22 Caliber - A Stephanie Plum-inspired Story

Chapter Six

I lived in a no-frills apartment building on the edge of the Burg. Inhabited by the newly wed and nearly dead - and me – it was characterized by avocado-green appliances and cheap rent. It had an orange and brown bathroom, one beige bedroom, a small cream-colored kitchen and a small beige eating and living area. My second-floor apartment looked over the parking lot. This let me watch the seniors' parking wars as they fought over the right to park in the disabled parking spots. It had a fire escape off the bedroom window which I could almost pretend was a balcony. It was home to my hamster Rex and myself.

I could see my apartment from the parking lot and tonight the lights were on. Since I just left Ranger, I assumed Morelli was waiting for me. I had given Morelli a key a while ago; Ranger didn't need one. No matter what locks I put on the door Ranger could get in. He was like smoke.

Morelli met me at the door. "No doggy bag from your mom? No pineapple upside down cake?" he questioned. "Rex was looking forward to some leftovers."

I explained that I ate with Ranger, Rex could have a baby carrot for dinner and there was a frozen macaroni and cheese in the freezer ready to be zapped in the microwave. The only part of that which registered was I ate with Ranger. Morelli looked at his shoe and counted to ten. "Ranger? You aren't working with him again, are you? He's dangerous." Morelli looked like he had a cramp. I told him to count to ten again while I put the macaroni in the microwave. We were quiet while we waited for Morelli's dinner to be ready and for Joe to get his temper under control. While I was waiting for the steam to stop coming out of Morelli's ears, I dropped a piece of carrot into Rex's cage. Rex scurried out of his soup can, shoved the piece of carrot into his mouth, stood staring at me with beady little black eyes and quivering nose for a minute, then scurried back into his can. Wasn't he the perfect pet?

I told Morelli about Vinnie's problem and what Ranger and I were doing about it. And I told him about seeing Mario on the security video. I told him about talking to Tessa and his mom. I told him about Grandma Bella giving me the eye. And I told him about Vinnie's request to take down Robin Hood. By the time I finished telling Morelli about everything, Joe was finished his dinner. "Be careful about Robin Hood", he said. "No one in the police force will support you in taking him down. Even I don't support you in taking him down. I think you should involve the police in the blackmailing, but I can understand why Vinnie doesn't want to. Let me know if you need police back-up on it. I can't stay. Bob's at home and I still want to canvas the neighborhood about the double homicide." Fine by me. I was tired and I had a lot to think about anyway. He named some cousins Mario could be staying with, gave me a distracted kiss and headed out the door.