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“Until now,” I said.
“Last month he shipped a bomb using his own name and got caught.”
“Ranger said Walburg has delusions of grandeur.”
“From what I hear, he’s on the spectrum.”
The crowd dispersed. The fire trucks left. I answered all necessary questions. A flatbed tow truck arrived and started to scoop up what remained of my Honda.
Morelli wrapped an arm around me and steered me toward my building’s back door. “I have to be on the road early tomorrow,” he said.
“Does that imply that you’re staying over?”
“I thought you would need comforting after this traumatic experience.”
It was a win-win. I got rid of the smelly car and now I was going to get comforted. Lucky me.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
At nine o’clock in the morning life wasn’t such a win-win. I didn’t have a car. Lula was supposed to pick me up, but she was a half hour late. I was about to give up and call my dad for a ride when the red Firebird rumbled into my parking lot and stopped in front of me.
“Sorry I’m late,” Lula said. “I had a fashion dilemma. Tuesday is always boho day, but my ankle boots didn’t look right with my boho fringe bag. Both of them go with my paisley dress, so you see the problem.” She looked around the lot. “Where’s your car? Why do you need a ride?”
“My car no longer exists.”
“Say what?”
“It got blown up last night. Bombed.”
“Get the heck out.”
“I’m thinking it was Zane Walburg, but I don’t know for sure.”
Lula left the lot and connected with Hamilton Avenue. “Do you want to visit him?”
“No. I want to go to the office and get a doughnut. Then I want to get the kid who drove the fire truck into the Garden of Life. I need the capture money to get a new car.”
“Doesn’t sound like you’re worried about the kidnappers.”
“I haven’t heard from them. I think they wrote it off.”
“I don’t know about that,” Lula said. “I’m still creeped out. If it was me, I’d have a hard time walking away from eleven million. I think Connie’s creeped out too. I noticed yesterday she was parked in front of the office and when I went by today, she was parked there again. She always used to park in the alley spaces and use the storeroom door. She could have PTSD.”
I thought back to all of the scary things that had happened to me since I started working for Vinnie. The fear and horror didn’t immediately go away. There were night sweats and sick stomachs and a reluctance to go out in the dark. And there was always the temptation to quit and stay home and hide. So far, I haven’t quit. The interesting question is, why not?
Ranger and Morelli stick with it because they believe in the job. I used to think I stuck with it because I was too lazy and uninspired to find something else. I’m coming to realize that’s no longer true. Maybe it was never true. If I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that I like the chase. And I like when I succeed. Truth is, I might be a bit of an adrenaline junkie. And while I’ll never have the skills of Ranger or Morelli, I’m actually halfway decent at retrieving felons. Go figure.
“When you have a bad experience like Connie had, you become more careful,” I said to Lula. “At least for a while.”
“I always park in the front,” Lula said. “I don’t want my car getting dinged by people throwing things in the dry cleaner dumpster that’s next to us.”
I checked the street when we got close to the office. I was looking for two stocky guys in hoodies. They could be walking on the sidewalk or slowly cruising past the office in a Camry with JZ on the license plate. I was telling myself that they’d given up, but I was still looking.
Connie stood at her desk when we walked in. “I need someone to babysit the office for an hour,” she said. “One of my burns doesn’t look good. I’m going to the walk-in clinic.”
“No problem,” Lula said. “I’m good at being the temporary office manager. I got a talent for it.”
“Vinnie won’t be in until later, and I’ve done the mail. There was a notice for a delivery this morning. No details. Just keep an eye out for it. It’s coming by truck. Probably something weird that Vinnie got in Atlantic City.”
