William, Jason and Charlie had been sitting in the van on the wide dirt shoulder a couple hundred yards before the truck stop entrance, waiting for the right time to begin their act. The timing was critical. They needed to start their fake-kidnap drama at the right time. Too early, and someone other than Hugh might feel compelled to stop to help. Too late, and Hugh might drive past without noticing.
With Kent’s announcement that Hugh was about ready to round the turn, they got set up to play their parts. Charlie’s hands had already been tied loosely behind her back, but William now placed the cloth bag over her head.
“Don’t forget, Charlie, you’ve got to give it a good struggle. Make it look real. And we’re going to put up a fight when he gets here to make it look good.”
The bag nodded.
They exited the van, and got into place. William kept an eye on the road in the direction Hugh would be coming from. He could see the truck as Kent had described it rounding the last turn.
Then closer.
“Now?” Jason asked.
“Not yet.”
“Not yet.”
“Now!”
Hugh made the right turn for the final leg of about a quarter mile before the truck stop entrance. Ahead, he saw a van parked on the shoulder. Next to the van were three people, and he saw a lot of activity going on.
As he got closer he saw one of them, a large guy, who was grappling with someone dressed in women’s slacks and a sleeveless top. Another guy was struggling to control the woman’s legs. She kicked violently, fighting to resist being forced by the men into the van through the side door.
The woman’s hands were tied behind her back, and she had a bag over her head. She was losing the fight with those guys, overwhelmed by their superior strength and size.
“Not today, fellows,” Hugh yelled, and brought his truck to a stop on the shoulder right behind the van.
He jumped out of his cab and ran toward the group. As he got closer, the two guys saw him and momentarily stopped trying to drag the struggling woman into their vehicle.
The guy holding the woman’s legs released her and stood to one side. The other kept a hold on her arms as she continued to struggle.
“Stop right there, mister,” the one holding the struggling kidnap victim said. “This has nothing to do with you. Get back into your truck and drive away, and you won’t get hurt.”
Up close, the speaker looked like a type Hugh had known in the military. Solid, capable, competent. His buddy looked to be the same.
“No can do. How about if you let go of the lady and get back into your van and drive away.” All the while he was speaking, Hugh was inching closer toward the men and the struggling woman.
Neither of the two moved.
“It’s up to you how you play this. But the wise thing for you is to drive away. If you don’t, one or both of you are going to get hurt,” Hugh warned the men.
“You’re kidding, right?” the one holding the woman, who Hugh assumed was the leader, said. “We’re two against one.
The other one looked to the leader. His expression spoke volumes of doubt.
Perfect. Sniff out the weakest one, and in this case, the stronger one had his hands full, occupied trying to hold on to the still-struggling woman.
OK. He’d open the fight by dropping the doubting one first.
Hugh was almost on top of them. He feigned a lunge at the one holding the women, but pivoted into the other guy. His sudden movement caught the guy unguarded, and Hugh drove a punishing, big-fisted, hard left into his solar plexus. Hugh knew that’s where a lot of the central body’s nerves and ganglia come together, the ones that play a part in the functioning of the stomach, kidneys, liver and adrenal glands. Hit it just right with enough force and it takes the fight right out of a guy.
It’s exactly where someone wouldn’t want to receive a sledge hammer blow delivered by a determined, six-two, two-hundred-twenty-pound truck driver.
The guy doubled over, his ability to breathe temporarily suspended. Hugh then caught the guy’s neck in the V between his right hand’s forefinger and thumb, heaved up with all his strength and drove the guy’s head back against the van’s open door frame. The guy dropped like a rock with his torso into the van, and his legs hanging out.
Finished with that one, Hugh turned to see the one holding the woman had dragged her away from the van, had thrown her roughly down onto the dirt shoulder, and was making his way over to the other side of the vehicle away from Hugh.
That guy, the one Hugh had assumed was the leader, then pulled his buddy all the way into the van, slammed the door shut, and gunned the engine out of there. His tires spun on the shoulder, and spewed dirt and small rocks all over Hugh and the woman.
He’s not such a tough guy now. Hugh let him go.
Hugh leaned over the woman who was struggling to sit up in the dirt. Her clothes were torn, and she had scrapes on her bare arms. Her struggles were only making it worse.
“Stop struggling,” Hugh said. “I’m here to help.”
When she stopped fighting him, Hugh kneeled down beside her and gently sat her up, cradling her in his arms. Then he removed the cloth bag that covered her head.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Face to face with each other, they sat on the dirt of the shoulder, both stunned into silence. Both staring at each other in disbelief.
Hugh wouldn’t find out until later, but
