Disclaimer: I am not making any money from this, I promise.
My grateful thanks to JE for her wonderful characters, which I hope I haven't damaged too much.
To all of you, those of you who have submitted reviews, added me to your author or story alert lists or even if you just stopped by to see what I am wittering on about this time.
To those who gave me advice on what to do with my troublesome muse, I have found out two things, one that he likes my bread and butter pudding and two, that he hates having to wash the dishes. These now serve as my version of 'carrot and stick' management. It appears to be working so far. I'll keep you posted.
My heartfelt thanks to you all.
Valzie.
Dangerous Ground Chapter Two
Joe's POV
His street name is Sin and he's the least likely candidate for a Rangeman that I've ever seen. He's tall enough at over 6 feet and he's well muscled under that regulation Rangeman tight black tee, but the pale skin and bright red hair, which if you can believe it, curls down over his shoulders' like a woman's, doesn't inspire much confidence. The burr in his soft voice is Scots I think and he's unfailingly polite and doesn't look like any sort of threat.
The rest of the Rangeman employees I've met have been all shapes and sizes, sure, but they all exude the same lethal confidence. I'm not sure how much use he would be in a fight.
He and his partner Flighter talk softly and they cast several looks in my direction before they make their way across, coming to stand in front of me with their arms folded and identical blank expressions on their faces.
He's the one that speaks; it would appear that Flighter is shy. "Detective Morelli, rumour has it that you know" he paused as if trying to find the right words "Miss Plum quite well"
"I've known her all her life" I answer blandly.
"This far from Trenton, all she is to us is a number of stories, each one more unbelievable than the last"
I laughed; it was all I could do. It would appear that my ex-girlfriend was now officially a legend, go figure. "What do you want to know?" I ask wondering which of the many totally insane 'adventures' of Stephanie would be classed as the most mindboggling.
"Is it really true that she was chased down the street by a man in a rabbit costume?" Flighter burst in.
"Yes "I tell him, pausing for dramatic effect "And her Mother was the one that ran it over in her car"
"No?" Flighter laughs. "We never heard that"
Sin sits down next to me and with a grin he tells me "And I thought this was going to be a boring assignment"
"Any chance of a beer?" I ask.
"Talk and I'll see what we can do" Flighter tells me with a smile of his own as he takes his place on my other side.
Steph's POV
Bobby has assumed kitchen duties and I watch him whistle softly as he confidently navigates his way around. He really loves to cook and since I really love to eat, he and I are as you can imagine, great friends.
"Why'd you volunteer for this?" I ask him "Being stuck here with me, instead of out there?"
His face sobers "I just wanted to be here with you and Adam; I felt like I needed to be here" he shrugged and turned his smile on me "I just wanted to hang out with you both for a while, I guess" he ran a hand through his short hair, obviously embarrassed by my question, but comfortable enough to answer it, which was a good sign.
Two steps took me to him and I threw my arms round him and hugged him "I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have with me"
"Except Ranger" he grinned as he hugged me back and pressed a brief kiss to the top of my head and let go of me.
"OK you got me there, he may be top of my list" I grinned up at him.
"I'm about to make bread, do you want to help?" he asked opening a drawer and removing a large blue and white striped apron and holding it out to me.
"Sure" I said nervously taking it from him.
"Don't worry, I won't let the nasty dough hurt you" he laughed at me.
Ranger's POV
The depth of the shit that the Cop is in has now been revealed to me in all its pungent glory. I can say two things, one is that it's deeper than I realised and two it's thicker than I hoped. Despite my promise to her, I may not be able to help him.
The only good thing about my chequered past is that I have friends in unlikely places and thankfully a few of them are worse than the guys Morelli is mixed up with. I have left a few discreet messages and am waiting for them to get back to me. I just hope we can piece together a solution. Although it may surprise a few people to know that there are creatures out there more frightening than me.
Woody's POV
Usually this part of the job sucks, I mean manning the cameras for hours at time, squinting at shadows, has to be one of the world's most mundane ways to make a living. Even if I see something, someone else gets the fun of going out there and making whatever or whoever it is hurt real bad. But this is different, now this is the catbird seat. The rest of the feeds have been distributed between the other stations, this one only shows the ones for the Batcave. All the alarms, the motion sensors, pressure pads, infrared, everything is routed through here. If she sighs heavily, I'll know about it.
She's wrapped in a huge fluffy dressing gown, sitting with the guys watching a movie. I think its Ghostbusters. In fact knowing Steph it will be. I've lost count of how many times she has made me watch it. Lester keeps a chart on the wall of his cubicle. Whichever of us has been made to watch it the most at the end of the year gets a prize. Knowing Les and his sick sense of humour, you probably win your own copy.
"All quiet?" Ranger materialises at my elbow.
"Yes Sir"
"Turn off the cameras on the top floor"
"Yes Sir" he must have noticed my hesitation as he leans forward "I have a teleconference with her in 5"
Now I understand "Done" I tell him. "Tell her we miss her" I blurt out and I can feel the flush over my cheeks.
His hand lands on my shoulder "I will"
"Thanks Boss"
Steph's POV
I sit down in front of the computer and his concerned face fills the screen. He's obviously been waiting for me. "Yo" he smiles "Woody asked me to tell you that we miss you"
"I miss him too, I miss all of them" I tell him. "How bad is it?" I ask, knowing the seriousness of his expression.
"Bad enough, but that wasn't why I called"
"So why did you call?" I ask as I lean forward.
"Well..." his dark eyes glitter with amusement.
"Well?" I ask.
"What's this I hear about you actually working in the kitchen today?"
I laugh "Wait till I get him, the sneak"
Joe's POV
This is the second one and I must admit that Rangeman keeps a good class of safe house. This is an elegant two bed/ two bath apartment overlooking a park and it must have cost a bomb. Not that I am allowed to look out the windows at all the fancy greenery, even this high up you never know who may be looking.
Once I spilled the beans on Stephanie it started to be more like a boy's road trip than anything else, although she'll kill me when she finds out how much I told these two. Or get Ranger to do it for her. Either way I'm history.
Flighter has this dry, understated sense of humour that just kills me and Sin's exuberant comedic streak has its own appeal. They have been partnered for just a few weeks, but they bicker like an old married couple and more than once I've had to step in and separate them. Though there is part of me that wonders how much of it is an act to keep me from fretting too much about all the trouble I'm in. They are currently arguing about what to have for dinner. I just listen to them, content in the knowledge that whatever happens I won't be going out in the rain to get it.
Tank's POV
My phone rings shattering the concentration that I have been trying so hard to sustain. With a heartfelt sigh that ends with a word that my Grandma would slap the back of my head if she ever heard me think, let alone say out loud, I accept the call. "Tank" I say with more frustration in my voice than I really wanted to convey.
"If you don't want my help boy" the voice is light and teasing.
"Sorry Mel" I tell her and I mean it "Having a bad day"
"So I hear, got a message that your boss wants to talk to me. Thought I'd dialled his number?"
"He's in a meeting, so you got me instead"
"Suits me, I have this overwhelming urge to step on his toes" I could hear the smile in her voice" Or some other part of his anatomy, just to see if I could make him blink"
I laughed "Funny, you aren't the only one that tells me that." She laughs again and I ask" So, do you want to meet and talk? I could be at the usual place in an hour"
"Darling, you say the naughtiest things" her voice dropped to an erotic whisper and the room suddenly felt warmer and smaller "The usual room?"
"You said the bed wasn't big enough" my voice has inexplicably dropped as well.
"For both of us to sleep in, true, but I intend to use you till you're spent and then discard you, send you home to recover from my insatiable and unreasonable demands"
I laughed "On my way" and break the connection. I send an e-mail to Ranger and Lester, telling them where I'm going and not to wait up for me. She can help, I know she can, if I give her enough of an incentive to do so.
I'd like to say that I'm doing it purely to help Steph, but to be honest, I've always been a little in lust with Melpomene, her particular blend of ruthlessness and feminine softness has ever been an attraction for me. It isn't a coincidence that she chose the Greek muse of tragedy as her street name; she's certainly brought enough of it into the radically shortened lives of her enemies. Glad she's on our side.
Adam's POV
Does she know, could she know how important it is to me to be here with her?
To be trusted with the location of her home and to be wanted as a companion and protector, this is more than I dared hope for.
She's asleep and Bobby's just settling down with a last cup of coffee and we're arguing amicably over who is taking first watch. A noise attracts my attention and I watch my phone and then Bobby's shimmy over the table. When Steph went to bed we switched the ringers off so that we didn't disturb her. With a curse I lean forward and grab it "Yo"
"Motion sensors just activated, southwest corner, infrared confirms a figure, check it out. Unit three is on route, they should be with you in ninety seconds" Woody's voice is tense.
"Roger. Heading out now" I can hear the strain in my own voice as I answer him.
I stand and pull my gun from its holster at my hip and click off the safety and put my phone back on my hip. I give Bobby a nod and head to the concealed entrance to the emergency stairwell.
He makes his way to the base of the staircase up to the bedroom and checks his own weapon. He takes up his position, standing foursquare, gun in both hands, more than ready to protect her.
Tank's POV
I find that I'm nervous as I open the door to the usual room in the usual hotel. Her gun, as I expected is trained on me and with a smile she lowers it as recognition dawns. I double lock the door and make my way over to her.
"Tank, it's been too long" she purrs, placing the gun on the night stand and turning back to me and taking a seat on the 'too small' bed. It's a king, the comforter a deep rich gold.
"You look good" and it's no lie, her hair, the colour of midnight flows over her shoulders in a cloud, her eyes, the colour of emeralds sparkle in her perfect face. Her bronze skin shines with health and vitality. She is simply the most beautiful and dangerous woman I have ever met. What an erotic combination.
"Charmer" she purrs and then she smiles tightly at me "I didn't mean what I said on the phone" she states, the claim patently untrue. But it gives me the chance to back out gracefully if I want to, but that's the last thing on my mind.
"Shame" I take a step towards her "I so wanted it to be true" she rises to meet me "Satisfying your insatiable and unreasonable demands would be a dream come true"
Her hand, hovered over my heart for a second, her head lowered as if she couldn't quite make up her mind. Then her head came up and she fixed me with a look of such unalloyed desire that I was suddenly breathless. "Tank, you naughty boy" she whispered and hooked a hand around the back of my neck and pulled my lips down to hers. I kissed her, deeply; she tasted of sunshine and cinnamon.
Later, I don't know how much, as my watch was tangled up with hers on the night stand next to our cell phones, various weapons, including her collection of throwing stars, knives and guns.
She made love with an enthusiasm and abandon that I'd never knew existed. No matter how wonderful she was in my long held fantasy, her impressive and sensual reality was awesome and I just prayed that I'd satisfied her as much as she had me.
She lay with her head on my chest and my arms were wrapped protectively around her, her seeming vulnerability at odds with what little I knew of her. "What do you need Tank?" she purred stretching sensuously against me like a cat.
Business was never very far from her mind. It was another of the things I liked about her. "It's not for me; it's a favour for a friend" I started to explain.
She turned in my arms so that she could look into my face. "She's more than a friend, Pierre"
I should have known that she would already be aware of what we wanted. "Yes she is, she's our heart" I told her truthfully.
Her smile was sweet as she looked up at me "If you had lied to me about what she meant to you I would have refused, but you answered from the heart" she ran a finger gently down my chest drawing the shape on my pectoral with a perfectly manicured nail "I'll help you, but not because of anything we do here together"
I dislodge her gently and settle her down on the pillow and move so that we're face to face "And here was me thinking that I was the incentive" I ran a gentle hand down her hair and smile at her, enjoying the silky texture as it slips across my palm.
"A wonderful one" she purred "She snared the mighty Ranger, something that many have tried to do before her" She smiled "I want to meet her and toast her good fortune with the expensive champagne he's going to buy me for my aid in this matter"
I've never seen her be this open, she too has perfected the blank face and she uses it skilfully. "I'll make sure you get it. You and Stephanie will get on well" I predict.
"She's loved and protected not just by Ranger but by you, that makes her worth saving" She smiles and her hand travels slowly up my chest to the back of my neck and she pulls me down to her waiting mouth "Now that's that settled, I can think of a way to pass an hour or two" she whispers to me as she slowly closes the distance.
"Another insatiable and unreasonable demand my lady?" I ask
"You betcha" she grins and presses her smile to mine.
Adam's POV
I make my way quickly down to the ground floor and then into the basement. Securing and locking the doors behind me so that if whoever it is gets past me, I haven't left them an easy route to her.
My phone vibrates again and I pull it from its niche at my hip. "Yo"
"Stand down, it's a drunk taking a leak against the wall of the building. Ram encouraged him to move on"
"Understood, standing down" I flick the safety back on and put it back in its holster. I smirk as I contemplate the method of persuasion Ram used to encourage the man to move on. Hell, having an irate Ram bearing down on you would sober anyone up. Hell if it happened more than once, you'd never drink again for fear of it happening again.
I make my way back up and make sure everything is locked up behind me.
Something must have woken her; she's back in that huge dressing gown with her hair mussed from sleep and a worried expression on her dear face. She heads over to me and hugs me "You OK?" I ask.
"I am now that I know you are safe"
That is typical, I'm here to ensure her safety and she worries about me. "Back to bed" I tell her.
She yawns and I resist the urge to ruffle her hair. "Night Adam, Night Bobby"
"Night" we echo and she makes her way back upstairs.
And we go back to amiably arguing about whose taking first watch, but after that little adrenaline spike, I think it's a moot point. It's going take a while before either of us can sleep.