10 Ten Big Ones (25 page)

'Cool, ' he said.

'You should chill, ' Lula told him. 'You're gonna get a embolism you keep that up. '

This is a fudging responsibility, ' Sally said. 'I take my wedding planning seriously. ' He took a gown off the rack and handed it over to me. This is yours, ' he said.

Now it was my turn to gape. 'What happened to pumpkin?'

The other girls are wearing pumpkin. The maid of honor has to have a different color. This is eggplant. '

Lula gave a burst of laughter and clapped her hand over her mouth.

Eggplant. Great. As if pumpkin wasn't bad enough. I ripped my vest off and unlaced my shoes. 'Where do I go to try this on?'

There's a dressing room through the pink doorway, ' Sally said, leading the way, carrying Valerie's gown, staggering under the weight of it.

Five minutes later we were all zipped up. Three pumpkins and an eggplant. And Valerie, who was wearing enough glaring white to make everyone snow-blind. Her breasts bulged out of the bodice neckline, and the back zipper valiantly struggled to hold the dress together. The skirt was bell-shaped, meant to disguise leftover baby fat. In actuality, the skirt emphasized her hips and ass.

Valerie tottered over to the three-way mirror, took a look at herself, and shrieked. `I'm fat!' she yelled. 'My God, look at me. I'm a whale. A big white whale. Why didn't someone tell me? I can't go down the aisle like this. The aisle isn't even wide enough. '

'It's not so bad, ' my mother said, trying to smooth away the fat bulge at the waistline. 'All brides are beautiful. You just need to see yourself with the veil. '

Maria came running with the veil, draping the gauze fabric over

Val's eyes. 'See how much better it looks through the veil?' Maria said.

'Yeah, and if you want to really feel better, you should get a load of Stephanie in the eggplant, ' Lula said.

It didn't seem that vegetable when we were looking at swatches, ' Sally said, eyeing my gown.

'She needs a different makeup palette, ' Loretta said. 'Some eggplant on her eyes to balance the dress. And then some glitter under the brow to open the eye. And more blush. '

'A lot more blush, ' Lula said.

'What am I doing getting married anyway?' Valerie said. 'Do I really want to get married?'

'Of course you want to get married, ' my mother said, the panic clear in her voice, her life flashing in front of her eyes.

'He's the father of your child. He's a lawyer, sort of. He's almost as tall as you. ' My mother drew a blank after that and looked to

Grandma for help.

'He's cuddle umpkins, ' Grandma said. 'And oogieboogie bear and all them things. What about that?'

'I love this, ' Lula said, big grin on her face. 'I thought I was gonna lose a thumb this afternoon, but here I am in the middle of cuddle umpkins' pumpkin patch. ' Lula turned to Sally. 'What are you going to do? Does the wedding planner get to be an attendant, or something? Or do you just gotta be the wedding planner?'

I'm singing, ' Sally said. 'I have a lovely russet satin gown. I thought it would continue the fall theme. '

'Maybe we should get the Trenton Times to cover this, ' Lula said to me. 'Or MTV. '

Maria had been jumping from one gown to the next, pinning and tucking. 'All done, ' she said.

Sally took me aside. 'You remember about the wedding shower, right? Friday night at the VFW hall. '

'Sure. What time?'

'Seven. And it's a surprise, so be careful what you say to Valerie. '

'My lips are sealed. '

'Let me see you make the zipper, ' Grandma said. 'I always like when a person makes the zipper and throws the key away. '

I zipped my lips, and I threw the key away.

Lula swiveled in her seat. 'Rangers guys are still back there. '

It was the second time I drove past the bar at the corner of Third and Laramie. Most of the street was residential, if you can call warehousing human misery in squalid brick cubes residential.

There were no public parking lots, and curbside parking was nonexistent. Half the cars parked at the curb looked like they hadn't been moved in years.

I double-parked directly in front of the bar, and Lula and I got out. I didn't bother to lock the Cayenne. Rangers men weren't going to let anything happen to his car. I had cuffs tucked into the back of my jeans. I was wearing the Kevlar vest under the sweatshirt.

I had pepper spray in my pocket. Lula was half a step behind me, and I didn't ask what she was carrying. Best not to know.

Heads turned when we entered the bar. This wasn't a place where women went voluntarily. We took a moment to allow our eyes to adjust to the dark interior. Four men at the bar, one bartender, a lone man sitting at a scarred round wood table. Jamil

He slouched back in his chair. 'Ladies?'

'You Jamil?' Lula asked.

He nodded his head yes. 'You got business with me?'

Lula looked at me and smiled. 'This fool thinks we're gonna buy some. '

I pulled a chair up next to Rodriguez. 'Here's the thing, Jamil, ' I said. 'You forgot to show up for court. ' And I slapped a cuff on him.

'You sit around and wait and good things come to you, '

Rodriguez said. 'I been looking for a new thumb. ' And he pulled a big Buck knife out of his pocket.

The four guys at the bar were paying attention, waiting to see the show. They were young, and they looked hungry for action. I suspected they'd jump in when it was the right time.

Lula pulled a gun out of her tiger-print stretch pants and leveled it at Rodriguez. And from the doorway there was the unmistakable ratchet of a sawed-off shotgun. I didn't recognize the guy in black, filling the doorway, but I knew he'd come from the SUV. Not hard to spot one of Rangers men. Big muscles, no neck, big gun, not much small talk.

'You want to drop the knife, ' I said to Rodriguez.

Rodriguez narrowed his eyes. 'Make me. '

Rangers man blasted a three-foot hole in the ceiling over

Rodriguez and plaster flew everywhere.

'Hey, ' Lula said to Ranger's man. 'You want to watch it? I just had my hair done. I don't need no plaster in it. Next time just shoot a hole in this punk-ass loser, will you?'

Ranger's man smiled at her.

Minutes later, we had Rodriguez in the back seat of the

Cayenne, cuffed and shackled, and we were on our way to the police station.

'Did you see that hunk of burning love smile at me?' Lula said.

'Was he hot, or what? Did you see the size of his gun? I'm telling you, I'm getting a flash. I could have a piece of that. '

'You watch your mouth, ' Lula said. 'You're close to being roadkill. We could throw you out and run over you, and nobody'd know the difference. '

I took Third to State and headed south on State. I went one block, stopped for a light, and when the light changed, Harold

Pancek passed me going in the opposite direction in his blue

Honda Civic.

'Holy cow, ' Lula said. 'Did you see him? That was Harold

Pancek. I'd know him anywhere with his yellow square head. '

I was already in motion, making an illegal U-turn. I did some aggressive driving and got myself directly behind Pancek. Rangers guys had been caught by surprise and were struggling to catch up, two cars back. We stopped for another light, and Lula jumped out of the Porsche and ran for Pancek. She had her hand on the passenger-side door when he looked around and saw her. The light changed, and Pancek took off. Lula climbed back into the

Porsche, and I closed the gap. I was riding close on his bumper, hoping he'd get demoralized and stop. He was checking his rear mirrors, weaving around traffic, taking side streets in an attempt to lose me.

'He don't know where he's going, ' Lula said. 'He's just trying to get away from you. I bet he's never been in this neighborhood before. '

That was my guess, too. We were in a poor section of Trenton, heading toward an even worse section of Trenton. Pancek drove like a bat out of hell down four blocks on Sixth Street.

I hit the brakes when Pancek crossed Lime. Comstock was one block away. Comstock was Slayerland. I wasn't following Pancek into Slayerland.

'Do we have a cell phone number for Pancek?' I asked Lula.

'Can we warn him he's in Slayerland?'

'We never got a cell for him, ' Lula said. 'And anyway, it's too late.

He's turned up Comstock. '

I slowly cruised a couple blocks on Lime, hoping Pancek would pop out of Slayerland. No luck. So I turned around and pointed the

Porsche in the direction of North Clinton.

When we got to the station, I left Lula with the Cayenne, and I marched Rodriguez in through the front door. I know it was moronic, but I wanted the guys to see I could capture a man with all his clothes on.

It was close to five and Morelli was gone for the day. Thank God for small favors. I didn't know what to do about Morelli. Thanks to

And he was walking around without underwear. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I gave myself a mental face slap. Get a grip, I told myself. You don't really know for sure. Just because you didn't find any underwear, doesn't mean he doesn't own any. Maybe they were all in the laundry. All right, so this was a little improbable. I was going to go with it anyway, because the thought of standing next to

Ranger when he was commando had me in a state.

Connie had closed up shop by the time I got back to the bonds office, so I dropped Lula at her car, and I returned to the RangeMan building. The black SUV followed me into the garage and parked in one of the side slots. Two of the four slots reserved for Ranger were occupied. The Mercedes and Turbo were in place. The truck was missing. I parked the Cayenne next to the Turbo, walked over to the

SUV, and knocked on the passenger-side window.

Thanks for the help, ' I said.

The guy in the passenger seat nodded acknowledgment. Neither said anything. I gave them something between a smile and a grimace, and I scurried off to the elevator.

I let myself into the apartment and dropped the keys in the dish on the sideboard. The sideboard also held a bowl of fresh fruit and a silver tray filled with unopened mail.

I was in the process of selecting a piece of fruit when I heard the lock tumble on the front door. I slipped the bolt back and opened the door to Ranger.

He tossed his keys into the dish and rifled through the mail, not opening any. 'How was your day?' he asked.

'Good. You were right about Rodriguez. He was open for business at the bar on Third and Laramie. ' I didn't have to say more. I was sure Ranger had already gotten a full report.

'Who's getting married?'

'Valerie. '

There was a knock at the door, and Ella came in with a food tray.

'Would you like me to set the table?' she asked.

'Not necessary, ' Ranger said. 'You can just leave the tray in the kitchen. '

Ella swept past us, deposited the food, and returned to the front foyer.

Ts there anything else?' she asked.

'No, ' Ranger said. 'We're good for the night. Thank you. '

I couldn't believe the big bad Special Forces survival nut lived like this. Clothes washed and ironed, bed made, gourmet food delivered daily.

'All this time, I thought you were so tough. I imagined you sleeping on a dirt floor somewhere. '

He uncovered one of the dishes. There were years like that. '

Ella'd brought us roasted vegetables, wild rice, and chicken in a lemon sauce. We filled plates and ate at the counter, sitting on bar stools.

I finished my chicken and looked over at the silver tray. 'No dessert?'

Ranger pushed back from the counter. 'Sorry, I don't eat dessert.

Where are you keeping your Slayer?'

'Vinnie's house in Point Pleasant. '

'Who knows about this?'

'Connie, Lula, and me. '

He reached across, unzipped my sweatshirt, and released the

Velcro tabs on the vest. 'This isn't going to help you, Babe, ' he said.

'Junkman shot his last two victims in the head. '

I removed the sweatshirt and the vest and put the sweatshirt back on. It had stopped raining, but it had gotten cooler.

Ranger dialed Ella and told her we were leaving. He got a utility belt and sweatshirt from the dressing room. The black nylon web belt carried a gun, a stun gun, pepper spray, cuffs, and a Maglite, plus ammo. We left the apartment, locked up, and took the elevator. There were two men waiting in the garage. I knew them both. Tank and Hal. They took a black Ford Explorer, and Ranger and I took the Porsche Turbo. Ranger was wearing the sweatshirt.

The belt was in the back.

We rolled out of the garage and cut over to Broad. It was a dark, moonless night. The cloud cover was low, threatening more rain.

The SUV's headlights stayed constant behind us. Ranger was silent, driving relaxed, his sweatshirt sleeves pushed halfway up his forearms, his watch catching the occasional light from overhead streetlights.

I wasn't nearly so relaxed. I was worried that Anton Ward might have escaped. And I was worried that he might still be there. 'You aren't going to hurt him, are you?' I asked Ranger.

Ranger flicked a glance at me via the rear-view mirror. 'Babe, ' he said.

'You want to explain that?'

I told Ranger how we bonded Ward out and then kidnapped him.

'Nice, ' Ranger said.

Vinnie's street was totally black, not a single light burning. Ranger tucked the Porsche into the driveway, and Tank pulled the SUV in behind him.

'I can leave you in the car with Hal, ' Ranger said, getting the belt from the back. 'Would you feel more comfortable with that?'

'No. I'm coming in. '

The house was quiet, but I could feel Ward's sullen presence.

He was in the bathroom, just as we left him, shackled to the toilet and sink pipe. He didn't look happy to see Ranger.

'Do you know who I am?' Ranger asked him quietly.

Ward nodded his head, checking out the belt with the gun and the Maglite. `Yeah, I know who you are. '

`i'M going to ask you some questions, ' Ranger said. 'And you need to give me the right answers. '

Ward's eyes darted from me to Ranger and beyond Ranger to

Tank.

'If you don't give me the right answers, I'm going to leave you alone in the house with Tank and Hal, ' Ranger said. 'Do you understand?'

'Yeah, I understand. '

'Tell me about Junkman. '

'Nothing to tell. He's from out of town. LA. Nobody even knows his name. Just Junkman. '

'Where does he live?'

'Moves around, livin' with the bitches. Always got a new bitch.