A/N: This is a story I wrote many years ago. Special thanks to Cara for unearthing a copy of this ancient file when I realized mine had been corrupted.
I'm a nitpicker so I'll be re-editing and tweaking each chapter before I post it. Posts will be at minimum once a week, but I'll try to up that as much as life allows.
UNDERGROUND
She awoke in a panic, a hot hand clamped tightly over her mouth. Her eyes darting wildly around the moonlit room, she could only make out the shadowed shape of the man crouched over her. She tried desperately to pull the hand away and when that failed, she opened her mouth and sunk her teeth into the salty skin of the intruder's palm.
He jerked and flexed his palm flat, releasing the skin from her teeth, then gripped her jaw hard. "Stop it Stephanie," he hissed in her ear.
The next thing she heard was the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked, but she was confused because the sound came from the other side of the bed. A second later, she heard the same sound coming from right over her head.
On her right, she heard Joe's rusty voice growl, "What the fuck are you doing Manoso?"
Stephanie went utterly still. Ranger was in Joe's house, in Joe's bedroom, and she was pretty sure Ranger was holding a gun on him. She whispered, "What…?"
In a flat voice, Ranger said, "We need to go."
From beside her, Joe ground out, "You've got some balls."
"Shut up, Morelli. This doesn't concern you."
"The fuck it doesn't."
Stephanie slid her arm slowly to the left and found the switch to the bedside lamp. A moment later, the light was on, illuminating a scene that she had imagined only in her worst nightmares. Ranger was squatting next to her side of the bed, arm suspended over her, holding a gun on Joe. He was dressed in black cargos, tight, long-sleeved black t-shirt, his hair slicked and tied back and two small silver hoops in his ears. His dead black eyes were focused intently on the man beside her.
She turned her head slightly to look at Joe. Only the sheet pooling low on his hips shielded his nudity. His hair was mussed, his eyes were hard, and he too, had his arm extended, holding a gun on Ranger.
Neither man looked at her. Nobody spoke. The only sound in the room was Stephanie's panicked breathing shuddering in and out.
Finally Joe said, "You have about five seconds to get the fuck out of my house."
"Or what?"
"I'll put a bullet in your head."
"Be my guest. But don't you think it'll be a little hard to explain to the boys in blue?"
"You're an intruder. You're holding a gun on me. It's justifiable."
"So you don't think it would look a bit suspicious that you killed your girlfriend's lover in your own bedroom?"
Joe winced and then his face slid to blankness again. "She's not your lover."
"You sure about that?"
Stephanie sat up, tugging at the sheet to cover her breasts. Both men's eyes shifted to her. "That's enough." She turned to Joe and said, "Hand me a shirt." Joe ignored her. She turned to Ranger, "What the hell are you doing? Are you insane?"
He rolled his eyes down the outline of her body making sure she was very aware that he knew she was naked beneath the sheet. "Probably. Go take a shower. You have five minutes."
"Take a shower?"
He raised his eyes back to Joe. "You fuck her tonight?"
Joe took the bait. "What do you think?"
Ranger said, "Go take a shower, Stephanie."
"Ranger, if you think I'm going anywhere with you, you're delusional. Put down your gun."
Ranger swore under his breath. "You know what? We don't have time for this shit." He stood, lowered his gun and turned to Stephanie. "Your life is in danger. We need to go underground. Get dressed. Now."
Morelli slowly lowered his gun and said bitterly, "Her life's always in danger."
"Not like this."
"Then we do this by the book."
"Not an option."
"What's that supposed to mean? Whenever she has a stalker-"
Ranger ran a hand over his face and quietly said, "Look, Morelli. I really don't have the time to explain the facts of life to you. This is not some two- bit stalker. This is on me. My enemy."
"Then why the fuck do you need to hide her? Hide your own psycho ass. Leave Stephanie the fuck alone."
Ranger leveled a glare at Joe. "Remember Scrog?"
At Joe's impatient nod, Ranger continued. "Scrog wanted Stephanie so that I would come for her and he could kill me. This man isn't looking to kill me. He doesn't even want to kill Steph … for a while at least. He believes it would break me if he abducts my woman, rapes her, tortures her, humiliates her … and keeps her."
Joe bit out, "Would it?"
"Listen, you prick, I'm not worried about me. My concern is for her. You're more worried about your ego than if your girlfriend becomes some indentured fuck-toy?"
Stephanie seemed to shut down. She was starting to hyperventilate and staring at her lap.
"Stephanie. We need to go." She looked up at him as if she just remembered he was in the room.
He tried again. "Please."
Stephanie stood from the bed woodenly, unmindful of her nudity and walked to the dresser to pull out clothes. Ranger's eyes followed her body for a moment before he looked back at Joe. Joe was just buttoning his jeans and caught Ranger watching her.
"Goddamn it, Stephanie." Joe grabbed the sheet off the bed and stormed across the room to drape it around her.
Annoyed, Stephanie tugged at the sheet and said, "Do you really think my being naked is the most important thing at the moment?"
"You're my girlfriend! He shouldn't see you like this!" Then he turned on Ranger. "In case you've forgotten, I'm a cop. I can take care of her."
Ranger raised a brow. "Like you took care of Ramirez? Scrog?"
Joe closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can take care of her. I will take care of her."
"All due respect Joe, your hands are tied. The police can't do shit with this."
Joe said, "I'm sure that-"
Ranger interrupted, "Are you really sure, Joe? Really? Because if you're wrong, you're sentencing Stephanie to a fate worse than death. You gonna be able to live with that?"
Joe said nothing. He stood there, fists clenched at his sides and glared at Ranger.
Ranger said, "You love her Morelli?"
"Of course I do."
"Then stop thinking of your status as her boyfriend and think about her. You know I can take care of her when you can't. You know I can do things that you legally can't or won't do. And though you'd never admit as much to Stephanie, that's the real reason you turn the other cheek and tolerate me in her life and in her bed."
Stephanie hissed, "Ranger! You're not in my bed! Stop this."
Ranger calmly turned to Stephanie, "Do you really think this is the time to split hairs about our sexual status? He's not stupid, Stephanie."
Joe interjected, "I'm going with you."
"Not an option."
"So she's just gonna disappear? I'm supposed to just hand my girlfriend over to some psycho and hope for the best?"
"Better the psycho you know."
"Fuck. And how in the hell do I explain her disappearance?"
"Since I'll be gone too, I'm guessing people will draw their own conclusions."
Joe looked at Ranger with disgust. "Her parents?"
"Stephanie will contact them. They know she's impulsive. Women do crazy things when they're in love."
Joe took a menacing step toward Ranger. "You bastard."
Ranger just shrugged and looked at his watch. "We need to go, Babe."
On autopilot, Stephanie turned and grabbed her bag off Joe's dresser. Ranger placed a hand at the small of her back but she flinched away from his touch. Joe grabbed her arm as they passed and she stopped.
"Cupcake? You're just gonna go with him?"
She furrowed her brow. "Did you not hear what he said?"
"I heard. I just don't know if I can believe him."
"Joe, he's never lied to me. He's always protected me."
Joe looked to Ranger. "I need to know where you're taking her."
"Not possible. You know that."
"Fuck, man. At least let her call me."
Ranger studied Joe for a minute. "Only if it's safe."
Joe nodded once and turned to Stephanie, pulling her into his arms. She burrowed her face into his chest and whispered, "I'm sorry."
He laid a kiss on the top of her head and said, "Not your fault. I love you, Cupcake."
She nodded once and let Ranger guide her through the door.
A/N: While you wait for the next chapter (and for a change of pace), please check out my other writing by searching Mrs Middle America blog.