Takedown Twenty

ONE

It was late at night and Lula and I had been staking out Salvatore Sunucchi, better known as Uncle Sunny, when Lula spotted Jimmy Spit. Spit had his prehistoric Cadillac Eldorado parked on the fringe of the Trenton public housing projects, half a block from Sunucchi s apartment, and he had the trunk lid up.

Hold on here, Lula said. Jimmy s open for business, and it looks to me like he got a trunk full of handbags. I might need one of them. A girl can never have too many handbags.

Minutes later, Lula was examining a purple Brahmin bag studded with what Spit claimed were Swarovski crystals. Are you sure this is a authentic Brahmin bag? Lula asked Spit. I don t want no cheap-­ass imitation.

I have it on good authority these are the real deal, Spit said. And just for you I m only charging ten bucks. How could you go wrong?

Lula slung the bag over her shoulder to take it for a test drive, and a giraffe loped past us. It continued on down the road, turning at Sixteenth Street and disappearing into the darkness.

I didn t see that, Lula said.

I didn t see that neither, Spit said. You want to buy this handbag or what?

That was a giraffe, I said. It turned the corner at Sixteenth Street.

Probably goin the 7-­Eleven, Spit said. Get a Slurpee.

A black Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows and a satellite dish attached to the roof sped past us and hooked a left at Sixteenth. There was the sound of tires screeching to a stop, then gunfire and an ungodly shriek.

Not only didn t I see that giraffe, Spit said, but I also didn t see that car or hear that shit happening.

He grabbed the ten dollars from Lula, slammed the trunk lid shut, and took off.

They better not have hurt that giraffe, Lula said. I don t go with that stuff.

I looked over at her. I thought you didn t see the giraffe.

I was afraid it might have been the shrooms on my pizza last night what was making me see things. I mean it s not every day you see a

Janet Evanovich is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum series, the Lizzy and Diesel series, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels and Trouble Maker graphic novel, and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, as well as the Fox and O’Hare series with co-author Lee Goldberg.