'Sorry,' I told her. 'I left my miracle maker at home. It's in my cookie jar.'
'What's going on?' Caroline said. 'You two aren't thinking about trying anything funny, are you?'
Lula reached in her bag to get her gun but Caroline was faster. Caroline hauled the shotgun out from under the counter and pointed it at Lula's head.
'You better be reaching in that bag to get your credit card,' Caroline said.
'That's just what I'm doing,' Lula said. 'You sure are an untrusting person.'
'I'm thinking you both want to buy one of these Lady Workhorse cordless personal massagers. And I'm even going to throw in extra oil,' Caroline said.
I glared at Lula and forked over my credit card.
'Its not so bad,' Lula said when we were in the Mini. 'It's not like you got something useless. You'll get years of satisfaction out of this machine. Just don't go for thirds on account of apparently that's what freezes up the motor.'
I dropped Lula back at the office and sat at the curb for a while. I wanted Scrog to find me. I wanted to make contact and be done with it. I wanted the nightmare to be over for Julie and Ranger and everyone involved. After a couple minutes I called Ranger.
'Is anyone tailing me?'
'Not that I can tell.'
'Where are you?'
'Across the street, half a block south.'
'Now what?'
'Now we go home and order take-out.'
Fifteen minutes later, I opened the door to my apartment and Ranger followed me in.
'This is frustrating,' I said.
'He's out there, waiting for the right time to make his move. Probably he's enjoying the foreplay. We need to be patient. The police are scrambling, looking for him to be recognized. We're working from a different direction. We're playing the game with him.'
I tossed my purse and the Pleasure Treasures bag on the kitchen counter and rooted through the drawer where I kept all the take-out menus.
'What do you feel like?' I asked Ranger. 'Chinese, Italian, pizza, fried chicken?'
Ranger shuffled through the menus. 'Chinese. I'll have brown rice, steamed vegetables, and lemon chicken.'
And this is the problem with Ranger. I could spend a lot of time in bed with him, but he'd drive me nuts in the kitchen. I called the order in, adding Kung Pao chicken, fried rice, fried dumplings, and a piece of their Great Wall of Chocolate cake.
'When was the last time you talked to Morelli?' Ranger wanted to know.
'When I came home to change clothes.'
'You should check in with him. See if anything new is going on. Let him know you're working tonight.'
I slouched against the counter. 'I hate lying to Morelli.'
'You're not lying,' Ranger said. 'You're omitting some information. And if it makes you feel better, I'll make sure you work tonight.'
I did an eye roll and dialed Morelli.
'What?' Morelli said.
'I was just checking in.'