Chapter 38: The art of timing.
Garth's POV:
"Well, well, well..." Tony said as he hung up the phone, the sound of his voice rousing Garth from his half sleep. He'd been awake all night now but if this went well and he managed to impress his father all on his own initiative. 'Not the first all-nighter I've pulled either,' Garth thought to himself with a wry smile, only to have it replaced with a frown as an image of Brittany popped into his head unbidden and unclothed. At first he'd always thought about Kate when he'd taken her but later he realised he'd focussed more and more on Brittany herself.
"Boy!"
Garth nearly flinched as someone across the table from him yelled, looking around to see that his father had been waiting for his attention. Under different circumstances he would've killed anyone other than his father who'd dared to be so rude but for now he fell silent and turned to the head of the table since the words may as well have come from the man himself.
"I'm impressed, the injection was administered without a hitch, Humphrey suspected nothing." Tony finally said and Garth could've sworn he saw the corners of his father's mouth twitch slightly.
"Now we just wait. Do we have eyes on the truck?" Garth added, looking the question more broadly to the rest of the table.
"We do. We can't risk moving on it so long as it remains at the airport but it cannot leave without us knowing." Someone offered, one of the newer additions to the gang's 'brain', as it were. 'Was it... Zac?' Garth pondered to himself, not that it mattered right now as he nodded slowly.
"The injection will start to affect him more as the evening goes on correct?" Garth said slowly, the question entirely rhetorical as he carefully looked at the street map before him.
"In that case we should aim to hit the truck here or here..."
Humphrey's POV:
6:00pm.
I groaned tiredly as I hauled myself up into the driver's seat of the newly repaired truck, getting my bearings as I strapped myself in and started up the engine. Shawn and I had arrived at Vancouver International Airport at just after three in the afternoon and as soon as we'd arrived two things had become very obvious. The first was why they couldn't use another truck to bring the cargo back to JC and the other thing was that this was going to be a mission to get it done on time. The truck was a cab over transporter and was clearly not only extremely new but also custom, appearing to be nearly military spec with its security features and reinforced cargo hold.
We'd worked on the thing nonstop since we arrived, the wrenching interrupted occasionally by necessary trips to the auto parts store. The truck was mostly fixed but it probably wouldn't be safe to do much more than 90 kilometres an hour, meaning the drive home was set for around ten hours.
"We must hurry." Pablo said, his accent a total mystery to me despite all my travels. He had been waiting for us when we arrived with a scrawled note of instructions from the injured driver and after Shawn had been called away would be accompanying me on the way back to JC. He'd been incredibly stoic all afternoon but now as I spent a moment familiarising myself with the seemingly space age cockpit of the truck he looked almost nervous, his eyes constantly surveying our surroundings despite the fact that we had yet to even start moving.
I could only nod, too tired to speak even if I had felt that idle chatter was something Pablo would welcome, and put the truck in gear, slowly getting us underway on the long drive back to JC. As we reached the entrance of the airport I went to slow down but he stopped me, telling me to continue and sure enough the bollard swung open for us, no checks required and in what felt like only a moment later we had left the tight streets of the city for the highway proper. 'Gonna be a long drive,' I thought to myself as I settled in for it, Pablo hadn't said a word the whole way out of the city and didn't look to be about to start any time soon as the miles began to roll under our tires.
Garth's POV:
Garth couldn't help but feel a little nervous as he waited with the others, tapping the wheel lightly as they listened out for the call over the radio. Even though he was only a driver of the backup car this was his first real brush with his father's work proper and his heart rate was up.
"It's time."
The slightly crackly voice that sounded over the radio made Garth's lips twist into a small smile as he put the car in gear and headed out after the others as the small convoy of SUV's joined the highway. His mouth felt dry and he could tell his heart was pounding but he felt strangely calm as they picked up speed, the target truck already visible ahead of them, almost as if he were dreaming.
"Remember, we're the backup so don't get too close. Let the others work for now." The voice, belonging to the man in the passenger seat who's name Garth couldn't remember, sounded much more distant than it should've but even still Garth did as he was bid, letting of the accelerator a little and settling in a few lengths back to the left of the truck as the other three SUV's moved up to surround the truck. 'Little Humphrey should be lights out by now.' Garth thought as he watched on, the triumphant feeling that arose within him lasting only a second before being shattered by the roar of gunfire.
"What the fuck!?" He exclaimed, swerving slightly in his panic before regaining control of the vehicle. Humphrey should've been fast asleep, leaving only a driver to deal with and yet, as the lead SUV had gotten ready to board the truck, a submachine gun had poked out of the passenger window, peppering the side of the SUV with bullet holes. The bullets must've caught the driver as well because after a moment the SUV began to list before veering wildly and slamming into the concrete bollards on the roadside.
Four men dead. Just like that and his plan for an easy highjack 6 feet under along with them. Garth felt a cold sweat building on his forehead as he returned his attention to the road ahead where whoever was driving the truck had started to speed up slightly, the speedo tapping 100 as the engines roared and bullets flew back and forth between the truck and the SUV's. His father's men clearly came prepared for this as they were packing far more firepower than whoever was riding along in the truck, every bullet sent their way was returned fivefold. The only problem was that they were proving highly ineffectual against the military spec truck, leaving little more than scratches against the reinforced metal and glass whereas each bullet they received punched through the thin materials of their own vehicles.
"Guess we're up then." Garth muttered, more to psych himself up than anything else as he planted his foot to the floor and began to reel the truck and his fellows in. In only a few moments he'd caught them and as he looked at the truck he realised why, the damage from their earlier highjack attempt more evident up close. The front left wheel was wobbling dangerously at these speeds and Garth knew it wouldn't take much to destroy it and cripple the advanced truck. 'How to get close though?' Garth thought to himself, backing off a little as the spray of bullets resumed from the bigger vehicle.
Even as he struggled with it one of bullets caught the windscreen of the lead SUV at just the right angle, causing an eruption of glass as it shattered into a million deadly shards. Before the passengers could even properly react however Garth's eyebrows rose and he slammed on the brakes as the truck swerved suddenly, slamming into the stunned vehicle and sending it flying off to the side and he looked back just in time to see it burst into flames behind them.
"Holy shit. Fuck!" Garth swore, shaking slightly as sped back up to catch up once more. As he did so he noticed that the truck was no longer spitting bullets at them and looking at the hundreds of bullet marks surrounding the passenger window it was clear to see why. Seizing the opportunity to maybe salvage this disaster Garth floored it once more, making a bee line straight for the damaged front wheel of the truck, bracing himself a moment before they slammed into it dead on in a collision that rattled his brain as the SUV bounced off, hopping and snaking all over the road before he could get it under control. Gritting his teeth and letting out a growl he lined up for another hit, just about to send it before the sound of a distorted voice sounded over the radio reached his ringing ears and he looked over to see his passengers yelling at him.
"Garth! Stop! …at's enough! We're pulling out! It's over."
"What? No! We can do this." Garth growled back, about to disregard them and return to his assault before another voice sounded over the radio and even distorted it was one that he recognised all too well, those gravelly tones enough to send a shiver down his spine.
Humphrey's POV:
I could barely hear the huge sigh of relief I let out over the pounding of my heart and the whine of the truck as I watched the SUV's pull back before disappearing from sight as we rounded a slight bend in the highway. I only had a moment of peace however before a huge burst of sound made me jump nearly a foot in my seat, the truck swerving a little as I looked around in panic to find it's source. I must've had a properly stunned look on my face when I did as Pablo began laughing even harder, slapping me on the shoulder as he transitioned to pained coughing and clutched his chest where some shrapnel had punctured his skin.
"Good work boy. Boss will be proud." He finally got out between pained coughs, leaving me more nonplussed than ever as I just shook my head, knowing that I wouldn't be able to process anything properly while I was so jumped up on adrenaline. 'A walk in the park huh Shawn?' Was all I could think to myself as I began to look for a place where we could pull off the highway to give Pablo some medical attention. 'And take a break,' I thought wryly, realising my whole body was shaking.
8:15am.
I was all but falling asleep at the wheel as we arrived at the gallery and I backed the truck up to the loading bay and got out, my knees buckling a little as I jumped down from the driver's seat to walk around and open the back for the workers who were waiting anxiously. We'd made it there about fifteen minutes before our 8:30am deadline but the trade-off was that I'd only gotten four hours rest and barely any dinner.
Even in my sleep deprived and hungry state I could see that the gallery and its surrounds were extremely scenic. The gallery was set atop a hill that overlooked the vineyards of the attached winery, the sprawling fields of grapevines reaching the foothills of the mountain range that, bar a few places, ringed the city of Jasper over which the sun was peeking.
I made my way through the various mechanical and electronic locks on the back of the truck, struggling to remember to complicated instructions the previous driver had given us when we'd visited him in hospital. Eventually I got the back door open, stepping aside to allow the curator, who'd introduced himself as Gregory Taylor, to enter and inspect the contents. I sprawled out on the grass and let out a tired sigh, resting a while until he finished and ushered in the workers. As they began shifting the small mountain of carefully packaged boxes he and Pablo moved over to where Shawn had just pulled into the car park and they began to talk.
I thought about heading over but was too tired to bother, figuring that Shawn could handle it. A few moments later however I heard Shawn call my name and looked over to see him beckoning me over to them so I hauled my tired body off the ground and walked over, shaking the hand that Mr. Taylor offered me.
"Humphrey, you look half dead. Are you alright?" Shawn asked as I turned to him, concern obvious in his voice and expression. If I had been more awake, I might've been more curious about the strange look Mr. Taylor gave me when he heard my name but it passed after a moment.
"I... We..." I began to say, trailing off for a moment as I looked a question at Pablo, wondering what on Earth I could say but if he understood what I was getting at he gave no indication.
"It was a walk in the park." I finally said, giving what I hoped was a winning grin but was probably pretty miserable. It worked however as Shawn just laughed and clapped me on the back with a quiet, 'Thatta boy'.
"Well it's nice to meet you Humphrey. I can't thank all of you enough, you've saved this Friday's gala." I made a small sound of understanding as he spoke, realizing why there'd been such a rush. If the gala was Friday and the works hadn't even arrived for the gallery then it was obvious why they'd be so panicked.
"All in a day's work right? Or... two days in this case." I muttered, causing the others to laugh a bit, Mr. Taylor placing a hand on my shoulder.
"All the same, thank you. I'll be sure to mention to my boss just how much you two have done."
A/N: Hey y'all, how it is? Sorry this took so long to get to you, I really struggled to find time to write properly, not to mention the chapter itself but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Hope you enjoyed. Big shoutout to Wolfo100 as well, who helped motivate me as well as with ideas for the chapter. Check out his new story, it's a good read and is only getting better.