outta' here and leave this cop right where he is. I hope he is ok. That trucker can help him. We better scoot!" He drove fast, about 20 kilometres over the limit. Soon they had left the accident scene far behind them.