“I went to see her today, but she wasn't home. Do you know where she is?”
“Nope,” Mary Alice said. “I guess sh
e's gone. That happens when you get divorced.”
“If Annie could go anywhere she wanted . . . where would she go?”
“Disney World.”
“Where else?”
“Her grandma's.”
“Where else?”
Mary Alice shrugged.
“How about her mom? Where would her mom want to go?”
Another shrug.
“Help me out here,” I said. “I'm trying to find Annie.”
“Annie is a horse, too,” Mary Alice said. “Annie is a brown horse, only thing, she can't gallop as fast as me.”
Grandma moved to the front door, driven there by Burg radar. A good Burg housewife never missed anything happening on the street. A good Burg housewife could pick up street sounds not ordinarily heard by the human ear.
“Look at this,” Grandma said, “Mabel's got company. Somebody I never saw before.”
My mother and I joined Grandma at the door.
“Fancy car,” my mother said.
It was a black Jaguar. Brand new. Not a splatter of mud or a speck of dust on it. A woman emerged from behind the wheel. She was dressed in black leather pants, high-heeled black leather boots, and a short form-fitting black leather jacket. I knew who she was. I'd run into her once before. She was the female equivalent of Ranger. My understanding was that, like Ranger, she did a variety of things including but not limited to bodyguarding, bounty hunting, and private investigating. Her name was Jeanne Ellen Burrows.
Stephanie Plum 8 - Hard Eight
4
“MABEL'S VISITOR LOOKS like Catwoman,” Grandma said. “Except she hasn't got pointy cat ears and whiskers.”
And the cat suit was by Donna Karan.
“I know her,” I said. “Her name is Jeanne Ellen Burrows, and she's probably connected to the child custody bond, somehow. I need to talk to her.”
“Me, too,” Grandma said.
“No. Not a good idea. Stay here. I'll be right back.”
Jeanne Ellen saw me approach and paused on the sidewalk. I extended my hand to her. “Stephanie Plum,” I said.
She had a firm handshake. “I remember.”
“I assume you've been hired by someone connected to the bond.”
“Steven Soder.”
“I've been hired by Mabel.”