Hugh looked over at the work station where Janine had been sitting the other day, and looked a question at Gloria.
“Janine, yes,” Gloria said. “She was marched out of here this morning. Fired on the spot. She might even be charged as an accomplice.”
Hugh was surprised at how quickly the company grapevine had transmitted the news about the breakup of the insurance scam ring, and the part the dispatcher had played in it.
On the drive back from Scottsdale, Hugh and Jenny had heard Johnston when he had called Bufont, the terminal administrator, to tell him the surprising outcome of the deposition.
The attorney told them he expected word would spread quickly, and Fishburn would be facing not only criminal charges of conspiracy to commit murder, insurance fraud and tax evasion, but trucking companies he had scammed over the past couple of years would be lining up to file civil complaints against him as well.
The guy would be stripped of all his ill-gained assets and, along with his co-conspirators, would be spending a considerable portion of the rest of his life in prison.
“Ahem!” Hugh heard at his side.
“Oh, sorry. Gloria, I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Jenny McDonald.”
“I’m so happy to meet you,” Gloria said. Then joked, “I hope you’re not going to take our Hugh away from us.”
“No,” Jenny said, as she held onto Hugh’s arm. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to drive with Hugh.”
“Anyway, Gloria. Can you get us a load up north, preferably Spokane? I’m taking a break. I promise after this one, I’ll settle down to a good long time out on the road.”
“Sure. No problem. Sit tight in your truck, and I’ll message you a pre-load as soon as I can get one.”
Hugh and Jenny were back at Hugh’s truck. He had tapped the icon to call James because he’d had a lot to bring him up to speed about. Hugh put it on speaker so Jenny could participate in the call.
“Hey, kid. What’s going on?”
“Hey, old man. It’s been very interesting, and it’s all over.”
Hugh took a lot of time going over everything that had happened since the last time he had talked to James. He was especially proud to tell James about how well Jenny had handled herself during the kidnapping.
“She’s a trooper, for sure,” James said.
“So, as far as Charlie’s concerned, it’s all over for her too. She’s free to return to Boise and go back to work,” Hugh said.
“We’ve been talking about that, Hugh.”
Hugh looked at Jenny. She had a “this will be interesting” expression on her face.
“Go on,” Hugh said.
“We’re on our way to Phoenix right now. She says she is done with Idaho and has a job interview with the Arizona Democrat newspaper. She’s actually got an extremely impressive portfolio of investigative articles, and they are very interested in her.”
“Wow!” Hugh said.
“Here’s the other thing, buddy. She’s told them she’s bringing with her an exclusive inside story about the insurance scam ring, Jenny’s kidnapping, the motorcycle gang, and everything you had done to break up the scam.”
“How’s she going to get all that?”
“Take a guess.”
Hugh looked at Jenny. She nodded, and said, “This time, we don’t have anything to hide. Let’s go for it.”
“OK. We’ll do it. When will you be here? We’re trying to get a load out.”
“Later this evening. Can you hang that long?”
“No problem. Text me with your ETA. I’ve got another call. Gotta go.”
Attorney Johnston was on the line.
“I thought you’d be interested to know as soon as the news broke about the breakup of Fishburn’s insurance scam ring and the arrests, police got a call from a gal who said she’s the car crash victim’s neighbor, and she has her two children.”
“That’s interesting. I wonder how much she knew about the plot?”
“So far, she’s just saying she was told by the mother she was planning a little fender-bender accident, and was asked to keep her kids for a little while. It’s enough to fill in some holes, and further implicate those who were involved.”
“I wonder why she didn’t come forward sooner,” Hugh said.
“They asked her that. She said she was afraid of the guys the mother was involved with. But when she heard they were arrested she knew it would be safe to come forward to tell what she knew.”
“Thanks. It’s good to know no children were in those car seats.” Hugh said, and hung up.
“We’ve got some time to kill until James and Charlie get here. What do you want to do?” Hugh asked Jenny.
“You can take me to lunch, and then I need to get back here and study while I can get wi-fi on your laptop.”
“I really appreciate how serious you are about getting your CDL,” Hugh said. “It’s going to be a hoot teaching you how to drive this thing.”
“I can’t wait,” Jenny said.
“That’s James. He says he’s about ten minutes out,” Hugh said. He had heard the tone on his phone indicating he’d had a text message.
Then he heard the chirp from his Qualcomm that a pre-load had been sent.
“OK. We’re good. An easy one. We’re relaying a trailer from right here in the yard and taking it to our company drop yard in Spokane. No specific time it has to be there. So, we can take it in three easy days.”
“Great, that will give me plenty of time to study.” Jenny said. “Can we call the Sandpoint office of the Idaho DMV, and get an appointment for four days from now?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Hugh replied. “I doubt they’ve got people lined up out the door of their small office to take their CDL tests. Are you sure you’ll be ready?”
“I’ve
