Seeing as it was Christmas the day before yesterday here's an extra chapter. Enjoy!
Finn and Holley had both seen the old car come in and start a conversation with the Texan.
"That could be our suspect," Holley whispered and Finn nodded.
"Activate eavesdrop sequence," he said quietly and a little antenna came out of his tire and pointed straight at the two cars.
'I helped carnap them,' he heard in his earpiece.
"It's definitely her," he whispered to Holley.
Just as Doc came into the Cotter Pin, their joint phone line rang. Finn looked at Holley sharply as she checked the caller ID.
"It's Siddeley," she whispered, before accepting the call and hurrying to the ladies room, much to Finn's immense relief. He was grateful for such a good partner.
"Where's the kid?" Doc demanded. Deborah was definitely intimidated by the car's scowl but bravely answered.
"In a compound just north-east of here. Monroe had it built."
"Who's Monroe?" Doc demanded again.
"He's the one who told me to sneak them badges," Deborah answered loudly.
"Doc," Tex cut in. "Let's take this outside."
"Hud," Smokey stopped the car before he could drive out. "Go grab that Sheriff friend of yours."
Doc glared at the pick up truck, but knowing his temper would cause a scene, headed over to the table.
"We have a lead," he told Sheriff, ignoring the curious looks from his friends.
"We do?" Sheriff asked and Doc nodded. "Excuse me," Sheriff told the other cars before following Doc outside.
"Hello, Siddeley?"
Holley quickly isolated Finn's line so that he could listen to their suspect without being distracted by the conversation.
"Holley," the plane greeted. "Where's Finn?"
"He's listening into a conversation," Holley explained. "Our number one suspect in the carnapping case just showed up. She's talking to Tex Dinoco!"
"You don't say," Siddeley said. "Well, when he's finished, I might have something for you. I don't know if it's relevant, but there's a compound building just north of where I am now. I flew over between the clouds so that they couldn't see me, but it looks relatively new and quite suspicious. It's not registered in the system, but I can detect quite a lot of activity down there."
"Compound building just north of you," Holley repeated. "Right, thank you, Siddeley. I'll tell Finn and we'll keep you posted."
"Quite alright. Good luck, agent!"
Smokey's head was reeling slightly as they exited the bar. He was not expecting this. One moment Doc had insisted that they had to call Marshall, whoever he was, and now, suddenly, their number one suspect had turned up out of thin air and was willing to just give them information.
"Alright, Ma'm," Tex said smoothly just as Doc and Sheriff came out. "Tell us what you did at the track and where our cars are. We won't hold nothin' against ya."
"Speak for yourself," Doc mumbled just loud enough for Sheriff to hear.
Deborah, comforted by Tex's words, told them everything.
"Monroe, he approached me in Philadelphia about a month ago. He said he knew how dangerous the track was, and that he could end this season if he carnapped two racers. He said nothin' would happen to them and he'd make sure they were safe. He said all I needed to do was to apply fer the job with a name that isn't mine and steal three security badges. Well, I did that and got onto the flight he told me to. Once I reached the compound though, I overheard him talking with one of his henchmen... They said somethin' about a helicopter comin' to 'pick up the red one',"
Doc's jaw tightened at this.
"And about how they're gonna use the blue one to get back at you." She nodded at the Texan. "So I helped them get out of the building and we were gunna' escape, but the alarm went off and we split up... I guess they got caught again."
The old car looked down ashamed.
"I know that was stupid," she admitted. She really did feel sorry for what she'd done, but she wasn't about to apologize for it.
A small silence followed as the four cars absorbed all of the information they had been given. Sheriff immediately thought of a rescue mission, but he would need additional officers for that. Smokey thought back to some unusual amount of traffic they'd had over the past few months but this 'Monroe' had arranged it so that the traffic was just inconspicuous enough to not cause questions to be asked. Doc was silently panicking about Lightning. That crazy Grand Prix last year had made him realize just how popular Lightning was and as a result, how much danger he could be in. Tex just hoped to goodness that Strip wouldn't try anything noble and foolish.
Smokey spoke first.
"You were right to come to us," he said gently but sternly. "You can stay at my house. You'll be safe there."
"Do you think the racers are still there?" Doc asked. Deborah nodded.
"Helicopter wasn't supposed to come until later today," she said. "I don't think they were gonna move Weathers."
"We can still get there in time," Sheriff stated. "How far away is this compound?"
"'Bout two hours," Deborah said.
A sudden energy suddenly took hold of the four cars. Smokey got one of the forklifts to take Deborah to his house just as two trucks rolled down the road.
"Hey," Mack yawned sleepily. "What's going on?"
"We have a lead," Doc said.
"We do!" Mack looked thrilled. "That makes this whole drive worth the while. What is it?"
By now light drops of rain had started falling (as Smokey predicted) and Tex realized he had to call Marshall. He got into Cal's trailer and quickly dialed through.
Another day, another teeny tiny lead. Man, Marshall hated this part of his job. They had released the picture of their suspect and just about every Ford Buick in the country had been reported as the possible suspect. Every time a fake report had come through security and reached him, Marshall had to spend at least 20 minutes sorting out the mess before going back to his actual work. After checking the train station footage, he had finally been able to get access to the airport security. He luckily had Dinoco's security team to help him and by the end of the day they found that their suspect had boarded a flight to Georgia.
"Finally," Marshall breathed, exhausted by a whole day of tearing through a haystack. At least they had finally found a needle. The security head of Dinoco hated doing 'damage control'. He would much rather plan a security detail out properly. to make sure these kinds of events didn't happen. It was far more rewarding work, while this was immensely frustrating. He was starting to come up with ideas so that this would NEVER happen again. At the forefront of his list was the idea that Weathers should wear a tracking device. He seriously doubted that the racer or Tex would agree to that idea but he decided to mention it anyway.
Speaking of Georgia... he needed to check up on Tex. Gray had called the guard on night shift at the truck stop and Tex had called when he had woken up but that had been hours ago. Time to check in again. Trust Tex to go on some crazy adventure without a proper security detail. At least he had a Sheriff with him...
The phone rang before Marshall could make the call and he was a pleasantly surprised to see that it was the number from Gray's trailer.
"Boss," he said as he answered the phone.
"Marshall!" Tex sounded happy. "I have excellent news for you."
"And what's that?" Marshall was a little worried Tex had just come up with a scheme that Marhsall needed to secure.
"We found your suspect." Tex sounded proud.
"You did?" Marshall almost exclaimed. Almost. He was a trained professional and his voice came out as such.
"Sure did!" Tex's voice then changed from optimistic to serious and commanding. "Now, I need you to get over here immediately. We're in a town called Thomasville. Get Rotor to fly you over."
"Of course," Marshall was right on track. He heard a car coming up behind Tex and recognized the sound as the Sheriff of Radiator Spring's engine. The two exchanged a few words that Marshall couldn't hear before Tex came back on the line. "Bring Sarge, Luigi and Guido from the 95 pit crew. Sheriff says that they could be useful."
"Yes, Sir," Marshall replied.
"Attaboy, Marshall," Tex grinned and hung up.
Marshall quickly informed his security team what was happening and left his second in command in charge with strict instructions to have Rotor on the Dinoco roof in half an hour. He hurried out quickly to get Sarge, Luigi and Guido at their hotel. Time for a rescue mission.
"What's goin' on?" Lou asked as she and the two other racers came out of the bar with Smokey.
"We found the kid," Doc replied just as Tex and Sheriff rejoined the group.
"So what's the plan, Boss?" Gray questioned. The semi had no idea what was going on but he was ready for whatever needed to be done.
"Alright," Doc looked around at the small group. They needed to get onto the same page so that chaos didn't break loose. "Listen closely beause I'm only going to say this once."
All the cars and both trucks fell silent.
"We know where the Kid and Weathers are. They're in a compound a little bit East from here. They were taken by a car called Monroe," he glanced at Tex and Sheriff with an expectant expression.
"Never heard of him," Sheriff stated.
"Can't say I have either," Tex said.
"We don't know what Monroe wants," Doc continued. "But we do know that they're planning on moving Lightning by helicopter later on. My plan is that we go stake out this compound until back up arrives."
"I've radioed in Marshall," Tex explained. "He's my head of security and he'll be flying in."
"Sarge, Luigi and Guido are coming as well," Sheriff added. The two trucks nodded, both understanding what was going on.
"So, we going to stake out this compound?" Moon asked, ready for some action.
"No," Doc shook his head. "I need you to stay here. Chances are when Marshall arrives with the others they'll need someone to explain everything to them."
"What about us?" Mack asked. "I need to get the kid back."
"Track's too small for you," Smokey explained. "I'm thinking I should take the Sheriff and you all should stay here."
"No," Doc and Tex said simultaneously at once and glanced at each other surprised.
"I've come this far," Tex added. "And I might recognize someone you might not."
"And I'm sure as heck not staying here," Doc cut in.
"Stubborn," Sheriff muttered and Smokey silently agreed.
"So we're just supposed to stay here?" Lou asked.
"That's for the best," Sheriff turned towards her. "We don't know what we're up against, and it is essential to maintain the element of surprise."
"And that's why we're not coming along," Gray checked.
"We'll let Marshall make that call when he comes," Tex stated. "Once he arrives, do whatever he sees best. That's what he's payed for."
"Let's get going," Doc said anxiously, impatient with all this waiting. "Monroe might have moved them already for all we know."
"Stay safe, Hud," Lou came beside him.
"Planning on it," Doc smiled just a little bit at her.
"There's an old track this way," Smokey said, nodding down the road.
"So, um," Mack asked the Sheriff quietly. "We're supposed to stay here with these cars?"
"Just hang tight," Sheriff whispered back. Then, turning to the old racers, he nodded to the two trucks. "This here is Mack and Gray, race car drivers. This here is Lou, River, and Moon, old friends of Doc's."
"Race car drivers, huh?" River drove forward. "Back in my day we had to drive ourselves to any races."
"Wow, really? That must have been exhausting," Mack exclaimed.
Leaving the two tow trucks in the capable company of the racers, the Sheriff hurried after Tex. He really didn't like just running off into the woods without any sort of back-up plan or any idea of when they'd be back. But there was no talking Doc out of going so the least he could do was follow. At least now he had Doc's old's crew chief. Maybe the stubborn Hudson Hornet would listen to him. Just maybe.
"Finn," Holley asked quietly. She had returned to the bar to find him by the door.
Finn said glanced at her with a warning look and Holley saw that he was still listening intently even though the cars in question were outside the bar. Holley stayed quiet while Finn concentrated and watched as the antenna slipped back, signalling the end of the conversation.
"They know where the racers are," he said. "And Mater's friend is due to be picked up by helicopter later today. I think it's safe to say our car will be behind this."
"Where are they?" Holley asked, excitement welling inside of her at the thought of preparing for a possible rescue extraction.
"In a compound just east of here apparently."
"You're joking," Holley exclaimed quietly. "Siddeley just called and he actually mentioned a compound he spied and thought you should know about."
"This can't be a coincidence," Finn said grimly. "We'll have to make it there soon. Chances are the captors won't keep their prisoners there any longer if they suspect word is out. We'll leave as as soon as we know what Dinoco and the Doctor are planning."
"Shouldn't we approach them now?" Holley asked. "It's seems like an ideal time."
"I understand where you're coming from, Holley," Finn explained. "But I think we should maintain our cover. Right now we have the element of surprise on our side and I'd hate to loose that, even if we gained a few allies."
"Understood," Holley nodded. It was a tricky call, and she trusted Finn to make it. "Should I tell Siddeley to prepare an air drop for us? I doubt he'll be able to land without causing a scene."
That, Miss Shiftwell," Finn grinned. "Is an excellent idea."
