Page 41 of Now or Never

“Are you sure? Because I was able to walk right in.”

“It was locked.”

“Maybe the building super let me in, now that I think about it. He was happy to hear we were painting. And I might have bribed him a little.”

“You have to leave now.”

“Without sex first?”

“Get out.”

“Okay, how about dinner if you don’t want to have sex? I have connections to get fast service at many restaurants.”

“OUT!”

He looked at his watch. “I have things to do anyway. I guess I’ll go now, but you should eat something. You’ll feel better after you eat something. I always feel better after I eat. I’m not one of those people who likes to feel hungry.”

I maneuvered him to the door, shoved him out, and closed and locked the door.

“I can have something delivered,” he yelled through the door. “How about Chinese? Or maybe sushi or a burger. You can’t go wrong with a burger and fries. I like Swiss on my burger but some people like cheddar.”

“I don’t want something delivered,” I yelled back. “Do not have something delivered. I have dinner plans.”

“Me too, now that I think about it,” he said. “People are always wanting to have dinner with me.”

I leaned against the door and looked at my apartment. It was shockingly better. Herbert and his friends did a really good job. Probably I should have been more grateful. I mean, would it have killed me to have dinner with him? The answer wasmaybe. Maybe a bullet in the brain would have been less horrible than dinner with Herbert. I went to the kitchen and looked in the fridge. Stale bread, peanut butter, and olives. Perfect.

I had dinner on my dining room table while I read the information Connie had printed out for me. Rosa Sanchez disappeared a year ago. She was working the night shift on Stark Street and never returned to her two-room apartment. It was as if she vanished into thin air. No sign of violence on the street or at her rooming house. Marianne disappeared three years ago. Same deal. Just vanished. No clues left behind. Julie Werly was a different story. Six months ago, her parents came home from dinner out with friends and found a trail of blood from the couch in the living room to the back door and out into the backyard.Forensics came back positive that the blood belonged to Julie, but her body was never found. No murder weapon was found. The case was still open but inactive. I needed to talk to Morelli about Julie Werly. I checked the time. It was almost seven o’clock. Morelli would be at the poker game. Not a good time to call him. It would have to wait until the morning.

Zoran’s deceased wife was next up. Elena Stockard Djordjevic. She lived in Seattle all her life. Graduated from Cal Tech. Worked at Boeing. She was married to Zoran for fourteen months and didn’t come home from work one day. Her car was found parked at a scenic overlook rest stop. It was locked. No sign of violence. The missing persons report was filed two days later. A massive manhunt had combed the area around the rest stop, but nothing was found. Three weeks later, the remains of a leg washed up on a beach and DNA identified it as belonging to Elena.

Gross! Yuck! I was going to have nightmares. I took my MacBook Air to my couch and searched for a movie. I settled onConeheads. One of my all-time favorites. AfterConeheadsI watched someBridgertonepisodes. I crawled into my new bed a little after eleven. I turned my bedside light off and lay perfectly still in the dark room. I’d hoped to bringBridgertoninto bed with me, but my mind was stuck on bloody women and severed limbs.

The message app flashed on my phone. I grabbed the phone off the nightstand and read the text.I’m coming in.Crap! It was Ranger, thoughtfully assuring me that I wasn’t having a home invasion by a random molester. Instead, I was having a home invasion by Ranger. The news produced a rush of panic in me that was equal to what the random-molester panic would have been. Bad enough that Ranger was at my door, but it was even worse that I was in bed wearing nothing more than a silky camisole and panties because I hadn’t gotten around to replacing my crematedpajamas. Not a problem, I told myself. Just stick to the script. It had worked with Morelli, right? Sort of.

I didn’t have to get up to let Ranger in, and I couldn’t keep him out. The man of mystery was a security expert. He was able to open two dead bolts, a slide chain, and a bump-proof lock without breaking a sweat. I switched my light on and sat up in bed. I heard my front door open and close, and I heard all the locks click back into the locked position. Moments later, Ranger walked in. He was wearing Rangeman black fatigues, a Kevlar vest, and a gun belt.

“Long day?” I asked him.

“There was an incident at one of my accounts.”

“And?”

“It’s been resolved. I was in the area, so I thought this was a chance to get together. I wasn’t going to stay long. I have paperwork backed up on my desk, but now that I’m here I’m thinking the paperwork can wait one more day.” He tossed his vest into a corner of the room and dropped his gun belt on top of it. “I’m assuming we’re still engaged.”

“Sure,” I said. “Do you still want to be engaged?”

“At this exact moment I’m a hundred percent in.”

Ranger removed his shoes and unbuttoned his shirt. He was of Hispanic descent and had skin the color of a deep tan. His body was perfect. Hard muscle in all the right places. Six-pack abs. Nice butt. Exquisite privates. He took the shirt off and unzipped his cargo pants, and I felt my nipples tingle. I looked down and saw that they were standing at attention, poking into the silky camisole. Jeez Louise! I grabbed the quilt and pulled it up over my tinglers.

“Hold on,” I said. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

Ranger’s phone buzzed and he checked the screen. “It’s goingto have to wait. The incident I just resolved has turned into an explosion and raging inferno. I need to get back there.”

I was saved by the inferno. Huge relief. I didn’t have to tell another fib. I watched him get dressed and had a twinge of regret that he hadn’t gotten past the cargo pants.

CHAPTER TEN

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