We stopped off at Cluck in a Bucket for a late lunch and then motored over to the Burg to try our luck with Butchy. We parked across the street and looked up at Butchy's open windows. Television sounds drifted out to us. Butchy was home. We crossed the street and took our places on the small stoop that served as a front porch.
“Do you know this guy?” Tank asked.
“Yeah.”
“Is he going to shoot at us?”
“Depends how drunk he is.”
Tank drew his gun and I rang the bell. No answer to the bell. I rang again. Still no answer.
“He's not coming down,” Tank said.
I called Butchy on my cell phone.
“Yeah?” Butchy said,
“It's Stephanie Plum,” I told him. “I'm downstairs with my partner and we need to talk to you.”
“So go ahead and talk.”
“You missed your court date and you need to reschedule.”
“And?”
“And you need to do it now. Come downstairs and open the door.”
“Suck my dick,” Butchy said.
“Sure,” I told him. “Just come down and open the door.”
“Fuck off,” Butchy said. “I don't feel like going to jail today. Why don't you come back next month. Maybe I'll feel like going to jail next month.”
I told Tank to back up and stand on the sidewalk where Butchy could see him.
“Look out your window, Butchy,” I said. “See the big guy standing on the sidewalk?”
“Yeah.”
“That's my partner. If you don't open the door, he's going to put his foot through it. And then he's going to go upstairs and root you out like the rodent you are and put his foot up your ass.”
“I've got a gun.”
“Is it as big as Tank's?”
Tank was holding a .44 Magnum.
“I swear to God,” Butchy said, “if you come in I'll blow four head off.” And he disconnected.
“He's not coming down,” I told Tank. “And he says he's armed.”
Tank walked up to the door, put his boot to it just left of the handle, and the door flipped open. “Wait here,” Tank said.
I had my gun in hand, too. “No way. This is my bust.”
Tank turned and looked at me. “Anything happens to you, I have to answer to Ranger. Frankly, I'd rather take a bullet from this moron.”
Okay, that made sense to me. “I'll wait here,” I told him.