Drive Time

Chapter Eleven

This may be a huge wild-goose chase. We’re headed for the Longmore Hotel. More specifically, the parking lot of the Longmore Hotel. This could be dynamite. Or it could be a big fat goose egg. Nothing.

Franklin and I spent the morning plowing through RCK rental agreements. We’re following up with every person who rented the car with Annie’s VIN and every person who rented the same car I did, the black Vallero, the one without air bags. There are dozens of agreements, each printed onto a pink piece of paper with the hint of blur that comes with a toner-challenged copy. First we put them in chronological order, then, using the tried-and-true phone survey routine, we called each person who rented the car. We’re looking for clues, patterns, anything that will give us some idea of where and when the bad guys might have the opportunity to clone VINs and swipe air bags. We’re thinking: parking lots.

Phone surveys often result in a big time-sucking nothing. But I love digging for journalism gold. About an hour into the car-renter pursuit, after some dead ends and hang-ups, I’d hit possible pay dirt.

“Check it out, Franklin,” I said, holding up a rental agreement. “I just talked to this guy in Maine. He rented a car for the holidays. The same car I rented. Stayed at his parents’in Boston, he ever so willingly told me. Guess where they had a celebration dinner?”

“Just tell me, Charlotte.”

“Spoilsport. Okay, they had dinner at Bistro Zelda. And, ta dah, they used valet parking there. Just like-”

“Michael Borum.”

“Exactamundo.”

“Wait a second.” Franklin shuffled through his paperwork. “I had a valet parker, too. In the RCK car that has the same VIN as Annie’s. Not at Bistro Zelda, though.”

He held out the rental agreement. His notes, in Franklin’s precise, square handwriting, were attached on top with a red plastic paper clip.

“Longmore Hotel,” I read out loud. I shrugged. “Maybe they’re doing it there, too?”

“Easy enough to check,” Franklin said.

“You’re reading my mind. As usual.” I had stacked up the documents into a neat pile, no creases, no folds, to keep them pristine for the camera, and slid them into a protective folder. “Longmore Hotel, here we come. Time to see if we’re on the right track.”

Now we’re turning the corner onto Milk Street, winding through the impossible one-way streets and prohibited left turns.

When we pull to a stop in the semicircular driveway of the Longmore, a skinny kid in a too-big black nylon jacket positions himself at Franklin’s window. “Valet parking? How long will you be?”

The words give me goose bumps. We are so on the right track. I’m just not sure where the track goes from here.

Franklin hands over the keys, a gesture I’ve seen a million times. Suddenly it seems like such a stupid thing to do. The kid takes them, a gesture I’ve seen a million times. Suddenly it seems sinister.

I hop out of the passenger side, getting myself a good view before the valet gets in the driver’s seat. I have just enough time to see the name on the back of his jacket. Beacon Valet.

Once we enter the lobby, I leave another voice-mail message for the elusive Michael Borum. Franklin’s across the room, texting again. We told the valet we’re picking up the car in twenty minutes. Not long enough for any dirty tricks. If there are any. Today we’re just scoping out the system.

Borum’s parting words to me were to threaten a lawsuit. I’m not sure whether that makes a callback more or less likely.

“Anyway,” I continue my message, “we’ve got a bit more information about what might have happened the night of the accident. I’d like to share it with you. You had said you used valet parking? At Bistro Zelda? And I wanted to confirm…”

“Hello? Hello? This is Michael Borum.”

“Oh, thanks for picking up, Mr.-”

“Do I take it you’ve been doing your homework?”

I can’t gauge his hostility level, so I go for a cease-fire. Put a smile in my voice. “Well, in a manner of speaking. You said you used valet parking at Zelda that night?”

“Yes, I did use valet parking at Zelda that night. I didn’t just ‘say’ I did.”

“I understand. Now, I know this sounds off the wall. But was there any trouble with the valet service? Maybe…” I pause. I don’t want to lead a witness, but this ain’t court. And my suspicions are not yet fully formed. “Maybe it took longer than it should have? A delay of some kind?”

Silence. I let him think.

“In fact, Miss McNally…” His words come out slowly. “In fact, thinking back, there was a ‘delay,’ like you say. I guess you could call it a delay. We were supposed to be there for drinks and dinner, but one of my friends wasn’t feeling too hot, and had to leave. Before the apps arrived, if I remember right.”

Oh. Bingo. I knock on the polished wood of the Longmore’s carved end table. Don’t want to jinx it.

“So,” I say, fingers crossed. “Then what?”

“Then, nothing. It took a wicked long time for the valet to bring back our car. We had to send Jeff home in a cab. We were pissed as hell.”

My fingers are crossed so tightly they hurt. “Was it Beacon Valet? How did they explain why it took so long?”

“Who the hell remembers what they told me,” Borum says. “And who the hell cares. It would have been a lie, anyway. It’s a Mustang. They were probably out joyr-”

He stops.

“Ah,” he says.

Silence. We’re both letting this sink in. At this point, I’m not going to mention the possibility that someone swiped his car’s VIN. Or the air bags. I’m just nailing down the timing.

“Would you be able to identify the valet? The one who took your car?” I try to get Franklin’s attention, bring him into this conversation, but he doesn’t look up from his phone. Probably texting again. Maybe love notes to Stephen. “Do you think you could point him out?”

“Listen, Charlie…”

Borum’s suddenly calling me Charlie now, I note. The Borum versus McNally lawsuit is probably in our rearview.

“…this is bull. You say you have a photo of my car blowing through the Fast Lane tollbooth? I couldn’t have been driving it. I didn’t even have the damn keys at the time. And I’m gonna get nailed for some hit-and-run? I don’t think so. I’m going to head for Zelda myself. Talk to the valet-parking manager.”

Oh. No. This is the worst thing that could possibly happen: the victim decides to take matters into his own hands. When victim turns vigilante, the story slips out of the reporter’s control. It’s a touchy situation because what I’m really asking him to do is put aside what could help him, personally, for what could help me, professionally. Plus, he doesn’t even know about the possible cloning. If he rats us out to Zelda, our story is blown. The bad guys might stop cloning cars and ripping out air bags, which of course would not be a bad thing in real life. But this is television. The bad guys are only supposed to be thwarted after we expose them on the air. I can’t allow us to be scooped by our own witness.

I have to stop him.

I have just one card to play, a card Mr. Borum has played himself at one point. And I’ll use the patented McNally reverse psychology. Which also gives me deniability. Stuff they don’t teach you in journalism school.

“Mr. Borum? Absolutely. Do that. If that’s what you feel is proper.” I pause. “But you know, we only have suspicions. It might be, you know, just a bit premature, and perhaps even legally risky, for you to go accusing a corporation of criminal wrongdoing, based on what a reporter told you. You know? Lawsuit?”

I pause again. Letting the L word sink in.

“And, of course, I can’t give you the photograph of your car,” I say. Especially because we don’t actually have it. That I don’t say.

Silence. I go in for the clincher.

“We’ll continue to investigate and keep you updated at every turn. Remember, we don’t want people to start shredding documents and fabricating stories.”

I hear Borum puff out a breath.

“Fine. You win,” he says. “But listen, you let me know what you find.”

“Of course.” Now. Here’s where I should just let well enough alone. Say goodbye, tear Franklin away from his messaging, retrieve the car, get some lunch, go back to the station, check on Maysie and Maddee, then see how we can clinch our story. But my conscience is bugging me. I grit my teeth.

“Mr. Borum, one more thing. If you have a chance, could you take your car to a mechanic and have them check to make sure all your air bags are still there?”

I hold the phone away from my ear. Borum’s response is an indecipherable bellow of sentence fragments.

“Are you honestly saying-and you don’t want me to-and I could be-”

Reluctantly, I explain our suspicions. They’re only suspicions, but how can I leave him in such potential jeopardy?

“Check with a mechanic and then let me know, okay?” I fire the last salvo of a desperate reporter. “Remember, it may be for the greater good.”

“Miss McNally, you amaze me. You have two days. Before I go to the valet people myself. T-W-O.”

“Oh, that’s-”

“But here’s what you’d better know by then. Who the hell was driving my car on the Mass Pike? And why?”

“We should check police reports. See if a blue Mustang is reported stolen,” Franklin says. I’ve just finished replaying my conversation with Michael Borum. We’re back in the car, which the smiling valets instantly provided, and on the way to Channel 3. “If they’ve copied his VIN number, they’re going to slap it on a stolen car that’s just like his. That’s a possible lead,” Franklin adds.

I look at him. My expression must show I’m distracted.

“What?” he says. “Your tooth hurting again?”

“My-? Oh, no. I just had a thought.”

I pull my cell phone out of my new maroon tote bag.

“Hang on,” I say. I punch a few buttons and get connected to the number I need. When someone picks up, I put on a cheery voice. “Hello, we’re coming for dinner tonight? You have valet parking, right? Which company is that, again?” I pause. “Beacon Valet? Oh, that’s right. Thank you!”

“And voila,” I say. “Beacon Valet. At Zelda and the Longmore. The game’s afoot, kiddo.”

We’re almost back at the station. “Stop,” I say.

“Huh?” Franklin looks confused. “Stop what?”

“Stop the car. Or, better, turn. I had another thought.”

Franklin rolls his eyes. “Lunch?”

“Great idea. But no, listen. I know where I saw a blue sports car. And it might have been a blue Mustang. The light was horrible and I could be wrong because the car was high on a lift with the hood and trunk up. But it was in the garage at Rental Car King. Let’s pay another visit there. See what we can see. Maybe get the scoop on what Randall Kindell is really doing.”

Franklin checks his mirror, then turns on the right blinker, carefully turning away from the station. “If it was a blue Mustang, that could have been a stolen car. And someone at RCK may have been attaching Michael Borum’s VIN to it.”

I stare, unseeing, at the toes of my black leather boots. “But if Randall Kindell is in on the scam, why would he give us those rental agreements? I mean they led right to the same valet service Michael Borum used. Though he couldn’t have predicted we’d put those pieces together.”

“True. If they are pieces.”

The afternoon traffic swirls around us, drivers honking and jockeying for position. Why is there rush hour on a Wednesday midafternoon? It’s Boston. It’s always rush hour. The snowplowed piles of crusting snow encroaching on both sides of the street don’t help.

What puzzle pieces are we certain we have?

If we hadn’t checked Annie’s car for recalls and then confronted Kindell with his car’s duplicateVIN, we could never have connected the dots in this potential valet scheme. Poor Annie may have a stolen car. And because of Michael Borum’s visit to valet parking, someone’s blue Mustang may be in the bad guys’ sights. Kindell’s in the middle of it, that’s for sure. But as victim? Or mastermind?

“What were you two doing in the RCK garage anyway?” Franklin asks. “You never told me. What did he want?”

I hesitate. That’s a piece of information I can’t reveal. Time for a diversion.

“Here’s another thought, Franklin. Can you find out who owns Beacon Valet? See where else they handle the parking?”

“Before or after we waste time at RCK looking for a theoretical blue Mustang?”

“You’re right,” I say. Truth be told, I don’t want to face Randall Kindell right now. “It was a bad idea. And I don’t have Michael Borum’s VIN with me, so we couldn’t check it, even if we had the opportunity. Let’s head back to the station. You can track down the Beacon Valet info while I call more renters. That may be more important at this point. And we can get lunch.”

Franklin, with an affected sigh, flicks on the left turn signal. Mr. Drama.

“You’ve gotta stop trying to be two places at once,” he says.

“I’m in Kevin’s office. On speakerphone. Can you come down?” J.T. and I have a great idea. But I don’t want to float it to the news director without Franklin there.

“On my way,” Franklin’s voice buzzes through the receiver.

I can’t wait. But I have to. And it really proves what a team player J.T. is.

“Hey, all,” Franklin says. It’s taken him about thirty seconds to arrive at Kevin’s doorway. Franklin shoots me a questioning look. I smile back from across the room, trying to communicate “it’s a good thing.”

“Hello, Franklin,” Kevin says. He gestures to a place on the couch, next to J.T. Franklin sits on the edge, as far away from J.T. as he can.

“Charlie just told me all about your VIN-cloning story,” Kevin continues. “Great job. Sounds like a winner. Now she says she and J.T. have an idea. But they wouldn’t explain it until you were here.”

J.T. points to me. “Showtime, McNally.”

I get up from my chair, rebutton my gray flannel blazer over my chunky black turtleneck dress and take center stage.

“Okay, the plan. It was really J.T.’s idea, to give credit where credit is due, but he wanted me to pitch it. I had told him about what we found out today, and he suggested-well, listen. What if we were to rig up two, maybe three hidden cameras inside J.T.’s Audi? It’s a cool car, very desirable, Audis are number eight on Boston’s most-stolen list. J.T. will drive it to the Longmore. He’ll turn on the cameras, then hand the car over to the valets.”

“It’s a complicated camera setup,” J.T. says. He leans forward on the couch, propping his elbows on the knees of his dark-wash jeans. “But at the network, we did it all the time. Caught a bunch of mechanics faking repairs, that type of deal. And it’ll work.”

“Then we leave it at the place, pick it up in the morning. Make it clear we’re staying overnight,” I continue. “We can say we’re having a big celebration, late night, couldn’t possibly drive home. Letting them know, see, that we’re not going to come get that car.”

I check Kevin’s face to see how he likes the idea. Unreadable. I plow ahead.

“And when we get the car back, we’ll have all the video. A complete record of what happened and who did it. We’ll take it to a mechanic, the Power House or someplace, and confirm the air bags are gone.”

“Here’s the rest of it,” J.T. adds. “The three of us will be in an unmarked car outside. Staking out the place. We’ll follow wherever they take the car. And get video of that, too.”

“Right. And of course, then we’ll know where their headquarters is. Or at least, what garage they’re using to do the work. And who’s doing it. Perfect, huh?”

“Cool, huh? Very network.”

Kevin looks as if he’s trying to hide a smile. “Franklin, what do you think about that plan? I gather this is the first you’ve heard of it.”

Franklin takes off his glasses and holds the lenses up to the light. He puts them back on. And looks only at Kevin. “I must say it sounds like J.T.’s quite the team player. I wouldn’t hand over my Passat to such an enterprise.”

“My point exactly.” Kevin’s eyes twinkle as he looks between me and J.T. “J.T., you want the bad guys to rip out your air bags? Who, might I ask, were you planning on getting to pay to replace them? Just put it on your expense account? I’m afraid Gigi in accounting would steamroll right through my door if that happened. Not to mention the station lawyers.”

J.T. and I exchange glances. We don’t really want to use J.T.’s car, of course. Now we’ll see if Kevin has taken our bait.

Kevin stands up, hands planted on his wide desk. His tie, complicated rows of giraffes today, hits a pile of yellow pads in front of him. “But I must say, I admire your dedication. And the video would be beyond compelling. So let’s do this.”

He smoothes his giraffes, then comes around and leans against the side of his desk. “Let’s use a station car. One of the new Explorers.”

I look at J.T. with a secret smile. Our plan worked.

“The registration is in the station administrator’s name, so it won’t come back to Channel 3. Insurance should cover the damage. If there is any damage, of course.”

Kevin winks at me. And I get it. If the story works, it’ll be his triumphant swan song at Channel 3. If it’s a bust, he won’t take the heat. Because either way, he’s outta here, headed for New York and the network. And I bet he thinks I’m going with him. But Franklin and J.T. don’t know any of that.

“I’ll check with the lawyers,” Kevin says. “But let’s get this show on the road. Can you rig it up for tomorrow night, J.T.?”

“You got it, boss.”

“And, Charlie, you and Franklin work a late shift tomorrow. Come in late. You could be on stakeout overnight. Don’t want to overwork my investigative team. Too much.”

Franklin nods, still looking only at Kevin. “Of course.”

“Sure,” I say. I can’t stop smiling. “Thanks, Kevin. This’ll work. Thanks, J.T.”

“Then we have a plan,” Kevin says. He lifts a wrist and points to his watch, then gestures us to the door. “Sorry, guys, my nightside producers’ meeting.”

“So do you love it?” I say to Franklin. We’re walking through the newsroom, out of Kevin’s earshot. I wave a happy goodbye to J.T., who’s heading downstairs to the engineering department. “It’s going to be fantastic. J.T.’s the brain behind this one. Terrific, huh?”

“Terrific?” Franklin says. “Making you present a hare-brained scheme to rip out his own air bags? No news director would ever have agreed to that.”

“Oh, piffle.” I wave him off. “Like you said. He’s just trying to be part of the team. And listen, of course we wouldn’t use J.T.’s car. It was all part of the plan to bring Kevin in. Make him think he’s participating. The whole point was to get Kevin to offer us a car from the station. You know? Psychology. And it all worked perfectly. Beyond perfectly.”

Franklin stops, middle of the newsroom. He picks up a yellow pencil from someone’s desk, suddenly fascinated by it. Then he looks at me.

“Part of the team, huh? Part of the plan? What if I had left you out of something big, Charlotte? If J.T. and I cut you out of the loop and went straight to Kevin with some-psychology? How teamy would that be?”

“But, I-”

Franklin puts up both palms, shaking his head. Then he turns on his heel and walks away. I’ve never seen Franklin this angry. And I didn’t mean to leave him out. Still, being a team doesn’t mean you have to do everything together.

Does it?