Chapter 34

 

Drake postponed a client’s job in the morning and we spent a few hours at the car mall, where the experience was every bit as delightful as I’d imagined. When, at the Ford place, the third sales guy bee-lined his way toward us, I took Drake’s arm and we ducked between pickup trucks. Our dash for freedom felt so good I couldn’t force myself to go back.

“Why don’t you shop around online and see what you find?” he suggested as we pulled into the parking lot at Souper Salad for lunch.

Why hadn’t I thought of that? Most likely because my head recently had been filled with all the natter of teen girls, rich people’s marital drama, and the blunder I’d made with the hundred-thousand-dollar diamond ring. The auto crash was the thing that topped it all off.

We loaded plates with salad and bread and found a table. I stared out at my rental car in the parking lot. With the daily meter ticking, the decision about new wheels wasn’t something I should delay. I pulled out my phone and browsed the subject of cars. The problem was I didn’t even know what make or model interested me, and trying to make decisions based on the tiny images on a phone screen wasn’t making the task easier.

“A few more days with the rental isn’t going to matter,” Drake said, reading my mind. “Take your time. Um, as long as you deliver me back home to get my truck. I do need to get back to my business at some point today.”

Ron had texted me twice, and I knew I needed to get back to RJP business as well. We finished our meal and headed home. Drake gave me a kiss and got into his truck. I headed for the front door, planning to retrieve Freckles from her crate and take her to the office with me. We were headed back to the white sedan when the blue Corvette coasted to a stop at our curb.

“Hey, where’s your Jeep?” Clover asked.

I explained the situation. She eyed the plain little car with sympathy.

“Bummer.”

“Yeah, and the worst part is deciding what to replace my Jeep with.”

She bit at her lower lip, thinking. “You could drive Zayne’s car,” she said.

I looked up the street at the red convertible in their driveway. A flutter resembling excitement went through me.

“Aw, I really can’t take it …”

“I’ll let you. Um, I mean, her being back at school now, you know.”

I didn’t know. I had to give her credit for sticking with her story though.

“It’s just … I’m not sure about the fallout. You know, what if she comes back and is furious? Or what if your parents blow a gasket over your giving permission for something they didn’t agree to?” And yet, the lure of that gorgeous car tugged at me.

“Call ’em. Except they’re off somewhere crazy right now.” She said it so simply, confident it would be no problem at all to loan an expensive car to a neighbor who’d just wrecked her own.

Still … no one on earth could say the ’Vette wasn’t at least a hundred points higher on the coolness scale than the boring little sedan in my driveway.

“I’ll call your Aunt Donna. If she says it’s okay, I’ll consider it.”

Drake would say I was stretching toward a midlife crisis. Ron would be so envious he would turn purple. My own practical streak told me there was no way to follow or surveil anyone on any of our cases. But the latent kid in me said yes! Go for it!

Clover sat there at the curb, looking at me. She meant now. I pulled out my phone where I’d stored Donna Delaney’s phone number. I’d no sooner said hello than Clover held out her hand, wiggling her fingers. I handed the phone over.

“Aunt Donna—hey. Charlie needs to borrow Zayne’s car for awhile but she’s embarrassed to ask, so is it okay? It is, right?”

I grabbed the phone away.

“Donna, hi. Look, this wasn’t my idea but it would be a big help. I’m paying for a rental but I still need a few days to get something new lined up for myself.”

“Charlie, you didn’t really even need to ask. I know both girls think highly of you, and those are their cars, not mine. Take it if you need it.”

“Wow. I—well, this is so generous of you.”

“Not me. The girls. Really, it’s fine.” She paused a second. “I know you can’t really talk with Clover right there, but do let me know sometime how you’re coming along with locating Zayne. Okay?”

I wished I had better news for her, but promised another call in a day or two. Now the pressure was really on.

Clover had picked up the gist of the call, put her car in reverse and hit the gas. It whined its way back home, and I trotted up the street to catch up.

“So, I’ll grab the key,” Clover called out, halfway to their front door when I walked up the drive.

She popped back outside a few seconds later and we spent a few minutes together while she gave me some tips and tricks to know about the car. I slipped into the driver’s seat and breathed deeply. I wouldn’t say it had the new-car smell—after all, a teenager had driven it for a year or two already—but it was way new compared to mine. Once again, it hit me how unlikely it was that Zayne had gone away to school without taking this baby along.

Clover seemed distracted. She hopped back in her car and waved goodbye while I sat in the purring sports car.

Wow. Okay. Things had taken a turn and I needed to think of practical considerations, such as turning in the rental and getting to the office, but the lure of simply putting my foot to the gas pedal tugged at me. I carefully backed it out of the Delaney driveway, getting used to the different configuration of blind spots, put her in gear and cruised to my own house.

Ten minutes later, with Freckles perched on the passenger seat, I roared into my parking slot at the Victorian in fine style.

The whole point of driving a car like this is for people to see you in it, and that urge was met with gratification for me when Ron opened the kitchen door and openly gawked. I clambered out of the low-slung car a little awkwardly. It was a whole different set of moves from merely sliding off the seat of my higher-riding Jeep.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s on loan.” Drake had already given him the highlights about the crash, my night in the hotel and my subsequent day of rest.

Ron gave the car a skeptical sizing-up.

“I know, I know. How many times have you told me a red sports car wasn’t your best choice either,” I said with a pointed glance at his Mustang. “I’m not keeping this car.”

“It is very cool though.”

“It’s very cool.”

We both stared at the car while Freckles made her rounds of the back yard. I supposed I could consider a sports car of some kind. Maybe not quite this flashy, maybe a more subdued color … Well, it was a decision I didn’t have to make this minute.

We walked through the kitchen, where Ron picked up the mug he’d been filling when I drove up. I went up to my office and he joined me a few seconds later.

“So, the week has been eventful,” he said, settling onto my sofa while I turned on my computer.

“I don’t hold much hope that the police in El Paso will put a lot of effort into catching Jay Livingston and getting Bobby’s ring back.”

I described the cramped office and lone detective who’d taken the report, ending with the fact I had no intention of traipsing back and forth on that long stretch of highway again.

“Couldn’t Bobby just file an insurance claim for the ring being stolen, show them the cheap substitute he got in return?”

“If he carried a rider on his policy for jewelry of that value, sure, I suppose he could.”

“If he’s not too embarrassed for the story to spread that much further …”

“Yeah, that too.”

“You think he’d do that?”

“Who knows? Right now he wants me to keep working on it. While you were away, he and Marcie started to make up. He went back home last night.”

I felt a groan rise in my throat. Those two were a pair, all right.

“So, can we drop the case? That’s my question.”

“I’m meeting with Bobby later today and I’ll tell him. I need to fill him in on my visit to that pawnshop guy, which is to say I basically didn’t learn anything, but I did convince him to get his attorney to settle out of court for the punching incident.”

“Yeah, well, have fun with that. I am so done with both the Lorrentos. I think they deserve each other and whatever happens to their fame and possessions.”

Ron grinned and headed toward his own office. I could only hope he agreed with me.