Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30)(58)

“I guess that’ll be okay,” Nutsy said. “If I yell, you’re going to come rescue me, right?”

“Right,” Ranger said.

Ranger cut across town and pulled into the Rangeman garage. We met Tank, Ranger’s second in command, on the fifth floor. Tank served in Special Forces with Ranger, and he lives up to his name.

Ranger handed the Christmas box over to Tank. “Give this to Kevin Mealy for an itemized assessment and send Sal to my office with a wire. I want the Cobalt N317.”

“Do you want it to feed into your cell phone?”

“Yes.”

We followed Ranger across the room to the cafeteria. Nutsy and I got coffee, Ranger and Bob got water. Sal was waiting with the wire when we got to Ranger’s office.

“This is high-tech but simple,” Ranger said to Nutsy. “It’s a wireless wire. It’s about the size of a quarter with a sticky pad on the back. We’ll put it on your chest under your shirt. If you get nervous and sweat, it should still stick to you. I’ll be able to hear everything that’s going on, and if things go south, I’ll step in.”

“Should I try to get him to incriminate himself?” Nutsy asked.

“No,” Ranger said. “It wouldn’t hold up in court. This is just for your safety.”

I knew this wasn’t true. That is, the part about it not being legal evidence was true, but the part about Nutsy’s safety was only partly true. Ranger wanted to hear how Plover responded to the threat. Ranger had doubts about Nutsy’s version of the crime.

On the way out Nutsy stopped and looked in at the control room. “This is unreal,” he said. “This is Tom Cruise stuff. I could set a book here and sell it to the movies.”

Ranger cut his eyes to him. “No.”

Plover’s store was a short distance from Rangeman. We parked half a block away and Bob and Ranger stayed behind. After Nutsy and I were in the store, Ranger and Bob would move a little closer. The Cobalt N317 was sexy but it didn’t have great range.

Nutsy walked beside me, looking nervous.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. “This isn’t going to be a big deal. Plover is going to behave.”

“It’s not Plover who bothers me. It’s Ranger. He’s even scarier than I imagined. And his office building is a fortress. He probably has one of those searchlights on his roof like Batman.”

“The searchlight was on the roof of the Gotham City Police Department. It was used to summon Batman.”

“Whatever,” Nutsy said. He suddenly gasped and looked down at his chest. “He can hear me, can’t he! Crap!”

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone thinks he’s scary.”

“Except you.”

“He’s just scary on the outside. Inside he’s a big gooey marshmallow.”

I struggled not to laugh when I said it. I knew Ranger was listening and would be horrified. And then the horror would turn to amusement, and he’d plan his revenge.

It was still early for jewelry shopping and there were no customers in the store when Nutsy and I entered. The security guard was standing just inside the door. He nodded and smiled. Plover was at his desk. He looked up and sucked in some air.

“It wasn’t part of the deal, but I thought I’d bring Andy with me,” I said to Plover. “Actually, it was his idea. He wanted to talk to you.”

“Arrest him!” Plover said to his security.

“Whoa, wait a minute,” I said. “He’s unarmed, and he hasn’t committed a crime.”

“He stole my diamonds,” Plover said.

“That’s your opinion. The police investigated and didn’t charge him. Your security guard has no grounds for action. I found him for you. That was the extent of our arrangement. I’d like my finder’s fee.”

“Invoice me and I’ll mail it to you.”

“That doesn’t work for me,” I said. “I want it now. Cash.”

Plover went to his cash register, counted out a small stack of bills, and handed it to me.

“Andy would like to talk to you,” I said to Plover. “I’ll wait outside. I brought him here, and I need to take him to his vehicle when you’re done talking.”

I left the store and stood just clear of the door. Ranger and Bob were tucked into the alleyway.

After five minutes the door opened and Nutsy walked out. He looked at me and rolled his eyes.

“We’re getting picked up in front of the Cake Bakery two blocks from here,” I said to him. “Let’s go for a stroll.”

“I can’t believe all this happened because I wrote a story,” he said. “My life made more sense when I was doing ridiculous stunts. Or being a clown.”

“How did it go with Plover?”

“Great. He grabbed me and got right up in my face and said he would kill me and my parents and my grandmother and all my mother’s cats. Good thing I was prepared for that. I got to use the lines about it making me angry and that I wasn’t in the mood to negotiate. And his comeback was that there was no negotiation. So, I said, ‘Does that mean you don’t want your fake jewelry back? Because right now it’s with a friend in a box addressed to your insurance company.’ And then he said he didn’t have two hundred thousand dollars. So, I said, ‘How about a hundred thousand dollars?’ And he thought about it for a beat and said he would need a day to come up with the money. So, I’m supposed to call him tomorrow at noon.”