Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum #25)(59)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE


IT WAS DARK in my bedroom with just a sliver of light shining under my bathroom door. I was naked and tangled in the sheet. Morelli wasn’t next to me, and I was cold without his body heat. I pushed my hair off my face so I could see the time. Five o’clock. He came out of the bathroom, fully dressed. He kissed me on my shoulder and covered me with the quilt.

“Gotta go,” he said.

“Unh.” It was all I could manage.

Morelli got energized after sex. I relaxed into mush.

“How do you do it?” I asked him.

“You inspire me.”

“Nice,” I said.

And I meant it. It was a really nice answer. It was also true that it didn’t take much to get Morelli inspired.

I waited for the sun to come up before I set my feet on the floor. I showered and got dressed and went to the kitchen. I texted Mrs. Delgado that I was home and didn’t need her to look in on Rex. I made coffee and ate cereal out of the box. My apartment wasn’t great, but it was home, and I was enjoying the luxury of returning to my routine. And I was enjoying the luxury of not having a babysitter following me around.

I looked out my living room window, down at the parking lot. A Rangeman SUV was parked beside my car. So much for independence. I gave up a sigh and told myself it could be worse. At least he wasn’t sitting in my living room.

I cleaned the hamster cage, made my bed with fresh linens, and gathered the laundry to take to my parents’ house. There was a laundry room in the basement of my apartment building, but it was lit by a flickering neon light, and it smelled like overused gym clothes and stagnant water. If I took my laundry to my mother, there was the added advantage of having it folded and ironed. Plus, I always got a bag of leftovers to take home with me. Half a pot roast. A chunk of chocolate cake. Five-bean salad. A bowl of pasta and red sauce with sausage. The possibilities were endless and wonderful.

I had the laundry basket in my hands, turned, and yelped when I bumped into Wulf.

“What the . . .” I said.

“We need to talk,” Wulf said.

“Again?”

That got a small smile from Wulf. “This won’t take long.” He glanced at my laundry basket. “I see you have a full morning.”

My windows were closed and locked and my door was double bolted, but here was Wulf. No point in asking how he got in. There were three men in my life who had seemingly supernatural skills when it came to getting into my apartment. Wulf, Diesel, and Ranger weren’t stopped by the locks on my door. Morelli wasn’t stopped by my door locks either, but that was because he had a key.

“As you know, I’ve been engaged by a friend to find someone,” Wulf said.

“Ryan Meier.”

“Yes. Ryan is my friend’s son. He was in this country on a student visa. He left school, overstayed his visa, and took an illegal job working at the deli. Shortly after taking the job he disappeared.”

“Leaving a shoe behind in the parking lot.”

“Correct. Everyone is busy trying to solve the kidnapping mystery, looking for the kidnapper. I don’t care about the kidnapper. I want to find Ryan Meier.”

“Isn’t it all the same?”

“Different focus. Different process. Five men are hidden somewhere, dead or alive. My focus is on finding those men. Three had already been kidnapped when I came on the scene. I watched the alley and was present for the fourth kidnapping.”

“Wayne Kulicki.”

“Yes.”

“You could have saved him.”

“I wasn’t interested in saving him. I was interested in where they took him.”

“And?”

“They loaded him into a van. I followed the van to the top deck of a parking garage. They off-loaded Kulicki, put him into a helicopter, and that was the last I saw of him. The stolen van was left behind. The three men in the van left with Kulicki.”

“Wow. It’s like a movie.”

Wulf smiled. “Yes. I like when there’s some drama involved in a crime.”

“Did you recognize any of the men?”

“Victor Waggle. It was dark and they were all wearing hoodies, but there was a moment on the roof when Waggle’s hood was blown off by the rotor wash.”

“I’m surprised you know Victor Waggle.”

“The trail goes from Ernie Sitz to Leonard Skoogie to Victor Waggle. There are others involved, but I haven’t identified them. I’m telling you this because it’s gone cold. Every time I had a good lead, either the police or Ranger bungled in and it went away. And now you’ve eliminated the deli.”

“I had nothing to do with that fire!”

“You’re a magnet for disaster. You’re also inept but lucky. And at this point I need some luck. Hanging out in the deli, waiting for someone to snatch you, didn’t work. You need to go proactive. I think the five men are still alive, but that could change if the principals panic.”

“Do you have any suggestions on the proactive thing?”

“Just be your usual annoying, bumbling self. Leonard Skoogie is dead, so he’s not going to be any help. There’s a good possibility that Ernie Sitz is back in the country, but I haven’t seen him. You should go after Waggle.”