"Sam Shelton: mirage in the desert." a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Sam Shelton had a delivery of construction materials to make somewhere in southern Arizona, but his GPS kept taking him deeper into the desert. After driving on dirt roads for miles, Sam arrived at a clearing and his destination.

Sam parked his truck and got out of the cab, while a young man emerged from an old RV. Sam looked at the manifest. "Are you Tim Chadwick?" he asked the young man. The man nodded and they shook hands. 

Sam used his onboard forklift to remove the pallets of construction supplies and then found a somewhat shady spot to have his lunch. Tim looked over the supplies and then joined him. "What are you building?" Sam asked. "A bowling alley" Tim answered with a grin.

Sam immediately wondered if Tim was a little unhinged. The nearest town was 25 miles away and it was hardly a metropolis, but Tim seemed sure of his plans, and he talked at length about how much money he was going to make. Sam finished his lunch but felt guilty when he drove away. The desert could be a cruel place.

Several months later, Sam had some time off and decided to go check on Tim. When he got to the site, he found the construction supplies scattered around, the RV ransacked and no sign of Tim. He would have to make a report to the county sheriff. Hopefully, Tim just gave up his crazy idea of a bowling alley and went home.