Motor Mouth

here.”
    Hooker grinned. “I like that. That’s not a bad idea.” He called the hotel and asked for Rodriguez. “Hey,” Hooker said when Rodriguez answered. “How’s it going? I was just wondering what you guys were doing? I would have thought you’d be looking for me. Ray’s not going to be happy to find out you’re sitting around in your underwear taking the day off.”
    “Who is this?” Rodriguez said.
    “Jeez,” Hooker said, “how many guys are you looking for?”
    “Where are you?”
    “I’m at the mall. Thought I’d go to a movie. Get a slice of pizza.”
    “Real cocky, aren’t you?”
    “So far I haven’t seen anything to get worried about.”
    “Asshole.”
    Hooker hung up.
    “Two out of three people can’t be wrong,” I said to Hooker.
    We slouched in our seats and waited to see if Rodriguez and Lucca would go to work. Hard to believe that Hooker was watching a movie or eating pizza, but if it was me, morbid curiosity would dictate that I checked it out.
    Sure enough, five minutes later Rodriguez and Lucca emerged from the back door, got into the Taurus, and drove off.
    “They came out of the hotel and walked straight to their car,” Hooker said. “Didn’t even look for us.”
    “Probably didn’t think we’d be dumb enough to be sitting here.”
    “Happens to me all the time,” Hooker said. “People are always underestimating my dumbness.”
    The movie theater is twenty-four screens big and attached to the mall. Hooker watched the Taurus turn onto the service road and stop at the light. The light changed and the Taurus crossed Speedway Boulevard.
    “One more time to the mall,” Hooker said, putting the SUV in gear.
    Probably Hooker could drive the route blindfolded by now.
    Rodriguez and Lucca were already out of their car and walking toward the theater entrance when we swung into the lot.
    “Now what?” I asked. “Are you going to run over them? Or are you going to snatch them at gunpoint?”
    “Race-car drivers aren’t supposed to run over people. You don’t lose points, but you could get a big fine and community ser vice.”
    “But it’s okay to kidnap them at gunpoint?”
    “The rule book doesn’t actually cover kidnapping.”
    Hooker cruised down the lane and stopped behind the Taurus. “Can you do something to their car so it won’t start?”
    “Sure.”
    I got out and tried the door on the Taurus. Not locked. I popped the hood and disconnected a hose and some wires. I got back in the SUV, and Hooker drove one lane over and parked.
    “This is part of your plan, right? Disable their car so they can’t get away?” I asked him.
    “Darlin’, I don’t have a plan. I just wanted to mess with them.”
    Thirty minutes later, Rodriguez and Lucca sauntered back down the car lane. They were talking, and they each had a soft-drink cup. Lucca was carrying a pizza box. They got in the car and a couple minutes passed. Hooker smiling the whole time.
    “I can’t believe you’re getting off on this,” I said. “We’re wanted by the police. We’re about to abduct a couple killers. And you’re having fun with them.”
    “You have to take fun where you find it,” Hooker said. “Anyway, this throws them off their game a little. Gives them something to think about besides us.”
    The car doors opened and Rodriguez and Lucca got out. They popped the hood and took a look.
    “Probably don’t know a gasket from a water pump,” Hooker said.
    They slammed the hood down and looked around, hands on hips, pissed off.
    Now I was starting to enjoy it. “We have them wondering.”
    Rodriguez took out his cell phone and made a call. There was a lot of head nodding. He looked at his watch and wasn’t happy. I’m not proficient at reading lips, but it was obvious what he said into the phone.
    “Bad move,” Hooker said. “Not only is that physically impossible, it’s also not going to get the road-ser vice crew out here anytime soon.”
    Rodriguez flipped his phone closed and looked around some more. He stared directly at us, and my heart skipped a couple beats before his gaze moved on.
    “He didn’t spot us,” I said.
    “Might not be at the top of the charts as far as hit men go.”
    “Yeah, and they’ve killed two men. Probably three. Imagine how many people they could have killed if they were really good.”
    “At least three more,” Hooker said.
    Rodriguez ran his hand over his bald head and looked at his watch again. There was a discussion, and