Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum 20)

“Randy Berger just got out of jail, and I helped burn down his apartment, so I think he’s off the list. Hard to believe it could be Victor, but he did say he might have a lady friend in for pork chops.”

“Then let’s visit Victor.”

“He owns Victory Hardware, but I have no idea where he lives.”

Ranger made a phone call, and moments later he had an address.

“He lives over the store,” he said. “He owns the building.”

We were there in a matter of minutes. The store was still open, so we stopped in there first.

“Howdy,” Snoot said to me, looking Ranger over. “I see you brought Batman with you.”

“I’m looking for Victor.”

“He’s upstairs. He’s got a big night planned.”

“How do I get upstairs?” I asked Snoot.

“There’s a door on the street, next to the store. There’s a buzzer, but it don’t always work.”

We went outside and rang the buzzer. No response.

“Okay, Batman,” I said to Ranger. “Do your thing.”

Ranger took a slim jim from a pocket in his cargo pants and opened the door. We stepped inside and I yelled for Victor.

Victor appeared at the top of the stairs. “Did you come for pork chops?”

“No. I came to ask a question.”

“Well, come on up. The missus and me are having a cocktail.”

“You have a missus?”

“Don’t everybody got a missus?”

We climbed the stairs and stepped into Victor’s living room.

“This here’s the missus,” Victor said, arm around a woman who looked like Victor with a tan. She had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth and a martini in her hand.

“Was real nice of you to give Victor those chops,” she said to me. “We got plenty if you want to join us with your fella.”

“Thanks,” I said, “but we have plans. I just wanted to stop by and say hello.”

“Okay, then,” Victor said. “Stop around anytime.”

Ranger was smiling when we got to the sidewalk.

“What’s with the smile?” I asked him. “I don’t see you smile a lot.”

“I liked them.”

Here’s the thing about the men in my life. They’re smarter than I am, and they have a profound sense of humanity that I can only see from a distance. They work in the gutter, exposed to all the insanity and violence that human beings are capable of exhibiting, but they aren’t destroyed or overwhelmed by it. They hunt down men who have done terrible things, but they see this as an aberration and not as the norm. And they recognize good people when they see them.

“Any more suspects?” Ranger asked. “Do we need to look at the man who took your grandmother to the viewing?”

“Gordon Krutch. My mom didn’t think Grandma was with him, and I think he would need an accomplice, but he’s definitely on the suspects list.”