Save Me From Dangerous Men by S. A. Lelchuk

Author:S. A. Lelchuk [Lelchuk, S. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B07GVCDD53
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Published: 2019-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Parking shuttles seemed to stop at the bus stop every eight minutes. I counted three of them, with a fourth in sight, when a silver Range Rover pulled up to the curb. The other two people waiting at the bus stop watched me jealously as I got off the bench and climbed in. I relaxed into the comfortable seat. Whoever had built the thing had ordered extra scoops of leather with generous sides of sleek aluminum trim and wood accents. It rode smoothly, the engine quiet. Beyond that I didn’t have much of an opinion. I’d always liked to hear my engines.

“Plan B,” I said.

“Plan B,” Jess agreed from the driver’s seat.

“How did it go?”

Not taking her eyes off the road, she smiled proudly. “Just like you said. After you left, the first thing she did was go over to a computer and then to this car. She tore through it with that kid for at least ten minutes.”

“They didn’t find anything?”

“Nope. Then I waited a bit, walked up, and did my best Valley girl voice. ‘Oh my god, I love that Range Rover! My boyfriend has an orange one just like it!’”

I winced. “I’m okay with missing that part.”

She took a ramp onto the freeway. “So this is what Karen Li rented?”

“I’d bet anything,” I said. “After my little scene, there was no way the manager wasn’t going to at least check and make sure no one had dropped a diamond ring behind the seat.”

“It was in this special Prestige row, over three hundred dollars daily.”

“That was smart of Karen,” I said. “I was watching the pace of the rentals while I waited. The regular cars are going in and out constantly, but nobody went near the Mercedes or Range Rovers in that row. Way more car than most people need for a family vacation or business rental. The more expensive the car, the less likely someone rents it.”

Jess nodded, understanding. “So the better the chance it’s sitting right there when Karen was ready to go back for it.”

“Exactly.”

“Now what?”

“Now we look.”

A few exits down, we got off the freeway and followed signs to a Home Depot. We drove to the back of the big parking lot. A few Hispanic men leaned against a wall, watching us hopefully. I wasn’t worried about drawing attention. They were day laborers. Almost definitely undocumented. Groups like this congregated at Home Depots all over California. Work was their only concern. Work, and not attracting the attention of law enforcement. We could have set our SUV on fire and they wouldn’t have called the cops.

We went through the Range Rover from end to end. I barely bothered to check the obvious places. We ignored the glove compartment and center console after a cursory look. Whatever Karen Li had wanted to hide, it wasn’t going to be anywhere a cleaning crew or customer would accidentally find it. We spent about a half hour going through every part of the vehicle, inside and out.

Nothing.

Jess stepped back in frustration.

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