Four to Score

never in retail like me. I made a lot of connections.'

The driver's-side window rolled up, and Joyce roared out of the lot, down the street.

Great. Joyce has connections.

I crossed to the CRX and noticed that someone had left a note under my windshield wiper.

I said I'd get even and 1 meant it. I've been watching you and 1 know he was here. This is your last warning. Leave my boyfriend alone! Next time I soak something with gasoline I'll strike a match to it.

This was about somebody's boyfriend. And only one person came to mind. Morelli. Ugh! To think I almost went to bed with him. I squeezed my eyes shut. I fell for all that talk about no condoms and no sex. What was I thinking? I should have known better than to believe anything Morelli told me. And it wasn't hard to guess the girlfriend's name. Terry Gilman. This threat had mob written all over it. And Connie had said Terry was connected.

I sniffed at my car. Gasoline. I put my finger to the hood. It was still wet. Morelli's unhinged girlfriend must have just been here. Probably did this while I was chained to the refrigerator. No big deal, I thought. I'd run the CRX through a car wash.

I stuck the key in the door lock more out of force of habit than actual thought. The key didn't go through the usual turn, which meant the door wasn't locked. I looked closer and saw the scratches made next to the window. Someone had used a jimmy bar to pop the lock.

I had a premonition of bad news.

I did a fast peek in the window. Nothing seemed stolen. The radio looked intact. I opened the driver's side door and the gasoline smell almost knocked me to my knees. I put my hand to the seat. It was soaked. The floor mats were soaked. The dash was soaked. Gasoline pooled in nooks and crannies.

Shit! Goddamn Morelli. I was more angry at him than I was at Terry. I looked around the lot. No one there but me.

I whipped out my cell phone and started dialing. No answer at Morelli's house. No answer at his office number. No answer on his car phone. I kicked a tire and did some inventive swearing.

I was parked in a back corner of the lot with no cars in the immediate vicinity. It seemed to me the safest thing to do right now was to leave the car parked and let some of the gas evaporate away. I opened the windows wide, went back to the apartment building and called Lula at the office.

'I need a ride,' I told Lula. 'Car problems.'

*    *    *    *    *

'OKAY, so tell me again about this box,' Lula said, lining the Firebird up with the curb in front of Kuntz's house.

'Maxine says it's filled with dog doody, so we shouldn't touch it.'

'You believe Maxine? Suppose it's a bomb?'

'I don't think it's a bomb.'

'Yeah, but are you sure?'

'Well, no.'

'I tell you what. I'm staying on the front porch while you open that box. I don't want to be anywhere near that box.'

I walked around to the back of the house, and sure enough, there was the box, sitting on the stoop. The box was about a foot square. It was heavy cardboard, sealed up with tape, marked with a red X.

Kuntz was at the screen door. 'Took you long enough.'

'You're lucky we came at all,' Lula said. 'And if you don't change your attitude we're gonna leave. So what do you think of that?'

I crouched down and examined the box. Nothing ticking. Didn't smell like dog shit. No warning labels that said Dangerous Explosives. Truth is, anything could be in the box. Anything. Could be cooties left over from Desert Storm. 'Looks okay to me,' I said to Kuntz. 'Go ahead and open it.'

'You're sure it's safe?'

'Hey,' Lula said, 'we're trained professionals. We know about these things. Right, Stephanie?'

'Right.'

Kuntz stared at the box. He cracked his knuckles and pulled his lips tight against his teeth. 'Damn that Maxine.' He took a Swiss army knife out of his pocket and bent to the box.

Lula and I discreetly stepped away from the stoop.

'You're sure?' he asked again, knife poised.

'Oh yeah.' Another step backward.

Kuntz slit the tape, parted the flaps and peeked into the box. Nothing exploded, but Lula and I kept our distance all the same.

'What the hell?' Kuntz said, looking more closely. 'What is this? Looks like a plastic bag sealed with one of those twisty tie things and filled with chocolate pudding.'

Lula and I exchanged glances.

'I suppose the clue's in the bag,' Kuntz said. He poked at the bag, his face contorted, and he uttered something that sound like 'Ulk.'