Thanks to the amazing Rach and her editing magic and for helping me with my crazy timeline. The last chapter will be posted tonight. Thanks for all your well wishes. Be thinking good thoughts for me tomorrow morning! : )
Chapter 9
Bionic by Christina Aguilera
A giant cluster fuck, that's what this was, a simple distraction gone totally FUBAR. But of course it involved Stephanie Plum. It seemed nothing went according to plan when she was involved.
I listened over the wire to Stephanie's friends describing me to Lester. I saw the glint in his eye when he first clued in at their physical description, but when they mentioned my Porsche, that clinched it. There was dead silence over the wire before I heard Tank's big booming voice. "Did you forget to mention something at the briefing, Rangeman?"
I kept my voice calm, "Nothing relevant."
"Not relevant? Having a prior relationship with the skip isn't relevant? Since when?" His voice was harsh, he didn't like being played any more than I did.
I played it off, "Sex isn't a relationship."
"Damn, you're one cold bastard you know that? No wonder you wanted to stay hidden. It might have created a scene, her begging for a repeat performance." I could tell from his tone he was disgusted with me.
"Focus gentlemen." I kept it all business, but his comment stung because I knew the truth.
Of course at that very moment Stephanie interrupted the conversation, saying, "Excuse me? Do you have to sit here and talk about me like I'm not even here? And I'll have you know, I left him."
It was dead silent for a moment before all hell broke loose in my ear. Steph's friends were squawking, Lester and the other guys were laughing. Fuckers.
Steph quickly got fed up with it and left the table, weaving her way across the floor on less than solid legs.
"Santos, you fucker. Stop her. She's still a skip and you need to bring her in." He regained his composure and hurried after her, catching up with her on the dance floor.
"You know what man?" Tank's voice came over the wire again. "This is fucked up. You're just pissed because the great Manoso got his ego bruised. She's a nice lady, just had a run of bad luck. You could have gone to her, explained the situation. Instead you drag all our asses out here for a full blown take down. If you want her so damn bad, go get her yourself." His next words were for Bobby and Lester, "You two do what you want, but there are a couple of fine looking women that look to be in need of a little company." I watched as he and Bobby stepped out of the shadows and headed over to Steph's friends. Fuck.
"Lester, you motherfucker. Offer her a ride home," I growled over the mic. When she turned him down he flipped me off while watching her ass sway as she walked away. This is why I shouldn't have family members on staff. I wanted to shoot him, but my Abuela would have my ass in a sling for it. While Lester took every opportunity to razz me, he'd never defied a direct order before.
I waited until she reached the edge of the dance floor where she stopped and looked back towards her friends. Bobby and Tank were entertaining them, they seemed oblivious to anything else. I'd hoped to stay in the shadows for this one, but Lester forced my hand. And now I had to do it all on my own. I slid into position behind her, cutting off her path to the front door and curled my hands into fists to keep myself from reaching out and touching her. She sighed and turned around quickly, stumbling a bit and ran straight into me. I quickly steadied her before she landed on the floor. She looked up at me with those big blue eyes, and without thinking I said, "Babe."
I fought to remind myself why I was here. I liked it a hell of a lot better when I thought she was a man-hating nut case. I had absorbed the new intel Lester acquired, but no matter her situation or her excuses, the fact remained that she was FTA and it was my job to take her in. She may have worked her charms on Lester, but once bitten, twice shy. I had no intention of following suit.
"It's you," she said, reaching up to touch my face, like she was confirming I was real. Damn. There was a part of me that wanted to take her in my arms and tell her I'd take care of everything. But I ignored the feeling and tried to move things along. With my hand on the small of her back I directed her to the back door. I just needed to get her out to my car. When we got to the hallway that led to the private rooms and the back door she stopped and turned towards me.
"Would you like to tell me where we're going?" She'd been kind of in a trance since she saw me, but suddenly she was very sober. Not angry, but wary.
Shit. I wanted to do this cleanly. Obviously it wasn't going to be that easy. I shouldn't have been surprised.
I needed to take over where Lester failed. Pulling her closer, whispering in her ear, I said, "I thought we'd go back to the hotel." I felt like shit lying to her, but it couldn't be helped. I nuzzled her neck and backed her up against the wall. Tilting her head up I leaned down to kiss her, just teasing her with my lips and tongue. I felt her shudder and I was angry that I couldn't suppress my own body's response to her.
She pushed me back a little and tried to regain her composure. "Well couldn't you have asked me? Maybe I don't want to go with you?" She tried to sound like she meant it, but her body was in direct conflict with her words. I raised one eyebrow and looked down at her nipples poking through the fabric of her blue halter top. She just scowled and crossed her arms over chest. Too bad, I'd really been enjoying the view. "I don't even know your name," she protested.
I shrugged, "Didn't stop you last time."
Hurt flashed across her face before she dropped her gaze to her shoes. Christ, she was wearing those shoes. I dreamed about those shoes. The memory softened my resolve, "Carlos, my name is Carlos, but people call me Ranger."
Her head snapped up and she looked at me like I'd given her a gift. Guilt burned in my stomach.
Then she smiled at me and it got worse. "I'm Stephanie."
I couldn't take it anymore, I needed this over. It was torture. I closed the gap between us and put my hands on her hips, pulling her towards me. "So Stephanie, now can we go?" The sexual tension between us was like an electric current and I was going to get zapped. I felt her melt into me and I knew I had her. She didn't answer me, she just nodded. We headed out the back door.
I was ready to be done with this. I pulled a pair of cuffs out of my back pocket and said, "Stephanie Plum, you missed your court date and I'm taking you down to the station to get re-bonded."
Her eyes got wide and she almost shrieked, "What?"
I kept my face blank, and stepped towards her "You heard me, you failed to appear at your court date. I need to take you in."
She backed away, shock written all over her face. "No I didn't! There was a mix up in the paperwork, Vinnie's secretary called me and left a message. She said she'd call me with a new date."
I shook my head, "Doesn't matter Babe, I need to take you in."
I steered her into the alley behind the bar. My car had been parked in the front row of the lot, but it was missing. What the fuck? Lester. I'm going to kill him.
My phone rang. It was Lester. "Where the fuck are you? And where is my goddamn car?" I growled into the phone.
The bastard had the nerve to laugh, "Calm down Rangeman. We thought you guys needed some time to sort a few things out. She's something special and for some unknown reason she likes you. Don't fuck this up man." I could hear Bobby and Tank shouting encouragement in the background.
How had this woman captivated my best friends in one night? They'd had my back in unbelievably dangerous situations, but enter Stephanie and they hung me out to dry. "Lester so help me, Aubela or not I'm going to kick your ass, and then I'm going to ship all three of you to Outer Mongolia." I snapped the phone shut and came face to face with a very angry woman.
Her hands were on her hips and her eyes narrowed, "You set me up? Lester was in on this? He was a plant?" I nodded, "What, did you think I was such a slut I'd go home with him so you could arrest me?"
I shrugged. "You went home with me."
She was quick and I was caught off guard when she slapped me. "Fuck you. You know that was different."
"Was it?" I stepped into her and caught her hand as she reached up to slap me again. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes flashed with anger. She looked beautiful.
I backed her up to the brick wall. "It may have been different if you hadn't run out on me." My voice was low and dangerous; it was the one that made skips hold out their wrists to be cuffed. It didn't faze her in the least.
She looked up at me defiantly, "Is that what all this is about? Did poor Carlos get his ego bruised because for once a woman wasn't falling all over him, begging him not to leave?"
My earpiece squawked with laughter. Damn Lester. I'd forgotten to shut the damn thing off and those fools were listening in to our conversation. I transferred my grip so I had both her wrists in one hand and used the free one to yank the earpiece out and shut it off before shoving it in my front pocket.
"What the hell was that?" She demanded.
I just stared at her. I swear I could see the wheels turning as she worked it out in her head. I could tell the moment she figured it out, her nostrils flared and her jaw tightened. I'm sure if she had her hands free there would have been hand gestures as well. Either that or she would have slapped me again. I wasn't willing to chance it.
She narrowed her eyes at me, "You were listening? You sonovabitch! What, your feelings were hurt so you decided to humiliate me in front of your friends?"
"It wasn't like that." It was obvious she didn't believe me.
She laughed, but this time instead of the sweet sound that made me ache, it was hard and bitter. "The hell it wasn't. I'm sure you all got a big laugh out of how I've been mooning over you. Christ I was such an idiot."
For some reason it was important that she believed me. "They didn't know anything about you. When I got your file I was floored. I didn't tell them about that night, that we met."
"Why not? Embarrassed to tell them you spent the night with a wanted criminal?" She was hurt, but she wasn't the only one.
"What did you expect me to say? 'I know her; we spent the night together a couple months ago. It was so great she snuck out on me while I was in the shower.'"
Her face softened. "It was great," she said in a quiet voice.
"It wasn't great," I ground out. She looked like I'd slapped her. Finishing my thought I told her, "It was fucking amazing."
I kissed her. This time is wasn't teasing and seductive; it was bruising and reeked of possessiveness. I ravaged her mouth and after a pause she met me with equal force. Finally I came to my senses and pulled back before I took her right there in the alley. I released her hands and took several steps back. I ran my hands over my face trying to gather my thoughts, get back under control. It wasn't working. This was a bad idea. I couldn't trust myself with this woman. That's why I'd needed to stay in the shadows tonight.
"Fucking Lester," I muttered under my breath.
She was still breathless from the kiss when she asked, "Why did you send in Lester?"
I couldn't answer that.
"Why not you? If you were so sure I'd leave with you, why send in the second string?" Now she was taunting me, trying to get a reaction, any reaction.
I'd always been able to maintain my control, but no one had ever tested me like she did. I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me lose it. "It seemed like the best option for everyone. You weren't even supposed to see me."
He voice lost its edge and she didn't even try to disguise the hurt, "Do you hate me that much? You couldn't even stand to look at me?"
No, I couldn't trust myself around her, but I couldn't exactly tell her that. That was like giving information to the enemy.
"Why the whole ruse? When you found out my name and address, why didn't you just come and talk to me?" She made it sound so simple.
Frustrated with my silence she kept pushing. "Why all this? How many guys did you have here tonight?"
"There were four of us all together."
"Isn't that a little overkill for a woman who burned up a dining room table?" I stared at her, waiting for the rest. "The car was not my fault." She stomped her foot and waved her arms.
Well now it seemed excessive, but earlier it seemed to make a lot more sense. I tried to explain my reasoning. "On paper Babe, you're pretty damn scary."
Both her eyebrows shot up. I got the idea she was trying to raise just one, but it wasn't successful. "What do you mean?"
I studied her, she really didn't know. "Your cousin is a pervert; your grandma is a sex offender." She rolled her eyes at me, but I continued, "You ran over an ex-boyfriend with your dad's car and you set your ex-husband's car on fire."
She put her hands on her hips to keep her from waving them around. "Hey, you can't choose your family. That's not my fault. And the others, I tend to be a bit impulsive at times, yes, but they both deserved it."
"So I heard."
She moved towards me and poked me in the chest as she ranted, "You know what? Screw you. Just because you read about a few things that have happened to me, doesn't mean you know me, what kind of person I am."
I grabbed her hand and pulled her in close to me, torturing both of us, "Oh I think I know exactly what kind of person you are and not because of some damn file. I had the pleasure of finding out for myself."
She tried to pull away, hissing at me. "You're a real bastard, you know that?"
I held firm, "So I've been told."
He eyes were bright, and filled with fury, "So what is it you think you know?"
The words spilled out before I could censor myself, "I only got to know what you wanted me to, then you got scared and ran off."
This time I did let her pull away, having her so close was painful. "Are we still talking about that? Really, if you're that bothered that I didn't stick around to hear your, 'this was fun, but I'm not looking for anything serious' speech, just go ahead and give it to me right now, I'm all ears." She was back to waving her arms and yelling. I refused to answer.
She rolled her eyes and continued to rant, "Well? I'm waiting. No, nothing?" I shook my head. She threw her hands up in the air, "It was one night. That was all it was going to be, you know it and I know it." She stepped closer and started poking me again, "You're just mad I beat you to the punch. You don't like being the one who got left behind? Well welcome to the club. I have a lifetime membership. So forgive me if I didn't wait to sit around and watch the door hit your ass on the way out." She turned on her heel and started to walk away.
The sound of my voice made her stop and turn around. "Is that what it was to you?"
She stepped back towards me. "Are you serious? You want me to stand here and profess my undying love for you after you brought an entire platoon here tonight to take me to jail?"
I shook my head, "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about that night, what was it to you? Your chance to walk on the wild side? See what it was like to be with the bad boy before you go back to your life?" The last part came out as more of a sneer.
"Fuck you." She spat at me.
I fired back, "You already did."
She glared at me, "Yeah and as you pointed out I walked away. Now I'm doing it again." And then she did.
