Seven Up - Rilegato

Evanovich, Janet

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 037543111X ISBN 13: 9780375431111

Casa editrice: Random House Large Print, 2001

Riassunto

The smash-hit #1 bestselling author takes you on the ride of your life in the 7th Stephanie Plum adventure.

Stephanie Plum has problems. Grandma Mazur's gambling partner, Eddie Dachooch, was found toes-up on his kitchen floor, dead from a shotgun blast. But when Grandma goes to the viewing, shoe doesn't recognize the man in the casket. She drags Stephanie along to find the missing dead body. But Stephanie's mind is on other matters because she has two proposals to consider: vice cop Joe Morelli is proposing marriage, and fellow bounty hunter Ranger is proposing a single perfect night...The seventh Stephanie Plum novel drops Stephanie into a smorgasbord of murder, kidnapping, and extortion as well as a sensuouse buffet of fast cars, fast men, and fast food.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull?autore

Janet Evanovich is the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, and L.A. Times bestselling author of Hot Six. She lives in New Hampshire.

Dalla quarta di copertina

t #1 bestselling author takes you on the ride of your life in the 7th Stephanie Plum adventure.

Stephanie Plum has problems. Grandma Mazur's gambling partner, Eddie Dachooch, was found toes-up on his kitchen floor, dead from a shotgun blast. But when Grandma goes to the viewing, shoe doesn't recognize the man in the casket. She drags Stephanie along to find the missing dead body. But Stephanie's mind is on other matters because she has two proposals to consider: vice cop Joe Morelli is proposing marriage, and fellow bounty hunter Ranger is proposing a single perfect night...The seventh Stephanie Plum novel drops Stephanie into a smorgasbord of murder, kidnapping, and extortion as well as a sensuouse buffet of fast cars, fast men, and fast food.

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Seven Up

By Janet Evanovich

Random House Large Print Publishing

Copyright © 2001 Janet Evanovich
All right reserved.
ISBN: 037543111X

Excerpt

I knew something bad was going to happen when Vinnie called me into his privateoffice. Vinnie is my boss and my cousin. I read on a bathroom stall door oncethat Vinnie humps like a ferret. I'm not sure what that means, but it seemsreasonable since Vinnie looks like a ferret. His ruby pinky ring reminded me oftreasures found in Seaside Park arcade claw-machines. He was wearing a blackshirt and black tie, his receding black hair was slicked back, casino pit bossstyle. His facial expression was tuned to not happy.

I looked across the desk at him and tried not to grimace. "Now what?"

"I got a job for you," Vinnie said. "I want you to find that ratfink EddieDeChooch, and I want you to drag his boney ass back here. He got taggedsmuggling a truckload of bootleg cigarettes up from Virginia and he missed hiscourt date."

I rolled my eyes so far into the top of my head I could see hair growing. "I'mnot going after Eddie DeChooch. He's old, and he kills people, and he's datingmy grandmother."

"He hardly ever kills people anymore," Vinnie said. "He has cataracts. Last timehe tried to shoot someone he emptied a clip into an ironing board."

Vinnie owns and operates Vincent Plum Bail Bonds in Trenton, New Jersey. Whensomeone is accused of a crime, Vinnie gives the court a cash bond, the courtreleases the accused until trial, and Vinnie hopes to God the accused shows upfor court. If the accused decides to forgo the pleasure of his court date,Vinnie is out a lot of money unless I can find the accused and bring him backinto the system. My name is Stephanie Plum and I'm a bond enforcement officer... aka bounty hunter. I took the job when times were lean and not even the factthat I graduated in the top ninety-eight percent of my college class could getme a better position. The economy has since improved and there's no good reasonwhy I'm still tracking down bad guys except that it annoys my mother and I don'thave to wear panty hose to work.

"I'd give this to Ranger, but he's out of the country," Vinnie said. "So thatleaves you."

Ranger is a soldier of fortune kind of guy who sometimes works as a bountyhunter. He's very good ... at everything. And he's scary as hell. "What's Rangerdoing out of the country? And what do you mean by out of the country? Asia?South America? Miami?"

"He's making a pickup for me in Puerto Rico." Vinnie shoved a file folder acrosshis desk. "Here's the bond agreement on DeChooch and your authorization tocapture. He's worth fifty thousand to me ... five thousand to you. Go over toDeChooch's house and find out why he pulled a no-show on his hearing yesterday.Connie called and there was no answer. Christ, he could be dead on his kitchenfloor. Going out with your grandma's enough to kill anyone."

Vinnie's office is on Hamilton, which at first glance might not seem like thebest location for a bail bonds office. Most bail bonds offices are across fromthe jail. The difference with Vinnie is that many of the people he bonds out areeither relatives or neighbors and live just off Hamilton in the Burg. I grew upin the Burg and my parents still live there. It's really a very safeneighborhood as Burg criminals are always careful to do their crimes elsewhere.Well okay, Jimmy Curtains once walked Two Toes Garibaldi out of his house in hispajamas and drove him to the landfill ... but still, the actual whacking didn'ttake place in the Burg. And the guys they found buried in the basement of thecandy store on Ferris Street weren't from the Burg so you can't really countthem as a statistic.

Connie Rosolli looked up when I came out of Vinnie's office. Connie is theoffice manager. Connie keeps things running while Vinnie is off springingmiscreants and/or fornicating with barnyard animals. Connie had her hair teasedup to about three times the size of her head. She was wearing a pink V-necksweater that molded to boobs that belonged on a much larger woman and a shortblack knit skirt that would have fit a much smaller woman.

Connie's been with Vinnie since he first started the business. She's stuck itout this long because she puts up with nothing and on exceptionally bad days shehelps herself to combat pay from the petty cash.

She did a face scrunch when she saw I had a file in my hand. "You aren'tactually going out after Eddie DeChooch, are you?"

"I'm hoping he's dead."

Lula was slouched on the faux leather couch that had been shoved against a walland served as the holding pen for bondees and their unfortunate relatives. Lulaand the couch were almost identical shades of brown with the exception of Lula'shair which happened to be cherry red today.

I always feel sort of anemic when I stand next to Lula. I'm a third generationAmerican of Italian-Hungarian heritage. I have my mother's pale skin and blueeyes and good metabolism which allows me to eat birthday cake and still (almostalways) button the top snap on my Levi's. From my father's side of the familyI've inherited a lot of unmanageable brown hair and a penchant for Italian handgestures. On my own, on a good day with a ton of mascara and four-inch heels, Ican attract some attention. Next to Lula I'm wallpaper.

"I'd offer to help drag his behind back to jail," Lula said. "You could probablyuse the help of a plus-size woman like me. But too bad I don't like when they'redead. Dead creeps me out."

"Well, I don't actually know if he's dead," I said.

"Good enough for me," Lula said. "Sign me up. If he's alive I get to kick somesorry-ass butt, and if he's dead ... I'm outta there."

Lula talks tough, but the truth is we're both pretty wimpy when it comes toactual butt kicking. Lula was a ho in a former life and is now doing filing forVinnie. Lula was as good at ho'ing as she is at filing ... and she's not muchgood at filing.

"Maybe we should wear vests," I said.

Lula took her purse from a bottom file drawer. "Suit yourself, but I'm notwearing no Kevlar vest. We don't got one big enough and besides it'd ruin myfashion statement."

I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and didn't have much of a fashion statement tomake so I took a vest from the back room.

"Hold on," Lula said when we got to the curb, "what's this?"

"I bought a new car."

"Well dang, girl, you did good. This here's an excellent car."

It was a black Honda CR-V and the payments were killing me. I'd had to make achoice between eating and looking cool and looking cool had won out. Well hell,there's a price for everything, right?

"Where we going?" Lula asked, settling in next to me. "Where's this dude live?"

"We're going to the Burg. Eddie DeChooch lives three blocks from my parents'house."

"He really dating your grandma?"

"She ran into him at a viewing two weeks ago at Stiva's Funeral Home and theywent out for pizza after."

"Think they did the nasty?"

I almost ran the car up on the sidewalk. "No! Yuck!"

"Just asking," Lula said.

DeChooch lives in a small brick duplex. Seventy-something Angela Marguchi andher ninety-something mother live in one half of the house and DeChooch lives inthe other. I parked in front of the DeChooch half and Lula and I walked to thedoor. I was wearing the vest and Lula was wearing a stretchy animal-print topand yellow stretch pants. Lula is a big woman and tends to test the limits ofLycra.

"You go ahead and see if he's dead," Lula said. "And then if it turns out he'snot dead you let me know and I'll come kick his ass."

"Yeah, right."

"Hunh," she said, lower lip stuck out. "You think I couldn't kick his ass?"

"You might want to stand to the side of the door," I said. "Just in case."

"Good idea," Lula said, stepping aside, "I'm not afraid or anything, but I'dhate to get blood stains on this top."

I rang the bell and waited for an answer. I rang a second time. "Mr. DeChooch?"I yelled. Angela Marguchi stuck her head out her door. She was half a footshorter than me, white-haired and bird-boned, a cigarette rammed between thinlips, eyes narrowed from smoke and age. "What's all this racket?"

"I'm looking for Eddie."

She looked more closely and her mood brightened when she recognized me."Stephanie Plum. Goodness, haven't seen you in a while. I heard you werepregnant by that vice cop, Joe Morelli."

"A vicious rumor."

"What about DeChooch," Lula asked Angela. "He been around?"

"He's in his house," Angela said. "He never goes anywhere anymore. He'sdepressed. Won't talk or nothing."

"He's not answering his door."

"He don't answer his phone either. Just go in. He leaves the door unlocked. Sayshe's waiting for someone to come shoot him and put him out of his misery."

"Well that isn't us," Lula said. "'Course if he was willing to pay for it Imight know someone ... "

Continues...

Excerpted from Seven Upby Janet Evanovich Copyright © 2001 by Janet Evanovich. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Random House Large Print
• Data di pubblicazione: 2001
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 037543111X
• ISBN 13: 9780375431111
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 390
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: Purmerul LTD; https://strengholt.nl/en/; ; 22 Liuleburgaz Str., floor 4, app. 9; Plovdiv; Bulgaria