I heard Bob jump off the bed and head down the stairs.
“I need to get the glass cleaned up before Bob steps in it,” I told Lula. “Put the box down and look up some gyms in the phone book and we'll check some out.”
Five minutes later, I walked back into Morelli's office and found Lula unwrapping the box.
“It's not a bomb,” Lula said. “There's a note in here and something all wrapped up.” She handed me the note.
“That was addressed to Morelli,” I said to her.
“Yeah, but I didn't want him to get hisself all blown up. Besides, I kicked the box around some and nothing happened, so I figured it was safe.”
I unfolded the piece of paper and read the printed message.
I KNOW YOU HAVE THE MONEY. GIVE ME THE MONEY AND I'LL GIVE YOU LORETTA. JUST
SO YOU KNOW I'M SERIOUS I'M ENCLOSING A PRESENT. EVERY DAY I DON'T GET THE
MONEY YOU'LL GET ANOTHER PRESENT. Hang a red scarf in the upstairs window WHEN YOU WANT TO MAKE A DEAL.
“I like getting presents,” Lula said, “but this one don't smell too good.”
I had a bad feeling about this present. I carefully peeled away the tissue paper, and we stared at a pinkie toe with red toenail polish.
“Good pedicure,” Lula said.
I clapped a hand over my mouth and told myself I wasn't going to throw up. I was sweating at my hairline and little black dots were floating in front of my eyes. They'd chopped off one of Lorettas toes, and they were going to keep chopping until they got their money.
“Maybe we should give them the money,” Lula said.
“We don't have the money,” I whispered.
“Oh yeah. I forgot.”
“I don't want Zook to see this,” I told her. “He's just a kid. He doesn't need this. And I can't stand around and let them chop off Lorettas body parts. We have to find either Loretta or the money.”
“And we're gonna do this how?”
“I have a lead.”
“Okay,” Lula said. “But what about the pinkie toe?”
“It's evidence. I'll put it in the freezer for now.”
I'd seen army barracks that were more attractive than Stanley Zero's apartment complex. Hummingbird Hollow consisted of six cement-block, three-story buildings clustered around a large macadam parking lot. As far as I could see, there were no trees, no flowers, no hummingbirds. And the only hollow was an empty, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. The mailboxes would lead me to believe that there were twenty-four units to each building. Zero lived on the second floor, in unit 2D, with his windows facing the lot. According to my report, he lived alone. I found his truck in the lot, and I checked the plate to make sure.
“He's home,” I said to Lula.
We were in Lula's Firebird. It wasn't the best surveillance vehicle, but it was better than my Zook car. Lula slid into a space behind and to the left of the F150.
“Now what?” Lula asked.
“Now we wait.”
“I hate to wait. He don't know me. How about if I go up and ring his bell and ask if he wants some Lula? Then I could look around and see if he got Loretta tied up without her toe in his closet.”
“They don't have Loretta here,” I said. “It's not private enough. You can probably hear everything through these walls. I'm hoping he'll go out and lead us to his partner.”
We sat for an hour, looking up into his windows, watching the building's back door. Nothing.