Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum #25)(44)

“This isn’t working,” I said to Ranger.

“It’s only been two days,” Ranger said. “Have patience.”

I locked up, and Ranger drove me to Morelli’s house.

“You’re the deli manager,” Ranger said, idling at the curb, behind Morelli’s SUV. “You need to hire a waitress.”

“Are you making a comment on my waitressing skills?”

“Babe,” Ranger said. “You have no waitressing skills.”

Morelli was asleep on the couch when I walked in. Bob was curled up in the recliner. He lifted his head, gave a single bark, and went back to sleep.

“Hey,” I said to Morelli. “I’m home.”

He sat up and blinked at me. “How’d it go? Were you kidnapped?”

“Nope. No one was kidnapped. I think between Ranger’s surveillance and the police presence, this guy has been driven underground.”

“He’s not underground,” Morelli said. “He’s just moving in a different direction. He’s playing with us.”

Damn, I thought. I wish I’d said that.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


I STUMBLED INTO the Rangeman lobby at six o’clock Monday morning. I took the elevator to Ranger’s apartment, let myself in, and crawled into bed. I woke up two hours later when Ranger appeared with coffee for me.

“If you’re going to stay in bed, I’ll get undressed and join you,” Ranger said.

“I’m not undressed,” I said.

“I can take care of that,” Ranger said.

I got out of bed and took the coffee from him. “What’s new?” I asked.

“CSI tells us the extra shoes in the apartment have never been worn.”

“That’s good,” I said. “It means there aren’t undiscovered victims out there.”

I went to the kitchen, toasted a bagel, and buttered it.

“I need to go to the office this morning,” I said. “I need to check in with Connie. And I need to go to my apartment to get clothes, and to make sure Rex is okay. Mrs. Delgado is looking in on him, but I want to make sure he has fresh water and enough food.”

“I have a full morning here, so I’m sending you out with Luis,” Ranger said. “He’s new. And he’s young. Try to keep him away from Lula.”

“How young is he?”

“He’s legal. I just want him to keep his mind on the job. Some of my men have trouble concentrating when they’re around Lula.”

“Shocking! And you?”

“I don’t have a problem with Lula.” He reached out, pulled me close against him, and kissed me. “You’re my distraction.”

The first kiss was playful. The next kiss lingered and deepened, and a rush of desire shot through me.

“Oh boy,” I said. “This isn’t good.”

“You have a problem?”

“Yes!”

“Do you want me to solve it?”

“No!”

“I’m running out of time,” Ranger said.

“Do you mean now or forever?”

“Now. I’m supposed to be at a meeting.”

“So, you weren’t intending to follow through?”

His hands slipped under my T-shirt and moved up my rib cage to my breasts. “I can cancel the meeting.”

“Ummmmm,” I said.

Ranger removed a hand from my breast and went for his iPhone.

“Wait,” I said.

“Babe.”

“I’m conflicted.”

A text message dinged on his iPhone.

“Is that your meeting?” I asked.

“Yes. We’ll pick this up at a better time. Finish your bagel. Luis will be waiting for you in the control room.”

This is definitely for the best, I thought. Probably.

Easy to spot Luis when I entered the control room. He was the fresh-faced kid who was clearly nervous. And he had good reason to be nervous. If anything bad happened to me on his watch, his days at Rangeman would be over. I’m sure everyone else in the room was relieved that they were spared the job of guarding my body.

Luis was just under six feet with Hispanic coloring and the body of an athlete as opposed to a gym monkey. I introduced myself, and he stood at military attention.

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” he said.

“Not ‘ma’am,’ ” I said. “Stephanie.”

“Yes, ma’am, Stephanie, ma’am,” he said.

The other men were hunched over their computers, not making eye contact, trying not to laugh out loud.

We took the elevator to the underground garage, signed out a fleet SUV, and Luis drove me to my apartment. He followed me to the second floor and waited while I unlocked my door.

“Should I come in?” he asked.

“Would you like to come in?”

“Ranger said I’m not supposed to let you out of my sight.”

“That’s going to be awkward since I’m going to take a shower.”

“Yes, ma’am, Stephanie,” he said. “I’ll wait right here in the hall.”

I went to the kitchen and tapped on Rex’s cage. He poked his head out of his soup can den, blinked his tiny black eyes at me, and retreated back into his bedding. His water bottle was full, and his food cup was half full of hamster food. I dropped a peanut and a couple Froot Loops into the cage and told him I loved him.