Notorious Nineteen

it around because Vinnie thinks it encourages bad behavior and doesn’t want it in the office.”
    Ranger’s attention turned to me. “How about you? Is it encouraging bad behavior in you ?”
    “It might be.”
    Ranger’s mouth tipped into a smile.
    “That’s an evil smile,” I said to him.
    “You’re at your best when you’re a little bad, babe.”
    I felt a rush of heat remembering times spent with Ranger. “A distant memory,” I said, trying to sound aloof but pretty sure I wasn’t pulling it off. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
    “Kinsey’s warehouse was firebombed last night.”
    “I read about it in the paper. The article said one of your men was burned.”
    “He was inside, checking on an alarm. Whoever fired off the rocket knew he was in there. The Rangeman SUV was parked at the door.”
    “Is your man going to be okay?”
    “Yes. It could have been worse. Second-degree burns on his arms. The other burns were superficial.”
    “Do you have any idea yet who’s doing this?”
    “No. The code was secret but it’s been years since the unit was disbanded. Someone might have had too much to drink and talked too much. Someone might have shared his life story with a woman and not thought anything of it. My instincts tell me one of the men is involved, but it’s not a given fact.”
    “It’s someone clever,” I said. “This person knew you were going to be at the dinner. And they knew when your man would be inside the warehouse. Could it be someone inside Rangeman?”
    “It’s possible. More likely it’s someone who knows how to listen or hack into a system. Everyone in my unit had access to that technology.”
    “Could someone hack into your system?”
    “Not easily.” Ranger swung into my apartment building lot and parked next to the Buick. “Rehearsal and dinner is seven o’clock on Friday. The wedding is at four on Saturday. You need to be careful. It’s hard for anyone to get past my security, so there’s a possibility this person will go after people close to me who are more vulnerable.”
    I wrestled Tiki out of the Porsche. “Understood. Thanks for the ride.”
    Ranger leaned across the seat and snagged my wrist. “I’m giving you another opportunity to walk away from this.”
    “I can’t do that. I can’t walk away.”
    I took Tiki to my apartment and set him on the kitchen counter next to Rex. I gave Rex fresh water and hamster food, added a chunk of carrot, and told him I loved him just in case he was feeling neglected.
    I took a shower, dressed in clean clothes, and headed out with Tiki. Lula was already at the bonds office when I arrived.
    “What happened to your arm?” she asked.
    “Freak accident. Nothing serious.”
    “You look annoyed,” Lula said. “Is Tiki getting you into trouble?”
    “No. Tiki’s fine. It’s Cubbin. The disappearing thing is gnawing at me. It’s not like he was walking in the woods and disappeared. The guy was in a hospital. There were video cameras. There was limited access. Two nurses were on duty.”
    “How about if one of the nurses sneaked him out,” Lula said.
    “I wouldn’t be surprised. I talked to Norma Kruger, and she didn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling. Problem is, even if Kruger helped him, it doesn’t explain how Cubbin got off the surgical floor, or why he wasn’t picked up on camera. Briggs and the police looked at the tapes.”
    “Kruger could be a magician, and she could have given Cubbin the Cloak of Invisibility,” Lula said. “Harry Potter had one of those. I saw it in the movies.”
    “That would be a long shot,” I said to Lula.
    “Even so, we could go snoop on her,” Lula said.
    Connie looked up from her computer. “And you should try Dottie Luchek again. It’s not a high bond but it would be good to clear it.” Her attention shifted to the front window. “It’s Logan again, trying to get into your Buick.”
    Connie grabbed a shotgun from the cabinet behind her. Lula whipped out her Glock. And we all ran to the door. Logan turned, went wide-eyed, and took off.
    Lula shoved her Glock into the waistband of her spandex skirt. “What we should do is set Tiki out on the sidewalk and give Stephanie a big butterfly net.”
    I couldn’t get excited about the butterfly net, but setting a trap for Logan wasn’t a bad idea. I’d think about it after I got Cubbin out of my head.
    “I’m going to do a drive-by on Nurse Norma,” I said to Lula.
    “I’m with you,” Lula