To the Nines (Stephanie Plum 9)

“We have to go now,” Joe's mother said. “It wouldn't hurt you to come to church once in a while, Joseph.”

Joe smiled and gave her and Bella a kiss on the cheek. “Be careful.” He closed the door after them and took the manicotti from me. “Way to go. That was impressive.”

“I'm fearless.”

“Cupcake, you are not fearless. But you can bluff with the best of them.”

“What gave me away?”

“You had a death grip on the manicotti. Your knuckles were turning white.”

Bob and I followed Morelli into the kitchen.

“I was old in Bellas vision,” I said to Morelli. “I guess I can stop worrying about the carnation killer now. And I definitely don't need a bodyguard.”

“I can hardly wait for you to explain this to Ranger,” Morelli said.

I woke up to sun streaming in through Morelli's bedroom window. Morelli was long gone and Bob was asleep in his place, head on the pillow, one eye open and watching me.

I got up, went to the window, and looked out. There was a shiny black Ford Explorer parked two houses away on the opposite side of the street. Not Ranger. Ranger never drove the Explorer. Not Tank. Tank was sitting somewhere in the Bat Cave with his leg elevated. Probably Cal. Hard to tell at this distance.

I took a shower, dressed in a tank top, jeans, and sneakers and wrinkled my nose at my hair. I had a tube of hair gunk that was a combination of wallpaper paste and mustache wax. I pulled a big glob of it through my hair with my fingers and my curls stood up at attention. I was a couple inches taller with the gunk in my hair and I wasn't a real good judge, but I suspected I was no longer cute.

A half hour later, I rolled into the office.

“Whoa,” Connie said at my hair. “What happened to you?”

“I got a haircut.”

“I hope you didn't give him a tip.”

“Am I cute?”

“That's not the first word that comes to mind.”

Vinnie stuck his head out and grimaced at me. “Holy shit. What'd you do, tag yourself with the stun gun? I wouldn't show that hairdo to your mother if I was you.” And he went back into his office.

“I didn't think it was that bad,” I said to Connie.

“You look like you soaked your head in liquid starch and then stood in a wind tunnel.”

Vinnie jumped out of his office. “I got it! I know who it is that you look like . . . Don King!” And Vinnie jumped back inside and slammed and locked his door.

I felt my hair. It was pretty stiff. Maybe I overdid the hair gunk.

“Omigod,” Connie said, looking out the big front window. “Its Lula!”

Sure enough, the red Firebird was parked at the curb and Lula was at the door with Boo under her arm.

“What did I miss?” Lula wanted to know, coming over to the desk. “What's going on? Did I miss anything?”

I didn't know where to begin. There'd been death, birth, sex, and hair loss.

Lula shifted Boo on her hip. “Are you still looking for that carnation guy?”

“Yep,” I said. “Haven't found him yet. I tried calling you, but your phone wasn't working.”

“I stopped to take a break, got out of the car, the phone fell on the ground, and the dog peed on it.”