Thanks for the amazing response. I just checked my calendar and realized I have upcoming exams and papers (again) in the next two weeks, meaning my writing time will be very scarce. But the amazing response to the last chapter inspired me to write this next chapter.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE.
When we got to the door I told Ranger he should be the one to talk with Lisa. I was afraid that if I started asking questions she would think things were serious. I'm not saying they're not, but such worries don't belong in the mind of little ones.
"So?" I was waiting for Ranger to give me an answer and kept busy by straightening out his T-shirt so as to cover more effectively the gun at his hip.
"Babe." That almost imperceptive nod and his tone told me he would do it.
The door opened and Valerie poked her head out. I gave her a friendly wave and stepped in. I gave her the rundown of what we were up to and asked if she was okay with Ranger talking to Lisa.
"Yeah." Valerie said the girls were upstairs. "Second door to the right." Ranger nodded and moved to the stairs.
"How are you doing?" I asked, following Valerie to the kitchen. I'd called my father to pick them up earlier. He was only a few blocks away on his cab. I left her to work things out at the school and headed for Rangeman. And after what happened with me over there, I didn't have a chance to call her.
Valerie sighed. She told me she talked to school personnel, told them what happened. "They're going to keep a closer eye on their doors and will issue out written communication to the community, so they can keep their eyes open too." My sister said it was pretty standard stuff.
"Tires fixed?"
"Yeah. Dad took care of it." Valerie moved to the cutting board, returning to her vegetable cutting.
Silence stretched for a beat or two until my sister gave up with the knife and looked me in the eye.
"Catch the son of a bitch." Her words were clipped, a gleam in her eye making me want to take a few steps back. I wondered if that was the sight the Merry Men witness with me today.
I grimaced. Even if I wasn't real happy about being sedated I admit that if it was necessary I prefer that to being knocked unconscious by a punch. Not that the guys would hurt me.
"Ranger and I are working on it." I told her we also had help from someone else.
"Albert and I had planned a getaway weekend with the girls. Should we cancel?"
"I'll ask Ranger." He's the security expert.
"Okay." Valerie took a deep breath, but before her shaking hand reached for the knife again I cut in.
"How about we order in?" I forced a smile on my face, hoping it would help her relax a bit. She nodded and I said I was going to go round-up the girls and ask what they were in the mood for.
I took the stairs and happy chatter greeted me. I silently promised myself I would do everything I could for things to stay this way for my sister and her family.
I walked into the room where the chatter was coming from. Ranger was seated on the floor, legs crossed, with my younger two nieces. His muscular body made the little girls and their child sized furniture look even smaller.
"Hey." I waved at them, stopping next to Ranger. I placed a hand on his shoulder, partially leaning against him as I asked the girls what they wanted to eat.
"Pizza!" The enthusiastic response was immediate. Lisa was quick to add that eating at the place was always better.
"Uh.." I glanced at Ranger for confirmation. When he nodded I offered my hands to the girls. "Where to?"
By the time everyone was ready to go and Valerie told Albert to meet us at Pino's a Rangeman SUV was already waiting at the curb.
Ranger took the lead with Valerie's minivan in the middle and the Rangeman SUV bringing up the rear.
"What did Lisa tell you?" I asked Ranger on our drive.
"The man is, quote on quote, not as big as me or as soft as daddy." Ranger told me my niece had pretty much moved on. "I suspect this guy was wearing a disguise."
"Then we're back to having no leads." I sighed.
"There are other angles."
"Right." I agreed. "Oh, hey." I told Ranger about Valerie's inquiry about a weekend getaway.
"Might actually work out better if they're away." Ranger said he would assign them someone to look out for them.
Ranger parked and got out, motioning for Valerie to take the spot next to ours.
We sat at a circular booth by the corner. We were a little crowded, but we made room for everyone. When Albert arrived he had to pull up a chair. We made it work.
I ate my meatball sub and a small chunk of pizza, watching the interaction. My sister had a good family life. I don't want that to change.
Ranger must have sensed my thoughts. I felt him shift the tiniest bit closer, pressing our bodies from shoulder to knee. I patted his thigh under the table, thanking him.
S&R
I told Valerie and Albert what the plan was so they wouldn't freak out about the Rangeman tail. They thanked us when we got back to the house and asked us to keep them posted on any developments.
"We're staying at Rangeman." It was a statement. I didn't protest.
"Can we stop at my apartment to get Rex?" I told Ranger when he pulled away from the curb, moving away from my sister's house.
Ranger parked by the door to the lobby and we took the stairs to my apartment. Together.
He opened my door no key needed and left me in the foyer while he did a thorough search.
"Clear." Ranger called from the bedroom, the last place he searched. "No flowers either."
I let out a sigh of relief and moved to the kitchen. Rex came out of his soup can when I tapped on his cage. I dropped some food pellets in, giving Rex the details. He wasn't impressed with the food pellets, but he did perk up when I told him we were moving to Rangeman until things were taken care of.
My Brown bear cookie jar called my attention and I contemplated taking out my Smith & Wesson, but then I thought better of it. No bullets.
"I have one for you to use." It wasn't until he spoke that I realized he was standing right behind me.
"I thought you were my gun." I teased, turning around to face him.
"Babe." Ranger grinned and wrapped his arms around me. He plastered me to his front, swooping down to capture my lips. The kiss was playful and it made me forget about the whole flower thing for a moment.
"If we head back to Rangeman now, we can take care of business." I swiveled my hips and the action got me another kiss.
Ranger carted Rex's cage down to the car with me following close behind. He got behind the wheel and we went back to Rangeman.
S&R
I awoke in the middle of the night, reaching for Ranger. It usually worked the other way around, with him turning me over for a round of lovemaking.
A few nips across his shoulder and neck had Ranger on instant alert. He flipped us over to be on top, working his magic.
He collapsed on top of me long moments later, the weight of his body anchoring me to reality. He rolled away a beat later, taking me with him so I could be on top now. In the process I caught a glimpse of the time, realizing it wasn't actually the middle of the night.
We stayed quiet, working on catching our breath.
"I'm meeting with Santos in about an hour." Ranger said, slipping his fingers through my messy curls. "Do you want to join us?"
"Yeah." I pushed myself up, sneaking another glance at the clock. "Hey," I leaned closer, skimming my lips over his in a playful kiss. "Think we have time for round two?" I squealed when he flipped us, eager to continue.
S&R
I went downstairs with Ranger to his office, making a quick stop at the break room to get coffee.
Lester joined us at the hour.
"How you feelin', Beautiful?" He asked.
"Better." I tried to apologize for yesterday's episode, but he waved his hand. When Lester tried to explain why they did what they did, I waved a hand. It was best to move on and focus our attention elsewhere.
"Let's not get mushy, then." He gave me a fist bump. I assume that meant things were good between us.
"What do you have?" Ranger asked.
"I did some leg work, hitting flower shops around Trenton. I asked if there had been any special requests for flowers or if someone had struck as unusual."
"And?" I leaned against the front of Ranger's desk, wanting to know what Lester found.
"There's one shop on Hamilton that's had a few special requests in the past couple days. I talked to the owner last night, right before he closed." Lester said he didn't get anything that was extremely useful, but at least we could stake out the shop in search of more leads.
"Let's do that." I agreed, shooting a glance back at Ranger. He was the face of calm.
My cell phone rang and all eyes fell on me. I fished it out of my jeans' pocket and frowned at the readout.
"Who is it?" Ranger wanted to know.
"I dunno. Don't recognize the number, but it's local." I answered on speaker, giving the caller a quick 'hello'.
"Hahaha, very funny." A male voice said.
"Dickie?" I frowned at the phone.
Ex-husband? Lester mouthed the question. I nodded, asking Dickie what he wanted.
"Don't act like you don't know." He said he woke up to find his house filled with flowers. "There was only one note saying they were for you."
Ranger rose to his feet motioning me to follow him out of his office.
"Come get them or I'm tossing them!" I hung up and followed Ranger down the hall to the elevator.