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Two line cooks watched the whole thing with wide eyes and open mouths. Ranger apologized in Spanish, and we returned to our booth. Ranger dropped some money on the table, and we left. We drove the neighborhood, covering it in a grid pattern, but didn’t see Gobbles.
“At least we know he’s not in Argentina,” I said to Ranger.
“Have Connie run a check on the fraternity brothers tomorrow, and see if anyone is renting near the bar.”
“Instinct tells you he isn’t living with Julie Ruley?”
“I’m sure he has contact with her, but I doubt he’d be having his dinner in a bar that was four blocks away if he was living with her. He’d be in her apartment eating takeout pizza.”
Personally I thought she looked more like lentils and quinoa, and that could be why Gobbles was in a bar. Ranger might not understand that, since lentils and quinoa would be a step up from the tree bark and desert beetles he probably ate when he was in Special Forces.
•••
It was almost eleven o’clock when Ranger parked in the lot behind my apartment building. He walked me into the small deserted lobby, drew me close against him, and kissed me. The kiss was light at first and then got serious. I felt my fingers curl into his shirt and someone moaned. It might have been me. Ranger pushed the elevator button, the doors opened, and he moved us into the elevator. By the time we got to my apartment door I was thinking he needed to come in to make sure everything was secure. Check under the bed to get rid of any serial rapists or scary, drooly monsters. And while he was checking under the bed I might have to get undressed because I was having a massive hot flash.
We were in the middle of the living room, halfway to the bedroom, when Ranger’s phone rang. He took his hand out from under my shirt, answered his phone, and stared at the floor while he listened. He asked “When?” and “Where?” He disconnected.
“That was Tank,” Ranger said. “Someone shot Doug Linken.”
“How bad is it?”
“He’s in surgery. Tank said it doesn’t look good. He said the wife looks even worse.”
“She was shot too?”
“No. She’s hysterical.” Ranger grabbed my hand and tugged me to the door. “I need you at the hospital.”
I dug my feet in. “No way. You want me to babysit Monica Linken.”
“Yeah. I’ll pay you time and a half.”
“Not enough.”
He stood hands on hips, looking at me. “I’ll give you a car.”
“Permanently? Will it be mine or will it be temporary?”
“It’ll be yours until you trash it. Considering your record with cars you won’t have it long.?
?
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
It wasn’t such a great deal. Ranger gave me cars all the time. Sooner or later he got fed up with me driving around in a hunk of junk, and he gave me a car.
At this time of night, when there wasn’t much traffic, it was a short trip to St. Francis Hospital. The hospital was on Hamilton, a couple blocks from the bonds office, on the edge of the Burg. If you needed complicated brain surgery, it was best not to go to St. Francis. If you had a gunshot wound, you were in the right place. Trenton saw a fair amount of shooting. The surgeons at St. Francis had a lot of practice removing bullets.
Ranger swung into the emergency room drop-off, and we were met by a uniformed Rangeman guy. He gave us directions to Monica Linken, and he took the car. Rangeman valet service.
Monica had been placed in a small waiting room reserved for families of surgery patients. Hal, one of Ranger’s security force, was standing guard at the door. He looked like he wanted to hurl himself out a fourth-floor window. Monica was inside, pacing and sucking on an electronic cigarette. She spotted Ranger and rushed at him.
“You’re supposed to be protecting us,” she yelled. “Is this protecting us?”
“We weren’t hired for twenty-four-hour continuous personal protection,” Ranger said. Very calm. No emotion. “The alarm system in your house is working perfectly. Your outdoor perimeter security lights are working perfectly.”
“They were working so perfectly they got my stupid husband shot. He walked outside to sneak a smoke, the lights went on, and bang!, some asshole shot him. He was an easy target.”
“Unfortunate,” Ranger said. “Do you have any idea who did this?”
