Junkman had been one of those run over, his feet sticking out from under the bus like the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz. The rest of the Slayers had scattered like cockroaches when the light goes on.
"F-F-F-Fudge," Sally said. "Freaking fucking fudge."
"Guess you were scared, hunh?"
"Mother freaking fucking fudge," he said. "I almost pissed myself."
I was surprisingly calm. My life had taken on a feature film quality. I was living Die Hard in Trenton. And Bruce Willis was in drag. And I wasn't dead. I wasn't raped. I was almost completely dressed. I was beyond calm. I was euphoric. The anger was gone.
Sirens and lights were flashing in the distance. Lots of headlights. It looked like everything but the Marines were on their way to the playground.
There were a bunch of dropped guns on the blacktop. I kicked them around to make sure all of the guys Sally'd nailed had a gun by him, not within reach, but close enough to believe they'd first drawn on Sally.
Two heads popped out of the bus door. The rest of the band.
"Holy shit," one guy said. And they both retreated back into the bus and closed the door.
"We were taking a break out back, and I saw them grab you," Sally said. "I couldn't get across the parking lot fast enough to stop them, so I ran and got the bus. By the time I got it started up and out of the lot you were gone, but I got to thinking about this spot. I drive by here all the time on my route, and the kids talk about it, and how this is where the beatings and killings happen."
The first car to arrive was a Trenton PD blue-and-white. It slid to a stop behind the bus and Robin Russell got out, gun drawn, eyes wide. "Holy Toledo," she said.
"I called everyone I could think of while I was driving," Sally said. "Including the fire department."
No shit. I was going to have a seizure from the flashing lights.
Ranger pulled to a stop behind Russell's blue-and-white, and Morelli was behind Ranger. Morelli had his portable Kojak light, flashing red, stuck to the roof of his SUV. I knew he had to have flown through town to get here this fast.
Morelli and Ranger hit the ground running. They slowed when they saw Sally and me standing in the middle of the massacre, the Uzi dangling from Sally's trigger finger.
I smiled at Morelli and Ranger and gave them a small wave.
"My heroes," I said to Sally. "Upstaged by a guy in a red dress and heels."
"Freakin' humbling," Sally said.
Robin Russell was already securing the crime scene with tape. Ranger and Morelli slipped under the tape and picked their way around the bodies.
"Hi," I said to them. "What's up?"
"Not a lot," Morelli said. "What's up with you?"
"Same old, same old."
"Yeah, I can see that," Morelli said.
"You remember Sally Sweet," I said.
Ranger and Sally shook hands. And Joe and Sally shook hands.
"Sally mowed all these Slayers," I said.
"I made sort of a mess," Sally said. "I didn't mean to run over them like this. I tried to stop, but the brakes aren't what they used to be on old Betsy. And it's friggin' hard to, you know, brake in heels. But what the hell, it turned out okay, right? All's well that ends well."
Morelli and Ranger were both trying hard not to smile too wide.
"There's a nice reward being offered on Junkman," Morelli said to Sally. "Ten big ones."
Ranger looked at the gun Sally was holding. "Do you always carry an Uzi?"
"I keep it in the bus," Sally said. "Gotta protect the little dudes. I tried an AK-47, but it wouldn't fit under my seat. I like the Uzi better, anyway. It looks better with the dress. The AK seems too casual to me."
"It's important to accessorize properly," I said.
"Fudgin' A," Sally said.
Table of Contents
ONE The way I see it, life is a jelly doughnut. You don't really know what it's about until you b
TWO I found my mom at the kitchen sink, peeling potatoes. My sister Valerie was in the kitchen, t
THREE "How can he be a girl sometimes?" Mary Alice wanted to know. Mary Alice is in third grade
FOUR I drove two blocks up Broad and pulled into a Subway shop. "This is a good place to eat lun
FIVE I tightened my robe and peeked around Morelli. There was graffiti on the sidewalk and graffi
SIX I reached the police station and sure enough the yellow line kept going. I was moving back to
SEVEN Esther Hamish's rental was a lot like my parents' house. Living room, dining room, kitchen
EIGHT I opened my eyes and had a moment of panicky confusion. The room was dark and felt unfamili
NINE Lula and I were in a neighborhood that looked a lot like parts of the Burg. The homes were m
TEN Anton Ward's girlfriend, Lauralene Taylor, lived at home with her mother on Hancock Street. I
ELEVEN It was close to noon when I cruised into the Burg. Sally's bus was parked in front of my p
TWELVE The back door to Vinnie's beach bungalow opened to the kitchen. The floor was yellow-and-w
THIRTEEN It was ten o'clock at night, and I was bone tired. I'd been cold and wet all day I had j
FOURTEEN I put the Cayenne in gear and raced off, doubling back to Hamilton. I took the turn to t
FIFTEEN I solved the Ella problem by helping her make the bed and straighten the apartment. She w
SIXTEEN I remember seeing a nature show on television where a ground squirrel was hiding in an un
Plum 10 - Ten Big Ones Page 24