“Maybe he’s asleep in an upstairs bedroom,” I said.
Ranger stepped out of the shadows and went to the front door. “Let’s find out.”
Joe’s mom answered on the second knock. She looked at Ranger and then at me standing by his side.
“We’re looking for Sunny,” Ranger said.
“He’s not here.”
I looked into the living room and saw Bella’s head snap up with a snort. Her raptor eyes focused on me, and she sprang off the couch and rushed over to us.
“You!” she said, pointing her finger at me. “You devil.”
“I thought we discussed this,” Joe’s mom said to Bella. “Stephanie is not the devil.”
“She come to get my nephew. She’s no good. And she’s stupid. She come too late. Sunny’s already gone. I spit on her.”
“We don’t spit on people,” Joe’s mom said to Bella. “And we especially don’t spit on people when they’re in my house.”
“How about the porch?” Bella asked her.
Joe’s mom looked like she was getting a migraine. “Are we done here?” she asked Ranger.
Ranger looked at me. “Would you like to search the house?”
“Not necessary,” I told him. “If Joe’s mom says Sunny isn’t here, then he isn’t here.”
We retreated to the car, and sat there for a moment.
“Any ideas?” I asked Ranger.
“Babe.”
“Any ideas about finding Sunny?”
“If he’s as frustrated as I am, he’ll be at Rita’s,” Ranger said.
Twenty minutes later we were parked across from Rita’s house. Lights were on. Shades were drawn. No car in the driveway.
“Let’s talk to her,” Ranger said, getting out of the SUV.
I scrambled to catch up to him. “Just like that? No snooping first?”
“If I’m going to sneak around in the bushes with you, I’m not wasting time looking in Rita Raguzzi’s windows.”
“Okay then. Good to know. Snooping first is tedious anyway. Let’s just knock on her door.”
Ranger rapped a couple times and Rita answered. She looked at me, and she looked at Ranger. She did a slow whole-body scan of Ranger, head to toe, and she smiled.
“At least you came with a present this time,” she said to me.
“We’re looking for Sunny.”
“He’s not here, but tall, dark, and handsome is welcome to come in for a drink.”
“Tall, dark, and handsome is going to pass on that offer,” I told her, “but keep me in mind if Sunny drops dead in your bed and you want to get rid of him.”
We left Rita and headed out of her neighborhood.
“Is it likely Sunny will drop dead in Rita’s bed?” Ranger asked.
“He has a bad heart.”
I was out of ideas for finding Sunny, so I had Ranger take me home. He walked me to my door, and waited while I unlocked it.
“Would you like to come in?” I asked him.
“Is this invitation out of passion or pity?”
“Do you care?”
Ranger smiled. “No.”
The truth is, I felt inviting him in was the least I could do after declining Rita’s invitation on his behalf. I mean I’d be a really terrible person if I didn’t compensate him for that, right? At least give him a glass of wine. Tell him how appreciative I was for all he did for me.
I hung my bag on the hook in the foyer and went into the kitchen.
“Would you like a glass of wine?” I asked him.
“No.”
“Pretzels? I went food shopping. I have crackers and cheese.”
He shook his head, closed in on me, and I felt the first stab of panic.
“Um,” I said.
Ranger pulled back and looked at me. “Really?”
I sucked in some air. “I can’t do this. I’m almost engaged.”
And the hideous part was that I really wanted to do it. I wanted to do it bad.
He brushed a kiss across my lips. “You know where to find me. In the meantime you can drive my car.”
“The 911 Turbo?”
“My fleet car. I’ll have one dropped off.”
EIGHTEEN
I WENT TO nine o’clock mass. The last time I’d gone to mass was Easter, and my mother had made me go. I heard people gasp when I walked into the church. I’m sure they were wondering what horrible thing I’d done that had driven me to attend mass. Fortunately or unfortunately, however you were looking at it, the horrible thing was all in my mind. I’d thrashed around all night in a sweat over Ranger. On the one hand I felt good that I’d done right by Morelli and sent Ranger home. It was the other hand that was giving me problems. The other hand wanted to wrap itself around Ranger’s most perfect body part and not let go.