“Mrs. Duncan at the Super Mart called,” Jim told Milhouse when he finally reached him. “It seems her parking lot is full of people setting up their campers and trailers. I want you to go clear them out of there.”
“Where do we send them?” Milhouse asked. “All the campgrounds are spilling over as it is.”
“I don’t know, tell them to go home. Tell them there’s nothing to see around here. I don’t care, just get rid of them,” Jim ordered.
Milhouse started to complain. “Why can’t Kruger do it? Rissleys expecting these metal detectors and I need to get back into this investigation.”
“I’m sorry, but you’re better at this sort of thing than he is. If you get right on it, you can be out there by—
Hoooooooonnnnnnnnnkkk!
The horn of the big eighteen wheeler startled everyone. An instant later, the fifth wheel trailer exploded. The three men turned to see trailer parts flying in all directions. The Mack truck, coming through the fifth wheel trailer, had swerved to make a last ditch effort at avoiding it, but it was too late. The momentum of the impact pulled the pickup backwards then flipped it on its side like a toy. The semi ran over the curb and into a streetlight, snapping it off and sending it spinning into the air.
“Look out!” Jim yelled as each man darted for safety.
The eighteen-wheeler bucked and spasmed into the station’s lot as its driver lay on the brakes. Ellis maneuvered it skillfully as his tires barked across the pavement. As Jim ran away, he watched over his shoulders as the big rig’s load shifted suddenly to one side.
The entire rig rolled onto its right set of tires then hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity, before rolling back the other way. Jim could hear the angry scream of strained metal as the rig’s frame twisted. It instantly crashed down on all wheels again, bouncing and giggling like a giant blob of jello as it came to a final stop, just missing Jim’s Blazer.
Harper and his deputies quickly came out of hiding. “See if anyone’s hurt!” Jim commanded. He ran to the cab of the Mack truck as the others ran into the intersection. Several smaller cars had run into the ditch to avoid collisions. Jim climbed up on the cab and pulled open the door. “Are you hurt?”
Jim examined the driver carefully. Ellis’s face was pale and he was shaking. His white knuckled hands still gripped the wheel tightly. Through shallow panicked breaths, he managed to say. “He came out of nowhere. I didn’t see him.”
“It’s all right,” Jim assured him. “Everything’s going to be fine.” Jim slowly helped the man pull his hands off the wheel then got him out of the truck.
In all the confusion, Alan managed to pull out of traffic and stopped on the side of the road just down the street of the station. Traffic was blocked, so he decided to run the last hundred yards. Alan was able to get to the side of the station without being noticed and peered around it. He saw Jim standing with the truck driver, and decided he really didn’t want another confrontation, especially with the situation as stressed as it was. He decided to stand back, stay out of sight, and watch for awhile.
Kruger ran up to Jim. “Nobody appears to be hurt. They’re all pretty shook up though.”
“Good. Get on the radio. I want an ambulance just in case and all the tow trucks you can get a hold of. Now go!” Jim watched Kruger run towards his Blazer, then he turned his attention to the intersection in front of the station. Cars from all directions were stopped for several hundred yards back. Passengers from the vehicles were getting out to see what had happened. “Damn! This thing has gotten way out of control!”
Just then, Milhouse ran up to him. “Everyone on this side is alright. Now what do we do?”
Jim looked around. The accident victims didn’t appear hurt, but, as Sheriff, he felt responsible for taking care of them anyway. “My Blazer is blocked in, so I’ll stay here and get this mess straightened out. Give the equipment to Kruger, then get over to the Super Mart.”
“But“ Milhouse tried to protest, but Jim was in no mood to argue.
“Just do it!” Jim barked angrily, then he turned and ran towards the intersection.
Milhouse walked towards his Blazer with is head down, depressed at being reduced to crowd control duty. Kruger had heard the order and was already transferring the gear to his Blazer. Milhouse watched as Kruger jumped into the driver’s seat.
“I’ll see you when you get out there!” Kruger waved and pulled away.
Milhouse’s heart sank further as he watched him leave.
Alan took that opportunity to emerge from hiding. “Hello, Milhouse.”
Tom turned to see Agent Bradley and his mood turned even more sour. “What do you want?”
“I was hoping you could give me a hand this morning.”
“Forget it!” Milhouse snapped as he walked past Alan and got into his Blazer. “You lied to me! You said you’d clear everything with Harper. Do you realize how much trouble I can get into for that?”
“I couldn’t tell him!” Alan tried to defend himself. “He would’ve said no, then where would we be? At a dead stop, that’s where.” Alan answered his own question as he pleaded with Milhouse. “I need you, Tom. Are you going to help me or not.”
“I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’ve got to go clear some campers out of a parking lot.” Milhouse hung his head, discouragingly.
“Tom, you can’t allow Harper to shut down the only productive part of this investigation. If it wasn’t for your help, we wouldn’t be on the brink of busting this case wide open.”
“What are you talking about?” Milhouse looked at him curiously.
“How well do you know Richard Schaffer?”
“About as well as anyone around here. He’s kind of a loner. He keeps mostly to himself, but he seems to be a nice enough guy. Why?” Milhouse replied.
“Because he’s the one hauling all the drugs in here.”
Milhouse looked at Alan skeptically. “Schaffer? No way, he doesn’t look like the type that would get messed up with that stuff.”
“Did you know Schaffer did hard time in prison for smuggling drugs across the boarder from Mexico?” Alan pulled out the rap sheet and handed it over. “Look for yourself.”
As Milhouse paged through the report, his mouth dropped open. “I can’t believe it! I would never have suspected him for a smuggler!”
“That’s how they got away with it so long. They’re the people you’d least expect,” Alan informed him. “Heck, I once busted a group of grandmothers selling dope during church bingo night. Now, are you going to help me?”
Milhouse started to get excited. “Yeah, what do you want me to do?”
“Take this information to your father-in-law and get a warrant. Where does this Schaffer fellow live anyway?”
“He lives out at Morton Field. I think he stays in a back room of one of the hangers.”
“Good, I’ll meet you there,” Alan said, then started to turn to walk away.
“Wait!” Milhouse stopped him. “I’m going to have to clear this with the Sheriff first.”
“No! Can’t you see what he’s doing? He wants the glory for himself. If you take this to him, I bet he makes you direct traffic while he solves the case.” Alan argued.
“It’s my duty to report this to the Sheriff,” Milhouse said, shaking his head.
“Fine!” Alan snatched the report from Milhouse’s hands. “I’ll get the warrant myself. It’ll take me longer because the Judge doesn’t know me, but I’ll get it,” Alan snapped, then took a few steps away before turning back to Milhouse. “I guess I was wrong about you, I thought you were ready to take the bull by the horns and control your career. You know you were so close to getting out of this town, and now you’re throwing it away! And for what! So you can write tickets and direct traffic?” Alan pointed out at Harper. Jim was frantically directing traffic around the wreckage. “You’ll be here until you rot!” Alan turned and star
ted to stomp away.
Milhouse looked over to the intersection and watched as Jim waved his arms around directing the now heavy traffic. Yesterday, while helping Agent Bradley at Buck’s house and getting the flight log books, he’d never felt more in control of his destiny. He wanted desperately to be a Special Agent like Bradley.
He took a look towards Alan and wasn’t sure what to do. With every step Bradley took, Milhouse saw his chance of escaping this town fade. Tom looked again at Harper, imagining himself in that position in the future, and cringed. That wasn’t what he wanted at all. As quickly as he could, Milhouse jumped out of the Blazer and sprinted towards Bradley. “Agent Bradley!” he yelled as he finally reached him. “I’ll do it!”
“Good,” Alan smirked. “I’ll meet you at the airfield.” Alan handed him the report, then turned and walked out of the parking lot.
* * * *
Chapter 19
Set Up