“I don't know. It's like we're forty-third cousins or something.” He finished eating and took a paper napkin from me. “I guess I have some vague recol
lection of a skirmish in the garage, but I don't recall doing it with Loretta.”
“Then who was in the garage with you?”
“I don't know,” Morelli said. “It was dark.” He looked at the eclair box. “Can I have another one?”
“No.”
“You're mad.”
“Of course I'm mad. How could you have been so irresponsible? God, you were such a... pig.”
“That's not exactly a secret,” Morelli said. “Everyone knew I was a pig. You knew I was a pig.”
“There's more bad news,” I told him.
“Terrific. What is it?”
“Dominic has decided you should die, and he's going to kill you.”
“I need to have a talk with Loretta. And then I'll talk to Dom. See if I can get him interested in solving his mental health issues.” He gave me a kiss on my forehead. “Gotta go. Are you working tonight?”
“Yes. Brenda has a press conference this afternoon and dinner with the mayor tonight.”
“Will you be able to pick Zook up after school?”
“If I can't, I'll get someone else to do it. And I'm going to leave him with my parents this afternoon, if Loretta isn't bonded out. Dom is too irrational about you. I don't want to make things worse by putting his nephew in your house.” And what went unsaid was that I was still spooked by the guy in the basement. Morelli's house didn't feel secure.
Morelli opened the driver's side door to his SUV and clumps of dog hair tumbled out and drifted off on a breeze. “Be careful tonight,” he said.
“No problem. Brenda isn't dangerous.”
Morelli angled himself behind the wheel. “I was thinking of Ranger.”
Lula bustled out of the store, and we watched Morelli drive off. “That man is fine,” Lula said, taking an eclair from the box. “I get a rush just looking at him.”
I glanced over at her.
“Well, hell,” she said. “I'm engaged. I'm not dead.”
Stephanie Plum 14 - Fearless Forteen
CHAPTER FIVE
I was back in my black suit and black heels. In an effort to compete with Brenda, I'd added an extra swipe of mascara and I'd run a brush through my hair. If I'd had an extra hour and a half, I could have done a lot better.
I reached the hotel five minutes late, and Tank was still on duty in front of Brenda's door.
“Ranger's at a meeting with hotel security,” Tank said. “I'll stay with you until he gets here.”
Spending time with Tank was always excrutiating, because for the most part Tank didn't talk. Ranger didn't talk a lot, either, but he said a lot with his eyes and his touch. I'd reached a level of comfort with Ranger. Ranger looked at ease and in control when he was with me. Tank looked like he wanted to bolt and run.
“So,” I said to Tank, doing some mental knuckle-cracking, searching for an icebreaker. “Congratulations.”
“What?”
“On your engagement.”