He’d driven as long and as hard as he could, but he could only get so many miles per hour out of the truck. He wasn’t going to make the rendezvous. All he wanted to do was curl up in a ball on the vinyl seat and close his eyes.

He was not going to make it. Khaled would kill him.

Even worse, he wouldn’t get paid.

He was so out of it, he didn’t know when the man sat down across the table from him.

“You look tired,” he said when Dylan finally noticed him.

Dylan jumped in his seat, even though the man looked harmless enough. Cheap suit, white shirt and black tie. Wire-rimmed glasses.

“Yeah. I’m pretty wiped,” Dylan said cautiously. Maybe this was just some accountant, looking for anonymous sex in a truck-stop restroom. Dylan had heard stories.

“I can help with that,” the man said.

Definitely a perv. Dylan’s face curled into a look of disgust.

The man smiled. “I’m not coming on to you, Dylan. Or should I call you Ayir al-Kelba?”

The guy knew his name. The guy knew his secret name. Now Dylan knew he should run. But fear kept him rooted in his seat.

Before Dylan could make up his mind, the man passed him a plain paper envelope.

“What’s that?”

“Open it.”

Dylan was suspicious. If this was a trick, it made no sense. If this guy was from the government, he already had to know enough to arrest him. Why would he bother to set him up?

The man’s eyes betrayed a hint of impatience behind his glasses. “I’m not trying to entrap you. I think you’ve watched too much TV. Just open the envelope.”

Dylan did as he was told.

Pills. Yellow tablets, with no markings.

“What are these?”

“A little something to help you stay awake. Keep driving.” The man stood. “Don’t worry. No one will stop you. Just keep your eyes on the road.”

Dylan looked at the pills, then at the man as he walked toward the door.

“Who are you?” he hissed, trying not to attract the attention of the other customers.

“A friend,” the man said. “Drive safe.”

He left, walking into the light of the false dawn, the glow reflected over the horizon that appears long before the sun actually rises.

Dylan looked back at the pills in his hand.

Oh, why not, he decided. He swallowed all of them with his coffee.

Before he knew it, he was back on the road, driving steadily, his exhaustion a distant memory. He felt like he could take on the world.

He had no idea who that guy was, but this was great shit. He wished he’d said thanks.