World War I

Chapter 154 Blocking the Exhaust Pipe

Tom Hiddleston glanced at the rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye, a sarcastic smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

He had already spotted the vehicle he was following, an old American pickup truck. He was pretending to inflate a tire in the repair shop. When Sonya passed by, he spotted the person in the car, a policewoman.

The big truck climbed up a long slope at a leisurely pace, and after turning left, a fork in the road appeared.

The big truck drove onto the unpaved black mud road with deep ruts. This road was a special road for hauling timber and coal. There must be a coal mine and a lumber mill at the end of the mud road.

Sonya was in a dilemma.

After a little thought, the pickup truck also drove onto the simple road.

Tom Hiddleston said to himself: This is the stuff that was delivered to my door.

The identity of the pickup truck driver has been confirmed, but Tom Hiddleston doesn't know whether the driver is in contact with the police station and is not willing to do anything rash. He will continue to use his truck driver's identity and will not give it up unless it is absolutely necessary.

The truck drove forward for a while and stopped on a slope.

Tom Hiddleston pulled out a wire from the bottom of the steering wheel, unplugged the connector at the end, and pretended that the vehicle had suddenly broken down.

The truck blocked the road. Sonya held the pistol in her hand, alert as the truck driver was slowly walking towards her.

"Ah, it's the police, that's great."

Tom Hiddleston spoke in surprise outside the car and waved to Sonia, asking her to roll down the window as he wanted to talk to the policewoman.

Sonya rolled down the window halfway and asked, "What's wrong with your car?"

"Hello, officer. My car is twenty years old and keeps breaking down. It stalled for some reason. Could you please back it up a little? I'll use the principle of inertia to back it up and pull it over to the side of the road so it's not blocking the road. I'll get someone to fix it."

The request was reasonable, and Sonya steered the truck backward until there was enough distance.

The truck driver is an absolute master at driving. He uses gravity to turn two plates into long trucks and park them on the side of the road.

"Thank you, officer. I didn't bring my mobile phone with me today. Could I take your call? I know you have one."

The truck driver parked the vehicle and came back to the pickup truck and made a new request.

"Give me your phone number and I'll call for you."

Sonia would not call him. If something happened to this guy and he lost his phone, there would be no one around him. Losing his phone would be fatal.

"Okay, I'll call you."

The truck driver told Sonia the number, the name of the sawmill, and his name: Joseph Hiddleston.

After the call was connected, Sonia briefly described the situation on the scene. The person who answered the phone was Trosha Watt, a business manager of Victory Timber Mill. At the end of the call, Sonia held the phone herself, asked the truck driver to come closer, turned on the speakerphone, let him say a few words, and then hung up.

The procedure seemed normal, and the truck seemed to have really broken down and had a problem.

The lumber mill's mechanics wouldn't arrive for at least six hours. Dousen asked, "Officer, where are you going? To the Karamo Coal Company? Be careful on the road. This is hellish. I suggest you find an off-road vehicle. If the chassis gets blown off, it's very dangerous. There are grizzly bears in the forest."

"Thank you for your concern, and you?"

"I'm hauling lumber. What else could I be doing here? This road was built for hauling lumber. I'm so unlucky today. How could the battery die? I'm going to be fined."

"Are you sure it's the battery?" "Yes, the battery is one of the reasons. After shutting down the car, there was no power at all when I started it again. I was supposed to replace it a couple of days ago, but I was rushed and delayed it. Now it's dead. Even if the battery still has power, there are other problems with the vehicle. I think the carburetor is broken, and it requires special tools to fix it."

The sky was filled with dark clouds, and a chilly mountain wind blew over the forest. Sonya shuddered. It looked like a heavy rain was about to come, a sudden downpour.

"Okay, I won't go in today. Bye."

"Officer, please wait a moment. Can I get a ride with you? I don't want to wait here for so long. If the mechanic doesn't arrive before dark, I'm afraid he won't be able to check the car until tomorrow. I don't want to spend the night here. It's not safe for me to be alone. Officer, can you please give me a favor?"

"I'm sorry, but you should just wait here. If you stay in the cab, wolves and bears won't pose a threat to you. Besides, you're so big, even a grizzly bear can't be your match. Goodbye."

Knowing that this man was from Victory Lumber Mill, Sonya was not in a hurry to ask for his ID or anything. She wanted to leave first. Her intuition told her that the man in front of her was a dangerous guy, even though he looked kind and polite.

As he was speaking, heavy rain came pouring down.

The rain in the mountains came unexpectedly. It came too fast and too suddenly. Sonya cursed and started the car and left.

The truck driver was very enthusiastic. "Officer, the road is too narrow here. Let me help you keep an eye on it. Back up, back up, back up. OK, forward, back up again, forward, back up again."

The pickup truck turned around gracefully on the road and when it was about to leave, it suddenly stalled and wouldn't start no matter how hard it tried.

"Officer, why did the car stall?"

"I don't know, get back to your truck!"

The policewoman suddenly became stern. The truck driver shrugged and ran to his truck. He opened the driver's door and climbed in. A few moments later, he came over in the pouring rain, carrying a toolbox.

"What do you want to do?"

"Help you fix your car."

"You can't even fix your own car, so why do you want to help me fix mine?"

"My car's battery is dead. I have no choice but to replace it and then check for other problems. If the battery can't fix it, even God can't. Your car's motor isn't a power problem. Let me try. You don't have to get out. I'm very familiar with this pickup truck."

In the heavy rain, the light was as dim as night. Sonya pulled the gun and said, "Then you try it."

The truck driver opened the hood and tinkered with it.

Through the hood, Sonya had no idea what the truck driver was repairing. The safety of her pistol was on, and with the gun in hand, she was not afraid of the truck driver doing anything tricky for the time being, but she was inevitably nervous.

The truck driver repaired the engine for a long time, about twenty minutes, and then ran to the back. Sonya couldn't see the exhaust pipe in the rearview mirror. The truck driver quickly pulled out a gray handkerchief from the exhaust pipe. Just now, when Sonya was reversing, he quickly stuffed the handkerchief into the exhaust pipe, causing the pickup truck to stall.

"Officer, please restart it and try again."

The pickup truck tried to start, and it went smoothly, with the vehicle's engine working normally.

The truck driver lowered the hood and wiped the rain off his face. Due to the oil on his hands, there were two black stains on his face.

Sonya's guard dropped significantly.

"Bon voyage, officer."

"Thank you, Joseph Hiddleston."

(End of this chapter)