It would be a two-and-a-half-hour drive down to Fresno. For tonight’s action, both he and Harv were dressed in their woodland pants, black T-shirts, and combat boots. Nathan considered using his helicopter but there was no way to land anywhere near Pete’s Truck Palace without alerting the entire area. Besides, fog was in the forecast for the early morning hours. Nathan and Harv were in the lead, driving a rented Ford Expedition. Henning, Grangeland, and Ferris followed in a Crown Victoria. As usual, Harv drove. Until they surveyed Pete’s Truck Palace, they couldn’t plan anything in detail.

Nathan felt Harv was right. Amber Sheldon hadn’t been completely honest. When he’d asked how much Ernie had offered, a slight change in her tone gave it away. Twenty thousand dollars wasn’t chump change, but he was certain Ernie had offered more than that. How much, he didn’t know or care. All that mattered was her dishonesty. And if she were lying about the money, what else was she lying about? For all Nathan knew, Amber had made the call under duress, with Ernie’s knife at her throat.

Prior to beginning the drive to Fresno, Nathan had given Henning one his radios in case they needed to stop for any reason. As they descended the on-ramp onto Highway 99 south from Highway 50, Nathan keyed the radio. “Radio check.”

“Copy,” came Henning’s response.

“We’re going to exceed the speed limit. I trust you’ll use your FBI credentials if we’re stopped by the CHP?”

“No problem.”

Nathan set the radio on the seat and settled in for the drive. “I miss my dogs,” he said. “When this is over I’m going to spend some quality time with them.”

“Yeah,” said Harv. “I know what you mean. I miss my family too.” Harv moved into the fast lane and accelerated up to ninety miles an hour.

Chapter 21

Chapter  21

On the drive south, they’d been forced to slow down through patches of fog, some of them several miles long. At the exit for Pete’s, Harv coasted down the off-ramp and turned right, away from their target. Anyone coming down the off-ramp at this hour would probably turn left, heading to Pete’s. Harv drove another hundred yards and killed the headlights. Nathan craned his neck and saw they were obscured from Pete’s by the Highway 99 overpass berm. Harv pulled the Expedition onto the shoulder and slowed to a stop. The Crown Vic pulled in behind them.

Nathan keyed the radio. “It’s fair to assume Amber gave a description of me to Ernie, so Harv will conduct a reconnaissance report back to us. I’ll wait in your vehicle until he returns.”

“Copy,” Henning said.