Twisted Twenty-Six (Stephanie Plum 26)

I didn’t take the time to look for Shine or Salgusta. I drove the truck out of the parking lot, through the Concrete Plant complex, and onto the service road. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but after after what seemed like a lifetime of blind panic driving, I saw the turnoff to Route One. I headed for the ramp and took out a highway sign. I was so frazzled I didn’t know if I was going to or away from Trenton. I just knew I was on the highway.

“D-d-do you know where we’re going?” I asked Grandma.

“We’re heading for Trenton,” she said. “You’re doing good, but you might want to slow down a tad.”

I checked the speedometer and saw that I was doing eighty. Pretty good for a concrete truck, I thought. Cars were moving out of my way. Not wanting to compete with the huge yellow and red behemoth that was rocketing up their ass.

A cop car passed me, and then another. I had two in front of me and one on the side. I looked in my rearview mirror. Three more cop cars. All with their lights flashing. I took this as a good sign. Even if I got a speeding ticket, it was still good.

I stopped the truck in the middle of the road and a Rangeman SUV immediately slid up beside me. Ranger jumped out, ran up to the truck, and pulled me out. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close, and I realized I was crying.

“Babe,” he said. “Who knew you could drive a concrete truck?”

“Omigod,” I said, wiping tears away. “This was a nightmare. How did you find me?”

“Surveillance cameras, and then I followed the trail of metallic blue extensions.”

“I’ve got Grandma with me.”

“Tank is with her. Do we need to have an EMT check her out?”

“No. She’s okay. We were able to escape before the bad things started to happen.”

“Morelli is dealing with Stupe. I’m supposed to take you and Grandma home. You can give a statement when you’re up to it.”

“Do the police have Charlie Shine and Lou Salgusta in custody?”

“Not that I know. Stupe was on the floor, dead, when I got there with Morelli. The chopper spotted you in the concrete truck. Charlie Shine and Lou Salgusta weren’t on the scene.”

I leaned into Ranger. He was warm and comforting. I always felt safe when I was with him. “Has someone told my mom that Grandma is okay?”

“I’ll get a phone to Grandma. She can make the call.”

He whistled to Tank and told him to give his phone to Grandma.

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nbsp; “Where do you want to go?” Ranger asked. “Do you want to go home or to your parents’ house?”

“Home. I miss Rex.”

Ranger commandeered the Rangeman SUV and wove around the cop cars that were clustered around the concrete truck. At least three miles of congestion was behind the cop cars. I called Morelli and told him Shine and Salgusta were responsible for Stupe and for kidnapping Grandma and me. I was hoping they were stuck in the three miles of stopped traffic.

We didn’t talk on the ride home. I was too numb for conversation. Ranger maneuvered me out of the SUV, into my building, and into my apartment. I looked in at Rex and felt better. Everyone in my family was okay.

“Are you hungry?” Ranger said. “I can make you an omelet.”

I managed a smile at that. “I hate to pass it up, but I’m exhausted.”

He looked in my fridge and my freezer. “Ice cream?”

“Yes. Ice cream would be amazing.”

We sat side by side on the couch and ate ice cream.

“It’s a shame you don’t want to get married,” I said to Ranger. “You’re actually reasonably domesticated.”

“Babe,” Ranger said. “Are you going to propose?”