Nightfire! (The Corvette Nightfire Prequel) Read Online Free Page A

few
miles before pulling to the shoulder in the dark of the moonless
night. As they passed it, the man told Día, "You will get the car
started and drive it to this truck. Muy rápido. It is a straight
drive to here. Just be sure noone is on the road when you make the
short trip. Drive the car into the truck when you arrive, and then
get in the truck with the driver. We won't be far. But if anything
goes wrong, you are doing this all by yourself, chiquito. The truck
will take the car to a place and leave it to be painted. When that
is finished, it comes to your shop for the customizing that you
will do. We will instruct you at that time. But tonight, this is
your job alone, comprendes? (Do you understand?) Any word from you
about us to anyone, we go to find your wife. She will not be too
happy that you talked, I promise you that."
    At the mention of Luna, Día felt his breath
catch. He forced a calm composure. "I understand," Día answered,
but inside he seethed with rage. In a flash, he determined that the
time for a new life had arrived.
    The theft was easy in this trusting community
of rural Texas. Día had worried about dogs barking or the time
required to break into the shed, but the night was quiet and still.
There was no sign of dogs. The double door to the shed was not even
locked. Inside were the car, a couple of tractors, a big generator
and farm tools. The men had let Día out from the car just down the
road from the ranch and had driven away. With his tools, Día
skillfully unlocked the car. He observed that the Corvette had a
manual transmission. He broke the steering column lock. With his
body, he eased the car closer to the open shed door by pushing the
frame from beside the driver seat. When he hot-wired the ignition,
he got startled by a loud crack and a flame that shot from the
exhaust pipe.
    Maldito! he thought. This
carburetor needs adjusting! He worried that the sound might
have awakened the owners in the house, but in the seconds that
followed, he saw no sign that anyone in the house was stirring. He
hummed the engine as quietly as the Corvette would allow. The
engine was a small block and relatively calm at low rpms, but Día
worried that there would be more misfires creating explosive cracks
of thunder in the still night.
    When he got to the road, he gunned it, and
the car's front end lifted. He had rolled the window down. The
gushing, roaring wind in his face and the growling acceleration of
the engine caused his heart to pound. He had never experienced
speed like this! It was that moment which validated for him that
the time had come for freedom for his family. He would pay close
attention to opportunities that would present themselves over the
next days.
    He covered the two miles to the truck in no
time. When he decelerated, the brakes seemed woefully inadequate
for the Corvette's speed. He noted that the car had drum brakes. He
had studied the new disc brakes on a couple of the cars that had
passed under his modifications in his shop. He made a mental note
that these should be installed on the Corvette. The truck had
turned around and had its rear doors opened with ramps down for
entry. Día barely managed to stop the car in time because of the
brakes, but he did, and then he eased the Corvette up the ramp and
into the truck.
    In the three days that passed before he saw
the car again, Día remembered something important: The car was
silver. The Chevrolet Corvette vehicle indentification numbering
system would include a number to indicate the car's color. If it
were to be repainted, a new vehicle number would have to reflect
the new color.
    When the man who had taken him on his mission
reappeared with the car three nights later at his shop, the
surprise wasn't that the car was bright red. The shocker was the
special project that the man had for him to do: He had a box of
cash, U.S. currency, that he wanted hidden inside the liner of the
car's interior ceiling. Día was to tape the large