18 Explosive Eighteen Read Free Page B

making timely purchases elsewhere.”
    Lula put her weight against the door and pushed it open. “We don’t got al day,” she said. “We got a whole batch of idiots to bring in, and I got a lunch date with a Deluxe Mr. Clucky Burger.”
    “Oh yeah?” Lahonka said. “Wel , Clucky Burger this.”
    And she gave Lula a two-handed shove that knocked her back two feet into me. I lost my balance, and we both went ass-first to the ground. The front door slammed shut, security bolts slid into place, and Lahonka pul ed the shade down on her front window.
    “Probably, she’s not gonna open her door to you again,” Lula said.
    I agreed. It was unlikely.
    Lula hauled herself up and adjusted her girls. “Is it too early for lunch?”
    I looked at my watch. “It’s almost one o’clock in Greenland.”

    • • •
    “That Lahonka took me by surprise,” Lula said, finishing off her second Clucky Burger. “I wasn’t on my game.”
    We were eating in Lula’s car because there was a critical time limit to hanging out in Cluck-in-a-Bucket.
    Minuscule globules of fry fat floated in the air like fairy dust, and exposure lasting longer than six minutes left you smel ing like Clucky Extra Crispy al day. It wasn’t an entirely bad smel , but it tended to attract packs of hungry dogs and big beefy men, neither of which I was currently interested in.
    I pul ed a file out of my bag. “Maybe we want to try the purse snatcher next.”
    “I don’t think that’s a good plan,” Lula said. “Purse snatchers are runners. That’s what makes them good purse snatchers. And I just had two Clucky Burgers. I’l get a cramp if I gotta chase after some skinny, baggy-pants idiot now. Don’t we have a bad guy who lives by the mal ? Macy’s is having a shoe sale.”
    I checked the addresses. No one lived by the mal .
    “I might need a nap after al that chicken,” Lula said.
    A nap sounded like a good idea. I hadn’t gotten much sleep on the plane ride home. For that matter, I hadn’t gotten much sleep the whole time I was in Hawaii, what with al the nighttime activity. And tonight I was seeing Morel i, and I suspected that wouldn’t lead to a lot of sleep. Morel i and I had things to discuss.
    I have a long history with Morel i. We played choo choo when I was six years old. He relieved me of my virginity when I was sixteen. I ran him down with a Buick when I was nineteen. And now that we’re both adults, more or less, I sort of have a relationship with him … although I’d be hard-pressed to define the relationship at this moment. He’s a Trenton cop working plainclothes, crimes against persons. He’s six foot tal with wavy black hair, a lean, hard-muscled body, and a world-class libido. He’s movie-star handsome in jeans and a T-shirt. If you put him in a suit, he looks like a hit man.
    “Are we talking about a catnap or a ful -on afternoon nap?” I asked Lula.
    “It might be a major nap. And then I got a date tonight with a guy who could be Mr. Good Enough.
    So I’m gonna need some time to make wardrobe decisions.”
    “In other words, I’l see you tomorrow.”
    “Yeah. I’l be here at eight sharp, and we could get an early start.”
    “You’re never here that early.”
    “Wel , I’m gonna be motivated to be a excel ent bounty hunter assistant. I can feel it coming on. And I’l be ready to go first thing in the morning after a satisfying night of doing … you know. Cross my heart and hope to die.”
    THREE
    LULA DROPPED ME at my car, and I took a fast assessment of the surroundings. Work was continuing on the new office. The bus wasn’t in flames. DeAngelo’s Mercedes was gone, and Vinnie’s Caddy was stil parked. Al good things.
    I thought about checking in with Connie, but decided against it. I hadn’t made any captures, and a conversation with Vinnie might include a lot of unpleasant nagging about catching Joyce Barnhardt.
    I’d get her eventual y, but I wasn’t up to it right now, so I jumped into my RAV