Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich [89]
The crime lab tech stowed the ladder and was about to drive off when Dom rolled to a stop in front of Morelli’s house. Dom got out and nodded at the tech. The tech got out of his van and crossed to Dom.
Crap!
I didn’t know what to do. I had no idea what was being said. I didn’t want to rush out and blunder into a perfectly benign conversation, but I also didn’t want Dom to disappear, forever.
“Should we shoot them?” Mooner asked.
“No!”
The tech was talking, and Dom was nodding in agreement. Dom gave a quick glance to Morelli’s house, took his phone out of his pocket, and punched a number in. Seconds later, my phone rang.
“I need the keys,” Dom said.
“That’s not a good idea.”
“It is a good idea.”
“At least try to stall him so I can set something up.”
“For crissake,” Dom said. “Just bring me the keys. He gets the van with the money and I get Loretta.”
“Okay, I’ll send the keys out, but I’m staying here.”
“Whatever,” Dom said.
If I was the partner, I’d want a hostage to ensure my escape. And I’d make a better hostage than Loretta, since the lack of toes had to slow her down. I supposed he could take Dom, but I wasn’t sure anyone would care.
I retrieved the keys from my purse, opened the front door, and pitched the keys into the street. Dom scuttled over and scooped them up, and both men got into the tech’s van and drove off.
I saw the van turn right at the corner, and I sprinted to my car. Mooner and Gary ran with me and jumped into the backseat. Mooner still had his bazooka and Gary had his basket of potatoes. I got to the corner and looked right. They were two blocks in front of me.
“Keep your eyes on the van,” I told Mooner and Gary. “I don’t want to lose them, but I can’t get too close.”
The van turned left, into the Burg. This was the logical place for Dom to hide the money. Dom had friends there, and there were lots of unused garages. I looked in my rearview mirror. Brenda’s film crew was a car length away. Could it get any worse?
I followed the tech van as it wove through the Burg. It turned into an alley, and I hesitated. I would be clearly visible if I followed. I took a chance and drove down a street running parallel. I waited at the cross street, but the van didn’t emerge. Five minutes passed, and still no van. I parked in front of a small corner deli, and we all got out. Brenda and the film crew did the same. Mooner had his potato gun and Gary had his basket of potatoes, and Stephanie had nothing, since the Glock was still under the couch cushion.
I told everyone to stay where they were, out of sight, and not to go into the alley. There were garages on both sides. Hard to tell from where I stood, but I was guessing twelve to sixteen garages in all. The older garages, originally built with the row houses, were singles. The newer garages were two-car. I walked the alley, looking for open garage doors, listening at closed doors. Halfway down the alley, I heard an engine catch. A door to a two-car garage rolled up and a maroon Econoline with Pennsylvania plates jumped out of the garage and turned in my direction. The tech was driving. No sign of Dom. The Econoline roared at me, and I dove between garages to avoid getting hit. He missed me by inches and continued to race down the alley.
“It’s him!” I yelled. “It’s the fourth partner!”
“No problemo,” Mooner said. “Raw russet,” he told Gary.
And phoonf! Direct hit to the windshield. The van swerved, took out a parked car, ran into the back of the deli, and exploded. Nine million dollars in hundreds shot into the air and floated down, plus the contents of the deli’s frozen-food locker.
“Sweet,” Mooner said.
“Are you filming?” Brenda yelled to her cameraman. “It’s raining money and popsicles!”
And in that instant, Brenda got hit with a family-size frozen pizza. Pepperoni, black olives. It whacked her in the face and knocked her to her knees.
“Ulk,” she said. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she went facedown.
The cameraman grabbed her feet, and the soundman