Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich [17]
“Then who was in the garage with you?”
“I don’t know,” Morelli said. “It was dark.” He looked at the éclair box. “Can I have another one?”
“No.”
“You’re mad.”
“Of course I’m mad. How could you have been so irresponsible? God, you were such a . . . pig.”
“That’s not exactly a secret,” Morelli said. “Everyone knew I was a pig. You knew I was a pig.”
“There’s more bad news,” I told him.
“Terrific. What is it?”
“Dominic has decided you should die, and he’s going to kill you.”
“I need to have a talk with Loretta. And then I’ll talk to Dom. See if I can get him interested in solving his mental health issues.” He gave me a kiss on my forehead. “Gotta go. Are you working tonight?”
“Yes. Brenda has a press conference this afternoon and dinner with the mayor tonight.”
“Will you be able to pick Zook up after school?”
“If I can’t, I’ll get someone else to do it. And I’m going to leave him with my parents this afternoon, if Loretta isn’t bonded out. Dom is too irrational about you. I don’t want to make things worse by putting his nephew in your house.” And what went unsaid was that I was still spooked by the guy in the basement. Morelli’s house didn’t feel secure.
Morelli opened the driver’s side door to his SUV and clumps of dog hair tumbled out and drifted off on a breeze. “Be careful tonight,” he said.
“No problem. Brenda isn’t dangerous.”
Morelli angled himself behind the wheel. “I was thinking of Ranger.”
Lula bustled out of the store, and we watched Morelli drive off. “That man is fine,” Lula said, taking an éclair from the box. “I get a rush just looking at him.”
I glanced over at her.
“Well, hell,” she said. “I’m engaged. I’m not dead.”
FIVE
I WAS BACK in my black suit and black heels. In an effort to compete with Brenda, I’d added an extra swipe of mascara and I’d run a brush through my hair. If I’d had an extra hour and a half, I could have done a lot better.
I reached the hotel five minutes late, and Tank was still on duty in front of Brenda’s door.
“Ranger’s at a meeting with hotel security,” Tank said. “I’ll stay with you until he gets here.”
Spending time with Tank was always excrutiating, because for the most part Tank didn’t talk. Ranger didn’t talk a lot, either, but he said a lot with his eyes and his touch. I’d reached a level of comfort with Ranger. Ranger looked at ease and in control when he was with me. Tank looked like he wanted to bolt and run.
“So,” I said to Tank, doing some mental knucklecracking, searching for an icebreaker. “Congratulations.”
“What?”
“On your engagement.”
“Oh jeez,” Tank said, his upper lip breaking out in a sweat. “You know about it?”
“Lula told me.”
“What did she say? Did she say how it happened? You know, how I proposed?”
“She said it was very romantic.”
Tank did a grimace. “Listen, can I talk to you real confidential? I mean, Ranger trusts you, and he doesn’t trust anyone, so maybe I can trust you, too, right?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t remember proposing. I guess I was so nervous, I blanked out or something. I don’t even remember buying the ring! All I remember is I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was engaged. Lula was wearing the ring, and she was all excited.”
Oh boy. “I guess the important thing is that you’re happy about it,” I told him. “You are happy, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know. I’m confused. You won’t tell Ranger, will you? He’ll laugh his ass off.”
“Ranger laughs?”
“He laughs on the inside.”
“You’re going to have to tell Ranger sooner or later,” I said to Tank.
“Why?”
“Because you’ll get married and . . .”
“Married! We just got engaged.”
“That’s usually followed by marriage.”
Tank’s eyes were blank and his face went gray under the brown. He staggered back, went down to one knee, and crashed to the floor in a faint.
The elevator doors opened, and Ranger stepped out and spied Tank stretched out on the carpet.
“Fainted,” I said.
Ranger walked to Tank and stood hands on hips, staring