Bloodletting by David Arp

Author:David Arp
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Arp, Inc
Published: 2024-08-10T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

River pulled off his cap to let the breeze cool his sweaty scalp. A shadow floated across the highway in front of them. Plastic bag, a Saudi bush as expatriates referred to them, so common now they go unnoticed. Discarded bags covered the countryside, not to mention most all debris citizens tossed away for the desert to deal with.

He slapped the cap back onto his head and glanced at his watch. They’d been back on the road, so to speak, thirty minutes. That equated to roughly a mile and a half since leaving the gas station, and that a guess at best.

The rig trucks were obliged to cross the pipeline at designated crossover points, where the pipe had been buried below ground level for a hundred yards or so. The many miles of pipeline had numerous such areas to accommodate the Bedouins moving house and herding camels and sheep back and forth in pursuit of grass. He’d know this spot in the dark. Not far now.

Matu stopped and looked back.

Now what? “Matu?”

“Car sure.”

They headed for the berm, scurried up and over, then laid out on the ground to watch. River saw a dull red glow before the outline of the vehicle took shape.

Matu whispered, “You see?”

“I see. Weird.” Then the glow grew brighter. “Ah, cigarette. At least two people. The passenger smokes. Now his hand is on the mirror.”

“Yes, see now. Driver smoke. Have glass for eyes. See.”

“I do. Reflection. He’s holding the cigarette low.”

River gave his drillers a hard time about working at the “speed of tortoise” or being set on “one month.” This driver had the dark SUV set on slow, real slow. Either they were looking for someone or wary of attracting attention. No headlights indicated the latter. Didn’t matter. River would take Zee’s advice and assume all were unfriendly. The urge to flag them down never developed. As the car pulled even, an ember flew out the passenger window and exploded in sparks on the pavement. Another nail in the man’s coffin burnt down to the filter.

After a minute, they stood, stepped back to the roadway, and followed the vehicle into the night. They set an easy pace, then Matu stopped yet again. River turned to face him. His friend crouched on the stripe in the middle of the highway, then stood and shuffled to River’s side.

“Man come,” Matu whispered. “He no good. One side make sound on desert.”

River searched the blackness behind them. How Matu knew or felt and saw things in the dark amazed River. Amazing, too, that he understood what Matu meant. “He limps.”

“He no straight. Maybe hurt.”

“Yeah. That’s it. The ‘no good’ you mentioned.”

“Excuse please.”

“Never mind. Did you see him?”

“He same smoke. See then no see. He go by outside, by desert. Maybe scared, no sure life for him finished. Need prien’.”

River surveyed both sides of the roadway. Getting crowded with cars and people suddenly. Another time and both would be welcomed. The man could be up to no good if he were trying to get around them.

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