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I felt weak with relief. It was over. Thanks,' I said. `I'll see you tomorrow.'
'Have fun,' Lula said.
If I hurried, I could pick something up for Valerie and make the shower. I left a note to Ranger, grabbed the keys to the Turbo, and took the elevator to the garage.
The elevator doors opened at garage level, and Hal burst out of the stairwell door. 'Excuse me,' he said, 'Ranger would prefer that you stay in the building.'
'It's okay,' I told him. 'Code red is over, and I'm going shopping.'
`I'M afraid I can't let you do that.'
So, Ranger hadn't been yanking my chain. He'd actually given orders to keep me here.
`Men.' I said. 'You're all a bunch of chauvinist morons.'
Hal didn't have anything to say to that.
'Get out of my way,' I said to him.
1 can't let you leave the building,' he said.
'And how are you going to stop me?'
He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. He had a stun gun in his hand.
'Well?' I asked.
`I'M supposed to stun you, if I have to.'
'Okay, let me get this straight. You're going to stun-gun the woman who's been living with Ranger?'
Hal's face was red, leaning toward purple. 'Don't give me a hard time,' he said. 'I like this job, and I'll lose it if I screw up with you.'
'You touch me with that stun gun and I'll have you arrested for assault. You won't have to worry about this job.'
'Jeez,' Hal said.
'Wait a minute,' I said. 'Let me see the gun for just a second.'
Hal held the stun gun out to me. I took it, pressed it to his arm, and he went down like a ton of bricks. Hal wasn't a bad guy, but he was dumb as a box of rocks.
I leaned over him to make sure he was breathing, gave him his gun back, got into the Turbo, and motored out of the garage. I knew the control room would see me on the screen, and someone would check on Hal. I hated to stun him, but I was a woman on a mission. I needed a shower gift.
Ordinarily I'd go to the mall off Route I, but I didn't have a lot of time, and I was worried about traffic. So I stopped at an electronics store on the way across town and bought Valerie a picture cell phone and a year's service. It wasn't a real bridey present, but I knew she needed a phone and couldn't afford to buy one for herself. I swung into a pharmacy and got a card and a gift bag, and I was in business. I could have been a little more dressed.
Sneakers and jeans, a white stretchy T-shirt, and denim jacket wasn't standard fare for a Burg shower, but it was the best I could do without making another stop.
The lot was filled when I got to the hall. The big yellow school bus was parked at the edge. My mother had hired Sally and his band to entertain. JoAnne Waleski was catering. When we did a shower in the Burg, we really did a shower.
I was in the lot when my cell phone rang.
'Babe,' Ranger said. 'What are you doing at the VFW?'
'Valerie's shower. Is Hal okay?'
'Yeah. You were caught on camera again. The men in the control room were laughing so hard when you stunned Hal they couldn't get down the stairs fast enough to stop you from leaving the garage.'
'I heard they caught Junkman, so I thought it was okay to leave.'
