Hardcore Twenty-Four (Stephanie Plum #24)(68)

“His blog promised a new shocking video tonight, and he just asked me to meet him at the cemetery at ten o’clock. I’m worried he has video plans for me.”

“I’ve seen those videos,” Diesel said. “They need help. Smart of him to realize he needs to spice things up with a pretty girl.”

Being part of Slick’s video was sort of a depressing turn of events. On the other hand, Diesel thought I was pretty.

“He wants me to come alone,” I said. “How could he possibly believe I’d do that? He wants me to meet him at night in a cemetery that’s rampant with zombies.”

“He’s a YouTube sensation,” Diesel said. “In his mind, any woman would jump at the chance to be part of his video. And either he looks at you as a stupid, inferior female, or else you represent power and you would be stupidly fearless. Either way, you would think nothing of meeting him in a cemetery late at night.”

Jeez Louise. Now I was really depressed.

“This is good,” Diesel said. “We know where to find Slick. And if we find him, there’s hope that we can find Daryl. There’s even a decent possibility that Daryl might be on hand for the video.”

I was trying not to think too much about the video. I suspected it involved my brain.

“I can put a few key men in the cemetery, and I can put a drone in the sky,” Ranger said to Diesel. “I’m afraid if we involve the police there will be too much presence.”

“What about Stephanie?” Diesel asked.

Ranger looked at me. “Stephanie speaks for herself.”

Oh great. It was going to be my decision to risk my brain for the cause. The way I saw it I was going to look like an idiot if I was in, and I was going to look like a jerk if I wasn’t.

“Babe?” Ranger said.

I blew out a sigh. “I’m in. What’s my role?”

Diesel grinned. “You have a choice. You can be the stupid inferior female or the stupid powerful female.”

“How about if I’m just myself?”

Diesel glanced at Ranger. “I’m not going to touch that one.”

Ranger shook his head. “I’ll pass.”

“Funny,” I said. “Very funny.”

“I’ll put a wire on her,” Ranger said to Diesel. “Come down to the control room with me, and I’ll get you equipped to communicate with the rest of the team.”

From the little I knew about Diesel I thought he probably didn’t need the equipment. Diesel wasn’t normal. It wouldn’t surprise me if he read minds and could stick a lightbulb in his mouth and light up a room.





TWENTY-EIGHT


RANGER RETURNED TO his apartment a little before nine. He was holding a wire and a roll of surgical tape.

“Time to get dressed,” he said, setting the wire and the tape on a kitchen counter.

The device itself was small. About the size of a dime. State-of-the-art. I’d been wired before, so I knew what to expect. And because Ranger was placing the wire I knew what to expect there too.

I was wearing jeans and a stretchy V-neck T-shirt.

“I can do this,” I said. “Just give me the wire. I know where it goes.”

Ranger put his hands on my waist and drew me closer. “That wouldn’t be as much fun.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “There will be no fun. I’m in a relationship.”

“Don’t worry. I’m a professional. I’ve done this before.”

His hands were under my shirt, skimming over my rib cage, lifting my shirt.

“Wait,” I said.

Too late, the shirt was over my head. A heartbeat later he’d unclasped my bra and his hands were on me. They were warm and familiar, at the small of my back. He brushed a light kiss across my lips, and I got a rush all the way to my toes.

I was doomed. “Oh crap,” I said.

I could feel Ranger smile. “Babe,” he said in a whisper.

? ? ?

My clothes were scattered around the kitchen, and Ranger was trying to tape the wire to me.

“It’s not sticking,” I said.

“It’s because you’re sweaty.”

“It’s your sweat,” I said. “I don’t sweat. Ladies don’t sweat.”

“Babe, you’re no lady.”

I knew that was a compliment and a comment on the last twenty minutes. Truth is, if Slick and the Supreme Ruler of the Zombies suck out my brain tonight at least I’ll have had this one last cosmic orgasm.

I took a fast shower and got dressed in clean clothes. We got the wire on me in seconds, and we were out the door. I was driving my Rangeman CR-V and Ranger was beside me. Tank was following in another Rangeman SUV.

“My men are in place,” Ranger said. “And Diesel is out there . . . somewhere. If you get into trouble we can reach you in seconds. The goal is to capture Daryl. Hopefully he’ll show up. If he doesn’t show, you’re going to be on your own to make it happen. Remember the code word for us to move in is ‘red sky.’”

“Right. Got it. Red sky.”

I stopped two blocks from the cemetery parking lot, and Ranger got out and moved to Tank’s SUV. I continued on, trying to ignore the churning in my stomach. I was five minutes early when I parked. I had a stun gun in one sweatshirt pocket and a small canister of pepper spray in the other. My cellphone was in my jeans pocket. When I killed the lights, I was enveloped in darkness. I left my messenger bag on the back seat and got out of the car. I stuffed the keys into another pocket of my jeans. I stood for a moment, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I saw lights turn into the driveway that led to the lot. Not an SUV. They were too low to the ground. The car swung into the lot and parked next to me. It was Lula.