Long-haul truck driver Sam Shelton was trying to get some sleep in the cab of his truck when he heard a faint knocking on his door. Sam opened the door and was surprised to see a teen-age girl standing there. "Can I help you?" Sam asked although he had an idea what she wanted. The girl blushed furiously, "I was wondering if you wanted a date."
"What's your name?" Sam asked gently. "Holly" the girl answered looking down. "Well, Holly, you should be at home and not walking around a truck stop at two in the morning."
"I don't have anywhere to go" the girl said sobbing.
"Look, I have a friend-she's a teacher and you could stay with her."" For a second, Sam saw a flicker of hope in the girl's eyes and then it was gone and she turned and ran away.
The next morning, Sam was getting ready to haul a load to Boise, when he heard that same faint knocking. It was Holly, but she had been badly beaten. Sam called 911 and followed the ambulance to the hospital and cursed himself for not doing more to help the girl. but it turned out that Holly was going to be ok, and his teacher friend Paula had agreed to let her stay at her home until they could make permanent arrangements.
There was one last piece of business that had to be taken care of. Holly didn't know the name of the man who had attacked her, but she did remember the mural of a green snake on the truck's door. Sam knew the truck and the driver, and he planned to make a visit the next day.
Sam rapped on the door of Ernie Gibbs truck and waited for the man to come out. Gibbs wasn't pleased to see him. "What the hell do you want Shelton?" Sam grabbed a fistful of Gibb's hair and drove his knee into the man's face. "You hurt anyone else and I'll come back and finish it." he told Gibbs who was holding his broken nose.
