Disclaimer: I am not Janet Evanovich and I am not making money off this story. I own the OCs and the plot. When I finally pulled myself together to go back inside, the three were chatting about the new Italian restaurant that built itself on the edge of the 'burg and the owners weren't 'burg. It wasn't getting much business. Andy threw in, as a non-'burg person, that this was ridiculous and Lula seconded it. Connie explained that the 'burg stays with its own.
"More like its afraid to change. That's not healthy behavior." I grabbed the files off his lap and was about to flip through them when what he was saying caught my attention. "Live outside the 'burg. Maybe that didn't mean physically outside." "I mean, what's the norm here? Buy a house in the 'burg, settle down, marry the "right" person, have a bunch of kids and work hard for fifty years. That isn't the only way to live. Some people just don't want those things. Does it make them any less happy to not live that? No, it would make them unhappy to live that life." Andy settled back and the three of us watched him with surprise. Young grasshopper is very perceptive.
I didn't want an argument on my hands so I smiled and suggested lunch. There was a new Italian place that I was suddenly itching to try.
* * * * * * * *
The four of us sat in a booth in Maggio's Family Italian restaurant. Connie locked up early just to join us. We were sipping our drinks and munching on fabulous, fresh warm bread. Lula dipped her bread in olive oil and moaned faintly. "I love this!" We all agreed.
"Hello! Welcome to my place. Is there anything I can get you before I take your order?" We ordered quickly. Pasta Primavera, Alfredo with white sauce and mushrooms, lasagna and manicotti. The man, who looked to be in his fifties, smiled at us and I made small talk with him for a little while. Well, the place was empty. He turned out to be the owner and his daughter and wife owned the place with him. They were the chefs. He had been planning to hire more help but the place just wasn't pulling in any business, much to all their disappointment. They had put everything they had into making this place and now it was falling apart. He brought out our food and left us to enjoy it.
"God, this food is beyond belief." One of us moaned and it was quickly seconded. We were eating off each other's plates.
"Its not right that this place closes. This food is incredible." I said thoughtfully.
"But competition with this place could hurt Pino's and Rissotti's." Connie pointed out.
"It doesn't have to. I mean, Pino's is a pizza joint and Rissotti's is one of the nicest places in the city. Maggio's is kinda in the middle, you know? Maybe we could work with that," I pointed out.
"Yeah, like families and stuff."
"'Burg food without the work." Andy laughed, waving his fork in front of him. We brainstormed and ate the amazing food. It was nice spending time with friends. I watched Lula and Connie get into a tiff and Andy rolled his eyes at me. We were kind of family in a way. A very non-burg family. I laughed suddenly at the thought and when I had their attention, I suggested dessert. This could be better than sex.
* * * * * * * *
"Who have we got?" Andy asked once we got in the car.
"You know, if you keep this up, I'll have to pay you." He smiled and shrugged.
"This bounty hunter thing is so different from anything I have ever been exposed to. Spending time with you is very…enlightening." He was relaxed against his seat. He suddenly looked younger than he had since I met him.
"What was with this morning?" I asked gently. I was also vague so he could dodge the subject if he wanted to. He sighed.
"Derek needed his stuff back. He's moving today and tomorrow." He let out a brittle laugh. "I thought he wanted me back." I squeezed his hand and flipped open the first folder between us. He looked down at it in gratitude. He didn't like talking about this or thinking about it, I'm sure.
The first skip was a hooker from Dotter Street, it was two blocks from Stark. Her name was Deedra Jones. Arrested for hooking, no history of violence.
The second one was Anthony Moroni. I went to school with him. He had been a class clown who could be a bit of a bully if he got in a bad mood. He was a completely verbal bully and he used to be good at humiliating the weaker kids. I remember that when he made fun of Nicole one recess, I broke his nose. No one messed with my friends, I had told him. He now owned a bar off Hamilton. Motoring over there, I filled Andy in a bit on Tony Moroni. Not my favorite person, but he wasn't dangerous, just a bad drunk which was why he was arrested. And he was arrested by… guess who? Yup, Brookline.
"Why do you think a robbery detective is making all these small arrests?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."
We entered the bar together. It was pretty empty. I walked over to the bartender and asked if Tony was in.
"Yeah, baby, he's in the back." He pointed with a dirty glass. I motioned for Andy to stay up front and walked back, checking the charge on my stun gun. I knock on his open door and leaned against the door frame. He grew from a taller, thin kid into a short, pudgy man. He looked up from the books and looked me over.
"What can I do for you, sugar?" He leered just a bit. After all, he's a business man, he can't go into full leer mood.
"Hello, my name is Stephanie Plum. You missed your court date," I could see I was losing him so what the hell? "and I'm going to haul your ass into jail. How does that sound?" He shoved past me and started running for the front. I caught him easily and pushed the stunner into his neck. He fell through the doorway of the bar.
"What the hell?" The bartender shouted.
"I'm a bail enforcement agent and he is a fugitive. Just doing my job, sir." Andy walked over and helped me lift him up.
"When do I get to do the fun stuff? Like zap them."
"Hmm… let me think about it."
"That's all I ask." He grunted and we got the guy in the back seat. I cuffed him to the door, just in case and we took him in. I pulled up to my usual precinct and had some big cops bring him in. I went to the front desk to fill out paperwork. While I was preoccupied, Brookline walked over and leaned her hip against the counter next to me.
"There weren't any prints at your apartment that were out of place, so either it was one of the three people that were there with you who did it or the guy wore gloves." She finally spoke. I gave her a cool look. Hey, don't look at me like that. She just casually accused two people that I would trust with my life of trashing my place. I was pretty sure that Morelli was above her suspicion.
"You've a problem with me, don't you?" I glared at her. She glared back. To give her credit, she wasn't playing dumb.
"No, not with you. I hate that you're a bounty hunter when you have the brains to do some good in this place. I'm envious that you, a lousy bounty hunter, have ten times the respect with these good ole boy cops then I do. I am a detective, but they treat me like I am a secretary. And I think that you are a bitch for you have two very different men and playing with both of them." She stopped, looking slightly flushed. I was shocked at the emotional force she had built up.
She looked at me, as if daring me to deny anything she just said. I just wasn't sure what to say.
"Look, Plum, I know you are working on the Carla Moore case and I'll keep you informed but stay out of my way, got it? And keep that man away from it." Before I could say anything, she turned and walked away. I grabbed the body slip from the bored desk officer and walked out to the car. Now I was wondering, which man? Just call that woman Russia, there was no understanding her.
* * * * * * * *
Dotter Street wasn't that bad. I wouldn't want to vacation there but, for a Jersey slum, it could have been worse. Deedra was pacing on a corner about half a block up from us. She was a soft skinned Latino with a mass of black curls around her face. She looked like a teenager. I checked her age in the file. She was barely twenty-one. I looked over at Andy, wondering what the plan should be. A lot of hookers really hated men. I think it just came with the territory after a while.
"I'm going to approach her alone. I think she would be suspicious of you."
"Think she will come willingly?"
"It is June and its starting to get pretty hot and Jersey is especially bad in the heat. I don't think she will resist a break from it."
"What about, umm…her pimp?" I shook my head.
"Lula said this street was pretty… independent. No pimps really on the lower part of Dotter." He nodded and I got out. She saw me coming almost immediately. She looked nervous for a moment then locked on the blank face that was unique for the 'ho.
"Honey, I don't do women."
"Me either." She looked me up and down.
"You aren't a cop." It wasn't a question.
"I'm Stephanie, I work with Vincent Plum. The bail bondsman. You missed your court date." She looked a little defiant.
"I was busy. I have work to do."
I nodded. "I get that, Deedra, right? But I need to get you rebonded. That's what I do." I shrugged. "Listen, it's hot out here. How about we get some ice cream or something. I'll call Vinnie and get him to get you bonded out and you can come back if you want."
She nodded. "Dairy Queen, right?"
I smiled. "I need a blizzard." She followed me. I nodded to Andy and reassured her that he was harmless. She got in, giving him a dirty look.
"You're not my type, girl." Those were the magic words, I guess.
The three of us sat around a table eating our ice cream. Deedra teased Andy about not being man enough to eat a blizzard like us. He looked down at his hot fudge sundae and shrugged digging in.
"You're just jealous that I can handle hot fudge and nice, cool, ice cream and you have to have to have that…" He pointed at her Blizzard with his red spoon. She started acting like the kid she was and Andy seemed to be a natural at bringing that out. Andy tilted his head and grew serious.
"What's your story, honey? How did you end up on the streets?" She stopped laughing and fell silent for a few moments.
"My daddy was a preacher." She let out a hollow laugh. "Isn't that something? The preacher's baby girl became a whore. My mom was from a strict Catholic family and they disapproved of her falling in love with a man outside the church." The girl shrugged. "Momma did it anyway. She married him and they had me and two boys. Life was so good when I was growing up. I took it for granted how good I had it. I got really rebellious when I hit thirteen or so. They just couldn't handle it after a while and to protect my brothers, they kicked me out." She went back to eating.
"Are you addicted to anything?" She studied us for a moment or two.
"No. I used to be hooked to crack but I finally kicked it. Meth is nasty shit and I avoided it. Heroine was my girl, Dawn's habit and it got her killed. Drugs are bad business." She shook her head. Smart girl. I flipped a chunk of cookie into Andy's dish. And then it was on.
* * * * * * * *
Andy hated leaving Deedra back on her corner. He offered her a place to stay if she ever needed it. She was too independent to accept it but she took down his address, just in case. It was five before I got back to my apartment and I jumped into the shower. I just needed the peace of a shower. When I got out, I pulled on a pair of flannel short-shorts and a black tank top and padded out to the living room.
Ranger was leaning against the couch and he looked up when I came out. His eyes became very dark and he straightened. Hmm… tempting the big bad wolf?
"Foods in the kitchen, babe." I led the way out there. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me while I dug through the Chinese takeout. He even got me some unhealthy stuff. I grinned and turned around. He was looking down at me like I was dinner. I leaned back a little to study him.
He was truly a beautiful man. His sexy chocolate brown eyes were studying my face, his slightly full lips quirked in a bit of a smile when my eyes fell on them, he had a bit of a goatee and a thin line of hair growing around his mouth. His dark mocha skin was flawless. He knew how attractive he was and he knew how to use it but it hadn't made him arrogant. I loved how he looked at me like I was the only woman on earth and when an attractive woman hit on him, he wasn't just acting uninterested. I didn't understand it, but I did enjoy it.
He let me study him. I smiled softly and kissed him. He seemed a little surprised. He kissed me hard back and lifted me up so I was sitting on the counter and he stood in between my legs. Once again, I was ready for more and he pulled back. He kissed me on the nose and grabbed one of the boxes behind me. I just stared at him, like well aren't you going to finish this? But he carried the box out of the room into the living room and I heard the TV turn on. Huh, what was that?
I grabbed my food and two beers and went into the living room and plopped down by him. Somehow we ended up sitting hip to hip, eating our takeout and he tuned in on the news. Trenton, New Jersey was uncharacteristically calm. How disappointing.
The last thing I remember was setting down my beer and leaning on Ranger, forgetting my annoyance. I woke up in my bed and I was delightfully warm and cozy. I wiggled in while I was still half asleep and I heard a groan. Oops.
Rolling to my other side, I faced my sexy Latino bedmate. "Hey, there."
"Hey yourself." He smiled sleepily and I decided I liked this look. His hair was loose and rather long and he was all soft and warm from sleep. He raised one arm and looked at the time. He groaned again and kissed the top of my head. "I got to go, babe." He rolled out of bed and got dressed slowly, knowing that I was watching. He grinned and winked to me.
"Where to?" I frowned and looked at the time. It was freaking 5:30.
"A…uh, redecorating job. I'll see you later." He kissed me again, twice and was gone before I really regained my senses.
