itching to call him again, but it was eight o'clock, and I thought it was possible drag queens weren't early risers.
I was on my second cup of coffee when the phone rang.
'It's me,' Sally said.
I read the note over the phone, letter by letter.
Silence.
'Sally?'
'I'm thinking. I'm thinking. I've been up all night, looking sexy, shaking my ass. It isn't easy, you know.'
I could hear yelling in the background. 'What's going on?'
'It's Sugar. He's got breakfast all made.'
'Sugar makes your breakfast?'
'I'm on the phone with Stephanie,' Sally yelled back.
'Boy, I don't have anyone make breakfast for me.'
'What you have to do is live with a gay guy,' Sally said. 'They're into this cooking shit.'
Something to think about.
'I don't want to rush your breakfast,' I said. 'I'll be home for another hour, then I'm going to the office. When you figure it out you can call me at the office, or you can leave a message on my machine.'
'Ten four, kemosabe.'
I took a shower and dressed for another scorcher day. I gave Rex fresh water and some hamster food, which he didn't deem worthy to so much as sniff at.
I slung my black leather tote over my shoulder, locked up and took the stairs to the lobby. Outside, the blacktop was steaming, and the sun was beginning to throb in a murky sky. I played Savage Garden all the way to the office and arrived psyched because I'd had good traffic karma, sailing through the lights.
Connie was bent over a file when I walked in. Her black hair was teased high around her face like a movie set that was all facade. Everything up front and nothing in the back. Killer hair as long as she didn't turn around.
'If you want to talk to the man, he isn't in,' she said.
Lula popped up from behind a bank of file cabinets. 'He's doin' a nooner with a goat today. I saw it on his calendar.'
'So how's it going?' Connie asked. 'Any action on the Nowicki thing?'
I passed a copy of the note to Connie and Lula. 'I have a message from her that's written in some kind of code.'
'Lose me,' Lula said. 'Code isn't one of my specialties.'
Connie sunk two teeth into a heavily lipsticked lower lip. 'Maybe the numbers are really letters.'
'I thought of that, but I couldn't get it to work.'
We all stared at the note for a while.
'Might not mean anything,' Lula finally said. 'Might be a joke.'
I nodded. Joke note was a possibility.
'I helped Ranger with an apprehension yesterday,' I said. 'Kenny Martin.'
Connie gave a low laugh. 'Vito Grizolli's nephew? Bet that was fun.'
'There was a woman with him that I can't place. I know I've seen her before, but it keeps slipping away from me.'
'What'd she look like?'
'Slim, pretty, short blond hair. He called her Terry.'
'Terry Gilman,' Connie said. 'Used to be Terry Grizolli. Was married to Billy Gilman for about six hours and kept his name.'
'Terry Grizolli! That was Terry Grizolli?' Terry Grizolli was two years older than me and had been linked with Joe Morelli all through high school. She'd been voted prom queen and had created a school scandal by choosing Joe as her escort. After graduation, she'd gone on to become a professional cheerleader for the New York Giants. 'I haven't seen her in years,' I said. 'What's she doing now? Is she still a cheerleader?'
'Rumor has it she's working for Vito. She has a lot of money and no discernible job.'
'You telling me she's like a wise guy?'
'Affirmative action,' Connie said.
The front door opened, and we all turned to look. Lula was the first to find her voice. 'Killer earring.'
It was a parrot swinging on a gold hoop that was looped through one of Sally's ears.
'Got it at the shore,' he said. 'You buy a pair of thong briefs and they throw in the earring.' He made a grab at his ass and hiked himself up. 'Christ, I don't know how they wear these thong things. They're giving me hemorrhoids.'
