For Sale or Swap - Alyssa Brugman [44]
She moved around to the front. The number plate had thick mud on it and she could only make out two of the letters – NX. She walked to the back of the truck and saw the same thing – all the digits were caked except the first two. He must have made them muddy on purpose. She knelt down and put her hand on the plate to see if she could make out the letters and numbers by feeling their shapes. They were so muddy that it was too hard to tell. The next letter might have been P but it could have been R as well.
There had to be some way to identify the man. She walked back to the driver's door and peeked in the window, holding her hands to the side of her face to cut out the glare from the streetlight.
The cab had a bench seat, and the keys dangled from the ignition. There were a few lolly wrappers and empty soft drink bottles on the floor. Behind the driver's seat was a narrow space. There was no legroom, but there was enough of a gap for the driver to crawl in, stretch out, and have a sleep on a long journey. It looked like it was lined with a thin mattress for this purpose, and there was a chequered blanket and a few crumpled items of clothing. There were also pieces of paper, A4 in size. They might be letters, and if they were, they might have a name and address on them.
When Shelby opened the door the cab interior light came on. She gasped, and shut it again, pressing the door gently until the latch fastened. She squatted down and crawled around the front of the truck, peering up the driveway. If he had seen the light then she might need to run. She waited for a moment, but she couldn't see Mr Morgan, or hear his footsteps.
Shelby closed her eyes and thought hard. If she went back to the house now then he would get away again, and they still wouldn't have any idea who he was. She could wake up Lindsey's mum and ask her to follow him in the car, but Shelby doubted that she would do it, given how cross she'd been earlier.
If she climbed into the cab, grabbed the papers and jumped back out again, they would at least have a clue to work with. If she was going to do that, she needed to do it fast. He might be on the way back right now.
Shelby stood up again and put her hand on the driver's door. She licked her lips. Her face felt hot and she breathed heavily.
She counted to three and opened the door. The light came on again and Shelby leaned inside the cab. There was no way that she could reach into the back from where she was standing. The cab was too high off the ground. She climbed up so she could put her knees on the driver's seat and the door swung closed behind her, hitting the soles of her feet. The interior light turned off, and Shelby groped in the dark where she knew the papers to be. Her fingers touched the papers and she snatched them. Shelby pushed the door with her heel, but it had caught. She twisted around trying to feel for the internal door handle.
Just then, the interior of the cab became much brighter. Out the passenger window she could see the arena lights come on inside Lindsey's property. The lights were high in the air on long poles and pointed down to the sandy arena, shining very brightly like lights at a football field.
Next she heard footsteps – running footsteps along the road. They were heading this way. Shelby dived through the gap to the place behind the driver's seat, and as she did she could feel the truck rock from side to side. She lay down flat and pulled the blanket over her body. She managed to get it over her head and shoulders when the driver's door opened and Mr Morgan jumped inside. He started the truck, thrust it into gear and it moved away down the street.
Shelby lay still, her heart beating so fast that she thought Mr Morgan would be able to hear it, even over the noise of the engine.
This was not part of the plan. This was not anything like the plan, and nobody – not even Lindsey – knew