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The fourth chapter of a seven part series that will run all week.

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Luckily for Lucinda, the black panel van had made several stops the morning that they grabbed Delgado.  The delay in the van getting over the border enabled her to make up for lost time in the armored Sequoia as she pursued them.  Following the location on Delgado’s phone, she could see they were already over the border in the van, somewhere outside Ojinaga, Mexico as she rolled into Kent, in south Texas.  She was gaining on them, but had no idea how much more juice Delgado had on his cell phone.  She was sure he didn’t have the resources to keep it charged.

Back in Fort Stockton, it was a beehive of activity.  Sister Thelma made a few phone calls and within a couple hours was loading up everything she thought she might need in the back of a 1951 Mercury Woody.  In order for her to help, she figured she needed to look the part of a nun traveling cross country in an old vehicle, something that would escape notice.  Anyone seeing the sister in an old FoMoCo wood sided station wagon would likely be reminded of Sally Field in The Flying Nun and think only good thoughts.

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“Mercury produced 3,812 wood-paneled two-door wagons for 1951, the model’s final year,” Clive Clarendon explained to her when he dropped the wagon off at Our Lady of Immeasurable Concern.  “The steel bodywork on this example was repainted in green under prior ownership. Features include a hood ornament, a two-piece windshield, dual side view mirrors, and chrome bumpers. Dual tail lamps are affixed to the split tailgate with hinged mounts, and the lights can be repositioned with supporting rods when the tailgate is lowered.”  Of course Sister Thelma didn’t care about any of that.  She just needed something to serve as a disguise once she got over the border.

Out at Earl’s Salvage Yard and Formalwear, Earl was tuning up the inline-six under the ratty hood of the even rattier convertible out in front of the shop.  He’d had the 1954 Chevrolet Corvette project under a tarp for quite a while.  He always wanted to get the thing running and restored, but other things had gotten in the way.  Especially during prom and wedding season, he just never found the time.  He’d gotten the engine performing in tip-top shape, and installed replacement inline-six has three Carter YH side-draft carburetors.  The body had been stripped, but that’s about all he’d been able to get done.

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He needed something fast and efficient.  But something that he could leave behind in Mexico, if he had to, and not have any regrets.  The Corvette filled the bill.

Behind the Quonset hut in back of the Rusty Hammer Hardware Store, Rusty was loading equipment and supplies into the back of the 1963 Ford F-100 Crew Cab 4×4 4-Speed refurbished between 2020 and 2023. The exterior was repainted in 2020, and the 292 cubic inch V8 was tuned and fitted with a replacement Edelbrock carburetor in 2023. The frame was repainted and the shocks were replaced along with the exhaust system, and a CD stereo and auxiliary gauges were installed. The truck was also equipped with a four-speed manual transmission and a dual-range transfer case as well as 15″ black-painted steel wheels, a step rear bumper, twin bench seats with gray upholstery, and a cabin heater. 

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Rusty’s original thought was to just load up his wife’s Suburban and head to Mexico.  But he thought the rugged 4X4 capabilities of the Ford, converted by the Woeber Auto Body & Manufacturing Company in November of 1962, might be needed if things got dicey in the Mexican wilderness.  The 15″ black-painted steel wheels were mounted with 235/75-15 Goodyear Wrangler tires, and a spare was stowed loosely in the bed. Stopping power was provided by drums at each corner, but he didn’t think there’d be much stopping involved once he got over the border. Only haulin’ ass.

The law offices of Franklin Danbury Jr., across the square from the courthouse, were abuzz with activity.  The backend of Danbury’s 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V ESV was quickly filling up with supplies and luggage.  A briefcase full of paperwork and emergency court orders was the first thing Danbury slid in.  Pastor Peterson stood nearby, only a small duffel bag in one hand and his Bible in the other.  Deuce Braxton was pacing back and forth up and down the full length of the long black Cadillac.

The truck was finished in Black Raven and featured revised front and rear fascias, mesh front grilles, V-badging, and quadruple exhaust outlets. Additional exterior details included a power panoramic sunroof, LED headlights and taillights, HD Surround Vision, tinted windows, a hands-free power tailgate, a rear spoiler, and power-retractable running boards with LED perimeter lighting. The pastor noted a ceramic coating has been applied to the body, something he’d never even seen before.

Rex Hall, the pharmacist from Rex Hall Drug, had gathered up everything he thought they might need and had it in a black bag that looked both sinister and mysterious.  “Careful with that,” he told Danbury.  “Some of that stuff is volatile.”

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Chad, making his way over from the Piggly Wiggly with only a brown grocery bag, was the last to arrive.   “You’re traveling pretty light,” Danbury noted.

“Long story.  Prudence wasn’t happy about me making the trip.  They haven’t finished putting the pool in the backyard and she didn’t think it was a good time for me to be gone.”  Chad had a conflicted look on his face.  But then, that wasn’t unusual.

Once everything was loaded into the back of the Escalade, the six men stood there looking at each other.  “I can’t believe we’re actually about to do this,” Pastor Peterson said.

“But we damn sure are,” Deuce noted.  “Let’s get in.”

And then it got just a tad awkward.

It was going to be a long drive.  Where each person sat was debated.  Obviously, Danbury would be behind the wheel; it was his Escalade.  My back isn’t going to allow me to get all the way in the back of this thing and ride all the way to Mexico,” Rex said.  “I don’t care how comfortable those Dark Auburn leather heated rear captain’s chairs are.”  It was a given Chad would be in the very back, being the youngest and most limber.

Deuce Braxton was no spring chicken, but volunteered to be in the back with Chad.  Truth be told, he just wanted to be where he thought it would be the most quiet so he could contemplate just what they were about to undertake.  Pastor Peterson was very worried about his hemorrhoids and what the effects of so many hours in the car might be, but recited a silent prayer and said nothing, remembering Lamentations 3:28, “When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience.”  He was not certain that God had hemorrhoids or Escalades in mind when He inspired the verse, but took comfort in it, nonetheless.  If things got real bad, he could ask Rex if he had something in his bag that might help.

Harlan slid a big brown cardboard box with air holes on the sides in on top of all the other luggage in the back end of the Escalade, closed the liftgate, and got in the passenger side Captain’s chair, next to Pastor Peterson.  Rex stretched out his back by bending over frequently and then twisting back and forth at the waist before getting into the Captain’s chair up front.  Danbury shook his head back and forth, and turned the key starting the supercharged and intercooled 6.2-liter V8.  It didn’t take long for all 682 horses to start their gallup.

No sooner had the plaque bearing the signature of the engine builder that was affixed to the engine cover gotten hot than Earl in the Corvette, Rusty in the F-100 Conversion Crew Cab, and Sister Thelma in the Mercury woody pulled up alongside the massive Cadillac.  I could see from the Grounds for Divorce that the motley caravan was about to depart from the square.

I pulled out my phone and checked Lucinda’s location, grateful that while she was wrestling the Bunn-O-Matic into the back of the armored Sequoia she hadn’t noticed me turn the location feature on her phone.  I relayed the information to Danbury in the Escalade.  He responded with a thumb’s up out the driver’s window and slid the 10-speed automatic transmission and electronically actuated limited-slip differential into gear.

As the whole group headed south, I wished them Godspeed.  And cursed the fact that a questionable fuel pump on the Fairlane 500 would keep me from what would certainly be the journey of a lifetime.

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