CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

I was counting down the minutes to the end of the viewing. Benny was still accepting condolences, but the end of the line was in sight. Lula left at eight thirty. Grandma and Connie and her mom were hanging with me until we all got kicked out at nine o’clock.

I had my head down, checking my text messages, and Grandma nudged me.

“It’s them! ” she said. “It’s the men who shot at us. They’re standing in line behind Ruth Kuleski. ”

Ruth moved up to the casket and Charlie Shine’s goons held back. Waiting their turn. Appropriately solemn. No eye contact made with me or Grandma. Ruth moved on and Ed Gruman and Chick Rizer stepped up to Benny and told him they were sorry for his loss, and Mr. Shine regrets not being able to attend but sends his sincere condolences.

“Communicate to him my appreciation of his sympathies, ” Benny said.

The men moved on and Benny looked at me and mouthed fuck him.

When the last person in line passed by Benny and headed for the lobby, the four of us went forward and paid our respects to Carla. Benny leaned in when I walked past.

“Partners, ” Benny said.

“Partners, ” I replied.

Benny had a moral flexibility that I didn’t share, and being partners with him, even at a limited capacity, made my stomach knot. I was appalled at his chosen profession, and if I thought too hard about the details of his skills, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

“That was a real successful viewing for Carla, ” Grandma said as we inched our way to the door. “She had a good showing of people. ”

“They ran out of Italian cookies, ” Connie’s mother said. “They should buy more from the bakery and not so many of those cookies that come in a bag. ”

We reached the lobby and I saw Ranger watching from across the room. He nodded at me and I nodded back. Obviously, no one snagged Shine tonight. I moved out of the building with the mass of humanity, onto the porch and down the stairs. I searched the area for Potts but didn’t see him.

“We have to walk around the block to Lena’s house, ” Grandma said. “Good thing it’s a nice night for a walk. ”

“We can give you a ride, ” Connie said. “I’m parked across the street in Mo Bernardi’s driveway. ”

A text message buzzed on my phone and I checked the screen. It was a picture of Potts with his eyes as big as saucers and a gag in his mouth. He was in a fetal position, hands cuffed behind his back. It looked to me like he was in the trunk of a car. The message attached was that we might want to trade some information and items of interest for Potts’s safe return. It was suggested that they would start chopping off minor body parts in twelve hours if I didn’t cooperate.

“Bad news? ” Connie asked me.

This wasn’t anything I wanted to share with Grandma. And I for sure didn’t want it getting back to my mom.

“Not bad, ” I said. “Just unexpected. Ranger would like to talk to me about something. Can you take Grandma home for me? ”

“Sure, ” Connie said. “No problem. ”

I texted Ranger and told him to meet me in front of the funeral home. Grandma, Connie, and Connie’s mom crossed the street, and minutes later, Ranger pulled to the curb in his Porsche 911.

“Drive around the corner so you can park for a moment, ” I said. “I want to show you something. ”

He made a right turn into the Burg and parked in the middle of the block. I accessed the text message and passed my phone to him.

“George Potts, ” he said.

“Yes. He has allergies so he couldn’t come inside, but Lula said he was outside in case I needed protection. ”

“And he got snatched. ”

“Yes. I imagine Gruman and Rizer ran into him when they left the viewing. He would have been an easy mark. ”

“And you would prefer that they don’t use a bolt cutter on his fingers and toes. ”

“Yes. ”

Ranger called his control room, requested two backup cars, and gave them the address of the house in Ewing. He called his second in command, Tank, and told him to take a couple of men to the Mole Hole.

“Since we’re going to Ewing, I’m guessing you think Potts has been taken there, ” I said.

“It’s a place to start looking, ” Ranger said.

Even under these circumstances, or maybe especially under these circumstances, riding next to Ranger in his Porsche, in the dark, is a provocative, sensual experience. The 911 is a sexy, powerful, perfectly engineered machine. The same is true for Ranger. When you put the two of them together there’s a good potential for orgasm… or, at the very least, teeth-gnashing desire. It was hard to judge my current level of desire because it was mingled with an adrenaline surge over concern for Potts and the fear that we were about to be involved in a shootout.

The Rangeman cars were already in place when we reached the house in Ewing. They were parked one house down, across the street. Ranger parked behind them, removed a gun from the glove compartment, and handed it to me.

Lights were on in the house, but the shades were drawn. The faint flicker of a television could be seen through the front room shade. The blue pickup and the Escalade were in the driveway.

The four men in the Rangeman cars met us on the sidewalk. They were in Rangeman black uniforms, wearing full utility belts, sidearms strapped to their legs.

“There are at least four men and possibly one hostage in the house, ” Ranger told them. “I’ll take point. We don’t want to use excessive force. I want Baker, Sanchez, and Stephanie behind me and Rodriguez and Jake at the back door. My team will go in at nine fifty-five. Rodriguez and Jake will enter one minute later. ”

I trailed behind Ranger and his two backups when we crossed the street at nine fifty-three. Ranger went to the door, tried the doorknob, found it to be locked, and crashed the door open with a single kick. Obviously kicking a door down didn’t count as excessive force.

Gruman, Rizer, Kenny Farmer, and a fourth guy were in the living room, watching television. They all jumped to their feet when the door flew open. Gruman lunged at Ranger. Ranger grabbed him and threw him halfway across the room. Gruman hit the wall and slid to the floor like a sack of sand. Rizer spun around, ran for the back door, and slammed into Rodriguez. Rodriguez stands six feet six inches tall and looks like he could pull a freight train. Rizer bounced back a couple of feet, went for his gun, and thought better of it. He was late to the party.

“Piece-of-shit safe house, ” Rizer said. “Busted in less than an hour. ”

“Uncle Charlie is going to be pissed, ” Farmer said.

Ranger dragged Gruman to his feet and cuffed him. “Uncle Charlie is the least of your worries, ” Ranger said. “We have your text message, and this takedown on body cam. You can face jail time for kidnapping, or you can return to Miami and never come back. ”

“I miss my girlfriend anyway, ” Farmer said.

“Where’s Potts, ” I asked Gruman.

“Who? ”

“The guy you kidnapped. ”

“He’s not in the house, ” Jake said. “I just did a run-through. ”

Gruman looked at Farmer. “You were supposed to put him in the back bedroom. ”

“You said we would put him in the back bedroom, ” Farmer said. “I didn’t know you meant me. You didn’t specifically say that I should put him there. ”

Gruman cut his eyes to Ranger. “The nephew is an idiot. I’m guessing Potts is still in the car. ”

“You have a pickup and an Escalade in the driveway, ” Ranger said. “He wasn’t in either of those. ”

“There’s a white Taurus in the garage, ” Gruman said.

Ranger and I went to the garage and flipped the light on. Ranger popped the trunk and Potts looked up at us. He was red and sweating and his eyes were huge. His hands and feet were bound with duct tape. He had duct tape across his mouth. I ripped the duct tape off his mouth, and Ranger cut the tape binding his hands and ankles. We hauled him out of the trunk and got him standing. He was shaking and gasping for air. He pulled an emergency inhaler out of his pocket and took a hit.

“F-f-f-fudge, ” he said.

Ranger and I walked Potts out of the garage and through the house to the living room. All four men were cuffed and standing by the front door.

“Take these four to the airport, ” Ranger said to Rodriguez. “Take both cars. Make sure they get on a flight to Miami. I’ll tend to the hostage. ”

“I was k-k-kidnapped, ” Potts said to Ranger. “They put me in their t-t-trunk. I guess you already know that. ”

“You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, ” Ranger said. “I want to make a more thorough search of the house and the car in the garage. Stay here. ”

“Did they hurt you? ” I asked Potts.

“No. They just scared me. ”

“We’ll take you home after Ranger searches the house. ”

“Is he the guy you sleep with sometimes? ”

“Yes. ”

“Wow, ” Potts said.

I nodded in agreement.

Ranger returned after five minutes. “The house is empty, ” he said. “Tank is on his way. He’ll take George home. ”

“What about the doors? ” I asked.

“They’ll close, but they won’t lock. Not my problem. ”

“I was surprised they both got knocked open so easily. ”

“I checked out the locks when I was here last time. I knew they wouldn’t hold, ” Ranger said. “They didn’t put a lot of quality into these ranches when this neighborhood was developed. And this one hasn’t been renovated beyond carpet and a couple appliances. ”

“Boy, ” Potts said to Ranger, “you know a lot of stuff. I know a lot of stuff, too, but none of it is useful. For instance, I can whistle like a canary. ”

“Something to remember, ” Ranger said.

“And I can hum just about anything, but it all comes out sounding the same. ”

Tank arrived shortly after the cars left. We loaded Potts into Tank’s SUV. And Ranger and I drove off in the Porsche.

Ranger stopped at a cross street, then leaned over and kissed me. His hand slipped under my sweater and found my breast. His thumb brushed across my nipple and the kiss deepened.

Nothing like a semi-violent takedown to put a person in the mood.

“Maybe we should get a room, ” I said.

⇐ Предыдущая 19 20 21 22 232425 26 27 28 Следующая ⇒