rectangular window carved at the top of the door. The drivers had noticed that she left and were visibly relieved at her absence.
'What are you doing in here?' Max asked, turning from the sizzling grill.
'Never mind,' Linda said, putting her forefinger up to her lips and crouching down on the floor.
'Wha…' Max started to ask as Linda slowly opened the door and crawled back out behind the counter. She kept her head and back down, edging toward the end of the counter closest to the occupied booth. They were all talking louder now, satisfied that no one could overhear them.
'So what about the load tonight, Jack,' the tall blond driver asked a short, pot-bellied black-haired man.
'I've got the stuff hidden in the center of the load,' he said softly, looking around the empty diner nervously. 'Listen, Bill, I don't like this whole idea. Chris can get the whole bunch of us in trouble with this kind of game.'
'You want to live like you been livin', driving that fuckin' truck night and day while your family wonders what the fuck you're doin'?' Bill said angrily.
'No. But this…'
'Look, you're in or out. That's it. You've got to make up your mind,' Bill hissed between his teeth.
'You think I don't know that you'd figure out some way to get rid of me if I backed out?' Jack said, nervously fingering the edges of the white coffee cup as he lowered his eyes and stared at the tabletop.
'Hey, man,' Bill said, looking at the three other driven who obviously shared Jack's concern. He reached over and gently squeezed the other driver's shoulder. 'Don't talk like that. There's no problem. You want out, you get out.'
Jack let out a low chuckle and shook his head slowly back and forth.
'I'm in too deep now. If I'd known you were smuggling heroin into the country, I don't think I'd ever gotten into this thing. But I'm in now, and don't plan on gettin' out,' the driver said resignedly.
Heroin! Linda thought, raising her hand up to her throat. She'd stumbled onto something more serious than she'd thought possible.
'How about the rest of you?' Bill said, looking around at the other drivers. They all grunted in agreement. Then, smiling at Jack, Bill let go of his shoulder and leaned back against the counter seat. 'Okay. Now that that's settled, we've got to figure out a way to get this stuff past the checkpoints. Any ideas?'
As the five men tossed suggestions back and forth on how they could slip their loads of drugs past the checkpoint, Linda racked her brains. What should she do? Getting back to the kitchen was the first step.
Linda sucked in a deep breath. As she turned to crawl back into the kitchen, her hand accidentally bumped against a catsup bottle on the edge of a shelf under the counter. It crashed to the floor, sounding like a bomb going off in the otherwise quiet room.
'What was that?' Bill cried out, signaling for the others to be quiet.
'Somebody's back there!' Jack cried out nervously.
'Get out of my way,' Bill hissed as he crawled over the truckers and sprinted across the empty diner. Linda cringed as she looked up and saw the husky driver peering down at her.
'I didn't hear anything. Honest,' she wailed unconvincingly.
'Sure you didn't,' Bill said. 'We've got to take care of her and the cook,' the driver said as he turned around to the now-standing group.
'Hey, I didn't bargain for this,' Jack protested. 'None of us did. But we knew what we were gettin' into. She's heard too much,' Bill said, reaching down and grabbing Linda tightly by both arms.
'Let me go!' she shrieked, twisting helplessly in Bill's tight grip. Jack froze. But the other drivers shot into action. As Bill dragged Linda down the far end of the counter, the three truckers leaped over the top and confronted Max just as he ran out of the kitchen. He'd heard her screams and came out to see what was happening.
'Hey, what do you think you're doin'?' he asked as he saw Bill holding Linda tightly against him. The big blond trucker's fingers wrapped tightly around her slender wrists, pinning her arms behind her back as Linda struggled to break free.
'Too late for explanations, pal,' Bill said as the three big truckers pushed Max hard against the back wall. Linda watched in horrified helplessness as the men started working Max over brutally. The thudding, soft sounds of their fists crunching into the dazed man's chest and belly resounded through the diner sickeningly. It took some time. But soon Max roused himself and started to fight back. He grabbed one of the truckers by the shoulders and pitched him over the countertop. The yelling man crashed down hard onto a table, sending the surrounding chairs scattering noisily as the table collapsed under the trucker's weight.
Linda felt a spark of hope kindle in her heart as she watched Max. She started to think that they might free themselves. Then suddenly she felt Bill's right hand let her go for a second. There was some fumbling behind her. Then there was a flash of blinding light and a loud, deafening roar. Linda finally realized a gun had gone off.
'Max!' she screamed loudly as she saw the cook jerk back against the wall, knocking a row of hanging frying pans clattering to the floor. 'Max!' she shrieked again as he sank to the floor.
Bill shaved his gun into his pants. Linda screamed once more, then raised her leg and kicked back hard.
'Fuckin' bitch!' he growled, still holding her tightly.
'Let's get the hell out of here!' Jack said nervously.
'Let's take the bitch along with us,' Bill said.
'What are you going to do with me?' Linda asked as the big blond trucker pulled her out of the restaurant and hauled her into the darkened parking lot.
'Don't rightly know now. But I'll bet that Chris is gonna be mighty happy with you like this now. He's got his fingers in a lot of pies. You know, he's even got a little hooker ring goin' 'round here,' Bill said, stopping to press his groin against her firm butt. Linda's stomach churned sickeningly as she realized what he was doing. He had just shot Max and now he was thinking about fucking her. She could feel his hard groin pressing against her butt. With every sideways motion he made, her short dress worked higher and higher. Soon her ass was completely exposed.
'You animal! You fuckin' filthy pig,' Linda hissed out between her teeth as she struggled violently in Bill's tight grip.
'I like a bitch who fights. Baby, I'm gonna make you kiss dirt and shit before I'm through with you,' Bill grunted as he dragged her back toward his rig.
Linda fought him every inch of the way, clawing at his leathery skin with her fingernails when she could, kicking back with her feet when possible. But the big man held her tightly and firmly, dragging her across the loose gravel when she wouldn't walk.
'Okay, babe, up you go,' Bill said, letting go of her with his right hand as he reached up and unfastened the big doors of the trailer behind his truck. Linda jerked away suddenly, breaking free of the big man.
'Hey,' he cried out.
Linda almost fell on her face. She barely managed to regain her balance, staggering forward and running as fast she could in the loose gravel. Her shoes had come off in the fight in the diner. The sharp stones dug painfully into the soles of her feet as she fled away from the pursuing, shouting driver. Everything spun in front of her as she headed for the forest behind the diner. It was the only place where she had a chance of escape.
'I'll get you,' Bill said threateningly as he closed the distance between them.
Linda looked back fearfully, seeing that he was only a few feet behind her. The trees were almost around her. If only she could get to them…
'Gotcha!' Bill cried out, wrapping his fingers around her hair.
'Ohhhhh!' Linda cried out in pain as he yanked back and sent her stumbling to the around. The gravel tore into her skin, ripping and shredding her nylons as Bill dragged her back to the truck.
'Iiiahhhhh!' Linda cried out as she saw the big rig again.
'I'm tired of this, bitch!' Bill said, letting go of her quickly. Before she realized what happened, Linda felt something hard whack across her face. Everything spun wildly around in her head as she lost consciousness.
Linda didn't know how long she'd been unconscious when she opened her eyes again. It was dark and cold wherever she was. The damp air made her shudder and curl her legs up under her ass-cheeks. Linda was afraid to move for several seconds, shifting only her eyes from one end of the tiny room to the other. In the bright moonlight, it appeared as if she were in some kind of jail cell. Suddenly, she heard a cry of agony from
