Page 48 of Now or Never

“I like cupcakes a lot,” Jug said. “Where are we going again?”

“The courthouse.”

Lou’s phone rang. “Un-huh,” he said. “Un-huh, un-huh, un-huh.” He tapped the phone off and turned to his driver. “Abort. We’re going to the chopper in Bucks.”

The driver made an instant U-turn with the Escalade following his lead.

“What?” I said, leaning forward. “What’s happening?”

“Change in plans,” Lou said. “Bruno has decided to take a short vacation.”

“I’m sitting next to him. He didn’t say anything about a vacation.”

“Sit back and relax,” Lou said. “You aren’t in any immediate danger.”

“Immediate? Like I will be in the future?”

“Are you girls carrying?” he asked.

“Damn right I’m carrying,” Lula said.

“Good to know,” Lou said. “Just make sure you don’t shoot me in the back, because the boys in the Escalade behind us wouldn’t like it.”

Lula and I turned to look out the back window. The Escalade was right on our bumper. We cut through downtown and went over the Stark Street bridge into Pennsylvania. We followed the road along the river for what seemed like an eternity but was really more like thirty to forty minutes. The car turned off Route 32, and the river was behind us. We were almost instantly in an area that was heavily forested, interspersed with cut fields. We passed a couple driveways leading into the woods and an occasional house. It was a curvy road, and we made a few turns before the car stopped at a private gated drive. The gate opened and we wound our way through the woods. The woods gave way to paddocks for horses and a stone house that could only be described as a mansion. Several cars were parked close to the house. We drove past the house, following a single-lane paved road that led to an open field and a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter. Mrs. Jug was standing to one side, flanked by two large men. One of the men was holding Mr. Big.

“You don’t know where you are, right?” Lou asked me.

“Nope,” I said. “Haven’t a clue. Don’t want to know.”

“Me either,” Lula said. “I’m dumb as a box of rocks.”

Lou helped Jug get out.

“What about the cupcakes?” Jug asked me.

“Next time,” I told him. “Promise.”

The Jugs got on the helicopter with Lou and two of the men from the Escalade. The helicopter lifted off and disappeared. One of the remaining men got into the Mercedes to ride shotgun andwe headed back to Trenton. No one said anything. We were on the Stark Street bridge and Connie called me.

“I’m at the courthouse with cupcakes,” she said. “Where are you?”

“I’m in Bizarroland,” I said. “I’m on my way back to the office. I’ll meet you there. Make sure you bring the cupcakes.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Okay, let me get this straight,” Connie said. “You were on your way to the courthouse and there’s a phone call and all of a sudden you’re on your way to a private airfield in Bucks County.”

I selected a second cupcake. “Yep. Not exactly an airfield. I just saw the one helicopter. By the way, these cupcakes are fantastic. I just had one with custard inside it.”

“And then they put Jug on the helicopter…,” Connie said.

“A big one,” Lula said. “With Mrs. Jug and the dog.”

“It said ‘Sikorsky S-76’ on the side of it,” I said. “And it took off and I don’t know where it went. They drove us back to Trenton and here we are.”

“They didn’t take us back to Jug Produce either,” Lula said. “They had Stephanie’s SUV waiting for us in one of the municipal lots downtown. We aren’t sure how it got there because they didn’t have the key.”

“I imagine there are people at Jug Produce who have skills beyond unloading crates of oranges,” I said.

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