DISCLAIMER: Janet owns the characters not me. I'm not making money off them.
CHAPTER 2: The Breakup
It was about 2pm. My cell was dead so I'd stayed at the office to do some phone work on Lacey Hills. She sounded fairly easly to apprehend. Lula knew a little about her from the street. Lacey turned worked a corner of Slate Street in the afternoon and picked up customers in bar of a local hotel at night. Since I had the RangeMan meeting, I'd decided get her later this evening.
I said goodbye to Lula and Connie and headed home to shower.
My apartment was my sanctuary unfortunately criminals, not to mention Joe and Ranger, liked to break in frequently. So I always checked it before I relaxed. I opened the door and was greeted by the sounds of Rex, my hamster, running on his wheel. I checked, the kitchen, living room and bathroom. I opened the door to my bedroom and found an intruder... Joe was laying on my bed asleep.
I shook him and he opened one eye. "Cupcake, where have you been? I tried calling your cell."
"Joe, I was working. My cell is dead. Whats up?"
"Steph, we need to talk and I don't think it can wait."
"Um. Eh. About what?"
"After I saw you this morning. I came over to the office to apologize. I saw Ranger pull you into the alley."
"Oh." My eyes widened. How much had he seen exactly. "He just wanted to ask me to help out on a RangeMan job," I stammered.
"He couldn't ask you in the office?"
I didn't say anything. I just looked at him. What was I supposed to say? How was I supposed to respond? Well, Joe he couldn't make it to first base in the office.
"Steph, I think we need a break. I know you have feelings for him even though you love me. You need to get this worked out -- for us. I'm not sticking around forever. I want to marry you and settle down. I want to have children before I'm forty. And I'd really like to do it with you. But if you don't share the same feelings, I want to move on. There is someone out there who wants to do those things with me if it's not you. It's not just your job. It's him"
Shit. I started to cry and stammer. I didn't really have anything to say in my defense. I loved Joe and I loved Ranger.
"I'm going to leave you alone for two weeks. You have my permission to do whatever you need to do to figure this situation out. After that its all or nothing, Steph."
Shit. Joe left. I laid in bed crying and fell asleep.
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My phone buzzed and woke me from my cry-induced slumber.
"Hello," I croked.
"Babe. It's almost 4 and you're still at home." Aparently Ranger noticed his Porche hadn't left my parking lot.
"Um. I was asleep. It's been a bad day. I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it. I can have the meeting without you. I'll come by to fill you in later. Go back to sleep."
I hung up and quickly showered. I planned to get dressed and go into RangeMan, but the bed looked so good. I managed to put on black underwear and bra before I fell back asleep.
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"Babe." A large form bent over me. Ranger. Why doesn't he ever knock. I guess he thought that breaking and entering is a sign of intimacy.
"Babe. Are you hungary? Ella sent food and chocolate cake."
"Yum." I smiled sleepily. "Let me get dressed and I'll be out in a minute."
Ranger stood in the doorway and smiled at me looking at my black lace bra. "What you have on is fine. It's not a formal dinner."
I threw my pillow at him and he went into the kitchen. I pulled on some sweats and joined him.
"Lemon chicken. Brown rice." He said pointing to the containers.
I went to the fridge and pulled out what I was looking for. "Chocolate cake." I cut myself an extra-large slice, pulled a beer from the fridge and sat down. Ranger made himself a plate of chicken and rice.
"Do you want to talk about why you've been crying?"
"I haven't been crying."
"Liar."
"Let's talk about this RangeMan job." I changed the subject.
Ranger filled me in. They were after Anthony Jax. Hotel owner and playboy. Apparently he was a tricky fellow. Lots of security and he kept an unpredictable schedule. We were going to observe him and maybe use me as a decoy. We were scheduled to leave in two days.
I tugged at Ranger's wrist and looked at his watch. "Shit. It's already 11. I was going to pick up an FTA tonight."
Ranger nodded. "I'll come along." Normally, I like to do these things without Ranger. There's no point to making a fool of myself in front of him. But after Joe breaking up with me I didn't feel like being alone.
I filled in Ranger and went to the bathroom to tackle my hair and put on some make up. Figuring I was going for an evening look, I applied dark eyeshadow and put on some extra layers of mascara. I threw on dark jeans and a lacy black tank.
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Ranger and I drove to North Trenton in silence. We tried to blend in at the hotel bar, but Ranger never blends in anywhere. We ordered drinks and sat in back corner. About thirty minutes later, my FTA appeared. I had handcuffs, pepperspray and a stungun. I decided to see if she would leave with me quietly.
I took my drink, left Ranger and approached the bar where Lacey was sitting, waiting for her drink.
"Lacey Hill?" I leaned up against the bar and placed my half-empty beer on the counter.
"Yes."
"I'm an agent with Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. You missed your court date and are in violation of your bond agreement. I need to take you in to reschedule."
"Oh. Ok. Well, I don't need you to take me." The bartender slid a fruity drink in front of her.
"Yes, you do. I need to take you now. If you'll just walk quietly with me to the car."
"Bitch. I make most of my money at night. I'm not going. I'm not ever going to go." She grabbed her strawberry dacquari and poured it over me. As a final measure she tossed my remaining beer and threw the glass to the ground where it shattered. She started to walk from the room and people stared at me and laughed.
As she attempted to exit, Ranger grabbed her and had her cuffed before she knew what was happening. He looked at me and nodded. I followed him to the car.
After we dropped her off at the copshop and I collected my body receipt. Ranger drove me to my apartment. After he checked it, he kissed me lightly on the lips and left with the promise to see me tomorrow.
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