Page 13 of Truck

“Interesting. Very interesting,” Pres rubs his chin, and I leave him thinking on it.

Three hours later Rum walks out of the office and gives me a chin lift. “The office is set up now. Keys has the system in place and hey, I learned quite a few things about setting up a computer. Interesting, and a little on the scary side.”

“Did Keys take over the computer?” I ask with a grin because I’ve seen him do that so many times, and it’s amazing every time I see it. I can only imagine how Rum felt when he saw the cursor flying over the screen, and things happening without you touching anything yourself.

“He sure did. It was amazing I’ll tell you. The pumps are being replaced after lunch. I got the notification this morning. Once they are done, we can get the tanks filled and think about an opening day. Maybe you’ll have the store area completed by then?”

I frown in thought before responding to Rum. “I reckon we’ll have this finished by the end of the week. I’ve seen a portion of the roof flapping. I’ll get up there and check what the fuck is going on as soon as I get a chance.”

“No, we’ll go up and check it and fix what needs fixing.”

I turn when I hear an unfamiliar voice. But don’t stop the welcome that I give. “Well, well, about fuckin’ time you three arrived.”

“Fuck you, asshole. We came as soon as we were asked,” Xero I presume replies, but he has a huge smirk on his face while saying it.

Introductions are completed, and I follow them out to a beat-up truck where they have all their gear stored. “I’m going to give Coin a call and make sure the house is ready for you. Then I’ll take you over there after we’ve finished tonight. No time right now, got too much to do.”

I watch as Robert waves at me while holding his phone in the other hand. I wait until he walks over to us and fills us in on what’s happening. “Cap said we are to get back to the clubhouse now you have your workers. He said Coin will be along in a while to bring you the key to Mrs. Amble’s place. He has paid a six-month lease on the place, and all utilities will be paid by the club.”

“Okay, then,” I watch as the prospects jump into the club’s van, and thankfully I’m using my own truck. Once they have pulled out of the gas station, I turn to the three of them, and Rum who is watching everything with amusement.

“I’ll get on the roof and check it out. Then we’ll know what’s going on,” Mitchell states as he walks away.

Xero and Collins turn towards the store. Xero looks over his shoulder as he walks inside. “Come on, Truck. Let’s get this store finished and move on to the outside. The place looks like a fuckin’ mess.”

We worked hard for four hours straight. My back is screaming, but seeing the racking is nearly all filled and ready for the store to open is a sight worth seeing.

Xero slaps my shoulder. “It’s looking good, Truck. Rum just popped through and said the pumps are done and the system is up and running. He has the tanker truck coming on Monday of next week.”

Nodding to assure him I’ve heard and understood I pass a large box up to Collins who is using the spare parts in the box to fix this particular piece of racking to the wall.

“Tomorrow we finish the store and move outside.” Before I can say more my phone rings and seeing it's Keys, I quickly answer. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Nothing’s wrong, Truck. Do you have Collins with you now?”

Nodding as I answer, “Yeah, Xero and his brothers are here now. Working with me at this point.”

“Okay, I’m sending Jet over with four cameras. Get him to fit two of them on the front facing the new pumps, and two on the side facing the fill ports. I’ve just had information come through that four gas stations have been robbed of gas overnight. The fuckers have brought in a tanker truck and emptied the pumps into the truck. All are gas stations that are unmanned overnight. We have nobody at the station at this time overnight. They may not steal any gas, but they could empty the store area.”

“Okay, Keys. We have plenty of cameras around the place, inside and outside. These extra four may be overkill, but better to be overcautious,” I respond, and as I’ve placed the call on speaker once I knew what the call was about, Xero and Collins are looking at each other, then at me.

“See you later, Truck.” Keys closes out the call without waiting for me to say more, and I shake my head a little because it seems we all do that these days.

“I’ll get the cameras up and running as soon as they arrive. Maybe we should have security details running during the night until we know it’s nothing to worry about at least,” Collins says, and I give him a nod of agreement, but Xero speaks before I can.

“How about Collins and I do one night, and you and Mitchell do another?”

“We can’t do that and work during the day. We’ll never keep it up. But with the cameras, you all will be closer to the gas station while I will be at the clubhouse. The house we have leased for you is only a few minutes away. You would be on the fuckers before they could get away.” I look at Collins as he speaks again.

“How about we make them more sensitive to any movement? I can make sure that we’d know if even a rabbit moved.”

“Yeah, that would work, and if you send me a signal, I’ll be with you as soon as I can, and I can bring backup if we need it,” I reply with my mind already running ahead of me.

“Okay, let’s do that for now,” Xero mutters, and we all turn as Mitchell joins us. Xero updates Mitchell, and all three agree it’s the easiest move to make at this point.

Later I walk into the house that the club is renting for Xero, Collins and Mitchell and can’t help but think how nice it is. It has been kept in good condition, and whoever was in the place last did no noticeable damage to the furniture.

Collins slaps my shoulder as he passes. “Nice place, Truck.” He carries his duffel bag over one shoulder and a weekender in one hand.