Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum 13)

“Yes.”

“They buried Stanley Berg today, and I heard at the beauty parlor that he went in the ground wearing a diamond pinkie ring and a new Brooks Brothers suit that would fit Simon Diggery. And the weather is nice and mild. We're supposed to get some rain later, but I don't think a little rain would stop Diggery if he needed a new suit.”

We dropped Grandma off, then went to Morelli's house to get Bob. Morelli parked in the alley behind his house, took the key out of the ignition, and dropped it into his pocket.

“Wait here,” Morelli said. “I'll be right out.”

I gave him a raised eyebrow. “You took the key?”

“You wouldn't be here when I came out if I left the key.”

“I still might not be here.”

“Yeah, but at least I'll have my car.”

Morelli jogged to his back door, disappeared inside the house for a few seconds, and reappeared with Bob. Bob bounded out of the house, tethered to his leash, doing his happy dance. He tinkled on a small patch of dead grass, then rushed to the back of the SUV, anxious to go for a ride. Morelli loaded Bob into the car and got behind the wheel.

“Now what?” he asked.

“I was going to stop in at the office.”

“Okay,” he said, putting the SUV in gear. “To the office.”

“This is ridiculous. Are you going to stick with me all day?”

“Like stink on a monkey, Cupcake.”

Connie was putting together files when I walked in.

“I have some new guys for you,” she said. “Nothing big. Possession, domestic violence, and grand theft auto. All FTA.” She put the paperwork in a folder and handed it to me. “Hows Tank? I understand he was shot.”

“He's going to be okay. I saw him when he came out of surgery.”

“Lula flew out of here when she heard.”

“We met her at the hospital. She decided to stay with Tank for a while. Make sure he behaves himself.”

The front door banged open and Lula swung in. “They wouldn't let me stay. They said I was a disruptive influence. Do you believe that? Hell, I wasn't disrupting nothing.”

“Imagine, someone thinking you're disruptive,” Connie said.

“Yeah, they got a bunch of stick-up-their-ass nurses in that place,” Lula said. “It was okay, anyways, because they gave Tank some happy juice in his IV and he fell asleep.” She looked through the front window. “What s Morelli doing out there?”

“Waiting for me,” I said.

“Why?”

“I don't want to talk about it.”

“He's babysitting you, isn't he?” Lula said. “It's got something to do with Tank getting shot, right?”

“Do you want the long version or the short version?” I asked them.

“I want the long version,” Connie said. “I want all the details.”

“Yeah,” Lula said. “I don't want to miss nothing. I gotta feeling this is gonna be good.”

It took a little over ten minutes for me to get through the long version, mostly because Lula went on a rant that Morelli didn't tell me about Dickie.