Page 105 of Now or Never

Bob and I did two blocks and when we got back to my apartment building the Rangeman car was gone. I didn’t have any dog food, so I made scrambled eggs and toast for Bob and me. Bob is lactose intolerant so there was no butter on his toast. We had just finished eating when Morelli showed up.

“You’re usually at work by now,” I said.

“I just got off work,” Morelli said. “I’m on my way home. I thought I’d stop in and get Bob.”

“How did you know Bob was here?”

“My doorbell cam. I saw you and Bob leave my house and not return.”

“Of course.”

Morelli looked at the empty bowl on the floor next to Bob’s water bowl. “Bob ate breakfast?”

“Scrambled eggs and dry toast.”

Morelli grabbed me and kissed me. “Thanks for taking care of Bob.”

“Is that why you kissed me?”

“No. I kissed you because it’s my second-favorite thing to do.”

“And your first favorite?”

“Watching the Giants.”

I punched him in the shoulder, and he hugged me closer and kissed me again. His beard was way past five o’clock shadow and looked very sexy. If this kept up, I was going to have beard rash, and it would be totally worth it.

“Before I forget,” Morelli said. “We got lucky with the fingers. Three hits. Elena Stockard Djordjevic, Rosa Sanchez, Marianne Markoni. No Julie Werly.”

“So, she might be alive.”

“We have nothing to prove that she’s dead.”

Bob was pushing against Morelli trying to get his attention. Morelli bent down and hugged Bob and scratched his ear. He straightened and looked into my living room.

“You have furniture and carpet, and it looks like fresh paint. When did all this happen?”

“Herbert.”

“You told me about Herbert doing nice things, but I didn’t get the whole picture.”

“The whole picture is hard to explain. Mostly because I can’t explain it to myself. It’s a little disturbing.”

“Whoa,” Morelli said, eyeballing my window. He crossed the room and ran his finger along the glass. “There’s a story here.”

“After I was firebombed three times, Ranger decided to install bulletproof glass.”

“And?”

“And Zoran tried to break in last night, and I tried to shoot him, but the bullet got stuck in the glass.”

Morelli looked down at the floor. I couldn’t tell if he was trying not to laugh or trying not to grind his teeth. He picked his head up and crooked his finger at me in one of thosecome heremotions. I walked over and he hung his arm across my shoulders.

“Is it too late to cancel the engagement?” he asked me.

I knew he wasn’t serious about canceling the engagement. He was making a statement about my job.

“Maybe,” I said.

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