Read 1970 - There's a Hippie on the Highway for Free Online Page B

guy who wore his hair that long.
    Harry heard a car arrive and stop. He glanced out of the window near him. He could see a white Mercedes SL 180 and he wondered if it was the car that had been behind him. He stepped closer to the window, but the car was already on the move again.
    He just had time to see the man at the wheel was wearing a slouch hat, but it was too dark to see his features. With a powerful purr of the engine, the Mercedes went shooting off into the darkness.
    ‘How’s this for coffee?’ Randy asked.
    Harry sipped from his cup and nodded. Any coffee tasted fine after Army coffee. He bought two packs of Camels and asked the counter hand if he could let him have a pint carton of coffee to take on the road.
    Five minutes later, they were back in the Mustang with Randy at the wheel.
    Still puzzled about the girl driver, Harry opened the glove compartment and examined for himself the Hertz rental contract. As Randy had told him the car was rented to Joel Blach of
    Cleveland. The contract had been issued at Vero Beach, dated two days ago. Again he checked the mileage . . . a mere 240 miles. Why had the girl told him she had been driving for eighteen hours? Harry considered this a blatant lie. The only reason he could think of was that it offered an excuse to turn the driving over to him. But why? Had she some reason to keep out of sight? Was the car stolen? He thought that was unlikely since she was travelling with them and if the police stopped him, she too would be in trouble.
    ‘Are you still doing a Marlow act?’ Randy asked, glancing at Harry’s thoughtful expression, lit by the map lamp. Harry shrugged and put the Hertz papers back in the glove compartment.
    ‘I don’t like anything that puzzles me,’ he said. ‘And this setup puzzles me.’
    ‘Why not ask her to explain when she wakes up? Why batter your brains when she can tell you?’
    ‘Yeah.’ Harry began opening the parcel Morelli had given him. The coffee had made him hungry.
    ‘If you don’t want the second doughnut, I’ll help out,’ Randy said hopefully.
    ‘I do want it. You’ve had enough already.’
    ‘My pal!’ Randy said with mock bitterness. ‘You’re not planning to eat all that chicken, are you?’
    ‘I’m going to have a damn good try!’
    Randy shook his head incredulously.
    ‘Didn’t the army teach you among other things to share and share alike?’
    ‘Why should you care? Harry said and bit into a chicken leg.
     
    * * *
     
    ‘Hey, wake up!’
    Harry stirred, yawned and opened his eyes. He stared through the dusty windshield at the yellow, red and pearl grey sky and at the palm trees that flashed by as the Mustang swept along the highway.
    ‘We’ve just gone through Fort Lauderdale,’ Randy told him. ‘We’ll be in Miami in twenty minutes.’
    Harry rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the stubble of his beard. He hated sleeping in his clothes although during his time in the Army it was an accepted thing but he had never got used to it. He longed for a shave, a cold shower and coffee.
    ‘Let’s stop at the first cafe. We’ll wake the girl up and see where in Miami she wants to drop us.’
    ‘I’m going to miss this car,’ Randy said regretfully. ‘There’s a cafe coming up now.’
    The small wooden building with its glaring neon sign was just off the highway. Lights showed in the windows. As Randy slowed, Harry glanced at his watch. The time was 05.15 hours.
    He grimaced. A hell of a time, he thought, to wake up.
    As Randy pulled up, Harry opened the door.
    ‘I’ll get a couple of cartons of coffee. You wake her up.’
    Randy smirked.
    ‘It’ll be my pleasure. You know something? I really think you don’t dig for dolls.’
    ‘Oh, shut up!’ Harry snapped. He wasn’t in the mood for Randy’s corny humour. He went into the cafe.
    A sleepy looking negro was behind the counter. He regarded Harry without enthusiasm.
    ‘Two cartons of strong coffee,’ Harry said, coming to rest at the