Thanks for all the terrific reviews! Please make sure you sign them as I love to reply to all the reviews I recieve! Sorry this has taken longer to post then I thought, RL has been hectic and hopefully things are getting back on track for this story. Enjoy!
Harper and Hal hit the gym early before sharing breakfast together. After getting back to Rangeman last night, Harper had neglected to tell Hal exactly where she had 'disappeared' to, despite his playful teasing her.
'You weren't just checking out the Trenton sights, you were looking for what trouble you can get into while here!' Hal had teased her. She had thrown him an innocent smile, that she knew he could see straight through.
They headed down for the morning meeting together, Tank already there. 'Morning Harper,' Tank joined the pair as they reached the conference room. 'Hal,' he nodded to him. 'Can I steal her away for a moment?'
'Sure,' Hal nodded, making himself scarce.
Tank handed her a folder. 'Here are some notes from the past few meetings. Just for your information. We have a weekly morning meeting which everyone attended, unless they're on monitor shift or elsewhere in the field. The daily meeting isn't necessary for everyone and we'll let you know when you're expected to attend,'
'Not a problem,' she nodded, knowing she would be in the office mostly, at least initially. She'd read through this file, get caught up. Hal had been a great source of information about the business but she wanted to know what currently was going on.
Ranger exited the elevator and down the hallway, seeing Harper with Tank. 'Morning,' he nodded to both of them. His eyes scanned over her. She obviously didn't have a Rangeman uniform yet as she was wearing a plain blank tank and black denim jeans. They clung to her perfectly, displaying the curves he had come to know quite well. Her hair was pinned up, although a few trendils had already escaped.
'Morning,' Harper smiled across at him, well aware of his scrutiny. She gave him the same treatment. He was obviously in full business mode today, in a black suit, black business shirt and black on black tie.
Tank shifted slightly, feeling very much in the middle. This seemed to pull Ranger out of whatever thoughts he was having.
'Santos isn't coming, he's been detained,' Ranger said. 'Harper, you should take his spot at the table for today,' She'd be sitting between Tank and Bobby. It was a good way to let the men know that she was to be taken seriously as the latest member of their team. He knew Stephanie was accepted by everyone but an all men environment tended to create a certain attitude. It wouldn't be tolerated and he knew introducing her to everyone needed to be done correctly.
Ten minutes later, the conference room was full with standing room only for a few of the guys. Tank called everyone to start the meeting. He ran through a brief agenda before he introduced Harper.
'Firstly, I'd like everyone to meet Harper. We've hired her this week. At this point she'll be running searches and doing some investigative jobs. She comes to up with top notch qualifications from Columbia and I'm sure everyone will make her feel welcome,' Tank said and there was a general mutter of welcome.
'Hi everyone,' Harper smiled as she looked around the table before the meeting got underway.
Stephanie arrived at the office late the following morning. She'd slept in, one of the many benefits of working your own hours.
Morelli had come home late. He had told her not to expect him as he'd be working all night. She'd been almost ready for bed when he came home. He'd kept her up for a few hours. She'd awoken alone but very happy.
She let herself into the office, trying to balance several cups of coffee and a bag of pastries as well. 'Morning,' she greeted Lula and Connie who were in deep conversation over something.
'Morning,' The pair greeted her as she put down the coffees onto Connies desk. 'So come on, spill Lula, tell me everything,' Connie said as she took her coffee.
'What are we talking about?' Stephanie asked with a grin as she took her own coffee and a bagel. Obviously she was missing some burg gossip.
Lula looked across at her friend. She had been hoping to fill Connie in before Steph had gotten there. Obviously not… well she was going to find out anyway.
'Rangeman hired someone,' Lula told her. 'Yesterday,'
'Yeah?' Steph asked in surprise, taking a sip of her coffee. A few weeks ago, Ranger had said they were capacity for the work they had on the books. 'Is he cute?' she grinned.
'She,' Lula corrected her. 'A woman,'
'What?' Stephanie asked her, her eyes widening slightly. She hadn't expected that. Only two women had ever worked for Rangeman to the best of her knowledge. Her and Ella. 'How did you hear this?' Stephanie asked her.
'From Tank, we went out on a date last night,' Lula said. 'He called me and we got to talking,'
'That's great,' Stephanie said. She knew Lula had been missing Tank. After she had "proposed to herself" things has ended quickly between them. However, she wanted to know about this new Rangeman hire.
'It is,' Lula nodded. 'He didn't tell me a lot, just that they hired someone new. Harper something,' She said.
Harper? Some name… 'Nothing else?' Stephanie asked. Maybe she was old.. maybe she was helping out Ella?
'Tank wasn't exactly in a talkative mood last night. At least not about work,' Lula said. 'Apparently she was hired to do some office work. That's all I have! I'm not holding out on your, white girl,'
'I don't know anything about this,' Connie said, clearly not happy she had no gossip to add to the conversation. 'I'll do what I can do,' she was already compiling a mental list of who she could call.
'Why don't you go over there and check it out?' Lula suggested to Stephanie. She could come and go as she pleased at Rangeman and it would give her the perfect opportunity to find out more.
Stephanie nodded slightly. That was an idea, she could pop by there. She hadn't been Ranger for almost two weeks now. Between semi moving in with Morelli and here, things had been crazy. Maybe she could pop by this afternoon.
'You may not need to,' Connie said, looking out the window. 'Here comes Hal and I'm going to take a wild card and say that's Harper,'
Lula and Stephanie heads turned so fast, they were risking whiplash. 'Damn,' Lula said as they watched them get out of the black SUV. They paused beside the car and were talking.
That wasn't quite what Stephanie was thinking. She was far from the old woman she had been picturing. She was… eye catching. From here, she could see how pale she was even from here. Long red hair which was pulled back into a curly ponytail. Dressed in the usual "Rangeman black", her clothes seemed to clung to her every curse.
'Sit down, they're coming in,' Connie hissed and the three went hurling back into their seats just as the door opened and Hal entered.
'Morning ladies,' he nodded to them all with a smile.
'Morning,' the three chorused as Harper entered the office as well.
'I'd like to introduce you Harper,' Hal said as she stood beside him. She had made him promise he wouldn't tell the "world" they were siblings, saying everyone would assume she had been hired just because they were related. 'We just hired her at Rangeman,' he said. 'Harper, I'd like you to meet Connie, the office manager.' Harper shook her hand with a smile. 'Nice to meet you,' she said.
'This is Lula, filing extraordinaire and part time bounty hunter,' he said as Harper turned to her and they shook hands. The first thing Harper noticed was the bring green concoction Lula called an outfit. It was at least three sizes too small and the colour could probably be seen from space.
'And Stephanie, the bombshell bounty hunter,' Hal said. He wasn't surprised to see her and he had made Harper promise to be nice. No biting or scratching.
Harper turned to her. Hal had made her promise she'd play nice. 'Hi. It's nice to meet you,' She wasn't quite what she had expected. She held out her hand to her.
She was paler then Stephanie had realized and she had green eyes that looked like small emerald chips. Her hair colour was obviously natural, given her colouring. She was shorter then Stephanie but not by much. A few inches. Hal just made everyone look tiny. 'Nice to meet you too,' Stephanie finally said, pulling her hand back.
'I'm just showing Harper around, helping her get settled in,' Hal said. 'Is the pervert parade in?' Hal asked Connie. If Vinnie so much as looked at Harper in the wrong way, Hal would personally remove all the ducks in Trenton.
Connie smiled. 'No, not until later,' she said as she completed the necessary paperwork.
'So Harper,' Lula said. 'Are you from around here?'
'No, I just moved here,' Harper told her. Hal had told her to expect people being 'nosy' here in the Burg. So different to New York. Your neighbor didn't care if you lived or died there, let alone your entire neighborhood.
'Where from?' Lula pressed her for more information. She needed something juicy to talk about.
'New York,' Harper answered her, looking down to where Hal was signing the forms.
'New York state or New York City,' Lula asked.
'City,' Harper told her as Connie started writing out the cheque for the two bond papers Hal had brought.
'Wow, I love New York. Maybe Tank and I can go away for a weekend there,' Lula grinned at Stephanie who was watching Harper.
'All done,' she said, handing him the cheque.
'You're a gem Connie,' Hal said, taking them from her. 'See you ladies later,' he said to each of them.
'It was nice meeting you all,' Harper said, following Hal out of the bonds office.
'Wow,' Lula said. 'She's hot,'
'She made me want to smile at her, even though I wasn't sure I really wanted to,' Connie said, putting the cheque book back into the draw under lock and key. Otherwise Vinnie would be writing personal cheques to keep his bookie happy.
Stephanie remained quite. Lula was right, she was hot. The idea of her working at Rangeman… maybe she was over reacting. She was just working there, nothing else. Doing office work. Searches… maybe some filing…
'She looks a bit like Hal you know. Same kinda smile. Maybe they're related. He's pretty white too,' Lula suggested.
'Everyone is pretty white to you,' Connie laughed
'You know what I mean,' Lula laughed too.
Stephanie watched Hal and Harper leaving through the window. She had a sick feeling in her stomach, not that she could really explain it. There was nothing to it, she was just a new hire. Nothing more. That was all.
Still.... there was one way to find out. And Stephanie needed to know more about this red head. And the best way to do that....
Ask Ranger himself.
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