61 Hours

fingertips on the wheel.
    He said, ‘We’ve got a problem.’
    ‘What kind of a problem?’
    ‘I called 911. The Highway Patrol is all either sixty miles north of here or sixty miles east. There are two big storms coming in. One from Canada, one off the Lakes. There’s all kinds of mayhem. All the tow trucks went with them. They’ve got hundred-car pile-ups. This highway is closed behind us. And up ahead.’
    No traffic
.
    ‘Where are we?’
    ‘South Dakota.’
    ‘I know that.’
    ‘Then you know what I mean. If we’re not in Sioux Falls or Rapid City, we’re in the middle of nowhere. And we’re not in Sioux Falls or Rapid City.’
    ‘We have to be somewhere.’
    ‘GPS shows a town nearby. Name of Bolton. Maybe twenty miles. But it’s small. Just a dot on the map.’
    ‘Can you get a replacement bus?’
    ‘I’m out of Seattle. I could get one maybe four days after the snow stops.’
    ‘Does the town of Bolton have a police department?’
    ‘I’m waiting on a call.’
    ‘Maybe they have tow trucks.’
    ‘I’m sure they do. At least one. Maybe at the corner gas station, good for hauling broken-down half-ton pick-up trucks. Not so good for vehicles this size.’
    ‘Maybe they have farm tractors.’
    ‘They’d need about eight of them. And some serious chains.’
    ‘Maybe they have a school bus. We could transfer.’
    ‘The Highway Patrol won’t abandon us. They’ll get here.’
    Reacher asked, ‘What’s your name?’
    ‘Jay Knox.’
    ‘You need to think ahead, Mr Knox. The Highway Patrol is an hour away under the best of circumstances. Two hours, in this weather. Three hours, given what they’re likely dealing with. So we need to get a jump. Because an hour from now this bus is going to be an icebox. Two hours from now these wrinklies are going to be dropping like flies. Maybe sooner.’
    ‘So what gets your vote?’
    Reacher was about to answer when Knox’s cell phone rang. The guy answered it and his face lightened a little. Then it fell again. He said, ‘Thanks,’ and closed the phone. He looked at Reacher and said, ‘Apparently the town of Bolton has a police department. They’re sending a guy. But they’ve got problems of their own and it will take some time.’
    ‘How much time?’
    ‘At least an hour.’
    ‘What kind of problems?’
    ‘They didn’t say.’
    ‘You’re going to have to start the engine.’
    ‘They’ve got coats.’
    ‘Not good enough.’
    ‘I’m worried about a fire.’
    ‘Diesel fuel is a lot less volatile than gasoline.’
    ‘What are you, an expert?’
    ‘I was in the army. Trucks and Humvees were all diesel. For a reason.’ Reacher glanced back down the aisle. ‘Got a flashlight? Got an extinguisher?’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘I’ll check the underbody. If it looks all clear I’ll knock twice on the floor. You start up, if anything goes on fire I’ll put it out and knock again and you can shut it down.’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Best we can do. And we have to do something.’
    Knox was quiet for a spell and then he shrugged and opened up a couple more compartments and came out with a silver Maglite and an extinguisher bottle. Reacher took them and waited for the door to open and climbed out into the spectral crimson world of the flares. Down into the ditch again. This time he trudged counterclockwise around the front of the bus because the oblique angle put more of the left side above the blacktop than the right. Crawling around in the freezing ditch was not an attractive prospect. Crawling around on the shoulder was marginally better.
    He found the fuel filler door and sat down in the snow and then swivelled around and lay on his back and wriggled into position with his head under the side of the bus. He switched the flashlight on. Found the fat tube running from the filler mouth to the tank. It looked intact. The tank itself was a huge squared-off cylinder. It was a little dented and scraped from the impact. But nothing was leaking out of it. The fuel line running back towards the engine compartment looked OK. Snow soakedthrough Reacher’s jacket and his shirt and freezing damp hit his skin.
    He shivered.
    He used the butt end of the Mag-lite and banged twice on a frame spar.
    He heard relays clicking and a fuel pump start up. It wheezed and whined. He checked the tank. Checked the line, as far as the flashlight beam would let him. He kicked against the snow and pushed himself further under the bus.
    No leaks.
    The starter motor