Thurston Bay

Veronica was awoken the next day by a bunch of clanking and banging sounds.  Once awake and alert she investigated what or who made these sounds. She was relieved to find that it was just a couple of teenagers who had decided the warehouse was the perfect skateboarding spot. She went back to where she had slept and gathered up her things then took them out to her stolen car. She figured someone was missing their vehicle by now so she would steal a new one.  She decided on one of the railway workers' trucks.

On the railway they worked 12 hour shifts starting at 9am.  This meant Veronica had at least 9 more hours before one of them noticed their truck was gone.  She drove the car to where the trucks were parked and picked which one she wanted. She grabbed an older truck, somewhat of a beater, because it was the easiest to break in to. Another positive of having an older truck was that it didn't have an alarm.

This old, beater truck was a '95 F-150. There was a rickety topper on it and rust along the entire bottom of the bed. Inside was an aftermarket steering wheel; the old one must have turned to dust  Veronica thought. The seats seemed in decent shape, with only a few stains and and rips in the upholstery. This will do nicely, Veronica told herself, at least for today's purposes.  She now had less than 8 hours before the workers would return to their trucks. She quickly put her supplies in the truck and headed to the hardware store in the little town of Thurston Bay.

Thurston Bay was 30 miles away from Langsey.  Veronica went here because no one knew her.  In Langsey, everyone knew Veronica because she was engaged to the Sheriff. She went into the hardware store and told one of the clerks that she needed a key made for her truck.  He informed her that without an actual key to duplicate it would be difficult. Veronica began to tell a sob story about how it was her ex-boyfriend's truck and that he took the keys when she first tried to leave him. She explained how, once the boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend and never real) was asleep the previous night, she had hot-wired it to get away.

"I'm still now sure I should do this.  I mean, you stole his truck."  The clerk explained.

"Please," Veronica sobbed.  "This is my only way to get away from him for good."

"Alright, it's okay; I can do it this once, but you can't tell anyone where you got the key from.  You have to pay in cash, to me, and you must leave as if we didn't have what you were looking for." The clerk turned and opened a cabinet of blank keys.

"Thank you so much sir.  The truck is a '95 Ford F-150. Dark green and black in color. I also have the VIN if you need that." She tried handing him a crumpled shred of paper from her pocket.

The clerk chuckled.  "I don't need all that, just the year, make, and model."

He began to punch away at a machine that looked like a giant metal box with a couple windows in it. He then grabbed a blank key from his cabinet and placed it into a keyhole in the box. The clerk pushed a few more buttons and the machine started whirring and grinding away. Within minutes it went silent and the clerk pulled out a new ignition key to the stolen truck.

"That's $50.00."  The clerk held out is hand to collect the tender.

"Okay, here."  She handed him a $50 bill as he handed her the key.

"I wish I could be more helpful ma'am." The clerk stated a little louder than usual.

"I understand, thank you anyway."  Veronica turned and left the store.

On to the next order of business, Veronica thought, off to make sure my  secret has been kept.