TWO WEEKS
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I'm not making money off them. Janet owns them; I just play with them.
Please Review. This is my first piece. Any comments would be helpful.
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PROLOGUE
I awoke still half asleep, wrapped in a white sheet. Yep. Nothing else. It took me a minute. Then I remembered where I was and how I got here.
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CHAPTER 1: The Request
"Damn."
A Kojak light flashed from a beat-up brown Crown Vic behind me. I pulled the Porsche over. I knew who behind me. Joe Morelli pulled himself from the car and sauntered up to my window.
"Do we need to talk about this again?" He asked. "You told me you were going to stop taking cars from him." I grimaced. Ranger had always been a sore spot in our relationship.
"Eh. Um. It's just a car, Morelli. Grow up."
"It's a Porsche. Why can't you just take the Buick? Nothing destroys the Buick. You could have borrowed my SUV if you had just asked."
"Joe, it's not like you have a fleet of cars at your disposal. Besides, I didn't ask. The car showed up at the office yesterday morning."
"With Ranger in it?"
"No, Tank dropped it by."
Joe's cell rang and he glanced at the caller ID. "Steph, I have to go, but we're talking about this tonight." Morelli went back to his car and took off.
I didn't know what to do. I loved driving the Porsche and I hated that damn Buick. Plus, the Porsche smelled like Bulgari and Ranger. I smiled and took in the scent of the car.
God, I needed to get it together. Ranger isn't my boyfriend; he's not relationship material. I was with with Joe. Maybe I should return the Porsche. At least then, I wouldn't smell Ranger all day and I could have lustful thoughts about the man who was at least kind of my boyfriend. I never knew if Joe and I were in the off-again or on-again stage of our relationship.
I pulled out and started to drive over to the office. I needed to pick up a file on a new FTA. The bounty hunter business had been a bit slow lately and I needed money to pay the rent.
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"Hey." Lula turned around. She was doing some actual filing for once. Files were stacked on the faded brown couch. I had a feeling Connie had put them there, so Lula couldn't actually sit down without doing work.
I grabbed the last jelly donut from the box on Connie's desk. "Who's the new FTA?"
"Lacey Hill arrested for soliciting. Missed her court date yesterday morning." Connie handed me the file. I opened it and pulled out Lacey's picture. Big red hair, so bright it was obviously from a bottle, green eyes, lip ring. Low bond, low reward for my capture, but I had to pay the rent somehow.
"This is all you've got?"
"Yeah, lately people have been showing up for their court dates." Connie pulled out a nail file and went to work.
"That's the way I make money," Shouted Vinnie from the back office.
"Hell. He's bugged my desk again." Connie shouted. She started searching her desk. Lula came over to help. I laughed. Vinnie was a weasel. He loved to bug Connie's desk so he knew what was going on in the front of the office.
Suddenly, Lula and Connie stopped searching and became quiet. I knew either there was a naked man outside our window or Ranger had just pulled up. I hoped it was the later (unless Ranger was the naked man). I turned around and wasn't disappointed. Ranger was here and clothed (that was a disappointment).
The door opened. "Babe." He nodded and Connie handed him a file. "That's all?" He asked Connie. She nodded. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out the door with him and into the alley. Pushing me up against the wall, he kissed me. His tongue touched mine and I involuntarily crumpled my hand into the fabric of his black shirt.
"Babe. I've missed you." I smiled. Ranger had been gone for about a week visiting Julie in Miami. I knew that. Not many people knew when he visited Julie, but he trusted me.
He kissed me again picking me up off the ground a little this time. I sighed. The corners of his mouth turned up a little, in what for Ranger qualified as a smile. He put me back down on the ground. "Babe. I'd like you to come to RangeMan for a meeting later. There's a job we could use you on."
I generally wasn't included in the meeting and it peaked my interest. "What time?"
"Around 4, it may run late. We've got an FTA in Miami I'd like your help on."
"Miami? So, I'd have to leave Trenton?"
"Yeah, wouldn't you like a free trip to Miami? And after the meeting Ella could fix us dinner. I'll even ask her for dessert."
I was stunned. "Um, I don't know how I could turn that down. I'll be there at four."
I blinked and Ranger was gone and I heard the engine of his car growl and take off down the road. Shit. What had I got myself into? A meeting at RangeMan? Dinner? A trip to Miami with Ranger? Ranger must really want me there. He'd offered dessert. Joe was going to take this news very well.