Chapter Twenty-Nine

I got out of the Cayenne and opened the door for Grandma to help her down. Ranger waited until we were standing next to Pritchard before he pulled away and jetted off into the night. Off to save the world. Pritchard smiled at me. "I should have known you'd show up here. You following a lead or is it just my lucky day?"

"I'm here with my Grandma. She wanted to pay her respects."

Pritchard nodded, his amused eyes taking in Grandma in her pink floral blouse and matching pink skirt and orthopedic shoes. Probably thought she looked like a sweet old lady that needed escorting by her dutiful granddaughter. Little did he know. Grandma might look like an underfed soup chicken, but I had a feeling that if the world ended in a nuclear blast, the only things to survive would be the cockroaches and Grandma.

Carson eyed me in a less flattering way, but he didn't say anything. Hard to tell if he was just un-thrilled to see me. Maybe he thought my presence was a bad omen.

The funeral home was packed when we got inside. Grandma slipped away from me almost instantly, vanishing into the crush. I tried to follow where she'd gone, but I couldn't see any sign of her at all. Dang. I was never getting pineapple upside-down cake again.

Tommy Thumbs would be in slumber room one. The largest of the three, reserved only for prominent lodge members and murder victims. The people more likely to draw a crowd. The fact this was a mob death made it even trickier. Lots of plainclothes cops and undercover feds. I felt kind of bad for the families who had to share the evening with Tommy. All three slumber rooms were full, from the looks of it. And from the glimpse I got on my way past, all three were closed caskets tonight.

That would drive grandma crazy.

Morelli was standing with a leggy blonde near slumber room one. She had the kind of body that I always told myself was purchased. Mostly because it made me feel better. Deep down, I was pretty sure it was all as nature had intended. Which made me hate her even more.

Not that I needed flimsy reasons like vanity to hate Terry Gilman.

Terry only afforded me a polite glance when Morelli left her to come over to me. He was looking especially good, even with the cop face. His black hair was curling along his neck in a way I always loved running my fingers through. And his eyes. Sharp and assessing. They were scanning me with enough careful intent to make me tingly. There were no indications of his feelings when he came to stand next to me. What was it with the men in my life and the Fort Knox expressions? I wasn't capable of half that level of control. Might as well have worn a flashing sign on my forehead.

Morelli turned to face the room with me. "So. You're living with Ranger now?"

"I'm just staying with Ranger. It's temporary."

"Does he know that?"

"Yes." Ranger knew that even better than I did. Ranger was prepared for a brief liaison. Ranger didn't get attached. Me? Not so lucky.

Joe didn't like that answer any better. "Are you sleeping with him?"

"Joe," I started, but he let up pretty quickly. He didn't really want to know. "You were the one who said we should back off."

"That's because I'm an idiot."

No arguments there. Joe was very smart in a lot of ways. Just not when it comes to grown up things like relationships. "You're spending a lot of time with Terry?"

"Not a lot of time."

"She still wants you."

"Yeah, well. Terry doesn't always get what she wants."

I didn't know what to say to that. Part of me would feel less guilty if Morelli wasn't waiting patiently for me to come back like I always did. The other part would have had to rip her hair out and stab her with a stiletto heel. Better change the subject. "Did you see Grandma? My mom threatened to cut me off dessert if she caused another scene."

"Then you're pretty much screwed. I saw her heading into Slumber Room one just before you got here."

"Crap."

That was when Slumber Room one erupted in a chorus of surprised shouts and angry muttering. Here we go again. And then the angry muttering got louder. There was something about it that made my skin crawl. The foreboding sense of doom was tingling again. Stronger than I'd felt it before Baller Thatch was shot. Stronger than when Ranger was calmly gathering my worldly possessions and carting me out of my apartment without explanation. That was alarming. This was more oh shit.

Morelli wheeled around and sprinted for the open double doors, the muttering getting to furious whispers. I was right behind him. I expected to see Grandma standing next to the open coffin trying to look innocent. That wasn't what caught my attention. It was hard to look for Grandma at all the moment you realized what you were seeing in the open casket. The man laid out in the soft ivory satin wasn't dressed in the customary suit. He was in ragged blue jeans and a soiled hoodie. And he was most definitely not Tommy Thumbelli.

A stooped and stately man with silver hair was standing at the head of the casket. Confusion and livid fury all over his face. "Where the hell is my brother? What kind of place are you running here?"

Then the body twitched.

Uh oh.

A breathtaking wave of shock moved through the crush. The body twitched again. It was like watching someone rise from the dead. The man opened his vacant eyes and stared around. Somebody screamed and fainted.

There was a moment where the guy stared around without seeing. It was like watching Avery Jessup all over again. And then he launched himself over the rim of the casket. The casket and body both went tumbling to the floor. The crowd spooked and tried to bolt in a dozen different directions at once. I was fighting to get close enough to find Grandma, right behind Morelli, but the mass pushed us back. There were screams and shouts and confusion all around us. And then Not Dead got to his feet and lunged for the nearest moving body. Morelli. He latched on to Joe's shoulders and they hit the floor. Joe fighting to keep him from biting and tearing. I didn't even think. My foot struck Not Dead's side with a grunted exhale. He rolled off Morelli and he was on his feet again. Running at me full tilt.

I didn't see the gun. I only heard the concussive report rip. Not Dead's shoulder rolled back, but it didn't stop him. Another hit bloomed in his side. His body struck mine and crushed me to the ground. Teeth snapping over me. There was another shot and Not Dead's vacant face when slack.

I struggled under his weight when he collapsed on me. I was trying very hard not to freak. Then hands grabbed onto fistfuls of dead man and dragged him off. Grateful tears stung my eyes. A head of silver hair leaned over me through the gathering blur. "You're a very brave woman," said Anthony Thumbelli, offering me a hand. "Everyone else is running away."

"I'm not everyone," I said, letting him and his men lift me to my feet. I'll admit. It was all bravado, since I was very close to wetting my pants, but I'm okay with that. I looked around for Joe. He was pale.

"Are you—"

"I'm fine," I assured him. I cut my eyes around the near empty slumber room. No Grandma. The lobby still chaos. "We have to get out of here. This wasn't random."

"Yeah I know," Joe said, searching the chaos. "This way."

He took my hand and led me out of the slumber room. Thumbelli and his men right behind us. And then shots rang out, chipping the door molding. We ducked back. I couldn't see a shooter. Too many bodies were rushing around trying frantically to find an exit. Nollen and Hal were fighting to get to us through the crowd. Then shots fired again and Nollen staggered. His shoulder bleeding. Hal's weapon was drawn, but he couldn't return fire through the crowd. Couldn't even see the shooter. More bullets cut into the wall next to us. Morelli moved in front of me. A protective arm wrapping around me to hold me to his back.

And then I saw them.

There were at least a dozen. No formation. Which is why there were so hard to spot. But they were the only ones that weren't running. No shock or terror on their stone cold faces. Morelli saw them a second after I did and raised his gun. Too late. The bullet clipped him and I screamed. Thumbelli's men were returning fire. Two of the assailants dropping to the ground. But it was hard to focus on the hell around me while I watched Morelli bleeding. Some of Thumbelli's men collapsed and the rest fell back. And then hands closed around me. I fought them. Unable to see anything else. I thrashed when someone grabbed my legs. Kicking someone in the head and other in the stomach. And then something struck the back of my head and I saw bright white and then red before the lights when out.