“I can help with the tracking problem,” Ranger said, handing me a set of keys.
“What's this?”
Stephanie Plum 5 - High Five
Stephanie Plum 5 - High Five
Stephanie Plum 5 - High Five
10
“THIS IS TEMPTATION,” Ranger said, leaning against a new midnight-?black Porsche Boxster.
“Could you be more specific about the temptation? Like, what kind of temptation were you thinking about?”
“Temptation to broaden your horizons.”
I had a lot of unease over Ranger's definition of “broad horizons.” I suspected his horizons were a teensy bit closer to hell than I might want to travel. For starters, there was the car and the slight possibility that it wasn't entirely legitimate.
“Where do you get these cars?” I asked him. “You seem to have a never-?ending supply of new, expensive black cars.”
“I have a source.”
“This Porsche isn't stolen, is it?”
“Do you care?”
“Of course I care!”
“Then it isn't stolen,” Ranger said.
I shook my head. “It's a really cool car. And I appreciate your offer, but I can't afford a car like this.”
“You don't know the price yet,” Ranger said.
“Is it more than five dollars?”
“The car isn't for sale. It's a company car. You get the car if you continue to work with me. You're ruining my image in that Buick. Everyone who works with me drives black.”
“Well, hell,” I said, “I wouldn't want to ruin your image.”
Ranger just kept looking at me.
“Is this charity?” I asked him.
“Guess again.”
“I'm not selling my soul, am I?”
“I'm not in the soul-?buying business,” Ranger said. “The car's an investment. Part of the working relationship.”
“So what do I have to do in this working relationship?”
Ranger uncrossed his arms and pushed off from the car. “Jobs come up. Don't accept any that make you uncomfortable.”
“You aren't doing this just to amuse yourself, are you? To see what I'd be willing to do for an expensive car?”
“That would be somewhere in the middle of the list,” Ranger said. He looked at his watch. “I have a meeting. Drive the car. Think it over.”