to me, and I talk to Frick and Frack.'
'Who are you watching?'
Morelli flipped the kitchen light off. 'Vito's accounts-receivable person. Harvey Tipp.'
'You better be watching him close. Harvey's life expectancy might not be too good.'
* * * * *
MORELLI DROPPED ME off on his way to relieve Bronfman.
'Thanks for the ride,' I told Morelli.
He snagged my collar as I turned to leave. 'We have an agreement,' he said. 'And you owe me.'
'Now?'
'Later.'
'How much later?'
'To be determined,' Morelli said. 'I just don't want you to forget.'
Not much chance of that.
Briggs was working when I got upstairs. 'You keep long hours,' I said.
'I've got to get this project done. I lost a lot of ground when my apartment got burglarized. I was lucky I had my laptop in the closet in the bedroom, and they missed it. I had most of my work backed up on the laptop, so it wasn't a total disaster.'
* * * * *
I WOKE UP at four and couldn't get back to sleep. I lay there for an hour, listening for sounds on my fire escape, planning my escape should someone toss a fire bomb through my bedroom window. Finally I gave up and tiptoed into the kitchen for a snack. I had so many things to worry about I could barely sort through them. Fred was last on the list. Morelli collecting on what was owed was closer to the top.
Briggs padded in after me. 'Spooked again?'
'Yeah. Too much on my mind. I can't sleep.' I looked down at him. He was wearing Winnie-the-Pooh pajamas. 'Nice jammies,' I said.
'I have a hard time finding things that fit. When I want to really impress the ladies I wear Spider-Man.'
'Is it hard being a little person?'
'Has its ups and downs. I get a lot of perks because people think I'm cute. And I try to take advantage of my minority status.'
'I noticed.'
'Hey,' Briggs said, 'you gotta use what God gave you.'
'True.'
'So, you want to do something? You want to play Monopoly?'
'Okay, but I want to be the shoe.'
We were still playing at seven o'clock, when the phone rang.
'I'm in your parking lot,' Ranger said. 'Do you want to come down, or do you want me to come up?'
'Why are you calling? You always just break in.'
'I didn't want to take a chance on scaring the hell out of you and getting shot.'
'Good thinking. What's the occasion?'
'Wheels, Babe.'
I went to the window, pulled the curtain aside, and looked down at Ranger. He was standing alongside a black BMW.
'I'll be right down,' I said to Ranger. 'Give me a minute to get dressed.'
I pulled on a pair of jeans, shoved my feet into ratty sneakers, and covered my flannel nightshirt with an oversized gray sweatshirt. I grabbed my keys and took off for the stairs.
'Looking a little scary, Babe,' Ranger said when he saw me.
'A friend of mine suggested this look could be a new concept in birth control.'
'It's not
I smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from my sweatshirt and closely examined a speck of lint on my sleeve. I looked up and found Ranger smiling.
'The ball's in your court,' Ranger said. 'Let me know when you're ready.'
'For the car?'
He smiled.
'Are you sure you want to give me another car?'
'This one's equipped with sensors on the undercarriage.' He held a small remote. 'Push the green button to
