Fortune and Glory (Stephanie Plum, #27)(15)

I flipped the light on, and Rex stopped running on his wheel and blinked at us. I took a couple of Froot Loops from a box on the counter and dropped them into Rex’s cage.

“Would you like something to drink?” I asked Ranger. “Water, wine, beer? Froot Loops?”

“Pass,” Ranger said. “We need to talk.

Damn. That was my least favorite of the three options.

“I know the basic facts about the keys,” Ranger said. “Jimmy was Keeper of the Keys. He died. The keys disappeared. Supposedly the keys are needed to open a safe that contains something valuable.”

I nodded. “Those are the facts.”

“And I know that Grandma has the keys.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You planted a listening device on me again.”

“Babe,” Ranger said. “You told me.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry. I forgot.”

“I want to know what’s happening now. Starting with today when you visited Benny.”

“How do you know about Benny?” I closed my eyes and held my hand up. “Never mind. Erase that question. I know the answer.”

Early in our relationship Ranger decided it was his job to keep me alive. Placing a GPS locator on my car turned out to make his job goal more realistic.

“Benny told me about the two clues in the safe,” I said. “He also said that if you try to open the safe without the keys it’s Hiroshima.”

“What about the combination? There’s usually a combination lock in conjunction with keys.”

“Benny didn’t say much about that. He thought Jimmy’s clue, the last clue, might be the combination.”

“You have two clues,” Ranger said. “Ace it. Labeled as #1. And Philadelphia. Labeled as #3. Do they mean anything to you?”

“No. Only the obvious. Ace it could refer to the playing card. Or it could mean total success. Like I aced the test. And Philadelphia is Philadelphia.”

“Babe, you need the rest of the clues. What about Jimmy’s clue?”

I squelched a grimace. “It’s missing.”

“It wasn’t in the chair?”

“Not in the chair or under the chair. Not in his apartment, his office, his car, or any of his body cavities.”

“Do you have plans to get the other three clues?”

“I have to capture Lou Salgusta and Charlie Shine. And I have to bargain with Benny the Skootch.”

“Once you capture them, how are you going to convince Salgusta and Shine to give you their clues?”

“In the words of Indiana Jones, ‘I’m making it up as I go.’ Do you have any ideas?”

“I do,” Ranger said. “You’re going to like them.”

“Do these ideas involve Salgusta and Shine?”

“Not even a little.”

I was pretty sure I knew where this was going. Ranger had kept his distance, romantically speaking, while Morelli and I were a couple. Now that Morelli was out of the picture, it was game on for Ranger.

“You look like you’re about to have a panic attack,” Ranger said. “Not the reaction I was going for.”

“Yeah, caught me by surprise, too.”

That got a smile. He reached out, pulled me close, and brushed a kiss across my neck, just below my ear. A second one lingered.

“How’s the panic level?” he asked.

“All-time high.”

“With good reason,” Ranger said.

“How about you? Are you feeling panicky?”

His hands slipped under my T-shirt. “Panic isn’t included in my emotional package.”

His hands were warm, leaving a heated trail as they moved up my rib cage to my breasts. We kissed, our tongues touched, and my fate was sealed. I’d been here before with Ranger, so I knew the deal. He’d just put a match to the fuse that was going to send me off like a bottle rocket. Zzzzzing! Blam!!!





CHAPTER EIGHT


“Babe,” Ranger said, “I’m heading out. What’s your plan for the day?”

I propped myself up on one elbow and squinted at him in the dark. “Plan? What time is it? Am I awake?”

“It’s five o’clock and I’m late,” Ranger said. “The morning briefing and roll call is five thirty. Text me when you’re up and can talk.”

I gave him a thumbs-up and pulled the quilt over my head. I didn’t have a plan for anything, much less for my day. And as for talking, if he wanted to discuss what just happened between us my comments would be Wow, Holy Cow, Damn Skippy, and Omigod. I had other thoughts, but I’d keep them to myself. In fact, I intended to work at pushing the other thoughts out of my head. The other thoughts had to do with love and commitment and who the heck was this guy, anyway? And why wasn’t he tired?

I dragged myself out of bed when the sun came up. I showered, dressed in my usual uniform of jeans and T-shirt, gave Rex his breakfast, and made coffee for myself. I put the coffee in a to-go cup and headed for the office.

I called Grandma on the way and told her about the two clues. “Do they mean anything to you?” I asked her.

“Not a thing,” Grandma said. “I don’t think Jimmy was crazy about Philadelphia. And he was more of a slots guy than a card guy.”