Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich [57]
A big black glob of smoke rose above the housetops, into the sky. Two police cruisers raced past me, and I could see the flashing lights of a fire truck farther down the street. I walked around the block and stood by Morelli’s SUV, across the street and two houses down. My face felt flushed from the heat of the fire, and the realization that I could have died on the toilet.
My back ached and my arm was scratched and bleeding. I was having a hard time breathing, and I could feel tears collecting in my throat and behind my eyes. I managed to get into the SUV, but I was paralyzed by the horror and unable to drive. Jelly’s house was completely engulfed in flames. Firemen were spraying water on neighboring houses and the fire didn’t seem to be spreading. Thank goodness for that.
Emergency vehicles clogged the street. Fire trucks, cop cars, EMS trucks. Even if I was capable, I couldn’t leave. One by one, the surplus trucks began moving out. I waited for my opportunity, and then I left, too.
Morelli, Mooch, and Tiny were in the kitchen, drinking coffee and eating sandwiches, when I walked in.
“We need to talk,” I said to Morelli.
Morelli looked at my scraped arm. “Are you okay?”
“Marginally. Somebody blew up Jelly’s house while I was in his bathroom.”
Everyone went slack-jawed and stared at me.
“I was staking it out, and I had to go,” I told them.
“Jeez,” Mooch said. “Blowing up a house is serious stuff. Not in Trenton, but in most places.”
Morelli paled. “You couldn’t find a gas station? You actually broke into his house to use his bathroom?”
“It seemed easier. Until the house blew up.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“I don’t think so. I think the downstairs apartment was unoccupied. And I was alone upstairs. It must have been a firebomb shot into the front window. I heard the glass shatter, and then the explosion, and then everything was in flames. I was able to escape by dropping from the bedroom window.”
“Why were you watching Jelly?” Mooch asked.
“I was watching for Dom,” I told him. “It’s possible Dom’s been bunking with Jelly.”
“Do you have any ideas about Dom’s partners?” Morelli asked Mooch.
“There’s been some talk lately about Stanley Zero. The fourth partner is a big mystery.”
The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place him. “Who’s Stanley Zero?”
“Football player,” Morelli said. “He was a couple years ahead of us. Probably in Dom’s class. Not good enough to make pro and too dumb to get into college.”
“He’s in construction,” Mooch said. “He does framing for Premier Homes. He’s been working for them for years.”
“Why is he suddenly linked to the robbery?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Mooch said. “Hard to say how these things start going around. A guy shoots his mouth off in a bar, or talks to a girl, and next thing it’s public.”
I looked at the cellar door. “Is Gary still down there?”
“No. He went home,” Morelli said.
“Kentucky?”
“No. Home here in Trenton. I’m not sure where that is. He said he had a headache. I imagine it was from listening to the jackhammer.”
“I got a headache, too,” Tiny said.
Morelli took the SUV keys from me. “I’m going to take Mooch and Tiny home. They can come back for the truck tomorrow. We need to finish carting the concrete chunks out anyway.”
Tiny was about a thousand pounds. I had no idea how Morelli was going to get him into the SUV, and if he did succeed, I had a mental image of the tires going flat.
“We’re out of food,” I said to Morelli. “You need to stop on the way home and get something for supper.”
“This is getting expensive,” Morelli said. “I’m paying protection money to three guys so they don’t destroy my home, and I’m feeding them. Plus, I’ve now got Mooch and Tiny on the payroll.”
“I had Connie run a check on Jelly,” I told Morelli. “He’s driving an orange Corolla. I have the plate number, but I don’t think you need it. How many orange Corollas are there in Trenton?”
“I’ll watch for it,” Morelli said, herding Mooch and Tiny through the house and out the door.
Miraculously, Morelli got Tiny into the SUV and the tires didn’t buckle. I watched them