We left the Burg and headed south, picking the turnpike up at Bordentown. The rain started a few minutes later, a fine mist at first, growing more steady as the miles flew by. The Mercedes hummed along, following the ribbon of road. The night enveloped us, the darkness broken only by the lights on the dash.

All the comforts of a womb with the technology of a jet airplane cockpit. Ranger pushed a button on the CD player and classical music filled the car. A symphony. Not Godsmack, but nice anyway.

By any calculations it was about a five-hour trip. Ranger wasn't the sort to make small talk. Ranger kept his life and his thoughts to himself. So I reclined my seat and closed my eyes. “If you get tired and want me to drive just let me know,” I said.

I relaxed back into the seat and wondered about Ranger. When we first met he was all muscle and street swagger. He talked the talk and walked the walk of the Hispanic end of the ghetto, dressing in fatigues and SWAT black. Now suddenly he was dressed in cashmere, listening to classical music, sounding more like Harvard Law and less like Coolio.

“You don't by any chance have a twin brother, do you?” I asked.

“No,” he said softly. “There's only one of me.”

Stephanie Plum 7 - Seven Up

13

I WOKE UP when the car stopped moving. It was no longer raining, but it was very dark. I looked at the digital clock on the dash. It was almost three. Ranger was studying the large brick colonial on the opposite side of the street.

“Louie D's house?” I asked.

Ranger nodded.

It was a large house on a small lot. The houses around it were similar. They were all relatively new houses. No mature trees or shrubs. In twenty years it would be a lovely neighborhood. Right now it seemed a little too new, too bare. There were no lights shining in Louie D's house. No cars parked at the curb. Cars were kept in garages or driveways in this neighborhood.

“Stay here,” Ranger said. “I need to look around.”

I watched him cross the street and disappear into the house shadows. I cracked the window and strained to hear sounds but heard nothing. Ranger had been Special Forces in another life, and he's lost none of his skills. He moves like a large lethal cat. I, on the other hand, move like a water buffalo. Which I suppose was why I was waiting in the car.

He emerged from the far side of the house and sauntered back to the Mercedes. He slid behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition.

“It's locked up tight,” he said. “The alarm is on and most of the windows have heavy drapes drawn. Not much to see. If I knew more about the house and its routine I'd go in and look around. I'm reluctant to do that not knowing how many people are inside.” He pulled away from the curb and rolled down the street. “We're fifteen minutes away from a business district. The computer tells me there's a strip mall, some fast-food places, and a motel. I had Tank get us rooms. You can have a couple hours to sleep and get freshened up. My suggestion is to knock on Mrs. D's door at nine and finesse ourselves into the house.”

“Works for me.”

Tank had gotten rooms in a classic two-story chain motel. Not luxurious but not awful, either. Both rooms were on the second floor. Ranger opened my door and hit the light, giving the room a quick scan. Everything looked in order. No mad man lurking in darkened corners.

“I'll come for you at eight-thirty,” he said. “We can get breakfast and then say hello to the ladies.”

“I'll be ready.”

He pulled me toward him, lowered his mouth to mine, and kissed me. The kiss was slow and deep. His hands were firm on my back. I grasped his shirt and leaned into him. And I felt his body respond.

A vision of myself in the wedding gown popped into my head. “Shit!” I said.

“That's not the usual reaction I get when I kiss a woman,” Ranger said.

“Okay, here's the truth. I'd really like to sleep with you, but I have this stupid wedding gown . . .”

Ranger's lips swept along my jawline to my ear. “I could make you forget the gown.”

“You could. But that would create really terrible problems.”

“You have a moral dilemma.”

“Yes.”

He kissed me again. Lightly this time. He stepped back and a small humorless smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “I don't want to put any pressure on you and your moral dilemma, but y

ou better hope you can bring Eddie DeChooch in all by yourself because if I help you I'll collect my fee.”

Tags: Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net