All characters named in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, except the rookie cops and the teen gang members and Jacob Stanton (the House Monster), created by AutumnDreaming for this story.

All of Morelli's cop experiences in this story have been creatively adapted from the experiences of Ralph L. Dettweiler, former Sergeant of South Carolina Sheriff's Department, found at

Additional inspiration was gleaned from Charles Martin's novel Chasing Fireflies.

Steph's POV

We had no sooner walked into St. Francis Hospital than I ran into my old friend Julie Wisneski in the lobby. She was a nurse and had transferred from Helene Fuld several years ago. I hadn't seen her since my sister Valerie had delivered baby Lisa.

"Hey, girl!" she called to me. "You visiting more of Ranger's men?" she asked with a laugh. I'd forgotten about Cal, the Stegosaurus of a man who was acting as my bodyguard, bouncing his head off the floor when Valerie's water broke all over him. When he'd caught sight of a little foot sticking out, that was all she wrote. Baby Lisa had been in kind of a hurry to get here.

"No." I said, smiling but not laughing. "We're here to see two boys who stole Lula's car. They wiped out on the interstate. Do you know where we can find them?"

Julie checked with admissions and then showed us the way to the secured room where the boys were being monitored. Barna was guarding the door, sitting half asleep in a very uncomfortable looking plastic chair he'd borrowed from the waiting room down the hall.

Joe reached out and patted Barna on the shoulder. "Hanging in there, buddy?"

"Sure, I'm okay," Barna said, giving Morelli a weak smile.

"We're going to have a few words with our friends. Why don't you get some coffee and walk around a little. Relief will be here in an hour."

"Thanks," he said, stretching and yawning. He picked up his empty coffee cup and jingled some coins in his pocket as he headed down the hall to the waiting room, stopping at the snack machine.

"He's a pretty nice guy?" I asked Morelli.

"Yeah," he said. "His skills still need some work, but he's trying hard." I could see Morelli had taken him under his wing.

Morelli opened the door to the room, and Lula and I followed him in. The boys were wearing hospital gowns, lying in their beds watching Hell Date on BET. Morelli shut off the television and stood very cop-like at the foot the Lucas's bed, hands on hips, glaring down at them, studying their faces.

Lula and I were hovering just inside the door. Morelli pointed for us to take the two guest chairs along the wall under the television. We sat down facing the boys and behind Morelli, keeping silent.

"I have informed Lula of her rights regarding the recovery of her vehicle and damages due her under the law," Morelli began. "She has stated her desire to press full charges against you both." Morelli paused, gauging their responses before going on. "The full list of charges will be presented to you by the Judge at your arraignment. It's been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning." Under his breath Morelli added, "It'll probably take me that long just to write them all up."

Lucas looked over at Joe, who was busy giving Morelli a cold, hard stare. Joe crossed his arms over his chest and kept looking tough. Lucas turned back to Morelli, squinty eyed. He seemed to know Joe was about to start bargaining, and he was still waiting, still hoping, that things weren't as bad as they seemed.

"What kind of deal are you making?" Lucas asked.

"We don't deal with no cops," Joe said loudly. To him it was a matter of principle.

"What do you have to offer?" Morelli asked, crossing his own arms and staring back at Lucas.

"Nothing," Joe said.

"What do you want?" Lucas asked. His foot was elevated and wrapped in ace bandages, but it not yet in a cast. He also had bandages around his chest. He'd surely broken a few ribs. He'd been given plenty of pain meds and was a feeling a little bit mellow.

"What do you want?" Morelli asked. He was an old hand at making deals like this, and I knew he wanted to do what he could to get the boys out of this mess. But they didn't know it.

"Don't matter what he promises," Joe said. "He'll just tell you he'll try, but he'll walk out of here and forget he ever saw us." He lifted a leg and let one rip, fanning the fart towards us with his hand. "Told you, we don't do business with no cops."

Morelli didn't look shocked or offended. But Lula'd had enough. She came up out of her chair, marched over to Joe and cuffed him on the ear.

"Boy! What's the matter with you?" She cuffed him again and he uncrossed his arms so he could try to fend her off. "Don't you know Morelli is the only one who can save your dumb butt? You tell that man what he wants to know or I'll press every charge I can think of and maybe I'll even make up some."

"Damn, woman! Chill!" Joe said, fending off another smack.

"Lula, sit down," Morelli commanded.

"You're just lucky Morelli's here right now. If I had you alone…well, you'd need more than a doctor when I got through with you." Lula shuffled back to her seat muttering to herself, "Lie to me, steal my car and then fart at me, boy. I don't think so…"

Morelli gave me a look that said I'd better keep Lula under control. I tried to rub her back to calm her down, but she was fidgeting too much.

"You want Jacob Stanton out of the picture. You want your stay in Juvie to be as short as possible. And you want to finish school or you're never going to escape this gangland nightmare," Morelli said matter of factly.

"And you got no power over any of it," Joe said. "So, what's it to ya?"

"I already told you. My cousin has offered to take the House Monster job, if it were vacant. You could help us bring about that vacancy." Morelli pulled out his notebook and opened it, clicking his pen. "You've already told me he's dirty. I need names. I need to know what he's doing, who he's doing it with, and how they're laundering the money. I'll bring him down," Morelli promised. "And when I do, he won't be back."

"Someone else just like him will take his place. Your cousin ain't gettin' in. It's all business, man." Joe complained.

"My cousin, Mooch, will take his place."

"How do you know?" Lucas asked, looking almost eager.

"We have connections," he said, looking back at me. I couldn't imagine what connections he was referring to, but I smiled back at the boys encouragingly anyway. Maybe Joe really did know how we were going to pull it off. And maybe if I crossed my fingers while I smiled, it wasn't really fibbing. Yeah, right.

The boys looked at each other for a few beats, then Joe turned back to Morelli. "Doesn't matter to us since we won't be going back, does it?"

"Oh, you'll be going back," Morelli assured him.

"How?"

"Lucas, I know you know Lino Pavia. You know where I can find him. If I don't, he's dead within the week. Do you understand me?"

"Dead?" Lucas said, his eyes opening a little wider.

"Dead." Morelli confirmed. "I need you to help me save his life."

Lucas suddenly smiled over at Joe. "Dead," he repeated.

"You look like you're glad to hear it," Morelli noticed. "I take it you're not exactly friends."

"He's the best painter out there. Without him around hogging all the glory, I have a better chance to make a name for myself."

"You're a serious artist?" Morelli asked. "I haven't seen your work around town."

"Yeah, because it all gets gone over by the gangs and professional crews. Besides, I can't afford to put up a real piece." Then he added with a sardonic grin, "But hey, we're listed in all the finest break rooms in town."

"Hey!" Joe said. "That's not how it's going to be. We got plans."

"What kind of plans?"

"We found us a Heaven spot so good they'll never take it down."

Morelli looked concerned. "What's a Heaven spot?" I asked.

"Someplace so hard to reach and so dangerous to paint that the other crews won't touch it," Morelli said.

"S'right," Joe said proudly. "That's where we'll make a name. Then we'll start getting paying gigs and we'll be legit. And we won't need your school for that."

"You can die doing that."

"Then all this won't matter, then, will it?"

"I don't believe this! You'd let Lino Pavia and his whole crew die just to narrow down the competition?" I asked, not believing how flip they were being.

"Yeah," they both said in unison, clearly not bothered by the thought.

Lula and I got up from our seats. "Deal's off!" I said, pulling Lula behind me. "And I thought everyone was wrong about you guys. But you're scum!"

"Hey, baby! Don't let the door hit you in the…" Lucas started to say, but his voice stopped suddenly and was replaced by a choking sound.

I spun around to see Morelli pressing his index finger almost gently into the bandage wrapped around Lucas's chest. Lucas was gasping in pain, paralyzed, unable to even swat Morelli's hand away.

"You're not very smart," Morelli said. "And I'm betting you're going to be a favorite in Juvie, since you're so vulnerable and all. Nice hair, by the way."

"Yeah, you'll make someone a right nice girlfriend," Lula chimed in.

Morelli removed his finger and Joe and Lucas both seemed to be breathing better.

"Can you really keep us out of Juvie?" Lucas asked, his eyes swimming in tears, presumably from the pain.

"Joe's right. I can try, but I can't promise." He pulled a tissue from a dispenser on the rolling table nearby and handed it to Lucas. "I can tell you that your chances will be dramatically improved if I can tell the Judge that you're cooperating with me on at least two cases and that the auto theft was a misunderstanding and that Lula is not pressing charges."

Lucas looked at Lula.

"You two don't look like you can afford to buy me a new Firebird anyway," Lula said. "You tell Morelli how to save that boy's life, or I'll get me a new Firebird with the insurance money, and I'll make sure you're able to reach that Heaven spot. I'll run right over your scrawny butts!"

"First things first," Morelli said. "What is Stanton into?"

Joe rolled his eyes at Morelli. "What do ya think? Drugs and guns. Guns and drugs. What they're all into."

"What's his role?"

"He's storing guns for LBJ, or he was."

"LBJ?" I asked. The only LBJ I knew of was the former U.S. President.

"Lionel Boone, Jr." Lula said.

"What do you mean, was?" I asked.

"He got popped," Joe said with a shrug. "Don't know who the House Monster is dealing with now. Probably LBJ's old man."

"What about the drugs?" Morelli asked.

"He recruits the boys to do the dirty work. That's why two gangs. He's working both sides of the street. And they're all underage. Then too he's got deniability. No one really expects him to be able to control us."

"But he is?"

"Oh yeah."

"How?"

"Drugs. Got everyone hooked."

"What about you guys?"

"We only touch the weed. Nothing else. But we gotta do quite a lot of it to stay cool with him, and he makes us pay him for it. He's built up an army and since we won't pledge allegiance and we won't sell his dope for him, we're the enemy. At least, till we're 18. Once you turn 18, he bounces you from the house and you can't come back."

"Why?" I asked.

"He's got not use for anyone who can face real charges. They might turn squealer on him."

I saw Morelli's hand glide over the edge of his vest, and I knew what he was thinking. There was no death penalty for underage cop killers. And what the Trenton underground was selling as commodities these days was drugs, guns, and cop killers. They were using kids for the first two, so why not the last.

"How are they moving the drugs?" Morelli asked, pulling his thoughts back from the brink.

"Spray cans." Lucas said. "The paint crews meet on the street and swap hollowed out cans."

"What are the markers?"

"Green for cash, white for hard stuff, brown for weed and wet-daddies, black for crack, meth, and the other baked goods."

"And they're trading while they're painting? Any other time?"

"Sure, can be anytime, but for sure when they're painting."

"Is this how you know Lino Pavia and Dimas Varela?" he pressed. I could feel his excitement building. We might be close to something big.

"Sure."

"Did you ever carry drugs for Stanton?" Morelli asked Lucas directly.

He shrugged, unsure if he should answer.

"They can't take you in for it now, and beside, Morelli didn't read you your rights," Lula said.

"They're currently under arrest, and I read them their rights at the crash scene," Morelli said, giving Lula a look.

"Oh," Lula said, backing down. "Well, you better tell him anyway," Lula told Lucas.

"It's okay for you to tell me," Morelli assured him.

"A few times, yeah," Lucas admitted. "Just weed."

"What do you know about Varela?"

"Pavia said he's not really connected. He's working for some guy named Smelly Sanders."

"Stinky Sanders," I said, correcting him.

"Whatever."

"Pavia is working for Sanders?" Morelli turned and started open mouthed at me. "How? How is it that you're always in the middle of things? How does this happen?"

I shrugged and tried to smile, but I was as perplexed at this turn of events as he was. "Just lucky I guess."

To be continued…