'It was there when I opened the office,' Connie said.
'Anybody come in to say hello?'
'Nope.'
I turned and walked across the street and rapped on the driver's side window of the SUV.
The window rolled down, and Carmen looked out at me. 'Looks to me like you spent the night with someone,' she said. 'Like maybe you spent the night with my husband.'
'I spent the night with my boyfriend. Not that it's any of your business.'
'I'm going to stick to you like nothing you've ever seen. I know you're going to lead me to the son of a bitch. And when I find him, I'm going to kill him. And then I'm going to kill you.'
Carmen Manoso had said this with eyes narrowed and teeth clenched. And I realized that the jealousy I felt over her and Ranger was nothing compared to the jealousy she felt toward me. Like it or not, fact or fiction, I was the other woman.
'Maybe we should talk this over,' I said. 'There are some things that don't add up for me. Maybe I can help you. And I have a couple questions.'
The gun appeared, pointed at a spot in the middle of my forehead. 'I'm not answering any more questions,' Carmen said.
I stepped to the rear of the SUV and got the plate. Then I hustled across the street and into the office.
'Well?' Connie asked.
'It's Carmen, the woman in black. She claims to be Ranger's wife. I've seen her driver's license. It reads Carmen Manoso. Her story is that he walked out on her last week, and she's looking for him.'
'Holy crap,' Lula said.
Connie started punching information into her computer. 'Do you know anything else? Address?'
'Arlington. I didn't see her driver's license long enough to get more,' I told her. 'And I have the plate.' I scribbled it on a piece of paper for her. 'Supposedly Ranger had an office in the area, closed it without warning and disappeared.'
This is the age of instant access. Connie had computer programs that pulled everything from credit history to medical history to high school grades and movie preferences. Connie could find out if you were constipated in 1994.
'Here she is,' Connie said. 'Carmen Manoso. Twenty-two years old. Maiden name, Carmen Cruz. Married to Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Blah, blah, blah. I don't see anything especially interesting. She's originally from Lanham, Maryland, and then Springfield, Virginia. No children. No history of mental illness. No criminal history that I can see. Unimpressive work history. Mostly in retail sales. Waited tables at a bar in Springfield and most recently lists herself as self-employed, bounty hunter. Some financial information. The SUV is leased. Lives in a rental in Arlington. I can go deeper, but it'll take a day or two.'
'What about Ranger? Can you run a check on him?'
'Connie and me try to run a check on him all the time,' Lula said. 'It's like he doesn't exist.'
I looked at Connie. 'Is that true?'
'I'm surprised his name showed up in Carmen's data base,' Connie said. 'He has a way of erasing himself.'
I redialed Ranger's cell number and got his service again. 'Hey, man of mystery,' I said, 'your wife is here, and she's looking for you with a gun in her hand.'
'That would get my attention,' Lula said.
'Only if you were near a cell tower,' I told her. 'And sometimes Ranger goes places where no cell tower has gone before. Let's saddle up. I want to see what Lonnie Johnson's house looks like today. See if anyone's shooting at him.'
Lula's Firebird was parked in the small back lot, so we left through the back door and took her car. After a couple blocks I called Connie.
'Is Carmen still at the curb?'
'Yep. She didn't see your rear exit. Guess bounty hunter skills aren't high on the list for things you learn when you're married to Ranger.'
I hung up, and Lula cruised down Hamilton and hooked a right turn into Johnson's neighborhood. We were a block away when we saw the lone fire truck. It was parked in front of Johnson's house… or at least, what was left of it.
'Hunh,' Lula said, creeping in for a closer look. 'Hope he had insurance.'
Johnson's house was a pile of blackened rubble.
I got out of the car and walked to the fire truck where two firemen were checking a form off on a clipboard.
'What happened?' I asked.
'The house burned down,' one of them said.
They looked at each other and laughed. Fireman humor.
'Anyone hurt?'
'No. Everyone got out. Are you a friend?'
'I knew Lonnie Johnson. Do you know where he went?'
'No, but he went there fast. Left his girlfriend behind to sort through the mess. She said it was a kitchen fire, but there was no way.'
How about this: maybe
I got back into the car and slouched in my seat.
'Look on the bright side,' Lula said. 'Nobody's shooting. And I don't see no rocket launcher.'
Three
I think we'll file Lonnie Johnson in the lost cause file,' I said to Lula. 'If he has any sense at all, he's on a bus out of town.'
'Good idea,' Lula said. 'Who we got next up?'
I'd planned to do the arsonist next, but he'd lost some appeal now that I had my nose clogged with barbecued house. I got the stack of files from the back seat and fingered through them.
Luis Queen had been picked up for solicitation. Not a high bond, but he'd be easy to find. I hauled Luis Queen in all the time. Unfortunately, it was too early for Queen. He wouldn't be on his corner turning tricks until midafternoon. Queen liked to sleep in.
Caroline Scarzolli held some potential. She was a low-bond shoplifter. First-time offender. Worked in a lingerie and gadget shop. I handed the file to Lula. 'How about this one?'
'I like this one,' Lula said. 'Scarzolli will be at work now, and I've been wanting to take a look at this store. I gave up being a 'ho, but I still like to keep up on the technology.'
Pleasure Treasures was on a side street in the middle of the city. The name on the front of the store was written in hot-pink neon light. The lingerie displayed in the window was exotic. Crotchless panties trimmed in faux fur, sequined thongs, nipple pasties, animal-print garter belts.
Lula parked in the small lot adjacent to the store, and we sauntered up to the front door. Actually, Lula was the only one sauntering. I was skulking, head down, hoping no one was looking.
An older woman walked by with her dog and our eyes met.
I'm a bounty hunter, looking for someone,' I said to her. 'I'm not buying anything here. I've never even been here before.'
The woman hurried on, and Lula shook her head at me.
'That is so sad,' Lula said. 'That shows low self-esteem. That shows you got no pride in your sexual side. You should've told that woman you were going in to get a vibrator and edible massage oils. This here's the twenty-first century. Just 'cause we're women don't mean we can't be sick as men.'
'It's not the twenty-first century in the Burg. My mother would get an eye twitch if she heard I was shopping in the Pleasure Treasures.'
'Yeah, but I bet your Grandma Mazur shops here all the time,' Lula said, walking into the store, going into
