Chapter Two
Finn fired his last few shots at the Hugo, turned, and fled the scene. He spotted Siddeley in the skies above Porto Corsa, but before he could say anything to his spy plane partner, he was stopped and surrounded by some of the members of an Italian family. After a quick check, he discovered they were perfectly safe and said, in Italian, "I've just gotten out of a gunfight."
"Oh, then we'll give you a place to stay and some very good fuel," one of the cars said. "You can stay as long as you like."
"I must keep moving. I mean no disrespect, but I find myself in a situation where I fear for my life."
"Oh, yes, of course," another car said. "I'll cook for you, and we won't tell anyone you were ever here."
"Thank you, so much."
The car rushed off into her house, and Finn entered into casual conversation with a few of the other cars. The car rushed out of her kitchen, dropping off a cart of oil and fuel, for which he thanked her, and dashed off. He sipped at the oil and looked around at the crowd of cars again. A car he could tell was a relative of Francesco Bernoulli's all but raced up to him and said frantically, "They tell me you've seen my son. Please tell me he's alright."
"He's perfectly fine, Mrs. Bernoulli," Finn replied. "I made sure he got out alright, but he'll need to be relocated."
"Relocated?"
"It appears, by the nature of the attack, that he's seen something he either cannot remember or is unwilling to talk about, but either way, it's putting his life in danger. He is a witness, although to what we're not exactly sure. I never had time to interview him."
"Will he be safe?"
"He will if I have anything to say about it, Mrs. Bernoulli. I give you my word on that count."
"Oh, thank you, Signor..."
"McMissile, Finn McMissile."
"Thank you, Signor McMissile."
"You're welcome, Mrs. Bernoulli, and your son is in good tires."
"Thank you again, and my blessings."
"Thank you."
Mrs. Bernoulli drove off, allowing Finn to return to his meal and plan his next move.
CARS
"Alright," Holley said after finishing her transmission to headquarters, "you need to be careful what you say when we relocate you, Francesco. You might have to assume a name, because even though it's off-season in Radiator Springs, you might still get noticed, and if you call yourself Francesco, which you often do, apparently, then you could be found by your mob friends and, how they say, taken out. Do you understand thus far?"
Francesco rolled forward and replied, "Francesco would understand a lot better if you spent a little quality time with Francesco, hmm?"
"Never going to happen, and I don't need any more complications in my love life, thank you. Now, do you or do you not understand that you can't act like Francesco Bernoulli anymore?"
"Yes, a-Francesco understand perfectly."
"Now stop calling yourself Francesco. Use more personal pronouns, like 'I', 'me', and 'my', and would it kill you to tone down your paint job and live under an assumed name, at least for a little while?"
Francesco paused, looking around the cabin. "Maybe," he said in a weak voice.
"Alright, look. It's absolutely imperative to your safety and our mission that you lay low, no matter what it takes, and that's why we're dropping you off in Radiator Springs. The residents can teach you a lot, and as long as no one from the mob stops by or recieves a tip from some unsuspecting car, you'll do just fine."
"And...about the Grand Prix... Will Francesco be racing?"
"Sorry, but we can't take that chance until this situation has been contained, which might be a while. You'll need to find yourself a regular job, like a regular car, even though you're a bigshot racer on the world stage, and don't think I don't understand that, because I do. I've done this sort of thing before."
"So what are you, undercover cop?"
After a pause, Holley answered, "You could say that."
"Still want to go out with Francesco?"
"No, and for the love of the Manufacturer, stop referring to yourself in the third person."
Francesco was stunned into silence, which Holley felt no need to apologize for.
CARS
Boost drove and drove, in a state of unnatural silence, which he could tell put off every tuner he encountered. Finally, without fully registering where he was, he drove out to the edge of Los Angeles. His mind drifted to the tape he left back at his place, and this thought brought his mind back into focus, at which point he turned around and drove back the way he'd come, more quickly, though.
He slipped into the building and tucked the tape away where he kept a lot of his secret items. He could never leave them anywhere without the risk that they would be stolen. Then he looked around at the living room for anything else he might need, and he drove out of the building and wandered aimlessly through the deserted back streets of Los Angeles.