Chapter 1

The white van pulled into the rest area on I-95 South, just North of Jupiter, Florida. He chose the end parking slot, now empty and with no vehicles parked anywhere nearby. Turning off his work van, he sat still for a few minutes, eating the lunch he had packed for himeself.

The van was a plain blue work van with a white roof. You’ve seen many of them and probably never gave them a thought, beyond needing to pass them if they are going to slow on the road. It’s an older model, with two doors in the back and two doors on the side, that swing open and shut, not the hatch and sliding door of a soccer mom’s minivan. Each door on the side and back has a window, but they’ve been covered on the inside. This is legal, considering this van is not built for passengers at all, but to carry tools and equiment. There is only the driver’s and the passenger’s seats up front and none in the rear. On the roof is a rack, with an extension ladder on one side and a large pvc pipe on the other. The pipe is capped on the front and back, and is used to carry rods or smaller diameter concuit in case of need on a job. The driver’s side rear door has a 4 step ladder mounted to it, to be able to climb up and access the stuff on the roof.

The sides of the back of the van are solid and have magnetic signs on them, advertising F. G. Buhr Electricians, a well known Miami Florida-based business. Their trucks are often seen all over the state, from Miami and the Keys all the way up to the Orlando area. Anyone seeing this van, would never consider it strange at all.

This particular van, however, has been slightly modified from normal, but the changes are on the inside, out of view of most passers-by. Just behind the front seats, welded to the floor and roof is a divider fence. On the front of the fence is mounted an in/out box to hold the paperwork of whatever job the driver is on at the time. Looking back from the front, you can only see through the top one third of the fencing and the rest has sheet steel welded to it turning the driver’s section, the front third of the van, into an actual cab area. This would not out of the ordinary and wouldn’t cause someone concern. The middle of the van is accesible from the side doors only. The odd-ish modification to the van is that there is a second fence, again welded to the floor and roof, just behind the rear of the rear-most side door. This fence is not see through, however, as it has a piece of sheet metal attached to the front side, leaving the fencing open to the rear so that the driver can hang tools and stuff in the rear third of the van, which itself is only accesible from the rear doors.

Finishing up his sandwhich and soda, the man exits the van, throwing the trash into a trashcan nearby. He then steps to the rear of the van, unlocking and opening the right rear door. Flipping on the light on the roof he checks to ensure nothing has fallen or slid out of place. He grabs a contractor’s belt off of a hook and puts it on his waist. You’ve seen hundreds of these, too. You know the kind. It has a wide belt and on the left side a large pouch usually used to hold nails and screws, pencils, tape measures, etc. On the right hip hangs a hammer from a holder. He settles it in place, then glancing a last time in the back, turns off the roof light and closes and locks the back doors.