Free The Yellow Packard by Ace Collins Page B

the life’s book was finally completed the biggest mystery would somehow be solved, but for the moment he had nothing new to hang those hopes on.

Chapter 10
    C arole Hall had been delivered to the hospital’s front door in the customary wheelchair and now stood on the hospital steps, her baby in her arms, and her husband beside her. She glanced out toward the parking lot for the family’s Chevy coupe. But even in the bright morning sunlight of a perfect summer day, she couldn’t spot it. As their car was always the most beat-up jalopy in any lot, she was more than a bit mystified.
    “Did you borrow someone’s car?”
    George grinned. “No, I brought ours. You don’t think I wanted my daughter’s first ride to be a charity case. She’s just going to have to get used to our car.”
    Carole surveyed the street and parking lot again. The familiar Chevy wasn’t there. She was sure of it. “Did you park around back?”
    “No, sweetheart. I parked on the street. Didn’t want you walking too far. After all, you just had a baby, and that is a pretty traumatic event.”
    The new mother once again scanned the landscape. There were lots of cars around the hospital. They were old and new. Most were Fords or Chevrolets, but there was a fair number of Dodges, Plymouths, Hudsons, and even a long-nosed Lincoln and a sporty Auburn, but their coupe was not one of those. She glanced back to her husband. As she did, his grin was larger than the cat that swallowed the canary.
    “That yellow one, parked right behind the Auburn.” He was pointing. “That’s ours.”
    Carole’s gaze first darted to the red-and-blue speedster and then to the bright Packard. As the incredible sedan filled her eyes, she whispered, “It’s ours? How?”
    “I bought it at an auction today,” he explained.
    She whirled to face her husband, a half-crazed look in her eye. Holding Rose tightly in her arms she asked, “Have you lost your mind? We can’t afford to make payments on a car like that. George, what were you thinking?”
    “I stole it,” he calmly replied.
    “Did you rob a bank, too?”
    “No.” He laughed. “I paid cash for it. No one made an offer on it. I got it for four hundred.”
    Carole’s eyes went back to the car, desperately searching for flaws. “Four hundred? What’s wrong with it?”
    “Nothing,” he assured her. “It is like a brand-new car, though it is cursed.”
    “Cursed?”
    “I’ll explain later. It’s just local gossip anyway. But for the moment I want to get you and Rose into our Packard and drive you two beautiful women home.”
    Sliding his hand under Carole’s elbow, George ushered her down the steps to the car. As he opened the front passenger door, she couldn’t help but smile.
    “It is beautiful,” she noted as she slid, with her baby in her arms, into the seat.
    George nodded, closed the door, sprinted around the Packard’s nose, and jumped in the driver’s side. After gently touching his daughter’s head, he flipped the key and hit the starter. A second later the eight cylinder motor quietly came to life.
    “It’s really ours?” Carole asked as he pulled out into the street, turned a corner, and headed east toward Oakwood. “I mean this isn’t some kind of joke?”
    “No,” he assured her, “it is ours. I have the ownership documents in the glove box.”
    As her eyes scanned the ornate instrument panel, she grinned, “This is amazing. It’s like we are somebody. I feel like a queen.”
    “In my eyes you are, and that little girl is a princess,” he boomed, his voice filling every corner of the car’s massive interior. “So you should ride in a car befitting royalty.”
    “George, you’re so crazy.”
    “No,” he replied, “just in love. I’m crazy in love with you, Rose, and life in general. And that faith you are always talking about. The faith to say a prayer and expect results …”
    “Yes,” she answered.
    “Well, I said a prayer that this car could be ours. And