Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight (Stephanie Plum #28)(4)

“They looked real infected to me,” Lula said.

Her hair wasn’t a perfect puffball anymore but aside from that she looked okay. “I don’t see any bite marks on you,” I said.

“Yeah, but I got that kind of skin that would make it hard to see a bat bite mark. It would be just two little fang marks and it could look like enlarged pores. I got some of them.”

“I think the bats were mostly trying to get away from you.”

I opened the front door to leave and bumped into Diesel.

“You’re late for the party,” I said to Diesel.

“I had to wait for my fixer to deliver wheels,” Diesel said.

“You have a fixer?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” He looked around. “What’s happening?”

“Lula decided to investigate the attic and had a Born Free moment with a swarm of bats.”

“It was terrible,” Lula said. “They were bumping into me and chirping. I can still hear them. It’s like they’re in my head and won’t go away.

“I can hear the chirping,” Diesel said. “It’s coming from you.” He leaned in and studied Lula’s hair. “You’ve got a bat stuck in there.”

“What? For real?”

“It’s looking at me,” Diesel said. “I can see its beady little eyes.”

“Eeeeeeee,” Lula said. “Get it out. Get it out.”

She jumped up and down and flapped her hands and the bat flew out.

“Problem solved,” Diesel said.

“A lot you know,” Lula said. “I got a broken shoe and bat hair. I probably got lice. And the stupid bat could have pooped, and now I’ve got bat poop in my hair. I gotta go. I need a hair salon. I need a cheeseburger and fries. I haven’t got my car here.” She looked at me. “You gotta take me back to the office so I can get my car.”

I understood her dilemma. I wouldn’t want to walk around with bat hair, either, but I didn’t want to take off and drive to the office. This was Diesel’s first stop. He’d look around, reach the conclusion that Oswald wasn’t here, and Diesel would continue tracking. And knowing Diesel, he’d have some success. He had background information on Oswald that I didn’t have. The horrible fact of life was that my best shot at catching Oswald was to stick close to Diesel.

I handed my car keys over to Lula. “I’m not done here. Leave my car at the bonds office. I’ll catch a ride with Diesel.” I looked at Diesel. “That’s okay, right?”

“It would come with a price,” Diesel said.

I rolled my eyes and grunted.

“There you go, thinking the worst,” Diesel said. “You don’t even know the price, and you’re doing that eye-rolling thing.”

“What’s the price?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Let’s see how the day goes and then we can negotiate.”

Good grief.

Diesel did a quick scan of the living room. “I assume you’ve already been through the apartment,” Diesel said. “Or did Lula get bat attacked early in the search?”

“I’ve been through the apartment. There’s nothing to see. I suspect Oswald never lived here. This was just an address to hand over to people like Vinnie.”

“Sounds like Oswald,” Diesel said. “He’s clever. Good at covering his tracks. Money to burn.”

“If he has so much money, why is he hacking information?”

“It’s the way he makes the money.”

“Okay, I get that, but if he has all this money, why would he need Vinnie to bond him out?”

“It was a high bond and I’m sure he never intended to make his court date. Why forfeit your own money when you can stick a bail bondsman with the loss?”

“I’m guessing you’ve had past experience with him.”

“Our paths have crossed. He’s not my favorite person.”

“How unfavorite is he?” I asked.

“As unfavorite as it can get.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“No,” Diesel said.

“You’d have to kill me if you told me?”

“No. I’d depress myself if I had to list out all the reasons why I dislike this man.”

“Do you have other addresses for Oswald?”

“He keeps a condo in Zurich and a condo in Manhattan. I know he’s not in either condo,” Diesel said.

“Why is he in Trenton?”

“Good question. I don’t know the answer.”

“Where do we go from here?”

“We follow his obsessions. Fast cars, beautiful women, religious icons, and the Rolling Stones.”

“Anything else?” I asked. “Favorite food? Is he a sport fanatic? Does he have a favorite team?”

“He likes to give and receive pain,” Diesel said. “That’s his sport.”

“Lula might be able to help with that. She has some friends from her former profession who specialize in giving pain.”

“I doubt they operate at Oswald’s level, but we can ask Lula to look into it. No stone unturned. In the meantime, let’s start with fast cars,” Diesel said. “He favors Porsche.”