Free Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie Page A

respect for Tina Savage’s temper, but I’d walk over her in a minute if it meant a million and a half.
    Particularly a million and a half that could put me away if somebody else found it. Like my ex-wife. No.”
    “Something’s in that house, and the two Bradleys are involved.” Zack drummed his fingers on the desk.
    “I’ve got to get her out of that house until we find it. Only the dummy won’t go.”
    “Can’t she stay with her sister for a while?”
    “No. She won’t go without Einstein and Heisenburg and Whosis. She won’t budge at all.” His scowl
    changed suddenly. “At least I hope she hasn’t budged.”
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    “Einstein?” Anthony said, but Zack ignored him to flip through his notebook until he found the page he
    wanted and then dialed the number he’d found.
    “Lucy? This is Zack Warren.” He listened for a moment. “I’m fine, thanks. I was just checking to make
    sure you hadn’t gone out.” He listened again, looking exasperated. “No, I don’t trust you. Because
    you’re a flake, that’s why. Now, listen, did Bradley leave any papers behind? He did? Have you looked
    at them? Great. Did you find any official-looking certificates? No, I’m not patronizing you. Did you find
    any government bonds? A lot of them. About a hundred of fifty, to be exact. Oh.”
    He covered the receiver and spoke to Anthony. “She packed up all his stuff. No bonds.”
    “I gathered that,” Anthony said. “Maybe he hid them. Did she check the cookie jar?”
    Zack ignored him. “Lucy, do you have a safe anyplace in the house? Any place where you keep your
    valuables? No?” Zack sighed and tapped his fingers on the desk. “Listen. We’re going to have to come
    over tomorrow and search your place. Yeah, sometime tomorrow. Now, listen to me.Stay in that house
    and don’t answer the door tonight. And stay away from the doors and windows. Those lace curtains are
    a joke. When the lights are on, anybody can see in. Why?Because I said so. What do you mean, who do
    I think I am? I’m the guy who saved your life today. Yes, I did, damn it. What?” He listened to her again,
    frowning. “I told you, you did not beat me up. Thank you.Now stay inside that house. Good night.”
    He hung up and glared at the phone. “I don’t know why I worry about that woman. She couldargue any
    attacker to death.”
    “I thought you were never going to worry about anybody,” Anthony said, trying to suppress his grin. “I
    thought responsibility meant death. And what’s with you calling her ‘Lucy’? The two of you are on a
    first-name basis already? What’s going on?”
    “She has a dog that does a dog joke.” Zack rolled his eyes in disgust. “It’s the most pathetic thing I’ve
    ever seen. She’s all alone in that big house with three of the most un-vicious dogs that ever barked. She
    was married to a rat, and now somebody’s taking potshots at her.Somebody has to look out for her.”
    Anthony began to laugh. “Zack, she split your lip and gave you what the doctor calls a minor
    concussion. He said you should be home in bed. You’re talking about a woman who beat you up in an
    alley.”
    “She did not...”
    “All right, all right. So what’s the plan? To search the house tomorrow?” Anthony shook his head. “I
    hate to tell you this, but we’ve still got paperwork from Jerry this morning to finish. I can put it off for a
    little while, but not the whole morning. Isn’t there some way we can short-circuit this search thing?”
    “Yeah,” Zack said. “We can go to interview Bradley Porter first and see if we can get him to spill
    everything he knows. Lucy told me he’s a branch manager of a bank out in Gamble Hills. Nobody
    knows where he’s staying right now, but he’ll be at work tomorrow. We can start with him first.” He
    stared at the ceiling again. “Actually, I’m really looking forward to meeting him.”
    Anthony