Page 24 of Now or Never

“Do you think Eugene Fleck is Robin Hoodie?”

“I think it’s possible. The body type is similar. His prints were found on the truck.”

“Robin Hoodie always wore gloves in the videos I watched. I got the impression he was careful not to leave incriminating evidence.”

“He also had help. There was a second cameraman,” Morelli said. “Why are you interested in Eugene? Are you a Robin Hoodie fan?”

“Eugene is FTA. I need to get him rescheduled.”

“And?”

“I’m new to Robin Hoodie, and I don’t get it. What sort of person would do this? Why would someone do this and risk jail by putting out videos?”

“Money,” Morelli said. “Robin Hoodie is worth millions. He’s been building his channel for a little over a year. He went global with the UPS truck and moved into the big time. He gets paid for the number of hits on his channel, and he has advertisers.”

“I don’t see any indication that Eugene has money. He’s living with his parents and riding around on a bicycle.”

“Then maybe he does it for the rush. He could be a thrill junkie. Or he could do it for the fame. Or he could really believe in the cause.”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t think anything. It’s not my case. No blood involved. I don’t know all the details.”

“Yes, but it’s fascinating. Aren’t you fascinated?”

“I’m going to be fascinated tonight when I’m watching the Rangers beat Boston. That’s fascinating. Are you going to be watching with me?”

“Maybe. It depends on how it goes with Eugene.”

There was a beat of silence. “Are you getting cold feet on the marriage thing?”

“No! Definitely not. I’ve just got a lot going on. And I’ve got a cash flow issue. I need to get Bruno Jug and Eugene.”

“Honey, you’ve always got a cash flow issue. That never stopped you from catching a Rangers game or spending the night with me.”

“You’re right. I expect to be done with Eugene by the time the Rangers get on the ice, and Jug can wait.”

“That’s good, because I have something special for you.”

People were yelling in the background.

“I have to go,” Morelli said. “I’m in the middle of something here.”

He disconnected and I broke out in a cold sweat over the something special. What if it was an engagement ring? What would I do? I looked down at my stomach. “Anybody home in there?” I asked. No one answered, and the cold sweat morphed into a hot flash. Hard to tell if it was from panic or hormones. Okay, calm down, I told myself. Breathe. You can take the pregnancy test on Friday. You just have to make it to Friday. At least Ranger was still out of town, so I had that going for me.

A text message buzzed on my iPhone. It was from Ranger.Wrapping up business here. Be home tomorrow.

Crap!

CHAPTER SIX

Lula was standing on the sidewalk in front of the office when I pulled to the curb. The platinum wig was on straight and even from a distance I could see that she was wearing two eyelashes.

“Connie left early,” Lula said, sliding in next to me. “She said not to forget about the new FTA.”

“I haven’t looked at it yet. It’s in my bag. Pull it out and read it to me.”

Lula found the file and flipped it open. “Zoran something. I can’t pronounce his last name.”

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