there’s the hole in the wall. That’s actually covered under another policy.”
“Probably you don’t get a lot of claims for damage done by handheld rockets.”
“Not in this neighborhood. Mostly those claims are in the projects and in the area around Stark Street.”
The adjuster left, and Dillan stayed behind.
“We’re doing the same carpet and paint color as last time, right?” Dillan asked.
“Right.”
“That makes it easy. I should have you all put back together in a week, depending on the carpet guy, the masons, carpenters, drywallers, and painters.”
Dillan left, and Briggs went from the bedroom to the kitchen, looking in the refrigerator and the cupboards.
“There’s even mustard in the refrigerator,” he said. “And your dishes look okay. You could move back in.”
“It’s easier for me to live with Morelli,” I said. “I probably need to get a new mattress, and I’d rather not live with the paint smell.” Not to mention that Morelli has a toaster, his mom fills his refrigerator with lasagna and ricotta pie, and he is available for snuggling. Snuggling with Morelli is not to be underestimated.
“I don’t mind paint smell,” Briggs said. “I could live here until you want to come back.”
This was much better than having Briggs live with Morelli and me. I was running the risk that eventually I’d have to eject Briggs at gunpoint, but I’d deal with that later.
“Sure,” I said. “But you have to leave when the carpet goes in.”
“Yeah, I know. Boy, this will be great. This is a terrific apartment.”
“What’s going on with your apartment?”
“They’re saying six months to rewire and rebuild. So I was let out of my lease. There was also some mention of me being an undesirable tenant, being that people wanted to blow me up.”
“Personally, if I was walking in your shoes, I’d take my chances with the giant bugs and gators in Florida.”
“My life will be all straightened out as soon as you find out who’s trying to kill me.”
“That would be a job for a cop. I was looking for Poletti because he skipped out on his bond.”
“But you’re so good at this. I bet you could find the creep.”
“Even if I wanted to help you, I have no idea where to start looking.”
“How about talking to Buster? He’s related to Jimmy Poletti. Maybe they were working together to off me. And Buster was involved in the Mexican business, so he might think I know something.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do you?”
“What?”
“Do you know something about Buster that would incriminate him?”
“No more than everyone else does. Everyone knew he was in Mexico. And now that it’s come out about the girls, you could assume Buster was part of that. I guess I know more about the money.”
“What about the money?”
“There was a lot of it.”
“In Mexico?”
“Yeah,” Briggs said. “But I don’t know exactly where. Not exactly, only approximately.”
“Good grief.”
“So how about it? Maybe you could go talk to Buster.”
“I can’t just go talk to Buster. What would I say?”
“You could ask him if he’s trying to kill me. And then you could tell him to cut it out or else.”
I left Briggs in my apartment and drove back to the bail bonds office.
“Where’s your little buddy?” Lula asked.
“I left him in my apartment. It’s sort of habitable.”
“Aren’t you afraid someone’s going to shoot another rocket through your wall if Briggs is living there?”
“Yes, but it was the best of all the alternatives.”
“You better hope the police find this rocket shooter guy,” Lula said.
I hiked my messenger bag higher on my shoulder. “I’m going to talk to Buster,” I said.
“I’ll go with you,” Lula said. “Maybe I’ll get a look at the killer Chihuahuas. And besides, I want to ride in Ranger’s Porsche.”
Ordinarily you wouldn’t park a decent car on Stark Street, but Ranger’s car was so expensive that it was protected against theft or vandalism. It would be thought that Ranger’s Porsche belonged to either a high-level drug dealer or someone making a major drug investment. And the locals didn’t want to mess with either of those kinds of people. The locals knew to protect the marketplace. Not to mention the Porsche had an alarm system that could be heard for miles. I found a parking place on Stark, and Lula and I marched over to Buster’s building and rang the buzzer on his intercom.
“Talk to me,” Buster yelled.
“It’s Stephanie Plum,” I said. “I came to show you my breasts.”
“Come on up.” And he buzzed the door open.
“That works good,” Lula said. “That’s better