I do not own anything from Janet Evanovich. I just love her Characters and wished they were really real lol. I haven't abandoned my other story Comforter in Charge just this Story kept eating at me until I wrote and posted it. It's not going to be a big story just a couple of chapters. I hope you enjoy some lightheartedness. It's been hard to write for a while but now my muse is in overdrive and just days before Christmas EEEEK!
5:00 pm
I can't believe what I'm thinking about doing. Looking around the room from my desk I see no other option. I could always go to one of the men if I was in trouble, but with this they surely would say no and then go tell on me. Placing my lower lip between my teeth, I chewed it while I waited as I dialed my phone and listened for it to connect.
"Come on please answer" I softly said looking around seeing if anyone was watching me or listening
"Yea?" I heard and sucked in a deep breath
"Joe"
"Yep" he said
"Joe it's me" I said as pain filled my mouth
"Stephanie?" he asked and I rolled my eyes at him
"Yes now please listen ok?" I asked but didn't really need or want him to answer me
"Ook" he drawled out and then I knew I had his cop curiosity piqued
"I need your help"
"Finally came to your senses huh and Leaving Manoso and his thugs Cupcake?" he asked cutting me off
"JOE! Oww dammit" I said grabbing my mouth
"You ok Cupcake?" he asked
"Joe listen, I need your help and there's not a lot of time ok. I need you to hide me" I finally said
"Hide you? Steph are you in danger? Who am I hiding you from and why isn't Manoso helping you?" he asked his cop demeanor shining through
"Because it's them I need you to hide me from" I told him looking around the floor one more time. Joe was silent for a minute and I knew I probably stunned him.
"Oh this is rich" he said laughing "usually it's the other way around"
"Joe please"
"Ok Cupcake you got my attention" he said agreeing to finally help me
"Meet me at the mall" I told him
"Be there in twenty" he said and disconnected
I shut my phone off and laid it on my desk. I then grabbed my bag and went through it and pulled out everything that I thought was a tracker and placed them into the top drawer of my desk. Hurrying out of RangeMan, I zoomed off to meet with Joe.
"This is all Santos's fault" I said as I motored down Haywood
Twenty minutes later I was circling the lots of the mall looking for Joe's truck. Finally spotting just outside of Macy's, I parked my car and walked up to his truck jumping into the passenger's side.
"Jeeze Cupcake you could get your head blown off sneaking up and surprising a cop like that" he said looking over at me
"Sorry I would have called but I left my phone at RangeMan"
So why am I kidnapping you from Manoso?" he asked
"Not kidnapping, hiding" I said putting the seat belt around me
"Ok hiding"
"Drive and I'll tell you when we get to your house"
"Ummm I hate to tell you but that the first place Ranger and his goons will look for you" Joe said and I glared at him. Ranger and his men are not goons or thugs as everyone thinks they are. They keep everyone safe from the scofflaws of Trenton.
"They aren't Goons" I ground out and then wished I hadn't done that. Pain shot through my jaw and my ear began to pound. "They won't look for me at your house because they know I don't want to be around you anymore"
"Cupcake"
"Yea yea just drive" I said knowing my plan wasn't without flaws
When we entered Joe's neighborhood, I began scanning the area for black cars. Not seeing any should have made me feel at ease but that's not what I felt at all, just because I didn't see any of Ranger's cars doesn't mean they aren't out there. Ranger and his men were good at hiding and knew how to hide in plain sight and you would never see them until it was too late.
"You coming in?" Joe asked
"Yea" I said getting out of the truck and following Morelli up to his little porch. Once inside, I kicked my shoes off, loved on Bob, and lay back on the couch.
"Ahhh" I said letting go of some of the tension I was holding
"Ok so why am I hiding you from your boyfriend?"
"He's not my Boyfriend" I said. Ranger has never claimed me, but ever since Joe and I have called it quits he has stepped up the kissing and touching. As of yet though I am still classified as a single woman.
"Well?" he asked
"Get me some Advil and a bottle of water with a straw and I'll talk" I told him
Morelli handed me the requested items and sat down on the coffee table in front of me. Tossing back the pills with a sip of water I began telling him why I needed to hide.
"It's all because of Lester" I said