Motor Mouth

“I’m trying to find Hooker. These are my friends Rosa and Felicia.”

“Have you gone to the police?” Suza

“No. Hooker and I are sort of wanted for multiple counts of murder. Oscar, Spanky’s spotter, Hooker’s security guy…and they’ve probably added Ray by now.”

“That’s ridiculous. Ray isn’t dead,” Suza

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, Ray’s with me. You want to see him?”

FIFTEEN

Felicia, Rosa, and I got back into the Camry, rolled the windows down, and followed the black limo to Suza

“It’s just a temporary rental until I get everything straightened out,” Suza

The condo stretched across the back of the building with floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on the ocean. The décor was modern, mostly white with touches of pastel. The kitchen was high tech and looked totally unused.

“Where’s Itsy Poo?” I asked Suza

“She goes to play group on Tuesdays. And then she gets a whirlpool bath and a pedicure.”

Beans was pressed into my leg as if he understood pedicure and didn’t think a lot of it.

Suza

We all marched into the bedroom, which was about half the size of a football field. Her bed was one of those four-poster things, draped in white gauze. The carpet was white. The woods were pale. The upholstered pieces were white. The curtains were drawn, and I thought this was probably to keep the sun out so she didn’t go snow blind.

“This unit has his and hers bathrooms,” Suza

Suza

“Now you’re all accomplices to kidnapping,” Ray said. “If you don’t get me out of here, you’re all going to jail for the rest of your lives.”

“What did he do?” Felicia asked. “He cheat on you?”

“No. He’s my brother-in-law,” Suza

“You have no proof,” Ray said.

“It’s always a mistake to mess with a mother,” Suza

“So this is where Ray went after he talked to Hooker and me,” I said.

“It was easy,” Suza

“Ask her about the chip,” Ray said to Suza

“Shut up.”

“Ask her!”

“What about the chip?” I said to Suza

“Ray and Oscar have a product in R and D that’s worth a lot of money. They didn’t realize I knew about it, but I keep my ears open.

“I knew it was ready for sale, and I knew Oscar was using it on the cars. It got him a championship, but more than that, it was a flashy way to demonstrate the technology to prospective buyers. I was willing to be the good corporate wife and keep my mouth shut. I was even willing to be the good ex-corporate wife and keep my mouth shut. I’m not willing to be the widow who sits by and watches the slime-bag brother rape the company.” Suza

Ray gave her the death glare. And Suza

“And now the prototype has disappeared, and Ray doesn’t want to tell me where it’s wandered off to,” Suza

“I told you where the chip is,” Ray said. “Jesus, why don’t you just ask her?”

Suza

“Are you talking about the gizmo in the gearshift knob?” I asked her.

Suza

“It’s true,” I said.

Suza

“He thought Mr. Dead Guy was a big chew toy,” Felicia said. “He’s just a puppy inside.”

“So where’s the circuit board?” Suza

“Not exactly. But I know where it is.”

“And it’s safe? You can get it for me?”

“Yes.”

Suza

“So it wasn’t about the boat?”

“Not entirely. The boat was just part of it. By the time Ray’s executorship ran out, there wouldn’t have been anything left of the company. Ray would have stripped every asset from it.”

Ray didn’t say anything. They’d obviously had this conversation before and it didn’t end well for Ray.

“There are a couple things I don’t understand,” I said to Suza

“The technology has the potential for wide use,” Suza

“So you wanted to get it back just so it wouldn’t get duplicated?”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Suza

“Anthony Miranda?”

“Yes. Miranda has an overseas client who is willing to pay top dollar. Unfortunately, some of that technology could have been used in very bad ways by Miranda’s client. I would have stepped in sooner, but I didn’t know that part of it until I got to Florida.

“Anyway, a prototype circuit board had been produced for Miranda. It was programmed to demonstrate the wireless technology that could be used in aircraft. So genius Oscar brought two different circuit boards to Florida and somehow managed to put the wrong circuit board in the sixty-nine car.”