Thoughts After Ten
Chapter 4
Mom was still in the kitchen cleaning up the waffle mess. "Have a seat Steph, I'll go get the cream." She was back quickly. Whatever cream she was using didn't have a medicinal smell, just a light, clean scent. It could have been moisturizer for all I know. I don't know if it was the cream or just Mom's hands, but when she was done my face felt a little better. Do mothers ever lose the ability to 'make it all better'? I hope not. "All right, you're done. Now scoot, you've got things to do today," she said.
Dad was waiting, keys in hand. "Ready to go, sweetie?"
I let out a small sigh, "Ready as I'll ever be."
We got into the car, and Dad tried to reassure me. "This won't be that bad. You obviously didn't do anything wrong. You'll just tell them your story, and we'll be in our way."
"I guess. I'm just really not looking forward to running into Joe. You don't suppose I'll have to give my statement to him, do you?" I wished I hadn't thought of that, as it just made me more nervous and uncomfortable.
"Steph, if you don't want to give your statement to Morelli, you are perfectly within your rights to ask for someone else," Dad said with calm.
"Great, and have the whole station gossiping about how I'm avoiding him. As if things weren't awkward enough between us."
Dad looked over at my sigh. "Take a deep breath and calm down. Things will work out, they always do. Sometimes not in the way we expect, but they work out just the same."
I took my dad's advice and concentrated on breathing deeply and clearing my mind the rest of the way to the station.
Eddie was on duty at the front desk. "Steph! Good to see you up and around. Let me look at you. Yeah, you're going to be okay, thank God and cross-dressers."
I couldn't help it, his comments gave me a serious case of the giggles.
"Haven't lost your sense of humor, I see." Eddie smiled at me while I got my giggling under control. "Let me see if Morelli's ready for you."
That shut down my laughter in a hurry, a reaction that was not lost on Eddie. We've been friends a long time. At this point, my dad stepped in.
"Eddie. Morelli and I had some words this morning, and this would be a whole lot easier for Steph if she could give her statement to someone else. Any chance of that happening?"
Eddie just shrugged and said, "I don't see why not. McIntyre is lead detective on this case anyway, I'll see if he's free."
He was back in a few minutes. "Give him ten minutes or so to finish the report he's working on and set up a conference room."
I sat down to wait and thought about what I knew about Nicholas McIntyre. I knew him by sight, but I don't think I'd ever spoken to him. I knew he had dark hair, green eyes, and a body that would have made him seem more at home at Rangeman than at the cop shop. I knew he had a reputation for being a thorough, dependable cop. It was enough to make me comfortable.
My musings were interrupted when he arrived. "Ms. Plum? Thanks for coming down. I'm Nick McIntyre," he said as he extended his hand.
As I shook his hand, I told him, "Please, call me Steph. Nice to meet you."
He smiled, and I discovered he had dimples. Between those dimples and just a hint of a southern drawl, he probably had half the women in the burg chasing him. Hell, if I hadn't been keeping company with both an Italian stallion and a Cuban god, I'd be melting myself.
He released my hand, saying "Okay, Steph, call me Nick. If you'll come this way please?"
My father stepped up to ask, "Is it all right for me to come with her?"
Nick looked a question at me, so I made the introductions. "Nicholas McIntyre, Frank Plum, my father. Dad, Nick."
The two men shook hands as Nick responded to Dad's original question. "Sure. Whatever makes Steph more comfortable."
The three of us walked back to the conference room, as I asked "So Nick, where are you from originally?"
His laugh was warm and open, and I felt myself relax. Dad was right, this was going to be okay. "Oh, I'm a rare breed, an Irish Texan. Guess the accent gave me away, huh?"
I smiled up at him as I took my seat. "Yep, pretty obvious you didn't grow up in Jersey."
He returned my smile as he sat down. "Do you mind if I tape record your statement?"
I took a deep breath, here we go. "No, that's fine."
As I ran through the whole story, Nick rarely interrupted, mostly to clarify something. I was pretty vague about some things, like Ward's 'escape' and subsequent recapture, but he didn't push me. When I got to the point of being grabbed from Val's bridal shower, my voice started to shake, and I stopped.
Nick pushed a cup of coffee toward me. Station coffee was one step below road mud, but I appreciated both the gesture and the distraction. "Take your time, Steph. Do you need a break?" Dad stood up behind me to put his hands on my shoulders.
The truth is, I didn't want to continue, but I didn't think waiting a few minutes would make it any easier. "No, I just want to have it over with."
I managed to finish without needing to stop again. I was again a little vague about just how many Slayers had been shooting at Sally, but hey, I was flattened on the ground so probably I couldn't see much, right? Nick stood, saying he'd have my statement typed up and be back in a few minutes. While we waited, Eddie, Carl, Big Dog, and several others stopped in to say hi and check on me. Noticeable in his absence was Joe. I guess he was avoiding running in to me in public as well.
Nick returned with my statement, had me read and sign it, and I was free to go. As Dad and I left, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief that it was over. I didn't see any of Ranger's cars in the lot, and I wondered if I should call him. As we got to Dad's LeSabre, I saw a laundry basket full of clothes in the back seat, one of my light jackets on the front seat, and an envelope that simply said "Babe" in familiar handwriting.
I opened the envelope to read the note.
"Babe,
Changed my mind. I wanted you to have a gun you were familiar with, so got this out of the cookie jar. Don't worry, he'll never know I was there. Check under your seat. I've loaded it for you, and there are two full speedloaders on the left side of the belt. Brought some of your clothes, so you won't have to go to his house until you're ready. The offer to use either apartment is an open one, keys to both and a remote for the garage are in your right jacket pocket. I couldn't wait, got a line on the Slayers. Call me later.
-R"
I reached under my seat, and there was my gunbelt, loaded with my gun on the right and a couple of small pouches on the left with speedloaders in them. Ranger had me practice with those the last few times we went to the range, so I was fairly confident I could use them if I had to. I stood up beside the car so I could put it on, then put my jacket on. The jacket was a little long, so mostly hid the gunbelt. I reached in the jacket pocket to pull out the keys. Two remotes and three keys. Huh? Well, I'd ask him about it later. The keychain read 'Bombshell' on one side, and 'Babe' on the other. I smiled as I got back in the car.
Dad had been quietly watching me. Now he nodded toward the belt and asked, "Ranger?"
"Yeah," I answered. "I promised him I'd be extra careful, and armed, until we could find out if the Slayers were still a threat."
"Good man," he said under his breath. Turning to me, he asked, "Ready for that talk? How about some lunch?"
"Can we get something to go? I don't want to have people staring at my face in a restaurant."
Dad smiled at me, "I was thinking McDonald's drive-thru eaten in the park."
"Sounds perfect, let's go." I wasn't looking forward to our talk, exactly, but I did have questions. Besides, I hadn't spent this much time alone with my dad in years. I hadn't realized how much I missed him.
