She reached the highway and veered left onto the on-ramp, faster than she’d ever driven before. It struck her that she was driving a stolen car. If she got stopped by a cop, even better. She scanned the traffic. No one seemed to be tailing her. Maybe she’d made it. She let herself feel a brief thrill of relief.
She raced down the road, thinking ahead. She had to tell the cops what she knew. She remembered the U-Haul was going to explode at 8:00 a.m. If she could gain enough time, she could stop and make the call. She couldn’t keep the information to herself, no matter what. Innocent people would be killed.
She zoomed past billboards for casino gambling, local realtors, and finally, one for a twenty-four-hour truck stop. Her heart lifted. She sped to eighty-five, then ninety. The Toyota wheezed. She reached the exit for the truck stop.
She flew down the off-ramp and raced to the place. A neon sign flickeredOSCAR’S OPEN 24/7next to a nondescript brick building with a flat roof and smoked glass windows. A few cars and a tractor-trailer were parked in the lot.
She ran a red light and headed straight for the parking lot. She veered inside, parked, then jumped out of the car. She ran for the restaurant and flew through the door. The restaurant was long andnarrow, with an old-fashioned counter, empty except for a grizzled trucker chatting with an older waitress holding a phone.
“Please help me!” Julia bolted to her. “I have to call 911! I saw a group of men kill someone! They’re going to blow up a U-Haul at Valley Forge—”
“Whoa!” the waitress recoiled, taken aback. “You need to settle—”
“No, I don’t have time. I had to steal a car to get away. They loaded a U-Haul with explosives—”
“What?” The waitress scoffed. “You must be high—”
“Just let me have your phone.” Julia lunged for the phone, but the waitress snatched it away.
“Get out of here or I’ll call the—”
“Good, yes, call them! Tell them what I told you!”
“Oscar, we got a nutjob!” The waitress turned to the kitchen, but a burly man in a long white apron was already on his way.
“Lady, did you say youstole a car?” he demanded, his dark eyes incredulous.
“Please believe me, they’re going to blow up a U-Haul in Valley Forge. Please let me use a phone—”
“Get out or I’ll throw you out!!” Oscar lumbered toward Julia, and she edged away, putting up her hands.
“I’ll go, but please call 911! I swear, they’re terrorists, I saw it!”
“Get out!” Oscar boomed, almost upon Julia, but the trucker at the counter turned around with a concerned frown.
“Miss, are you for real?”
“Yes, I swear!” Julia almost cried with relief, backing up against the door. “Just call 911! Tell them what I said. It’ll blow up before the first reenactment!”
The trucker picked up his phone just as Oscar shoved Julia out the door. She staggered backward, reeling, but kept her balance. She ran back to the Toyota, jumped inside, and took off, following the signs back to the highway.
She checked the clock: 6:50 a.m. The truck would already be there. If she kept this speed, she could get to Valley Forge in time to warn the cops about the bomb.
Julia zoomed up the on-ramp and joined the traffic on the highway. She got onto 422 and raced east to Valley Forge. It was her against the clock. She glanced in the rearview. Three cars back was a black pickup.
She didn’t know if it had an American flag on the back window, but she wasn’t about to find out.
She hit the gas.
53
Julia watched the speedometer climb. The Toyota began to rattle. She clutched the wheel as hard as she could. She zoomed down Route 422 past billboards for the Pennsylvania Lottery and casino gambling until one popped up for Valley Forge National Park.
She checked the clock. 7:10 a.m. She’d be there just in time. Her heart jumped to her throat. The terrain turned from rural to suburban sprawl. The traffic got heavier.
“Move, move, move!” Julia yelled behind the wheel. She threaded her way through traffic, passing everyone to keep her speed. She had to get to the park.
Her head pounded from pressure. She zoomed past a sign that read Valley Forge National Park with directional arrows.
