“Now.”
With as much dignity as he had left, other customers and salesmen on the lot grinning at his discomfiture, he strode into the sales building. I blew out a gust of irritated breath and eyed Magnus.
“I was speaking English, wasn’t I? Straight up English? No pig Latin or anything?”
“Oh, perfectly structured English,” I replied, grinning. “Excellent grammar.”
I covered my face with my hands. “Ihateused car salesmen.”
“Hey, they have to make a living by outsmarting the customers.”
I walked around the choice Magnus and I made together, a two-year-old Jeep Wrangler, big off-road tires, four doors, more miles on the clock than I liked, but with a huge trade-in or sales value. A steel blue color, it would blend in easily amid the other vehicles on the roadways of this mountain city.
“I like it,” Magnus commented, opening the rear hatch. “The four-wheel drive and those tires, they’ll go anywhere.”
“Let’s hope we don’t have to drive along a mountain trail.”
The salesman returned with the sales manager in tow, forcing me to go through the entire dance again.
“Run my card,” I nearly shouted. “Bug me anymore about extended warranties and I’ll bite your fucking noses off.”
The pair departed in haste, my card in hand.
“Ay-yi-yi,” I groaned. “Why does buying a car have to be such agony?”
Magnus shrugged, examining the engine under the hood. “Persistence pays. You agree just to shut them up.”
“And they make most of their money on those extended warranties,” a guy nearby said. “And the financing. They don’t make much money just on the car deal alone.”
“At the cost they added onto this thing as a trade,” I growled, “they made plenty of money.”
The guy laughed. “You know how the world works. Congrats.”
He wandered away to look at a Dodge pickup, a salesman targeting him from three aisles over. Within seconds, they discussed mileage, engine size, his trade-in, and, of course, extended warranties. I turned away to watch the traffic pass by on the busy street, feeling exposed after so much time hidden away.
Magnus slammed the hood closed, then paced to my side. “That engine looks sound,” he commented, leaning against the side. “I couldn’t hear any problems when we test drove it.”
“I’m sure they covered some flaw over,” I grumbled. “The damn thing will fail when we need it most.”
“Nah. Jeeps are quality. That Dodge he’s looking at will have more problems than this will.”
At long last, I signed the right forms, received the title and my card, and we were given the keys to my new possession. As I refused to trade in my car, I drove it to our prearranged hiding spot for it and joined Magnus in the Jeep.
“Now we stalk?” I asked.
“We stalk.” Magnus drove from the parking garage into traffic. “A few drive-bys to see if he’s home, then find a covert spot to park and watch his house.”
“We can’t be late in getting home or our babies will be upset.”
“Isn’t it nice to be loved?”
Arnaud lived in a huge mansion in an incredibly upscale neighborhood near the foothills. He drove through the iron gates that protected the ultra-rich from the hairy unwashed behind a Mercedes before the coded gates closed.
“My dad is wealthy,” I mused as he drove through the quiet and wide streets. “But he doesn’t waste his money on houses like this.”
“I saw,” Magnus replied. “Not a mansion, but a nice enough place.”
“Will we stick out in this?”
