Road Trip (2018 Wattys Long List)

Chapter 18

Dan figured he must be a good hour, at least, behind the Toyota,and he couldn't push it too hard, now. Not with that damned skinny, temporary spare tire on the car. That would be all that he needed, another blow out, maybe even a car wreck. No, he would have to stay under the speed limit. Keep his cool.

He drove west, putting out an A.P.B. for the blue Toyota. He gave a description of its probable occupants and the license plate number that he had obtained from the Ministry of Transport. All he could do now was to wait for a sighting, and in the meantime do his best to catch up to the escapees. After a couple of hours, he began stopping along the way again, asking at service stations and diners, if anyone had seen a car or it's occupants, that matched the descriptions that he provided. This procedure had produced nothing nor had the radio call brought any results. It was like these fugitives had disappeared into thin air.

As he neared Winnipeg, Dan had thought of another worrisome idea. What if the old folks knew someone out this way and they were holed up somewhere in the city? It might be days or even weeks before they surfaced again. On the other hand, they could have hurried right through the city, never even stopping there. This whole thing was becoming a bigger pain in the ass by the minute!

On his arrival, he made a few inquiries around the downtown area, but this proved fruitless, just as Dan had thought that it might. But he had to try. After several fruitless attempts, he headed out of the Winnipeg driving west again, hoping the old folks were still on the road somewhere ahead of him.

For the most part, the driving was boring and Dan, being by himself for so long let his thoughts return to the past. He had been married until only a few years ago when his wife had finally thrown in the towel and divorced him. She couldn't take it any longer. The worry or his many late nights on the job. She didn't want to be stuck sitting at home, alone and fretting any longer. That is what she said. She was gone out of his life now, another casualty of this career of his and he could hardly blame her for that if he were honest with himself. All he had left anymore was this job and now it looked as if a few old folks were jeopardizing that for him as well.

He didn't have any kids, never made time for any, even though his wife had wanted to have them back in the day. Someone to look after both of them in their old age, she had said. But everything was about the job for him it seemed. His parents were gone and he had one sister on the east coast. He hadn't really kept in touch with her either over the years. That was pretty much it as far as family was concerned. He had no close relatives other than that. He had no other real interests outside of his career to think of at this point in his life.

Dan hated to consider the possibility, but if he was bested by these seniors what would he have really accomplished in his life? It sure didn't bear too much thinking about. It would be just too mortifying! How could he ever hold his head high around the station again, unless he brought em' back?

After leaving Winnipeg behind, he began stopping and asking at places that he found along the highway again, asking if anyone had seen the fugitives. He was still drawing a blank. No matter how many people he asked, he always got the same result. No one had seen the old folks. Where could they have gone? Sure, there was the occasional side road, but these only continued so far to the west, before they snaked in some other direction, or simply petered out. Besides, they had no services along the way, and the old folks would require fuel, food, and water at regular intervals. They would have to stop somewhere, sometime. Places like that were only available along this main highway. It didn't make any sense to him. He was beginning to think he must have lost their trail, but how could that be? Again, he got on the radio and asked the local dispatcher to repeat the all points bulletin for the blue Toyota. That still produced no results.

What if they got cagey and changed the license plates on the car? That would certainly make them harder to identify. But where would they find fresh plates along the way? That would be a long shot, with people who were this age, it seemed to Dan. He called dispatch again, asked if there had been any reports of stolen plates, but again he drew a blank. There had been no such reports, although that sort of thing could go undetected for quite awhile, he reasoned. Where the hell were they?

This was becoming a bigger screw-up by the minute. Four elderly people and a vagrant teenaged boy somewhere in a car on the only highway in this area. He had even seen them once already but they had slipped from his grasp. He had a good description of the car, its probable occupants, and the license plate number. He had put it out there over the police radio. Nothing. He couldn't locate them anywhere. Maybe it was time to turn around, go back to Winnipeg, see if they were still in the city. Try that possibility. The trail had grown cold. He felt desperate.

It was very late in the day when the police radio crackled to life. As usual, there had been a variety of activity over the airwaves throughout the day, mostly background noise to Dan's ears. Suddenly something caught Dan's attention. A suspicious blue Toyota, matching the description of the suspect vehicle, had been spotted on a used car lot in Winnipeg. The car reportedly had recently been sold to the lot owner by one of the four elderly people. They had been in the company of a young male. This was the break Dan had been hoping for.

He slowed his speed and looked carefully in the rear-view mirror. Seeing nothing approaching in either direction, he did a power turn and as quickly as possible he got the ghost car headed back in the direction from which he had come. He placed his portable flashing light on the dashboard in front of him and he pushed the accelerator pedal a little harder, risking the skinny spare tire in an effort to return to Winnipeg as quickly as possible.

It was the only lead that had come his way since he had seen his suspects in a car across the road from him at the accident scene that morning. Maybe this thing would finally be over and he would be able to return home with some small amount of respect. He hurried towards Winnipeg, dash light flashing.