I know it's been ages – I am truly sorry for this, and hope you are still enjoying this story.
I've been stuck with a case of writer's block and a bigger case of discouragement – I had the feeling this story was too complicated to write, intertwining the worlds of Stephanie Plum and In Plain Sight… and in English, which is not my mother tongue …
Anyway, here is the chapter 9 of the story. My huge thanks, again to Dog_in_the_manger, the best friend and beta I could find. And to Highlands-girl, for her support.
Chapter 9: "We're as good as dead, Javi."
Finding the lady marshal was easy, thought Lester. We shouldn't have underestimated her.
"Javi, we screwed big time. Ranger is going to kill me."
"No." Lester turned his head to look at his cousin, disbelief written on his face. "He's going to kill us."
-o-o-
Five days ago, Lester and Javier arrived in Albuquerque from Miami, their plan firmly established, and still fighting like kids about anything and everything. In hopes of spotting their target, they decided to settle at a small hotel off Lomas Boulevard, a few blocks away from the Sunshine Building, which was housing the local WitSec office. After all, Mary Shannon was bound to come into the office eventually.
By Tuesday, three days later, there was still no sign of her, and they started getting antsy. They'd set up surveillance of all the entrances to the building, but she never showed. They were watching the front of the courthouse, to see her coming in or out, but had no luck there either.
Dutifully reporting their progress, or rather their lack thereof to RangerMan Trenton, , neither of them was really looking forward to the tonight's call without any news, which is why they decided to grab a beer at a local bar before facing the firing squad. And so they found themselves at the Two Fools Tavern, an Irish pub within walking distance of the hotel, nursing their beer and working through a huge plate of nachos, when a blonde woman clad in blue jeans and brown leather jacket sauntered in, looking very much the picture Lester had in his pocket.
"Javier! That's her," Lester said, turning slightly to take a better look at the woman talking to the bartender.
"Can you be more obvious, carbon? We have to be sure before we make a move. I'll take a picture on my way from the bathroom, and we'll follow her later, just in case. ¿Entiendes?" Javier didn't wait for his cousin to answer and headed toward the back of the tavern.
Lester tucked a few bills under the plastic holder with the laminated card of happy hour specials, so that they could leave quickly if they had to, and returned to watching the woman from the corner of his eye. She wasn't his usual type, but she was just… hot. Curved in all the right places, with shoulder-length blond hair and mile-long legs encased in tight jeans, she had the air of authority about her that had every male's attention in the joint, which she intentionally ignored. He was jerked out of his reverie with a cuff on the back of his head, courtesy of his cousin who'd returned from the bathroom, his phone in hand.
"I just sent it to Hector, so he could double check. And if you're done leering, we can move to the car." Javier shoved his phone into his pocket before grabbing his jacket and heading for the front door.
"I'm not lurchingleering! I'm taking inappreciating the view. Learning Getting to know my victimthe target,." Lester said, not leaving taking his eyes off the blonde woman from his sight.
"Your target? Because you think you'll be making contact?"
"Who else, Javier? You're not suggesting you do it?" He sneered. "You know I can get any woman I want."
"You're so full of yourself, Lesterito… Just because I don't brag, doesn't mean I can't get a woman."
They made their way out of the tavern when Javier's phone started ringing.
Javier turned to his cousin, "Hector confirmed the ID. Go." Then he spoke into his phone, "Lester thinks he should make the contact. I'd rather we follow her around. What you think?"
"Roger that." He hung up the phone. "Ranger said to follow her around and avoid direct contact unless absolutely necessary."
" Javi, get in the car, she's leaving!"
Javier turned to look at the large window to see the marshal making her way to the door. He quickly climbed into the black SUV they had rented at the airport, and watched Mary head for her car.
With the countless hours of surveillance in Trenton under his belt, Lester easily tailed her through the streets of Albuquerque onto a quiet residential street and passed her when she parked in the driveway of her house. Through the night, they took turns sleeping to monitor the house and be ready to follow when she left for work.
"She's not an early bird," Lester said, glancing at the clock on the dashboard. "It's almost nine and she's still inside. Maybe she's showering? I'd rather go and check, right?"
"Keep your pants on, Santos. This ain't pay-per-view. We wait."
"You're always ruining the mood…"
"Earth to Santos. She's on the move."
Shaken out of his daydream, Lester focused on the vehicle in front of them. After a few turns, the old Probe she was driving stopped in front of a Starbucks. Mary was out of her car in a flash, her aviators on, strutting inside, yelling at someone on the phone. "I'm going in, we need to make contact." Lester unfastened his seat belt, and combed his hair with his hands, carefully rearranging a lock over his eyebrow to bring out his green eyes.
"You should have started primping two hours ago, you're worse than a girl!" said Javier, looking at his cousin with evident disdain.
"It takes a lot to look this good. That's why you never get laid, cousin."
Without another word, Lester left the SUV and headed into the Starbucks, leaving Javier to call RangeMan.
-o-o-
Mary was tapping her fingers on the counter. She couldn't believe how long it was taking the barista to make two cups of coffee. Actually, she thought, her black and Marshall's ridiculous half-caf, triple-cap, heavy foam. She barely looked at the ID, flashing on the screen of her ringing phone before answering it. "Yes, I'm getting your Latte, doofus. And no, there were no doughnuts involved! You never said that! Fuck!" she hissed at her now silent phone, cursing herself for the tenth time that day for losing a stupid bet to her partner.
"For a gorgeous woman you sure have a foul mouth." The rich and husky voice Mary heard came from a thirty-something blonde man, dressed in a grey suit and flashing a two thousand watt smile, as he looked at her with clear appreciation in his green eyes.
With a sigh, she turned to one of the barista and ordered apple fritters, ignoring the playboy's overtures. She soon felt his walking over, invading her personal space and quickly moved to the end of the bar. Mary sighed again, tensing as she waited for her order. Finally, as soon as the kid set two drinks on the counter, shoved them into the cardboard tray along with the fritters and turned to face the guy, standing beside her.
He smiled, and she could see the twinkle in his green eyes. "So, Gorgeous, can I take you out for drinks tonight?" The tone of his voice was more than suggestive.
Mary sized him up, from the well chiseled chest, to his carefully arranged hair. "Listen, asshole, your pickup lines are as stale as that English muffin." She pointed to a lone breakfast sandwich, left on a plate in the corner of the display case, and then shoved Lester aside to pass. "Get out of my way, I'm late for work."
It took Lester a few seconds to recover his composure before he picked up his order and went back to the SUV.
"So, how did it go?" asked Javier.
"I made an impression," muttered Lester.
-o-o-
The ride between her apartment and the Sunshine building to Steph seemed longer than usual. She was starting to feel something churn inside her belly, and it wasn't good. Having realized that she should have told the marshals about her involvement with Ranger, but in truth, with the rush of the first hours of leaving Trenton, it didn't occur to her that it mattered. Later… thinking about what, or rather whom she had left in New Jersey was too painful. And now, she would have to face it everything again, and who knew, maybe leave New Mexico and the semblance of peace she had found here.
Marshall kept looking at Mary's witness from the corner of his eyes. What were the odds that they would have to take in a witness who was, even if indirectly, connected to his own past? A past he only shared with Stan a few years ago before his transfer into Albuquerque WitSec. And now he would have to tell Mary. Not that he wasn't proud of his service for his country; it was just something he wanted to keep to himself, after all he'd followed in his brother's footsteps to honor his memory. He fought back an involuntary wave of grief the thought of Wes perishing in some godforsaken part of Colombia. Marshall enlisted after Wes hadn't returned from a Special Ops mission, and he never regretted it. He learned a lot, and was discharged with the honors, and got an open invitation to return whenever he wanted.
And now, he had to face his past in front of Mary. He didn't have a clue how she would react.
-o-o-
"Marshall's brining Stephanie (add her last name here, it escapes me right now). He said, he needs to talk to us. What do we do with them?" Mary's head jerked back toward the conference room, where all the blinds were drawn. Stan McQueen looked up from the document he was reading to his inspector, who was impatiently tapping her fingers against the wooden doorjamb. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. He couldn't actually remember the last time Marshall wanted to discuss anything personal with him.
"Talk? About what?"
"Didn't say. You'll have to ask him." Mary turned on her heel, before her boss called her back inside
Stan clearly heard the blonde marshal's sigh before she ambled back into his office. He slowly settled deeper into his leather chair, and laced his fingers together over the blotter on his desk.
"Close the door."
Mary pursed her lips before doing as she was asked and turned back to Stan with an exasperated look.
"Is this the time when we talk about my inappropriate behavior?" She rolled her eyes. "We did last year and the year before that… I won't change, Stan, you know it and I know it. So, what's the point? Can I go now?"
"Mary? Sit your ass down."
She shoved her phone into her pocket and reluctantly sprawled on the chair in front of him.
"What's going on with Marshall? Is there something I should know?As your boss? Or your friend?"
Mary shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "Nothing's going on. Why?"
"You two seem a bit off, lately. You didn't say anything about Topeka."
"You don't want me to talk about Topeka, Stan, trust me. Marshall and I just don't hang out much anymore, he's got Abigail now."
Stan was about to answer when he saw Marshall walking into the office with Stephanie, and heading straight for the conference room.
"Mary, stop them! They cannot go in there!"
Mary bolted from Stan's office just in time to see Marshall opening the door, motioning for Stephanie to go inside.
As she walked past, she turned her head, hearing Mary's shout, "Not in the conference room, Marshall!"
Before either anyone could stop her, Stephanie looked inside the room and her jaw fell.
"Lester? What are you doing here?"
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