Stella's Auction House

It wasn't very long before Lola and Koty arrived to escort the girls to the auction house.

Nevada answered the door and smiled widely at her dear older brother.

"Welcome back, Dakota."

'Uh-oh. What did I do?' There was an audible gulp as Koty swallowed nervously. Nevada only smiled like that when she was mad.

"Thanks, Nev... um, this is Mr. Lola." Since there were witnesses, he was probably safe for now. However, that would not save him from whatever she was planning for later.

"Nice to meet you." She softened her expression and greeted the gentleman next to Koty.

"And you as well Miss Flynn."

Just as the silence was becoming awkward, at least for Koty, Charlie popped into the room.

"Oh, you're here." She had just finished applying her mascara and came to check to see if Nevada was ready.

She looked the girl up and down and sighed. 'Not that she needs it, but a little blush would go a long way.' Charlie herself didn't usually wear makeup but she certainly knew how to use it to her advantage.

'What a pity.' She hadn't done much digging yet on this potential apprentice but it was ultra obvious that there was no motherly figure in her life.

"Miss Mason, Miss Flynn, we should get going if you would like to look around before the bidding begins."

Lola opened the back door of the SUV and offered his hand to help the girls climb in.

Charlie took his hand like she had done this a million times and slid over to the far seat. Nevada blushed a little and thanked him as she climbed inside.

He gently closed the door and got into the driver's seat. Koty took his usual spot in the front seat as well and then they were on their way.

...

Meanwhile, across the city, a certain man and woman were also preparing for the auction.

Fait was getting the computer set up while Chance once again made dinner. He was feeling rather domesticated these days.

He grabbed the tray of food he had prepared and hobbled to the office to join her.

She was completely focused on setting up the VPN and didn't look up until he set the tray of food on the desk.

"Time to eat."

"Almost done, two more minutes."

Her two more minutes turned into ten but she finally finished and turned the screen so they could both see it.

On the screen was a live feed of a glamorously dressed hostess wandering around the warehouse area. She was showing each of the vehicles in detail. The camera followed along with her script and would pan and zoom as she spoke.

Chance and Fait focused on their dinner and would look at it occasionally. Neither of them was interested in any of the other vehicles up for sale.

A unique shade of blue flashed by on the screen and Chance took a sharp breath in.

'Hello, old friend.' He watched intently as the hostess went over to his Camaro. He didn't hear a word she said but he didn't look away until she moved on to the next car.

Even though it had only been a few days since he had seen his car, it felt like a lifetime since had had last driven it.

...

The others arrived at the auction house with a full hour to look around. Charlie feigned interest in several vehicle as she made her way around with Nevada.

Lola and Koty stayed close but pretended to be looking around as well. Having been to Charlie's, neither of them were really impressed by what they saw.

They only one who was genuinely fascinated was Nevada. But her fascination had nothing to do with the type or number of vehicles. She was looking at the quality.

Her eyes darted around from car to car. At a glance she could tell you which vehicles were authentic, which were restorations, which were reproductions, and which were replicas.

The notable difference between a reproduction and a replica was the amount of detail put into the build.

A reproduction would come close to the original but still be off by just a bit. It could be a slight deviation in the body lines, the wrong shade of paint, or even adding modern amenities like air conditioning.

A replica would be exactly like the original in every way.

She stopped in front of one particular vehicle that caught her eye. It was listed as a restoration but something seemed off.

Once she figured it out, she smirked and continued to follow after Charlie. Whichever poor sucker sent that vehicle here was in for a beating from whoever ended up buying it.

Eventually, they made it to Chance's Camaro.

Nev quickly looked over the familiar car and was relieved to find nothing had changed aside from the mileage.

In the time that it had been gone, the car only added thirty seven miles to its life. That was a small price to pay compared to the tens of thousands they were about to spend to get it back.