Page 34 of Now or Never

“No. It was in her tote bag.”

“Just sayin’,” Connie said.

“I hear you.” I hung up and dug into lunch, starting with the slaw. “It sounds like Eugene and Kevin were busy last night,” I said to Lula.

“Yeah, but you didn’t ask any of the right questions. Like how big was the truck and what kind of cookies are we talking about? If it was a Keebler’s elves eighteen-wheeler, that would be one thing, and I would expect there were some Chips Ahoy! and Oreos and Lorna Doones. Or it could have been a Famous Amos truck and then it would have been just chocolate chip. If I was going to hijack a truck to feed to the homeless, I’d look for the Keebler truck because of the variety. Some of the homeless might get migraine from chocolate chips. It’s a common allergy. Although I have to say Amos makes a good cookie.” Lula finished her sandwich and moved on to the French fries. “What’s next on our schedule? I’m voting we go after Eugene, being that he’s the only one who might not want to kill us. And you can see how it all worked out for the best. If we dragged Eugene, off to jail last night, he wouldn’t have been able to redistribute the wealth to the needy today.”

I glanced at my watch. “I have a furniture delivery coming between one and four o’clock. Eugene will have to wait until I get my bed.”

“I’m okay with that,” Lula said. “You can drop me at the office. I want to catch up on Robin Hoodie handing out all those cookies, and it’s better when you watch his videos on Connie’s big monitor. He’s more heroic looking on her monitor than when you see him on your phone and he’s only a half inch tall.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

It was a little after two o’clock when my furniture arrived. I made my bed, plugged my nightstand lamp in, and put my living room lamp on the new end table that was placed next to the couch. I told myself that it was cozy, and it was home, but the truth is, it didn’t feel like home. Home had been firebombed one too many times. I went into the dining room and packed up my messenger bag, and Ranger called.

“What’s the status report?” he said.

“I’m in my apartment and I’m about to go out looking for fugitives.”

“Anyone interesting?”

“Robin Hoodie, Bruno Jug, and a vampire.”

“Nice. Do you need help?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Babe,” Ranger said. And he hung up.

I called him back. “Are you in Trenton?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent.” And I hung up.

Ranger doesn’t usually need to say a lot because I get all the information I need frombabe. It can be loving, sexy, questioning, cautionary, or simply hello. And in this instance, the less said the better, because I wasn’t forced to fib or explain my absence. Unfortunately, this get-out-of-jail card wouldn’t last long. When my number came up on Ranger’s list of priorities, he’d want answers.

I grabbed my messenger bag and a sweatshirt, and I left my apartment. It was still early enough in the day that court would be in session. So, there was a chance that I could get Eugene bonded out without an overnight stay, if I could find him fast enough. I got all green lights on my way to the office. A sign that maybe my luck was changing and there wouldn’t be any more bloody bodies in my immediate future. I parked in front of the office and Morelli called.

“Just checking in,” he said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good. I’m at the office. I need to find Eugene and get him rebonded.”

“And tonight?”

“It’s Wednesday,” I said. “It’s your poker night. We don’t usually get together on poker night.”

“Yeah, but it’s at Marty’s house. His wife kicks us out at ten o’clock.”

“And you want me to take up the slack time after that?”

“Think of the poker game as the opening act.”

“And then I’m the main act? The big event?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m flattered but I’m going to pass. I’m not up to the big event. I’m going to bed early. I need my beauty sleep. Anything new on the vampire?”

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