William Arden: Hot Wheels

Bob stared. “That’s a Mercedes! And two Volvos!”

“There’s a BMW and another Mercedes!” Ty said.

“That’s what I spotted in the dark, guys — the shapes of Mercedes and Volvos!” Jupiter said. “The cars we saw at The Shack were completely different makes. I’ll bet the band doesn’t steal these cars. They just drive them to Rocky Beach. No one looks closely at them under that graffitti. It’s just a rock band with their painted cars returning from a gig.”

He jumped up as the last car turned out of the field toward the ocean. “Hurry, guys, we’ve got to see where they take the cars!”

They ran back to the pickup and bumped and swayed across the dirt out onto the road. Since Tiburon and the band weren’t in their lowriders, they could drive a lot faster. But Ty gunned along the narrow, twisting road while Bob and Jupe hung on. Soon, they caught up with the rear car in the procession of phony lowriders.

“If those are stolen cars,” Bob said, “how did they get into the parking lot. And where are the real cars the band drives?”

“My guess is that the cars were stolen earlier, graffitied, and parked by other members of the ring,” Jupiter said.

“Yeah, stealing cars right takes experience,” Ty said. “Lots of cars are swiped by joy-riding kids, and they get caught fast if they don’t dump the car after a quick spin. But pros spot the car they want and pick the safest time to grab it and get off the road pronto. I’d say Jupe’s right — the real thieves grab them, paint them, and park them. Then the band drives them home.”

“But how does the band get here?” asked Bob.

Ty shrugged. “Somebody drives them! Maybe in the van. Or maybe the band picks up the stolen cars someplace nearby and shows up at the gig in them.”

“Okay, if pros steal the cars,” said Bob, “why do they need Tiburon and the Piranhas? Why don’t the pros drive them to the chop-shop themselves?”

“Because the big risk in any caper like this is the cops’re sure to know the pros,” Ty said. “They’re the first guys to be picked up. If a car gets reported stolen, every cop in the area looks for known thieves. And stool pigeons are always ready to talk.”

“Most arrests are made on tips against known crooks,” Jupiter pointed out.

“It’s a smart gimmick to have pros steal them, and get someone the cops don’t suspect to drive them to the shop,” Ty said.

“Whatever the reason,” Jupiter said, “it looks like Tiburon’s job isn’t to steal the cars but to deliver them. So if we follow him, we should find the gang’s headquarters. ”

“What about the car Tiburon got Ty to drive down to Rocky Beach?” Bob asked. “How does that fit in? It wasn’t even graffitied.”

“No.” Jupiter thought. “My guess is that it was an extra car Tiburon stole for himself, maybe after his gig that night.”

Ty said, “He sure took a gamble by getting some guy like me to ferry it down. I’ll bet the bossman was hopping mad.”

“Since the band wasn’t going to drive it,” Jupiter added, “he wouldn’t graffiti it.”

“Jupe!” Bob stared ahead.

A large trailer truck pulled out of a side road and made a wide turn onto the canyon road. It blocked both lanes. Ty had to stop until the big eighteen-wheeler straightened out and moved ahead. Drivers from the other direction now passed in a stream, but Ty was stuck behind the big, slow-moving rig.

Finally they reached a straight stretch of road long enough for Ty to pull around the truck. He raced ahead in pursuit of the fake lowriders. But there was no sign of them. On the Coast Highway, Ty opened up to full speed. He drove fast in the light traffic of the late hour, but they reached Rocky Beach without finding a trace of Tiburon and the Piranhas.

“Swing by that car wash, and the garage,” said Jupe.

Ty did. But the lowriders had disappeared.

“What do we do now?” Ty asked.

“Nothing,” Jupiter replied. “Not tonight. But tomorrow we figure out how to catch the thieves red-handed with the stolen cars.”

Pete, in a ragged bloom county T-shirt, and Bob, in a striped rugby shirt, were outside the gates when Jupiter and Ty arrived at the yard the next morning. Inside HQ they sat around to talk.

Jupiter was at the desk. “I’m sure now that Jake Hatch is boss of the stolen car ring. Proving it is going to be something else.”

They were silent as they thought about how to stop the gang of car thieves.

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me, guys,” Ty said slowly, “but this is an organized gang. They can be real dangerous. Maybe we better take what we have to the police. There’s a lot of money in this, and money means violence.”

“You think we have enough for the police to act on?” Jupiter said.

“Or even believe us?” Pete added.

Ty shook his head. “No, I don’t think we do.”

“Then we go on until we have it,” Jupiter said. “Am I right, guys?”

“Right,” Bob said.

“We go on,” Pete said.

“So,” Jupiter said, “we’re sure Tiburon and the Piranhas are transporting the stolen cars in the disguise of lowriders. And we’re pretty sure the Freeway Garage is where they take them. But we can’t jump Tiburon and his gang on the road, and we’ve already been to the garage and found nothing.”

Ty said, “If there’s a chop-shop hidden in that garage, they’re sure to have it set up so they can escape if the police break in.”

“Which means we can’t do much from outside,” Bob said.

“So we’ll have to get inside,” Pete said.

“That’s what I was thinking all night,” Jupiter said, nodding. “One of us must get inside the gang.”

There was another silence in the trailer. Bob frowned and looked worried.

“I don’t know, Jupe,” he said. “They’ve seen us a lot by now.”

Ty said, “They don’t know me that well. I can grow a mustache, use some disguise, and — ”

“Both Torres and Tiburon got a good look at you, Ty,” Jupiter broke in. “No, I think I’m the one.”

“Come on, Jupe.” Pete snorted. “You flattened Torres, and gave Tiburon a hard time at The Shack. They’ll remember you. No, the only one they haven’t gotten close to is me. It’s my job to get inside.”

The other three looked at one another.

“He’s right, Jupe,” Bob said.

Ty nodded.

“All right,” Jupiter agreed. “How do we go about getting you infiltrated?”

“Infiltrated?” Bob laughed. “Is that a word, Jupe?”

“It is now.” Jupiter grinned. Then he became serious again. “How do we get Pete into the gang?”

“I could apply for a mechanic’s job at that garage,” Pete suggested.

“Too risky and wouldn’t work,” Ty said. “If they are a chop-shop, they’ll only take on someone sent by someone they know.”

“A parking attendant’s job?” Jupiter suggested.

“Sounds like they only use that gunman,” Ty said, “and he’d probably get suspicious too.”

“What about the car wash?” said Bob. “That’s where Tiburon and his gang hang out. And car washes always need people to do the hand finishing with the rags. Pete could get close to Tiburon there and maybe work his way into the garage.”

“Yeah,” Ty agreed. “He could talk a lot about wanting to be a mechanic and needing big money. Then maybe show Tiburon how good he is with cars.”

“It could take forever,” Jupiter objected. “Unless… what if we sabotage Tiburon’s car in such a way that it’s really easy to fix but hard to see what’s wrong unless you know? Then Pete could fix it like magic and impress Tiburon.”