gloves when he handled my food.
'Spartan,' I said to Ranger.
'Adequate,' Ranger said. He looked down at the mattress.
'I don't think Howie's been sharing his apartment with anyone lately.'
I was feeling a little panicky about being alone in a room with a mattress and Ranger, so I scooted out of the room and out of Howie's apartment. Ranger followed and closed and locked Howie's door. We descended the stairs in silence.
Ranger was smiling when we got to the front foyer. Not the half smile, either. This was a full-on smile.
I narrowed my eyes at the smile. 'What?'
'It's always fun to see you get worried about a mattress.'
Lula hustled over. 'So what's going on?' Lula asked. 'You find anything up there? Any dog hairs in the bedroom?'
'Nothing. It was clean,' I told her.
Lula turned her attention to Ranger. 'I didn't hear you breaking any doors down.'
'It wasn't necessary to break the door down.'
'How'd you do it then? You use a pick? You use some electronic gizmo? I wish I could open doors like you.'
'I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you,' Ranger said.
It was an old line, but it was worrisome when Ranger said it.
'Hunh,' Lula said.
'Tell me about Boo and Singh,' I said to Ranger. 'Who saw them. Where were they?'
'A kid working the drive-through window at Cluck in a Bucket saw him. He remembered Singh and the dog because the dog was barking and jumping around. He said Singh got a bucket of chicken and two strawberry shakes and the dog ate two pieces of chicken before Singh got the window rolled up to drive off.'
'Guess he was hungry.'
'Speaking of hungry,' Lula said. 'We haven't had lunch yet.'
'We just had a cheeseburger,' I told her.
'We shared it. That don't count. If you share, it's a snack.'
'I want to go back to talk to Howie at one o'clock. Can you wait until then?'
'I guess. What are we going to do in the meantime?'
'I want to wander around the neighborhood. Maybe snoop in a few garages.'
Lula looked up and down the street. 'You're going to snoop in this neighborhood? You got a gun on you?'
Ranger reached behind him, under his shirt, and pulled out a .38. He pulled my T-shirt out of my jeans and he shoved the .38 under my waistband and draped my shirt over the gun. The gun was warm with his body heat and his fingers had been even warmer sliding across my belly.
'Thanks,' I said, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
He curled his hand around my neck and kissed me lightly on the lips. 'Be careful.' And he was gone. Off to make the world a better place in his shiny new black Porsche.
'He had his hand in your pants and he kissed you,' Lula said. 'I'm wetting myself.'
'It wasn't like that. He gave me a gun.'
'Girl, he gave you more than a gun. I tell you, he ever put his hand in my pants I'll stop breathing and faint dead away. He is so hot.' Lula did some fanning motions with her hand. 'I'm getting flashes. I think I'm sweating. Look at me. Am I sweating?'
'It's ninety degrees out,' I said. 'Everyone's sweating.'
'It's not ninety,' Lula said. 'I just saw the temperature on the bank building. It's only seventy-eight.'
'Feels like ninety.'
'Ain't that the truth,' Lula said.
An alley ran behind the houses. Cars were parked in the alley and garages opened to the alley. Lula and I walked to the end of the block and then cut down the alley, peering into filthy garage windows, cracking garage doors to look inside. Most of the garages were used for storage. A few were empty. None contained a gray Nissan. We walked three more blocks and three more alleys. No dog. No car. No Singh.
IT WAS 1:15 when I parked in the McDonalds lot. Lula went inside to order and I walked to the outdoor seating area where Howie was eating lunch.
Howie was hunched over his tray, concentrating on his burger, attempting invisibility.
'Hey,' I said, sitting across from him. 'Nice day.'
He nodded his head without making eye contact. 'Yes.'
'Tell me about Samuel.'
