neighborhood? Can't you find a decent place to have lunch? What were you thinking?”
“I bet there's more to it than that,” Grandma said. “I bet you were after a bad guy. Were you packin' heat?”
“No. I wasn't armed. I was just having lunch.”
“You aren't giving me a lot to work with here,” Grandma said.
Kloughn turned to Morelli. “Were you there?”
“Yep.”
“Boy, it must be something to be a cop. You get to do all lands of cool stuff. And you're always in the middle of everything. Right there where the action is.”
Joe forked off a piece of lasagna.
“So what do you think about Stephanie being there? I mean, she was sitting right across from this guy, right? How far away? Two feet? Three feet?”
Morelli sent me a sideways glance and then looked back at Kloughn. “Three feet.”
“And you're not freaked? If it was me, I'd be freaked. But hey, I guess that's the way it is with cops and bounty hunters. Always in the middle of the shooting.”
“I'm never in the middle of the shooting,” Joe said. “I'm plainclothes. I investigate. The only time my life is in danger is when I'm with Stephanie.”
“How about last week?” Grandma asked. “I heard from Loretta Beeber that you were almost killed in some big shoot-out. Loretta said you had to jump out of Terry Gilman s second-story bedroom window.”
I swiveled in my seat and faced Joe and he froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. There'd been rumors about Joe and Terry Gilman all through high school. Not that a rumor linking Morelli to a woman was unusual. But Gilman was different. She was a cool blonde with ties to the Mob and an ongoing relationship with Morelli. Morelli swore the relationship was professional and I believed him. That isn't to say that I liked it. It bore a disturbing parallel to my relationship with Ranger. And I knew that as hard as I tried to ignore the chemistry between Ranger and me, it still simmered below the surface.
I narrowed my eyes just a tiny bit and leaned forward, invading Morelli's space. “You jumped out of Terry Gilman's window?”
“I told you.”
“You didn't tell me. I would have remembered.”
“It was the day you wanted to go out for pizza and I said I had to work.”
“And?”
“And that was it. I told you I had to work. Can we discuss this later?”
“I wouldn't put up with that,” Valerie said, working the lasagna around in her mouth, grabbing a meat-and-cheese roll-up from the antipasto tray. “I ever get married again, I want full disclosure. I don't want any of this 'I have to work, honey' baloney. I want all the answers up front, in detail. You don't keep your eyes open and next thing your husband s in the coat closet with the baby-sitter.”
Unfortunately, Valerie was speaking from firsthand experience.
“I've never jumped out of a window,” Kloughn said. “I thought people just did that in the movies. You're the first person I've ever met who jumped out of a window,” he said to Morelli. “And a bedroom window, too. Did you have your clothes on?”
“Yeah,” Morelli said. “I had my clothes on.”
“How about your shoes? Did you have your shoes on?”
“Yes. I had my shoes on.”
I almost felt sorry for Morelli. He was making a major effort not to lose his temper. A younger Morelli would have broken a chair over Kloughn's head.
“I heard Terry didn't hardly have anything on,” Grandma said. “Loretta's sister lives right across from Terry Gilman and she said she saw the whole thing and Terry was wearing a flimsy little nightie. Loretta's sister said even from across the street you could see right through the nightie and she thinks Terry got a boob job because Terry's boobs were perfect. Loretta's sister said there was a big to-do with the police showing up on account of all the shooting.”
I tried to control my eyebrows from jumping halfway up my forehead. “Nightie? Shooting?”
“Loretta's sister was the one who called the police,” Joe said.
“I bet there's more to it than that,” Grandma said. “I bet you were after a bad guy. Were you packin' heat?”
“No. I wasn't armed. I was just having lunch.”
“You aren't giving me a lot to work with here,” Grandma said.
Kloughn turned to Morelli. “Were you there?”
“Yep.”
“Boy, it must be something to be a cop. You get to do all lands of cool stuff. And you're always in the middle of everything. Right there where the action is.”
Joe forked off a piece of lasagna.
“So what do you think about Stephanie being there? I mean, she was sitting right across from this guy, right? How far away? Two feet? Three feet?”
Morelli sent me a sideways glance and then looked back at Kloughn. “Three feet.”
“And you're not freaked? If it was me, I'd be freaked. But hey, I guess that's the way it is with cops and bounty hunters. Always in the middle of the shooting.”
“I'm never in the middle of the shooting,” Joe said. “I'm plainclothes. I investigate. The only time my life is in danger is when I'm with Stephanie.”
“How about last week?” Grandma asked. “I heard from Loretta Beeber that you were almost killed in some big shoot-out. Loretta said you had to jump out of Terry Gilman s second-story bedroom window.”
I swiveled in my seat and faced Joe and he froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. There'd been rumors about Joe and Terry Gilman all through high school. Not that a rumor linking Morelli to a woman was unusual. But Gilman was different. She was a cool blonde with ties to the Mob and an ongoing relationship with Morelli. Morelli swore the relationship was professional and I believed him. That isn't to say that I liked it. It bore a disturbing parallel to my relationship with Ranger. And I knew that as hard as I tried to ignore the chemistry between Ranger and me, it still simmered below the surface.
I narrowed my eyes just a tiny bit and leaned forward, invading Morelli's space. “You jumped out of Terry Gilman's window?”
“I told you.”
“You didn't tell me. I would have remembered.”
“It was the day you wanted to go out for pizza and I said I had to work.”
“And?”
“And that was it. I told you I had to work. Can we discuss this later?”
“I wouldn't put up with that,” Valerie said, working the lasagna around in her mouth, grabbing a meat-and-cheese roll-up from the antipasto tray. “I ever get married again, I want full disclosure. I don't want any of this 'I have to work, honey' baloney. I want all the answers up front, in detail. You don't keep your eyes open and next thing your husband s in the coat closet with the baby-sitter.”
Unfortunately, Valerie was speaking from firsthand experience.
“I've never jumped out of a window,” Kloughn said. “I thought people just did that in the movies. You're the first person I've ever met who jumped out of a window,” he said to Morelli. “And a bedroom window, too. Did you have your clothes on?”
“Yeah,” Morelli said. “I had my clothes on.”
“How about your shoes? Did you have your shoes on?”
“Yes. I had my shoes on.”
I almost felt sorry for Morelli. He was making a major effort not to lose his temper. A younger Morelli would have broken a chair over Kloughn's head.
“I heard Terry didn't hardly have anything on,” Grandma said. “Loretta's sister lives right across from Terry Gilman and she said she saw the whole thing and Terry was wearing a flimsy little nightie. Loretta's sister said even from across the street you could see right through the nightie and she thinks Terry got a boob job because Terry's boobs were perfect. Loretta's sister said there was a big to-do with the police showing up on account of all the shooting.”
I tried to control my eyebrows from jumping halfway up my forehead. “Nightie? Shooting?”
“Loretta's sister was the one who called the police,” Joe said.
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