Breaking the Rules
Chapter Three
The next morning I slept in quite late, because I'd gotten home late the night before and was tired. Also, I had no need to be anywhere at a specific time because as a Bounty Hunter I could set my own hours. As a result, I was rudely awoken by my phone. It had to be the Intel room as I was late in reporting for the morning.
"Bloody fucking hell, Kevin!" I snapped down the phone, "can't a girl sleep in around here?"
"Stephanie-" It certainly wasn't Kevin, it was a woman, and an old one at that; her voice was slightly raspy. I was mildly surprised – the only people who ever call me are the guys, "can you meet me?"
"Who is this?" I asked suspiciously. The only people I ever got calls from were the RangeMan guys or Ella. None of my old friends ever called me, at least, not since the whole Slayer fiasco.
"It's Eliza," she was whispering, "we met yesterday. I'll meet you at Pino's in twenty-five minutes." She hung up before I could say anything in reply.
In staring at the phone in amazement I wasted five minutes of my twenty five, but then everything clicked into place and I began to rush around getting dressed in my usual ass-kicking gear. If I was lucky, Eliza would have some information for me about where I could find Alan Bertini and perhaps a weakness that I could exploit to make the takedown a bit easier. I didn't like calling the RangeMan guys for help unless I absolutely had to, and although Bertini was a nasty guy, I was fairly confident I could handle him myself.
In my rushing around, I lost some of my usual organization, but despite that I did manage to leave my apartment with my hair at least respectable, my mascara on and my guns attached. It wasn't until I reached the crowded lot, however, that I realized how disorganized I really was. It was lunchtime and I had slept through the entire morning, and I hadn't accounted for the lunch-time rush at the popular restaurant. The parking lot was too crowded for me to find a car park, so I had to park about a kilometre out. As I walked the kilometre to Pino's, I called the Intel room to check in.
"Hey Steph," Kevin was on duty again and sounded, unsurprisingly, flat. It was his second shift in a week of eight – I could see how that would get you down; that was part of the reason I'd turned down Jesus' offer to work for RangeMan full time. "You're late this morning."
"Can't I sleep in?" I grumbled in false frustration but gave up after I heard his amused chuckle. The guys loved my not-morning-person-ness. I went for shock-factor instead; "I'm at Pino's. Do you want me to bring in lunch for you and the guys?"
There was a temporary silence of the line as the weight of what I'd said sunk in, "why are you at Pino's?" Kevin asked. It figured that would be his first question. One of the first rules the guys had instated (after you-must-take-care-of-yourself and you-must-run-everyday) was that I avoid places that I used to frequent, like Pinos because it was safer, both for myself and for the rest of the Burg.
"Bertini's woman called and arranged to meet me here," I said, "I think something's going on."
"Do you want backup? Cal and Hector are five minutes away."
"I'm fine," I said quietly, "has anything come in for me this morning?"
"Yeah," he fell silent for a moment and I could hear him tapping away at his computer as he pulled up a few files, "the Slayers are split evenly down the middle about what to do for you." he said, "and nothing has come up about your skips. Vinnie called, though, said you would lose your job if you didn't pick up the last two skips he's got. Do you want me to get one of the guys to do them?"
"I'll do the files if someone can get them from Vinnie's for me," I said after swearing a blue streak, "today I'm supposed to be working on the Slayer thing! I shouldn't have to do his dirty work! Why can't he chase down some of the skips himself?"
Kevin laughed, "because he's fat and has an unhealthy obsession for farm animals. What are your plans for the day?"
"I'll drop by the office with Pizza and then I might borrow the tech room to do a bit of background on my skips and the Slayer thing. But it's going to depend on my mood. What options are coming out of the SGM at the moment?" I asked.
SGM was my acronym for the Slayer's General Meeting, the outcome of which I was desperate to know about. I took a few breaths as I waited for his reply, until finally he came back to me.
"A couple of them – the close friends of the ones you've already taken out – want to have all the rresources focused on taking you out. That one will never pass, there are too many more important things for the Slayers to do that they will need their resources for. The 'out-of-towners' – who had a bit of a grudge against the Trenton faction, want to stop wasting time and resources and perhaps bring you onside and do some work with you."
"Shit!" I exhaled, "Thanks Kev. What time is your shift over this morning?"
"It doesn't end!" he moaned, "I get off at six tonight," he was thoughtful, "hey, do you mind if I come round tonight?"
"Not at all. Should I rent a movie?"
"Raincheck on the movie," he laughed a deep rumbling laugh that sent a rush to my doodah.
"Damn!" I said over the phone, "I was looking forward to a good movie. You better make it up to me, Kev."
"How should I do that?" his voice became smooth like melted chocolate. Hmm, chocolate… "I want chocolate," I said snootily, "and maybe some cake."
"I'll talk to Ella, and see what I can do," he said, his voice back to normal, "so, seven at your place? I'll need to pick up a change of clothes before I come round."
"Do you remember Tank's face?" I laughed. Kevin and I had a friends-with-benefits relationship and our first time together, Kevin hadn't had a chance to go home and change before he had to be at work the next morning, so when we'd walked in together, and he was in the clothes he'd worn the day before, everyone knew exactly what had happened. Tank had just stared at us in amazement and I think that was the first time I'd seen any real emotion on his face.
I took the guys order for Pizza and hung up, looking forward to a relaxed evening that would, most likely, result in at least an orgasm – and I was beginning to feel the need for one of those. It was strange though, what an unexpected effect the absence of the two hottest guys in Trenton had done for my six life. I mean, when I was dating one and sort-of seeing the other, there was actually very little sex involved. Since neither have been around for a year and a half, my sex life has been fantastic; brilliant even. Of course, that's all it is; a sex-life. There are no real emotions involved, apart from friendship and mutual need.
Anyhow, back to Pino's; my favourite pizzeria since forever. I used to eat here at least six times a week (if not seven or eight). I knew the entire menu backwards, forwards, sideways and by smell, sight and taste. Unfortunately, I'd not been inside since my fiasco with the Slayers began. I knew my presence would cause a stir. You have to admit it's sad when the most unsurprising thing in your day is that everyone falls silent and glares at you when you enter your favourite restaurant.
There was a heavy police presence, and I recognized quite a few of them – as I had been good friends with most of them, and used to meet them here regularly for lunch - but I ignored them and sat down at a booth halfway down the back where I could see Eliza waiting for me. When I sat down she looked at me speculatively for a few minutes but didn't say a word. Instead she merely waved down a waitress to take our order.
I gave her the takeaway order and then ordered a salad for myself. Okay, so I know it's a sin not to eat at least a sub or a pizza at Pino's, but I'd just gotten out of bed and I'd be damned if I ate a sub or pizza for breakfast. Salad, on the other hand, I could handle. Eliza ordered a sub. The poor waitress was shaking nervously and stood at least five feet from our table, her eyes on me the whole time. Her whole demeanour showed me that she wanted to run away as fast as she could. After Eliza ordered, we dismissed her.
We didn't speak to each other until our drinks arrived and most of the attention of the room was elsewhere. In curiosity, I turned to Eliza and asked, "why did you want to meet me?" as I took a sip of my drink.
"I need you to kill me," she said. She was whispering and, for once, I was glad of it.
I sprayed my water across the table. Everyone turned to stare at me. I glared back at them until they turned back to their own tables and, hopefully, less morbid conversations. Luckily I missed Eliza, "are you joking?" I hissed after I was sure that nobody was paying more attention than they usually would to me appearing in Pino's after an eighteen month absence.
"No," she shook her head, "kill me."
"Euthanasia isn't legal in the United States," I said coolly, unsure as to why she wanted to be killed and unsure as to why she would have come to me with such a request. It's not like I was particularly fond of using my gun. "why do you want me to kill you?"
"I don't want to live anymore," she said simply, as though it was the most matter-of-fact thing in the world. I stared at her in awestruck amazement, that things could have gotten so bad that someone wouldn't want to remain alive in the hopes of a better tomorrow. I've been shot, kidnapped, tortured and abused, my possessions have been bombed, exploded, stolen or otherwise destroyed and I have found dead bodies in my fridge, on my sofa and in my car – yet I still love almost every day of my life.
I shook my head at her, "I need a better reason than that, to kill you, Eliza," I said, "life is too good to give away before you have to."
"You don't understand," she started to cry, "I'm always so scared. I don't want to live if I'm scared every minute of every day."
"Scared?" okay, now she had my curiosity, "what are you afraid of?"
"Alan," she said. So, once again I am dragged into a situation involving my skip; if it wasn't possible to cut the tension between Eliza and I with a knife, I might have sighed or otherwise commented, but I figured that probably wouldn't go down too well. Her tears got much more pronounced and her mascara began to run.
I hate it when people cry. I never know what to give them or what to say to them to make it all better. "He locked me up." She said through her tears, "he drove me to a country villa and locked me up." Clearly Eliza had been brought up in the Burg; she didn't appreciate being tied down by a man – at least not with actual physical restraints.
"When was this?" I asked looking at her in concern.
"About six months ago," she gulped out, "I think that was when the police were looking into him. And I'm not the only one-"
"You're not the only one he locks up?" I looked at her.
"No," She shook her head, "He has these other women and… he brings them home and … they're just young girls and … he … and he rapes them," she was crying so hard that snot began to run down from her nose. I passed her a napkin and remained silent; experience had taught me that people were more likely to talk if you were quiet and didn't pressure them. I was right, she continued after a moment, "and if they say anything or when he wants to show them why they shouldn't say anything; he shows them what he'll do to them,"
Oh no! I did not like where this was going, "what does he show them?" I prompted when she fell silent.
"He shows me to them," she whispered, her voice as silent as a grave, "he shows them what he'll do to them, by doing it to me." At this point she began to hyper-ventilate and I began to get concerned.
"Alright, Eliza, just take a deep breath in, and breathe out," I instructed, heaving in a breath with her, and out again. We repeated the motion several times. I shifted around to sit next to her, enfolding her in my arms and trying to comfort her.
When she calmed down, we turned back to our food and ate slowly. After a few minutes, I looked at her, "I'm still not going to kill you, Eliza," I informed her. She looked at me and then stood up, her hand reaching to drop a twenty on the table and leave.
I grabbed her hand, "Sit down!" I snapped commandingly. When I saw I had her attention, I continued "I'm not keen to do time, but I may have another way around the situation."
Eliza sat down "how can you help? I don't understand."
"I can give you a safe place to live," I replied, "where you will be protected around the clock until Bertini is locked up for good. You have to promise me to testify, though," I said warningly, "and when it is all over, I'll speak to a friend and have you put through a witness protection program so that he'll never be able to find you if he gets out of jail."
She looked at me, stunned, "But, I-"
"It's a good option," I said calmly, not letting her express her concerns, "and you can come with me now and never have to see him again, if you'd like."
"But," she looked like she was about to start crying and in a brief flashback to moments when people were trying to force things like a safe house on me, I recognized part of her problem.
"You won't be a burden," I was firm, "You are free to do whatever you'd like, but if you want to get back into a semblance of something normal, I have a friend who could use a hand at work."
She studied me for a moment and then nodded tentatively, "alright," she said.
When my takeout order arrived, we paid and left.
Sitting in my car I thought for a moment and then pulled out the phone to call the Intel room.
"Hey, Steph!" It was Kevin again and he was clearly much more enthusiastic than last time I'd spoken to him – probably because I had pizza – "where are my pizza's?" he demanded and I grinned to myself.
"They're on the way," I said, "but I'm going to need clearance to bring a visitor up to the conference room," I said "and I need a word with Jesus. Is he in, today?"
"No," Kevin was intrigued, I could tell, "he's gone fishing. I can call him if you'd like?"
"It's fine," I said, "I'll call later. Can you ask Ella to open an apartment for my friend?"
"Steph, you know-"
"I know it's not policy," I interrupted him, "but this is really serious. I'll explain when I get there. I just need somewhere safe for her to stay."
"That's not what I wanted to say," clearly Kevin was amused at my ability to jump to conclusions, "what I was going to say was that it normally wouldn't be a problem, except all the free apartments have been declared occupied by the computer; which would suggest that there's a whole bundle of people arriving within the next… forty-eight hours, or so."
"Shit," I grumbled, "that would happen today!"
"Who needs a place?" he asked after a moment, "perhaps Ella will lend her guestroom?"
"I'm about to ask Ella if she wanted any help in the kitchen," I said wryly. I had been driving for about ten minutes and was coming up to the garage, "you know what she's like."
"If it's for a good cause," Kevin replied, with a fond smile evident in her voice "she'll be honoured." All the guys loved Ella, she was the mother-away-from-home. Everyone knew that if you put one foot out of line, she'd come down on you like a tonne of bricks; it didn't matter how senior you were – in fact the only person I'd not seen her do it to, was Ranger, but the guys spoke fondly of seeing him taken down a few pegs by her in a pent up fury.
"We'll see." I wasn't placing bets yet; she and I were close but I never counted on a favour from her. I was hoping, however, that she would understand where I was coming from in this situation, "Can you send someone downstairs to pick up the pizza? We'll be up in five." I disconnected.
Eliza was looking nervous, "if this is too much trouble, I'll-"
"No!" I said firmly, looking at her in amazement, "this isn't too much trouble. I just didn't realize they were having visitors. So we may have to change the plan slightly, but Ella is definitely going to need an extra pair of hands, now. No, there's plenty here for you!" I smiled encouragingly, "now let's go upstairs and feed the troops."
She climbed out of the car, looking mildly worried, and when Tank appeared at the lift she turned positively pale, "who's that?" she whispered to me.
"That's Tank," I said with a smile, "he's a good friend of mine. Tank, this is Eliza," I introduced them, "Eliza, don't let his appearance fool you; he's a big teddy bear, really. Hell, most of the guys you meet today will be. I need you to trust me that they're alright, okay?"
She nodded nervously and I saw Tank's eyebrow lift as he registered the way she leaned closer to me and twitched if he moved a muscle. I shook my head minutely as a silent signal not to say anything about it until later when I would explain, once we were alone.
The three of us climbed back into the lift, each carrying a couple of pizza boxes, and made our way up to the first floor, where there was a conference room and I was confident Eliza could sit quietly while I talked to Ella about her. Tank must have sensed that he was going to need to get Eliza comfortable around her and started asking her a few questions.
"Are you from the Burg?" he asked, keeping his face friendly and his tone light.
She nodded nervously and glanced at me as if asking for approval or assistance. I smiled reassuringly and she said quietly, "I live just down the road from Stephanie's parents."
"I know the area," he smiled, "I've spent many a day rescuing Steph or a friend of mine from her grandmother."
This frankness startled a laugh out of her and she seemed more relaxed as we stepped out of the lift and into the conference room.
"Thanks, Tank," I whispered into his ear as I walked past.
He merely nodded to me.
The conference room was full of guys waiting for their pizza. All but Kevin looked at me in surprise when they saw Eliza. I waited until Pizza's had been distributed and then introduced her, "This is Eliza," I said quietly, "She's having a little trouble at the moment that I'm helping her with."
The room echoed with masculine greetings and she smiled nervously and then lifted her chin in true 'Burg style, "Afternoon, Gentlemen," she acknowledged them confidently. I smiled at the amused reactions that went around the room, she was going to be good. The greetings was a sort of test that the guys used to determine where you stood; usually they only tried it with women. If you weren't too intimidated by a bunch of big ex-army guys in one room, they figured you were alright.
"Oh! Stephanie!" Ella appeared behind me and I turned and greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I didn't know you were going to be here! And you've brought a visitor! How lovely, I'm Ella, and you are?" I wasn't sure if she took a breath throughout that entire speech.
Eliza beamed at a person she could relate to and I understood. I too had been very relieved at the homeliness that Ella projected and the familiarity and comfort she provided so naturally. Ella always made you feel at home. Unless, of course, she was chewing you out, in which case she was far scarier than your own mother "I'm Eliza Bertini," she replied to Ella and stepped forward to shake her hands.
Many of the guys looked up in shock at the surname and I was surprised, it was the first time she'd used it in public. There were a few speculative glances thrown both at Eliza and at myself. I smiled mysteriously, and Eliza ignored them.
"Lovely to meet you, dear!" Ella smiled, "did you want to talk to me, Stephanie?"
"Yes, do you have a moment?"
"Of course."
We stepped out of the conference room after I glanced at Eliza and she nodded that she would be alright. Tank stepped forwards with a reassuring glance at me that he would look after her, and she smiled at him sensing that he was safe.
"How can I help you?" Ella asked.
"Eliza's husband is one of my skips," I said quietly, "and he's been abusing her emotionally, physically and sexually. I offered her a safe place to live if she agrees to testify, and entry into the Witness Protection Program when it is all finished."
"She can have my guest room," Ella said, pre-empting my question, "and she's welcome to work with me as well. Since we've got all these people apparently arriving in the next few days, I'm going to need an extra pair of hands and I'm sure she's adept – she is from the Burg, isn't she?"
I understood this question; there was a big difference between living in the Burg and having grown up in the Burg. If you had grown up in the Burg, it was assumed that you had all the basic skills necessary to take care of a home; cooking, cleaning and generally keeping house. Living in the Burg didn't guarantee that sort of thing. I was the only woman in the last fifty years who had grown up in the Burg and didn't really know how to take care of herself and a husband, domestically.
I nodded, "yes. She lives near my parents."
"Lovely!" Ella beamed, "If you like, I'll take her upstairs now and give her the tour – does she have any things?"
I shook my head, "no, I didn't want to take her back to her house. After I get Alan Bertini back into the system I'll take her over there to pick things up, but until then she'll need new things."
Ella was silent a moment and then I thought about it and rustled through my pocketbook, and selected a credit card, "Take her shopping with this," I said quietly, "it's got a large limit and I don't use it very often. I'm happy to pick up the bill."
She nodded, "Is Alan Bertini the one in the newspapers?" she asked quietly, "the rapist?"
"Yes," I responded simply.
"Come on then," she said, accepting the statement for what it was, "let's go back in there and rescue the poor lady."
I laughed and we pushed open the door to find her standing in a corner, with Tank talking to her quietly, trying to persuade her to come out of the corner. None of the others had noticed that she'd shrunk into the corner. When I heard the topic of conversation, however, even I blanched and exchanged a glance with Ella who looked at me determinedly, "You get her out of that corner," she said fiercely, "and take her upstairs while I deal with this lot!"
I nodded, those were instructions I could deal with.
Tank looked up as he sensed me walking towards him and I saw the relief in his eyes. "They wouldn't stop," he shook his head, motioning towards the guys, "and I can't persuade her that everything is alright!"
"Can you help Ella settle them down?" I sent him over to the other guys and then turned my full attention to Eliza.
"Eliza," I said soothingly, as though I was talking to a small child, "look at me, Eliza. Come on, look at me," I could see that she heard me but there was some reflex preventing her from doing as I instructed. I continued to talk to her quietly, "look at me, Eliza. Look at me. I'm your friend, remember, we had pizza this morning. And now you're going to live with a friend of mine, so just relax and look at me. Come on, I promise you'll feel better when you look at me."
She finally looked at me and I saw the glaze over her eyes start to fade. "Stephanie?!" she whispered, "I'm so scared. I'm scared all the time!"
"It's alright, Eliza," I comforted her, holding out my arms, "I know what you mean. It's going to get better. I promise."
She collapsed into my arms, shaking and sobbing. I rubbed her back soothingly and let her cry. Finally I lifted her up into my arms - and it wasn't particularly difficult either, she must have barely weighed fifty pounds – and carried her out of the conference room, aware of the gazes of all the guys. As I walked I continued to soothe her.
In Ella's apartment I let her down on the guest-room bed, which was always made up – Ella had been brought up in the Burg, was a conclusion I'd reached months ago; she was always prepared. Eliza just lay there and sobbed, her arms holding mine tightly. I waited with her until she fell asleep and then cautiously detached myself from her without waking her up.
When I left the room, Ella was waiting outside. "Call me when she wakes up," I instructed her.
She nodded, "is there anything I need to be careful about?"
"Just give her something to do, and don't leave her alone with the guys."