Stephanie Plum 12 - Twelve Sharp
Eighteen
Lula wasn't looking happy. 'Meri got a line on Lonnie Johnson,' she said. 'Personally, I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than go after Lonnie Johnson. I have a real bad feeling about Lonnie Johnson.'
I took the file from Meri. 'What have you got?'
'You told me to check on him once in a while so I ran his credit and got a hit. He applied for a car loan two days ago and gave an address.'
I looked at the credit report and sucked in some air. Stark Street. Just about the worst possible address. Stark Street made Johnson's last address look like high rent.
'Were you able to do any phone verification?' I asked Meri.
'No landline given. He gave a cell, but I didn't know if you wanted me to call it. I checked the by-street address and there was no phone listed.'
'Probably a rooming house at that end of Stark,' Lula said. 'Either that or a cardboard box on the sidewalk.'
'What kind of car did he get?' I asked Meri.
'I don't know.'
'Find out. And then get the temporary plate number.'
'Boy, you're smart,' Lula said to me. 'I would never have thought to look for the car.'
Mostly I was a big chicken. I was on the same page as Lula. I didn't want to go after Lonnie Johnson. He was a scary guy, and I wasn't exactly at the top of my game. I wa
s too distracted by Edward Scrog. It was now the eighth day for Julie Martine. Nine days that she was away from her mom. Eight days that she was held captive by a psychotic killer.
I noticed Lula looking at her phone. 'Expecting a call?' I asked her.
'Yeah, a certain big guy works all the time. I've been getting a lot of phone calls, but I'm not getting any action.'
'You've been getting phone calls? With the big guy actually saying something on the other end?'
'Well I gotta do most of the talking, but I can hear him breathing.'
'Big guy?' Connie said. 'What's that about?'
'Lula's having a thing with Tank,' I told her.
'Get the hell out,' Connie said. 'Shut up.'
'It's only the beginning stages,' Lula said. 'But I think this could be it. I tell you, he's a hunk of burning love. He's a sex bomb. He's a big ol' honey bear.'
'Who's Tank?' Meri wanted to know.
'He's Ranger's top guy,' Lula said. 'He watches Ranger's back, and he takes over when Ranger's away.'
'So I guess he's in charge now?' Meri asked.
'Yeah, sort of,' Lula said.
A black Corvette with red, orange and green flame detailing screeched to a stop in front of the office and angled into the curb in front of Lula's Firebird.
'Here comes Vampira again,' Lula said. 'Wouldn't you think once a day was enough? What did we do to deserve this?'
'Connie hired her,' I said.