A quarter of a mile down the road, I’m at my new destination. It’s a gorgeous October morning and the feed store parking lot is packed with trucks and SUVs. I drive Camille’s car to the far-left side, pulling into one of the few open spots near a row of hunting stands for sale and pallets stacked high with deer corn.
The shiny red 1970 Mustang pulls in next to me, right on time.
He exits the car at the same moment I do.
I stand next to Camille’s car while he walks toward me, a black backpack slung over one shoulder. “So much for trying not to attract attention.”
He laughs. “You’re the one who picked the busiest spot in town.”
He’s not wrong.
I look behind him, toward the Mustang. “Where’s Shane?”
“We’re meeting up after I leave here. You look weird with that wig on.”
Rolling my eyes, I lean back inside the Range Rover and grab the key. “Love you too, Eddie.”
Eddie puts the backpack on the hood of Camille’s car and digs inside until he pulls out a small device. I hand him the key and he holds the two together, then pushes a button until it beeps.
“So that’s all it takes to copy it? That little machine?”
Eddie jiggles the device once he’s finished. “Only after a few modifications Shane made to it. But yeah, all I’m doing is sending the signal to unlock the car to this instead of the vehicle. And the code is recorded.”
Eddie and Shane moved into the house about six months after I did. Both grew up in the foster care system. They were placed in the same group home when they were teens and have been together ever since. They have a special skill set: There’s not an engine they can’t rebuild, not a car they can’t steal. As auto technology has evolved, so have they.
Now, they are retired car thieves. Mostly.
Camille would be furious if she found out that not only do my housemates know what is happening today but they’re also helping make sure I don’t get screwed.
Eddie hands me back the remote. “Let me get the tracker attached and then I can grab her garage-door signal if it’s programmed to the car. There’s a good chance once we’re in the garage, the door to get inside the house won’t be locked.”
Yes, trust is a very funny thing.
Do I trust that if Camille is able to find proof of Ben’s wrongdoing that she’ll share it?
No, I don’t.
So my housemates and I made our own plan that she doesn’t know about.
And step one is to make sure we have access to Camille’s car and home as well as knowledge of her location after I turn this car back over to her.
Eddie nods toward the Mustang. “Grab my phone from the car. I’ll download the Range Rover app and connect to her car so we have that as well in case the tracker fails. Ben drives a Range Rover too, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, I think one just like this but black.”
“How cute.”
Once I’ve given him his phone, he goes through the steps to connect to her car. “There’s a good chance their two accounts are connected and we can see where he is too.”
I scratch at the wig. “This seems too easy.”
Eddie shrugs. “The only easy part is getting through the door. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
“Thank you for helping me today. Tell Shane thanks too,” I say quietly.
He stops what he’s doing and looks at me. “We’re a team. Ben Bayliss tries to screw with you then we’re all going to screw with him.”
For the first time today, a smile breaks out on my face.
