Bosco could feel his stomach growl as they approached a small, one horse town in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately there was really nowhere to eat. Everything was either run down or closed. 'Just my luck', he thought as they made no time and like that, were out of the town.
Jackie spoke into her CB, trying to find something to do so she wouldn't fall asleep. "Breaker 1-9, breaker 1-9, anybody out there got their ears on?"
Static overtook the CB. Bosco was always interested in CB's, especially after seeing the movie Joyride. There really could be some wacko's out there.
"I got mine on." Another female spoke, breaking the static.
Jackie's eyes lit up. "I need a bear report, come on."
The static filled again but was cut off by the other lady speaking once more. "You are clear for about 45 miles, once you get to the diner you might wanna keep your eyes open. Some sort of investigation is going on."
Jackie queued her radio. "10-4, I'm out." She turned the volume down and looked over at Bosco. "You know what a bear report is?"
Bosco nodded. "Yeah. You are checking for highway patrol."
Her voice let out another raspy laugh. "That's right. You familiar with CB language?"
"Somewhat." He still didn't want to mention to her that he was a cop, and he pretty much knew all of the 'code language' and signals. "So, how much longer is this drive gonna take? It's already nearly midnight."
She leaned her head back on her headrest. "I'd say we are about an hour and a half outside of your destination."
"Spectacular." The sarcasm was evident in his voice as he lightly slammed his head against the window.
She downshifted the truck, and brought it to a stop on the side of the road. "Hey, I've gotta do something right quick. Check on some cargo in the back. Hang tight right quick okay?" She opened up her door and walked to the back. Bosco just waited.
"Where the hell would I go?" He spoke aloud, glad she couldn't hear him. While he waited he looked at his cell phone. Two bars showed up on the signal screen and he decided to try to call someone. The other end rang and someone picked up.
"Hello?"
Bosco was so happy his phone had worked but he decided to make the call quick. Jackie would be back at anytime and he didn't want to be caught on the phone. "Hey. This is Bosco. I had some car trouble, I'm about an hour and a half north of the city. Not sure when I'll be getting in. I'm riding with a trucker." He gave out a small laugh, embarrassed that he admitted that.
"Okay, thanks for calling and letting me know. A trucker eh? That's great Boz."
Bosco nodded. "If anyone asks just spread the word, I'll see you later. My phone is about to go dead." He hung up the phone and waited for Jackie to come back.
Jackie hopped up in the back but stayed near the end as she dialed a number on her cell phone. While she waited for an answer she lit up a cigarette and watched as the smoke lingered in front of her. Someone picked up, another female voice.
"Hello?"
"Hey babe, this is Thorndale. I've got someone riding shotgun with me." She flicked some ashes and kept her eyes on them as they diminished in the humid, rainy air.
"Do you? Tell me about him?"
She stomped the cigarette out and paced back and forth. "He's young, dark hair, light eyes. Not really talkative but I have gotten him to speak."
The lady sighed, "And, what did he say?"
"He said he works for the city. He was driving a Mustang but it broke down on him. I did a bear report over the CB and someone mentioned the diner being overrun by pigs doing an investigation. We might wanna sidetrack to avoid it, and I'll take him there in the morning if you'd like."
"Whatever is safe." The other lady hung up the phone, leaving Jackie with dead air. She closed the face on her phone and made her way back up to the front where Bosco was still waiting.
"Sorry about that, I had to talk to my boss about my deadline."
Bosco sniffed. "No problem." Though it was a problem, all he wanted was to be home in some warm, dry clothes and away from this. His instincts were telling him to run but he just decided to ignore them. He had no way of getting home other than this.
Jackie watched as he slowly dozed off, his eyes closing and his head falling back. She whispered, "Yeah, you go to sleep. You'll have a crude awakening."
~~
Faith woke up at 6:45 to get the kids ready for school. The first thing she did was dial up Bosco, she didn't care how early it was or if she woke him up. She waited and waited, but just rings entered her ears. She waited for his machine to finish and then she spoke.
"Bosco, this is Faith. I'm just calling to see if you made it home okay. As soon as you get this give me a call." She hung up the phone and threw it on the kitchen counter.
"Still can't get a hold of him?" Fred rummaged through the refrigerator. "Where's my lunch for today?"
She ran her fingers through her hair. "Behind the milk. And no, I can't reach him." She paused and noticed one of his lecture glares spreading across his face. "Look Fred, I know he could've stayed with someone else for the night. I know all of the possibilities but I'm still going to worry. That's just me."
Fred grabbed the brown paper bag. "Okay. I'll see you tonight." He kissed her and called for the kids. She waved and watched as they left.
"This is going to be a long day." She sat down on the couch and watched an early morning talk show.
~~
Bosco slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them. He had no clue where he was, just that it was dark and smelled of mildew. He moved around, still unable to see to the end of his nose. Fear began to overtake him. He had never liked dark places and here he was, somewhere pitch black. He pressed the light on his watch to see the time. It was 7:30.
Jackie made her way to the back of the truck and opened it up, exposing sunlight throughout the trailer. Bosco squinted as the brightness poured in, and he shielded it with his arm. He had no idea how he ended up in the back. He sat up.
"Where the fuck are we?" His temper was wearing thin. He was sick of playing games.
Jackie smiled. "Settle down Bosco, I kinda got side tracked and got lost. We are about 2 hours outside of New York City."
Bosco stood up and walked towards her. "Side tracked. How the fuck could you get sidetracked? That highway we were on would've led you right into the city. How could you get lost?" He raised his voice, knowing something was up.
"I guess I dozed off." She shrugged, knowing she'd have to make a move and restrain him soon; he was growing pretty angry with her.
He nodded. "Dozed ah? I think your story is full of holes myself."
She laughed. "Full of holes? I'd love to shoot you full of holes." Her face turned evil as she stood there, waiting to see his reaction.
He backed away, but quickly jumped down off the trailer and tried to run off, when he felt the cold metal of a shotgun barrel up against his neck. He knew he was in deep shit now, if only he'd have listened to his instincts.
"Where do you think you are going?" A different female voice filled his ears. "Turn around." She prodded the gun deeper into his neck.
He turned around slowly and looked her straight in the eyes, but decided not to say a word to her. He didn't want to get himself killed by his smart ellick remarks.
The lady turned and looked at Jackie who was now stepping off of the trailer. "You picked a good one this time Jackie. He's a looker." She clicked her tongue against the front of her teeth and grinned at Bosco. "My name is Harley." She still kept the shotgun aimed, directly at his heart.
Harley was about 6'2" and 210 pounds. She was built pretty much like a man, and looked just about as strong as one. Bosco knew she'd put up a good fight, whether it was against a man or a woman.
He glanced down at it and back up at her, a blank expression showing across his face. How could he let himself be taken over by a bunch of women? Surely he could outsmart them somehow, but he wasn't sure. He shuffled his feet a little bit and waited, still keeping his mouth shut.
"When someone has the courtesy of introducing themselves you should have the courtesy to introduce yourself back." Harley hit the shotgun across the back of his knees, sending him down to the moist dirt that covered the ground. She laughed a husky laugh and stared down at him, as he remained crouched down.
Pain shot through his legs. All he wanted to do was beat the shit out of her but the gun remained pointed at him, this time in his face.
"Are you going to introduce yourself?" Harley cocked her head back and waited.
He wrinkled his nose and tried to give the rudest look he could put across his face. "Fuck you." He spit up at her, hitting her in the neck.
Her anger flared as she wiped it away. She hit him across the face with the wooden handle of the gun, sending him backwards, his head hitting the highway pavement hard. His world went black for a second but his sight came back, and all he could see was three women standing over him, each had a gun in their hands.
"That'll teach you to say fuck you to me, boy. You have no clue who you are messing with."
Bosco could feel the warm blood from his nose gush down his face. He quickly wiped some away with his hands but more fell, soaking into his blue shirt that was now covered in mud. He still remained quiet, hoping they'd get the clue that he didn't want to talk.
Harley squatted down beside him at eye level. She looked into his blue eyes. "I'm going to ask you again, boy. What is your name? No smart ellick remarks, I don't deal with smart asses well."
Bosco moved some dirt around that was under his hands. "Then you won't deal with me well." He gave a cocky grin and threw some of the dirt he had collected into her face. Her mouth let out a few sheer yelps but she gained her composure.
"You son of a bitch!" She yelled as she reared back and kicked him right in his manly parts. He doubled over with pain, this time groaning loudly as the hurtness shot through his whole body this time. He gritted his teeth and looked up at her, wanting to shoot her so bad but was unable too.
Harley wiped the dirt off of her face. "Someone tie this bastard up, I don't want to deal with him right now."
Bosco tried to fight the women off as they carried him up to the old, run down diner that of course, was located in the middle of nowhere. He tried pulling away but their grasps were strong. They sure were a lot stronger than he thought.
He felt the hard rope cross his legs and wrists as they tied him up to a huge metal pole located in the very middle of the building. He moved around more, this time only causing his wrists to get rope burned. They began to bleed as well. He looked at them as they all three stared down at him.
Two other women arrived, he was assuming they were truck drivers too. He hated this more than anything. They all stared down at him like he was some food display or some Play Girl magazine article.
A younger, somewhat more attractive girl crouched beside him and giggled. She ran her palms over his cheeks and gave a flirtatious smile. "My name is Bunny. You know why they call me bunny?"
Bosco turned his face away. He knew exactly why they called her Bunny.
"They call me Bunny because I do it like a bunny." She giggled again and ran her hands over his chest. He tried to pull away but of course, couldn't move. She noticed his resistance.
"What? You don't like me? Why are you rejecting me?"
He pushed her away with his body. "Get the hell off of me." He closed his eyes, hoping someone had now realized he was missing. He needed help, and fast.
~~
Faith sat in roll call, her eyes searching for Bosco, but of course, no luck. Maybe he was just running late if he did in fact have a date last night when he got home. Something didn't seem right though. She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes, trying not to think about things when Swersky interrupted her thoughts.
"You guys need to be on the lookout for any truck driver you come across. Stop them, check their logbooks, make sure their tags are up to date, and make sure there is no suspicious activity going on. This case is probable cause enough to stop them."
Faith raised her eyes. "What case sir?"
Swersky ran his hands over some papers that were in front of him. "There have been some murders up north of here. A truck driving club or group has been suspected. Mainly guys age 30 to 35 have been targeted. Basically what this group does is pick them up, treat them good for some time, and then turn on them. They also beat them, torture them, do obscene things that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Eventually after they've had their fun, they kill them. There have already been 5 murders reported. We want you guys to keep a lookout because they could be moving through the city, we aren't sure yet."
Faith couldn't believe what she was hearing. How cruel.
"Has anyone seen Boscorelli today?" Christopher waved a discipline sheet in front of his face.
Faith stood up and gasped. "No sir. He was up in northern New York visiting his brother and he hasn't made it back yet. He was supposed to be back last night." She realized the irony in what she said, and somehow knew Bosco was involved in this truck driver case.
Jackie spoke into her CB, trying to find something to do so she wouldn't fall asleep. "Breaker 1-9, breaker 1-9, anybody out there got their ears on?"
Static overtook the CB. Bosco was always interested in CB's, especially after seeing the movie Joyride. There really could be some wacko's out there.
"I got mine on." Another female spoke, breaking the static.
Jackie's eyes lit up. "I need a bear report, come on."
The static filled again but was cut off by the other lady speaking once more. "You are clear for about 45 miles, once you get to the diner you might wanna keep your eyes open. Some sort of investigation is going on."
Jackie queued her radio. "10-4, I'm out." She turned the volume down and looked over at Bosco. "You know what a bear report is?"
Bosco nodded. "Yeah. You are checking for highway patrol."
Her voice let out another raspy laugh. "That's right. You familiar with CB language?"
"Somewhat." He still didn't want to mention to her that he was a cop, and he pretty much knew all of the 'code language' and signals. "So, how much longer is this drive gonna take? It's already nearly midnight."
She leaned her head back on her headrest. "I'd say we are about an hour and a half outside of your destination."
"Spectacular." The sarcasm was evident in his voice as he lightly slammed his head against the window.
She downshifted the truck, and brought it to a stop on the side of the road. "Hey, I've gotta do something right quick. Check on some cargo in the back. Hang tight right quick okay?" She opened up her door and walked to the back. Bosco just waited.
"Where the hell would I go?" He spoke aloud, glad she couldn't hear him. While he waited he looked at his cell phone. Two bars showed up on the signal screen and he decided to try to call someone. The other end rang and someone picked up.
"Hello?"
Bosco was so happy his phone had worked but he decided to make the call quick. Jackie would be back at anytime and he didn't want to be caught on the phone. "Hey. This is Bosco. I had some car trouble, I'm about an hour and a half north of the city. Not sure when I'll be getting in. I'm riding with a trucker." He gave out a small laugh, embarrassed that he admitted that.
"Okay, thanks for calling and letting me know. A trucker eh? That's great Boz."
Bosco nodded. "If anyone asks just spread the word, I'll see you later. My phone is about to go dead." He hung up the phone and waited for Jackie to come back.
Jackie hopped up in the back but stayed near the end as she dialed a number on her cell phone. While she waited for an answer she lit up a cigarette and watched as the smoke lingered in front of her. Someone picked up, another female voice.
"Hello?"
"Hey babe, this is Thorndale. I've got someone riding shotgun with me." She flicked some ashes and kept her eyes on them as they diminished in the humid, rainy air.
"Do you? Tell me about him?"
She stomped the cigarette out and paced back and forth. "He's young, dark hair, light eyes. Not really talkative but I have gotten him to speak."
The lady sighed, "And, what did he say?"
"He said he works for the city. He was driving a Mustang but it broke down on him. I did a bear report over the CB and someone mentioned the diner being overrun by pigs doing an investigation. We might wanna sidetrack to avoid it, and I'll take him there in the morning if you'd like."
"Whatever is safe." The other lady hung up the phone, leaving Jackie with dead air. She closed the face on her phone and made her way back up to the front where Bosco was still waiting.
"Sorry about that, I had to talk to my boss about my deadline."
Bosco sniffed. "No problem." Though it was a problem, all he wanted was to be home in some warm, dry clothes and away from this. His instincts were telling him to run but he just decided to ignore them. He had no way of getting home other than this.
Jackie watched as he slowly dozed off, his eyes closing and his head falling back. She whispered, "Yeah, you go to sleep. You'll have a crude awakening."
~~
Faith woke up at 6:45 to get the kids ready for school. The first thing she did was dial up Bosco, she didn't care how early it was or if she woke him up. She waited and waited, but just rings entered her ears. She waited for his machine to finish and then she spoke.
"Bosco, this is Faith. I'm just calling to see if you made it home okay. As soon as you get this give me a call." She hung up the phone and threw it on the kitchen counter.
"Still can't get a hold of him?" Fred rummaged through the refrigerator. "Where's my lunch for today?"
She ran her fingers through her hair. "Behind the milk. And no, I can't reach him." She paused and noticed one of his lecture glares spreading across his face. "Look Fred, I know he could've stayed with someone else for the night. I know all of the possibilities but I'm still going to worry. That's just me."
Fred grabbed the brown paper bag. "Okay. I'll see you tonight." He kissed her and called for the kids. She waved and watched as they left.
"This is going to be a long day." She sat down on the couch and watched an early morning talk show.
~~
Bosco slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them. He had no clue where he was, just that it was dark and smelled of mildew. He moved around, still unable to see to the end of his nose. Fear began to overtake him. He had never liked dark places and here he was, somewhere pitch black. He pressed the light on his watch to see the time. It was 7:30.
Jackie made her way to the back of the truck and opened it up, exposing sunlight throughout the trailer. Bosco squinted as the brightness poured in, and he shielded it with his arm. He had no idea how he ended up in the back. He sat up.
"Where the fuck are we?" His temper was wearing thin. He was sick of playing games.
Jackie smiled. "Settle down Bosco, I kinda got side tracked and got lost. We are about 2 hours outside of New York City."
Bosco stood up and walked towards her. "Side tracked. How the fuck could you get sidetracked? That highway we were on would've led you right into the city. How could you get lost?" He raised his voice, knowing something was up.
"I guess I dozed off." She shrugged, knowing she'd have to make a move and restrain him soon; he was growing pretty angry with her.
He nodded. "Dozed ah? I think your story is full of holes myself."
She laughed. "Full of holes? I'd love to shoot you full of holes." Her face turned evil as she stood there, waiting to see his reaction.
He backed away, but quickly jumped down off the trailer and tried to run off, when he felt the cold metal of a shotgun barrel up against his neck. He knew he was in deep shit now, if only he'd have listened to his instincts.
"Where do you think you are going?" A different female voice filled his ears. "Turn around." She prodded the gun deeper into his neck.
He turned around slowly and looked her straight in the eyes, but decided not to say a word to her. He didn't want to get himself killed by his smart ellick remarks.
The lady turned and looked at Jackie who was now stepping off of the trailer. "You picked a good one this time Jackie. He's a looker." She clicked her tongue against the front of her teeth and grinned at Bosco. "My name is Harley." She still kept the shotgun aimed, directly at his heart.
Harley was about 6'2" and 210 pounds. She was built pretty much like a man, and looked just about as strong as one. Bosco knew she'd put up a good fight, whether it was against a man or a woman.
He glanced down at it and back up at her, a blank expression showing across his face. How could he let himself be taken over by a bunch of women? Surely he could outsmart them somehow, but he wasn't sure. He shuffled his feet a little bit and waited, still keeping his mouth shut.
"When someone has the courtesy of introducing themselves you should have the courtesy to introduce yourself back." Harley hit the shotgun across the back of his knees, sending him down to the moist dirt that covered the ground. She laughed a husky laugh and stared down at him, as he remained crouched down.
Pain shot through his legs. All he wanted to do was beat the shit out of her but the gun remained pointed at him, this time in his face.
"Are you going to introduce yourself?" Harley cocked her head back and waited.
He wrinkled his nose and tried to give the rudest look he could put across his face. "Fuck you." He spit up at her, hitting her in the neck.
Her anger flared as she wiped it away. She hit him across the face with the wooden handle of the gun, sending him backwards, his head hitting the highway pavement hard. His world went black for a second but his sight came back, and all he could see was three women standing over him, each had a gun in their hands.
"That'll teach you to say fuck you to me, boy. You have no clue who you are messing with."
Bosco could feel the warm blood from his nose gush down his face. He quickly wiped some away with his hands but more fell, soaking into his blue shirt that was now covered in mud. He still remained quiet, hoping they'd get the clue that he didn't want to talk.
Harley squatted down beside him at eye level. She looked into his blue eyes. "I'm going to ask you again, boy. What is your name? No smart ellick remarks, I don't deal with smart asses well."
Bosco moved some dirt around that was under his hands. "Then you won't deal with me well." He gave a cocky grin and threw some of the dirt he had collected into her face. Her mouth let out a few sheer yelps but she gained her composure.
"You son of a bitch!" She yelled as she reared back and kicked him right in his manly parts. He doubled over with pain, this time groaning loudly as the hurtness shot through his whole body this time. He gritted his teeth and looked up at her, wanting to shoot her so bad but was unable too.
Harley wiped the dirt off of her face. "Someone tie this bastard up, I don't want to deal with him right now."
Bosco tried to fight the women off as they carried him up to the old, run down diner that of course, was located in the middle of nowhere. He tried pulling away but their grasps were strong. They sure were a lot stronger than he thought.
He felt the hard rope cross his legs and wrists as they tied him up to a huge metal pole located in the very middle of the building. He moved around more, this time only causing his wrists to get rope burned. They began to bleed as well. He looked at them as they all three stared down at him.
Two other women arrived, he was assuming they were truck drivers too. He hated this more than anything. They all stared down at him like he was some food display or some Play Girl magazine article.
A younger, somewhat more attractive girl crouched beside him and giggled. She ran her palms over his cheeks and gave a flirtatious smile. "My name is Bunny. You know why they call me bunny?"
Bosco turned his face away. He knew exactly why they called her Bunny.
"They call me Bunny because I do it like a bunny." She giggled again and ran her hands over his chest. He tried to pull away but of course, couldn't move. She noticed his resistance.
"What? You don't like me? Why are you rejecting me?"
He pushed her away with his body. "Get the hell off of me." He closed his eyes, hoping someone had now realized he was missing. He needed help, and fast.
~~
Faith sat in roll call, her eyes searching for Bosco, but of course, no luck. Maybe he was just running late if he did in fact have a date last night when he got home. Something didn't seem right though. She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes, trying not to think about things when Swersky interrupted her thoughts.
"You guys need to be on the lookout for any truck driver you come across. Stop them, check their logbooks, make sure their tags are up to date, and make sure there is no suspicious activity going on. This case is probable cause enough to stop them."
Faith raised her eyes. "What case sir?"
Swersky ran his hands over some papers that were in front of him. "There have been some murders up north of here. A truck driving club or group has been suspected. Mainly guys age 30 to 35 have been targeted. Basically what this group does is pick them up, treat them good for some time, and then turn on them. They also beat them, torture them, do obscene things that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Eventually after they've had their fun, they kill them. There have already been 5 murders reported. We want you guys to keep a lookout because they could be moving through the city, we aren't sure yet."
Faith couldn't believe what she was hearing. How cruel.
"Has anyone seen Boscorelli today?" Christopher waved a discipline sheet in front of his face.
Faith stood up and gasped. "No sir. He was up in northern New York visiting his brother and he hasn't made it back yet. He was supposed to be back last night." She realized the irony in what she said, and somehow knew Bosco was involved in this truck driver case.