14 Fearless Fourteen (26 page)

Or you can bounce it off a satellite.“ ”Suppose you want to run
it all day, day after day. You'd need a power source, right?“ ”Yes.
If it was on a roof, you could tie into the house's electric. It
would be easy if the house had a dish.“ I used the phone in
Morelli's office to call him. ”What,“ he whispered into his phone.
”I've got it.“ ”I'm in a meeting,“ he said. ”Is this important?“
”Didn't you hear me? I've got it. I know how the fourth partner saw
the scarf and the sign, and I know how he saw us leave the house to
take Grandma home.

There's a camera on the roof of the house across from you.“ ”Are
you sure?“ ”I'm looking at it through binoculars. Do you know the
people who live across from you? Would they put a camera on their
roof?“ ”Mr. and Mrs. Geary live across from me. They're nice, but
they're about a hundred and ten. I can't imagine why they'd have a
camera on their roof. I'm stuck in this meeting, but I'll send
Spanner over with a tech.“ I was cracking my knuckles now because
in a couple hours Loretta would lose her hand. I was calling Alma
Rizzi's phone every fifteen minutes and no one was answering. The
sign was in Morelli's window. Nothing happening with that. The red
scarf was on Morelli's desk. I had no reason to hang it in the
window. I looked up, and Mooner was in the doorway. ”The door was
unlocked, so I figured you were open for business,“ Mooner said. I
had my hand over my heart. ”You took me by surprise. Next time,
yell when you come into the house.“ ”I was projecting my aura, but
you might have been too distracted to catch it.

Probably you were struggling with the feng shui in this room.
Major bummer on that one.“ He looked across the hall. ”Where's
Zookamundo?“ ”School.“ ”Again?“ ”Five days a week.“ ”Whoa. He must
be serious about it.“ ”Have you had breakfast?“ ”No. We were all
out of Cap'n Crunch. I have my standards, you know. I was hoping
the dude had some.“ We trekked downstairs, I pawed through
Morelli's cupboard, found a half-empty box of Cap'n Crunch, and
gave it to Mooner. I brewed a new pot of coffee and turned to see
Gary at the back door. I opened the door and Gary came in. ”How
long have you been standing there?“ I asked him. ”I just got here.
I had a dream you were making coffee.“ ”You dreamed correct,“ I
told him. ”Help yourself.“ I went to the living room and looked out
the window, and Mooner and Gary followed me. ”What are we looking
at?“ Mooner wanted to know. ”I'm waiting for one of Morelli's
partners to show up.“ ”Cool,“ Mooner said, sharing the box of
Crunch with Gary. Spanner finally arrived in a blue Fairlane.
”Bummer,“ Mooner said. ”No lights.“ ”He's not a uniform,“ I told
Mooner. ”I have to talk to him. You stay here.“ ”Homegrown Security
on the job,“ Mooner said. ”You can count on Gary and me.“ If you
knew where to look, you could see the camera from the street. I
positioned Spanner as far back as he could go in Morelli's small
yard and handed him my binoculars. ”I see it,“ Spanner said. ”It
looks like a camera all right.“ We walked across the street and
Spanner knocked on the Gearys' front door. The door was answered by
a little old man still in his pajamas. Spanner introduced himself
and asked about the camera. ”You have a camera on your roof,“
Spanner said. ”What?“ Mr. Geary asked. ”A camera.“ ”Where?“ ”On
your roof.“ Mr. Geary looked confused. ”Where's the camera?“ ”I'd
like permission to take a look at it,“ Spanner said. ”What do you
want to look at?“ Mr. Geary asked. ”The camera.“ I looked at my
watch. This could take a while. Spanner had it figured out, too. He
jumped in with the bottom line. ”Okay, thanks,“ Spanner said to
Geary. ”Appreciate you letting us take a look at the camera. I'm
going to send a tech up there.“ ”Sure,“ Mr. Geary said. ”Always
happy to help the police.“ ”I need to run,“ Spanner said to me.
”I'm going to send someone to get the camera. In the meantime, you
might want to close your curtains when you get undressed.“ Getting
caught undressing was the least of my problems. I was counting down
to dismemberment. I watched Spanner drive away, and I spotted the
news van parked at the end of the block. Brenda was hovering. I
couldn't blame her. I understood her problem, and I might have done
the same thing. She was trying to make a job for herself. Still, it
was annoying. I paced in the living room, watching for the tech to
come get the camera. To pass the time, I called Alma Rizzi's cell
phone. And Dom picked up. ”What?“ he said. ”Dom?“ ”Who's this?“
”It's Stephanie. Don't hang up! I have to talk to you about
Loretta.“ ”What about her?“ ”Your partner has amputated two of her
toes and sent them here. If I don't give him the garage location by
noon, he's going to cut her hand off.“ I could hear Dom suck in
some breath. ”Jesus,“ he said. ”Morelli isn't involved in this,“ I
told Dom. ”It's just me negotiating with your partner, and he's
desperate. He wants the money.“ ”I don't even care about the money
anymore,“ Dom said. ”I just want this over.

And I want to be the one to talk to him. I want to hear his
voice. I want to make sure he isn't going to hurt Loretta anymore.“
I didn't trust Dom to keep it together. He wasn't exactly smart,
and he wasn't emotionally stable. ”We can call him together,“ I
said. ”I can put him on speakerphone, so you can listen, but please
let me do the talking. I don't want this screwed up.“ ”Yeah. You're
right. I'd probably screw it up. I want to kill the bastard. I want
to rip his eyes out. I want to cut his balls off and shove them
down his throat.“ ”Probably you should do the anger management
course that was offered to you,“ I said to Dom. ”Fuck that. That
shit is for pussies. Give me ten minutes. I gotta get a car.“ I
disconnected Dom, and saw a crime scene van park in front of the
Gearys' house. The tech off-loaded a folding ladder, set it against
the house, and climbed to the roof. ”You guys stay here,“ I told
Mooner and Gary. ”I want to talk to the tech.“ I waited on the
sidewalk while the tech unbolted the camera and put it in a large
evidence bag. He climbed down and walked the camera to the van. I
had his age at late thirties to early forties. He was average
height and build. He had brown hair cut short, ears that would lift
him off the ground if they caught enough wind, and his eyes were
hidden behind Oakleys. He was wearing a wrinkled short-sleeved,
collared knit shirt and khakis that were bagged out and creased at
the crotch. I was guessing he had no wife, and his mother was
either dead or lived out of state. ”What happens to the camera
now?“ I asked him. ”We'll take it to the shop and have a look at
it.“ I felt a flash of heat pass through my entire body and my
heart jumped in my chest. Major adrenaline rush. It was the voice.
I looked down at his shoes. Jackpot. I was afraid to talk. I didn't
trust my voice. I smiled and nodded. ”Okay, then,“ I managed to
say. I backed away and walked stiff-legged across the street. I
slipped into Morelli's house and closed and locked the door. I
tried to call Morelli on my cell, but my hand was shaking so bad I
couldn't get the numbers right. I held my breath and tried again.
”Morelli here,“ he said. ”It's the crime lab tech,“ I told him.
”He's across the street. He just took the camera down, and I
recognized his voice and the shoes. He's the fourth partner.“ ”Are
you sure?“ ”Absolutely.“ Mostly. ”I'm on my way. Where are you?“
”In your house.“ ”Stay there. Lock the doors. You know where I keep
my extra gun?“ ”Yes.“ ”Get it.“ ”What's going on?“ Mooner wanted to
know. ”I think the crime lab tech might be Dom's fourth partner.
Stay in the house.

Morelli is on his way home.“ I ran upstairs, got Morelli's gun,
and returned to the living room. Mooner was standing guard at a
window with his potato bazooka. Gary was behind him with a basket
of potatoes. ”We're ready to defend the house,“ Mooner said.
”Okay,“ I said, ”but don't fire anything off unless I tell you to.“
Mooner and Gary saluted. I shoved Morelli's gun into the waistband
of my jeans at the small of my back, and I stood beside Mooner and
looked out the window. The gun was cold and hard and uncomfortable.
I popped the snap on my jeans, but it didn't help a lot. I removed
the gun and shoved it under a couch cushion for safekeeping. It was
a semiautomatic Glock, and I didn't actually know how to use it,
anyway. The crime lab tech stowed the ladder and was about to drive
off when Dom rolled to a stop in front of Morelli's house. Dom got
out and nodded at the tech. The tech got out of his van and crossed
to Dom. Crap! I didn't know what to do. I had no idea what was
being said. I didn't want to rush out and blunder into a perfectly
benign conversation, but I also didn't want Dom to disappear,
forever. ”Should we shoot them?“ Mooner asked. ”No!“ The tech was
talking, and Dom was nodding in agreement. Dom gave a quick glance
to Morelli's house, took his phone out of his pocket, and punched a
number in. Seconds later, my phone rang. ”I need the keys,“ Dom
said. ”That's not a good idea.“ ”It is a good idea.“ ”At least try
to stall him so I can set something up.“ ”For crissake,“ Dom said.
”Just bring me the keys. He gets the van with the money and I get
Loretta.“ ”Okay, I'll send the keys out, but I'm staying here.“
”Whatever,“ Dom said. If I was the partner, I'd want a hostage to
ensure my escape. And I'd make a better hostage than Loretta, since
the lack of toes had to slow her down. I supposed he could take
Dom, but I wasn't sure anyone would care. I retrieved the keys from
my purse, opened the front door, and pitched the keys into the
street. Dom scuttled over and scooped them up, and both men got
into the tech's van and drove off. I saw the van turn right at the
corner, and I sprinted to my car. Mooner and Gary ran with me and
jumped into the backseat. Mooner still had his bazooka and Gary had
his basket of potatoes. I got to the corner and looked right. They
were two blocks in front of me. ”Keep your eyes on the van,“ I told
Mooner and Gary. ”I don't want to lose them, but I can't get too
close.“ The van turned left, into the Burg. This was the logical
place for Dom to hide the money. Dom had friends there, and there
were lots of unused garages. I looked in my rearview mirror.
Brenda's film crew was a car length away. Could it get any worse? I
followed the tech van as it wove through the Burg. It turned into
an alley, and I hesitated. I would be clearly visible if I
followed. I took a chance and drove down a street running parallel.
I waited at the cross street, but the van didn't emerge. Five
minutes passed, and still no van. I parked in front of a small
corner deli, and we all got out. Brenda and the film crew did the
same. Mooner had his potato gun and Gary had his basket of
potatoes, and Stephanie had nothing, since the Glock was still
under the couch cushion. I told everyone to stay where they were,
out of sight, and not to go into the alley. There were garages on
both sides. Hard to tell from where I stood, but I was guessing
twelve to sixteen garages in all. The older garages, originally
built with the row houses, were singles. The newer garages were
two-car. I walked the alley, looking for open garage doors,
listening at closed doors. Halfway down the alley, I heard an
engine catch. A door to a two-car garage rolled up and a maroon
Econoline with Pennsylvania plates jumped out of the garage and
turned in my direction. The tech was driving. No sign of Dom. The
Econoline roared at me, and I dove between garages to avoid getting
hit. He missed me by inches and continued to race down the alley.
”It's him!“ I yelled. ”It's the fourth partner!“ ”No problemo,“
Mooner said. ”Raw russet,“ he told Gary. And phoonf! Direct hit to
the windshield. The van swerved, took out a parked car, ran into
the back of the deli, and exploded. Nine million dollars in
hundreds shot into the air and floated down, plus the contents of
the deli's frozen-food locker. ”Sweet,“ Mooner said. ”Are you
filming?“ Brenda yelled to her cameraman. ”Its raining money and
popsicles!“ And in that instant, Brenda got hit with a family-size
frozen pizza. Pepperoni, black olives. It whacked her in the face
and knocked her to her knees. ”Ulk,“ she said. Her eyes rolled into
the back of her head, and she went facedown. The cameraman grabbed
her feet, and the soundman grabbed her under the armpits, and they
carried her back to the news truck. The maroon Econoline was a
fireball. Sirens were screaming in the distance. People were
running from neighboring houses, scarfing up the money and frozen
fish sticks and disappearing back into their homes. Mooner was
running everywhere, stuffing hundred-dollar bills into his pants
and his shirt. I looked down the alley, and saw Dom jogging my way.
”Are you okay?“ I asked him. ”I'm better than okay. I'm fucking
fabulous. The sonov-abitch blew himself up.“ ”You were in the
garage a long time.“ ”The battery was dead,“ Dom said. ”We had to
give it a jump start.“ ”I thought the key disabled the bomb. Why
did it explode?“ Dom was grinning. ”I don't know. I'm guessing it
just went off when the van rammed into the deli. The asshole should
have moved the boxes of money to a different car before he took
off, but he was in a rush to get away Tell you the truth, I was
practically crapping in my pants, giving the van a jump. Allen was
the one who rigged the bomb, and between you and me, Allen wasn't
the sharpest tack on the board.“ ”Did you find out about Loretta?“
”She's in the basement of the lab guy's house. He lives two blocks
from Morelli. He said she's okay.“ I jogged back to the deli with
Dom and stuffed him into my car. Brenda was on her feet, with a big
Band-Aid across her nose and tissues stuffed up her nostrils, and
she was interviewing Mooner. Gary was rocked back on his heels,
smiling. His prophecy had come true. The only thing left was the
business about Brenda sitting on a toilet on Route 1, and I was
hoping I wouldn't be around for that one. I was moving the car so
the fire trucks could get better access and saw Morelli fly in with
his roof light flashing. I pulled alongside him. ”We're all okay,“
I said. ”The fourth partner was in the van with the
money.