Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum 13)

Morelli and Dickie, Ranger, Connie and Lula and Connie's cousin Manny. And Joyce and Smullens girlfriend. I couldn't remember her name.

I called Morelli s cell.

“I'm in the control room by the squasher machine,” I said. “I'm not coming out until someone comes up here to get me.”

Everyone looked up at me, and I waved down to them and wiped my nose on my sleeve.

Morelli took the stairs two at a time and crossed the grate to get to me. I opened the door and almost collapsed. My teeth were chattering, and my legs were rubber.

“I was afraid I'd fall off the catwalk if I didn't have someone to hang on to,” I told Morelli.

Morelli wrapped an arm around me and peered into the compactor at what was left of Petiak. “That's not good.”

“It's Petiak.”

“Are you okay?”

“So far as I can tell.” And I went down on one knee. “Whoops,” I said. “Guess I'm a little wobbly.”

Ranger was on the catwalk too, and between Ranger and Morelli, they were able to get me down the stairs.

“What the heck's going on here?” Lula wanted to know when I set my feet on the ground. “Nobody tells me anything.”

“Yeah,” Joyce said. “What the heck's going on?”

Dickie was still in the hooded sweatshirt, standing to one side, oogling Joyce and Smullens girlfriend. “Hey Sex Monkey,” Dickie said to Joyce.

“Do you have it?” Joyce said.

“What?”

"You know… itr

“Do you mean the forty million? Nope. Government's going to confiscate it.”

“You are such a turd,” Joyce said. “I can't believe I wasted my time with you. How could you have lost that money?”

“It was all Stephanie s fault,” Dickie said.

“Asshole,” Joyce said. And she turned on her heel and stormed off, with Smullen's girlfriend matching her stride for stride.

Morelli called the dispatcher and reported the death and gave a description of Dave and Rudy.

“I forgot to take the pen,” I told Ranger.

“Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good,” Ranger said.

“You were right about the drugs and guns and money laundering,” I told Ranger. “The law firm was stealing guns, trading them for drugs, and then selling the drugs. Then they billed the drug dealers for legal services and washed the money through a legitimate business… Dickie s law firm. Dickie found out, cleaned out the firm's bank account, and transferred the money to his own account. The key to Dickie s account was in the clock.”

“Aunt Tootsies clock?” Lula asked. “What are the chances?”

“I forgot about the clock and left it in the Crown Vic's trunk. The Vic broke down, and it got towed here.”

“When was this?” Connie's cousin Manny asked.

“Last week. It was an old cop car with Tig Car' written on the side and it had a couple bullet holes in it and rodent fur on the inside,” I told him.

“I know just where that is,” Manny said. “I remember it coming in. A couple SWAT guys, right?”