Chapter 14

Sheriff Maggee wiped his forehead with his pocket rag. "You'd think the heat would break after the sun was gone," he said wringing the rag out on the floor of the car.

"Nah, Sheriff. The whole season's sticky, night and day," Evans said, eyes on the road. He glanced at the sheriff. "Where you think that boy run off to?" he asked.

Maggee looked out the window, a few of his hairs blowing about the others stuck to his forehead. "Might as well ride in the shoulder, Ed. Boy said he left him on the side of the road and he can't have gotten so far out."

"All right," Evans said. The car slowed as it rolled to the shoulder, Evans drove on. "What are we gonna get him for?"

"Well, let's see. He stole that truck. He ran. I guess that's good enough to get him locked up while we figure out the rest."

"You think he's got anything outstanding?"

"Hard to say. If he's been as erratic all summer as he's been today there's no telling."

"Pretty deep, huh?"

"To his eyebrows, Ed."

"Sheriff Maggee?" a voice came from the radio. Maggee grabbed the piece.

"Yes, Sandy."

"Sheriff we just got a call from a dispatcher in county. Said that there's been another truck stolen. From a Stop 'n Fill on Botts Road."

"Off Route 4?"

"That's one way to get there, yes."

Maggee looked ahead as the BOTT RD 1/2 MILE sign came into view.

"Heading what direction?"

"South on 213."

"Description on the truck?"

"Potato chips."

"What?"

"It's a Tater Thins potato chips truck."

"Okay, Sandy," he said putting the piece back.

"Think this is our guy?" Evans asked.

"Who could be so desperate as to steel a slow, heavy, diesel-driven monster like that?"

Evans hit the siren as the squad car skidded back onto the highway.

* * *

Pepper struggled with the truck, pumping the clutch and working the massive stick shift with his left hand crossed over his body. His right arm was cradled in his lap, his fingers wrapped around the bottom of the steering wheel. Several times the engine jolted, the gears grinding in their engagement. He cursed as he navigated the roads, moving cautiously.

"Come on!" he yelled, leaning forward as he shifted. A large sedan sputtered in front of him, the left turn signal blinking for the past quarter mile. Pepper could see the mocking handicap icon on the license plate in front of him, the chair with its gearless wheels. "Move it!" he screamed, catching sight of a yellow light ahead. The sedan slowed. Pepper yelled as he shifted down and kicked the break.

The intersection was empty. The sedan and the rumbling Tater Thins truck were the only vehicles in sight. The black, open parking lots at either side of the road were empty, the shops in the strip malls were dark. Pepper checked his mirrors for other cars, looked left, right and left again. He shifted the car into gear and began to maneuver the truck around the sedan. A flash came across the side view mirror, a flicker of blue in the distance. "Oh goddamn!" Pepper said. He bit his lips as his eyes welled. He turned the wheel as quickly as he could, his left arm stretched across his stomach, shifting awkwardly. The truck started into the intersection and he shifted again, he could hear the rising wail of the siren. The truck rolled into the intersection gaining speed, Pepper shifting with difficulty.

In the mirror the lights were growing larger, the siren louder. Pepper moved the truck around a mini van, an obstacle in an otherwise empty street. He struggled with the gears again as the truck climbed a small hill. The squad car was closer now, only a few hundred yards behind. The truck reached the peak of the hill and started down its steeper and longer side. Pepper shifted the car into neutral and covered the break.

There was a stoplight at the bottom of the hill, cars were stopped at the intersecting road. The truck accelerated as it pitched down the hill. "Come on," Pepper said steering with both hands. "Come on!" he shouted, the light had turned yellow, the squad car broke over the crest of the hill behind him. He let off the break. Pepper flew through the light screaming as it turned red, the squad car close behind.

Pepper glanced at his mirror, the blue flashing behind as a pair of white lights tore across the length of the glass. A blast of crumpled metal came from behind, in the mirror he could see a mass of blue and white. He let out a joyous, broken laugh. He studied the mirror, neither car moved. Another car approached and slowed, stopped, a figure ran towards the scene, a silhouette in the headlights.

The truck moved on as the scene played in the mirror. Pepper felt a jolt in the cabin and looked through the windshield. The truck crossed over a grassy median, smashed a telephone and before he could slam the breaks had plowed into the front of a liquor store. The neon liquor bottle flashed above as the glass front of the building shattered around the truck.