Disclaimer: You know, I'm really sick of typing the same thing over, and over, and over…Can I just say "ditto". Except I never tire of saying "Ranger is mine". Too bad he's not…yet. *grin* Still working on that one. One of these days…Anyone know a good lawyer?
The characters of Lindy Udink, Guy Roberts, Nick Karlson, Ralph Alvillar and Jake Serna are real, just in my world. Elvis was real too, just not a person. *wink*
Huge & hearty thanks to Kate (MMO) for betaing this for me. Bless you, Babe!
Locked Up & Pissed Off – pt 4
Ranger's POV
I STOOD LOOKING AT Stephanie as she faced me, her gaze pointed somewhere around my chin, and for once I couldn't read her face. Her hands were shoved in her pockets, though. A clear indication she was nervous, and she started to speak.
"I, em.." She cleared her throat. "I need to go get Rex. I can't leave him alone. Or I could just go home, you know? I mean, em…I'm sure you have better things to do than hang out here with me. Besides, this is costing you a lot of money, and em…well…" she trailed off, seeming to sense the tension in the room. Tension that seemed to mount by the second.
As soon as she'd mentioned going home, I'd felt my whole body stiffen; I couldn't help my reaction to the thought of her leaving here, leaving me. I know she felt something for me. It was clear in her reaction when I'd closed myself off when I'd stupidly thought she was rejecting me; she was in pain, and I'd shocked her. She thought she'd lost me, I know it! Then why did she want to leave? What had happened? And she wouldn't look at me, wouldn't show me that expressive face that I loved so much. She acted as if I had never said anything to her, never told her how I felt, literally poured my heart out to her! Did she think I didn't mean it? I know I qualified it before, but I hadn't this time. Was that what she was expecting? But I'd told her there were no qualifications! Didn't she understand what that meant?
Another thought hit me. Was she still in love with Morelli? As soon as that thought came I almost laughed. Even if she doesn't know the whole story about his activities, she still doesn't trust him enough to call him when she needs help, so why would she trust him with her heart? That didn't make sense either.
The only other reason I could think of was that she didn't love me. At least not with the depth that I loved her. But then why was she so hurt? What was going on?
Lester must have sensed my frustration; I know it didn't show in my face, because he chose that moment to interrupt my inward musings. After all, he knew the contents of the file almost as well as I did. He and my men were almost as determined as I was to put an end to the campaign of terror that had been a constant in Steph's life for the past few weeks. As much as they all loved and admired her, her safety and peace of mind were their first priority, as was mine. Even if they did enjoy her antics when they were assigned to "Bombshell Duty", as Tank dubbed it.
"Boss, I just got a text from Ram. He needs you to call him ASAP. Seems he might have more info to add to the file". Lester's voice was soft, yet I detected a subtle note of urgency. Maybe because he was trying to ease the tension by redirecting my thoughts and actions to safer topics, as well as give Steph a chance to regroup. Then again, Lester has never been Mr. Sensitive when it comes to deeper feelings; he just knows the signs when I'm about to say something that might be construed as autocratic, which usually tends to piss Steph off. I just might have to thank him later. In private.
"Everything's set for Steph in the end room. Take her stuff up and show her where everything's at, then join me in my office," I threw over my shoulder as I spun on my heels and headed out of the room. I didn't even look at Steph then. I was pretty sure she needed to pull herself together, even though I sensed her relaxing slightly when Lester interrupted us. I might be upset, but maybe I just needed to let it go for now. There were more important issues at stake right now, and the sooner it was finished, the sooner we could get back to living. Hopefully together, if I didn't blow it again.
I hit speed dial on my phone for the control room, since that's where Ram had been practically living since this whole mess started. He had a real soft spot for my Babe; she was a dead ringer for his twin sister Jennifer, who was away at school in California. He was also my best man for ferreting out the information we needed from sources he'd tapped. Sources that had a tendency to close up when approached by anyone else. With Vince as his partner in situations like this, there seemed to be nothing we couldn't find out.
"Yo, Boss," I heard as Ram picked up, his voice betraying a touch of anxiety. This couldn't be good. Ram never gets agitated, especially to the point that he actually sounds it. I steeled myself for bad news.
"Report." I barked out. Good thing this was my typical response. It wouldn't do for my men to think I was anything but focused on the situation at hand. My personal life was never to be open to speculation for my employees. My friends were bad enough.
"We just got word that Benny Carlucci's been found dead in the warehouse district. Looks like he was worked over pretty good before they put a bullet in his forehead," Ram stated, clearly frustrated at this turn of events.
Fuck! "Looks like someone's cleaning house," I mused aloud.
Carlucci was to have given a deposition tomorrow morning at the DA's office in regards to our situation. This wasn't good, since he was the second witness to turn up dead in as many days. Now the question was, how do we prove Morelli is eliminating witnesses? Because there was no doubt in my mind who Carlucci's killer was. It also indicated that Morelli knew someone was poking around. I only hoped he hadn't caught on to who exactly was on to him. He could easily turn Steph by making up a plausible explanation for certain actions, since he was such a "good guy" according to the 'Burg. Unfortunately, my past actions with her would only help him to convince her of his innocence, whereas they worked against me. That deposition would have cemented the connection of Morelli's involvement with Steph's stalkers. This was going to make it harder on me to prove to my Babe what his role was in her recent difficulties without her thinking of any ulterior motives on my part. At least as far as he was concerned.
"Where are the other seven? We'll need to track them down and put them in safe houses until the DA has their testimonies," I told Ram, pinching the bridge of my nose with a thumb and forefinger and squinting my eyes tightly. I was starting to get a headache; the last thing I needed right now. I needed a new plan instead.
I'd have to push the DA, which wasn't going to make their office very happy. They were already balking at the thought of one of TPD's finest being as duplicitous as we'd claimed. Only the fact that I'd shown up at Joe Juniak's office with a talking witness, as well as promised cooperation from the man himself, had convinced the DA to even consider looking at the evidence we had accumulated so far, including taking sworn statements from some not very upstanding citizens. Fortunately, Mayor Juniak was a big fan of Steph's, besides being her honorary Uncle. He was also one of the most honest politicians I'd ever met. He didn't like dirty cops, which was a trait shared by all of my men. Even if Steph weren't the target, they'd still push to bring him down. One point in my favor, at least.
Ram came back on line to update me on the whereabouts of our remaining witnesses. "We've already picked up Eula Rothridge and Lindy Udink. Since they're women and homeless, we figured we'd get them first. We've got them tucked away in the apartment in Philly. Guy Roberts and Nick Karlson were last reported seen with Dougie the Dealer and Mooner this morning at Dougie's house. Mooner said they left after doing some business, but didn't know where they were headed. We're already tracking them down. As for Ralph Alvillar, Elvis Diana and Jake Serna; Alvillar's been holed up with his old lady in a dive on Stark Street, Serna's in jail from an assault charge; he took a couple of shots at his next door neighbor, and Diana's in the wind. So far no leads as to where he might be. He doesn't seem to have too many people on his friends list, so he's been harder to track. Tank figured we might be able to have the Philly DA take Eula's and Lindy's statements there in the interests of their safety. We also got Eddie Gazarra to put Serna in segregated lockup, claiming he's got impetigo so he'd be isolated. Eric and Manny have been touching base with Eddie throughout the day, making sure Morelli doesn't try anything. Since he's been working with us, he's also been keeping us apprised of Morelli's whereabouts just in case he goes near any of the other witnesses."
"Good. Anything else?" We needed to keep as many of these people alive as possible. The fact that they were more or less disreputable witnesses wasn't to our advantage. The fact that there were so many was. Barely.
Ram continued on. "Woody came up with an idea on how to keep Morelli occupied until we can locate the witnesses. Seems an old buddy of his at the LAPD, Jack Riley, knows Morelli. He thought he'd have some fun and regale Morelli with Riley's exploits while Woody worked with him. You know, kinda buddy up to him and keep him out of our hair for a while. Might not work for long, but it could mean the difference between getting there first, or being too late". Ram was starting to sound a little deflated; who knows the last time the guy slept?
Since it was getting late, and we'd been working practically non-stop on this, I figured we could all use a short break. Ram definitely needed sleep.
"Have the teams report any new developments to Lester. You, Vince and Tank need to take a break. Go eat, sleep a few hours, then get back on it first thing in the morning. We've got everything secured here for the night". Even though I'd given him the order to take some down time, I knew he'd be back on deck before first light. My men gave a whole new meaning to the word 'persistent'. It also helped that I scared the shit out of them.
"Will do, Boss. G'night." Ram was the only one who had what Steph termed as 'phone manners'. I grinned as I closed my phone; I'm sure her jaw would have dropped had she heard. My men weren't rude, just prudent. Why waste time on ending a call when just a second or two could mean the difference between a good or bad outcome? Some habits just weren't worth correcting sometimes.
"Ranger?"
There was my Babe, standing in the doorway looking so apologetic, as if I was going to lecture her. I'm sure she was afraid I'd think she was eavesdropping. The truth was, I'd felt her coming down the hall just before I ended the call. I lifted an eyebrow in question; partly to ask what she wanted, and to irritate her. She hated that she couldn't imitate the action. She looked damn cute trying, though!
"I wanted to thank you for bringing Rex. I appreciate your thoughtfulness in remembering him," she said softly, keeping her eyes focused just to the side of my face. She still had her hands shoved in her pockets and a surprisingly unemotional look on her face. Something was eating at her, but she was refusing to allow her thoughts to show.
Had she seen the file?
A/N: the words in bold are part of a challenge on Perfectly Plum. Hope this counts!
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
