Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum 14)

Tank nodded but didn't move.

“You aren't going to faint again, are you?” I asked him.

“Tank don't faint,” Lula said. “Look at how big he is. He got a circulation system like a steam engine.”

I knocked on Brenda's door and Nancy answered.

“Uh-oh,” she said when she saw me.

“Ranger is busy,” I told her. “Lula and I are here to take Brenda to the sound check.”

Nancy looked at Lula and gasped.

“Who's there?” Brenda called from the bedroom. “Is it Mr. Hard Ass?”

I pushed my way into the suite. “Mr. Hard Ass is busy. It's the eyelash expert and her sidekick, Lula. The cars are downstairs, waiting.”

Brenda power-walked out of the bedroom. “I am not going with you. You destroyed my good reputation. I have an image to uphold. I was a beauty queen. I was America's Sweetheart. I've gone platinum.”

“And I was a 'ho,” Lula said. “What's that got to do with the price of beans?”

Brenda's eyebrows raised up an inch. “Were you really a 'ho? I've never met a real 'ho before.”

“Probably you did,” Lula said. “There's lots of 'hos out there, but we look just like regular people.”

Brenda and I stared at Lula for a couple beats. Lula didn't nearly look like a regular person.

“So let's get a move on,” Lula said. “I don't want to miss nothing on this sound check.”

We moved out of the room, into the hall, and hustled into the elevator. We dropped to the lobby, started across the floor, and Brenda spotted the stalker.

“There's Gary,” she said. “He's not supposed to be here. I had a restraining order put on him. He should be home with his mother. Ever since he got hit by that lightning, he hasn't been right.”

“You know him?”

“He's my cousin. Before the lightning hit him, he had brown hair. Can you imagine that?”

“He said I had a red aura,” Lula said.

“You go on home,” Brenda yelled across the room to Gary. “I'll get the police after you if I see you again.”

“Watch out for the pizza,” Gary yelled back.

We climbed into one of the black SUVs and my cell phone rang.

“Where are you?” Zook asked.

“I'm in a car,” I said. “Where are you?”

“I'm at school, waiting for someone to pick me up.”

“Your mother got bonded out this morning. She was supposed to pick you up.”

“She isn't here.”

“Okay, stay right there, and I'll get back to you.”

I dialed Dom.