Stark Raving Mod by Diane Vallere

Author:Diane Vallere [Vallere, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781954579378
Publisher: Polyester Press

18

Sounds Like a Fun Time

While I waited for Patti to arrive, I thought back over my conversation with Beatriz. The biggest takeaway was that she’d been the original owner of the trunk. She claimed she didn’t know what was in there, but I hadn’t yet decided if I believed her.

By the time Patti arrived, Loncar was resting his head against the window and snoring quietly. Patti rapped her knuckles on my window and I unfastened my seatbelt and got out. “Thanks for this,” I said.

She shrugged. “Sounds like a fun time.” She wore a jean jacket over a black T-shirt, skinny black leather pants, and boots with a Cuban heel. Her hair was messy in a way that could have been intentional. I admired her ability to look like she either just rolled out of bed or came from the salon.

“Is there any news on the autopsy?”

“So far, nothing. There was a shootout in center city and four bodies came in last night. Since nobody’s looking for details on Holiday except you guys, he went back into a locker.”

“Sure,” I said. “Just thought I’d ask.”

“How do you want to move him?”

“It’s almost a shame to wake him, but I don’t think we can move him otherwise.”

“We could leave him for now,” she said.

“Sleeping of his buzz in a residential neighborhood? Waking up in a car that looks like his but isn’t? I don’t think that’s a viable option.”

“No. I’ll drive your car. You can park mine behind the mod shop and take his. Mine’s a junker. It’s okay.”

It was a convoluted solution to our problem but it solved a number of issues, not the least of which was not having to wake the sleeping detective.

Most people are attached to their cars. I wasn’t. For twenty years, I drove a Honda del Sol that spent most of the time parked in a paid lot in New York City and eventually got destroyed by an opportunistic thug. I had a taxi driver on speed dial and begged rides from Nick and Eddie while I decided what to buy next. I even appropriated the vehicle of a murder suspect once. I am nothing if not resourceful.

“Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow to coordinate getting your car.” I peeked at Loncar through the window. “There’s one more problem. I don’t know where he lives.”

“We could check his license.”

“That requires us to access his wallet.” I had an idea. I pulled Senior’s keys out of my handbag. “Take him to my father-in-law’s apartment. He’s out of town so it’s empty. Loncar’s been there before so he already knows the place. I’ll swing by in the morning.”

I removed the car keys from my keyring and gave them to Patti, along with Senior’s apartment number. I stood back on the sidewalk and watched her drive away in my car. It was late. It had been a long day, but after the night at the Kirkville hotel, I had a more pressing issue: getting back into that trunk. If I’d missed something the first time I was in it, I wanted to know.

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