Chapter 16 - The Steel on Track Two
Seventy miles south, the midday sun beat down mercilessly on the gravel and steel of Junction 4.
Bradley Cooper, Julian's arrogant accomplice, leaned against the bumper of his heavy rig, smoking a cigarette while three of his drivers stood guard, laughing at the local depot manager who was furiously waving a clipboard.
"I told you, old man," Cooper sneered. "Our transmission blew out. We’re waiting on a specialized crane from Atlanta. You can't touch these trucks until the insurance inspector arrives."
Suddenly, the heavy iron ground began to tremble.
A low, subterranean roar vibrated through the steel ties of Track 2. Cooper turned around, his cigarette dropping from his lips.
A massive, steel-armored industrial locomotive—painted in the bold dark emerald of our terminal fleet—was crawling out of the depot switchhouse. At the controls, looking through the reinforced glass with an expression carved out of granite, was David Vance.
David blew the twin horn, a deafening, thunderous blast that echoed across the valley like a war cry. He pulled the throttle, inching the massive, four-hundred-ton steel beast forward until the reinforced iron cowcatcher rested squarely against the steel chassis of Cooper's lead trailer.
David cut the engine, stepped out onto the metal gangway, and looked down at the trespassers with commanding authority.
"Federal Interstate Commerce Act, Section 24," David’s booming voice carried over the rumbling idling diesel. "You are blocking an active military supply corridor and a certified freight artery. You have three minutes to move those rigs off our track, or I put this locomotive in low gear and push them into the ditch."
"You wouldn't dare!" Cooper yelled, his voice shaking. "These rigs are worth three hundred thousand dollars each!"
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David checked his watch. "Two minutes and forty seconds, Cooper. And by the way... Sarah just won the injunction in Nashville. Your retainer bounced ten minutes ago. You're standing on private property with zero legal cover."
Cooper’s drivers looked at each other, panicked, and immediately bolted toward their cabs, scrambling to start the engines before David could turn their trucks into scrap metal.
