Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich [46]
“Screw the insurance company,” Morelli said.
“You would let nine million dollars sit under this concrete?”
“Yeah.” He toed the concrete. “I like my floor. The guys did a good job on it. It’s nice and smooth.”
“If we got married, and you died, I’d have this floor up before your body got cold.”
“As long as you don’t slit my throat while I’m sleeping.” He looked down at me. “You wouldn’t, would you?”
“Not for money.”
A HALF HOUR later, I was fresh out of the shower and I was still blue. I got dressed in a clean T-shirt and a pair of Morelli’s sweats, and I padded downstairs.
“Help,” I said to Morelli.
“I have some turpentine in the garage,” he said. “Maybe that’ll work.”
He opened his back door to go to the garage, and there were two people digging in his yard. They looked up and saw Morelli and took off, leaving their shovels behind.
“Anyone you know?” Morelli asked me.
“Nope.”
My cell phone rang. It was Grandma Mazur, and she was excited. “I just saw you on television,” she said. “You were on the early evening news. They were doing a report on the murder in Morelli’s basement and they said it was believed it was tied to that bank robbery that happened years ago. And then there was this part where Brenda found a briefcase in the dead man’s car and it had directions about where the money was buried. And some lady said she was pretty sure Dominic Rizzi gave the money to his Aunt Rose and Rose hid it somewhere before she died. Just think—Morelli could have hidden treasure in his backyard!”
I glanced out the kitchen window at the hole the two diggers had started. “And they said all that on television?”
“Yep. It was a pip of a report.”
I hung up and passed the news on to Morelli.
“There might be money buried in my basement,” Morelli said. “But I’m pretty sure the only thing anyone is going to find in my yard has been left there by Bob.”
Morelli jogged across his backyard to his garage and returned with a small can of turpentine. We dabbed it on my hand and rubbed and nothing happened.
“I’ll call the crime lab and see if they have a suggestion,” Morelli said.
The doorbell rang and Mooner answered. “It’s some dude named Gary,” Mooner yelled at me. “He says he’s a stalker.”
I went to the door, and Gary tried hard not to notice I was blue. He looked at his feet, and he looked above my head, and he cleared his throat.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I know I’m blue.”
“It caught me by surprise,” he said. “I didn’t want to seem rude.”
“Just so you know, Brenda is blue, too.”
“Is this some art thing?”
“No. It was an accident. What’s up?”
“I had the toilet dream again, only this time a bull came charging down the southbound lane, right at Brenda.”
“Jeez. What happened then?”
“I woke up.” His attention shifted to Mooner and Zook. “Are they playing Minionfire? What’s their PC?”
“Zook and Moondog.”
“Are you kidding me? They’re famous. Zook is like a god. He’s a Blybold Wizard.”
Gary inched his way in and stood behind the couch, watching over Zook’s shoulder. “Feel the power,” Gary said. “The dragon’s coming. There he is! There he is! Go arcane.”
Zook turned and looked at him. “How did you know the dragon was coming?”
“Ever since I got hit by lightning, things happen in my head before they happen on the screen. It’s like I’m a step ahead of cable, and I’m way faster than dial-up.”
“Whoa,” Zook and Mooner said, eyes glued to Gary.
Zook looked over at me. “You’re blue.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Who’s your PC?” Mooner asked Gary.
“I haven’t got one. I just lurk. I thought it wasn’t fair for me to play with the lightning advantage.”
“Far out,” Mooner said. “A dude with honor.”
Morelli ambled in. “We need to go to your parents’ now.” He checked out Gary. “Is this the stalker?”
Gary extended his hand. “Pleased to meet you,” he said to Morelli.
“Everyone sign off,” I said. “We’re going to my parents’ house for dinner.”
MY GRANDMOTHER OPENED the door, and we all marched in. Zook, Mooner, Gary, Morelli, me, and Bob.
“You better set more plates,” Grandma yelled to my mother in the kitchen. “We got a group.