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“Was anyone in the house?”
“It’s too early to tell. No one was rescued.” Morelli wrapped me in his arms and nuzzled my hair. “You smell smoky,” he said.
“Must be from Mooner’s motor home. He took us for a demo ride.”
“It’s not nice to lie,” Morelli said.
Our eyes locked.
“Do you honestly want the truth?” I asked him.
Morelli thought about it for a beat. “No,” he said.
I stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the nose. “It’s late. I have to go home. I have a big day of bounty huntering tomorrow.”
His arms were still locked around me. “I could go home with you.”
“You’d go home with someone who might be a liar?”
“Yeah,” Morelli said. “I’m getting desperate.”
“You were the one who wanted to break up. You said I wasn’t relationship material.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You did!”
“Can I take it back? I hadn’t had my coffee yet. And I needed . . .”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You needed what?”
“Toast,” Morelli said. He blew out a sigh. “This isn’t going to happen tonight, is it?”
“No.”
I was getting mad all over again. No one pushed my buttons like Morelli. I mean, why was I the one who had to remember to buy the bread? Okay, in all honesty, I thought this was a pretty stupid thing to break up over. And in all honesty, I should have remembered to buy bread. That didn’t alter the fact that I was mad. Mad wasn’t a reasonable emotion. And the truth was, I wasn’t entirely sure if I was mad at Morelli or mad at myself.
TEN
I ROLLED INTO the bonds office at nine o’clock. Connie was at her desk. Lula hadn’t as yet arrived.
“Have you heard anything about the fire?” I asked Connie.
“So far, no bodies found. Word on the street is there’s a war going on between Bobby Sunflower and some under-the-radar Mob guy.”
“Did your brother get his car back?”
“He’s picking it up from impound today. The police suspect it was stolen by someone associated with the fire.”
“Only tangentially.”
“That’s a big word,” Connie said.
“I heard it on television. I’m pretty sure I used it right.”
The phone rang, and Connie answered. “Yeah,” she said to the caller. “I understand.” She hung up and looked at me. “That was a reminder that we have two days left to come up with the money. And it’s now grown to a million one.”
“At least we know Vinnie didn’t burn up in the house.”
