Chapter Four

Someone knocked on the door to Finn's hotel room, and he answered to the four tuners. "Can we talk?" Boost asked.

"Of course," Finn replied. "Come in."

"Montgomery's still in jail, right?"

"For now. Why?"

"We just think we should apologize for spending seventeen years taking orders from him," Wingo said.

"I've done the same thing you have, for far longer, so what are you apologizing to me for?" The tuners looked at him in surprise. "And I must say, it was your service under Montgomery that allowed us to protect Alexa from him."

"So...what're we doing here?" Boost asked.

"I can't answer that question. Only you can, but I do thank you for stopping by. I was beginning to wonder what happened to you, since you basically dropped off the face of the earth."

"Kinda had to. Who knew how he'd be to us if he knew where we were," DJ said.

"Then we heard he was arrested, so we figured it would be safe for us to settle down somewhere," Wingo added. "It was unanimous between us to find you and apologize and now apparently we don't have to."

Finn nodded. "Boys, I'm glad you came because our adversary is already working on a way to get out of prison. I'm in contact with one of his fellow inmates to monitor his movements."

"So now what?"

"Stay here. As ironic as it sounds, you'll be safest here."

"And if he does break out?" Boost asked.

"Easy. Haul bumper to Radiator Springs, regroup, and then end this."

CARS

Axle wiped off a muffler and set it carefully in its crate. He allowed the rag to fall to the floor and he turned to drive back to his apartment in the back of the garage. He drove into his living room and switched the television on before settling into the chair. Aside from the usual murders, arsons, burglaries, and carnappings, nothing too terribly interesting was happening. He muttered, "Let me know when there's world peace," and changed the channel.

"Wouldn't that be nice, huh?" Torque's voice asked beside him, though Axle could've sworn there was nothing there. However, when he looked to his right, his brother's semi-transparent ghost was idling beside him.

"I think I'll give up on thinking I'm crazy."

"'Bout time."

"So what bad news do you bear this time?"

"Chrysler, can't a ghost drop by the realm of the living to say 'hi'?"

"You said Axlerod's employer was your unfinished business, and wasn't he just arrested?" Torque nodded. "So why didn't you move on?"

"I've gotta see this through, and besides, I think something's about to go wrong. There's more to this than what you saw on the nightly news."

"Kinda figured. He doesn't look like a restaurant owner to me."

"He's not."

Axle nodded. "Spy ring run by ghosts. Welcome to the new normal."

"Still as snarky as ever, I see. Now look, Montgomery's ex-chief of CHROME Britain, and he's about to break out of jail. As always, keep an eye out for anything unusual, and if this girl Alexa shows up, you know what to do."

"Okay."

Torque winked and disappeared. Axle changed the channel again, shifting his position nad settling in to watch something about-ironically-ghosts.

CARS

Lexie scanned Radiator Springs for what had to be the twenty-second time, but she never counted. As it had been the previous multitude of times she checked, everything was moving along as racers cleared out and things returned to normal. "Ciao, Mini McQueen," Francesco said as he parked next to her.

"Hey," she replied. "Get shamed by my dad again?"

"Francesco is never shamed. Besides, it was a tie."

"Oh. I heard the Grand Prix is back on next month, which gives you a built-in tie-breaker."

"It is about a-time. No season is a-complete without the a-Grand Prix."

"True that." Lexie nodded and then scanned the town again. Everything seemed normal, so she couldn't figure out why she felt so nervous all of a sudden. She shook her hood and pushed the thoughts from her mind.

CARS

Finn examined the envelope under his tire, postmarked from the prison. The top edge had been taped, indicating that it had been opened, examined, and closed again for delivery. He glanced around the dimly lit hotel room, and while the tuners were asleep in a corner, he was certain no one else had eyes or ears inside the room. He opened the envelope and removed the letter.

'McMissile,

'The day is upon us. I overheard it myself, straight from Montgomery's bumper. When the lights go out, they go out all over London.'

He set the letter down without finishing it and glanced at the tuners again. He'd heard of something like what Axlerod had described before, but it seemed so outlandish at the time that he thought almost nothing of it. Now it was happening, or that was the rumor Montgomery tried to spread to cover his tracks. Finn wouldn't put it past his ex-chief to lie like that.

The lamp over the sink next to the door flickered for over a minute and then went out, plunging the room into darkness. Finn drove over to the window and peered outside. London was blanketed in darkness, and Finn was certain that in this instance Montgomery had kept to his word. He turned and drove out of the hotel room, down the ramp, and out through the front doors. He turned left and scanned the street. Cars gathered in clusters with their headlights on, some looking in, some out, and exchanged whispers, undoubtedly about the power outage. He turned right and spotted the prison by sheer virtue of the cars fleeing it and the other cars trying to stop them. Finn wove through the mess to the side of Damien deAngelo, who was searching the crowd of prisoners. "Montgomery wouldn't have come out this way," he said.

"I know," deAngelo replied.

"I'll probably send the tuners to a safehouse. Any recommendations?"

"Can they speak French?"

"I'm not sure. Montgomery could've sent them anywhere in the seventeen years since they slipped from my tires into his."

"I'll make the arrangements. I believe you have some news to deliver to a few friends of yours?"

"Yes, I do, but I can take care of several things at once."

The two cars continued to weave through the crowd, and among the prisoners, Finn spotted Axlerod, who rushed over to them. "Did you get the message?" he asked in a low voice.

"Loud and clear," Finn replied. "I have to say I'm impressed. I'm not sure I would've thought of a prison break like this."

"What would you be doing in prison?" deAngelo asked.

"Ask Montgomery." Finn looked at Axlerod. "If Montgomery finds out what you did for me, you won't be safe." He returned his attention to deAngelo. "Should we send him with them?" deAngelo nodded, and Finn looked back at Axlerod. "Don't be surprised by the next few minutes. There's already chaos in the streets, so our sudden movements shouldn't surprise you."

"Okay," Axlerod said. "Now what?"

Finn glanced at deAngelo, who nodded, and he nodded to Axlerod. "We're going. Come with us. It's too dangerous for you here."

Axlerod looked uncertainly between the two cars and then slipped between Finn, in front, and deAngelo, in back, as they drove through the darkened London streets. Finn called Siddeley, asking for a ride and recieving an address. He led the way through the streets to the address, watching for anything dangerous.

Siddeley dropped the loading ramp into the abandoned parking lot and the three cars filed onboard. "Paris, if you would," Finn said.

"Can do," Siddeley replied, banking a little to the right.

CARS

Tomber pushed the last of boxes into place and then adjusted the hoods for the last time that day, and then he heard a knock on the door. "Maudit," he whispered, rolling over and all but pulverizing the button that opened the door. His eyes widened at the sight, and he whispered, "Mon dieu."