Free Jennifer Crusie Bundle by Jennifer Crusie Page B

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.”
    â€œCan’t she stay with her sister for a while?”
    â€œNo. 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.”
    â€œEinstein?” 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.
    â€œLucy? 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.”
    â€œI 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 could argue any attacker to death.”
    â€œI 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?”
    â€œShe 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.”
    â€œShe did not…”
    â€œAll 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?”
    â€œYeah,” 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 narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
    â€œI want to see what a rat like that looks like. You