"How you all doing back there?" Sally said on the phone from her plush office on the top floor of the Dinoco Center a couple days later.
"We are doing fine, here," Flo assured. "Tex is now staying with Ramone and I, and has been spending his days mostly with Mandy. Aro and Tia are now running your offices here, while Cam and Mia help me run the café. They're all wanting to build a house soon, right on the edge of town here somewhere."
"We need to be closer to town and Doc's clinic than 'Shangri-La' for the near-term here," Tex interjected on the phone. "But we haven't given up on that. And Sally, Mandy's doing as well as she can right now. I can barely understand her when she's awake, and she can't really write either. But one message she kept repeating, even before I told her about what you were doing for us was, 'Sally and Lightning saved our lives,' especially mine. I didn't quite get what she meant by that at first."
"It tipped me off though," Doc then picked up. "I had Dora run some tests on him, and we just found a whole bunch of stress-related blockages in his fuel and lube lines here, as well as pending electrical shorts and fuses that were almost burned out, all of which soon would have killed him if they hadn't been discovered and treated. I'm prescribing that he stay away from offices and business for a little while now, while we give him an additive regimen to thin out his fuel and oil mixtures. So talk business to Aro for right now, as Tex has to go on rest himself.
"And Sally," Doc advised, "I'm gonna start watching you, too. Your job now is every bit as demanding as Lightning's racing. So you come in for a check-up after you and Lightning get back here, and I'm gonna be discussing a stress-management regimen for you with both you and Lightning. From what I've been learning from Tex and Amanda though, it seems to be very stressful around Dinoco . . . almost toxic."
"That's something I'm already seeing an abundance of here," Sally confirmed, "and is a whole area I plan to be doing something about very soon. My next meeting is coming up, so I gotta go now. I can't tell you how much I'm missing all of you and Radiator Springs, but I'll see you all this weekend . . . with minimal interference and hassles from my security! And Doc, I need to hold a planning meeting with most everyone in town together as soon as I get there tomorrow afternoon. I've got an idea here, and I need everyone's help to carry it out."
"You got it," Doc assured. "We'll be ready."
"And you, Dana and your guys take care of yourselves there . . . and lean on Lightning!" Flo said.
"I am, Flo," Sally assured. "He's my lifesaver, he really is! Love you all. Bye."
— — — — —
"Hey, how's it goin', Tia," Aro said finding her parked outside their Radiator Springs office, taking a break.
"Too busy!" Tia sighed. "I thought it's been busy in recent days, but now that Sally and Dana have given us the lead here in organizing this idea of theirs . . . they want so much done! And, they want it all ready before they get back here Friday afternoon."
"Anything I can do to make it better for you?" Aro asked.
"Just you asking that makes it better," Tia replied with a smile.
"So, I'm sorry I'm asking this a little late," she now followed up, "but how are you liking our surprise Monday night? The home set-up there across the street? Well, it was mostly Mia's surprise, but I helped . . . a little. Well, not that much really, because I was busy in the office with you, and she was able to convince Flo to give her a day off."
"I thought it was great," Aro responded. "But I'm detecting maybe you're just okay with it. You know, between busyness at the office and being at home with our twins, you and I just don't get that much chance to talk about ourselves, Tia."
"We really don't have that much of a chance right now, Aro," Tia noted. "We should be back in there, getting stuff done."
"Let's make a chance here," Aro invited. "We're due. What's on your mind, Tia? Tell me."
"I don't know," Tia confessed. "I'm drawing a blank right now. I guess my 'inner airhood' is coming out."
"EHHHHH!" Aro said, imitating a game show buzzer. "Wrong answer! Okay we're moving to our 'Rapid-fire Round' where you, Tia, say the first thing . . . the absolute first thing with no censoring, editing, or deleting . . . that pops into your hood! Ready?"
Tia smiled and laughed. "Okay," she replied, readying herself.
"Radiator Springs," he started, still using his 'game show' voice.
"Great town, wonderful cars. I love being here!" she replied.
"What we do in the office," Aro continued.
"Really important stuff that I can actually see the value of," Tia responded. "Although I'm busy and feeling overloaded sometimes, I feel like I'm . . . like we're . . . doing something meaningful."
"Mia," he said next.
"Overshadowed," was Tia's instinctive first response as she now looked down, losing her smile.
"Really?" Aro asked with some surprise.
"I feel like the dumb slacker of the pair of us . . . her and I . . . okay?" Tia admitted. "She's pretty much always decided what we do next, set the tone, taken the lead . . . you name it. She also changes course sometimes without telling me, like we've seen recently."
"Do you dislike her?" Aro asked.
"No!" Tia forcefully replied. "She and I are family . . . close family. We're twins. But also, I'm me . . . although cars have mistaken me for her sometimes. It's virtually never been 'Tia and Mia', it's always been 'Mia and Tia'."
"Same here," Aro empathized. "It's always been Cam before Aro, even though I'm first alphabetically. Go figure."
"Mia's the first to tell me though," Tia continued, "through the 'daisy chain' of Flo and you, that all four of us are getting together. We joked about it that night at the café, but it was the truth. They lead the way, and you and I follow."
"Tia, how do you feel about me?" Aro asked, now uncertain.
"Part of me," Tia replied, still focused on her sister, "doesn't want to be told by anyone . . . even my close twin sister . . . who I'm going to love or be with. In one way, I don't like that they were first — that she told us, indirectly to boot, they were working out, so we'd better work out, too."
"Well, you can have some space then," Aro offered, looking downcast, "if you want to figure things out. I won't stand in the way." He now began to turn away from Tia, feeling deeply hurt.
"Aro, wait," Tia called to him. "Please . . . just stop here. I'm not finished yet . . . we're not finished yet."
"Go on then," Aro said, still looking down and away from her.
Tia looked down in frustration herself at first. But then she looked at Aro.
"I don't want to lose you, Aro," she said. "I'm sorry for how what I just said came out . . . I am, Aro. What I wanted to continue to say was that I wish we, you and I, had been first. That we had told them that we were enjoying talking, and that they better get their own act in gear, and not screw things up for us. Please, Aro, you gotta believe me on that one . . . you do. 'Cause that's what I meant. Don't give up . . . on me . . . on us, please."
Slowly, Aro turned and looked at her.
"I've tended to get myself in trouble . . . in just this way," Tia admitted, "when I act on my own. That's in part why I've allowed myself to become lazy . . . to just rely on my sister, Mia, to decide what we should do."
"Do you want me to decide what we should do?" Aro asked forcefully.
"No," she replied, now somewhat frightened.
"Good," he responded. "Because that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for an equal . . . a partner, not a follower. I've been a follower myself with Cam to some extent. That's why I went to business school rather than cooking school. Until I came home from my M.B.A. program, he and I had been apart for some time. Here, I've started to fall into old habits around him myself . . . things that I sometimes don't like. That's in part why I'm now focusing on working in the office here, rather than at the café. Here, I can be my own star. There, he's the star . . . 'the Chef'. And I'm just his waiter.
"This isn't a healthy place for either of us to go though, Tia," Aro realized. "I'm sorry I started it by bringing up your sister, instead of keeping the focus where it should have been . . . on us. But, we're at a fork here. We can either choose to work with our family, choose to look at what we like about all this — compromise a little, assert ourselves some. Or, we can dwell on how frustrated we are with this. How much we hate being perceived as carbon copies of someone else, how screwed we are as 'the other twin.' To me, it's a choice of either getting along in what can become a good family, even a really good family, among us all . . . or you and I just feeling alienated, and winding up alone, by ourselves. I'd rather have the first choice here."
Tia and Aro each looked down in silence for a moment.
"Have you seen how in love Cam and Mia are lately?" Tia asked.
"Yep," Aro confirmed. "They seem like the perfect couple."
They both sighed and looked down again. Tia though began nudging against Aro.
"Aro, could I ask you something?" she finally said, breaking another moment of silence.
"Sure, what is it, Tia?" he responded.
"What do you think they have that we don't seem to right now?" Tia asked. "I mean we're identical twins, and one half of the four of us feels thoroughly in love, while the other half of us seem to be left wondering what's wrong."
"Well, what do you think could be wrong, Tia?" Aro matter-of-factly posed.
"They're probably not thinking about anything that could be wrong between them," Tia noted.
"So you're saying it could be a matter of focus, as in we find or feel what we look at or focus on," Aro responded, looking at her.
"I guess I am," she replied. "I guess while they maybe have it easy, perhaps we have to just decide whether we want this to work or not . . . whether we want to focus on this working . . . or on allowing it to fail."
Tia began to become saddened at that thought. She didn't hide the tear now forming in her eye.
"I don't know if it has to be that tough for us, Tia," he decided.
"Aro?" Tia asked, now looking at him.
"When I look at you, Tia . . . I feel drawn to you," Aro continued. "I want to care for you, make you happy, love you. When I look away from you right now . . . I feel colder, more isolated, uncertain."
"Then keep looking at me," Tia asked, looking at him, " . . . please."
Aro began gently looking at her, as she continued looking at him. They shared a gaze quietly for a while.
"What do you feel, Aro?" Tia eventually asked.
"I love you, Tia," he instinctively responded.
"I love you, too, Aro," she replied with a gentle smile.
"You're this wonderful 'other'," he added, continuing to look at her. "You're not me, not anyone else . . . you are you. I enjoy this you called Tia, and I want to get to know you, even to celebrate who you are, and to love you, Tia, just love you . . . for the rest of my life."
"I'd like that," Tia said warmly, "and, I'd like to do the same for you . . . this wonderful you called Aro."
"You know, Tia, I was scared here for a minute," Aro now confessed. "I thought that all this might blow up in my face. I was scared that if I hung around my family into the future . . . I would always see you. But she wouldn't be you, and she wouldn't be with me. I would have been haunted by that, Tia . . . by that copy of you, hanging around but out of reach for me . . . for the rest of my life."
"Sounds nightmarish, Aro," Tia agreed as she nestled up closer beside him. "I'm glad that's not going to happen to you . . . very glad."
"It's not going to happen to me, huh?" he asked with a slight smile. "You sure about that?"
"Very sure," she now replied. "So long as you ask me one little question, and we make one real promise together."
"Really?" he asked.
"Really," she assured. "Aro, remember what you said to me a moment ago about 'celebrating' me for the rest of your life here?"
"Yeah," he said with a growing smile, having an idea of where this was going.
"Aro, would you repeat that . . . kneeling on one tire, and taking my tire in yours, please?" Tia asked. "That is so much what I've always wanted to hear. I want that to become our question, before it gets away from us."
"Sure, Tia," Aro agreed with a willing smile as he turned towards her.
"Tia," he now asked, kneeling down on one tire, and taking hers in his other tire, right there in front of their office, " . . . oh, oh . . . it's getting away from me here."
"Come on, Aro," she encouraged, " . . . you can do it."
"Tia," Aro began again, " . . . 'remember players, this must be phrased in the form of a question.' Sorry, I sometimes use game show jokes to shift my mental gears. Okay, serious face here."
"You know," Tia said, waiting, "I think there's a reason why gals get guys to ask this . . . we're just too smart to put ourselves through it all!"
"You're right," Aro admitted.
"So, why are we here . . . like this, Aro?" Tia asked, refocusing him.
"Tia," Aro said, beginning a third attempt, " . . . I want to get to know you, who you are . . . to celebrate you and all that you are . . . for the rest of my life. Could we do that together? Would you, Tia, marry me?"
"Yes, Aro . . . yes," she accepted, with a warm smile, feeling wonderful.
Tia now waited with her eyes closed for what was supposed to happen next.
" . . . 'Ya know," Aro now confessed after a pause, "I was hoping there'd be more of a thrill . . . more drama there. At least the swelling of an orchestra or something."
"Aro," she said, opening her eyes and looking with understanding towards him.
"What, Tia?" he replied.
"Would you marry me?" she asked.
"Tia . . ." Aro responded in surprise and wonder. "Yes . . . I will," he said with a smile, delighted at the surprise.
Tia passionately kissed Aro, as she began humming in key, "mmmmmmmm (f), mmm (e), mmm (f), mmm (g), mmm (f), mmmmmmmm (c) . . . mmmmmmmm (f), mmm (e), mmm (f), mmm (g), mmmmmmmm (f) . . ."
"Tia, what's that?" Aro asked as they ended their kiss.
"My attempt to provide the swelling orchestra . . . for us," she replied.
"Tia . . ." Aro admired with a growing smile.
Now he fiercely kissed her, with an intense passion and gratitude. Tia just surrendered totally . . . letting herself melt. Their kiss lasted for what seemed like minutes.
"Aro . . ." Tia said as they gently ended their second kiss, trying . . . but not all that hard . . . to recover her breath. "You know what?" she added.
"What?" he asked.
"I think we beat them . . . we got engaged first!" she shared with a smile.
"Should we tell them?" he wondered.
"No," Tia decided. "Let Cam and Mia get engaged on their own terms. We will tell them in time, but if we didn't like their pressure, why should we ruin their golden moment with our pressure? This isn't about sibling rivalry, Aro. It's about love. And I want us all to win."
"That, Tia, is brilliant," Aro admired as he kissed her again. "Congratulations . . . fiancée."
"Congratulations . . . lover," Tia said with a mixture of playfulness and seduction as she looked at him. "I've always wanted to say that."
"Well!" Aro quietly exclaimed.
"Oh, we are going to explore everything together," Tia suggested. "But 'ya know, we'd better get back to work in the office on Sally and Dana's idea here. They're probably taking action on it right now at Dinoco H.Q."
"We don't get a chance to celebrate this?" Aro asked.
"Oh, we'll figure something out, together," Tia assured as she began leading him back to the office, "something very good. But we need to get back to work now. I got what I really wanted on my break here."
"Tia?" Aro asked now beginning to feel, at least a little, like he'd been had.
"What?" she said with a smile, stopping for a moment and just looking directly at Aro. "Tell me."
Aro looked at her for what seemed like the longest time.
"I can't be mad at you," he finally said. "But you really wanted to 'hook' me on the break out here?"
"Well," Tia confessed with a smile, "more like just talk, and move us along together some. I'll admit the engagement was an unexpected bonus."
"But it's real, right?" Aro asked.
"Yes, even without license plate frames or anything else, it's real to me," she assured. "And I hope it's just as real to you."
"It is, Tia," he also assured now.
"Come on, boss," she said invitingly, giving him a kiss. "Let's get back to work."
"You sure I'm the 'boss' around here?" Aro asked.
"Nope!" Tia now smiled playfully. "But I'll let you think you are."
— — — — —
" . . . Corporate retreat?" one vice president objected in Sally's boardroom meeting. "We can't all leave here for a corporate retreat!"
"Well," Sally replied, "thanks to the miracles of modern technology, and my colleague Dana's experience with in-the-field and temporary operations set-ups, we are.
"I'll put it bluntly folks," Sally continued. "My assessment of this company has found it demoralized, even unethical in places. Ultimately this company is unsustainable as it is. The turnover here among headquarters staff, and the number of sick days reported is little short of disastrous for any company I've ever seen. I've even talked with some of your current and former colleagues within the last day or so. Most of them I had to give pledges of anonymity to, some I had to make guarantees of immunity and even protection to. And those were the innocent ones! I now know what the secrets are around here folks! And I am not proud of them!
"Tex Devlin was a good wildcatter at heart," Sally continued. "He tolerated what's become 'normal' around here because he just liked drilling for oil, not running all the rest of this. But it almost killed him and his wife. Well, I won't tolerate it folks, because I know better! I am here to clean up Dinoco! And it starts right here! If any of you aren't going to be fully onboard with straightening out this company, and making it fly right, please go over to those desks along the side of the room here and write up your resignations right now. If you think you can stay just to ride this out, get me out of the way, and then go back to business as usual — I will have your hood! You understand? I am a seasoned corporate attorney who has put executives away in Federal prison! And I wasn't even the prosecutor!
"And," she now said, looking directly at a scowling Louis Rogers, "if anyone thinks they can simply appeal to friends in high places for help, even to the board or key stockholders in this company; I've assembled a dossier of incriminating reports and other evidence that will send those board members and stockholders scurrying to their own lawyers for protection, and send you to the local D.A. begging for a plea bargain faster than you can say 'gusher'! It's no wonder you all wanted an insider to continue running this company — they'd keep running things your way! They'd have to, 'cause you'd have the goods on them, the 'dirt' to blackmail and coerce them with, if they didn't. Well, meet your worst nightmare folks — an honest corporate attorney, who's clean . . . squeaky clean . . . and can't be bought . . . for any price, or any degree of threats!
"You will now hand each of your mobile phones to my associate Dana Mater and her key staff here for the duration that you are in this boardroom," Sally directed, now asserting full control over the situation. "Your employment contracts and confidentiality agreements, that each of you have already signed in the past, give me the right to ask for this. Each of you know the penalties for failing to comply with your contracts. Your mobiles will be returned to you as you leave. I will meet with each one of you in turn in my office next door. I will then be holding a press conference. That is all!
"Mister Rogers," Sally said turning to him again, "I'll work from the top down here. Turn your phone over to Dana, and then come with me. You're first!"
Louis Rogers continued to scowl angrily at Sally as he thrust his mobile phone at Dana, and followed Sally into her office.
"Shut the door please, Mister Rogers," Sally casually directed as she took her place behind her desk.
Rogers shut the door behind him, almost slamming it.
"Alright, Mizzz McQueen," Rogers growled, "the bumper guards are off! Resign now, or I'll have a majority of this board demanding your resignation within the hour."
"Oh come on," Sally replied. "Is that the best you can do? I was really looking forward to something more. Oh well, I'll have to live with my disappointment."
"Don't get so cocky, Mizz McQueen," Rogers responded. "For you see, I've also heard that there are some potentially embarrassing recordings that could come to light concerning you and your husband, and shall we say some of your off-hours escapades. I hear they really don't suit the 'family friendly' image you and your husband have been cultivating, and they're just not befitting a respectable C.E.O. of this company. So, do you wish to resign, or shall I just not stand in the way of allowing the public to have a listen? I strongly believe these recordings would not play well around here."
"You sure you want to do that, Louis? To me?" Sally asked.
Rogers smiled, sensing he'd gained the advantage now, "Oh most sure, Sally. My backers and I have waited too long to gain control of this company. Mister Tex is almost all the way out now, and we're not going to allow any legal hayseed from a small town to get in our way. Now resign and run along, or make front-page news on the tabloids in a most distasteful and perhaps ruinous way. Your choice."
"Well, Mister Rogers," Sally replied, "it might be a little late for you to be making such an offer to me anyway . . . because unfortunately you see, I already have a letter here, approved by a majority of the board, firing you. They were only too happy to sign onto it, after I told them what your derivatives trading program had actually accomplished, or rather what it had done to the company. And that was before I got to the really good stuff!"
"Monica," Sally said, now calling her secretary via her desk phone intercom, "would you let my special guests in now please?"
The double doors from Sally's outer office now opened, and several formal-looking cars came through.
"Why Richard, what are you doing here today?" Rogers asked with some surprise as he looked among the new arrivals.
"That's Board Vice Chair Alantra to you, Mister Rogers," his one-time friend stated.
Rogers became inwardly chilled.
"Mister Louis Rogers," the lead car said, "I'm Deputy District Attorney Pierce Arrow, and I'm placing you under arrest for corporate fraud, as well as criminal intent to sell products you knew to be harmful. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?"
"Yes," Rogers replied, icily. "You're coming down, too, Mizz McQueen. Your husband's racing career will be ruined. Your sponsorship is lost. The Devlins will be impoverished. Congratulations . . . you've wrecked Dinoco! The stockholders will be eating you for breakfast, taking everything you have!"
"Already ran that assessment," Sally casually replied. "If I were to perpetuate the cover-ups around here once I knew of them, I would be liable . . . and subject to disbarment from being an attorney. But since I'm cleaning them up, the law covers me."
"Sally also has the remaining board's full support in this," Alantra assured.
"Oh and by the way," Sally added coming over to Rogers and handing him a sealed envelope, "here, you've been served. Dinoco is also filing a civil suit against you for damages for both mismanagement of the derivatives trading program, and your endangering the company through your failure to disclose the dangers you knew of and concealed regarding the company's Rust-eze products. And don't try sheltering your money overseas. I've already got attorneys in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, as well as here in the U.S., freezing your assets as we speak. I've got this timed down to the second here. Be sure and ask for your mobile phone back on your way out. Actually, just save yourself time, and hand it to the nice officers right next to you."
Rogers could only glare at her now.
"But you think passionate relations between married cars is a bad thing?" Sally added, starting to surprise Rogers yet again.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Rogers now disavowed.
"Well, I don't think it's a bad thing," Lightning assured, coming out from behind a side door. "I love my wife. I'm not ashamed of the love we share, and I don't mind if the whole world knows it. We knew our bedroom was bugged."
"You knew?" Rogers exclaimed, caught off guard. "It . . . It didn't sound like it!"
"So our performances were that convincing, huh?" Sally responded with a smile. "Remember you have been advised of your rights, and we do have almost a half dozen witnesses here.
"Plus," Sally added speaking softly to Rogers, "this office is bugged, remember?"
"Oh no . . . I forgot," Rogers suddenly realized with a chill. "Wait! I didn't say that!" he quickly tried to correct himself, now realizing he had just implicated himself in the buggings.
"Thank you for that little 'gotcha' admission just now as well, Louis," Sally said to him with a smile. "But, we really don't need the tapes from those bugs now to convict Mister Rogers of at least two illegal wiretap counts, not to mention invasion of privacy . . . do we, Mister Arrow?"
"Nope," Arrow agreed. "Mister Rogers, I'm now also charging you with two counts of conspiracy to commit an illegal wiretap, plus one count of extortion, and an illegal invasion of privacy."
"I was hoping to be able to use this as well," Sally said now handing a booted Rogers a second sealed envelope. "You, and any parties who've assisted you, have now also been served with a personal lawsuit from Lightning and myself for invasion of privacy and intent to defame our characters. And I think the Devlin family might be filing a suit of their own as well. We don't mind though, right Lightning? We're willing to share here."
"Yep," Lightning simply agreed with a smile as he looked towards her.
"But all that should reduce you jist about right down to 'broke, I 'reckon . . . as we say in 'Hillbilly Hell'," Sally noted with a twang in her accent now, and a wink towards Lightning.
Lightning smiled at her, "You're never going to let me forget that remark, are you?"
"Nope," she replied with a grin, looking at her husband. "It's just too much fun!"
"Oh please, spare us," Rogers sighed with exasperation as he rolled his eyes.
"Hey! Be nice to the happily married couple here," Sally objected. "Now you have just one more choice," she posed to Rogers, once again looking at him. "Will you make your one allowed phone call to your lawyer? Or will you call your conspirators and stop those tapes from being released? I'd kind of prefer the latter myself. But hey, it's your call . . . 'cause either way, Louis . . . you're busted! Check and mate," Sally concluded. "Have a nice day."
Two police cars now led Rogers out.
"Please stand by outside, Mister Arrow," Sally now said as she watched Rogers being led away, " . . . there's more."
"I know," Arrow replied. "Misses McQueen, Sally, we can't thank you enough for helping us here. I've been wanting to get the goods on what's been going on around here for years. I know that Mister Devlin wasn't involved, but this company's still going to take a hit."
"But not as bad of a hit if this had been allowed to continue," Alantra admitted. "Sally, this is the toughest thing the board has ever been asked to support. We've had a couple of resignations, but the rest of us are supporting you in this. You succeeded in made it clear in the emergency board conference call early this morning that if this company is to survive, this had to be done. I have to admit though that this was a nice piece of planning and execution, Sally. Well done!"
"Thank you, Mister Alantra," Sally replied.
"You can call me Richard now, Sally," he smiled.
"The law is on your side," Arrow added. "But I wish you luck."
"Thanks, Pierce," Sally replied. "I'll need it in the press conference coming up.
"Lightning," she said, now turning to him, "that was perfect timing and a perfect performance on your part, my love. We shocked Rogers right into admitting his own guilt . . . on both the home and office buggings here . . . in front of witnesses no less! And the best part is that he had already even been read his Miranda rights . . . by the Deputy D.A. no less. So his confessions are admissible in court! Ka-Chow, baby! I love nailing the guilty like that . . . I haven't done it in years, not since I left L.A.!"
"You're having fun now, aren't you?" Lightning observed with a smile.
"Right now, yes, sweetheart," Sally admitted. "Lawyers just fantasize about victories like this. This is like my very own 'Perry Mason' TV episode . . . solving the crime, and doin' a 'gotcha' on the guilty! Wow what a rush!"
Lightning laughed as he enjoyed Sally's glee. "It's so good to see you win, Sally, really win."
"It's the same feeling I get every time I see you cross the finish line first," Sally replied. "I love you, I love who we are, and I love what we do . . . together."
"I love you, too, Sal," Lightning sighed. "I wish we could celebrate, but I'm holding you and everyone else up here though. You still have work to do."
"We celebrate tonight though!" Sally promised Lightning, before turning to Arrow. "Your folks can get those bugs out of our bedroom, right?"
"We have a team sweeping the Devlin compound right now, Sally," Arrow assured. "Your bedroom is first on the list, but we should have the whole house done by the time you get home this evening. Detectives are also questioning the Devlins' day help to try and identify who was responsible for placing them. Hopefully, Louis Rogers might consider being helpful now in that regard, if he wants to spend something less than the rest of his life in prison."
"Sorry, my beautiful crime-fighter, but it's back to work for now," Lightning said to Sally.
"I'll see you again shortly at the press conference though," Sally said as she kissed him before they parted. "So don't go far, and don't be late!"
"Just point me to a hot oil, and I'll stick close," Lightning pledged.
"Uhh . . . just go out around the corner to the nearest Oilly's," Sally suggested. "The D.A.'s office swears by that place. Just stay away from the stuff they got in this office however. It's one of the next things I intend to be fixing around here. Trust me for now though . . . you'll thank me later!"
"I'll bring you back a hot oil, too, then," Lightning assured.
"You're my lifesaver!" Sally replied as he turned to leave.
"And I always will be!" Lightning pledged.
"Okay folks," Sally said turning to the rest of them as Lightning left. "Let's reset this trap, and move on."
As soon as everyone else cleared out of her office, Sally motored over to her private door to the boardroom, opening it and calling out, "Mister Lexus, I'd like to see you now . . ."
— — — — —
"Ladies and gentlecars, thank you all for coming on such short notice," Sally later said to an assembled press conference with Lightning right up front beside her, as Dana and several board members and other key staffers looked on around her.
"I was sent here by Dinoco founder and chairman, Tex Devlin," Sally continued, "to clean up this company and prepare it for a new future under a new C.E.O. There is no easy way to put this . . . I have found problems here. First, I am saddened to report that Dinoco Executive Vice President Louis Rogers, along with several other Dinoco executives, have been placed under arrest for fraud related to concealment and misrepresentation of derivative trading scheme results that were under his direction, and for concealment of facts related to a product of Dinoco's that my husband, and longtime Rust-eze spokescar, Lightning McQueen, would now like to address."
"Ladies and gentlecars," Lightning picked up, reading mostly from a script that Sally had prepared for him, "and to all my racing fans and supporters, whom my wife and I have long considered frankly our family. I regret to share with you discoveries that Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment is defective, and harmful. The original founders of Rust-eze Incorporated, Rusty and Dusty Tappet, never knew of this. But, internal Dinoco studies that I have become aware of reveal that this product exacerbates rust in areas outside of where it is directly applied. Complete known facts, along with copies of the internal reports, are included in your press kits. I was extremely disappointed to learn of this, and I apologize to my fans and anyone else who has used this product. I am assured that Dinoco is recalling all Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment products, and the company is inviting anyone who has purchased these products to return them for a full refund. Anyone who has used this product should consult a physician, and should call a special toll-free hotline that I'm told will be provided to you shortly here to register for possible claims settlement."
"My husband and I have also had our privacy invaded by illegal wiretaps and buggings as a part of all this," Sally now picked up.
"If anything should come out of a personal nature," Lightning added, remaining right beside his wife, as he looked at her now, "just know that I love her completely, and I am not ashamed. Actually, I'm glad that my wife and I have a healthy, and even passionate, marriage. It's something I would hope everyone can come to know."
Lightning then surprised Sally with a kiss, right in the middle of the press conference, amid the frenzied flashing of cameras, and even some cheering and whistling from the press.
"Whoo! Okay now . . . getting back to business here," Sally said with both a big smile and a deep red blush on her blue fenders, amid broad laughter from the press corps. "Seriously though, as you can imagine, this is a difficult time now for the Dinoco Corporation, and our Dinoco family of employees and investors. I have advised the major stock exchanges where Dinoco shares are traded of these developments that I am telling you here, and they have confirmed that trading of Dinoco stock is halted until further notice. The company has significant assets however, and we are not anticipating a need to plan for, or enter, bankruptcy at this time. Yes, this is a storm for our company . . . a big one. But to all of you out there who depend on Dinoco, for dividends, for salaries or wages, and even for quality, and safe, fuel and other products . . . I pledge that this company will survive, and be there for you. I will soon be taking our headquarters and other key staff on a company retreat, not only to plan our direction ahead, but to reconnect Dinoco and its board members, executives and managers with the values, the basic values, that makes teams, families, and communities strong . . . and most importantly winners, which is something my husband, Lightning, and I know a thing or two about. Together with my love and racing partner, and I'm not ashamed at all to admit my connection with him, because it makes me strong — Lightning and I intend to make Dinoco into nothing less than a close-knit community, even a family, and most importantly, a winning team."
"I invite you," Sally concluded, "to come with us to our hometown, Radiator Springs, and watch as we turn this company around, and make you all proud again, to see cars, and a company, doing things right. We have representatives stationed around the room here who can answer your detailed questions about any and all aspects of this company and its subsidiaries far better than I can. I will also be available for individual interviews out on the floor here. Thank you again for coming."
The press now swarmed around Sally and Lightning, with dozens of bright lights and camera flashes.
"Well Stickers, here we go!" Sally sighed as she turned to him. "It'll be work here . . . real work, but at least we'll be headed home now for this next part."
"Sally," he simply replied, "way to go, lady! I am so proud of you . . . so very proud."
Sally just kissed him again, as the cameras clicked away.
"Our love, and what we care about," she said to him, " . . . that is our strength. I couldn't do this without you."
"I know," he replied reassuringly, "and I wouldn't let you."
Sally could only smile with a tear in her eye as she shook her hood and moved in to nudge him closely.
"Be with me in the interviews here?" she asked.
"Like glue," he promised. "We're a team. Let's do it."