Hard Eight

I hung around until early afternoon. I read the paper, filed my nails, organized my shoulder bag, and talked on my cell phone with Mary Lou Stankovik for a half hour. My legs were twitchy from the confinement, and my butt was asleep. I’d had a lot of time to think about Jeanne Ellen Burrows, and none of the thoughts were friendly. In fact, after about an hour of Jeanne Ellen Burrows thinking I was darn cranky, and I’m not sure, but I think steam might have started escaping from the top of my head. Jeanne Ellen had bigger boobs and a smaller ass than me. She was a better bounty hunter. She had a nicer car. And she had leather pants. I could deal with this. What I couldn’t deal with was her involvement with Ranger. I’d thought their relationship had ended, but clearly I was wrong. He knew where she was every minute of the day.

While she had a relationship, I had the threat of a single night of gorilla sex hanging over my head. Okay, so I’d made the deal during a moment of professional desperation. His aid in exchange for my body. And yes, maybe it had been flirty and fun, in a scary sort of way. And true, I’m attracted to him. I mean, I’m only human, for crying out loud. A woman would have to be dead not to be attracted to Ranger. And it’s not like I’m having any luck getting Morelli into my bed these days.

So here I am with my one night. And there’s Jeanne Ellen with some sort of relationship. Well, forget it. I’m not fooling around with a man who’s possibly in a relationship. I dialed Ranger and drummed my fingers on the steering wheel while I waited for the connection.

“Yo,” Ranger said.

“I owe you nothing,” I said. “The deal is off.”

Ranger was silent for a couple beats. Probably wondering why he ever made the deal in the first place. “Having a bad day?” he finally asked.

“My bad day has nothing to do with this,” I said. And I hung up.

My cell phone chirped, and I debated answering. Curiosity ultimately won out over cowardice. Pretty much the story of my life.

“I’ve been under a lot of stress,” I said. “I might even be sick with a fever.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“I thought you might want to retract the part where you tell me the deal is off,” Ranger said.

There was a long silence on the phone.

“Well?” Ranger asked.

“I’m thinking.”

“That’s always dangerous,” Ranger said. And he hung up.

I was still contemplating the retraction when Dotty rolled in. She parked in her driveway, took two grocery bags from the backseat, and let herself into the house. My phone rang again. I did an eye roll and snapped my phone open. “Yes.”

“Have you been waiting long?” It was Jeanne Ellen.

I whipped my head around, looking up and down the street. “Where are you?”

“Behind the blue van. You’ll be happy to know you didn’t miss anything this afternoon. Dotty had a full day of housewifey things to do.”

“Did she know you were following her?”

There was a pause where I assumed Jeanne Ellen was stunned that I might think she’d ever get made. “Of course not,” Jeanne Ellen said. “She didn’t have Evelyn in her day planner today.”

“Well, cheer up,” I said. “The day’s not over.”

“True. I thought I’d stay here a bit longer, but the street feels crowded with both of us sitting here.”

“And?”

“And I thought it would be a good idea for you to leave.”

“No way. You should leave.”