'You are such a cop.'

'Tell me about it.'

I disconnected and left the mall. It was almost six, so I headed for Lula's house. I ate the rest of the doughnuts while I sat in traffic on Route 1. Lula was outside, sitting on her stoop, waiting for me. 'You're late,' she said. 'We're gonna miss the beginning of the movie. I hate that.'

Traffic,' I told her. 'And anyway, I'm only five minutes late. We have lots of time.'

'Yeah, but I gotta get popcorn. You can't watch no mutant movie without popcorn. And probably I need soda and some candy to balance out all that salt and grease on the popcorn.'

I parked in the multiplex lot and took a last look at the Pancek file. 'Harold Pancek,' I read to Lula. Twenty-two years old. Blond hair, blue eyes, Caucasian. Chunky build. Five feet ten inches tall. No identifying characteristics. This is the guy who took a leak on the rosebush. He's got a low ticket bond. We're not going to make a lot of money on him, but we need to bring him in anyway.'

'On account of we're professionals,' Lula said.

'Yeah. And if we want to keep the job, we haven't got a choice.'

I pulled the file photo, and Lula and I studied it.

'He reminds me of someone,' Lula said. 'I can't put my finger on it.'

'SpongeBob SquarePants. Yellow hair. No neck. Body by Lego.'

'That's it. Skin like a sponge.'

I slipped the photo and the authorization to capture into my shoulder bag. I also had cuffs, a stun gun, and defense spray in the bag. My gun was in Morelli's cookie jar. Ranger's gun was in the truck. God knows what Lula had in her bag. Could be a loaded rocket launcher.

We crossed the lot and entered the theater. We got our tickets, our popcorn, our soda, our M amp;Ms, Jujubes, Twizzlers, and Junior Mints.

'Look there,' Lula said. 'SpongeHead is collecting tickets.'

The smart thing would be to cuff him now. Any number of things could go wrong if I waited. He could go home sick. He could recognize me and leave. He could decide he hated his job and quit, never to be seen again.

'I've been dying to see this movie,' Lula said, her arm wrapped around a tub of popcorn that was big enough to feed a family of eight.

'We really should cuff him now. If we wait he could get away.'

'Are you kidding me? I got my popcorn. I got my soda. I got my Twizzlers. And on top of that, we've never been to a movie together. We never do anything together except work. I think this here's quality bonding time. And what about that hot mutant? Don't you want to see the mutant?'

She had me there. I wanted to see the mutant. I approached Pancek and handed him my ticket. I looked him in the eye and smiled. He smiled back, blank-faced, and tore my ticket in half. He did the same to Lula. No glimmer of recognition for either of us.

This is gonna be a snap,' Lula said, taking a seat. 'On our way out we'll clap the cuffs on ol' Harold and trot him off to jail.'

After ninety minutes of mutant action, Lula was ready to bag Pancek.

'We could be as good as those mutants,' Lula said to me. 'You know the only difference between us and those mutants? Costumes. They had cool costumes. I'm telling you, you can't go wrong with capes and boots. And you need an insignia. Maybe we should get an insignia. Something with a lightning bolt.'

Pancek was in the aisle directing people to the exit. Lula walked past Pancek, turned, and stood at his back. I was a few steps behind Lula.

I smiled at Pancek. 'Harold Pancek?' I asked. Like I was some long-lost friend.

'Yealh,' he said. 'Do I know you?'

'Stephanie Plum,' I said. 'I'm a recovery agent for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds.' And click, the cuff was on his wrist.

'Hey.' he said. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'

'You failed to show for a court hearing. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you in to get rescheduled.'

'I'm working.'

'You're leaving an hour early today,' I told him.

'I gotta tell my boss.'

I snapped the second bracelet on him and gave him a nudge toward the door. 'We'll make sure your boss knows.'

'No, wait a minute. On second thought, I don't want anyone to know. This is embarrassing. Jeez, is everyone looking?'

'Not everyone,' Lula said. 'I think there's a guy over by the popcorn counter who's not looking.'

'It's all a big mistake, anyway. I'm not the one who killed her rosebush.'

'I suppose it was the phantom leaker,' Lula said.

'It was Grizwaldi's dog. He lifts his leg on that bush every day. This is discrimination. I don't see Grizwaldi's dog getting hauled into court. Everybody knows he pisses on everything, but it's okay because he's a dog. It's not fair.'

'I see your point,' Lula said. 'Not that it makes any difference. We're still gonna cart your chunky ass off to jail.'

Pancek dug his heels in. 'No way. I'm not going to jail.'

'You're making a scene,' I told him.

'Fine. I'll make a scene. I have a cause.'

The mutants would never have stood for this,' Lula said. Those mutants didn't put up with anything.'

I gave Pancek a yank forward and maneuvered him through the lobby, up to the exit door. I was talking to him all the way, trying to get him to cooperate. 'It's not like you're going to get locked away,' I said. 'We have to bring you to the station to reschedule. That's just the way it's done. We'll get you bonded out again as soon as possible.'

I held the door open and nudged Pancek out the door, into the lot. Cars were at least ten rows deep, parked under the glare of the overhead security lights. I was parked five rows back.

Lula and I led Pancek through three rows of cars and stopped.

An SUV was idling in the aisle between parked cars. A silver compact was nose-to-nose with the SUV. A black guy in a silky white oversized warm-up suit was standing beside the SUV, talking to a white male dressed head to toe in Abercrombie amp; Fitch. Both men were late teens. From what I could see of the silver car, there was a couple in the back seat and a girl in the passenger-side front seat.

'We don't want to be seeing this,' Lula said. 'Used to be you had to go looking for the dope, and now the dope comes to you.'

I called the Hamilton Police and told them they had a problem in the multiplex lot. Then I called the theater and told them to send security into the lot. The guy in the silky suit and the kid kept talking. The silky suit was stoic and the white kid was agitated. The girl in the front passenger seat got out of the car. Impatient.

This isn't good,' Lula said. 'She should never have got out of the car. These are gang guys. They got a philosophy about women makes Eminem sound like he's writing nursery rhymes.'

Three big guys in homey clothes, all wearing red scarves flying from pants pockets, got out of the SUV and did their I'm a big had gang member shuffle over to the negotiation. One of the big guys jabbed a finger into the Abercrombie amp; Fitch lad's chest and got into his face. The kid pushed back. The gang guy took out a gun and held it to the lad's head.

'Crap,' Lula said on a sigh.

I looked over my shoulder, wondering what was taking security so long. Probably this happened all the time and no one wanted to come into the lot until the police arrived. The girl's eyes were wide. Deer caught in the headlights. The remaining gang members turned on her, walking her backward, trapping her against Ranger's truck. Another gun was drawn. A knife appeared.

I pressed the panic button on the trucks remote and the truck alarm went off. Everyone jumped. The SUV guys piled into their car, backed up, and left the lot, burning rubber.

I did a double hit on the panic button, and the alarm went silent.

I turned to Lula and realized Pancek was missing. We'd forgotten to keep watch over Pancek. Worse than losing Pancek, he'd taken off wearing a sixty-dollar pair of cuffs.