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“They aren’t in there. I spoke to the super, walked through four apartments, and talked to your FTA’s mother. I’ll spare you the details.”
“Was his mother helpful?”
“His mother was passed out on the couch.”
I opened the deli bag, took out the turkey club I’d gotten for myself, and gave half to Ranger.
“Billy’s never been an especially violent guy,” Ranger said. “Maybe he took off with Lula to have a nooner.”
I couldn’t see Lula choosing sex over egg salad, but I suppose it was possible. I tried her phone again. No answer.
Ranger finished eating and pulled into traffic. “Let’s cruise down to Mike’s.”
“About tonight,” I said. “What sort of date is this?”
“Bodyguard detail for one of my better clients. He and his wife have been getting death threats. I have men watching their house, but they’re going out tonight, and I need someone to stay close to the wife.”
“Where are they going?”
“Viewing at the funeral home on Hamilton.”
“I need the red dress for that?”
“The red dress is for me,” Ranger said. “I like the red dress.”
•••
Mike’s Burger Place was a single-room diner with a couple scarred wood tables and some rickety chairs. It smelled like a bacon burger, and I could feel the grease in the air coating my skin, soaking into my hair. No customers. It wasn’t a lunch place. It would be packed at five o’clock with people getting takeout. A skinny sick-looking guy stood behind the counter. His white T-shirt was stained with God-knows-what, and he had a spatula in his hand.
“What can I get you?” he asked.
“Information,” Ranger said. “I’m looking for Billy.”
“Yeah, me too,” the guy said. “I’m filling in two shifts on this crap job because Billy took off.”
“Do you know where he is?” Ranger asked.
“No. Don’t care. What I know is he isn’t here.”
We got outside, and I put my fingertip to the pimple. It felt like it was growing, feeding on the grease.
“Babe,” Ranger said.
Babe means many things from Ranger. This was the first time it was a comment on a pimple.
I blew out a sigh. “I’m under a lot of stress.”
Ranger’s mouth curved into the hint of a smile.
“No, I don’t need help relieving my stress,” I said to him.
He opened the passenger side door for me. “I’ll drive past Lula’s house on the way to the bonds office, and I’ll have my men do tours down K Street.”
“Thanks.”
“Have you called the office to see if she’s there?”
“I called Connie while you were in the apartment building. Connie hasn’t heard from her.”
