Chapter 37

As soon as we entered the parking lot of the park, I looked around for Sara’s white BMW. But the only car there was a dark red Chrysler with two people in it. I was about to call Sara to find out where the hell she was when my friend emerged from the passenger side of the Chrysler and ran toward me and Aaron. I was confused as to how Sara had gotten there, but I definitely was glad to see her, whether she had arrived in a Chrysler, a BMW, or a 747.

After a quick exchange of hugs, Sara briefly explained why she had had to borrow both a car and a driver for this rescue mission. I got the rest of the story later, of course, and it went something like this:

Apparently the previous evening, while Aaron and I were playing Mr. and Mrs., she had been out with her new friend Roger, he of the luxurious suite in the Mark Hopkins. They had used our car, the BMW, and Sara was so tired when she got back and parked it, she had left the lights on. So when she tried to start it after our phone call, the battery was dead.

There was no time to find a car rental agency and rent another car. Nor was there time to get the BMW’s battery charged or replaced. Finding a cab could also take time, especially one willing to take her to Los Altos. So she phoned Roger and pleaded with him to lend her his car, explaining that it was an emergency, “a matter of life and death.” He said he was sorry but he couldn’t do that, and besides she sounded too panicky to drive safely. So he offered to drive her wherever she needed to go. What a guy! (Of course, I’m sure Sara said she would make it up to him, and I’m sure Roger hoped so, but that was no time to question his motives.)

Once they were on the highway headed for Los Altos, Roger could tell Sara was a bundle of nerves, and naturally he wanted to know what kind of emergency mission they were on.

“Hey, relax. It can’t be that serious,” he said to Sara. “I mean, if it were a medical emergency, I’m sure your friend would’ve called a doctor or ambulance, not you. And if it was some kind of criminal threat, she would’ve called 911.”

Sara didn’t respond, so Roger tried again:

“Uh, could you give me a hint just what kind of trouble it is that your friend is in?”

Sara said she thought this over. Roger was bound to find out once they had rescued Aaron and me. But if she told him then, she was afraid he might turn around and go back. She decided to chance it.

“Well, I’ll tell you if you promise you’ll still take me there,” she told Roger.

Roger’s eyebrows went up a bit, but otherwise he didn’t display any alarm.

“Okay, I promise. But I don’t guarantee I’ll get involved in whatever it is.”

So Sara went ahead and told him the truth, a commodity in somewhat short supply on this mission. “Well, I’m not sure…that is…anyway, I’ve got this friend, Flo. She makes her living by…well…by taking things. From people’s homes.”

This time Roger’s eyebrows almost reached his hairline. “You mean she’s a burglar?”

“That’s right.”

“And you’re one too?” He looked over at Sara and almost swerved off the road.

“No, of course not. I’m just her friend. But sometimes friends are called on to help friends in situations where friendship is more important than the legal technicalities, if you know what I mean.”

Apparently it was not clear Roger did know, but all he said was, “I see. And is this ‘mission’ we’re on one of those…‘situations’?”

“Yes. I mean no, not exactly. Oh, it’s complicated.” And so she proceeded to tell him the whole story, from Aaron’s previously-stolen violin to our attempt to steal it back, with two murders in between. When she was finished, and they were only a few miles from Los Altos, Roger was silent for a while. He seemed to be thinking it all over, and Sara says she was sure he was going to refuse to take her any farther. When he spoke, his tone was serious.

“You know, bastards like this guy Sanders get away with all kinds of shit because they can’t be touched. They’ve got money, they’ve got influence, and they’ve got power. And while I can’t say I approve of your friend’s profession in general, what she’s doing now seems like just what the sonofabitch deserves. And I’ll be glad to help her do it.”

Sara leaned over and kissed Roger on the cheek. He smiled and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

And that’s why it was Roger’s Chrysler, with Roger at the wheel, that showed up at Little Hyde Park.