Bike Week Blues (21 page)

“Mom, we will, but we’re going to do it
intelligently.”

* * *

We left the
Explorer parked in the
field and rode to Fran’s house on the back of the guys’ bikes. I
rode with Todd, the Romulan. Luckily, he was not in costume and
seemed to have bounced back from his defeat at Khitomer. Whatever
happened at Khitomer, it was a big deal to the Romulans and
Klingons. One day, when this was all behind us, I’d rent some old
Star Trek
videos and find out. Right now, Penny Sue was my
only concern. I thought of Grammy Martin.
Please, Grammy, call
in the angels and spirits to watch over my friend.

I clung to Todd’s back like a scared child
clutches a teddy bear. We bumped through the woods and finally onto
the highway. What to do? What to do first? Call Ted. He would get
the local police on the case. And, Judge Parker. He would get state
troopers mobilized.

I choked up at the prospect of what might be
happening to Penny Sue. Red was a wild woman and everyone said
Vulture was worse. And, why did Rich have a government issue gun?
Was it stolen? Was he a cop? Penny Sue speculated he’d been
associated with the courts before his wife got sick. The drama
where he dumped Penny Sue had been strange, to say the least,
especially considering the apologetic phone call he made the very
next day. Had Rich hustled her away that afternoon because he
didn’t want Vulture to see her? If so, what was the connection
between Vulture and Penny Sue, or Vulture and Rich, for that
matter?

We needed answers. If Rich was law
enforcement, his superiors should be notified. Besides, they’d
probably know where to start looking. Surely, Rich had made
progress reports or something, if he really was a cop. Or, like
Penny Sue said, he could simply be a guy who stumbled into
something beyond his control, I thought sadly.

The drive down Route 44 to Peninsula and the
Annina house was one of the longest of my life—not counting the
trips to the hospital to give birth. Those rides were longer,
although this was close. The guys parked their bikes beside Carl’s
workshop where the door was already going up. Carl helped his
mother off the bike, then raced to a computer at the side of the
workshop. He hit a button and the computer started to hum.

“Does she still have that GPS transponder?”
Carl asked as he waited for the computer to boot.

The transponder. I’d forgotten all about it
and felt a flicker of hope. “Yes, she didn’t have time to plant it
on Rich.”

“Then, we’ll find her in a matter of
minutes.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police?” I asked.

“Yep, though we’ll find her long before the
police do. With Bike Week, we’d be lucky if the police returned our
call by tomorrow.”

“We have to try,” Ruthie said adamantly. She
took out her cell phone and went upstairs to make the call.

Carl’s fingers flew over the keyboard.
“Vulture is a vicious nut, probably even psychotic. If he’s got it
in for Penny Sue, for whatever reason, there’s no time to
waste.”

“Vulture’s goon said Rich’s gun was
government issue. If that’s the case, something bigger is going on.
Penny Sue has a key to his room at the Riverview Hotel. I’m sure
it’s in her purse. We should search the room, don’t you think?” I
said.

Carl pointed at a map that had appeared on
the screen. “There, looks like they’re heading for the Canaveral
Seashore.”

“Why would they go there?” Fran asked.

“We’ve seen them there. They’ve cut tunnels
through the palmetto scrub off Klondike Beach.”

“Tunnels in shrubbery?”

“You can’t imagine how thick that stuff is,”
Todd said. “And, they’re definitely up to something important to
slash a path through those prickly palms. The stems are like barbed
wire; they’d shred a person in normal clothing.”

“If they’re so well hidden, how did you find
them?” I asked.

Todd smirked. “Infrared. We were playing one
of our games, and I picked them up. I knew Carl wasn’t masochistic
enough to hide in palmetto. We went back later and discovered a
whole series of tunnels.”

Fran slapped her son on the shoulder. “We
must go there and get them, now. Vulture may be torturing Penny
Sue.”

Carl swung around forcefully. “Mom, you’re
not going.” He looked to Todd. “How can we get in there without
making any noise.”

“Not on the Harleys, that’s for sure. Our
dirt bikes would be even worse.”

“Saul. Saul has electric scooters,” I said
excitedly.

Todd grimaced. “Scooters?”

“He told us his new electric mopeds go close
to forty miles an hour.”

The guys exchanged glances. “That would do,”
Todd allowed.

Fran was already dialing her cell telephone.
“Bobby,” she screeched.

I assumed she’d called Bobby Barnes.

“Penny Sue’s been kidnapped by Vulture. We
have to locate Saul Hirsch. We need his electric mopeds.” She
listened for a second, then covered the mouthpiece and relayed,
“Saul’s with him. They’re at the Pub.” She listened again. “We know
where they took her—to the Canaveral Seashore. Carl gave Penny Sue
a GPS transponder, and we have them on the map. Carl’s buddy knows
where they’re probably hiding out. Okay, they’ll be there.” She
pushed the off button. “Meet them at Saul’s shop downtown. They’ll
be there directly.”

As the guys planned the attack, Ruthie
appeared looking like a whipped puppy. “First, I called the city,
who told me the Cabbage Patch was in the county. So, I called the
county, and the officer I spoke with wasn’t convinced that Penny
Sue had been kidnapped. I told him about the hoodlum dragging her
away and putting his hand over her mouth, but the deputy thought it
might be a case of mistaken identity that would work itself out. I
have to go to the sheriff’s office and fill out a report. As soon
as I do that, they’ll issue a BOLO—be on the lookout. In any event,
the deputy made a point of warning me that resources were stretched
thin.”

“It’s up to us, then.” Carl nodded to the
Klingons. One went to the Bird of Prey and pulled out a square box
with a scope, while the others gathered paintball guns and
ammunition from the wall. Ruthie flew upstairs as Carl plugged
something about the size of a skinny pack of cigarettes into the
computer.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“A PDA. I’m downloading the transponder
signature so the guys can track Penny Sue.”

“From that little thing?” I asked,
incredulously.

“Yes,” Carl said over his shoulder. “This
little
thing
has more computing power than one of the first
computers,
Whirlwind I,
developed at Lincoln
Laboratories.”

Why in the world did I question guys who’d
graduated from MIT at age twenty? Talk about stupid.

Carl handed the PDA to Todd. “You’re in
charge, commander,” he said. Todd nodded with the look of a Romulan
bigwig.

Ruthie huffed into the room, carrying the
Taser and two bottles of solution. She quickly told them what it
was. Todd’s eyes lit with delight. He took the Taser and examined
it appreciatively, then lifted the gun into the air with one arm.
“Victory,” he cried. The Klingons cheered raucously.

“I think you need real weapons,” Fran said,
handing the pepper spray to Todd. She looked at Carl. “What about
Uncle Enrico’s sawed-off shotguns? Wouldn’t they help? Or, the
crossbow and sniper rifle?”

“Mom, we can get these nuts with cunning and
technology. There’s no need for brute force.”

Frannie May scowled. “It wouldn’t hurt to
have a few tricks up your sleeve.”

“We want to rescue Penny Sue, not get locked
up for the rest of our lives!” Carl said sternly.

“So, what’s your plan?” Fran asked
peevishly.

“Todd and the guys will find Penny Sue.
Meanwhile, we’ll go to the Riverview Hotel to check out Rich’s
room.”

Fran snatched back the pepper spray. “Good
plan, son.”

* * *

Todd and two Klingons went to meet Bobby and
Saul armed with the PDA, Taser, and paintball guns. Under other
circumstances I would have been worried, considering all the vile
stuff we’d heard about Vulture. Though, knowing Bobby Barnes, I
suspected he and Saul—old Navy Seal buddies—might be packing
something stronger than paintballs. Actually, I was counting on it.
Praying for it, considering Vulture’s bad press.

As the group left to Klingon battle cries, I
tried to call Ted on my cell phone. As Carl predicted, no answer.
Doubtlessly, he was up to his ears in a bike brawl or home asleep,
his long shift finally over.

Then, I thought of calling the judge.
Gracious, Judge Parker was in his seventies, and I hated to upset
him unnecessarily. We had Penny Sue on the radar screen, so to
speak, and two Navy Seals plus a Romulan and band of Klingons going
to rescue her. State troopers weren’t better equipped, and it would
take a lot longer for them to get there. No, I’d wait. Carl, Todd,
and their buddies were about as smart as anyone could be. Add the
real
battle experience that Bobby and Saul possessed to the
Trekkies’ technological know-how, and you had a team that couldn’t
be beat. Best not to disturb the judge yet, bless his heart.

Now, for our part. Ruthie took the keys to
my car and headed for the Volusia County Sheriff’s department to
file the report. I ran upstairs and found the key to Rich’s room in
Penny Sue’s pocketbook. When I returned, Fran was stuffing the
pepper spray into her belt pouch. Carl gave her a hard stare, which
she ignored.

Since the Explorer was out at the Cabbage
Patch, we piled into Fran’s Jaguar. As I wedged around the car to
the backseat, I noticed, for the first time, a bumper sticker that
said, “Mean People Suck.” How appropriate! Vulture was definitely
mean by all accounts and clearly sucked.

The Riverview Hotel was barely over a mile
from Fran’s house. We pulled into the lot and parked next to the
spa. It was four o’clock, still light.

“I don’t think we should go through the main
lobby,” I said. “After the murder, I’ll bet they have instructions
to report comings and goings to the police. We don’t want them to
know we’re going to Rich’s room, considering he’s the prime
suspect.”

Carl turned to me in the backseat and
grinned. “No problem. I know the way. Give me key.”

I gave Frannie May a questioning look as I
handed the key to him. She shrugged. Carl caught the exchange and
answered, “I’ve had a few girlfriends who stayed there. I know all
the angles.”

Ah, this millionaire genius did make time
for girls! I needed to call Ann, again.

We followed Carl past the valet stand to a
door by the pool. “This is usually not locked,” he said, clasping
the handle. It wasn’t. Good ole Carl, sneaking around after women
at night and his mother didn’t have a clue. I should have guessed,
considering he specialized in stealthy operations. We followed him
by the pool and up a flight of steps to a balcony.

“Look,” I said, pointing at a tall man with
dreadlocks walking in front of the hotel. “That’s Sidney, the guy
who helped us out in our first run-in with Red. We saw him the
other day at the health food store. I wonder what he’s doing
here?”

“Maybe he’s staying at the hotel. You
thought he was wealthy, right?” Fran said.

Carl shifted impatiently. “We need to get a
move on. In another hour, the halls will be crowded with people
leaving for dinner. I want to be long gone before then.”

“Right.”

We followed Carl, single file, to Rich’s
room. Luckily, we didn’t encounter anyone in the corridor. I
immediately went to the closet. Rich was a friend of Penny
Sue’s—maybe he had a Lu Nee 3 stashed away. Only a couple pairs of
slacks, a few shirts and a sport coat. A suitcase sat at the back
of the closet. Carl grabbed the satchel and swung it to the
bed.

“The best stuff is usually hidden,” he
said.

The suitcase was empty. So much for that
theory.

Carl put it back in the closet and went to
the floral-draped bed. “Leigh, help me lift this up. Mom, you look
under it.” We hoisted the top mattress on the count of three. Pay
dirt! In the center, between the mattresses, too far in for a maid
to find, was an IBM laptop.

Fran wiggled between the mattresses and
snatched the computer. We lowered the mattress, and as Carl fired
up the PC, Frannie adjusted the bedspread.

A moment later, Carl mumbled, “Wow,
encrypted, high level. This is not an amateur job. We need to take
this and get out of here.”

“Should we wipe off our fingerprints or
something?” Fran asked, fondling the pepper spray in her belt
pouch.

“Too late for that, Mom. Besides, none of us
have prints on record, ... yet.”

I swallowed hard. I did.

“Let’s go.”

Carl didn’t have to say it twice. Fran
smoothed one last wrinkle from the bedspread, peeked out in the
door, and waved us through. As I pulled the door closed, I wiped
the handle with the bottom of my shirt.

We went back to Fran’s, and Carl immediately
went to his workshop with the laptop, which he plugged into his big
computer.

“Can we help you?” Fran asked.

“Something to munch on would be nice.”

Fran glanced at her watch, almost
five-thirty. “It’s time for dinner, and I’m sure everyone will be
famished. I’ll put something on right away.”

Anxious to see what he found, I stayed with
Carl. I watched as his fingers danced across the keyboard. “What
are you doing?” I asked, feeling like the Sword of Damocles was
hanging over our heads.

“I’m copying the laptop’s data to my hard
drive. The G5 has a faster processor. Then, I’ll use an algorithm
to try to decrypt the data.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know anything about
encryption or what an algorithm was. Geez, life had become so
complicated. I suddenly felt old, the way my parents probably felt
when they talked to me. They couldn’t believe I had a cellular
phone or even an answering machine.