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High Stakes Haul: The Vegas Trucking Underworld-Episode 6, Head to Head

               Esteban sat at his office desk, surrounded by all of his drivers, talking on the phone with Broker Adams.

 “So, the verdict is in, in the case of you and our good friend, Mr. Henry Owens, Mr. Caslow.”

“And what would that verdict be? Asked Esteban.

 “Well, it seems that Owens has agreed to back off, but only on one condition.”

“And that condition is?” asked Esteban.

 “That you put him against Iron-Horse in a long haul.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous.” Said Esteban calmly.

 “Yes, I know, but the bosses have agreed to give him his shot.”

“What if I just put Iron-Horse in Cooper’s rig then?”

 “Well, that’s the thing… there is one little, tiny stipulation.” Said Adams.

“Yes?” asked Esteban.

 “Iron-Horse can use any truck that he wants…”

Esteban waited for the rest of the response, but when the line stayed silent for close to a minute he spoke.

 “Yes… and?”

“But it has to be his truck, he cannot use anyone else’s.”

 Esteban never showed any emotion, he sat in his chair, a thousand-yard blank stare on his face as he thought to himself, and then he nodded.

 “No problem at all, I’ll let him know immediately.”

“I’ve sent you a load-board to pick from; Esteban, he can pick whatever he wants from that list, but the further away it is, the higher the stakes of the bet, and being early all factor into how points will be rewarded.”

 “Are all of the rules from previous head-to-heads still in place?”

“Yes, they are, kid.” Adams answered.

 Esteban shrugged. “Sounds good; I’ll get with you soon on what he chooses.”

 “Absolutely son, just keep me informed.”

Esteban hung up the phone, folded his hands in front of him, and rested his chin on then as he stared at the group of drivers in front of him.

 “And?” asked Jim, the old, white man with shoulder length white hair adjusting his eye-glasses after he spoke.

 “Yeah, it doesn’t sound like people are just going to be going away very easily.”

 Statler added.

 Esteban shook his head. “They’re demanding a head-to-head.”

Everyone let out an audible groan and Esteban sat back, putting his right hand up and nodding his understanding.

 “I know, I know, I don’t like it either, but it’s what the Bosses want, so that means we have to do it.”

 “Fine.” Said Chase confidently, the devilishly handsome man leaning forward with a smile.

“Put me against them.”

 Esteban shook his head. “I would like nothing more than that, seeing as it’s against Owens himself…”

 “But what?” asked Chase.

“No!” Max Cruz exclaimed as his eyes widened in shock. “They wouldn’t allow that, would they?”

 “Allow what, exactly?” asked Calvin ‘SnowBird’ Edwards in a bewildered tone.

“They accepted the offer, and Owens invoked the ‘Called Out’ clause immediately, didn’t he?” asked Cinny.

 Esteban pointed at his wife. “You got it.”

“So?” said Iron-Horse. “Your rig’s more than capable of beating his butt up one side of the country and down the other. What are you looking so down-hearted about?”

 “Oh, I’m not downhearted at all, Horse, but he didn’t pick me…”

“Then who did he pick?” asked Iron-Horse.

The group all stared at Esteban, waiting for his answer, but Esteban kept staring at Iron-Horse, and soon, the rest of the team realized why, and all diverted their attention to the man as well.

 Iron-Horse shook his head.

“You’re kidding me.”

 “They backed themselves in a corner thinking that he was going to pick me, I would say, but he’s picked you.”

 Iron-Horse rolled his eyes and then pointed at Chase (who was sitting to his left) with his thumb.

 “Fine then, I’m taking his rig.”

“You’re not allowed to do that either.”  Said Esteban with one shake of his head. “Apparently, he’s invoked the ‘No Borrow’ clause too.”

 “This is silly.” Said SnowBird, the red-headed man in his late 40s reaching up and brushing his hair back. “So, he picks our short haul driver to head-to-head against, knowing that quantity is always better than quality.”

 “What do you mean?” asked Jim.

“I mean that, Horse, can just do a bunch of short hauls and rack up several thousand points before Owens even completes his long-haul.”

 “Well, that’s the other thing.” Said Esteban with a half-hearted smile.

“Oh, this just gets dumber by the minute.” Said Cinny as she sat back against her chair and threw her hands up.

 “Why don’t I just take a trip over to Owens’ garage and smash his head in for him?” said Statler, the 6-foot-1 man in his early 50s with a body builder figure slamming his right fist into his left palm after he spoke.

 Esteban and the others laughed loudly at the statement.

“No, as much as I think we’d all enjoy that, it would literally just make more trouble for us.”

 “So, what do we do then?” asked Iron-Horse. “I’m not a long-haul guy, you know how that’s turned out in the past: my rig won’t do it.”

 “Yeah, but there’s nothing saying you have to use that rig.” Said Esteban.

“I thought you said…”

 “I said you couldn’t use Chase’s rig, but they said nothing you can’t choose another one of yours.”

Iron-Horse stared at Esteban like a deer in the headlights for a moment and then he grew a smile on his face and nodded.

 “You’re kidding me? You mean he didn’t…”

“Apparently, no: he did not enact the ‘locked-down’ clause, so there’s nothing saying that you have to use the Mercedes to run this haul.”

 Iron-Horse clapped his hands three times and laughed loudly at the statement as he nodded.

“Well, then, hey kid, we may not be as bad off as we originally thought.”

“What is the sudden celebration about?” asked Cinny.

 “Yeah, is there something here that the rest of us are missing?” asked Max.

“The Mercedes isn’t my only rig, kid.” Said Iron Horse with a grin.

“I know that but…”

 “But nothing.” Said Iron Horse. “What did he send us as far as loads go?”

Esteban spun his tablet around to Iron-Horse, and the older man stared down at it.

 “Give me the trip to Ottawa.”

“That’s a heavy load.” Said Chase.

 “Yeah, old man, trucks aren’t light and you’re gonna have a bunch of them.” Max agreed.

“I can see that.” Said Iron Horse.

 “You’re going to be loaded to the max too.” Cinny agreed.

“I can see that too, girl.” Said Iron Horse with an aggravated tone in his voice.

 “I’ve got this, guys, I know what I’m doing.”

 “And which rig are you going to use?” asked Esteban.

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