The Great Car Mystery
Delaney
In the hotel parking garage, I looked from Walt to my car. My brow creased in confusion. "It's in a different spot."
Next to me, Walt said, "No, it's not." He pointed. "Look. Section Three, just like you said."
I was squinting now. "Yeah, but…I don't recall parking next to that pillar."
Walt chortled. "And I don't recall what I had for breakfast, but you don't see me complaining."
I snorted. "Liar. You had donuts. I know, because I saw you eat them."
"Yeah, you know," he said. "That doesn't mean I know."
He was full of it. Walt was sharp as a tack. When I replied with only a sidelong glance, he looked back to the car. "You really think it was moved? If it's been here for a month, how can you be sure?"
"I'm not," I confessed. Still, I pointed at the concrete column near my driver's side door. "But I normally hate those pillar things. I always ding my door on them, so I try to avoid them if I can."
Then again, I'd parked the car ages ago, and that whole day had been a blur. The hotel had refused to check me in, and the frantic app-checking that followed was how I'd discovered that my credit card was over its limit and my bank account was drained.
I'd ended up slinking away from the front desk in disgrace while the other people in line watched with varying degrees of sympathy or amusement.
With my face burning, I'd dragged both of my suitcases back to the parking garage and shoved my second one into the trunk, with plans to retrieve it later.
Afterward, I'd set out for Tessa's on foot, dragging suitcase number one behind me.
And now, here I was, back where the whole fiasco had begun.
Sort of. Because I still wasn't convinced that I'd parked next to that concrete pillar.
Still, I dug into my purse and pulled out the remote for my car. Bracing myself, I pressed the button to unlock the doors.
Nothing exploded.
So far, so good.
As the lights blinked and the locks clicked open, I let out a long, relieved breath.
Walt said, "Hang on. Lemme check the back seat."
I tried to joke. "For what? A dead body?"
He looked at me like I was crazy. "No, a live body that might want you dead."
Yikes. And now I was sorry I'd asked.
At something on my face, he laughed. "Relax. Just better safe than sorry, right?"
Probably. But I wasn't about to let him check it alone, so I tagged along as he took a good, long look into the back seat.
There was nobody there.
Not even Janet.
Together, Walt and I then checked the trunk. Aside from my second suitcase sitting exactly where I'd left it, the trunk was blissfully empty. I reached out and gave the suitcase a tentative lift, noting with relief that it felt just as heavy as before.
As I closed the trunk, Walt asked, "So, do you know where you're going?"
He'd asked me the same question yesterday, and the answer hadn't changed. Sheepishly, I admitted, "Not really."
He gave a slow nod. "I've been thinking."
"Oh, yeah? About what?"
He grinned. "I don't know where I'm going either."
"Really?" I cocked my head. "But I thought you said you were heading to Florida. You know…because of the fishing?"
He scoffed. "In June? I mean, sure, the fishing's great, but I'm not ready to sweat my ass off. I was thinking of heading up to the U.P., maybe rent a cabin on the lake or something."
I was intrigued. "Which Lake?"
"I dunno. There's only a million to choose from." His eyes brightened. "There's always the biggie."
I smiled. "Superior?"
He shot me with a finger gun. "Exactly!"
My pulse quickened with the first real excitement I'd felt in days. "I hear there's some great beaches."
"And great fishing."
Silently, I recalled Janet inviting herself to wherever I was going. At the time, I'd thought she was utterly insane. I hardly knew her.
I'd known Walt for barely a month. And yet, a crazy part of me wanted to pull a Janet of my own and invite myself along to wherever Walt was going.
But was it truly crazy?
I'd wanted a cabin.
Plus a beach.
I wasn't a huge fan of fishing, but I did love seafood. And I was a decent cook. I could fry up a perch with the best of them.
It sounded like a win-win to me.
By the time Walt fired up his truck and drove out of the parking garage, our plans were mostly settled.
Was I stalling?
Definitely.
Eventually, I would need to make a permanent home someplace. But everywhere I loved, including Mackinac Island, felt just a little tainted. Plus, what I really needed was time to decompress and finish my book.
When summer ended, I could figure everything out – maybe get a fresh start someplace totally new. Maybe, with enough time, I'd make new friends of my own.
The thought was just a little unsettling – but not half as unsettling as what I discovered when I finally climbed into my car.
The driver's seat was in a totally different position – so far back that I could barely reach the pedals.
And that wasn't all. When I drove to the parking booth and gave the attendant my ticket, he told me I was already paid up, which made no sense, because I hadn't paid anything.
But the way he talked, I was paid up through the end of summer.
Immediately, I thought of the guy I knew as Maddox. Had he done this? He must've, because he was the only one who'd listened to me whine about my car.
But how would he even know where to find it? After all, I hadn't told him the name of the garage.
And even if I had told him, why on Earth would he move it from one spot to another? And how would he do this at all? It's not like I'd given him a key.
Of course, cars were stolen all the time – key or no key.
But my car hadn't been stolen. It had been only moved.
Maybe.
Regardless, why would he pay for my parking?
As I drove out of the garage and into Chicago traffic, heading toward Tessa's building, I could hardly focus on the road. All I could think about was him, wondering who he was and why he'd done any of this.
I mean, it had to be him, right?
But what if it wasn't?
What if nothing had been done at all?
There was always the other possibility.
I'd completely lost my mind.