A/N - Thanks for your comments, everyone! J
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Stephanie was disappointed to see that the culprit who cleaned up the stacked furniture earlier hadn't seen fit to tidy up the maple syrup. Fortunately, it was only the living room that was affected, and Ranger's Merry Men were making quick work of hauling the worse pieces out of the house to the dump.
"I don't know why she poured maple syrup all over everything," she said to no one in particular. "Most of this stuff was hers." She picked up a soaked crocheted doily, and threw it into a bin. It landed with a wet splat. She wiped her fingers on the seat of her jeans.
There was a crash from behind her, and an "Oops!" Hal stood over her coffee table, which had crumpled when he tried to pick it up. He looked guilty. "Sorry, Miss Plum!"
She didn't bother to correct him about her name. "Oh, don't worry about that – it was broken from before."
Lester came back in, and he and Hal started to manhandle her couch out of the room. "You're getting awfully sticky, beautiful," Lester said to her, grinning at the syrup on her butt. "Want me to help clean you off? Ranger's not the only one who's good in the shower, you know."
"You just volunteered for the night watch, Santos," Ranger said, coming up behind him. "You and Hal be here at midnight."
"Me? What'd I do?" Hal turned pale, like he did at the sight of blood. Maybe ghosts weren't his thing, either.
Ranger ignored him, and led Stephanie into the kitchen. Hector was on a ladder by the back door, installing a video camera. The camera was small, no more than a cord, and slid almost invisibly into the wall. Hector took a moment to smile at her and wave his arms disjointedly in the air, saying, "Ooooo..." Then he said something in Spanish and laughed.
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered. It seemed Ranger wasn't the only sceptic.
Ranger ignored Hector. "We're putting cameras in the living room, here, the upstairs hall, and your bedroom. They're going to be recording 24/7, so if you want privacy, go into the bathroom."
"Agreed." No changing in the bedroom – check.
"I'm also going to install sensors on all the doors and windows, and a couple of motion detectors. They'll trigger a silent alarm at Haywood only, so you won't here a klaxon – we want to take your intruder by surprise." He passed her a key fob; it looked like the one she used to have for his apartment. "This is for the door. Press once to alarm, twice to disarm. And try not to shoot this one, okay?"
She sneered at him, and pocketed the fob. "That should be easy, since I no longer own a gun."
His smile disappeared. He walked over and peered into her cookie jar. He seemed surprised to find only cookies in it. "Babe."
"What? I hated that thing. The only thing it was ever good for was killing people."
He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. He was wearing one gun on his hip, and probably had three or four more stashed away somewhere on his person. Clearly their views on gun control were very different.
He led her back to the hall, where Cal was mounting a small sensor near the ceiling. "EM detectors," Ranger explained. "They'll be throughout the house. They're designed to pick up weak electrical and magnetic waves, which some people say detect ghosts."
She looked at him. "But I thought you didn't believe in ghosts," she said.
"I don't," he said. "Anything they've detected in the past has always been traced back to a mechanical or natural source, so they're useful in that regard. Besides, they tend to make the client feel more comfortable."
"Speaking of the client," she said, as they made their way upstairs, "I don't know if I can afford - "
"No price, Babe."
She winced at his words. "Ranger…"
"No price," he repeated. "Besides, do you know how much money I've saved since you gave up bounty hunting? I'm actually making a profit at the Trenton branch now."
"Oh boy."
He sighed, and pulled her in close to him. "Don't worry about it, Babe. My men were growing soft. This is good training for them, working for you."
"Here's hoping I don't break too many of them," she sighed.
That earned her a kiss on the forehead. He shifted her a little so he was holding her against his side, one arm wrapped around her shoulders. She draped an arm around his waist, just for comfort. His grip tightened on her in response.
"We're going to install an infrared camera there," he said, gesturing to the end of the hall, "and one down in the living room." He then tapped a small rectangular device that had been placed on the wall. "Barometer. Detects changes in air pressure."
She couldn't help smiling. "For a guy who doesn't believe in ghosts, you sure seem to know how to hunt them."
"Like I said, I cover my bases." He glanced down at her, and slowly traced a finger along her cheek.
She swallowed. "And what should I be doing during all this?"
"Stick to your routine – don't change anything. We want the perpetrator to think that everything's fine. If he senses something's different, that'll end his 'haunting'."
"And that would be bad?" she asked innocently.
He smiled. "We want to catch him, Babe. Teach him it's not nice to play tricks on pretty ladies."
His tone was playful, but the look in his eyes was anything but. Stephanie was almost glad that it was Bella haunting her – any living person stupid enough to try it might just find themselves 'haunting' for real.
"And what if it isn't a person?" she asked.
"It will be," he said confidently.
Her free hand fluttered up, and landed on his chest; the muscles under her fingers flexed momentarily. "But let's just say... as a for instance..."
"Well... we'll be watching the whole time. I'll have men outside whenever you're home. All you have to do is call, and someone will be here. Nothing's going to happen to you."
That really didn't answer her question, but she let it go. "How long do you think this will take?" She didn't relish the idea of changing in her bathroom for the rest of her life, or having her eating habits monitored.
"Generally we solve these cases in less than three days."
"Oh. Okay."
Ranger frowned. He shifted her so she was standing in front of him. "If things get bad – if I find out something about your harasser that I don't like – I'm pulling you out of here and putting you in a safe house. And you won't argue your way out of this one."
She sighed. She had been expecting this. "Okay."
His brows shot up to his hairline. "Really?"
She gave him a little smile. "Really."
He still looked stunned. "You certainly are a lot more agreeable than I remember," he said.
She didn't find it as funny as he did. "I guess I've changed."
His amusement faded at her words. "I guess you have." He pulled her to him. "It makes me wonder what else I could get you to agree on…"
His lips found the flesh just below her ear, and she shuddered involuntarily. She had forgotten how much he liked to kiss. She pulled herself in tighter. He shoved a leg in between hers, and she breathed out, "Aah."
It had been over six months. If he kept this up, she would agree to almost anything.
He continued kissing her neck. "And are you happy with your changes?"
God, his body was hard – his chest, his arms, his legs, his… everything. "Some things are good," she said. "Other things aren't so good. Sometimes I miss the job and the excitement." She gasped as a certain part of him came in contact with a certain part of her. "I miss a lot of things."
"So do I," he murmured. He slid a hand up behind her head into the thick of her curls, and directed her mouth to his.
She hadn't forgotten how good he was at this. Her arms tightened around him, and she pressed herself against his thigh. He growled, and shoved her up against the wall, next to the barometer. "Babe," he said, before attacking her neck again. "I would never have asked you to change."
She immediately stiffened. "Do you think Joe asked me to change?"
A pause, in both his words and actions. "Didn't he?"
"No, Ranger." She pulled back so she could look at him properly. "I didn't change because of Joe. I changed because of you."
Ranger's brow furrowed. Then from downstairs there came a shout, a sudden staccato of steps, a crash – then a high-pitched scream.
Ranger had his gun drawn before he pulled away from her. "Stay here," he ordered.
"Like hell," she said, following him as he charged downstairs.
A box of broken, syrupy trinkets and crocheted pillows lay scattered in the hall and living room. Cal lay next to them, his ladder underneath him, his arm bent awkwardly. Lester was helping him up, Hector was swearing in both English and Spanish, and Hal stood with his back in the corner by the door, his gun drawn.
"What happened?" Ranger demanded.
"Lester knocked the fucking ladder over," Cal said. He winced as he stood up, cradling his arm; a bone stuck up through his skin and shirt. "Fuck."
"I didn't knock it over," Lester said. "Hal pushed me down."
Hal was shaking his head back and forth rapidly. "She had a knife… she had a knife…"
"Who had a knife?"
Hector, who hadn't stopped swearing, was yelling at Ranger now, and pointing down the hall.
"Take Stephanie outside," Ranger ordered. He then made his way toward the kitchen, gun at the ready.
Stephanie helped Lester sit Cal down on the front step. Hector stood on the lawn, muttering angrily. Hal just looked white, and still had his gun drawn. They all seemed a bit… stunned. Their eyes were wide, their pupils were large, and their faces were stony.
"What did you see?" she asked, suddenly afraid.
"I didn't see anything," Cal grumbled. "All I saw was the floor coming at me." He glared accusingly at Hal and Lester.
"I was pushed," Lester said, but he sounded like he wasn't sure.
"She had a knife," Hal repeated. "She was going to stab you. I pushed you out of the way."
"Who had a knife?" Stephanie asked.
"That old lady," Hal said. Hector said something, and Hal nodded. "I don't know where she came from. She tried to stab Lester, and then… I don't know."
"I think…" Lester said. "Maybe I saw something..."
Hector was speaking again, gesturing with his hands. It was a familiar action; it was the same one he had used when he had teased Stephanie earlier.
"No way," Cal said.
"It was, man," Hal said. He sounded utterly convinced. "It was, I swear."
"What?" Stephanie asked, frustrated that she couldn't understand Hector, though afraid she understood him all the same.
Ranger appeared in the doorway then, looking annoyed. "There's no one there," he said, "and no evidence that anyone was there. There's no way out but the back door, and the security chain was still in place."
"I saw her," Hal said. "We all saw her."
"I didn't see anyone," Cal said. "Man, can I go to the hospital yet, or do I have to drive myself?"
"In a minute," Ranger said. "I want an explanation first, and it better be good."
Everyone looked at Hal.
Stephanie saw him swallow nervously. "There was an old woman in the house. She was armed, and attempted to attack Santos."
"And where did she come from? The front door?"
"Uh, no – she just appeared, right in the middle of the living room."
"Unacceptable. She must have come in the door when you weren't looking."
"No, sir. I was facing the door the entire time. It was like she was suddenly there. She appeared between me and Santos."
Ranger turned to Lester. "And?"
Lester looked uncomfortable. "I don't know – I think I saw something out of the corner of my eye after I fell, but… It looked like legs. Little old lady legs." He looked embarrassed to admit it. "They were in support hose, and I saw the hem of a dress. They moved past me, down the hall into the kitchen."
Hector said something, to which Lester nodded. Ranger, however, shook his head. "No – unacceptable. People don't…" He looked over at Stephanie. "They don't do that."
"Don't do what?" she demanded.
Lester was the one to answer. "Hector says he saw her run into the kitchen and disappear through the back wall."
Ranger outwardly looked calm, but Stephanie could feel anger radiating off of him. "That did not happen."
Stephanie sighed. "Come on, Ranger – they saw Bella."
"No. They probably saw some friend of hers who came over to visit the house. Most likely they scared her half to death. I heard a woman scream. Didn't you?"
Hal immediately turned red. To their credit, his coworkers didn't say anything.
Stephanie found Ranger's denial suddenly infuriating. Ignoring him, she turned to the Merry Men and said, "It was a ghost you saw, wasn't it? A ghost of a little old Italian lady. She probably got pissed off when you tried to throw out her seashell lamp."
Hal went white. "Holy shit!" he shouted. He turned to Lester. "You were just about to junk that ugly thing when she appeared!"
She could see Ranger's eyes darken in anger. "There is no ghost in this house."
Stephanie frowned at him. "Ranger, why won't you - "
"There is no ghost," he said, his voice stern and scary. "This job is just like any other. Now you guys get back in the house, and finish it, or I'll be looking for someone who will."
Nobody moved. They all stared at Ranger. Stephanie had no idea where his anger and obstinance were coming from. "Ranger…" she said gently.
He looked at her, and she took a step back from the heat of his gaze. He blinked at that, and seemed to check himself. When he spoke again, he was significantly calmer.
"Hal, take Cal to the hospital and get his arm tended to."
Hal looked relieved. He helped Cal to his feet, and practically ran him to a waiting Rangeman SUV.
"Can I speak to you for a minute, Ranger?" Lester asked.
A look passed between the two; Stephanie immediately understood that she wasn't going to be invited to this conversation.
Ranger nodded. "I'll meet you inside," he said. He then reached out, and took hold of Stephanie's arm. She swallowed nervously; his grip was quite firm.
When Hector and Lester were back in the house, Ranger turned to her. His face was blank; she was looking at corporate Ranger. She really was a client after all.
"I apologize for earlier," he said. "I overreacted."
She gave him a weak smile. "It's okay."
"No, it's not. Clearly I frightened you and I…" He paused. "I'm not comfortable with that. I'm sorry I misplaced your trust."
"You didn't," she said immediately. "I trust you, Ranger. I always have."
His face lightened, which surprised her, for he was never one to show his emotions with any ease. His hold on her arm loosened. "Thank you," he murmured.
But I don't understand why you don't believe us. The words were on her tongue, but she hadn't the courage to utter them. She had felt the heat of his anger once today, and didn't see the need to feel it again.
"You and I need to have a discussion later."
"Huh?" Then she remembered – the hall; the things she said about changing. She mentally cringed. "Uhh…"
He smiled a tad, but there was little humor in it. "You're not getting out of this, Babe," he said. "You have some explaining to do."
He gave her a chaste peck on the cheek, nothing like the kiss from the hall. Then he went back in the house, leaving her to fret on her front lawn.
