by Jana DeLeon
“There’s a guy who works construction who sells it on the side,” Gertie said.
“Good God.” I was positive that construction guy was lifting dynamite from his job. What was even more disconcerting was that the foreman hadn’t noticed the missing sticks. Lord only knew how many other people were boating around with sticks of explosive fun.
“Anyway, that’s not the point,” Gertie said. “There was an accident and I lost a perfectly good handbag and a couple other items, but we’re here in one piece and that’s all that matters.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but there was no use. At this point, it was all over but the lying. I took the clippers to a group of branches and peered through the brush at Ida Belle.
“I know you didn’t have time to find anything,” I said, “but maybe Hot Rod will be okay and he’ll be able to talk to you soon.”
“I don’t need to talk to Hot Rod,” Ida Belle said. “I think I know what he was going to warn me about.”
“How?” I asked. “You weren’t in the shop a minute.”
“It was long enough to pick out what was missing,” Ida Belle said.
“So there were vehicles missing?” I asked.
Ida Belle nodded. “All three black SUVs are gone.”
My heart dropped. No way Hot Rod had sold every black SUV in his shop in the last week.
“Someone’s targeting black SUVs,” I said.
“But why?” Gertie asked.
“My guess is he’s looking for something,” I said. “Something hidden in a vehicle, and our car thief doesn’t know the exact one.”
“So he stole them all?” Gertie asked. “That doesn’t sound like something one person could manage very easily.”
“No. It doesn’t,” I said.
“Whatever they’re looking for, they don’t know where it is, either,” Ida Belle said. “If they did, they wouldn’t have had to take the vehicles. It would have been quicker to search them there.”
I nodded. “So they took the cars somewhere that they could take their time searching through everything. That’s an awful lot of heat to draw, especially when you add attempted murder to the rap. Whatever they’re looking for must be worth a lot of money.”
“Or could implicate them in something worse,” Ida Belle said.
I didn’t want to think about the big crimes that could be associated with something like this. It was too much like The Sopranos, and I wanted small-town problems, like fishing with dynamite. But I couldn’t ignore the facts. Three similar cars had disappeared from a remote location in a reasonably short amount of time, and a man had been struck so hard he might die. It didn’t sound like amateurs.
Which led to the even bigger problem.
“You need to hide your SUV,” I told Ida Belle. “If they took the vehicles, you can bet they took the records of any recent sales. If they don’t find what they’re looking for in what they stole, they’ll come after your vehicle.”
“I know,” Ida Belle said, and I realized she’d probably put everything together in those seconds she’d been in Hot Rod’s shop.
“So we find a place to stash the SUV,” I said, “and you stay with me.”
“And just how are we supposed to explain that?” Ida Belle asked. “You’re cozied up with Carter. Having a long-term sleepover doesn’t sound like normal behavior for someone just kicking up their relationship a notch.”
“Say your hot water is out,” Gertie suggested.
“It’s a million degrees,” Ida Belle said. “Everyone is taking cold showers.”
“That’s true,” I said.
“No water?” Gertie suggested.
“I suppose I could have a leak,” Ida Belle said, “but all this will accomplish is moving the party from one house to another. Even someone who’s not connected to Sinful could easily find out who my friends are.”
“Yeah, but there’s strength in numbers,” I said.
Gertie nodded. “Especially when Fortune is one of the numbers. And she couldn’t stay at your house and lie about something being broken here because Carter would get all manly and try to help her by fixing it.”
“Okay,” Ida Belle agreed. “Then I have a plumbing leak. I’ll turn off water to my house just in case someone checks, and say I have a friend in New Orleans who can look at it for free in a couple of days.”
“That takes care of Ida Belle,” Gertie said. “But what about the SUV?”
“We can’t just leave it anywhere,” I said, “because then we’re potentially putting someone else at risk, but we need it close by so we can go through it ourselves.”
“I know a place,” Gertie said. “Plenty of room for us to work, no one can see it when they’re driving by, and the best security in a hundred-mile radius.”
I stared at her for a minute, rolling over the possibilities in my mind that fit everything she’d just described.
“Oh no,” I said when it hit me.
“Why not?” Gertie asked.
“For once,” Ida Belle said, “I’m the one that’s lost.”
“She wants us to hide your SUV at Big and Little’s storage facility,” I said.
“It’s perfect,” Gertie said. “Everyone knows who owns that facility, and no one is going to break into it unless they have a death wish.”
“Have you forgotten the part where Big and Little Hebert are organized crime?” I asked. “For all we know, it was one of their people who took those vehicles.”
“Do you really think that?” Gertie asked.
I didn’t, but I couldn’t give her a solid reason why. Any sane person would tell me I was crazy to trust the father-and-son Mafia team, and it wasn’t as if I trusted them explicitly. But the truth was, they had helped me in a couple situations. And the airboat had been a gift from them for agreeing to help get a drug dealer out of Sinful.
Maybe I was getting soft, but I didn’t think that was it. I’d had my suspicions about the Heberts since our last bit of business, but I had no proof. Just gut instinct. The question was, could I risk our safety on that alone?
If the answer was yes, then Gertie was right—it was the perfect hiding place. If people pulled one over on Big and Little, they paid the price for even attempting it. I looked at Ida Belle and Gertie and thought about the risks. Could I still trust my gut?
“I want to go talk to them first,” I said. “Feel them out before we just drive up with the SUV.”
“That’s a good idea,” Gertie said. “They might even know what’s going on.”
“They might already have three black SUVs in their storage facility,” Ida Belle said drily.
“If you don’t want to run the risk,” I said to Ida Belle, “I won’t do it. If it feels wrong to any of us, then it’s got to be a no-go.”
Ida Belle shook her head. “For whatever reason, I doubt they’re involved. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certain they’re involved in plenty, and I’m certain they’ve bashed a head or two. Or ordered the bashing. But I can’t see them coming down on Hot Rod that way. He did the work on that Hummer of theirs. It’s completely bulletproof. All they would have had to do was ask to go through the SUVs and Hot Rod would have let them.”
That perked me up considerably. If Big and Little had done business with Hot Rod and were happy with his work, then they might take personal offense to what happened to him. When Big and Little took personal offense, it was usually a very good thing for us and a very bad thing for the offender.
“Okay,” I said. “Then let me clean up and we’ll head out to the storage facility for a chat.”
I headed upstairs for a quick shower, wondering what it said about my life when requesting favors from known Mafia members was probably going to be the least dangerous part of my day.
Chapter Six
Big and Little ran their business in an old warehouse not far from the storage facility. The building was huge and well protected with high-tech security and any number of beefy, trigger-happy guys who did the Heberts’ biddin
g. The storage facility that they owned was off the highway between Sinful and New Orleans a couple miles before the warehouse. Both were located off the same highway where everything outside of Sinful proper was, except the Swamp Bar. Because it was the only passage in and out of Sinful, passing Carter on the highway was a medium- to high-level threat, so we needed a solid reason for heading that way.
Ida Belle suggested that since Hot Rod had no family around, we go to the hospital and pass off a few bucks to the nurses to keep a closer watch on him and check in with him more than the usual schedule called for. It was, she insisted, something that any Southern woman worth her salt would do for a close friend or family. Gertie agreed, so we headed out, planning on stopping at the storage facility first to set up everything with Big and Little, then continuing on to the hospital to check on Hot Rod and grease palms.
We tucked Ida Belle’s SUV in my garage before heading out, figuring if the bad guys came around, they’d be looking at Ida Belle’s house first and it might take them some time to work their way around to mine. If Big and Little okayed our storage plan, then we’d take it at night to help avoid being seen. It all sounded good as long as Big and Little agreed to help and we didn’t suspect they were involved in the other car thefts.
The drive to the warehouse went quickly and quietly. We were probably all assessing our personal risk factor for coming here in the first place. I parked near the front door and we walked into the lobby. The place was quiet, but with several cars out front, including Big’s and Little’s Hummer and Mercedes, I figured we were under surveillance and eventually, someone would come out to see what we wanted.
After a short wait, the hidden door on the back wall of the lobby swung open and Mannie, Big and Little’s right-hand man, stepped out, smiling at us.
“Ladies,” he said. “It’s been a while. What can we do for you?”
“We’ve got a situation,” I said. “And we’d like to ask a favor of Big and Little.”
Mannie grinned. “A situation, huh? I just bet you do. Come on back. Big has been in a lousy mood lately, but you three always entertain him. You’d be doing the rest of us a favor.”
Only Big Hebert would find circumventing federal agents and trying to avoid death entertainment, but I appreciated his viewpoint. The three of us did have a certain flair that made even the most mundane of nefarious activities more colorful.
We followed Mannie through the secret door and onto the elevator, then down the hallway and into Big and Little’s office. Big, so named because of his enormous size, sat in his usual position on a park bench behind the massive desk. His son Little, so named for being the exact opposite in size from his father, was perched on a chair to the side of the bench and wore an exasperated expression.
“You have to wait to click,” Little said, pointing at the computer screen. “You’ve closed the entire window.”
Big shot him a dirty look and turned his attention to us. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Please, sit. Mannie, get us all a drink. The good whiskey. We haven’t had visitors in a while, at least, not the voluntary kind. It’s a cause for celebration.”
Little rose from his chair, always the consummate gentleman, and nodded, his face shifting from frustrated to relieved. It appeared we’d interrupted a computer training session between father and son. Little was probably praying that Mannie made that drink a stiff one.
“Ladies,” Little said, taking his seat again after we slid into chairs in front of Big’s desk. “Nice to see you looking so well.”
I was pretty sure we looked like hell. Gertie and I had narrowly escaped death by handbag, and the run through the woods had left us all a bit worse for the wear, but if Little wanted to deal out compliments, who was I to argue?
“Thank you,” I said. “We really appreciate you seeing us.”
Big chuckled. “I must confess, I’m always happy to see you because no matter the reason, it’s going to be more interesting than anything else I’ve got going on. So what is it this time? Arms dealers hiding weapons in the baptismal font? Drug runners stashing product in alligators?”
“Those are some interesting thoughts,” I said, “and now that you’ve thrown them out, I will probably check the baptismal font this Sunday, just to be safe. But I’m afraid our situation isn’t that creative. It’s just plain ole auto theft.”
The smile vanished from Big’s face and he looked over at Little, whose expression was grim. “You’re talking about Hot Rod,” Big said. “We were very sorry to hear what happened. He’s a good man and does solid work. It’s hard to find someone with his skill set who doesn’t bother you with needless questions. Rest assured, my son and I have our people looking into it.”
I watched him as he talked, but he showed no signs of lying. Granted, Big was a professional criminal and one who had managed to avoid incarceration, but I would have bet money he was telling the truth. Which was really good for us, because that meant he’d probably agree to hide the SUV. Unfortunately, it also meant he hadn’t found the bad guys yet. For what they’d done to Hot Rod, the Old Testament part of me sorta hoped the Heberts caught them before Carter did.
“I’m glad to hear your men are on it,” I said. “But I guess that means you don’t have any idea yet. No word on the street?”
Big shook his head. “I’ve checked with the family in other cities, but no one is aware of any new car theft ring operating in their territory, and none of the existing rings have this MO. Professionals don’t try to kill people.”
“People never even see professionals,” Little agreed. “They take the car and are gone before anyone even notices.”
I looked over at Ida Belle and Gertie, who both nodded, giving me the go-ahead to present our theory.
“We have an idea about what happened,” I said. “But we can’t tell you how we got our information.”
Big looked over at Little and smiled. “I told you this was going to be good. Go ahead and lay your information on me.”
“There were three vehicles missing from Hot Rod’s shop,” I said. “All black SUVs.”
Big raised his eyebrows. “Interesting. So it’s more likely they were looking for something stashed in a vehicle with that description. That would explain the way the job was handled. It didn’t have any of the markings of a regular auto theft.”
“That’s what we thought,” I said.
Big and Little both smiled.
“That’s what you thought,” Big said. “The three of you are dangerous enough as the good guys. You’d be hell as criminals.”
“We’d be good at it,” Gertie said.
“Really?” Big leaned forward a bit and looked at her. “You want to tell me how you know which cars are missing from Hot Rod’s shop? Because I know firsthand that place is being guarded by cops.”
“Uh,” Gertie said. “That’s need-to-know information.”
Now Big laughed, his whole body shaking. Even Little, who was usually the more composed of the two, let go with a chuckle or two. When Big finally stopped laughing, he wagged his finger at us.
“There was an explosion this morning near Hot Rod’s shop. The police haven’t determined the cause of the blast, but they found an open window on the back of the shop. When I heard about this, I figured someone clever created a distraction so that they could finish whatever job they started yesterday. But now the three of you sit here, with knowledge of what’s missing from that shop, and I think about that explosion and I have to laugh. Because even though you won’t tell me exactly what happened, I know how you work. And I’ve got a good imagination.”
“We were gardening all morning,” I said, and held up my arms. “Even got the scratches to prove it.”
Big nodded. “Hey, I can roll with that story. When all this is over, I’d love to hear the real one, though. So did you come here just to ask if I knew anything?”
“Not exactly,” I said, and pointed to Ida Belle. “She bought a vehicle from Hot Rod a week ago. A black SUV.”
“That’s where the favor comes in,” I said. “We’d like to hide Ida Belle’s SUV at your storage facility. It would give us a safe place to go through the vehicle ourselves and see if we can find anything. Plus, the thieves won’t be able to find it and if they do, well, you have the security end of things covered.”
Big looked over at Little, who nodded. “You can use the storage facility,” Big said. “On one condition. Mannie will help you search the vehicle.”
“We would appreciate any assistance you can offer,” I said, trying not to look excited.
Yes, Mannie was one of the “bad guys,” but that just meant he knew way more than we did about hiding contraband in a vehicle. If anything was hidden in the SUV, Mannie would probably be able to spot it easier than we could. And the sooner the bad guys were rotting in a jail cell somewhere, the sooner Ida Belle could return to her regular programming.
Big looked over at Little. “There’s an empty extra-large unit in the middle row, right in the center. That way, no one can get to it by blow-torching an outside wall. Set them up there. If anyone wants a look at what’s in that unit, they’ll have to pose for the cameras.”
Little nodded and rose from his chair. “Increased security?”
“Yeah,” Big said. “Get Deuce and Snake to cover it. They’ve been bored. Maybe they’ll get to do something fun.”
Fun. Like kill someone for breaking into a storage facility. I guess everyone needed a hobby, right? We rose from our chairs and I extended my hand across the desk to Big, who gave it a firm shake.
“Thank you,” I said. “We really appreciate the help.”
“Appreciate it when I get those animals that bashed in Hot Rod’s skull,” he said. “Oh, and ladies, no explosives at the storage unit.”