The Art of Stealing Cars by Kara Tezla
Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the Acceleracers Characters. although I wish I did
Summary: What happens now that all the cars are gone? What's everyone supposed to do when Nolo gets a strange call?
Author's Note:
Chapter Two: CHAOS!
This isn't good," Commented Nolo, who was standing with Karma in the car garage.
"How?" Asked Karma. They were both staring at the spots were their cars once sat. Somebody had managed to get in the garage and take all the cars, without an obvious sound.
"I have no idea, but should we tell the others?"
Karma let out a loud sigh. "We'd better, 'cause if they find their cars gone and we were the last ones in here..."
"Right." Nolo said, starting back towards the entrance. Little did they know that the thieves were still in the building.
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Kara Tezla sat on the bed in the hotel room that she had rented. Supposedly, two racing teams were staying here, and one team had really fancy, expensive, cars. On her lap sat her laptop, the web cam was on.
"How long do I have?" She asked the camera.
"About two minutes at the most, I can't keep the block up for too long or it'll alert the police." Said Mark Anderson, his mouth not matching up with his words on the computer screen. Mark was one of the best technical geniuses in the car-stealing business. Kara grinned at her associate.
"Two minutes it is!" She looked around the room. "This is great; it's really a win-win situation."
"Yeah, cars or money! I love them both." Said Mark.
"And if we play our cards right..."
"We might get both!" Mark shouted.
"Shut up," Kara whispered, glaring playfully. "We don't want anyone to be suspicious."
"Right."
"Okay, I think it's time," Kara looked at the clock, which read 8:00pm on the dot. She grabbed the cell phone that sat beside her on the bed. Kara dialed the number for the hotel, and then put in the room number extension for the room that Nolo was staying in. "Is my voice disguised?" She asked the computer, her voice was barely picked up by the computer microphone.
"Yes," Mark answered, staring intently at the computer screen. He was recording every minute of it, so it better be perfect.
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The phone rang in Kurt and Nolo's room. Kara had made sure that the phone in their room was on the side that Nolo was while they were out, so he'd have to pick up the phone. After a couple of rings, the Mexican answered it.
"Um... hello?"
"Do you want your car back?" Kara's disguised voice answered, grinning. On the other end, all Nolo heard was deep, gravelly tones that took him by surprise.
"Excuse me?" Asked Nolo, wanting to verify what they had just said.
"Do you want your car back?" Kara repeated.
"What do you know about my car!" Nolo shouted, beckoning Kurt over.
"Enough to know that it's valuable; 500 horsepower, twin-turbo, rotary engine, with 35 series rubber carbon fiber racing brakes and 20 inch, WR2 series Y wheels. Not to mention a unique gold and blue paint job, which only makes the deal better."
Nolo listened as Kara rattled off a very good description of
Synkro. "Yeah, but how do I get my car?" He asked.
"Listen carefully. This time tomorrow, meet me at the Racer's Cafe, 487 Melrose Avenue. If you don't make it, expect a call to your hotel the next night at the same time. Got it, Nolo?" She enunciated his name, still grinning.
Nolo was busy scribbling down the address when he heard his name. "How do you know my--" He started, but was cut off by the click of the other phone hanging up. "...Name. And he's gone."
Kurt stared at the address that Nolo had just finished writing down. "Hey! I've been there; it's actually not too far from here."
Nolo nodded. "Cool,"
"One problem, though,"
"Yeah?"
"It's one of the most popular hangouts for all racers in LA."
"So?"
"That means that whoever this is, they know racing, and they steal cars."
"Your point is...?" Nolo asked, his eyebrows arching into a questioning expression.
Kurt gave Nolo an isn't-this-obvious? look. "It could be any of the racers or gang leaders in LA! And trust me, that's pretty close to a fifth of the population, at least! And if it's a gang leader, he could send any one of his flunkies to make the deal to conceal his identity."
A confused look crossed Nolo's face. "Right, whatever you say, Kurt. You're the expert on all things LA. But..."
"But what?"
"You were wrong about the whole 'car garage' thing."
"Yeah, so what? I was wrong about one thing."
Nolo just nodded. Things were confusing enough as it was.
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Kara hung up the phone and looked at Mark. "Everything is set up, are we ready?"
Mark glanced to the right. "It sure looks as if that's the case."
"Alrighty, then, I should get going, I'll be there in a bit." Kara could hear shouts in the background, probably another fight.
"Yeah... see ya." Mark waved and shut off the web cam.
Kara shut down the laptop and flung herself backwards onto the bed. There was the patter of running feet as somebody ran down the hallway. She was sure that it was that Nolo Passaro or the Grand Prix guy that he was rooming with, what was his name? She forgot, but there was the buzz of talking from the next room over.
Her eyes flew over the ceiling, eventually landing on the mini-fridge that sat in the corner. Glass cups sat on top. Glass cups. Hmm... oh! She rolled off the bed and grabbed one.
Pressing it to the wall adjacent to the room that the talking was in. I wonder if this really works... she thought. Kara leaned up against the wall, her ear right next to bottom of the glass. The voices cleared up a bit; just enough to hear what they were saying.
"--is he?" Asked a female voice as soon as the buzz cleared away.
"I have no idea, but he's the one with our cars." Said the male, it was definitely Nolo.
"And you know this, how?"
"He gave a very detailed description of Synkro... things that you could only know by getting under the hood."
There was a moment of silence. "What about the rest of the Teku, huh?" Commented the female. "How do you know that it wasn't one of them?"
"Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?" Nolo finished, and then the sound of the door opening and closing. Kara pulled away from the glass, putting it back on the fridge.
"I think I should get going, now," She said to herself, grabbing the laptop and cell phone off the bed. Kara exited the room with a small smile... everything was going as planned.
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Nolo exited Karma's room and started walking down the hallway. Right after he walked by the room next to Karma's, a tall, slender girl came out. Her long, highlighted, dark-brown, hair fell down to the small of her back, complementing her hazel eyes. She had a gray and blue racing jacket on with matching pants to go with it. A black and silver laptop sat under her right arm, a smile crossing her face as her eyes met his.
Nolo practically tripped over himself as she smiled at him. The girl walked in the opposite direction of Nolo and entered the elevator. His eyes followed her until she disappeared from view. Who was she? He thought that she looked familiar, but he wasn't sure.
Shaking off the experience, he headed for Vert and Shirako's room, not sure if he was ready to tell them the fate of their cars.
Okay, there's the second chapter! Now to my reviewers:
Nikki Wylde: Thanks! Much appreciated. Oh, and when are you going to update Sabrina? I've been waiting!