Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich Page B

baffled."
    "Baffled and tired. I need some sleep. I'm too old for this middle-of-the-night murder shit."
    "There was a time when you did all sorts of things in the middle of the night."
    "Come here and you can tell me about them."
    "I thought you were tired."
    "I just want to talk," Morelli said.
    "That's a big fib. I know what you want to do."
    Morelli smiled. "Hard for a man to keep a secret."

Morelli WAS AT my kitchen counter, drinking coffee, eating cereal. His hair was still damp from the shower, and he was clean-shaven. In ten minutes, he'd have a five o'clock shadow. He was wearing worn-out black jeans, a pale gray cable-knit sweater, and black motorcycle boots.
    "You don't look like a cop," I told him. "All the other guys wear suits."
    "I've been asked by the chief not to wear a suit. I look like a casino pit boss when I wear a suit. I don't inspire trust."
    I poured myself a bowl of cereal and added milk. "It was nice of you to bring all this food."
    "Your cupboards were empty. And your refrigerator. I'm guessing the bounty hunter business is slow."
    "It comes and goes. Problem is, I only make enough money to live day by day. I can't make enough to get ahead."
    "It would be easier if you moved in with me."
    '"We've tried that. It's always a disaster. Eventually, we drive each other nuts."
    "It's your job," Morelli said.
    "Its your expectations."
    He put his cereal bowl in the sink and buckled his gun onto his belt. "Yeah, my expectations are that you'll give up your job."
    "Are we fighting?"
    "Am I yelling and waving my arms?"
    "No."
    "Then we aren't fighting." He crooked an arm around my neck and kissed me. "I have to go. I'm working with Phil Panchek. He hates being baffled without me."
    "Marty Gobel never called to talk to me. Does that mean I'm off the hook?"
    "No. It means he's dreading talking to you for fear you don't have an alibi, and he's procrastinating as long as possible."
    Bob was leaning against me. "Are you taking Bob?"
    "Yeah, I'll drop him off at my house. He has a routine. He eats the couch. He takes a nap. He gnaws on a dining room table leg. He takes a nap. He spreads the garbage all over the kitchen floor. He takes a nap."
    I fondled Bob's ear. "You're lucky you have a dog who can amuse himself while you're gone."
    Morelli shrugged into his jacket and clipped Bob's leash on him. "Later." I finished my coffee and cereal and hand-washed the dishes. I took a shower and put in the minimum effort on my hair. Truth is, the minimum effort isn't that far removed from the maximum effort, and my hair pretty much looks the same no matter what I do with it. I applied some mascara and looked myself in the eye in the mirror.
    "Today is the day," I said to myself. "Time to get serious. If you don't catch someone soon, you'll get kicked out of your apartment."
    I got dressed in my lucky jeans and my lucky black sweater. It was still cold, but it wasn't snowing or sleeting, so I traded my fake Uggs for running shoes… just in case I had to chase down Diggery. I had cuffs in my back jeans pocket. Pepper spray in my jacket pocket. A stun gun clipped to my belt. I went to the kitchen and took my gun out of my cookie jar. It was a little five-shot Smith & Wesson. I spun the barrel. No bullets. I looked in the jar. No bullets. I rummaged through kitchen drawers. No bullets. I put the gun back into the cookie jar. I didn't really want to shoot anyone today anyway.
    I got bundled up in my parka and scarf and gloves, and went out to the Vic. I crawled in and plugged the key into the ignition. It took a while, but the engine finally caught. All right, so I didn't have a great car. No big deal, I told myself. At least it was running. And today was the day it was all going to turn around. I was going after Diggery first and then Coglin. And then I was going to plow through the rest of the cases.
    I took Broad and headed for Bordentown. It was just past rush hour, and traffic was heavy but moving. The cloud cover had