Chapter 1

The low rumble of the engine increased in pitch, and then momentarily ceased, only to start over as the driver shifted into a higher gear. This occurred time and time again as the truck increased its speed, until it was comfortably cruising down the New Jersey Turnpike at sixty miles per hour. At four o'clock in the morning the traffic was pretty thin, just a few other trucks on the road heading south. It was still dark; probably two hours before dawn, she thought.

Gail Brown was a trucker. She had been a trucker for almost half of her life. Her Dad had been a trucker. It was he who had taught her how to drive an eighteen-wheeler. In fact, this was her truck; the tractor, that is. She worked as a long-haul trucker for an oak furniture manufacturer located in Phoenix, Arizona. Each week she would drive her Kenworth cab from her home in the desert south of Phoenix to the company warehouse, pick up a loaded trailer, and drive to the east coast distribution center located in New Jersey. She would drop the trailer at the loading dock, then drive her cab around to the other side of the terminal and attach to a trailer loaded with oak boards brought in from North Carolina. After an overnight layover, she would begin the three and a half day trip back to Arizona.

Her father had first started with the company in the fifties and had helped set the route and the logistics for the company. Gail began coming along for the ride during the summer when she turned sixteen. It was a way for her to stay close with her Dad and to put as much distance as she could between her and her abusive mother.

She thought about that as she approached the exit for the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Her Dad had married her Mom when they were both a year out of high school. Her Dad was a big man, about six three, with dark hair and eyes. Her Mom, on the other hand, was a petite natural blonde with blue eyes. They made a very attractive couple; in fact it was their looks and the sex that went with it, that was the basis for their marriage. They had very little else in common. Dad was a go-getter; while not highly intelligent, he was very street-smart, with a sharp business mind. Her Mom had made it through life on her looks. She was to put it bluntly, a dumb blond.

Gail Brown was a combination of the two. Unfortunately, she didn't get the best of her parents; her genes were all scrambled together. She resembled her father in looks, and had her mother's brain when it came to school work. She did, however, inherit her father's keen business and common sense. Physically she was impressive. She stood six-feet-two and weighted one hundred eighty pounds. She was broad shouldered and had thick arms, a twenty-four inch waist and slim hips, with a tight butt. Her breasts were not large, but sat high on her forty-two-inch chest. She was not an ugly woman; she just looked and acted more like a man. That was what her mother resented the most. She had wanted a pretty daughter to be her girlfriend; what she got was a tomboy who could care less about boys, pretty dresses and girl talk. She wanted to be strong like her father, and she was willing to compete with the boys at all levels. They were constantly at each other's throats.

Chapter 2 »