Fortune and Glory (Stephanie Plum 27)

I dragged myself out of bed when the sun came up. I showered, dressed in my usual uniform of jeans and T-shirt, gave Rex his breakfast, and made coffee for myself. I put the coffee in a to-go cup and headed for the office.

I called Grandma on the way and told her about the two clues. “Do they mean anything to you?” I asked her.

“Not a thing,” Grandma said. “I don’t think Jimmy was crazy about Philadelphia. And he was more of a slots guy than a card guy.”

“Keep thinking about it,” I said. “Hopefully we can get a couple more clues.”

“Better sooner than later. My list of things to do with the money is growing.”

Connie was unlocking the door when I arrived. “Whoa,” she said. “This isn’t something I see every day. Are you up early for a reason? Or have you not been to bed yet?”

“I need to find Shine and Salgusta, and I need to be the one on the hunt, not the other way around. Problem is, I don’t know where to begin.”

Connie handed me a box of donuts, opened the door, and we stepped inside.

“Begin by having a donut,” Connie said. “Start with the good stuff.”

I put the box on her desk and took a donut. “Any other ideas?”

“If it’s the treasure you’re actually interested in, ask yourself

, what would Indy do?” Connie said.

“Indy always comes through. Me not so much.”

“Indy has what you have, perseverance,” Connie said. “Most of the time you don’t know what the heck you’re doing, but you stick with it, and eventually you get lucky.”

“I haven’t got a lot of time to get lucky on this. Salgusta and Shine are also after the treasure, and they have two extra clues that I don’t have.”

“Shine has been like the invisible man,” Connie said. “Everyone knows he’s here, but no one has seen him. And with good reason, he’s being invisible. There’s an outstanding warrant on him for tax evasion, among other things. Plus, he’s now a murder suspect. Salgusta keeps circling back to the Mole Hole. Never stays long. No pattern to his visits. Have either of them made a move on Grandma?”

“You mean since they kidnapped us a while back, and we escaped? No.”

“That kidnapping had to have been horrible.”

I nodded.

Horrible didn’t begin to describe it. It was terrifying, and I still had an occasional nightmare about it.

“Any ideas about where these guys are staying?” I asked Connie.

“No, but Shine likes the ladies. Last time he was hooked up with a pro. Lula might be some help there. Salgusta pretty much creeps out everyone. I don’t know who would harbor him. Especially since he’s also a suspect for the murder you witnessed.”

“Can you get me information on recent credit card use? It might lead me to a neighborhood.”

“You want me to hack into his accounts?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” Connie said. “Not a lot going on here. I have some extra time. You’ll visit me in jail, right?”

“I’ll bring you lasagna on visiting day.”

The front door banged open and Lula swung in. “What’s going on here?” she said. “Did I miss something? Did Stephanie eat the Boston creme donut?”

“No,” I said. “I ate a maple glazed and a jelly donut. I left the Boston creme for you.”

“I appreciate it,” Lula said, “but that’s worrisome. First one here always gets the Boston creme. What’s up?”