Fortune and Glory (Stephanie Plum #27)(49)

“Did Jimmy have any aliases?” I asked Benny.

“Sure. We all did. His favorite was Mickey Gooley. Sometimes he used Mickey Fast. He probably had others, too. I can’t remember them all. I can’t even remember all of my own aliases.” Benny shoveled more ziti into his mouth. “I don’t suppose you have more beer in your purse?” he asked Grandma.

“I could only fit the one bottle,” Grandma said. “You don’t want to drink too much anyway. You got a viewing tonight.”

“I want to do what’s right for Carla,” Benny said. “And I know she deserves a nice viewing, but I’m not looking forward to this. Everybody and their brother’s going to come out tonight. Half of the people would put a knife in my back if I didn’t sit against the wall.”

“That’s not true,” Grandma said. “You’re well-liked.”

“Not by everyone. I made a lot of enemies in my time.”

“Most of them are dead,” Grandma said.

Benny nodded. “Good point.”

“I guess we should be moving along,” Grandma said. “We’ll see you tonight.”

“Are you coming to the viewing?”

“Of course,” Grandma said. “I wouldn’t miss Carla’s viewing.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE


Everyone looked relieved when I returned to the office.

“You didn’t have to be so worried,” I said. “We just delivered a casserole.”

“What kind of casserole?” Lula asked.

“Baked ziti with cheese and sausage.”

“I might go to the after-funeral party to get some of that,” Lula said.

“Too late. Benny ate it.”

“Now all I can think of is ziti and melty cheese,” Lula said. “We should order from Pino’s.”

“I’ll go for the Vodka Rig,” Connie said.

“Make that two,” Lula said.

“Order me something without dairy or tomatoes or gluten,” Potts said.

“That would be the paper napkins,” Lula said. “Are you sure you have all those allergies?”

“I have a nervous stomach from the PTSD,” Potts said. “It’s hard to tell what’s an allergy and what’s irritable bowel syndrome. All I know is I get the poops a lot.”

“Bummer,” Lula said. “In the beginning I just thought you were weird and annoying, but now I’m starting to see you’re okay. It’s just that you’ve got a lot of problems. Even if they aren’t real, I guess they’re still problems if they give you the poops.”

“That’s profound,” Potts said.

“You bet your ass,” Lula said. “There’s more to me than meets the eye.”

“Call the order in to Pino’s, and get a vodka rig for me, too,” I told Connie. “I’ll pick it up. I want to drive by some addresses anyway.”

Lula and Potts followed me out of the office, and everyone piled into my SUV.

“You know what this is like?” Potts said. “This is like we’re a posse. I’ve never been part of a posse before. This is so cool.”

“Where’d you come up with that one?” Lula asked him.

“I was watching television last night and they had a rerun of Entourage. Remember that? It was a television show and then it was a movie? And this guy Vince had a posse. And I was thinking that’s like us. We’re a posse.”

“I remember that show,” Lula said. “Vince was hot. He didn’t have as much muscle as I like but he had good hair.”

My first drive-by was Cluck-in-a-Bucket. I wanted to check on Arnold Rugalowski. It was lunchtime and he should be working the fry station. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to see if he wanted to get a new court date. A polite inquiry.

I turned into the lot and parked and told everyone to stay in the car. Lula was happy to do this, and Potts didn’t put up much of a fight. They were getting worn down by failure and getting syringed and shot at. I wasn’t that smart. I kept pushing forward. Nothing stopped me. I was like RoboStephanie.

I cut the line at the counter and went straight to the front. “I’d like to talk to Arnold,” I said.

“He isn’t here,” the girl working the counter said. “He quit yesterday.”

“Did he get another job?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “He just left.”

“Well?” Lula asked when I got back behind the wheel.

“He wasn’t there. He quit yesterday.”

“Where did he go?”

I shrugged. “Don’t know.”

The next address on my list was the Mole Hole. It was in the opposite direction from Pino’s, but I had time to kill before our food was ready. I crossed over the train tracks and wound my way past the train station to the Mole Hole. I cruised through the lot and noted that the blue pickup and black Escalade were parked close to the entrance. Shine’s henchmen were on-site.

I drove past the Margo and Carlotta’s Bakery. I didn’t see Shine lurking in either of these locations. There were cars parked in front of the bakery, but nothing that had Shine’s name on it. I drove around the block and headed for Pino’s.