Page 80 of Deadly Conflicts
“I’m not done,” Mandy said. “I told you I solved the car conundrum. You said you didn’t find any parts missing in that car and the navigation chip was gone. My guess is that the car was rigged for deliveries and Vince set it up so whoever was picking up or dropping off merely had to follow the GPS. The navigation card probably told his drivers where to go and then they took the card when they left. Each delivery resulted in a new card.”
“Okay,” James said. “Why was the car stolen, though?”
“Because Vince is greedy as all get out,” Mandy replied. “I will bet my Jaws movie collection that Vince had drugs in that trunk. You guys took it apart. You didn’t have it sniffed by dogs or anything, though.”
“So you think Vince arranged for his customers to steal the car and dump it in a deserted garage? Why?”
“I can think of two reasons,” Mandy answered. “The first is that Vince can make an insurance claim and get cash for a car that he knows the location of. The second is that he could sell it on the secondary market when no one was looking and essentially triple his money.”
“Triple? How?” MacIntosh asked.
“He would get paid for the drugs. The insurance company would pay him. He would get paid by the car choppers.”
“Okay, now I’m starting to think you’re brilliant, too,” Grady said. “If you’re right about the choppers, though, why didn’t the car show up there?”
“Because Peter put out feelers right away and whoever took the car is in deep enough he heard about it and got scared,” Mandy replied. “He put the car in that garage for safe keeping. He never expected it to be discovered.”
“That’s pretty good, baby,” James said. “What do you think Vince’s next move is?”
“That depends,” Mandy replied. “Is there any way he can know you guys have the car?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“That’s not true,” Sven interjected, taking everyone by surprise. “We never kept it a secret that we found the car. We didn’t think it was necessary.”
“He’s right,” Rodrigo said. “We called the chop shops and reported that we found the car we were looking for after we confirmed it through the VIN. It was no secret we found the car.”
“That means Vince’s partner knows,” James said.
“Which means Vince knows,” Jake added.
“So what’s his next move going to be?” James asked. “We have the car, which is going to screw up his insurance payout and the chopping money. I don’t think that’s going to be a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it’s going to make his wallet twenty grand lighter.”
“It all depends on when he plans on running,” Mandy said. “I mean … where does a guy like that think he’s going to find a big chunk of money on short notice?”
“I don’t know,” James replied. “I don’t like it, though. If we screwed up his plan that means he’s going to be desperate.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “I … hold on. My phone is buzzing.” James heard silence on the other end of the line and then Jake started swearing.
“What’s going on?” James asked, instantly alert.
“The security alarm at my house is going off,” Jake replied, his voice rigid. “Someone pushed the emergency button, but no one picks up the line when the security company calls the house. They texted my line as backup.”
“Son of a … he’s got Ally,” James muttered.
“Everyone get moving to my house,” Jake instructed. “The judge is going to call the police and send them over there. I’m heading there now. I’m closest.”
“I’m coming with you,” Mandy said, her voice firm as it caused James’ heart to roll.
“Mandy … .”
“She’s coming with me,” Jake said. “She loves Ally, too. I don’t have time to fight with her.”
“You stay in Jake’s truck, Mandy,” James ordered. “Ally is already in trouble. We don’t need you making a target of yourself, too.”
“It’s going to be okay, James,” Mandy said. “Have a little faith.”
“We’re on our way,” James said. “We’re ending this right now.”
“As long as he hasn’t ended it first,” Jake said, his voice cracking. “I will kill him if he touched her.”
“We all will,” Mandy said. “Let’s go.”
