“Yup, I know right where you’re at. I’ll call Gary—everyone calls him Pinky, though—and let him know. If he ain’t got his arm up a cow’s ass, then he should be able to get right out. If he is busy out back, then I’m sure one of his boys can swing out there and load you up. What kinda car you got?”
It took Luca a moment. He was still tripping over the cow’s ass. “Uh, a van, brown and tan.”
“License plate?”
“It doesn’t have one. I mean, we just bought it about a week ago.”
Ridly made an unhappy sound. “Hope you didn’t buy it from Hayward, that snake cheated his own mother. Sold her this piece of shit foreign car that spends more time on my rack than it does on the road.”
“No, no we didn’t buy it from him. And it’s probably not the seller’s fault. We’ve been driving a lot.”
“Okay, I got you down. Give him half an hour, and if Pinky don’t show up, call me back, and I’ll dig up someone else. But he will so don’t worry.”
“What’s he look like?”
“You’ll know em’ when you see em’, trust me.”
“Okay.”
The line clicked.
Nox stood with his hip propped against the front fender. His mouth twisted in an obvious attempt not to laugh.
Luca stuck his phone back in his pocket. “At least he was nice.”
“Any nicer and you would have been on the phone all night.”
It was less than fifteen minutes before a neon pink tow truck pulled into the parking lot.
“Well, I guess that explains the nickname.” The paint glared under the artificial lights bright enough to make Luca squint. If it had been daylight, he was pretty sure he would have been blinded.
The driver maneuvered the flatbed through the clear path between parked cars and cars waiting to get gas. A golden crown topped the P on the word Princess Towing written across the side door.
He stopped alongside the van and rolled down his window. “You the folks who called Ridly?”
Luca tore his attention from the name to the man’s face. He wore a pink hat with a matching logo.
“Yes. Yes, sir, we did.”
The guy threw the truck in park and got out, carrying a clipboard under one arm. He offered his hand. Luca shook it, then Nox.
“I lost a bet.”
“Huh?” Luca had been staring at the truck again and thought he might have missed something.
“The name, the color. I lost a bet.” The guy didn’t seem all that broken up either.
“I’m… sorry?”
Pinky laughed. “Don’t worry about it. My daughter was five at the time. She’s grown, married, and got kids. Ain’t a day goes by she don’t apologize. But it worked out, you know, everyone remembers my name, knows my trucks, and that I keep my word.” He dusted off his hands. “Now, then, let’s get you hooked up, and I’ll haul this to Ridly’s so he can get a look at it.” Pinky handed Luca the clipboard. “Just fill that out for me, please.”
Nox opened the side door of the van and took out their duffle bag. “Will our camping gear be okay in there or should I take it with us?”
“It’ll be fine. Ain’t no one gonna steal anything from Ridly’s lot. Last guy that tried got attacked by the bear.”
“A bear?”
“Yup.”