Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich [71]
“Lucky Bob.”
“I put the toe in your freezer.”
“Shit,” Morelli said. “I’m out of Rolaids. Are you sure it was a toe?”
“Either that or a giant garbonzo bean with a toenail.”
“I’ll be home as soon as I can, but it will probably be late tonight.”
“Should I report the toe to someone?” I asked him.
“I’ll tell Spanner about it. I’m sure it’s all related. Gotta go.”
I flopped onto the bed and covered my eyes with my hands. The day was grinding on, and I wasn’t making any progress. Loretta was suffering somewhere, and I couldn’t get to her.
Let’s list all this out, I thought. What do I know about the fourth partner? I know he’s single. I know what his shoes look like. I might remember his voice. That’s it. That’s all I know.
No it isn’t, I thought. I know more. None of it good. I know he robbed a bank and let his partner take the fall. I know he killed one or more of his partners and blew up a house. I know he has Loretta and is capable of doing most anything to her. I know for sure that he wants the nine million real bad. And either he thinks Morelli has already found the money, or he’s decided his best shot is to force Morelli to find it for him. What else do I know? I know Dom is still in the neighborhood.
I carted my half-eaten clothes downstairs and tossed them into the garbage. I ate a bowl of cereal and a banana, and I went into the living room. Zook, Mooner, and Gary were back to the world of Minionfire. The spud guns were lined up along the wall.
Lula was on the phone. “What do you mean he don’t want to talk to me? Of course he wants to talk to me. I’m his honey. We’re engaged to get married. Did you tell him it was Lula?” She listened for a minute, tapping her toe, looking really pissed off. “You’re a big fibber. I’ve got a mind to come over there and hit you alongside the head. How’d you like that, you little pissant?”
I gave Lula raised eyebrows.
“Hunh,” Lula said. “He hung up on me.”
“You called him a pissant.”
“I just learned that word yesterday. It was on one of them game shows. I bet he don’t even know what it means.”
“Who were you talking to?”
“Some guy at Rangeman. Hal or Cal or something.”
My cell phone rang.
“Babe,” Ranger said. “Do something with her.”
And he disconnected.
I called Ranger back. “No,” I said. “And I need information on Jelly Kantner. His apartment got blown up, and I need to find him.”
“And I should do this why?”
“Because you like me.”
There was a full beat of silence. “I do,” Ranger said. “I like you a lot. Sometimes I’m not sure why. Give me a couple minutes.”
I slid my phone into my pocket and waited. Five minutes went by and finally Ranger called.
“What do you mean you’re not sure why you like me?” I asked him.
“Liking you doesn’t seem to be getting me where I want to go.”
“Maybe you need to change the destination.”
“Maybe,” Ranger said. “But not today. I have a personal information report for you on Jelly Kantner, also known as Jay Kantner.”
“E-mail Kantner’s report to Morelli.”
“Ten-four.”
I moved to Morelli’s office and waited for the e-mail to come in. I printed the report and sat in his chair to read it. Kantner’s parents were deceased. He had a sister living in the Burg. She was married with two kids. Kantner had no derogatory information. His credit was good. He’d worked as a maintenance specialist for J. B. Management Associates for ten years. Probably didn’t make a lot of money, but his work history was solid. He’d never married.
I called the sister’s number and asked for Jelly.
“Jelly,” she shouted. “It’s a girl!”
“Hello?” Jelly said.
“Hey, it’s Stephanie Plum.”
“Oh no!”
“Don’t hang up. I just want to talk to you.”
“Okay,” Jelly said. Tentative. Not sure if it was a smart thing.
“I’m trying to find Dom,” I told him.
“I don’t know where he is. He got my apartment blown up. And I haven’t seen him since.”
“You’re friends. You must have some idea where he went.”
“We were friends. In the past.