'What else did they say on television?' I asked him.
'That was mostly it. They showed a picture of the man from when he was in the army. Special Forces. And they showed a picture of the little girl.'
I looked at my watch. 'We can't stay much longer,' I said to Grandma. 'I promised Joe I'd come over tonight.'
That works perfectly for me,' Grandma said. 'I've seen everything, and there's a television show on in a half hour that I like to watch. It's a rerun of the Crocodile Hunter. That crocodile guy is a real curie in those little shorts.'
'Make sure you get a cookie before you leave,' Scooter said. 'I baked them myself. Chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin.'
We hit the cookie table on the way out.
'Look at this,' Grandma said, taking two cookies, 'Scooter put them on doilies and everything. Such a nice young man. You can entrust your loved one to a funeral parlor that takes the time to use doilies.'
I dropped Grandma off, and I went home to my apartment. I said hello to Rex, hung my bag and jacket on a hook in the hall, and went straight to my computer. I surfed a couple news sites and then went to the site for missing children. The little girl was pretty with an infectious smile. She had brown hair pulled into a ponytail and big brown eyes. She lived with her mom and stepdad in Miami. She was picked up on her way home from school and not seen since. She was with two girlfriends who said she got into a car with a man police believe to be her birth father. The description of the man that the girls gave to the police fit Ranger. And the photo shown was of Ranger.
I shut the computer down and called Morelli. 'Have you gotten the missing child alert?' I asked him.
'Oswald just called me.'
'Do you know anything I don't know?'
'Oswald got all his information from television.'
'What do you think?'
'Ranger's not my favorite person. I think his wiring isn't code. And it wouldn't surprise me to hear he's kidnapped his daughter, but I'd be very surprised if he didn't have a good reason. Are you still planning on coming over?'
'I don't know. I'm really thrown by this. Carmen showing up, and now the little girl getting kidnapped.'
'I have a cake,' Morelli said. 'Got it just for you.'
'You don't!'
'Only one way to find out.'
'Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes.'
I hung up and called Tank.
'What's going on?' I asked him.
'Business as usual.'
'What's going on with Ranger?'
'He's off-line.'
'And?'
'Keep the faith.'
I disconnected and made a mental note not to call Tank unless I was bleeding profusely, and he was the only other person on earth.
Stephanie Plum 12 - Twelve Sharp
Five
Morelli was slow to kill the alarm on his clock radio. 'You purposely let that ring, so I'd wake up,' I said to him.