Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum 25)

“Oh dear,” she said. “It must have slipped his mind. Have you tried his cellphone?”

“He’s not picking up.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know much about Victor. Often when our clients are in the early stages of their careers they tend not to have a permanent address.”

“Why is that?” Lula asked.

“They haven’t any money,” the woman said. “I can give you a printout of our press release. It has the names of the four other band members. I imagine they would know where to find Victor.”

“Mr. Skoogie is Victor’s agent?” I asked.

“Agent and manager,” she said.

I took the press release and thanked the woman. Lula and I left the office and returned to my car.

“I can’t believe she didn’t offer us a donut,” Lula said. “That showed a less-than-gracious personality. I wouldn’t trust someone who doesn’t offer a guest a donut.”

I didn’t have a lot of thoughts about the donuts. My thoughts were about Skoogie and his interest in Victor Waggle. Hard to believe Skoogie’s high hopes were sufficient to warrant putting up a five-figure bond for someone who went around stabbing people because he was having a bad day. Something was missing in the picture.

“I can’t stop thinking about a donut now,” Lula said. “It’s stuck in my mind. I’m going to have to get a donut.”

“It’s almost ten. I’m heading for the deli. You can grab something to eat there.”

“I’m impressed that you’re taking your manager job seriously. What with all that’s been happening, a lot of people wouldn’t see this as having long-term career potential.”

“I’m not interested in long-term career potential. I want to find Vinnie and Wayne Kulicki.”

“So, you’re making yourself the next target?”

“More or less.”

“That could be a bad idea being that you’re not exactly Ranger.”

“No, but Ranger’s going to help me. He’s installing security cameras.”

“I hate to be a party pooper, but I’m thinking security cameras aren’t going to give you a lot of security. From my knowledge of this sort of thing, which mostly comes from Star Trek, it all happens pretty fast. You get vaporized and next thing you’re having dinner with a Klingon.”

“I’m going with the outside chance that it’s not space aliens.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

I PULLED TO the curb in front of the deli and parked behind a Rangeman SUV. The deli door was unlocked, and Ranger’s tech guy was inside, on a ladder. No surprise that he could let himself in. His name was Randy, and he was a master electrician, a pickpocket, a locksmith, a safecracker, and a sharpshooter. His work history prior to Ranger was south of the law.

“Good morning,” Raymond said to Lula and me. “As you can see, we have a man in black working to bring us into the age of surveillance.”

Lula went straight to the fridge. “Stephanie wants to have video for YouTube when she gets snatched up.”

“She is a woman with vision,” Raymond said.

“Where’s that carrot cake from yesterday?” Lula asked. “I don’t see it here.”

“Bottom shelf,” Stretch said. “If you eat it all you have to make a bakery run.”

“I see two cakes down here,” Lula said.

Stretch was setting up his prep area. “Yeah, like I said, if you eat it all you have to make a bakery run.”

“Hunh,” Lula said. “Smart-ass.”