Twisted Twenty-Six (Stephanie Plum 26)

“Miss Plum will be dining with me,” Roman said.

I waved the waiter away and turned back to Roman. “Thank you, but I just want a moment of your time. We have a problem. Apparently, the La-Z-Boys aren’t the only ones interested in finding the keys.”

Roman nodded. He knew this.

“And I’m sure you know that I was shot during an attempt to kidnap Grandma yesterday.”

Another nod.

“One of the men is in the hospital, and the second man was just found dead behind the bonds office.”

Roman’s face showed nothing.

“Did you know?” I asked. And what I was really asking was, did the La-Z-Boys commiss

ion the hit?

“I didn’t know about the second man,” Roman said. “I’m not surprised. The stakes are high.”

“Do you know this other party?”

“I have suspicions.”

“And?” I asked.

“And they’re just suspicions.”

“You must be worried that someone will get to Grandma before you.”

Roman shrugged. “We’ll get her one way or another. We would prefer that she gives the keys up without violence. At least I would prefer that. I can’t speak for Lou.”

“She doesn’t have the keys.”

Another shrug from Roman.

“I’m good at finding things,” I told him.

“People.”

“Yes. But I might be able to hunt down the keys if I had a little help.”

“What kind of help?”

“I don’t know what I’m looking for. I don’t know how many keys we’re talking about. I don’t know what they look like. I don’t know their purpose.”

“You don’t need to know any of those things. If you’re lucky enough to run across them, you’ll know they’re the keys.”

The waiter approached. “So sorry to disturb you, Mr. Roman. Would you like your soup now, or would you prefer to wait a little?”

“I’ll have it now,” Roman said. “My guest is leaving.”

I stood and settled my bag on my shoulder. “Can you give me a starting point? You knew Jimmy. What would he do with the keys?”

“If I knew the answer to that question, I’d be in possession of the keys,” Roman said.

I left the deli and returned to the Buick. I was about to drive out of the lot when I got a call from Lula.

“I got him!” Lula yelled into the phone. “I got the little weasel. He was coming out of Macy’s with a bag, just like last time. I chased him down, and I yanked him out of his Escalade. I was awesome.”