I Don't Know If It's

I Was Waiting For My Body Receipt When Morelli Walked In. He Nodded To Ranger And Grinned At Me In My Whiteness. “i Was At My Desk, And Mickey Told Me I Had To Come Out To Take A Look,” Morelli Said. “it’s Floor,” I Told Him. “i Can See That. If We Add Some Milk And Eggs, We Can Turn You Into A Cake.

I Checked My Phone Messages. Three In All. The First Was From Joe. “hey, Cupcake.” That Was It. That Was The Whole Message. The Second Was From Ranger. “yo.” Ranger Made Joe Look Like A Chatterbox.

A Uniform Cordoned Off The Area With Crime Scene Tape. The M.e. Pulled In And Parked. There Were Two Emt Trucks Idling At The Edge Of The Lot. I’d Stayed Close To The Back Door, And One Of The Rangeman Guys Had Taken A Position Two Feet From Me, Standing At Parade Rest. No Doubt In My Mind He’d Take A Bullet For Me Rather Than Face Ranger Over A Dead Stephanie.

As Stephanie And Lula Were Going After The Bad Guys, Lula Was Making Preparations From The Trunk Of Her Firebird. Stephanie Looked Inside And Stopped Breathing For A Beat. "that's A Rocket Launcher!" "yep," Lula Said. "it's A Big Boy. I Got It At A Yard Sale In The Projects.

Ranger Is An Unusual Name," She Managed. "is It A Nickname?" It's A Street Name," Ranger Said. "i Was A Ranger In The Army." I Heard About Them Rangers On Tv," Grandma Said. "i Heard They Get Dogs Pregnant." My Father's Mouth Dropped Open And A Piece Of Ham Fell Out. My Mother Froze, Her Fork Poised In Midair. That's Sort Of A Joke," I Told Grandma. "rangers Don't Get Dogs Pregnant In Real Life." I Looked At Ranger For Corroboration And Got Another Smile.