“Would you like a robe?”
“Yes. Thank you. That would be great. I got so excited about the mouse that I just ran out of my apartment.”
“Understandable,” she said.
She went to her bedroom and returned with a pink robe. “This should do,” she said. “You wouldn’t want the exterminator to get the wrong idea.”
I shrugged into the robe and padded barefoot down the stairs to the second floor. Ranger’s men were standing at my open door. I knew one of them. His name was Calvin, and he was fairly new. I didn’t know the other.
“Ranger is on his way,” Calvin said. “Would you like us to clear your apartment of the . . . clown?”
I peeked into my apartment. No clown in sight.
“The clown has probably left,” I said, “but it would be great if you’d take a look around.”
They both drew their sidearms and moved into my apartment. I followed them in and checked to make sure Rex was unharmed. I didn’t care what else happened to my apartment as long as Rex was okay.
They moved through the dining area, the living room, the bedroom, and the bath. It didn’t take long.
“We didn’t see any clowns,” Calvin said, coming back to the kitchen. “Your bedroom window was open, and I noticed you have a fire escape balcony and ladder. The clown might have left through the window.”
“As long as it’s gone,” I said. “I appreciate that you got here so quickly. The clown was scary.”
“We’ll wait outside your door until Ranger gets here,” Calvin said. “If the clown returns just yell. And for what it’s worth, I’m not crazy about clowns either.”
I left the door open and started coffee brewing. The panic was beginning to leave me, but I was shaky from adrenaline letdown. I put my hands to the counter and told myself to breathe. You’re good, I thought. You’re not dead or hurt or anything. Ranger will be here soon, and he’ll take you out to breakfast. Think about that. Pancakes and bacon. Hash browns. Scrambled eggs. Real maple syrup on the pancakes. I was still shaking. Adrenaline, I told myself. It’ll burn off. Hang on.
Rex came out of his can and looked at me, whiskers twitching.
“I’m okay,” I said. “I’m fine.”
Rex thought about it and went back into his can.
Animals have instincts, I thought. They know when people are okay. Rex decided I was okay, so I must be okay.
I heard the guys in the hall shuffle around, and I knew Ranger was there. Not that I needed him, because I was okay, but still it would be nice to see him.
He came into the apartment and closed the door behind him, and I burst into tears.
“Babe,” he said.
He wrapped me in his arms, put his face against mine, and kissed my neck. I was sobbing and sniffling and felt like an idiot.
“It’s the adrenaline,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“Just breathe. It’s okay now. You aren’t hurt, right?”
“Right.”
“My men tell me your apartment is clean.”
“Right.”
His hand was on my wrist, and I realized he was taking my pulse.
“How am I doing?” I asked him.
“You’ll live. I wish I could get your heartbeat up this high.”
I relaxed into him. “Morelli left at five, and I fell back to sleep. I’m not sure why I woke up. I guess I sensed something was wrong. I heard the rustle of cloth and a footstep, and I knew someone was in my room and it wasn’t you or Morelli. He came at me and it’s all a jumble after that. He had a knife. I hit him in the face with the lamp on the nightstand. He was close. He had his hands on my neck, and I could see that it was the clown. I could smell him. I could feel his breath on my face. I kicked out and was able to get away and run. I ran up to Mrs. Delgado.”
“She’s the one with the cat,” Ranger said.
“Yes. I can’t believe you remember that.”
He had me cuddled close, and he felt warm and strong and safe.
“I’m okay,” I said. “I was scared, but I feel better now.”
“Too bad. I like this.”
“Me too, but my nose is running. I need a tissue.”
I got a tissue and followed Ranger into the bedroom.
“I don’t see a knife,” Ranger said. “What kind of knife did he have?”
“It was big. The sort of knife you’d use to stab someone.”
He went to the window and looked out. “I assume this is how he left.”
“I wasn’t here at the time, but that makes sense. The window was closed and locked when I went to bed.”
Ranger closed and locked the window again. “Do you have any idea who was in the clown suit?”
“No. It was dark, and everything happened fast. He didn’t say anything.”
Ranger picked my lamp up from the floor, set it on my nightstand, and plugged it in. It had a smear of blood on it. I soaked a paper towel with rubbing alcohol and wiped the blood off.
“New bathrobe?” Ranger asked.
I looked down at myself. “It belongs to Mrs. Delgado. I left my apartment in a rush.”
“We need to talk.”
“Can we talk over breakfast? When I was scared I thought about breakfast.”
“That’s what you think about when you’re scared?”
“It was a distraction. Pancakes, eggs, hash browns.”
Ranger smiled. I’d amused him again.
He dismissed his men, and I took a fast shower. I got dressed in my usual uniform of jeans and a stretchy, girly T-shirt. I was at my front door, ready to leave my apartment, and Ranger stopped me.
“What have you forgotten?” he asked.
I looked at myself. Shoes, check. Jeans, check. Shirt, check. Underwear, check. Messenger bag on my shoulder, check. Keys, cuffs, pepper spray, hairbrush, hairspray, gum, mints, extra hair scrunchy, lipstick, lip balm, mascara in my messenger bag, check.
“I don’t know,” I said. “What have I forgotten?”
“Your gun. Someone just broke into your apartment and tried to kill you. It might be a good idea to carry a gun.”
“I don’t like guns.”
“Do you like dead?”
“No, I don’t like that either.”
Ranger went to my brown bear cookie jar and retrieved the small semiautomatic he’d given me.
“Do you have anything to put in this?”
“You mean like bullets? No. I keep meaning to buy some.”
He dropped the gun into my messenger bag, we stepped out of my apartment, and he watched me lock my door.
“Here’s a problem,” he said. “You have three locks plus a slide bolt on the inside of your door. It keeps you relatively secure. From this side of the door you have just one lock. It’s a good bump-proof lock, but it’s still only one lock, and someone skilled can open it. I’m guessing that when Morelli left you didn’t follow him to the door to secure all your locks.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I didn’t do that.”
“When you enter your apartment you need to clear it the same way you would clear a house when you’re looking for an FTA. When you’re inside you need to use all the locks on your door. And you need to be vigilant when you’re out. You also have the option of moving into Rangeman until we get this sorted out.”
Moving in with Ranger was by far the safest way to go. Unfortunately it was also the most dangerous, because it was impossible not to fall in love with Ranger’s silky smooth 1,000-thread-count freshly ironed sheets, his perfectly made, delicious organic breakfast delivered to his kitchen by the breakfast fairy, his Bulgari shower gel and fluffy white towels. And then there was Ranger. I almost had an orgasm thinking about it. The problem with all that falling in love was that eventually it had to come to an end, and the end would be painful.
TWENTY-SEVEN
WE WENT TO the diner in Hamilton Township for breakfast. I ordered pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash browns, scrambled eggs, rice pudding, and coffee. Ranger had black coffee.
I drenched my pancakes in butter and syrup and took some for a test-drive. “Yum!”
“It looks like you’ve recovered from your fright.”