Author Note: JE owns everything you recognize. I simply play in her world.
Chapter 1
Steph's POV
I had on knee high stiletto boots and a very short skirt. My hair was down in shining waves and I had way too much make-up on. Right now I had a man's hand up my handkerchief of a top trying to find a reasonable location to hide a microphone on me.
"This top is making is slightly difficult to mike you Babe" growled Ranger.
Ranger was my sexy, loving Cuban American, former Captain in the army Rangers, mercenary boyfriend. He was also my boss. Right now I was dressed for a distraction job. I was supposed to go into a bar and get a bail jumper (also known as a skip) to follow me out.
Once outside Ranger and his Merry Men (which is what I like to call them) will take down the skip and hall him off to jail and collect a ridiculous fee for Ranger's security company RangeMan of which I am also an employee.
"Do you want me to see if Lester can help?" I asked innocently.
That got me a death glare.
"I will be the only one who mikes you from now on and if I'm not here it better be Hector" he barked. Hector is gay and also the electronics genius of RangeMan so I guess it makes sense.
I leaned forward and kissed him softly "That's a promise Batman. But I like it best when you do it."That got him to visibly relax a little bit and give me a small smile.
"This is a dangerous one" Ranger said as he finished hiding the microphone. "We have good intel that he most likely will be carrying. So you need to be as well." He slid his hand up my right thigh. My breath caught in my throat as he adjusted my thigh holster holding the small pistol that I wear during distractions.
"I just want to get this over with so you can take me home and we can put these clothes to good use" I said trying to give him a sexy look.
"Babe" he said sighing as he grabbed me by the back of the head pulling me roughly to him for one last long kiss. I sighed as he broke it.
"Trust me when I say these clothes will be getting plenty of use tonight once we leave here. I promise" he whispered hotly in my ear.
He opened up the door of the car and came around to help me out. "Vince, Woody and Ram are the inside guys tonight. Lester and Bobby are out back and Tank and I will be out front. Hal is on the wire. You ready?"
"Yes sir. Let's get this over with so you can take me home" I replied. I turned to walk away from him and strut to the door of the bar when Ranger grabbed my hand yanking me back to him.
He kissed me softly and whispered "I love you."
I gave him my best tart look and whispered back "I know." I turned on my heel and continued to strut my ass into the club.
Once inside I caught Vince's eye who nodded toward my target. I sauntered over and took the empty seat at the bar one down from my target. Ram was positioned in between us and got up to make sure I was in the skip's line of sight. The target eyed me and moved into Ram's empty seat.
He chatted me up while I took fake shots of water pretending it was vodka. I tried to act like I was getting drunk. I sat a little closer, got a little louder and touched his arm more. When he finally asked if I'd like to go someplace quieter with him I pretended to think about it before taking his hand and leading him out the back. I knew that at least one of the guys would be following us out as I led this asshole to meet Bobby and Lester in the parking lot.
We got through the doors and I casually let go of his hand and kept walking ahead when I saw Lester, Bobby and Woody do the take down.
The skip was not going down without a fight. He had pulled a small gun and fired. I screamed as I watched Woody go down and rushed toward him as Lester and Bobby got the skip on his stomach and were beating the hell out of him. I heard running and turned and saw Ranger and Tank running around the corner.
"Shit!" said Tank as he saw me hovering over Woody. Ram and Vince also appeared and Ranger started barking order as I heard and ambulance siren. Ram and Vince carted off the skip.
The ambulance came and took Woody with Bobby riding along. Bobby is always the one who goes because he's the medic and can understand better than the rest of us.
Ranger, Lester, Tank and I piled into Lester's care and drove to St. Francis to meet Woody and Bobby. I tried to control my breathing. I was so scared. Ranger sensing my fear reached behind him and grabbed my hand.
At the hospital Bobby was waiting for us. "He's okay but he's going to be in surgery for awhile. I think we should break off into shifts because once he's out I think he will be here awhile. I should take the first one because I want to speak to the surgeon once he's finished" Bobby said.
I let out a breath which I didn't realize I had been holding.
Ranger gave a nod "We'll have a schedule set up so someone is here at all times for Woody. Lester will be here to relieve you by 0500. Then we'll continue on six hour shifts." Everyone nodded in agreement.
Ranger wrapped his arms around me whispering comforting words in Spanish as he walked me to the car.
Bobby's POV
Once everyone left I went to the waiting area. It was surprising empty except for a young woman sitting by herself. She was dressed like she came from an office in a gray skirt and wine colored sleeveless shirt with high black heels. A gray jacket was thrown on the seat next to her along with a large black purse, big enough for files of some sort. I took a good look at her face.
She looked young with pale skin, soft features and bright blue eyes. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back from her face. Her full lips were set in a straight line and betrayed no emotion. She was gorgeous.
She was watching CNN on the lone television in the corner. Her perfectly arched eyebrows raised slightly when she saw me but she said nothing.
I sat a few seats down from her so I could see the television but not crowd her personal space. I gave her a small smile and settled in for a long night. I wondered who she was waiting on.
It was 45 minutes before she moved. She got up and grabbed her purse. "Watch my jacket?" she asked. I gave a nod and took a good look at her now she was standing. She was a petite woman without the heels she couldn't be over 5'3''. She had an incredible figure that fit her frame and walked with a lovely little swing to her hips which I admired as she walked away.
Damn, she has an amazing ass.
Ten minutes later she returned with two large cups of Starbucks coffee. She handed one to me.
"Thank you. You didn't have to do that" I said in surprise.
She shrugged "the Starbucks closes at midnight and it seems like we're both in for a long night so I figured we should stock up if we're going to make it. Its regular with a touch of skim" she said as she handed me sugar in the raw packets.
"I look like a skim milk guy?" I asked with a smile.
"You look like a former military guy who clearly keeps in good shape which I assume includes watching what you but in your body" she said with an assessing look.
"What about you?" I asked just enjoying being able to pass the time with someone.
"Chai tea with soy."
"Interesting" I replied.
She removed the lid from her cup and gave it to me. I smiled and took a sip.
"Not bad. But I think I would have to forfeit a man card if I ever ordered it" I said trying to give her a flirty grin.
What the hell is wrong with me? Woody has been shot and is in surgery and I'm trying to hit on a chick in the waiting room.
Although, the surgeon was optimistic and he did say Woody would be in surgery awhile. I bet Woody would love it if I picked up a woman in the waiting room.
She gave me a small smile. This woman was definitely not the warm and fuzzy type.
"Mind if I change this? I asked gesturing toward the TV.
"Feel free, I've watched the same news cycle over and over the past two hours" she replied.
I found a PBS documentary on the English Monarchy and looked at her with raised eyebrows. She gave her assent with a small nod.
We watched over an hour in comfortable silence sipping our coffees. I couldn't help but notice she looked to be remarkably fresh since being here for what must be over three hours. She wasn't fidgeting she actually seemed genuinely interested in what we were watching.
My phone rang "Brown" I answered. It was just Tank checking to see if there was any word yet. Unfortunately the answer was no so he just reminded me that Santos would relieve me at 0500.
I noticed she must have been listening. She looked thoughtful.
"What?" I asked her.
"Nothing. I just pegged you for former military and it seems like I'm right Mr. Brown considering you use military time and your phone manners" she said with a hint of a smile.
"I was in the military for about ten years. I still do some contract work and now I mainly just work in security and as a BEA." I explained.
"A mercenary bounty hunter? Interesting." she replied.
"You say it like it's a bad thing." I said dropping my voice an octave giving her a smile.
"It's a dangerous job but someone needs to do it. You look like you could handle it" she said as her eyes ran over my arms.
"So, may I ask why you're here in your uniform? Was a coworker injured?" she asked gesturing to my all black RangeMan t-shirt, black cargos and black work boots.
"We were doing a distraction job. It's when we send a female operative in and she lures out the skip, we jump him, cuff him and take him to the cop shop. Tonight the skip was caring and got a shot off and it hit one of our guys. We're all going to be taking shifts and since I'm a medic I usually do first shift so I can talk to the doctor" I explained.
Her eyebrows raised slightly when I told her I was a medic. She nodded thoughtfully.
"I'm sorry your coworker was injured" she said.
This girl was revealing nothing. I wanted to ask her a million questions but her demeanor had me hesitating.
A tall doctor with thick dark hair walked in the room. I'm a guy and even I could tell most chicks would be hanging all over this dude. He was tall and clearly fit and even had a fucking cleft in his chin.
"Elaina?" he asked addressing the woman. "May I speak to you?"
The woman tensed but betrayed no emotion as she uncrossed her legs and followed the doctor into the hall. I could see them but I couldn't hear what he was saying her. He was talking with his head bent so his face was close to hers.
She had her jaw set and her arms crossed in front of her as she held his gaze. He was looking at her passionately as he touched her shoulder. I snorted as her gaze flicked to his hand and then back to his eyes and he recoiled as if he was burned. She didn't like him. For some reason this made me like her even more.
Even more? She's barely spoken in the past three hours. This chick made Ranger look chatty. I don't know why but I was drawn to her. She turned on her heel and walked back into the waiting room to settle back in her chair. She continued watching the television and another episode on the English Monarchy.
It was after 3:30am when the surgeon came out to talk to me about Woody. It was a very pretty Indian woman who introduced herself at Dr. Patel. She told me that they were able to remove the bullet and repair the damage. Woody had to have a transfusion and would be in the hospital several more days but should make a full recovery. I thanked her and to my surprise she looked at the woman, Elaina, and smiled a sad smile. I glanced at Elaina and she returned it.
Dr. Patel walked past Elaina to leave squeezing her shoulder. This was interesting. I sat next to Elaina and gave her a small smile.
She finally spoke. "I'm glad your coworker will make a full recovery" she said evenly.
"Thank you" I replied.
We sat in silence for another hour when Lester showed up to relieve me . I filled Lester in and turned to see that Elaina had put on her coat and had her purse in hand. She was heading to the door.
I chased after her. I caught up to her right next to the door. I stopped her and she turned and looked at me with raised in my eyebrows. I realized I didn't really have anything to say.
I stood there for a moment just staring at her, internally panicking.
"I'm sorry, I meant to ask if your friend is going to be alright" I sputtered. "Or whoever you were waiting for" I finished.
"Thank you Mr. Brown" she said rewarding me with a small smile before turning to walk out.
I turned back around to see Lester staring at me quizzically. I noticed that Dr. Patel was getting water from the cooler.
"Dr. Patel?" I asked she turned and looked at me. "What was that prognosis of the patient that the woman Elaina waiting for?"
"Elaina Merritt? The person she was waiting for news on passed away around 10:00 last night" she responded.
"She was here all night just because?" I asked feeling confused.
"I guess you would have to ask her that" she replied.
Lester looked at me "Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.
"I have no idea" I replied rubbing the back of my neck.
Steph's POV
After stopping by to see Woody the next day I headed to Pino's to meet Joe Morelli for lunch. Joe was an ex-boyfriend and now just a good friend. We loved each other when we were together but realized that we both wanted different things out of life.
I was now with Ranger who I was convinced was my soul mate and Joe was dating a nurse named Amber who he had recently moved in with.
I got to Pino's and almost ran straight into Terry Gilman. Terry was another one of Joe's exes but more from high school. I was always jealous of his relationship with Terry, it didn't help that Terry was gorgeous.
Joe was a detective and Terry was straight up mob. Terry fed certain mob approved information to Joe occasionally. She was their liaison for a lack of a better term. Terry looked me up and down and gave me a nasty look as she pushed past me.
I turned to look at Joe who was sitting in our usual booth who shrugged. He got up to hug me and told me I looked good. We ordered pizza and salad to share.
Over lunch he slid a small velvet box across the table. My eyes widened as I opened it to reveal a simple but elegant engagement ring. "Joe" I breathed.
"Do you think she'll like it?" he asked sheepishly.
"I think she'll love it! I'm so happy for you!" I said as I squeezed his hand.
"Thanks Cupcake. I'm not sure when or how yet but I know I want too. This is it." he said putting the ring back in his pocket and giving me a dazzling smile.
"She is a lucky woman" I said. We paid the check and I hugged him tight saying congratulations and how happy I was for them.
I truly meant it. Joe is an amazing guy and he deserves everything I couldn't give him.
Bobby's POV
After some much needed sleep I still couldn't get Elaina Merritt off my mind. I needed help. I found Steph sitting in her cubicle.
"Hey Gorgeous! I need a favor" I started.
"What's up Bobby?" she smiled spinning around in her chair.
"I need you to run a search for me. Elaina Merritt. She lives in the area probably in her mid twenties, works at some sort of office."
"Sure Bobby" she said with a smile. She clearly knew I was up to something but Steph being a good friend had a dossier ready for me in an hour.
I took it to my office and started pouring through it. Elaina Merritt was older then I realized. She was 29 and grew up in Massachusetts in a blue collar family and then attended Boston College. She was a lawyer who graduated George Washington University and joined a large firm in Washington D.C. right after graduation.
While working there she took what was supposed to be a simple pro bono case and ended up winning millions for her client. She have earned a large bonus, she quit the firm a year later to join a nonprofit here in Trenton called The Chase Foundation of which she was now a partner.
The Chase Foundation specialized in helping the chronically ill receive proper care and coverage. This included dealing or fighting with insurance companies working with hospitals, providing proper nutrition and support. The Chase Foundation was also known to help with medical bills if insurance problems arose. It was widely respected and well funded.
They also worked with veterans, helping them receive adequate care after seeing action. This may explain why she didn't seem intimidated by me. I'm a big guy and when I'm dressed in SWAT gear people tend to run the other way. She must be used to seeing military guys in her type of work.
It was slightly hard for me to imagine such a hard woman working at such a compassionate place. I could definitely see her as a lawyer but not for a nonprofit that specialized in helping the sick. I pictured her doing corporate law.
The more I learned about this woman the more she was becoming an enigma to me and the more I was dying to know her.