The characters belong to JE. I receive nothing from this, but it sure is fun.
Chapter 3
Stephanie's POV
As I followed the directions to Tank's house, I couldn't help but to think of Lula. If she ever found out that Tank let me stay at his house she would go if full on Rhino mode. Lula is one of my closest friends. I met her when I was after my first FTA, which ironically was Joe. Lula is a former prostitute and has a heart of gold. Now she works as a file clerk at the Bonds office and occasionally helps me pick up skips. Lula is a plus size woman with an even bigger personality. She favors bright colored hair, and spandex clothes that are at least six sizes too small. Tank and Lula used to date and one of her biggest complaints was that he would always spend the night at her apartment, but he never took her to his place. Yep, I'm never telling Lula about this.
I pulled to a large iron gate that blocked a long drive way. Tank's house was far enough down the driveway that I could see it, but you couldn't see into the windows if they were passing by on the street. The house was located on the outskirts of Trenton, so I don't imagine that there is a lot of traffic that passes by on a regular basis. I entered the first security code on the keypad that was next to my driver's side window. Once the gate opened, I drove up the driveway until I came to another keypad on the driver's side. I quickly entered the second code, which opened the garage.
The outside of Tank's home is beautiful. The house looks to be a nice size, much bigger than the houses in the 'Burg, made of red brick and a dark blue roof with matching shutters framing the windows. I couldn't help but think, if Ranger is Batman and Batman has the Batcave, does that make Tank Robin and his home the Robin's Nest. I couldn't stop my giggle from escaping, knowing just how ridiculous that sounds. Tank would probably kick me out of his house if he knew that I just referred to him as Robin.
I used the key fob to enter the house through the door that connects the garage to the kitchen. I quickly entered the code that shut off the alarm and looked around the kitchen. This would be my mother's dream kitchen. Granite countertops and glossy wood cabinets, a gas stove, and a double oven. I made a mental note to not attempt to cook anything in this kitchen. I would hate to burn down. Tank would never forgive me.
I wonder if Tank would mind it if I explored the rest of his house. Before I had a chance to start, Tank's house phone began ringing. I decide to let the answering machine pick it up. There was no way I was going to answer that phone and take a chance that Ranger was on the other end of the line.
"Little Girl, it's me. Pick up the phone." I hear Tank say.
I grabbed the phone on the kitchen countertop and hit the talk button. "Hey, Big Guy. You're not calling to tell me than Ranger's already found out where I'm hiding and he's on his way here, are you?"
"No, Ranger doesn't have a clue. He was so distracted that he never noticed that I'm the one that put your trackers back into your apartment. He's kicking himself for not realizing that you left without him noticing." Tank laughs. "I convinced Ranger that we could find you faster if we split up to cover more ground, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to call you. Ranger even cancelled Lester's weekend off to help search for you, so he won't be able to bring you an overnight bag. I went ahead and told Lester and Bobby that you're at my place, but don't worry, they won't tell Ranger. Hal is watching your apartment in case you come back tonight. Whenever you're ready to go home let me know and I'll pull whoever watching your apartment off duty so that they won't call and report your return to Ranger."
"Lester's had to cancel his time off?" I asked. Now I feel bad I totally ruined Lester's weekend.
"He said that he didn't have anything important planned. As soon as I told him where you went, he decided to cancel his time off anyway. He wanted to stay at Rangeman and watch Ranger go out of his mind searching for you." Tank explained. "I called Ella and she's going to bring you some things that you might need. She just bought some stuff for you the other day, but hasn't got around to putting it in Ranger's closet. Luis is taking her to see a movie tonight, so they'll drop it off before the movie. I told her to call the house before she comes so that you'll know to expect her."
"First I ruin Lester's weekend off, and now I ruin Ella and Luis' date night." I sigh. "I feel bad for my drama ruining everybody's plans."
Tank laughed again. "Don't. Ella's feelings would be hurt if you didn't let her help you. You know that she thinks of you as the daughter that she never had." Tanks pauses for a moment. "So what do you think?"
"Of what?" I ask, confused.
"Of the house."
"Oh, I've only seen the outside and the kitchen, but what I have seen is beautiful." I tell him.
"Feel free to explore as much as you want. I don't have anything to hide."
"You're not afraid that I'll find your hidden stash of Playboy magazines." I laugh.
"You won't find anything like that in my house. You may want to be careful if you ever go over to Lester's. Even I'm afraid to open drawers at his house." Tank warns, causing me to giggle. "On a more serious note, I need to warn you that I have cameras that take pictures whenever someone enters or exits the house. I have it set up so that the camera will immediately send the picture to my phone. The camera in the garage sent a picture of you entering my house. That's how I knew to call you."
"So what you're telling me is not to answer the door in my underwear."
"Not unless you want Ranger to find out and kill me." He laughs. "There is a gun in the false bottom of my nightstand. I want you to carry with you at all times. My house is secure, but I don't want chances where your safety is concerned. DO NOT put that gun in my cookie jar. The cookie jar in my kitchen is filled with Ella's chocolate chip cookies, which she gave me yesterday."
"Thanks, Big Guy. I don't know what I would have done without your help today."
"Ranger's calling. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen." Click
One of these days I'm going to convince Ranger to let me train everyone at Rangeman in phone etiquette. They all need to learn the proper way to end a phone call.
Before I can explore Tank's house, I feel two fluffy cats leaning against my legs purring. One of the cats looks like a Calico and the other has longer fluffy gray hair. I bend over and pet both cats. Each one has a collar with a name tag shaped like a fish. The calico is named Callie and the grey one is named Smokey. I had forgotten that Tank is a cat lover.
Both of the cats followed me into the living room. The living room was filled with oversized leather furniture and a fireplace. A large flat screen television hung on one of the walls. There were two more cats lounging on the furniture. One was a beautiful black cat with short hair. I petted the black cat and looked at the name tag which said Midnight. The other cat was exactly like the fluffy gray cat, but with white hair named Snow. It's a good thing that I'm not allergic to cats like Lula.
Oh, no! Rex! I forgot all about him in my apartment. I must be the worse hamster mommy ever! I debated calling Tank and asking him to check on Rex, but if Ranger's close by he'll figure out where I am. I guess I'll have to wait until the next time Tank calls.
Once I was done exploring Tank's house and had the gun Tank told me about tuck into the small of my waist, I went to the kitchen in search of milk and cookies as a snack. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Tank's big screen television in the living room while I waited on Ella and Luis to show up.
Ella and Luis called at 6:30 from Tank's driveway. I hit the button that opened the gate so that they could drive up to the house. I wait until Ella was almost to the door before I opened it.
"Hello, Dear." Ella said carrying a box. "Luis is getting your bag from the car. I brought you sausage fettuccini alfredo and garlic bread for dinner and a whole pineapple upside down cake for dessert."
"Oh, Ella! Thank you! You're a God send." I exclaim. "I'm sorry that my drama interrupted your plans for the evening."
"You didn't interrupt our plans. The movie doesn't start until nine. Luis and I have plenty of time to go to dinner and see the movie." She explains as Luis walks up carrying a duffle bag.
"It's about time you stood up to Carlos and that cop." Luis says giving me a quick hug. "I don't know why that nephew of ours refuses to tell you how he feels about you."
"Ranger has made it perfectly clear how he feels about me. He loves me but his love doesn't come with a ring, but a condom might come in handy." I say before realize it. "Oh! I'm so sorry . That was too much information. You probably didn't need or want to hear that."
"Is that what he told you, Dear? Don't believe it for a minute. I clean Carlos' apartment. I know more of his secrets than he realizes. Did you know that he keeps a picture of you by his bed every night? One time he forgot to put it away. Next time you're in his apartment on seven look in the bottom drawer of the nightstand on his side of the bed. Yes Dear, I know that you each have a side of the bed when you stay up on seven." Ella tells me.
"Really?" I asked in shock. "I didn't know Ranger had a picture of me."
"He has more than one. The one in is desk drawer of his home office has a picture of you in one of your distraction outfits." Ella continued. "While I'm thinking about it, Tank asked Hal to feed Rex and give him fresh water, in case you didn't come back to your apartment tonight."
Once Ella and Luis left, I ate the dinner she had brought for me. Then I decided to take my bag upstairs to one of Tank's guest bedroom, since I didn't feel right about staying in Tank's room. The guest room I chose had a bathroom attached to it with a Jacuzzi tub. I soaked in the tub allowing the Jacuzzi jets to work away the stress from the day.
Once I was thoroughly relaxed, I got out of the tub and put on the pajamas that Ella had packed for me. The bed was comfortable, but not as good as the one in Ranger's apartment. I fell asleep hoping that I would have a dream that would give me some guidance on dealing with Ranger and Joe.
