Which led to the even bigger problem.
“You need to hide your SUV,” I told Ida Belle. “If they took the vehicles, you can bet they took the records of any recent sales. If they don’t find what they’re looking for in what they stole, they’ll come after your vehicle.”
“I know,” Ida Belle said, and I realized she’d probably put everything together in those seconds she’d been in Hot Rod’s shop.
“So we find a place to stash the SUV,” I said, “and you stay with me.”
“And just how are we supposed to explain that?” Ida Belle asked. “You’re cozied up with Carter. Having a long-term sleepover doesn’t sound like normal behavior for someone just kicking up their relationship a notch.”
“Say your hot water is out,” Gertie suggested.
“It’s a million degrees,” Ida Belle said. “Everyone is taking cold showers.”
“That’s true,” I said.
“No water?” Gertie suggested.
“I suppose I could have a leak,” Ida Belle said, “but all this will accomplish is moving the party from one house to another. Even someone who’s not connected to Sinful could easily find out who my friends are.”
“Yeah, but there’s strength in numbers,” I said.
Gertie nodded. “Especially when Fortune is one of the numbers. And she couldn’t stay at your house and lie about something being broken here because Carter would get all manly and try to help her by fixing it.”
“Okay,” Ida Belle agreed. “Then I have a plumbing leak. I’ll turn off water to my house just in case someone checks, and say I have a friend in New Orleans who can look at it for free in a couple of days.”
“That takes care of Ida Belle,” Gertie said. “But what about the SUV?”
“We can’t just leave it anywhere,” I said, “because then we’re potentially putting someone else at risk, but we need it close by so we can go through it ourselves.”
“I know a place,” Gertie said. “Plenty of room for us to work, no one can see it when they’re driving by, and the best security in a hundred-mile radius.”
I stared at her for a minute, rolling over the possibilities in my mind that fit everything she’d just described.
“Oh no,” I said when it hit me.
“Why not?” Gertie asked.
“For once,” Ida Belle said, “I’m the one that’s lost.”
“She wants us to hide your SUV at Big and Little’s storage facility,” I said.
“It’s perfect,” Gertie said. “Everyone knows who owns that facility, and no one is going to break into it unless they have a death wish.”
“Have you forgotten the part where Big and Little Hebert are organized crime?” I asked. “For all we know, it was one of their people who took those vehicles.”
“Do you really think that?” Gertie asked.
I didn’t, but I couldn’t give her a solid reason why. Any sane person would tell me I was crazy to trust the father-and-son Mafia team, and it wasn’t as if I trusted them explicitly. But the truth was, they had helped me in a couple situations. And the airboat had been a gift from them for agreeing to help get a drug dealer out of Sinful.
Maybe I was getting soft, but I didn’t think that was it. I’d had my suspicions about the Heberts since our last bit of business, but I had no proof. Just gut instinct. The question was, could I risk our safety on that alone?
If the answer was yes, then Gertie was right—it was the perfect hiding place. If people pulled one over on Big and Little, they paid the price for even attempting it. I looked at Ida Belle and Gertie and thought about the risks. Could I still trust my gut?
“I want to go talk to them first,” I said. “Feel them out before we just drive up with the SUV.”
“That’s a good idea,” Gertie said. “They might even know what’s going on.”
“They might already have three black SUVs in their storage facility,” Ida Belle said drily.
“If you don’t want to run the risk,” I said to Ida Belle, “I won’t do it. If it feels wrong to any of us, then it’s got to be a no-go.”
Ida Belle shook her head. “For whatever reason, I doubt they’re involved. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certain they’re involved in plenty, and I’m certain they’ve bashed a head or two. Or ordered the bashing. But I can’t see them coming down on Hot Rod that way. He did the work on that Hummer of theirs. It’s completely bulletproof. All they would have had to do was ask to go through the SUVs and Hot Rod would have let them.”
That perked me up considerably. If Big and Little had done business with Hot Rod and were happy with his work, then they might take personal offense to what happened to him. When Big and Little took personal offense, it was usually a very good thing for us and a very bad thing for the offender.
“Okay,” I said. “Then let me clean up and we’ll head out to the storage facility for a chat.”
I headed upstairs for a quick shower, wondering what it said about my life when requesting favors from known Mafia members was probably going to be the least dangerous part of my day.
Chapter Six
Big and Little ran their business in an old warehouse not far from the storage facility. The building was huge and well protected with high-tech security and any number of beefy, trigger-happy guys who did the Heberts’ bidding. The storage facility that they owned was off the highway between Sinful and New Orleans a couple miles before the warehouse. Both were located off the same highway where everything outside of Sinful proper was, except the Swamp Bar. Because it was the only passage in and out of Sinful, passing Carter on the highway was a medium-to high-level threat, so we needed a solid reason for heading that way.
Ida Belle suggested that since Hot Rod had no family around, we go to the hospital and pass off a few bucks to the nurses to keep a closer watch on him and check in with him more than the usual schedule called for. It was, she insisted, something that any Southern woman worth her salt would do for a close friend or family. Gertie agreed, so we headed out, planning on stopping at the storage facility first to set up everything with Big and Little, then continuing on to the hospital to check on Hot Rod and grease palms.
We tucked Ida Belle’s SUV in my garage before heading out, figuring if the bad guys came around, they’d be looking at Ida Belle’s house first and it might take them some time to work their way around to mine. If Big and Little okayed our storage plan, then we’d take it at night to help avoid being seen. It all sounded good as long as Big and Little agreed to help and we didn’t suspect they were involved in the other car thefts.