“Pepperoni, extra cheese.”
“That extra cheese will kill you,” Ranger said and disconnected.
Lula got off the bike and looked at me. “You gonna be all right?”
“Yep. I'm fine.”
She leaned forward and hugged me. “You're a good person.”
I smiled back at her and blinked hard and wiped my nose on my sleeve. Lula was a good person, too.
“Uh-oh,” Lula said. “Are you crying?”
“No. I think I inhaled a bug a couple blocks ago.”
It took me ten more minutes to get to my parents' house. I parked one house down and cut my lights. No way was I going in ahead of Grandma. My mother was probably berserk by now. Better to explain Grandma was kidnapped after Grandma was there in the flesh.
I sat on the curb and used the down time to call Morelli. I got him on his cell phone.
“Grandma's safe,” I told him. “She's with Ranger. He picked her up at the mall and he's bringing her home.”
“I heard. I was behind you at Ronald's. I stayed there until I got the word from Ranger that he had your grandmother. I'm on my way home now.”
Morelli asked me to spend the night at his house, but I declined. I had things to do. I got Grandma back, but Mooner and Dougie were still out there.
After a while headlights flashed at the end of the street and Ranger's gleaming black Mercedes eased to a stop in front of my parents' house. Ranger helped Grandma out and smiled at me. “Your grandmother ate your pizza. Guess you work up an appetite being a hostage.”
“Are you coming in with me?”
“You'd have to kill me first.”
“I need to talk to you. This won't take long. Will you wait for me?”
Our eyes held and the silence stretched between us.
I mentally licked my lips and fanned myself. Yep. He'd wait.
I turned to go into the house and he pulled me back. His hands slid under my shirt and my breath caught.
“The wire,” he said, removing the tape, his fingertips warm against my skin, skimming the swell of breast not covered by my bra.
Grandma was already through the door when I caught up with her.
“Boy, I can't wait to go to the beauty parlor tomorrow and tell everyone about this one.”
My father looked up from his paper, and my mother gave an involuntary shudder.
“Who's laid out?” Grandma asked my father. “I haven't seen a paper in a couple days. Did I miss anything?”
My mother narrowed her eyes. “Where were you?”
“Danged if I know,” Grandma said. “I had a bag over my head when I went in and out.”
“She was kidnapped,” I told my mother.
“What do you mean . . . kidnapped?”
“I happened to have something that Eddie DeChooch wanted, and so he kidnapped Grandma and held her for ransom.”