The Transformation of Rod - Part 3

Roy had been in a foul mood for most of the day.  The morning encounter with Rod had soured his disposition.  As he mulled over what had transpired he got angry at himself for not confronting Rod at the time.  It was clear now what had happened.  Rod had entered his area and stolen the coyote.  The thought of it was so objectionable to him that he'd had trouble comprehending it at the time.  Sure, he and Rod had a rivalry, but there were rules, a code all pickup guys lived by.  Rod had violated the code.  Rod had violated him.  That coyote was his!

It was late afternoon and Roy decided he could not let Rod get away with this.  He grabbed his radio handset and put in a call to Rod.  He would demand that they meet at the boundary.  He would give Rod a chance to put things right.  If Rod refused, Roy was prepared to take more drastic measures.  Roy's attempts to contact Rod with the radio failed.  Rod was either out of his truck or avoiding Roy.  Roy waited fifteen minutes and tried again - still no answer.  Pickups never took as long as fifteen minutes.  Evidently, Rod was planning on ignoring him.  This only angered Roy more.  He called into the dispatcher to inquire about Rod's location.  Apparently, Rod had been unresponsive for much of the afternoon.  Roy pictured a cowardly Rod sneaking down the highways waiting for his shift to end so he could dump off his ill-gotten gain.  Roy decided to take action.  He got on the radio to the dispatcher again.

"This is Roy.  I'm heading over to Rod's area.  I need to talk to him a second."  Roy tried to sound matter-of-fact.

"Okay," said the dispatcher, "have him check his radio, maybe there's something wrong with it."

This hadn't occurred to Roy.  Maybe Rod was oblivious to all of this.  No, more likely he was hiding on some back road.  "I'll let you know what I find," Roy said at last.

As Roy drove into Rod's area he took a deep breath.  It felt strange to be there.  Every morning he passed through Rod's area to get to his own, but he'd never ventured back until his shift was over.  He assumed Rod would be hiding on a back road.  To Roy's surprise, he spotted Rod's truck on Sun Valley Parkway, a fairly major roadway.  The truck was pulled over onto the shoulder but he didn't see Rod anywhere.  The passenger side door was open and there was a shovel laying on the shoulder a few yards in front.  The scene didn't seem quite right but Roy couldn't put his finger on just what was wrong besides Rod being absent.  Roy got out of his truck and looked around.  It was quiet out there.

About the only reason a pickup guy would leave his truck is if he needed to make an emergency bathroom break.  Roy reasoned that Rod was likely doing just that.  There weren't a lot of places to go for privacy except for a few large boulders.  Rod was probably up there right now.  Roy decided to take advantage of the situation and get his coyote back.  After a day of baking in the Arizona sun, this was a grim task.  Roy took a deep breath, held it and quickly pulled the carcass from Rod's truck and dumped it in his own.  He jumped back and took a big gulp of air.  He felt better than he had all day.  That'll teach Rod to break the code!  Roy contemplated driving off but he decided he would leave Rod a little note in his logbook - maybe erase the coyote entry.  He walked over to the passenger side door of Rod's truck.  Rod's logbook was lying open on the front seat.  Roy scanned the day's entries and realized there wasn't one for the coyote.  Maybe the guilt had gotten to Rod after all.  Maybe he was planning on returning the carcass on his own.  Or maybe he'd been so preoccupied with sneaking off that he'd forgotten.

Roy was trying to decide if he should leave a note or not when he noticed the open glove box.  Rod's pistol was missing, not a good sign.  He stood up and looked toward the closest large boulder.  "Rod!" he called out.  No answer.  Roy ran back to his own truck and retrieved his Desert Eagle Blowback pellet pistol.  Something was not right.  Roy headed toward the boulder, calling Rod's name every so often.  It was difficult terrain and Roy had trouble imagining Rod hiking it - what with his odd stride and all.

As Roy approached the boulder, he could make out a boot and part of a leg around the other side.  Roy felt the blood drain from veins.  He froze for a moment, not sure what he was going to find when stepped to the other side.