Author's Note
Okay here we go, the second part of Chapter 3.
Thank you very much for all your comments yesterday, I hope you will enjoy this one too.
I think I will do one more chapter and than this story will be definitely complete.
Enjoy!
The next morning
"Ohhhhh….SHIT" I hear Lula shout and I don't even want to attempted to open my eyes.
"LULA….shhhhhhh" My head is pounding and I feel a little sick.
"White girl…you may want to open your eyes" Lula's voice is still too loud, but I do as she tells me too. I squint my eyes together and will them to see something. But with a groan I close them again. The daylight is too bright and the person with the jackhammer in my head just turned it up a notch.
A few attempts later, I can finally open my eyes and look around. We are in a room covered from floor to ceiling in purple plush. Lula and I are currently lying in a king size bed also entirely purple surrounded by a sex swing, bonding equipment, heaps of sex toys and whips; lots and lots of whips. On the opposite side of the room are floor to ceiling windows with black curtains and a doors leading out to a balcony.
"Where are we?" I question and lift the covers. I am unsure if I am glad about the fact that I am wearing purple Victoria secret pyjamas, which are not mine, or not.
"Beats me, skinny girl. What is the last thing you remember?" Lula asks as she gets out of bed, wearing the same outfit as me.
"Uh…" I try to remember something, but come up blank. "We were going to this bar, where grandma…OH NO…where is my grandmother?"
"I don't know…but I found our clothes" Lula throws them on the bed and the both of us quickly get dressed. I quickly check if I have all my trackers on me before we walk out onto the balcony, trying to identify to where we are. We can look down onto a big yard, where a few dogs are playing and a gardener is giving the hedge a manicure. The house seems rather large and we are currently on the top floor. We can't even see through the trees surrounding the large property.
"Let's see if we can find my grandmother" I tell Lula and walk out the door.
"Steph…uh…white girl?" Lula calls from behind me and I turn around.
"What?" I question.
"Your hair…is…uhhh short" Is all Lula says and my hands immediately fly up to my head. She is right. From what I can feel, it is now jaw length and choppy, with my bangs cut to eye level. I know they are going to be a nightmare to tame. But how did this happen? I would never cut my hair this short in a sober state.
"How bad does it look?" I ask and add "Does it look like I did it myself?"
"Nah…definitely professionally done" Lula replies.
"Okay so sometime in the past twelve hours between the gay bar and here I got a haircut…that is a start." Then I spot something on Lula's hand. "Your hand…where is that stamp from?"
"Can't read that…its smeared" She tells me and I check my hands. There are no stamps to be found anywhere on me.
Together we make our way out of the room. Right next to where we slept is a massive stair case located, completely made out of marble.
"I really hope we didn't break in" Lula voices my thoughts.
"Ditto"
We make our way through the house and don't find any signs of my grandmother or the person who owns the place.
"Garden?" I question as we get into the kitchen, where a big stack of muffins is resting on the counter top. I immediately grab one and Lula follows suit. "Mhhhh…these are delicious" I moan, hoping that these will cure my hangover and stop the headache.
"I am glad my work is appreciated" a woman says from behind us. Lula and I immediately drop the muffin.
"Uh…sorry…we didn't mean to take them….They were just there and were looking delicious" I stutter and the elderly woman grins at us.
"Don't worry, eat all you want." She hands us two new ones on plates and throws away the ones we dropped. "You must be Stephanie and Lula, the house guests. Peter said to expect you down here, sometime this morning."
"Peter?" Lula and I question in unison.
"Yes, Peter. He will be back in an hour" The woman tells us. She is wearing a chef's uniform and her name tag says Lisa.
"You are American?" Lula questions her accent.
"Yes. I come from Dallas" Lisa replies.
"Excuse me, Lisa, have you seen and elderly woman. About 5ft 5 with purple hair and a potty mouth?" I question, desperate to find my grandmother.
"No, I am sorry. But maybe Peter will be able to answer that, when he gets back" She answers and then ads "I have to go. It was nice to meet you. Breakfast is set out in the sunroom, just through those doors." And with that Lisa leaves, before we can ask any more questions.
Lula and I look at each other and shrug. "Might as well take the free breakfast. May help us remember what happened last night."
"Where are our bags? I am sure I took mine everywhere last night." I question.
"I got no idea, another question for the guy who owns the place….come on white girl I am hungry!" Lula says and marches ahead through the big open doors. As I follow Lula into the next room a whole buffet greets us, waiting to be eaten.
"This isn't breakfast, this is a feast" I mutter and walk over to where Lula is putting a mountain of food on her plate.
"Ahhh…there you are" A man, about 50 years old, with a heavy European accent, comes walking towards us, just as we are finishing breakfast. He is wearing a purple polo shirt with black pants and purple shoes. This must be the owner of the house. "I was wondering if you guys are up. Girl you look fabulous with that new haircut. Dieter did a terrific job."
"Who are you?" Lula questions and the guy's smile gets wider as he joins us at the table.
"You don't remember? I am Peter" he says and snatches a grape from my plate. I am thinking about scowling at him, but then I remind myself that this is the owner of the house and it is his food we are eating.
"No, we don't, Peter. We are sorry. Everything about last night is a little hazy. "I inform him and ad "Do you know my grandmother? And how did we meet by the way?"
"Your grandmother? No, unfortunately not." He answers and I get a bad feeling in my stomach. My mother is going to loose her shit, when she finds out I lost grandma in another country. No more Pineapple upside down cake for me, for the rest of my life.
"…We met at this charity event at the Palace. What a great night it was until they kicked us all out" He informs us. "How rude of them….Who kicks people out, when the party is still in full swing at 4am? I am telling you, if it weren't for the good cause, I wouldn't have gone, But Dieter insisted…" Peter sighs.
"That place simply isn't what it used to be anymore…back when I was younger…I am telling you girls, the Palace that where the party was at. These days it is full of uptight, rich gay men, who pretend they were never young and wild. But I have pictures to prove it!"
"Okay, but what happened after we left the…Palace?" I ask carefully, trying to bring him back to the subject. I want to know how I ended up sleeping in a purple play room with purple sleeping clothes.
"Well a few of the men, you, Lula and I came back here, emptied half of my liquor cabinet and then you guys insisted on sleeping in the play room." Peter smirks. "As soon as you saw the room, I couldn't get you guys out there anymore. Which is a shame, because it could have come in very handy last night…"
"Oh…I didn't need that image in my head" Lula pulls a face in disgust and I too, have to cringe.
"Don't be so prude. You told your man all about that room!" Peter looks right at me and my stomach plummets. "Ranger right?"
"Oh…no" I groan and put my head on the table.
"You drunk dialled batman" Lula laughs and Peter joins in.
"The way you described him, I wouldn't mind a go at him" Peter tells us with a wide grin. I cannot believe I drunk dialled Ranger. He is going to kill me or ship me off to some third world country, I am sure of it. Not even his love for me will be enough to save me from that fate.
After breakfast, Peter is nice enough to get his driver to give us a lift back to the place where we met, unfortunately without our bags. Turns out we are further from Amsterdam as we thought. We are almost back at the German border and the hour drive to the Palace seems like a life time. In the end we are still an hour away from Amsterdam and still no Idea where my grandmother is.
"Oh…that lady left with Richard and a few of his friends." The manager informs us, while he is counting receipts. "I have to tell you guys, you brought us quite a bit of money in. Before you two youngsters showed up, the party was dull."
Palace turned out to be a gay bar, where a charity event for HIV research took place, last night. We were lucky that the manager was here already, they usually don't open until 6pm. Walking into this place, I had some flashbacks of me on that stripper pole, thankfully fully clothed. And I was doing shots from a man's body with Lula and grandma.
"Do you know how we can find this Richard?" I question. This place reeks of alcohol and my body isn't liking that at all. My headache is coming back in full force and my stomach thinks about rejecting my breakfast.
"Yeah, he lives in the house to the right, three doors down from here. You can't miss the big mansion." He tells us and then adds "I think those belong to you guys."
We look to where he is pointing and spot our bags.
"By the way, thank you for cutting of your hair for charity. We really appreciated it" The manager says delighted and with that he leaves towards the back of the bar and disappears behind a door.
"Wow, this is one big ass mansion" Lula whistles through her teeth. I am in awe too. Peter's house is a shed compared to this one. We are currently standing in front of a closed gate and behind it's door is a big, two story, red brick building with white Pillars at the front entrance. The house itself stretches across half of the property. There are nice flower beds and the grass looks like as if it is cut with nail clippers.
"Hopefully it doesn't belong to the royal family" I mutter and press the gate button.
"Hello?" A voice questions harshly.
"Hi, uhmmm we are looking for my grandmother, 5ft 5 with purple hair" I say and cross my fingers, hoping that she is here. Maybe I should slip her a tracker, so that I never lose her again.
Without another word from the person on the other side of that intercom, the gate opens. Lula and I walk up the drive way. The front door fly's open and my Grandmother comes walking towards us.
"My granddaughter…finally!" Grandma shouts. She is wearing a fluffy baby blue robe, which clashes slightly with her hair.
"Grandma, I was worried." I say and pull her into a hug. "Maybe you can fill in the missing pieces of last night?"
"Not surprising that you don't remember, you and Lula were doing shots of Absinth as if they were water." My grandmother shakes her head disapprovingly. "I told you to never mix alcohol!…Why don't you go back to the hotel and I will meet you there later?"
"No, grandma. You are coming with us. It's been a rough day and night. I just want to go to sleep" I tell her in a voice that leaves no room for an argument.
"Well you guys go and I will come back later. I am sure Richard will give me a lift" She replies and turns away. I quickly walk after her with Lula hot on my heels.
"Well then at least let me meet this guy and make sure he will be able to give you a lift" I say as I catch up with her. She is quick for her age.
"No…there is no need. I know he will help me to get back" Grandma declares.
"Has this guy got a third eye or why do you not introduce us to the fine specimen that is in there?" Lula questions.
"No third eye" She answers. Her behaviour is really strange and I hope she didn't kill the guy.
"I really gotta pee, can I just use the toilet?" I question and quickly take the last few steps towards the door.
"Stephie…" Grandma sighs as I step through the door.
"Hi" I say as I spot a 70 something guy, with grey hair, blue eyes and a wide smile standing in the hallway. "I am Stephanie, Could I just use your toilet?"
"I am Richard and sure you can" Richard replies. He too is wearing a blue bathrobe, telling me exactly what they were up to last night.
My Spidery senses go off in full force. "Grandma…" I start up, as I suddenly feel something cold press into my back and Lula shrieks in the same moment.
"No one is going anywhere, until this old guy gives us what we want" A deep voice growls into my ear and I groan. Great, we stumbled into a hostage situation.
"Don't fucking touch me" Lula snarls. Both men are dressed completely in black and are wearing black masks. One of them has a cross tattoo on his neck, where the mask isn't covering it.
"Why didn't you say something?" I ask my grandmother, as we are being led into the kitchen, where two men are gagged and tied half naked to the kitchen chairs and another armed man in black is pacing the room.
"They said they had someone upstairs watching me and they would shoot you and me if I said anything" Grandma whispers.
"White girl, I knew we had too much luck the last few days" Lula sighs and we all are being pushed into chairs and tied to them.
"Tell me about it" I mutter.
"Shut up and sit down" One of the men growls in a British accent, before turning to Richard. "Where is it Richard? Where is the box?"
"I don't know what you are talking about" Richard replies, just before the bud of the gun connects with his jaw.
"You better start talking old man, or there will be more of those" the man warns.
I look around and try to figure out what to do. They took my bag, but I still got all my trackers on me. So If I can manage to take them off and place them as far away from each other as possible, then I may set the alarms off at Rangemen.
"Excuse me…I wasn't kidding as I said that I needed to pee. If you don't let me, it's going to be a big mess" I tell them and put a whiney voice on, hoping it will convince them to let me go.
"Fine" The British guy says and then looks at cross tattoo guy and jerks his head. "You take her!"
These guys must have been here before, since he knows the way to the bathroom.
"Make it quick" He growls, as he pushes me in.
I close the door, lock it and look around. There is an open window, where I could throw my Necklace out. I always sucked at throwing, but I hope I will be able to get it far enough. It is a shame that I have to throw it away. It is a wonder woman necklace and engraved on the back is 'Babe'.
I hurry towards the window and take of my necklace. "Please…Please…let this work" I whisper to myself and throw it as hard and far as I can. The necklace lands on the neighbour's lawn and I quietly jump up and down.
Next up are my earrings. I quickly take them off, place them into some toilet paper and drop them into the toilet.
"Hurry up" my babysitter bangs on the door and I reply "I will be done in a second."
This leaves me with two more trackers and I need to get ride of at least one. I can't take of my shoes they would notice that, so the belt it is. I hope, that by leaving it in the bathroom, all the trackers will be far enough from each other that they set off the alarms.
I quickly flush the toilet, take of my belt and stash it behind the shower curtain. Here goes to nothing!
Ranger's POV
I laugh out loud as I read Babe's postcard from Berlin. I can just imagine how she is sitting at a table moaning over every bit of that piece of cake. That image gets me hard instantly and I have to remind myself that I am currently in the office with my door wide open.
I glance at the calendar and smile. Two more weeks and my babe will be back in my arms. I cannot wait for her to get back home.
I look out the window and the sun is just coming up over Miami's skyline. I was able to escape the cold autumn in Trenton and was greeted with 25 degrees and sunshine here.
This trip both business and pleasure. A couple of potential high end clients want to talk to me personally and it only will take a couple of days of my five day trip, to negotiate and assure them that they are better of signing with us then our competitors.
Which leaves me three days to spend time with my daughter. Julie was beyond excited and Rachel not so much. She said it was to short notice and they had plans, but I don't care. I don't get to see my daughter that often, so when I am in town I like to spend time with her. Thankfully my daughter was all to happy to cancel a trip with her friends in order to spend time with me.
My mobile phone rings and I pick it up without looking at the caller ID. "Yo"
"Boss, the alarms for her trackers just went off!" Woody says and my heart stops for second, before it starts pumping in double speed.
"Explain" I growl.
"The earrings are at a sewage plant, the necklace is running around on the same block of land, and the belt is next door to that, with the shoes half a klick away" Woody reports.
I quickly pull up her trackers on my screen to see for myself. My Babe has carried all trackers on her since she started the trip or so she told me, so I highly doubt that this is an accident. "I will take care of it." I say and hang up.
I dial Steph's number, but I only get voicemail, same goes for Lula. So I scroll through my phone and find the name and number I am looking for. After a few rings Tom van Haal picks up.
"Manoso" He greets me. "We are on our way to check it out. I expected your call two minutes ago." Tom is Ex-Dutch Navy and is one of the Managers at a security company much like Rangemen. He and I met as we did a Mission for the UN a few years back, since then we have been trading favours back and forth. I send him the information for Steph's trackers in case something happened. They are much closer to her than I am and he is the only one outside of Rangemen I trust with Steph's life.
"Just got the call. I will be on the first flight out" I tell him.
"Copy that. Will keep you updated" He answers and hangs up on me.
I quickly gather my things, grab my passport out of the safe and make my way to the airport. Since for once I flew commercially, I buy the first flight out to the Amsterdam. It is going to be a very long flight of not knowing if Steph is okay or not.
I called Julie and told her that something happened to Steph and I needed to leave. She made me promise to return to Miami with Steph as soon as possible.
Steph's POV
Just eleven more hours
Just eleven more hours
I keep repeating this over and over in my head. Because that's how long it will take Ranger to get here, maybe even more. If the alarms even went off.
For all I know they didn't and we may not get out of here alive, if they don't get what they came for.
Since Richard still claims to not know what our kidnappers are looking for, they beat him black and blue. Now two of them are turning the house upside down. They started in here and worked their way up to the first floor. We can hear them throwing over furniture and smashing things. Thankfully they didn't gag us, just tied us to the chair.
"Just tell us where it is old man and we will be out of your hair in no time" The youngest of the three says. He has blue eyes and I can make out blonde hair beneath that mask. This one has an eastern European accent.
"I don't know….know what you…you are talking about!" Richard replies weakly, before the fist of the man in black, connects with Richard's ribs, again.
"Fine…" The guy says and turns towards my grandma "Maybe you will talk, when I use this sweet, old lady for a punching bag."
"I am not old" My grandma says with a lot of venom in her voice. "Untie me and I can show how sweet I can be!"
"WAIT" I cry out, just before he hits her. "Take it out on me instead...and leave her alone."
"Stephie…" My grandma says and the guy looks from me to her and back.
"I will come to you later on" He says, but steps away from my grandmother. I let out the breath I have been holding and close my eyes for a second, which is a big mistake since I never see his fist coming.
My head snaps back and the left side of my face starts throbbing instantly. I hear Lula and my grandmother shout and curse the man, but it doesn't stop him from punching me again.
"Argggg" I can't help but cry out. But this is better than him hitting my grandmother. He punches me one last time, before turning to Richard again. I can't hear much, because my ears are ringing from the pain. But as I look up and out the window I see a pair of eyes look right into mine.
Tom's POV (Everything in Italics is said and thought in Dutch)
That bastard hit her three times. If he doesn't get shot by one of us, Ranger will definitely dispose of his body.
I knew immediately who the woman in the chair is, as I got a good look at her. I am not the least bit surprised that Ranger fell for her. I can tell she has spunk. I shoot her a small encouraging smile, before I retreat back to my guys.
Thankfully we just came from a job close by and we made it here within half an hour after the alarms went off.
"Call the cops. It's a hostage situation! Tell them no sirens" I tell Alex, the rookie, before turning to the others. "Six hostages all tied to chairs in the kitchen. One hostage taker, armed, with them. We have to assume there are more. Daan, go and check out the back, Jayden the other side of the building."
15 minutes later the guys are back and we from a plan of attack. Unfortunately the kitchen does not have an access point from the outside, so Daan and I will go through a cellar window. Jayden and Lars are going to cover the back and Sem and Milan take the front. Thankfully they are no side entrances, so that Alex can stay, watch the kitchen and notify us of any changes.
"Alright let's go!" I say and all of us get quietly into our positions. I silently thank the person, who left the window open. This way we don't have to break it and alert the bad guys.
"Team one is in" I relay to the others and seconds later "Team two in" and "Team three in" comes back.
We silently move forward clearing the basement as we go. We meet the other two teams on top of the stairs. I motion for Team two and three to go up to the second floor, since there is noise coming from up there.
"Almost at the kitchen, standby" I tell Alex outside. "Breaching the kitchen in three…"
Steph's POV
"TELL ME WHERE IT IS" The guy shouts and punches me into the gut and then into the face. I am sure my nose is broken, I think I will have a concussion and my ribs hurt like a bitch.
As I can see straight again, I look out the window and this time a different guy is looking at me. The one before was a little older, had long grey hair and a black baseball cap on his head. This one has a military buzz cut and looks like he still belongs in high school. But it gives me hope, that help is on the way.
Lula and my grandmother are looking worriedly at me. Lula tried to get the guy to come after her, but he wouldn't have any of it.
My mind keeps on wandering to Ranger and how often he has had to safe me from situations like this. In Trenton I never gave it a thought, because if something happened to me, he would be right there and not like now, thousands of kilometres away.
A few days ago I thought, maybe I could get some training and go back to bounty hunting when I get back to Trenton. But now without Ranger here to safe me, it put the whole thing in a new prospective. I am tiered of finding myself in these situations. I am tiered of constantly having to rely on others to safe me.
Even if we were in Trenton, what if something happened and he couldn't get to me on time? I cannot do this to him or my family any longer.
I had enough and I think it is time to start something new. I don't know what yet, but as soon as I get out of here, I will figure that out.
Suddenly the youngster turns me around and holds a gun to my head. "I will shoot her, if you come any closer!"
The grey haired guy from earlier is standing in kitchen, over by the door, with his arms raised. Another guy, who I assume is his partner, is pointing the gun at the guy behind me and two men, armed, and dressed like the grey haired guy and his partner appear at the other doorway, which, I guess, leads to the dining room. I can't be sure, since I never got the tour of the house.
"You are surrounded and your buddies in custody, there is nowhere for you to go. Just drop the weapon."
"You are going to let me walk out of here with her, or she dies!" The man with the gun to my head replies. He presses the gun harder to my temple, just to prove the point that he is holding a bargaining ship. His gun presses into part of my head where he hit me a couple of times and it makes me whimper.
"Hey ASSHOLE" I manage to get passed my clenched teeth. "You might want to take a good look around. These guys aren't kidding. They don't care if I die or not. One hostage dead out of six is a good day for them!"
"Shut up bitch" He growls and is momentarily distracted.
I stare at the grey haired guy for a few seconds, before I gather all my strength and push my chair backwards, catching the youngster off guard. He stumbles back .
BANG
"Ahhh" I cry out in pain as the bullet hits my shoulder. A couple of more shots are being fired, but all I can concentrate on, is the blood seeping through my shirt.
"Steph…Steph stay with me…come on white girl, keep your eyes open" I hear Lula from far away.
"Stephanie…you gotta stay with us" My grandma cries out and I want to look at her and tell her that I am okay, but I can't seem to open my eyes. More voices are talking to me, but I can't make out any of them.
Where is Ranger? Is he going to come for me again or is this the time where my luck has run out….?
Tom's POV (Everything in Italic is in Dutch)
"Someone call the medics!" I shout and quickly holster my weapon. I make my way over to where Ranger's woman is fighting to stay conscious. Her friend is shouting for her to hang on and the elderly woman is trying to get to her, even though she is still tied to the chair.
Daan shot the hostage taker and Jayden is currently feeling for a pulse. I gather as many towels as I can find and press them against Stephanie's shoulder.
"Stephanie…I am Tom. Ranger's friend. I need you to stay conscious. Open your eyes darling" I tell her, but don't get a responds from her.
"Where is that medic?" I question Alex through the radio.
"On it's way Boss, Cops just arrived" He replies. Took them long enough!
I look at Jayden, who is kneeling next to the kidnapper, for an update on his condition, but Jayden just shakes his head. The guy is dead.
"Daan, go and meet the cops outside. Jayden, Sem and Milan, lead the Hostages outside. They need to get checked out by the medics" I command.
"No...I am not going anywhere, I am staying with my granddaughter!" The elderly woman exclaims and I nod at Milan to let her go. She and Stephanie's friend, whose name I forgot, come rushing over immediately.
"Ranger…" Stephanie mutters and adds something I can't understand.
"Ranger is on his way." I inform her and feel her pulse. "Shit…her pulse is barely there. Help me…we need lay her onto her back" I call out to Jayden and we put her onto the ground. As I feel her pulse again, there isn't one.
"Move away" I tell the Ladies harshly and start CPR immediately.
Ranger's POV
I can feel something isn't right as I step out of the Airport in Amsterdam. There is a black SUV waiting for me and I get in. "Report" I order and the man who is driving shrinks about an inch in size.
"I am not allowed to say anything, sir. Tom will update you as soon as we get to the hospital." The driver replies and I sigh. Since this isn't one of my guys I cannot get anything else out of him, unless I torture him and I don't think Tom would appreciate that.
Since he mentioned a hospital, my stomach is in nots and my hands are shaking. And the fact that I am not being told anything, means that Steph is in bad shape. I just hope I am not too late.
Half an hour later the driver pulls up in front of the hospital and my bad feeling intensifies. Just as I get out of the car, Tom appears and I can spot blood on his uniform. "Please tell me that blood isn't Steph's!" I say and he quickly puts his blank face in place. My heart starts racing and my lungs get barely any air. Why couldn't that stupid plane fly faster?
"She is stable" Tom tells me "Stephanie was shot and a major artery was damaged, but the Doctors were able to repair it. But she has a major concussion, two broken ribs and bruises all over her stomach and face." Tom informs me and I will the air back into my lunges. I need to see her, make sure for myself that she is alive. "I will lead you to her."
There is a guard outside Steph's door and as we walk in, I see Lula sitting on one side and my Babe's grandmother on the other side of the hospital bed. Both woman have puffy eyes and look like they could use some sleep.
"Ranger" Lula sighs and gets up. "The doctors said she will be alright."
"Good." I answer only and take a good look at my Babe. Her whole face is slightly swollen and bruised, but apart from that I cannot see any further injuries, since the hospital gown is covering them. Her hair is short now and she looks so young and fragile. "Tank is on his way. He couldn't get an earlier flight."
"Thanks. Want some coffee?" She questions and I shake my head. "Okay then, Mrs Mazur, why don't ya come with me. Let's see if hospitals here make better coffees, than the ones at home!"
I sit down on the chair, Lula just occupied and interlace my fingers with Steph's. "What happened?" I question, sensing that Tom is still in the room.
"Hostage situation. They were looking for a package, according to the victims. One kidnapper is dead, two in custody and they aren't talking. The guy who owns the house, where Stephanie and the others were at, claims to not know which package they were referring to."
"What were they even doing there?" I probe, without taking my eyes of my Babe.
"Mrs Mazur stayed at that house last night and Stephanie and Lula were there to get her. Even though she tried to make them leave, the two Ladies, wouldn't leave without her and stumbled into that mess." Tom replies. "Here, we recovered these, but the earrings are lost."
I look at him and see him holding her belt and necklace. "Thank you. I owe you, big time."
"Nah, all good. Just make sure she gets better" Tom claps me on the shoulder and leaves the room.
I look down at the wonder woman necklace in my hand and I am glad I gave this to her. "Oh…Babe. What did you stumble in now?"
I wake as I feel her fingers running through my short hair. As I open my eyes, I can see her blue eyes watching me. "I like your hair better when it is longer."
"Then I will grow it back for you, Babe" I inform her and smile.
"You came…" She sniffs and then the tears are starting to fall down her cheeks. I instantly stand up and come to sit next to her on the bed.
"Scoot over, Babe" I say softly and she complies. As soon as I am able to lay down as well, I gather her into my arms. "I will always come for you." I tell her over and over again.
She breaks down completely and I warp my arms tighter around her, mindful of her ribs and stomach, and run a hand up and down her back to soothe her, all the while murmuring nonsense in Spanish.
It takes a while for her to calm down and she clings to me as if her life depends on it. Eventually her breath evens out, she falls asleep and I cannot help but to close my eyes too. I am glad and happy that she is safe, but this incident shook me to the core. I could have lost her today.
Steph's POV
"I am sorry" I say and look down at my breakfast the next morning.
"What for?" Ranger questions.
"For scarring you…" I sigh and eat some of my scrambled eggs. I don't dare to look at him, afraid what I might see.
"You didn't scare me…" He answers and my head snaps in his direction.
"Don't lie to me…please. You have never done that, so don't start now. Plus I can see it in your eyes, how much I scarred you… how much you are still scarred" I say. I think I broke Batman.
"You didn't break me, Babe." He says and comes to sit next to me again. "I am scarred. This was a close one. I could have lost you and I was thousands of kilometres away."
"I know…I am sorry. I was so hung-over that my spidery senses kicked in too late and we found ourselves in front of armed men." I tell him and take his hand into my own. "I can't do this anymore Carlos."
At that Ranger completely freezes next to me and I think about what I just said, how that must have sounded to him.
"Shit…that came out wrong….I can't to bounty hunting anymore….that is what I meant…I…" his lips crash on mine, making me whimper and Ranger pull away from me.
"Sorry, Babe, I forgot your bruises" He says in an almost whisper and kisses me more lightly. "Don't say stuff like that ever again, unless you follow it up with something else. I don't need a heart attack before I reach the age of 40 or never would be good too!"
Did batman just made a joke? He must be broken.
"Not broken, just in love with you" He replies smoothly with a wide grin.
"Charmer" I hit him playfully on the arm.
"What are you going to do then, when you aren't hunting FTA's anymore?" Ranger questions, bringing us back to my comment.
"I don't know" I shrug, which is a mistake, as it stretches my stiches. This time I got six, which will turn into another scar.
"Well you can always help me at Rangemen. I am sure the men would love for you to be there" He offers, but I instantly shake my head.
"No thank you. Since I have some money now, I will be able to get by without work for a couple of months, to figure out what I want. Rent and food money won't be an issue" I tell him and he squeezes my hand.
"Babe…how about you move in me?" Ranger chocolate brown eyes look into mine and I can see it is a genuine offer.
"Okay…" I agree and his eyebrow shoots up.
"Really? You agree just like that?" Ranger questions with a smirk. "You haven't even heard what I have to offer!"
"I don't need to, I have only two conditions" I say with a smirk of my own.
"Go on"
"One: Rex will move in as well" I tell him.
"Okay, the rat can come. And the second one?" Ranger scoots closer, so that our faces are just a couple of inches apart. His smell is intoxicating and I can't think straight. "What is number two, Babe?"
"I need more closet space" I answer and close the gab between us, not even awaiting his answer. I completely forget about my bruises and kiss him with all I have got. I am moving in with batman, that is reason to celebrate. I just wished I could do it properly.
The heart monitor's beeps get louder and suddenly someone clears their throat. Ranger and I break apart and as we look over, we see a nurse standing in the room with a big grin on her face. "And I thought you were coding in here….maybe it is better, if we take these off!" She says and turns the monitor off.
Ranger laughs and I hide my face in his shoulder from embarrassment.
One week later
"Are you sure?" Ranger asks and shoots me a worried look.
"I am sure. We won't get into anymore trouble, I promise. Grandma does too" I say and shoot my grandmother a pointed look.
"Yeah…yeah I promise." She mutters, making all of us laugh.
I was released from the hospital five days ago and Ranger and Tank insisted, he'd stay with me for a few more days. So the four of us staid in Amsterdam, relaxed and did some sightseeing. There were no more crazy nights out and the most excitement I got, were hot and sweaty nights with Ranger.
Tom informed us yesterday that the bad guys were after a package, which contained C4. They wanted to built a bomb and set it off at Amsterdam Central Train station. Postal services didn't check it and delivered it to the wrong house. Which turns out was the house next to Richard's.
Richard and my grandmother spend the last few days together and he will be coming to Trenton next month to see her.
"Mrs Mazur, I hope you intend to keep that promise" Ranger says sternly, with his blank face firmly in place.
"Yes, I will" She assures him making me grin.
"Please, be careful, Babe. And don't give me anymore grey hairs" Ranger whispers as he warps me into his arms.
"I will and I think you will look sexy with grey hair" I smirk.
"I didn't plan on being fully grey until I am sixty, so don't get any ideas" Ranger replies and gives me a kiss.
The swelling of my face has gone down and with lots of makeup, I am able to cover up the bruises.
"Don't get shot" I say.
"Don't go crazy" He replies with another goodbye kiss.
Lula, my grandmother and I watch the men, until they get lost in the crowd, before turning around and walking towards the exit of the Airport.
"So Grandma…are you going to fill us in, on what happened that night as we went out?" I question, since I still don't know what took place.
"We started at this gay bar in the city, where we watch the strip show. We met a few handsome fellows, who invited us to the Palace. You guys were already drunk as skunks and as we got there Lady Gaga's 'The Edge of Glory' was playing and you immediately jumped on top of the bar and started singing.
The bouncers had to wrestle you down there. That's when you spotted the stripper pole. I am telling you, you may have another career path right there…I am sure Ranger would like that…I bet he would even get sometime on that thing himself…"
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