Turbo Twenty-Three (Stephanie Plum #23)(66)

The guy who tried to choke me wasn’t wearing gloves. I could remember the feel of his fingers closing in on my neck. Probably he’d left prints on my door. Probably I shouldn’t have wiped the blood off the lamp. Probably I shouldn’t have sprayed Lysol on the message on my door. Damn! I was doing everything wrong.

So what was the other purpose for the clown? He was a big smudge on the Bogart brand. So far it hadn’t gone public. I wondered if someone was disappointed at that. Who would benefit if Bogart Ice Cream tanked? Mo Morris. I didn’t buy it. I thought Mo Morris was doing his own thing. And Mo Morris would have no reason to kill me. I’d worked in his plant for half a day. I’d spent a half hour at a bar with his son. Who else would benefit? Someone who was associated with Soon? Big question mark there, but Ranger would dig around and come up with a name.

I looked out the window and saw coastline below me. I was going to Disney World.

“Babe,” Ranger said. “Are you okay? Your face is flushed.”

“I’m going to Disney World.”

“Have you never been there?”

“When I was nine and when I was fourteen. How about you?”

“I never went as a kid. I went as a teenager when I was living in Little Havana. It was local. We’d drive up to Orlando and get there when the park opened. We’d drive back to Miami after the fireworks. Four hours each way.”

“Did you love it? Was it magical?”

“It was okay. Not entirely my thing.”

“What was your thing?”

“I liked girls. I belonged to a gang. I was too cool for Disney.”

“How about now?”

“Now is a lot more complicated.”

“I know this is business, but can we go to the Magic Kingdom?”

“I’d rather set myself on fire.”

We touched down in Orlando and left our messenger bags and guns on the plane. Disney World frowned on guns.

“How are we going to find Mrs. Bogart?” I asked Ranger.

“She’s staying at the Contemporary Resort. I have photographs and her room number.”

“How did you get her room number? This is Walt Disney World. It’s like the Pentagon when it comes to security.”

“We hacked into their computers.”

Our driver dropped us at the entrance to the Contemporary and we walked into the lobby. Everyone was in shorts and colorful T-shirts and flip-flops. Ranger was in black fatigues and looked like he was doing recon for a SWAT raid.

“Now what?” I asked him.

“It’s lunchtime. We check out the restaurants and the pool. These people have been here for over a week. They aren’t going to be standing in line for the Haunted Mansion.”

“Are you thinking Harry Bogart is here with his wife?”

“It’s possible. This is a good place to hide.”

“Hiding in plain sight.”

“Exactly.”

We wandered into a restaurant with a massive buffet. Everyone was having fun. Donald Duck was there, and I got a selfie with him.

“This is so great,” I said to Ranger. “They have Mickey Mouse waffles.”

He hooked an arm around me. “You like this?”

“I do! Can we stay to see the fireworks?”

“We’d have to spend the night.”

“Yes! That would be awesome. Omigod, is that Minnie Mouse? Can we have lunch?”

“We had lunch on the plane.”

“I know, but Donald and Minnie weren’t on the plane. If we have lunch here I can get more pictures.”

Ranger looked over at Donald. Donald was waving to everyone and making Donald Duck sounds.

“Babe,” Ranger said. “You need to focus. We’re here to talk to Mrs. Bogart.”

“Sure. I know that. It’s just that it’s not every day you get to take a picture with Donald.”

“I don’t see Mrs. Bogart here,” Ranger said. “Let’s try the pool.”

The pool was jammed with moms and kids and an occasional dad. Harry’s wife, Susan, was poolside, reading a book. She was blond and tanned and toned. The perfect corporate wife. She answered a call on her cellphone and glanced over at the hotel. She checked her watch and finished the call.

“Are we going to talk to her?” I asked Ranger.

“No. We’re going to talk to Harry. He’s in the room.”

“How do you know?”

“Instinct.”

We went back to the lobby and took the elevator to the third floor. Ranger rapped on the door and looked at me.

“Housekeeping,” I called.

After a moment the door opened and Harry Bogart stared out at us. The shock of seeing Ranger was obvious. He tried to close the door, but Ranger was already halfway in by then.

“What are you doing here?” Bogart asked. “What’s going on?”

“Two people have been killed, the Jolly truck was blown up, and this morning someone tried to kill Stephanie,” Ranger said.

“I don’t know anything about any of that,” Bogart said. “I swear.”

“You went to the plant in the middle of the night in your pajama top. You walked into your office, and after a few minutes you left the building, abandoned your car, and disappeared.”