The drive to the warehouse went quickly and quietly. We were probably all assessing our personal risk factor for coming here in the first place. I parked near the front door and we walked into the lobby. The place was quiet, but with several cars out front, including Big’s and Little’s Hummer and Mercedes, I figured we were under surveillance and eventually, someone would come out to see what we wanted.
After a short wait, the hidden door on the back wall of the lobby swung open and Mannie, Big and Little’s right-hand man, stepped out, smiling at us.
“Ladies,” he said. “It’s been a while. What can we do for you?”
“We’ve got a situation,” I said. “And we’d like to ask a favor of Big and Little.”
Mannie grinned. “A situation, huh? I just bet you do. Come on back. Big has been in a lousy mood lately, but you three always entertain him. You’d be doing the rest of us a favor.”
Only Big Hebert would find circumventing federal agents and trying to avoid death entertainment, but I appreciated his viewpoint. The three of us did have a certain flair that made even the most mundane of nefarious activities more colorful.
We followed Mannie through the secret door and onto the elevator, then down the hallway and into Big and Little’s office. Big, so named because of his enormous size, sat in his usual position on a park bench behind the massive desk. His son Little, so named for being the exact opposite in size from his father, was perched on a chair to the side of the bench and wore an exasperated expression.
“You have to wait to click,” Little said, pointing at the computer screen. “You’ve closed the entire window.”
Big shot him a dirty look and turned his attention to us. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Please, sit. Mannie, get us all a drink. The good whiskey. We haven’t had visitors in a while, at least, not the voluntary kind. It’s a cause for celebration.”
Little rose from his chair, always the consummate gentleman, and nodded, his face shifting from frustrated to relieved. It appeared we’d interrupted a computer training session between father and son. Little was probably praying that Mannie made that drink a stiff one.
“Ladies,” Little said, taking his seat again after we slid into chairs in front of Big’s desk. “Nice to see you looking so well.”
I was pretty sure we looked like hell. Gertie and I had narrowly escaped death by handbag, and the run through the woods had left us all a bit worse for the wear, but if Little wanted to deal out compliments, who was I to argue?
“Thank you,” I said. “We really appreciate you seeing us.”
Big chuckled. “I must confess, I’m always happy to see you because no matter the reason, it’s going to be more interesting than anything else I’ve got going on. So what is it this time? Arms dealers hiding weapons in the baptismal font? Drug runners stashing product in alligators?”
“Those are some interesting thoughts,” I said, “and now that you’ve thrown them out, I will probably check the baptismal font this Sunday, just to be safe. But I’m afraid our situation isn’t that creative. It’s just plain ole auto theft.”
The smile vanished from Big’s face and he looked over at Little, whose expression was grim. “You’re talking about Hot Rod,” Big said. “We were very sorry to hear what happened. He’s a good man and does solid work. It’s hard to find someone with his skill set who doesn’t bother you with needless questions. Rest assured, my son and I have our people looking into it.”
I watched him as he talked, but he showed no signs of lying. Granted, Big was a professional criminal and one who had managed to avoid incarceration, but I would have bet money he was telling the truth. Which was really good for us, because that meant he’d probably agree to hide the SUV. Unfortunately, it also meant he hadn’t found the bad guys yet. For what they’d done to Hot Rod, the Old Testament part of me sorta hoped the Heberts caught them before Carter did.
“I’m glad to hear your men are on it,” I said. “But I guess that means you don’t have any idea yet. No word on the street?”
Big shook his head. “I’ve checked with the family in other cities, but no one is aware of any new car theft ring operating in their territory, and none of the existing rings have this MO. Professionals don’t try to kill people.”
“People never even see professionals,” Little agreed. “They take the car and are gone before anyone even notices.”
I looked over at Ida Belle and Gertie, who both nodded, giving me the go-ahead to present our theory.
“We have an idea about what happened,” I said. “But we can’t tell you how we got our information.”
Big looked over at Little and smiled. “I told you this was going to be good. Go ahead and lay your information on me.”
“There were three vehicles missing from Hot Rod’s shop,” I said. “All black SUVs.”
Big raised his eyebrows. “Interesting. So it’s more likely they were looking for something stashed in a vehicle with that description. That would explain the way the job was handled. It didn’t have any of the markings of a regular auto theft.”
“That’s what we thought,” I said.
Big and Little both smiled.
“That’s what you thought,” Big said. “The three of you are dangerous enough as the good guys. You’d be hell as criminals.”
“We’d be good at it,” Gertie said.
“Really?” Big leaned forward a bit and looked at her. “You want to tell me how you know which cars are missing from Hot Rod’s shop? Because I know firsthand that place is being guarded by cops.”
“Uh,” Gertie said. “That’s need-to-know information.”
Now Big laughed, his whole body shaking. Even Little, who was usually the more composed of the two, let go with a chuckle or two. When Big finally stopped laughing, he wagged his finger at us.
“There was an explosion this morning near Hot Rod’s shop. The police haven’t determined the cause of the blast, but they found an open window on the back of the shop. When I heard about this, I figured someone clever created a distraction so that they could finish whatever job they started yesterday. But now the three of you sit here, with knowledge of what’s missing from that shop, and I think about that explosion and I have to laugh. Because even though you won’t tell me exactly what happened, I know how you work. And I’ve got a good imagination.”
“We were gardening all morning,” I said, and held up my arms. “Even got the scratches to prove it.”
Big nodded. “Hey, I can roll with that story. When all this is over, I’d love to hear the real one, though. So did you come here just to ask if I knew anything?”
“Not exactly,” I said, and pointed to Ida Belle. “She bought a vehicle from Hot Rod a week ago. A black SUV.”
Big sobered and stiffened in his chair. He looked over at Little, whose smile had disappeared. “That’s not good,” Big said. “If whatever those men were looking for wasn’t in the vehicles they took, they’re going to go looking for the right one.”