Our eyes locked in stunned disbelief that he'd suggested such a thing.
'Okay, maybe not a housewife,' Morelli said.
I sensed a slur on my ability to housewife. 'I could be a housewife if I wanted. I'd be a good one, too.'
'Sure you would,' Morelli said. 'Eventually. Maybe.'
'It's just that I was surprised because marriage is usually a prerequisite to being a housewife.'
'Yeah,' Morelli said. 'Isn't th
at a frightening thought?'
Lula and Connie had their noses pressed against the front window when I got out of Ranger's Cayenne.
'Where's the Turbo? What happened to the Turbo?' Lula wanted to know. 'You didn't destroy the Turbo, did you?'
I gave Connie the body receipt. The Turbo is fine. I swapped it out after I dropped Shoshanna at the police station. It was good for luring Shoshanna out of her house, but it didn't suit my purposes for this afternoon. I thought we'd go looking for Pancek again, and we need a back seat in case we get lucky.'
I was standing with my back to the door, and I saw Connie's eyes go wide.
'Be still my heart,' Lula said, looking past me, through the window to the sidewalk.
I figured they were looking at either Johnny Depp or Ranger.
My money was on Ranger.
The door opened, and I glanced over my shoulder, just in case, not wanting to miss Johnny Depp. But then not entirely disappointed when it turned out to be Ranger.
He crossed the room and stood close behind me, his hand at my back, heating the skin beneath his touch.
'Tank said you wanted me to stop by,' he said to Connie.
Connie took the Jamil Rodriguez file from her desktop. 'I originally gave this to Stephanie, but she's got a lot on her plate right now.'
Ranger took the file and flipped through it. 'I know this guy. The thumb belongs to Hector Santinni. Santinni stiffed Rodriguez on a drug sale, so Rodriguez chopped Santinni's thumb off and put it in a jar of formaldehyde. Rodriguez carries the thumb everywhere.
Thinks the thumb gives him an edge.'
'So much for the edge,' Connie said. The police have the thumb.'
'A lot more where that came from,' Ranger said. His hand moved to the base of my neck. Tour call, Babe,' he said to me. 'Do you want him?'
'Is he a gang guy?'
'No. He's an independent nut case.'
`I'll keep him.1
'He's probably looking for a new thumb,' Ranger said. 'So be careful. Most afternoons you can find him at the bar on the corner of Third and Laramie.'
His fingertips trailed the length of my spine, triggering feelings
I was determined to ignore. And he was gone.
'Damn,' Lula said, doing thumbs up, eyes fixed on the thumbs.
'I don't know if I want to go after a guy who's going big game hunting for a thumb. I'm real attached to mine.'