In the early dawn light Trixie huddled on the cracked leather of the bench seat in the old dark green 57 chevy pickup. Her hoody sweatshirt wasn’t very much help in keeping her warm. She was heartily wishing for the warmth of a late model truck with heated seats and more leg room. Every time she moved her legs to smooth the bunched up wrinkles of her pants, or slid her feet under the angled output of the heater vent, she worried about kicking the console stick shift out of gear and rolling down the small hill of the parking lot.
Dan was sitting off to the side, in the cab of a Peterbilt tractor truck registered to Pennsylvania. He had gone into the service station store and laid the bait of being a trucker who didn’t want to ‘dead head’* back home. Now he was sitting there, actually hoping that nobody approached him to hire his rig. He needed to stay right here, searching for their quarry that would be hauling booze to Pennsylvania. Once they found the right target, he would abandon the rig, and join her in the chevy to trail the illegal booze across the border. There, they would signal the state police in Pennsylvania who would take over the chase and make the necessary arrests at the end of the line.
Trixie closely watched the trailing line of a dozen or more eighteen wheeler trucks that were patiently waiting their turn at the gas tanks. She was glad she was able to recognize and sort the different details of all the trucks. If it wasn’t for her memory, finding the right truck to follow could make this investigation a lot harder to complete.
Considering that she was on the lookout for trucks possibly hauling illegal liquor, she couldn’t help seeing the analogy between the trucks waiting to be gassed up and a bunch of drunks bellying up to the bar for their share of drinks that were ‘on the house’.
Their confidential informant had sent them a message that a new band of thieves was working to finance a scheme to transport liquor across the border from New York, to Pennsylvania. This was particularly bad news since Pennsylvania, being a control state, prohibits the sale of wine and distilled spirits except in state controlled stores. Therefore it was important for interstate relations that New York law enforcement close the pipeline from their state to their next door neighbor.
Suddenly, the cb radio crackled, and Trixie heard a gravelly voice say,
“Breaker Big Orange, you got your ears on? This is Thistle.”
Another younger voice responded, “That’s a 10-4 good buddy. I don’t think we have any bears with ears or plain brown wrappers to worry about. I just saw a cheese wagon go by, and my dashboard puppy is taking a well deserved nap. I think we are good to go. Big Orange, over and out”
“I hope you took all your vitamins this morning. It looks like we have a have a long day ahead of us. But we’ll be swimming in green-stamps at the end of the day. Thistle out.”
Trixie grinned at the revelation of which truck she needed to follow. She put the chevy in gear, and drove over to the Bob-tail and attracted Dan’s attention with a shrill Bobwhite whistle. As she slid across the bench seat to let him climb in behind the steering wheel, she said, “Come on! We can pass the package to the Keystone Cops and then I am ready to go get some chocolate from Hershey Town.”
*Thanks to Trish for explaining that ‘dead head’ means not driving an empty ruck back to home base.
**Pennsylvania - All wine and spirits is sold in Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board stores, known as 'State Stores'. Malt beverages are sold in case lots by licensed beer retailers known as 'distributors', and in smaller quantities by on-premise establishments. The number of licenses to serve alcohol (including beer and wine) in restaurants is limited based on county populations.[8] http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/ATF/e0905.pdf
Thanks to Mary C for the thought to use CB lingo.
Bears with ears: a police officer listening to others on the CBF
Cheese wagon: A school bus
dashboard puppy:Radar Detector or other portable monitor (usually with an audible alarm).
Big Orange: Skelton Truck Lines Truck.
Bob-tail: a semi-tractor operating without a trailer.
Keystone Cops: Keystone State is a nickname for Pennsylvania. Trixie is talking of handing the package to the Pennsylvania LEO’s. Trixie means no disrespect but Keystone Cops were also fictional incompetent policemen.
Hershey Town: Hershey, Pennsylvania
green-stamps - money
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