All familiar characters are Janet's. The mistakes are mine alone.
"Saving a life is the right thing to do, isn't it?" Steph asked me.
"Depends on whose life is in question."
She sighed. "That's not the answer I was looking for."
Being the good and caring person she is, she would expect something strictly black or white.
"Who are you looking to help or help get offed?" I asked.
"My FTA, Humphrey-the-Humper. I feel like it's a public service for him to be permanently off the streets and out of public parks so he can't grind his junk against anyone anymore, but it's supposed to be really wrong to play God and just let another one of my skips go vigilante on him. Right?"
"Welcome to the gray areas of my life, Steph. There are instances where a simple yes or no isn't an option. You have to think more creatively and act accordingly."
"I'm very interested in gray areas now ... keep talking."
"Did he touch you?" I asked, knowing that I'll take this problem immediately off her hands if he so much as dared to think of putting anything on or near my woman.
"No. He was worried that his goods would be relocated to the back of his throat if he aimed anything other than his wrists to cuff at me. But he was a disgusting douchebag to others, which means that my experience with him doesn't matter ... theirs do."
"So there really is no discussion. Let your skip take him out."
"I can't."
"Babe."
"I know. I'm being really annoying right now, but either way ... I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I don't like being in this kind of position."
"I've been in it many times where you have to make a life or death decision in the blink of an eye."
"I don't envy you, even though I'm happy to admit that I'm completely in awe of you. If Humpman lives, I get to feel responsible for letting him loose on innocent park-goers, which will likely scar them for life. If I let Stocko kill him for accosting his girlfriend, that pretty much makes me an accessory to murder."
The arm I had draped over her stomach when she had reclined against me on the couch, joined my left one to now cross over her chest and squeeze her reassuringly. Realizing that she's no longer alone in dealing with anything, big or small, cuddling up to me on the sofa has become her new 'thinking position'. If she sits here without any food in her hands or a movie on the TV, I know something's on her mind that she needs to talk out. I always make time to let her.
"You're not responsible for what someone else chooses to do," I reminded her.
"I know, but I'm one-hundred-percent responsible for what I don't do in this case."
I dodged her ponytail in order to press a kiss to the curls that had escaped it hours ago. "Are you telling me about this so I can handle it and take your FTA's fate out of your hands?"
Every inch of her body, from the ends of her bouncy brunette curls all the way down to the Cat boots touching my knee, tensed. "NO. My skips, my problem. I just wanted your opinion on it. It's been nice having someone to talk to who actually listens to me and gives helpful feedback, rather than just telling me what to do and then completely ignoring me right after."
"It's been equally nice to have someone want and respect the advice I give them."
It drives her nuts whenever I make comments like that, because she believes they're delusionally untrue, but the snort she makes every time she hears me understate my importance continues to amuse me.
"Everyone respects your opinions, advice, and especially your decisions. It's definitely not just me," she stated. "Anyone can bark orders all day long and demand that they be followed, but if people respect you ... they'll ask how they can help or what you need from them before you have to resort to yelling. That's why you're so successful, not to mention busy. Thank you for letting me have a chunk of your time today."
"Steph, you're one of the most important people in my life. What do I do whenever Julie calls me?"
"You tell everyone to be quiet or go away until you've determined that she called only to talk, not to say something's wrong."
"And I will always do the same for you."
"I'm starting to get that. So ... do you have a little more time to spare?"
"You've made up your mind on how you want to handle the humper?"
She gave me a full-body shudder. "My goal in life is to NEVER handle him at all. He's physically repulsive on top of being psychologically fucked up. But I'm thinking of making a two-stop drive."
I knew her decision before she'd even made it. "Stocko's place and then the police station," I stated, not asked.
"Yeah. You interested in keeping me company?"
"Not only am I not about to let you near an angry gangbanger or a certain asshole-officer alone, I wouldn't miss seeing you in action. You blow past beautiful when you're on a mission."
I reluctantly let my grip on her loosen so she could stand up, and she offered her hand to me as if I'd need an assist. I don't, but I'd never willingly pass up an opportunity to touch her. I wrapped my fingers around hers and didn't let go until I had her settled in my Cayenne.
Stocko appeared surprised to see us. Though we stayed on the public side of his chain link fence, I had my Glock easily accessible and my body positioned so it would absorb any attitude or ammunition that could be aimed at Stephanie.
"Fuck," is the greeting we received from the guy with a teardrop tattoo similar to Hector's, but Stocko's was just an outline under his eye, not a tear that's fully inked-in.
Steph glanced at me. "For such a sweet guy, you seem to inspire that reaction wherever we go."
"Sweet?" Stocko asked, with disbelief splashed all across his face. "Are you fucking shitting me? This is Ranger-fucking-Manoso! I heard he cho ..."
"Stop there or you'll be experiencing a similar story," I ordered him.
The speed in which he shut up was smart for him, but pathetic in my eyes for a man who's been trying to build up his own reputation.
"Oops," Steph was saying. "I guess with all that swearing and threatening you were doing when you showed up at Humphrey's and almost blew my capture before Binkie warned you to shut it, I didn't get to mention that my roommate and more-than-boyfriend is the Man, the Myth, the Legend … THE Ranger Manoso."
He didn't say 'fuck' this time, but he was thinking it ... HARD.
"Okay, so here's the deal," Steph continued. "As much as I'd like to let you eliminate the public-humper the second my equally-skeezy cousin bails him out again, I feel like I can't just turn my head and let you do even one of the things you threatened without attempting to prevent what I know will be a painful death for him. Ranger's and my next stop is the TPD to let my cop buddy Eddie know that if Humphrey turns up dead, to knock on your door first. Though personally, I'm with you. I don't really see him as someone I should put myself out in order to protect, yet here I am."
"Kali was minding her own fucking business and that fucker attacked her." The eyes that were dead up until his girlfriend entered our conversation flicked to me. "What would you do to him if your woman here had been grabbed?"
"There would be no discussion about what happens to him."
He nodded while Steph shook her head and sighed. "Great. We're all in agreement ... the perv really doesn't deserve to live. That being said, I still have to have a word with Eddie so I can sleep tonight."
He nodded in respect and then gave an indifferent shrug. "You do what you gotta do ... "
He trailed off, letting us finish his statement ourselves. Stephanie can do whatever keeps her conscience clear, but he's still going to do what he feels is right for his girlfriend and the pissed-off man who obviously loves her. Humphrey being behind bars at the moment is the only thing keeping his body and its organs intact.
"I feel like I just wasted twenty-minutes of our lives coming here," Steph said to me, sliding back into the passenger's seat of my car.
"As you said, you'll be able to sleep knowing you did what you could. That alone makes the trip worth it."
"I guess, but we're still going to the station."
"I'd expect nothing less, Babe."
Her wanting to do what's right is sometimes challenging to work around, but because she does live by what she believes ... it makes me love her more than even I thought possible. I live the same way, but our beliefs vary when it comes to her and the safety of others.
"Hey, Steph ... Ranger," Gazarra said, when we tracked him down during a caffeine reboot on his end. "What's up? Weren't you just here, Steph? Officer Serdon said he processed your skip for you."
Of course Officer-Amateur would mention Stephanie. That he was lucky enough to be in her vicinity, and likely got to speak with her, no doubt made his day a memorable one.
"I did just drop off the park-pig, but when I got home ... I started thinking about what happened when I was apprehending him. I wanted to come back and let 'the department' know that his life's in danger once he gets out of here."
"Someone threatened him?" Eddie asked.
Gazarra was focused on Steph, my attention zeroed in on Morelli ... loitering just out of Stephanie's eyeshot. He's kept his distance since Steph and I became inseparable, but he's lingering like a bad odor in our periphery, not happy and not liking Stephanie admitting that I'm the man she loves ... the only person she's ever allowed herself to fully love outside of Grandma Mazur.
"Not a direct threat," Steph answered. "Well, not exactly. Okay, maybe it was and more than one ..."
"Just tell me, Steph," Eddie said, familiar with how long she takes to get around to answering a question she'd prefer not to.
"One of my other skips - street name Stocko, did not take his girlfriend being one of the humper's victims well ..."
"Do you have a full name for me, plus an address?" He asked.
"Nope ... not sure I do."
"Steph ..."
"Sorry, gotta go. Ranger and I have plans."
He rolled his eyes and then settled them to look at me. "You interested in providing the info I need?"
"Not especially. I figure your department could use some boredom-relief and would like to do some investigative work yourselves."
He shook his head in resignation. "I knew Steph was stubborn, but I think she's more so now that she's been living with you."
"Excuse me ... but she's right here. And thank you. As my mother likes to tell everyone who'll listen, I was born stubborn. The difference is now I'm actually proud of that."
I pulled her close. "You should be. And proud of yourself always," I told her.
She smiled up at me before pressing a kiss to the underside of my jaw. "Thank you for noticing and for saying stuff like that. Stocko may not see it, but you are a pretty sweet guy."
My arm came around her and gave her a half-hug filled with promise for our night ahead. "I noticed that you're admirably stubborn early on. And I continue to notice and appreciate a hell of a lot more about you every day we're together."
Her smile remained on display until she finally spotted Morelli. "Before my good mood gets ruined, we're outta here. I want to go home and get busy on our plans," she told Eddie, but raised her voice subtly to be overheard by any fixated-fucker who'd put himself in a position to eavesdrop. "Just let Humphrey know that if he does anything disgusting again, he's going to be renting a drawer in the morgue."
I caught Joe's piss-colored eyes, and with a slight tilt of my head ... I promised/warned him that he'll also be taking a permanent nap if he doesn't stay the fuck out of our lives. Stephanie is a lot of things ... bounty hunter, an attentive aunt, role model for Julie, and a good friend to all of my men, but in my mind I can sum up the woman in just one word ... mine. And she'll never be anything else.