The Well: Feet

"Damnation! Talk about a pile a pukin' puppies," was the first thing Tina said when the door was closed.

"Yup," Shelly said as she got settled in, "not much of much at all."

I have to hand it to the girls, they travel in style.  The inside of Miss M would make Rolls Royce take notice.  I was on the jump seat that swings out of the sleeper, I think they stole it out of a Volvo.

"So what are we watching for?"  Shelly asked, busy closing a set of curtains around the windows.

"Tanker trucks," I answered,  "that haul nasty things."

"Oh really," Tina said, and proved she was nobodies innocent. "Like maybe the kind where the drivers all have an Italian accent?"

"Good chance of it.  Do you know how to get in touch with Dee?"

"Sure.  You want us to call her if we see something suspicious?"

"Her first, me if you can't make it a safe call. This is nasty business, you can't be to careful.  And no matter how careful you are figure on somebody noticing if you do the same thing three times."  The three times rule works for more than lights on the same match.  Tina nodded, eyes wise.  "Gotcha," she said.

Shelly cocked her head and hummed a few bars from an old rock and roll song.  "Tanker trucks, eh? Them boys dodge the scales worse than we do.  I'm betting most of 'em this far down the interstate will be looking for fuel before they roll for home, running empty they can fill the tanks and boogey.  Tina?"

"Well, there's two big stations just south of Wichita favored by the one's coming in from Yankee land.  You think we might should feed Miss M a bite of lunch?  The back saddles are low, a couple of hundred gallons would bring her near full."

I was beginning to catch on, and beginning to worry.  It made it to my face, Tina answered before I asked.  "Warrior man, all we're going to do is listen.  But we know how to listen real close, don't we," she said.

Shelly grinned, and added "That we do warrior man.  And we know some folks up that way who always listen, and they like us.  We'll be careful."

I couldn't tell them no, they were there for love not money.  So instead I just shrugged, and  told them to keep track of their fuel receipts, I'd make sure Cambell reimbursed them.  What the hell. That was the least he could do.  If the idea was me and Jim Smith as hired guns the girls would be our reserves, and I wanted them a bit further down the road anyway.  Safer that way.  They more than doubled our firepower, but for now the bad guys would have no way of knowing them from Sabrina's kid sister and I wanted it to stay that way.

Tina nodded, done deal, and then looked at Shelly.  Shelly shrugged, and started counting.  At two Tina tossed some serious muscle against her door frame, on three Shelly went the other way.  They didn’t need four, this was an old drill for them.  Big as Miss M is the floor started moving, the cab mounts on different springs than the axles.  Anyone in the lot had plenty of reason to be jealous of me, I mean really.  How many rednecks get the chance to rock a Peterbuilt with a pair like them?  I was glad I didn’t have to get in the middle of the drill, a rookie could get himself hurt playing with them girls.

  "That's enough," Tina said after about a minute.  They settled back into their seats chuckling, peering out peak holes in the curtains.  She patted my knee.  "We know damn good and well you'd be good for three times that much, but them on the outside don't."

"Them outside?"

Shelly laughed.  "Yup.  Four or five guys and the two gals who were playing pool.  Most of that was for the girls."

"Gee, thanks," I said.  "Damn glad you didn't give me a reputation I can't live up to.  This kind of country word gets around."

The girls looked at each other, swiveled to put their boots in each other's lap.  I was blocked in, but not worried about it.  Even a slam bam and thankee ma'am meant we needed to be in the truck for an hour.

Shelly's eyes went serious.  "CJ, c'mon.  Not trying to blow smoke up your ass, but warrior man, just in case no one ever told you this you're drop dead gorgeous.  You're here to hear things, and the girls know things too."

Tina picked up like they'd rehearsed the speech.  Hell, for all I know they had. "She's right CJ.  Don't be a hermit.  You know you're going to get hired, that's a gimme.  The kind of women who know the kind of things you're looking for will be the first to pounce on new meat in town, just the way they are."  She handed me back to Shelly with a glance.

"For example, the better looking of the two pool sharks?  The dishwater blonde?"

I nodded, I'd noticed her.  Low edge of middle age, drinking martinis, good body, long legs, and an attitude advertising she spread jade on demand.  Not my kind of woman at all.

"She's hooked up with somebody important, no way she's not.  The guys at the table in front of me were looking at her bending over to shoot and laughing, one of 'em said it was funny how she only let her tits hang out when her old man was busy down at city hall.  This other fellow laughed and called bullshit, said the commission didn't meet on Friday.  First fellow laughed even louder said it didn't matter, even if they was meeting in secret it wouldn't be a secret for long.  What does that tell you?"

"Tells me I wish I knew her name," I said.

Shelly squinted, frowning.  "Mul... Mul something."

"Mulhall?"  I said.

"Yea, that sounds right.  It was pretty loud in there."

I didn't say anything, not like it did me any good to stay quiet, not with those two.  The girls traded a long look, and changed directions.

"Feet,"  Tina said, getting her own back on the floorboards.

"What?"

"Feet," Shelly said, and grabbed my legs as Tina leaned over to flip a lever on my seat.  I didn't have a chance to argue, not like I would have anyway.  A second later I was all but on my back and the girls had a foot apiece taking my boots off.  I decided it was safer to just relax, they hadn't startled me all that bad.  I put my hands behind my head, and gave a curious look.

"We need to send you out of here looking like you had a good time," Shelly said as my boots came off, "and warrior man?  We don't think a quickie in the rough would do that for you, not for you, you're to much of a gentleman for that sort of stuff.  Kind of why we like you, you know?"

I opened my mouth to say something somewhere between macho and dumb, bit I didn't get the chance.  They hit the same nerve center on both feet, my mouth just sort of stayed open while I was trying to remember how to breathe. It took a few seconds, by the time I could talk they'd started in with the lotion.  "We won't do that to you again sweetheart, not without warning you first," Tina said in her purr voice, the one that puts shivers in places you normally don't notice.  Shelly nodded, her eyes half humor and half sympathy.  What a pair they are.