Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum 3)

“Damn,” Ranger said. “I left my Antichrist gun at home.”

“Looks like you brought everything else.”

“Never know when you'll need some tear gas.”

“If we have to gas Mrs. Steeger, it'll probably ruin my chances of being Miss Burg in the Mayflower Parade.”

Ranger turned into the alley from King and stopped at Mo's garage. He got out and tried the door. The door was locked. He walked to the side window and peered in.

“Well?” I asked.

“It's there.”

A back curtain was whisked aside and Mrs. Steeger glared out at us from her house.

“Is that her?” Ranger wanted to know.

“Yup.”

“One of us should talk to her.”

“That would be you,” I said.

“Okay, Tex. I don't think Mo's here, but you cover the back just in case. I'll have a word with Mrs. Steeger.”

After ten minutes I was stomping my feet to keep warm and beginning to worry about Ranger. I hadn't heard any shots, so that was a good sign. There'd been no screams, no police sirens, no glass breaking.

Ranger appeared at the back door, smiling. He crossed the yard to me. “Did you really tell fibs when you were a kid?”

“Only when it involved matters of life or death.”

“Proud of you, babe.”

“Has she got the key?”

“Yeah. She's getting her coat on. Taking this key thing very seriously. Says it's the least she could do for Mo.”

“The least she could do?”

“Have you read the paper today?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“It turns out that all these murders are having a significant impact on crime. Drug sales are way down. Pharmaceutical representatives are booking flights for obscure southern towns.”

“Are you telling me Mo is a hero?”

“Let's just say, he isn't despised.”

Mrs. Steeger materialized at the back door wearing a coat and hat. She huffed down the porch stairs and across her yard. “Hmmph,” she said to me. “Still snooping, I see.”

My left eye started to twitch. I put my finger to my eyelid and sank my teeth into my lower lip.

Ranger grinned.

The superhero wasn't afraid of the Antichrist. The superhero thought an eye twitch was funny.

Mrs. Steeger opened the door and stepped back, arms folded over her chest. “I'll lock up when you get your car out,” she said to Ranger.