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After one good drink, and a real home-cooked meal, Mo let out a deep sigh of satisfaction. "Thank you for this," she told Gertie. "It's nice to see a room not tossed like a sack of garbage on the road and eat food that's not wrapped in paper. Oh, did I mention the booze? Move that to the top of the list!"
"You've had an unusual run of bad luck," Gertie said. "I'm glad Carter texted."
Mo leaned forward in her chair and looked at the room's occupants, Gertie, Ida Belle, and Fortune. "I don't think I've had an unusual run of bad luck," she said flatly. "I think everything that's happened since I arrived has been deliberate. It all started when I got pulled over in Oklahoma, and they tore my car apart. Since then, everything I own is getting torn apart. Now who's gonna believe that a drug runner is a woman like me? Driving a Ford Focus to transport drugs? Well, other than the Oklahoma cops?"
She snorted. "Even I thought it seemed odd at the time, but what do I know about the drug business? Other than cleaning meth houses will have you smelling like a douche for a week, even in PPE. I'm not kidding- it's the vinegar. But I digress. My first night in town? My car's dismantled and someone tried to open the door to my motel room. At first I thought it was a drunk, but now I think they wanted into my room. I think someone really is looking for drugs. But why? I can't believe that lot of Oklahoma troopers are dirty, not to mention the drug sniffing dog. They found nothing, so why am I being targeted?"
Ida Belle sent a sideways glance at Fortune.
Mo ignored the look that wasn't meant to be any of her business and continued. "Fast forward. While I was out to the store, someone broke into my room and tossed it. I'd say it's pretty obvious they weren't after my valuables."
"You think someone put drugs in your car after it had been searched. They hid them in a part that would match your car," Ida Belle said. "After the state cop search, they followed you and when you stopped for a break, they grabbed the chance to put the drugs in your car."
"And now they want them back," Gertie added.
"Except they can't find them," Fortune finished. "The question is why? If the drugs had been in your car, this would have ended with the mess in the lot at the motel. But since they tried entering your room, you must have taken them in with you."
"Everything I took in was a personal belonging or a piece of the car. And Gertie and I tossed those car pieces on the truck to be hauled away, so why didn't they just grab them at the scrap yard? There was no reason for them to break into my room today, right Gertie?" Mo slid her eyes sideways, and Gertie seemed preoccupied with something across the room.
"Gertie, what did you do?" Ida Belle asked.
Gertie let out a huff of annoyance. "What difference does it make? That piece was going to the junkyard anyway, and I thought I might be able to use it to fix the torn side panel in my Cadillac, so I chucked it into my back seat instead of the truck."
"You weren't wearing your glasses, were you?" Ida Belle asked. "What kind of fool thinks a piece from a tin can at least 30 years newer than your Cadillac would ever fit?"
"Hey, I'm pretty handy with duct tape and glue," Gertie protested. "Once I have my glasses on."
"Gertie, I think you'd better go get that door panel," Fortune suggested.
"I think you're right," a strange voice said from the dining room doorway. The man held a gun and told them his partner waited outside the front door.