(Chapter 4, enjoy! read and review please!)
NOT MINE! NOT MAKING ANY MONEy! IT'S JUST FOR FUUUUUN!
Chapter 4 Headaches
Heidi rubbed her eyes and walked into her private dressing room on the set of C'est Paris. Jeanne had left to talk to the producer about her time slot. It was cutting it close, she wanted to be out of the studio by at least 11 in the morning, and it was a 3 hour trip back to the country side manor. Heidi didn't know why, but France felt like home to her. She had fallen in love with the country, when she had traveled the around Europe for her career. It was becoming less of a home though, thanks to this stalker. The Thursday they returned from America, Jeanne and Heidi had found out that her home, which just had gotten a security update, had been broken into again, this time, though, the stalker had left more than a bunch of flowers, they left the body of another singer in her bed, along with a note that said, 'I would kill for you.'
Thank goodness the police were keeping this hush hush. Jeanne was having a fit; she moved them out of her home in Paris, and into the country side, in her little manor. The same day that they moved into the manor, Jeanne had contacted a security firm to have guards patrolling the area. Heidi knew that wouldn't keep the stalker now killer out of her private life. She was getting weird calls, on the hour, every hour and the letters just kept coming. The stalker was smart, the address on the letters were always different. One time she had gotten a post card from Finland, from her stalker. Her Stalker also knew she was blind. Every letter that had been sent to her had been written in braille. This unnerved Heidi because she knew only a handful of people knew about her blindness, either her stalker was a close person, or her stalker was very good.
Heidi ran her hands through her hair and then lifted her head up, her eyes on the mirror. After her accident, for the first three months, she never left her home. Terrified to go out, stuck in a world of darkness. She had quickly gotten sick and tired of feeling her old manager's pitying stares and had fired them. She was blind, damn it, not dead!
After that things had gotten strange. Her other senses had sharpened, and then she began to see things. She was blind of course, but in her dark world, she began to see white shadows, some dim, others bright. She used to reach out and touch the bright shadows, only to come into contact with people. She had wondered what she was seeing, she wasn't seeing people she was seeing something else.. Not only had she began to see shadows, she began to see things before they happened, or sense things before they happened. When she touched people, she could see their past, there present and sometimes their future. She tried to keep touching to a bare minimum.
As time went on, the abilities she had gained had gotten stronger and stronger. It was very scary, until one day, Heidi and Jeanne were out shopping in a tiny town in Brittany France. Heidi had felt a strong pull deep inside her. The pull had led her to a little psychic shop in the middle of the town square. In the shop had been a little old lady. Heidi had told her that somehow, she had found her way into this shop; she had run away from Jeanne due to this strong pull. The little old lady had taken her hand, looked at it for a moment and then told Heidi something that had chilled her to the bone. The lady had told Heidi that she knew she was blind, and that she knew that she had lost her eyesight on stage due to a killing attempt gone wrong. She had told Heidi that she had a gift, and that it had manifested because of her accident. She had in graphic details, what her gifts were. They had spent hours talking about how Heidi had the ability to read minds, to see people's past, present and future lives. She could also see people's soul. The old lady had told her that because of how traumatic and how extreme her accident was, it made the gifts come all at once. The old lady had sent her on her way, with a warning, that there are forces out there that would come looking for her, and that she should be careful because not all of them were good.
Heidi leaned forward on the makeup table and touched the mirror that she couldn't look into. Why her? What had she done to be cursed, it wasn't a gift, it was a fucking curse. She could hardly spend more than an hour outside her home. All those minds, thinking at once, it gave her migraines! At concerts, it wasn't as bad, she couldn't hear the thoughts over the loud music and the cheering fans. This talk show segment would be hell, because there was a live audience and she would hear hundreds of thoughts. And she'll have to shake hands, and see things she didn't want to see. Why her? Why did fate have to choose her.
"Heidi?" Jeanne said, touching Heidi's shoulder, "You okay, you look like you're lost in your thoughts."
"I am glad they are my own thoughts, and not anyone else," Heidi said to Jeanne, who sighed and rubbed Heidi's shoulders.
"We can scratch this interview, go home and relax," Jeanne said to Heidi, "I know how live audiences give you migraines, they told me that it would be a close set and that the interview would be broadcast during a segment, not during a live taping, that's what I requested. It would seem as though someone 'lost' the request I put in."
Jeanne was one of the few people that Heidi wasn't affected by too much. She could still hear her thoughts, but not as loud as the others, she couldn't see Jeanne's past, present or future life too. Jeanne had walked into her office for an interview to become Heidi's manager, gave her a look and said in a no nonsense voice, "I'm not here to babysit you, I know plenty of people who are blind, just because you're famous doesn't mean anything, You need to walk on your own two feet, okay?"
It had been the words that Heidi needed to hear; she had hired Jeanne on the spot and then doubled her salary.
"I can't back down now, Jeanne," Heidi said, shaking her head, "I'll be fine, once I start singing, it'll be fine, I won't be able to hear them."
"I'll skin these people alive, bunch of jackasses," Jeanne hissed as she helped Heidi get ready, "You have ten minutes and then show time, okay?"
"I'm ready," Heidi said with a smile, "I can do this."
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
Lester let loose a low whistle, watching Stephanie, with perfect aim, shot 10 rounds into the middle of the paper target, "Damn, Beautiful, you're a fucking sharp shooter, who knew that in 4 weeks, you'd beat me in target practice."
Stephanie smiled and with perfect ease, took apart her gun, and placed it in its proper place. Who knew was right. In 4 weeks she had gotten her basic medical training certification, could use just about any gun she wanted and she could beat even Ranger in a sparring match, talk about some serious training!
"Am I your best pupil, Lester?" Stephanie asked the man, causing Lester to chuckle and nod his head.
"Beautiful, you're my top pupil, no one can outshine you, let's go celebrate with some healthy pizza at the little café." Lester said to Stephanie who placed her semi-automatic in the holster around her waist. she sure as hell wasn't scared to carry a loaded gun anymore.
"I say, as long as you're paying, I'm game." Stephanie said walking over to Lester, "I could go for a swordfish broccoli pizza."
"With a slice of chocolate cake," Lester said to Stephanie as they climbed in the SUV, "They make their cake with healthy junk, even Ranger eats a slice every now and then.
Stephanie let out a fake gasp of surprise and said, "Oh really! The man of mystery, tainting his temple with organic chocolate?!"
The Duo laughed out loud and made their way to their favorite lunch spot. Today was a day of celebration. In three Days, they would be in New York City, with Heidi and Jeanne, as Rangeman private security.
Stephanie smiled and looked out the window of the SUV. Who knew that getting in shape would do wonders for ones self-esteem. Since she had gotten better at everything, she would join some of the Merry Men in taking down the middle and high end FTAs, since she really wasn't working yet. She didn't walk into the police department smelling of trash and god knows what. She had put her foot down at the betting and put the boys in blue in their place, getting a standing ovation from the Merry Men that were with her and everyone else that was there. Her grandma and father were quite proud of her. They had taken her out to Newark to a restaurant to celebrate her training. At the nice restaurant, she had shown off all that Cal had taught her, she could make any 'burg woman, including her mother, green with envy. The day she completed her training, Ranger had given her a black necklace box and said, "Proud of you Babe, knew you could do it," and kissed her cheek. Inside the necklace box, nestled in a bed of satin, was a gold necklace with the Wonder Woman symbol attached to it. She was a wonder after all.
Lester and Stephanie sat down in the crowded tiny café and placed their order, a large swordfish broccoli pizza with pesto sauce and fresh mozzarella, and two honey sweetened iced teas. A month ago this little place would be empty. Organic food was quickly becoming a popular thing, and so business had picked up. It was hard getting a table, but Lester must have the same good Karma as Ranger, because they got a nice window front booth. As the two waited for the pizza, they talked about the up coming tour they would be joining.
"I can't believe that stone cold Jeanne Ellen Borrows came to use first." Lester said, after he ate his first slice of pizza, "I was sure she's go to the Mob, or the Yukuzas first."
"Yukuza?" Stephanie asked, looking at Lester who shook his head and smiled at Stephanie, "What are the Yukuza?"
"Japanese mob, you could say," Lester said, grabbing another slice of pizza, "it's like the Italian mob."
"And why would Jeanne go to a mob first?" Stephanie asked Lester who shrugged his shoulders and took a bite from his pizza, "The mob?"
"I'm over exaggerating, Beautiful, I'm just saying, thought she would go to anyone else first, before Rangeman. it's a sweet contract, and if we're great, we'll be going international and protecting the lovely and sexy Madam all over the world." Lester said wagging his eyebrows, making Stephanie snort in her tea.
"Gotta get through Jeanne first, she's the guard dog from hell." Stephanie said, her voice getting low, "Poor Heidi, when they got back to Paris, Jeanne found a dead body in Heidi's bed, had to relocate Heidi somewhere else. Her stalker is getting more violent. Jeanne thinks the stalker will follow us throughout the tour."
Lester let out a long whistle and said, "Shit, this stalker means serious business," eating more pizza, "You think it's a good idea to do this tour?"
"Jeanne is adamant that Heidi wants to do it, so yes, we'll just have to be extra observant," Stephanie said to Lester as the two finished the pizza, "We just need to make sure that Heidi stays safe throughout this whole four months."
Lester nodded his head and said, "Ranger wants to go down to where Heidi's bus is being kept. They called yesterday and said it was finish, all we need to do is install any security feature we want. Hector and Hal are going to install some state in the art shit. Retinal key ins, finger print coding, cameras, infrared cameras, it's going to be Fort Knox on wheels, it's so cool!"
Stephanie leaned forward and said, "So how is this going to work? I know I'm going to be with Heidi 24/7, but what about the rest of the guys?"
"Ranger's going to be there 24/7 too, so is Bobby and me, Tank is going to run Rangeman, while we're away." Lester said flicking his fingers off, as he spoke, "And a few Rangeman will be driving in front of us and behind us, it will be a convey of some sorts. This is going to be fun! All those groupies, they'll want a piece of me!"
"Lester, they might be underage girls and grown men, this is a woman we're talking about, after all." Stephanie said, looking at Lester, who deflated at her words, "Anyways, you're there to watch over Heidi, not to get laid."
"I know, but jeez, I'll have days off!" Lester said, looking at Stephanie, who sighed and said, "You're pathetic."
Lester paid for the pizza and then said, "Well, let me take you to Bobby, so he can, I guess teach you medical shit, something I don't have time for."
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
Since she was certified in basic medical training, Stephanie helped bobby out around the medical office, by taking care of the minor injuries. As long as it didn't require someone to put to sleep, she could handle it. To think, she use to get weak at the site of blood. Well, helping Bobby stitch up a bleeding gash, and then packing another wound, had that fear gone.
She turned to look at Zero, who was sitting on the examining table, holding a bloodied towel to his arm, "how did you manage to cut yourself in the office?"
"Long story short, it dealt with a ruler." Zero said sheepishly, "Is it going to require stitches?"
Stephanie pulled the bloodied towel away and winced, it was, and it was a long one too. Stephanie walked over to the medical tray that had the right equipment waiting for her, "Yes, maybe 20 of them, next time, no more horse playing around, okay?"
"Yes ma'am," Zero said as Stephanie grabbed a syringe and filled it with a numbing agent.
"I'll numbed it, and get Bobby to look at it, alright?" Stephanie said, sticking the needle near the wound. She took off her gloves, and then left to get Bobby, but Ranger got to her first. His handsome face was blank, but Stephanie knew, something was wrong.
"Babe, got a call from Jeanne," Ranger said to Stephanie, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "Heidi was attacked during a press conference. They caught the one responsible, it's not her stalker, but a disgruntle ex-security person. Jeanne doesn't want to take any chances, they're on a plane to New York City, right now, we'll meet them at the airport on the air strip. Heidi's pretty shaken up and she doesn't want to be seen."
Stephanie looked into Ranger's eyes and said, "Is she injured?"
"He threw a bottle at her, it hit her head, Jeanne had someone dress it, but she wants Bobby to look at it." Ranger said leading Stephanie to the elevator, "We need to leave now; they'll be in JFK international in about 2 hours."
"Oh, but Zero needs to be seen," Stephanie said as they got into the elevator, "He's bleeding pretty badly."
Ranger smiled and said, "I have Bobby's replacement coming soon, let him sit there and thank about what happens when you play around in the office."
"You're a cruel man Ranger,' Stephanie said shaking her head, "A very cruel man."
"Babe, call me Carlos, we ought to be calling each other by our names, we'll be spending a lot of time together, on a bus, which is a tight space." Ranger purred, his eyes dark.
"Oh dios….."
TBC…..
