Gold by James Patterson

Author:James Patterson [Patterson, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller, Mystery
Goodreads: 33385680
Publisher: BookShots
Published: 2017-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

“Are we stuck? We can get through this—can’t we?” Isobel looked anxiously at Joey.

Joey took his foot off the gas. Buried in the sticky mud, the uselessly spinning wheels were only digging the SUV deeper. Telling himself not to panic, he looked at the clock, and as he did so, the display changed from 5:39 to 5:40 p.m.

“We may be temporarily stuck, but we’ll get out of this,” he reassured Isobel.

He opened the door, pushing tufts of wet grass aside, and squelched into the mire.

There was no way around. The mud was caused by a stream that flowed through a deep channel. This was the only crossing point. Usually the stream was no more than a trickle, but the heavy rain had changed that. So, somehow he needed to gain enough traction to get his SUV through the worst of the bog.

What to do?

His strengths lay in creative problem-solving. He’d had a reputation for being able to achieve the impossible on short notice, back in his corporate days. Now he needed to draw on his reserves of resourcefulness and wile.

He scanned the area. A few yards farther on were some splintered planks. He guessed that at some time past, somebody had tried to use them to cross the mud, but they hadn’t been long enough. They certainly wouldn’t be long enough to cover the mud now, but he could think of another way of using them.

He thought again about the inventory of essentials in the trunk of his car. A change of clothes, cable ties, duct tape, a knife, and rope—generous supplies of all of them. In this situation, duct tape would be the most useful.

“What are we doing?”

He turned to see Isobel standing behind him. The mud was oozing over her smart white sneakers, but it didn’t seem to bother her.

“We’re going to turn the car into a tank,” he told her.

“How’re we going to do that?”

Joey walked over to the planks and selected two pieces, each a little over two feet long, and a few inches wide.

“We’re going to fasten these to the tires. That way, when the wheels turn, the planks will create more surface area and bite into the mud, just as if they were the tracks on a tank. Here, you hold the plank on top of the front wheel. I’m going to tape it into place, and then we’ll do the other side.”

Joey fastened the plank to the top of the tire using the duct tape, winding it round and round, before wading to the other side. The mire was deeper here, so he used the longer plank. By that stage his fingers were covered in mud, making it difficult to wrap the tape properly.

“Let me do it.” Isobel, whose hands were drier, took over and efficiently unrolled the tape over the plank, and through the gap in the wheel.

“Thanks,” Joey said. “Great job.”

“Hey, no worries. It’s great to feel useful. Makes a change.”

She smiled at him. She had dirt smudged across her cheek, and he wanted to touch her face, to wipe it gently away.

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