'I was in a rush this morning, and I didn't have time to take a shower,' I said to my mother. 'Is it okay if I shower here?'

'Of course it's okay,' my mother said. 'Did you really break up with Joseph again?'

'I moved out of his house. I'm not sure how broken up we are.'

My mother went still, radar humming. 'If you're not living with Joseph, where are you living?'

This got everyone's attention.

'I'm staying in a friend's apartment,' I said.

'What friend?'

'I can't say. It's… a secret.'

'Omigod,' my mother said. 'You're having an affair with a married man.'

'I'm not!'

'Isn't that something,' Grandma said.

Sally snapped the band on his wrist.

'What was that for?' Grandma asked.

'I thought a really bad word,' Sally said.

'Yeesh. I'm not going to discuss this,' I told everyone. This is stupid.' And I flounced off to take a shower.

An hour later, I was showered and shampooed, and I was peering into my mother's refrigerator. I didn't have nearly so much blubber hanging over the waistband of my jeans today Amazing how the fat disappears when you stop eating. The downside was that I felt mean as a snake.

'What are you looking for?' my mother wanted to know. 'You've been standing there with the door open for ten minutes.'

'I'm looking for something that won't make me fat.'

'You're not fat,' my mother said. You shouldn't worry.'

'She's got to be careful of the Plum side of the family.' Grandma said. 'This is when it starts. Remember how Violet was always so thin? Then she hit her thirties and ballooned up. Now she has to buy two seats when she gets on an airplane.'

'I don't know what to eat!' I said, arms flapping. 'I've never had to worry about weight before. What the hell am I supposed to friggin' eat?'

'Depends what kind of diet you're doing,' Grandma said. 'Are you doing Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, The Zone, The Slime Diet, The Sex Diet? I like the Slime Diet, myself. That's where you're only allowed to eat things that got slime… like oysters and slugs and raw bull's balls. I was going to try the Sex Diet, but I couldn't figure out some of the rules. Every time you get hungry you're supposed to have sex. Only thing is, they didn't say what kind of sex you're supposed to have. Like, whether you should have it alone or with someone else. And what about that oral sex stuff? I never did a lot of that personally. Your grandfather wasn't much for experimenting,' Grandma said to me.

My mother went to the cupboard, poured herself a tumbler of whiskey, and chugged it.

'So what kind of diet are you on?' Grandma asked me.

'I'm on the Tastykake diet,' I said, helping myself to a Butterscotch Krimpet.

'Good for you,' Grandma said. That's a good choice.'

'I'm going back to work,' I told everyone, putting my hood up, ducking out the back door.

Mrs Krezwicki was at her kitchen window when I scuttled through her yard. She leveled a gun at me, sighting with one eye. I pushed the hood back and waved, and she lowered the gun and reached for the wall phone. Calling my mother, no doubt.

I got into the Lincoln and drove to the office.

'I heard from Lula at the courthouse,' Connie said. 'Cantell's doing okay.'

'How about Ranger? Have you heard from Ranger?'

'Not a word.'

Rats. He wasn't supposed to be back for at least another week, but I didn't want to take any chances on being caught in his bed. Or even worse, in his shower!

Connie's eyes fixed on my hat. 'That looks like Ranger's hat.'

'He gave it to me.' It was a perfectly good fib. If he gave me his truck, why not his hat?

Connie looked like she bought it.

'I wish Ranger would get his butt back here,' Connie said. 'I'm not happy about you going after Rodriguez. What kind of a person would carry a thumb around with him?'

'A crazy person?'

'It's creepy. If you want, I can call Tank to go with you.'

'No!' Last time I went out with Tank he broke his leg. Then his substitute got a concussion. I was hell on Ranger's Merry Men. Bad enough I was squatting in his apartment, I didn't want to compound the damage by wiping out his workforce. And if I was being totally honest, I'd have to admit that time spent with Tank was uncomfortable. Tank was Ranger's right-hand man. He was the guy who watched Ranger's back. He was entirely trustworthy, but he rarely spoke, and he never shared his thoughts. I'd reached a sort of telepathic state with Ranger. I hadn't a clue what was in Tank's mind. Maybe nothing at all.

'I'm a lot more worried about Junkman than I am about Rodriguez,' I said to Connie.

'Have you seen Junkman?'

'No.'

'Do you know what he looks like?'

'No.'

'Do you know why you're on his list?'

'Does there have to be a reason?'

'There's usually a reason,' Connie said.

'I can identify Ward as the Red Devil, and I bounced Eugene Brown off my Buick.'

'That could be it,' Connie said. 'Or it could be something else.'

'Like what?'

Connie shrugged. 'I don't know gangs, but I know something about the mob. Usually when someone's targeted for takeout, it's about power… keeping it or getting it.'

'How does that relate to me?'

'If it's an entire gang that's out to get you, you move far away. If it's only one member, you can eliminate the problem by eliminating the member.'

'Are you suggesting I kill Junkman?'

'I'm suggesting you try to find out why Junkman has you on his list.'

'I'd have to penetrate the Slayers.'

'You'd have to catch one and make him talk to you,' Connie said.

Catch a Slayer. It sounded like a kid's game.

'You could hide out until Ranger gets back,' Connie said.

What she meant was, I could hide out until Ranger gets back and eliminates Junkman for me. Ranger was good at solving problems like that. And it was tempting to let him solve mine, but that's not the sort of thing you do to someone you like. That's not even the sort of thing you do to someone you hate. Not when the problem is solved by murder.

I'd already been there, and it didn't feel great. I was pretty sure Ranger had once killed a man to protect me. The man had been insane and determined to end my life. His death had been ruled a suicide, but in my heart, I knew Ranger had stepped in and done the job. And I knew there'd been an unspoken agreement between Ranger and Morelli. Don't ask, don't tell.

Morelli was a cop, sworn to uphold the law. Ranger had his own set of laws. There were things that fell in the gray zone between Morelli and Ranger. Things Ranger was willing to do if he felt it necessary. Things Morelli could never justify.

'I'll think about it,' I told Connie. 'Let me know if you hear from Ranger.'

I'd parked in the small lot behind the bonds office. I left through the back door, got into the Lincoln, and I called Morelli.

'What's happening with Anton?' I asked. 'Did he make bail?'

'It's set high. I don't think anybody's going to step forward for him.'

'Have you talked to him? Did he tell you anything interesting? Like about Junkman?'

'He's not talking,' Morelli said.

'Can't you make him?'

'I could, but I misplaced my rubber hose.'

'You said Junkman was a hired gun, right? That he was from LA.'

'We're not sure if that information is right anymore. The source hasn't turned out as reliable as we'd hoped. We know there's a guy out there who uses the tag Junkman. And we know he's working his way through a list. That's really all we're sure of.'

'And I'm on the list.'

'That's what we were told.'

'And that's what Anton confirmed. It would be helpful to know why I'm on the list.'

'Whatever the reason, it would help your cause if you'd quit your job and look like a non threatening housewife. Or maybe go away for a couple months. These guys have a short attention span.'