carpet.
Homer Ramos burst out laughing.
I threw the Glock at him, hitting him in the forehead, and he fired at me before I had a chance to take off. The bullet grazed my upper arm and lodged in the wall behind me. I cried out and stumbled back, holding tight to the wound.
'That's a warning,' he said. 'If you try to run I'll shoot you in the back.'
'Why are you here? What do you want?'
'I want the money, of course.'
'I don't have the money.'
'There's no other possibility, sweetie pie. The money was in the car, and before good ol' Cynthia died she told me you were in the town house when she walked in. So you're the only candidate. I've been all through Cynthia's house. And I tortured her sufficiently to be confident she was telling me everything she knew. She originally gave me this bogus story about throwing the bag away, but not even Cynthia would be that stupid. I've been through your apartment and the apartment of your fat friend. And I haven't found the money.'
Harpoon to the brain. Habib and Mitchell weren't the ones who'd ransacked my apartment. It was Homer Ramos, looking for his money.
'Now I want you to tell me where you put it,' Homer said. 'I want you to tell me where you've hidden my money.'
My arm stung and a bloodstain was growing on the torn material of my jacket. Little black dots were dancing in front of my eyes. 'I need to sit down.'
He waved me to the couch. 'Over there.'
Getting shot, no matter how minor the wound, is not conducive to clear thinking. Somewhere in the muck of gray matter between my ears I knew I should be forming a plan, but damned if I could do it. My mind was scurrying down blank paths in panic. There were tears pooling behind my eyes, and my nose was running.
'Where's my money?' Ramos repeated when I was seated.
'I gave it to Ranger.' Even I was surprised when this answer popped out. And clearly neither of us believed it.
'You're lying. I'm going to ask you again. And if I think you're lying I'm going to shoot you in the knee.'
He was standing with his back to the small hallway that led to my front door. I looked over his shoulder and saw Ranger move into my line of vision.
'Okay, you got me,' I said, louder than was necessary, with just a touch of hysteria. 'This is what happened. I had no idea there was money in the car. What I saw was this dead guy. And I don't know, call me crazy, maybe I've seen too many Mafia movies, but I thought to myself, Maybe there's another body in the trunk! I mean, I didn't want to miss out on any bodies, you know? So I opened the trunk and there was this gym bag. Well, I've always been nosy, so of course, I had to see inside the bag-'
'I don't give a flying fuck about your life story,' Homer said. 'I want to know what you did with the freaking money. I've only got twelve hours before my ship sails. You think you could get to the point before then?'
And that was when Ranger yanked Homer Ramos off his feet and pressed the stun gun to his neck. Homer gave a squeak and collapsed onto the floor. Ranger reached down and took Homer's gun. He patted him down for more weapons, didn't find any, and cuffed his hands behind his back.
He kicked Ramos aside and stood over me. 'I thought I told you not to hang out with members of the Ramos family. You never listen.'
Ranger humor.
I gave him a weak smile. 'I think I'm going to throw up.'
He put his hand to the back of my neck and pushed my head down between my legs. 'Push against my hand,' he said.
The bells stopped clanging and my stomach sort of calmed. Ranger pulled me to my feet and took my jacket off.
I wiped my nose on my T-shirt. 'How long were you here?' I asked.
'I came in when he shot you.'
We both looked at the gash in my arm.
'Flesh wound,' Ranger said. 'Can't get much sympathy on this one.' He steered me into the kitchen and pressed some paper toweling to my arm. 'Try to clean it up a little, and I'll go look for a Band-Aid.'
'Band-Aid! I've been shot!'
He came back with my first-aid kit, used Band-Aids to hold the wound together, put a gauze patch on it, and wrapped my arm with surgical gauze. He stepped back and grinned at me. 'You look kind of white.'
'I thought I was going to die. He'd have killed me for sure.'
'But he didn't,' Ranger said.
'Did you ever think you were going to die?'
'Many times.'
'And?'
'And I didn't.' He used my phone to dial Morelli. 'I'm at Steph's apartment. We've got Homer Ramos bagged and waiting for you. And we could use a blue-and-white. Stephanie caught a bullet in the arm. It just sliced through some flesh, but she should have it looked at.'
He slid an arm around me and pulled me to him. I rested my head on his chest, and he nuzzled my hair and kissed me just above the ear. 'Are you okay?' he asked.
No way was I okay. I was as unokay as I could get. I was in a state. 'Sure,' I said. 'I'm fine.'
I could feel him smile. 'Liar.'
MORELLI CAUGHT UP with me at the hospital. 'Are you okay?'
'Ranger asked me that same question fifteen minutes ago and the answer was no. But I'm feeling better now.'
'How's the arm?'
'I don't think it's too bad. I'm waiting to see the doctor.'
Morelli took my hand and pressed a kiss to the palm. 'I think my heart stopped twice on the way over.'
The kiss fluttered in my stomach. 'I'm fine. Really.'
'I had to see for myself.'
'You love me,' I said.
His smile tightened, and he gave a small nod. 'I love you.'
Ranger loved me too, but not quite in the same way. Ranger was at a different place in his life.
The doors to the waiting room crashed open, and Connie and Lula barged in.
'We heard you got shot,' Lula said. 'What's going on?'
'Omigod, it's true,' Connie said. 'Look at your arm! How did this happen?'
Morelli stood. 'I want to be there when they bring Ramos in. And I think I'm excess baggage now that the troops have arrived. Call me as soon as you're done with the doctor.'
I DECIDED TO go from the hospital to my parents' house. Morelli was still busy interrogating Homer Ramos, and I didn't feel like being alone. I had Lula stop at Dougie's first so I could get a flannel shirt to wear over the T- shirt.
Dougie and Mooner were in the living room, watching a new big-screen TV.
'Hey, dude,' Mooner said, 'check this television out. Is this excellent, or what?'
'I thought you were done with the hijacking.'
'That's the astonishing thing,' Mooner said. 'This is a newly purchased television. We didn't even steal it, dude. I tell you, God works in mysterious ways. One minute we're thinking our future is in the crapper, and then next thing you know, we come into an inheritance.'
'Congratulations,' I said. 'Who died?'
'That's the miracle,' Mooner said. 'Our inheritance isn't tainted by tragedy. It was given to us, dude. A present. Can you dig it?
'Dougie and me had the good fortune to make a car sale on Sunday, so we took the car to the car wash to get
