Chapter 9
The bustling sounds of evening activities arose from downstairs. Soon, the aroma of garlic,onions,and fresh baked bread floated through the bedroom, washing over me.
"This place is so different from Rangeman."
"It's completely different. That's the point." Ranger kissed my shoulder. His hand slowly caressing my breast. We were lying together in the dark, the full moon bright enough for us to see. Warm air drifted through from the open window.
I thought about Ranger's family, and the story about his mother giving him this cabin. "What happened to your Dad? You never mentioned him before."
"You ask a lot of questions, Stephanie Plum." His voice was low and sad.
"I'm a curious person, sue me."
Ranger sat up next to me, he wrapped me in his arms. "My father was in the military, like I was. He got shot in the head by friendly fire during training exercises."
"Wow, I am so sorry. I had no idea."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." He was right, I knew nothing about him. Not really. I knew that he had a daughter, that he had been married before,I knew that he was smokin hot, and.. I knew that I was falling for him. Crap.
"So, What happened?" I said, trying not to think about that last part.
"He lived, but the bullet lodged in his brain. Eventually he started acting different. He was disoriented, hallucinating. Getting bad headaches, and he had fits of rage that he could not control. He was terrified to be around us. Sometimes he wouldn't even know who we were. The doctors said the bullet was moving, and surgery was not an option. It was in a part of the brain that they could not get to without causing him severe brain damage. He came up here as a last resort so he wouldn't harm anyone."
I couldn't imagine what that would have done to his family. I thought about my dad, and what kind of pressure that would have put on him, how that would have changed everything in our life.
"Did you still see him?"
"We would visit. Sometimes he would come see us. Then one day we got a call that the cabin had been abandoned. They had search and rescue scour the area . Two weeks, not a trace. They didn't find him. He probably just wandered off."
"They never found him?" I said curiously.
Ranger shook his head,"No" and climbed out of bed. He checked his watch and started getting dressed.
If he wandered off, how far could he have gotten? Then I thought of how I took off. I could have gotten lost. I suppose it could have looked a lot different back then, but it seemed to me that it would have been hard to miss someone out here unless you didn't want to be found. There were mountains, I suppose crevices but a good rescue team should have spotted something.
"How old were you?" I asked, as I watched him.
"Eight." He said quickly.
I could tell he wanted to change the subject. I knew it must be hard to talk about, especially since Ranger doesn't talk about personal shit. He got up and pulled his clothes on, tossing my bag on the bed effortlessly.
"When ever your ready, come downstairs. I have some things that need to be taken care of." He looked down at me, and a smile broke through his usual serious demeanor. He stopped tucking in his shirt and instead pulled me back down on the bed. His weight fully on top of me, his arms holding himself up so that he could look into my eyes. He ran his fingers down my body watching them as they dipped with the natural curves. I got goosebumps and I was having a hard time keeping my cool. His lips touched mine and I instantly forgot the sad story he was telling or that he had things to do. I thought what ever business he had, It could wait. I mean, he was on some sort of vacation, right? I pulled him in closer, clutching the front of his shirt and bringing my hand to his back sliding it under the waistband of his cargo pants. I felt him stir and push his hips into mine. He pulled away from the kiss, his elbows resting at my sides. The light from the moon reflected in the dark pools of his eyes. They locked on mine. He cracked a tiny smile,took a deep breath and rolled out of the bed.
It took me a few minutes to collect myself after that little episode, and I wondered why I shouldn't just fall for him. Maybe, Stephanie, because the man himself has warned you not to fall for him. He told you it could never happen and that I would be left with a broken heart. I fought with myself over this for a few minutes and decided that I was a big girl and I could handle what ever happened just fine. I wasn't falling for him anyway, I told myself.
I found my bag and started picking through the small amount of clothing that I had taken with me. My things were still at the apartment in Scottsdale. Everything was there. I wanted to go back and get my stuff. The thought of kicking Vinnie's ass got me anxious. I looked around the room we were in. The moon was bright enough that I could see pictures on the walls and in frames on the dresser. I hit the remote to cover the window and I turned on the lamp next to me, draped a sheet around me so I could see just what pictures Ranger would have in his real batcave room. Some were documents of different events from Rangers tours of service framed and placed neatly and orderly on the wall in front of me. There were more personal ones also. 8 x 10 pictures showing young men in uniforms. Some standing around large guns, or posing with huge machines, helicopters, and military tanks. Ranger was in some of the pictures. In others, I imagine he was the photographer. In each picture he aged, not just in years, but in how he handled himself. All the men in the images changed, but I spotted some that remained with him through almost all. Men like Tank were in two or three, Hal was in a few and so was Ramon and Lester. The older pics showed young men goofing off and happy, but the pictures that were from years later showed a much more serious band of brothers. I knew that they had seen more than they needed to see over the years, and I felt instantly sad for them. The pictures documented a loss of innocence.
I pulled on jeans and the stretchy tank top as I studied more of the pictures as I walked around the room. Family photos, when Ranger was more Ricardo Carlos Manoso and not yet labeled "Ranger." One was of a boy, being hugged by a man and a woman. She was very beautiful; the man very dark and handsome. The man had his arms around the boy protectively and the woman was holding him close. They were all smiling. The boy was small and thin; his hair looked like it needed cutting. His face just like his fathers. These were Ranger's parents, and they had been very happy that day.
More pictures were on the dresser. A boy standing next to a girl that might have called Ranger "Ricky" or "Carlos" or even "Carl". She was about 2 or 3, he was about 6. She had a baby in her arms. They were standing next to a little bakery that I recognized as the one I went into to ask about Ranger not long ago. It had not changed much. Next to one of the windows was a Christmas picture framed in black. Ranger's mother was smiling and standing next to him. He was in Army fatigues; maybe he had come home on leave. The whole family sitting around a Christmas tree full of presents. He truly did have a huge family. There were little kids in stop motion, running as the picture was taken. In Rangers arms was a little baby and next to him standing and looking at the camera and smiling, was a girl no older than 18. I am guessing this was Julie and her mother right after she was born. Ranger looked proud, and he looked scared all at the same time. I must have looked at the picture for a long time. I felt a hand touch my waist and I saw Ranger take a look at the picture.
"I knew you would be up here snooping around." He pointed to each person, telling me who they were. He told me his family, for the most part still lived in the same area that he had grown up. It made me miss my family. I knew then that I wanted to get back to them.
We walked down stairs together. Both Hal and Lester had a hard time looking me in the eye. Hal got flustered and walked back outside. Lester went into the kitchen looking for something in the fridge. I had a feeling they had seen me in my birthday suit. I blushed. Tank was a different story. He walked right up to me and smiled. "Nice to see you found your clothes."
I took a gigantic breath and went outside for some air. Hal was working the grill.
"Does everyone always eat big meals up here?" I asked. He had different stations on a large charcoal grill. Fish was on the top, Steak and chicken on the bottom and corn on the sides.
"Only occasionally." He said. "Usually there is only one or two of us up here at the same time. About once a year we break out this bad boy and fire it up. You came the right month." He smiled.
"Sorry about earlier. I was being an ass."
"When you kicked me? Or when I saw you butt ass naked upstairs through the window?"
I flushed. "I guess both." Instantly I wanted to go back inside.
"Lester just about fell over." He said laughing. "We never get to see that kind of shit out here. Actually, you have made things nice. You have successfully brightened this place up. I have never seen Lester's jaw drop before. It was beautiful."
I took a deep breath. "So were good?"
"Yeah, sure. You have become part of the family I think. Like it or not."
Hal sent me in to find all the secret ingredients for his special sauce. It was like a scavenger hunt trying to find these things. Lester was in the kitchen when I went in.
"Hey Lester." I said, trying to catch his eye.
"Stephanie." He said, looking at the ground,the table or anywhere else but at me.
I knew that he and I were at an awkward stage. He had seen me, as Hal stated "Bare ass naked." He apparently was uncomfortable with it. More so than even I was. "Hal sent me in here to find some of this stuff, I don't suppose you could help me find it?" I handed him the paper Hal had given me.
He looked around, not for the ingredients, but to see if anyone was watching. "You know, you gotta close the curtains when you get dressed upstairs." He said in a low voice.
"Thank you, Lester. I will."
"It was pretty fricken funny." He continued. "Hal just about had a heart attack. He literally dropped the weights he was carrying on his foot when those curtains opened."
Great. Ranger wasn't kidding. I guess that little stunt would forever be embedded in their brain.
Tank was sitting at the table talking to Ranger. He looked serious. He was concerned about something. Ranger was leaning back in this chair listening. I know a private conversation when I see one, so I found everything Hal needed with the help of Lester and walked back outside.
It wasn't long before Ranger joined us outside. He asked me to come upstairs with him. I followed him up, and watched as he grabbed a duffle bag from the closet and began packing. "I have to take off for the night." he said. "I have some things I need to finish, and it has to be done in person. Tank is coming with me, but Hal, Lester and Ramon will be here. Tank made arrangements for a plane to take you back to Scottsdale. You need to talk to the police and find out if they know anything about what happened at the office. It is easier to do in person then trying to get anything over the phone. I have a feeling you would like to get your gun, and some clothes from your apartment at the office. Hal,Ramon and Lester will go with you." He paused for a moment, zipping up his bag. "I know it is beyond reason to hope that you could let Hal and the rest of the team go in and collect your things for you while you are with the police. I know this already and so do they. But,there is a good possibility that there are people in Scottsdale now that have the contract. You will only stay safe if you stay with the team. Wear your vest at all times, even when you go into the cop shop."
I was nervous. "So you think that there will be people watching for me now?"
"Yes."
"What changed?"
"The contract has been out now from the big boys for a while now. It would be stupid not to have picked up your scent in Arizona by now."
My heart skipped. I sat down and stared at my shoes. Would I always have a hit out on me. Where could I go that would be safe? Eventually they would find me anywhere. I would have to change how I lived to survive, and that did not sound like a lot of fun right now. Ranger came over to me and took his hand pulling my chin up so I had no choice but to look at him.
"Wear your vest. You will be OK as long as you stay with Hal."
He handed me the reservations. and smiled down at me almost affectionately. What the hell was that? Ranger affectionate? I began to wonder if I was just a toy, or if it was real. I decided not to ask. I didn't want to know the answer right now.
"If you have to go searching for your cousin, or do anything other than just going and grabbing some things from the office, try to keep everyone with you. I am not going to tell you what you can and can't do out there, Stephanie. You have to keep your own council on what you want to risk. Do not lose the team, and don't get dead."
"So, your okay with me wanting to squeeze the life out of my cousin? No one is going to try to stop me? "
"I trust you will make good choices."
Ranger picked up the bag and threw it over his shoulder. "Your plane leaves at 7am. You should be done and back here by five." He pulled me in and kissed me. "Be careful."
There was a saying I heard once that said "If you give them enough rope, they'll hang themselves." I was hoping this was not the case.
I white knuckled it back to Scottsdale with the same plane, but Ramon was the pilot. Hal sat in front and Lester squeezed next to me. I kept the parachute on my lap and waited for fate to take me.
I looked at Lester beside me. "How come there is only one parachute?"
He raised his eyebrows and looked around. "I don't know, but If we are going down in this baby, you're not flying solo. The door is next to me. "
I hadn't thought of that. I had a feeling all of them would be trying to use the one parachute. I took a deep breath and tried not to panic.
There was a rental car waiting for us when we landed. Scottsdale was already over the one hundred degree mark. Later on in the day would approach hotter than hell status in my book, and I planned on being indoors by that time if possible. We went to the Police Station, and I gave them my statement about the break-in and the shooting. Officer Flanders said they would send someone to the scene to make a report. No one had reported any shots fired. He asked the basic questions. If I had contacted our insurance company, and he suggested a decent alarm system for the building. While I was there, I asked about what I should do about the website Joyce had put up. He suggested a really good lawyer, then proceeded to ask for the website name so he could check it out. When I wouldn't give it up, he took a large file from under the desk, and place it in front of me.
"Before you got here, we decided to run a background check on you, miss Plum. It was very interesting."
He pushed it towards me. It was four inches thick. I opened it. There were pictures and newspaper articles about various accidents, cars blown up, apartment fires, the funeral home.. The list went on and on. It was a huge pile of incidents, including financial problems, and work history. Then there was my involvement with various people of interest, including Lula and Jackie. Connie, Ranger, Mooner, Sally, and Vinnie. I couldn't believe that this much information was available to anyone. I guess my dream of becoming a government spy was now shot to shit.
I groaned. "Are you telling me that anyone who wants to, can get all this information about me from a background check?"
"Well, maybe not as thorough, but it's all there if you search it out."
I walked out, kind of feeling deflated from looking at my own file of garbage I had been involved with. A black Hummer drove by me, and pulled up to the back of the building where we unload passengers to the dock. It took a minute for my brain to register the owner of said vehicle. My eyes got big as I watched a little weasel of a man get out of the passenger side of the truck and open the back door to a screaming Carl Fontaine. We had been tracking him for about a month. He was handcuffed, and it looked to me like he had been pepper sprayed way too many times. Vinnie and Joyce were dropping him off. Vinnie was unloading Carl. He didn't look so good. Carl's Face was red from being gassed to much, and he had puked all over his pants. I grabbed Carl from him, holding his cuffs tight.
"Hey, Vinnie." I said.
He looked at me and almost smiled.
"Stephanie, your back!"
"I know about the website, you dog turd."
Vinnie gave me a deer in the headlights look and turned tail. He jumped in the Hummer. The truck lurched forward and barreled out of the parking lot. Joyce gave me the finger. I screamed at them, as they turned the corner, disappearing. "Grandma Plum and Grandma Mim are going to get you for that, Vinnie! Not only them, Me. Vinnie. Just wait. You better take that thing down before I sue you, you little prick!"
I took a hold of Carl and asked for the paper work on him. The man at the front desk pretended he didn't see anything whatsoever of the incident outside. If Joyce and Vinnie were just going to leave him here, I should at least get the money for him.
Hal and the rest of the crew were waiting outside the station for me. I wanted my clothes. I wanted my Jeep. I wanted my gun. I wanted my dignity back. The website was intrusive, embarrassing, and It really pissed me off that they both could stoop lower than dirt to do that to me. I rescued Vinnie. I sometimes even defended him. All the information that I saw in the file at the station, none of it was stating that most times, I got my man. It was deserving of at least a paragraph in the research of my life. One thing had changed. I didn't want to go hide and feel bad about it. I have had plenty of guys shoot at me before, It should not stop me from living my life. Plus, I just didn't feel like I was going to die today. That made me feel pretty good. I wanted to find Vinnie and Joyce. I wanted to do it alone. Having an escort was annoying. I had three babysitters. My good sense temporarily must have taken a coffee break, suddenly I knew what I had to do.
"I need to stop at the mall. It will just take me a second."
Hal and Lester both looked at each other. Ramon raised his eyebrows and looked down, texting something to someone.
"What are you doing?"
He looked like he had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Um, We have to report everything that goes on. Those are the rules. I'm not losing my job."
I did not like to be under surveillance. As a matter a fact I hated it. I couldn't think straight when I had bodyguards surrounding me. I was frustrated, still aggravated over the stupid file on the desk at the cop shop. I wanted to go to the office, go to the house, get my gun, punch Vinnie. Then, I wanted to talk to Kyle about what happened at the office. I wanted him to know. Plus, I didn't say goodbye. He had become a friend. It was rude if I just left. I wanted to talk to him alone. I knew it was risky, I knew It was dangerous. I knew I would do it anyway.
Vinnie and I were pretty good at our job out here in Arizona, and because we didn't have a lot of back up, we set things up in certain places for emergencies. A little blue Ford Escort was one such set up. It was in the parking lot right outside the back entrance of Victoria's Secret.
Hal,Lester & Ramon walked into the mall with me, but stopped short when I walked into Victoria's Secret. They waited outside. I knew I was being childish. I wasn't being grown up at all. I yelled at myself, but my brain just kept going. I guess I wasn't under control of my feelings yet. I was out the back door and into a little Ford Escort in 2 and 2. Ranger would have come in with me. Ranger would have been keen on what I was doing moments before I knew what I was doing. Ranger would have enjoyed watching me sweat about it too. He also would have made me model things just to make it worse. I can always depend on the merry men not to want to go into a lingerie shop with me. The store has a great backdoor, and a manager that loves to get a twenty under the table for helping out with something exciting. It probably wasn't the smartest move I had made, but I needed to think. I wanted to face Vinnie without an audience, and without Ramon texting my every move. I didn't care that everyone would be pissed. Sometimes I felt like I was the President's unruly daughter that had to be protected from herself.
I motored over to the bonds office first. Taking a deep breath. It was only a few days ago this drive was an everyday thing. It was nice to be alone. I had a little more than twenty minutes before Hal, Lester and Ramon would be here. They knew where I was going to go. Vinnie was not there. The office had been cleaned up, but the files were still out of the cabinets. Not put away yet. Glass had been swept up, and the front door had been replaced. I ran up the stairs two at a time, and started packing up my clothes. I liked this office; I liked to be in control of Scottsdale's bonds. I looked over at my laptop and all the work that I had accomplished out here; I am good at something. I was good at managing an office and I was pretty decent at picking up skips. I was even better at research. I was no Sherlock Holmes, but most of the time could figure out how to pick someone up and get them to the cop shop before the bond ran out.
My twenty minutes were up, and I heard voices downstairs. Footsteps walking up the stairs towards me. I didn't look up. I knew that the merry men would find me; it was obvious where I was. I glanced up, ready to be reprimanded for losing them at the mall. Two men were standing at my bedroom door. Rifles trained on me. I believe I stopped breathing. One was very tall and thin. He wore a baseball cap over his long stringy dishwater blond hair. He had on a stained wife beater and a jean vest that had once been a jacket. His faded jeans needed to be washed two weeks ago. He was smiling at me. His brown stained teeth gapped. He looked about forty with a scraggle of a beard that had tried to come in, but didn't have the strength.
"Well, well, well." He said. "I knew that you would finally come back to the office. I told Tanner here, that it was only a matter of tick-tocks before we got a chance at the prize, and lookie here. I was right."
Tanner stood a few feet behind him, smiling a nearly toothless grin. He had worse hygiene than baseball cap did. His teeth were close to green. He was short. About five foot three, and matched his width to his length. He looked square. What was left of his hair was a chilling bright orange color. He had on what used to be a white t-shirt and a black leather vest. Tattoos rolled down his pudgy arms. Baseball Cap took a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. He glanced at it and handed it over to his partner, Tanner.
"Yep, that's her." Tanner said, stuffing the paper into his pocket.
My gun was still at Vinnie's house. My pocketbook was on the bed. I had left the stun gun at the cabin. I did have my cell phone and a tracker, but no Hal, no Lester, and no Ramon. I was screwed. This is why you don't lose your bodyguards. I slid a glance to the window, trying to judge the distance from here to the ground and believed it might not be in my best interest to try it.
"Step away from the window, and come towards us nice and careful like." He said. "Unless you want your brains all over your pretty little shirt, there."
The last thing I wanted was to go to them. I stood motionless, trying to come up with a plan.
"OK, I said. I need my bag, though." I took a step towards it. My four ounce can of high-octane pepper spray was in the bag. I had to get it.
"We are not fucking around here. He lowered his gun and fired. Searing pain hit me, and I screamed. The bullet hit me in the leg. It burned, sending panic signals to my brain. I went down on one knee, trying to suck it in. Trying and failing to keep calm and not cry. Tears rolled down my face, more in a rage of anger than fear. He shot me! I tried hard to pretend I was defeated.
"Crawl to me." Baseball cap sneered. "Now bitch, or I will use this weapon to eliminate your head from your shoulders."
I knew I didn't have much of an option; I crawled to him, waiting for a chance to get away. It was painful; I focused on using the pain as a tool to stay angry. He pulled me up by my hair. I wanted to kill this jackass. The pain doubled as I put pressure on my leg to stand up. I held my breath, trying to stay alert and upright as he pulled me through the door backwards. He held his gun against my temple. I let myself go dead weight, making it harder for him to drag me. He pulled me down the stairs talking to Tanner.
"Bring the car around. We gotta get, before someone spots us."
I decided in an instant that I did not want to die at the hands of these bozos. This was not the way I wanted things to end. I threw all my weight at him as he took a step down one of the stairs. We fell down the stairs backwards. He had to let go of my hair to get a grip on the railing. When that happened, his gun hit his arm and discharged shooting himself in the face. Tanner saw what happened and ran. He got about five feet, before he was picked up and thrown across the room by Lester. Hal was behind him. He helped me up.
"Let's get you secure before I get fired."
Hal & Ramon drove me to the hospital to get my leg looked at. Lester stayed behind with the police and the coroner. The bullet had done a through and through in my leg. It traveled through the top of my leg and exited out the back, not staying inside and not causing a lot of damage. I needed stitches, and antibiotics. The doctor said I would have a scar, but that I would be Ok. Hal looked like the color was coming back into his face. I was sorry that I had left them. I smiled at him, but he just shook his head. I think he wanted to strangle me for putting myself in danger, but he wasn't allowed. Ramon was texting furiously. I was sure that he was giving the report to the bat cave or a space station. I had given my statement to the homicide detective that came down to the hospital. He said that Tanner Derby was a local, and had a sheet on him that took five minutes to print out. It kept getting longer every time they picked him up. He was already talking. The pair thought that they could pick me up and let someone else kill me. They just wanted the money for the pick up. The other man was Rudy Morgan, he was a local also. They were street hustlers looking for easy money.
This was going to to need to be resolved. The next time someone took a shot at me, I had a feeling they would be successful. My nine lives were up. We left the hospital. The Police let me collect my things from the office. I suspect they wanted us to leave their peaceful town and move on. I didn't get any flack from Hal. Ramon had chosen to keep quiet, and Lester was in security mode. Sunglasses and all.
We drove to the house. My jeep was still parked out front. Joyce's Hummer was parked halfway into the garage. Joyce walked out the front door as we pulled in. I jumped out of the front seat and slammed the door. No one followed me. I limped up the driveway, determined. She walked towards me and I sucker punched her, and broke her nose. She dropped in front of me, and I kicked her for good measure. I went inside, collected my gun, and left. I hoped I ruined her face. I didn't see Vinnie. He was probably hiding in the bathroom like a little girl. I wrote a note and left it on the table. It said "I'm suing you. The site better be down in the next 48 hours, Vinnie."
My Jeep was in the driveway. I really wanted to keep it. It was in my name, and I bought it with cash. Hal made arrangements for it to be in Trenton in a couple of days. It would be parked at Rangeman. We dropped by the Dojo on the way back to the airport. Kyle was waiting for us. Hal, Lester and Ramon all saluted him when we walked in. Kyle was in his black gi. It looked like we had caught him in the middle of his training exercises. I had to say, If I stayed in Scottsdale, I would have wanted more from him than just training. He was all kinds of fine. Dark hair,light brown eyes. The body of a martial artist. Agile and graceful. I told him about what happened. His face grew dark. He looked at the team behind me. They all stood at ease, arms folded in front of them. I knew they were angry with me.
"Are you guys going soft? You lost a civilian?"
"Sir." Ramon said. "She is not a civilian. She is a tyrant. Slippery like a snake. Smart, and Ranger said we weren't allowed to restrain her."
My mouth must have dropped to the floor, because I was looking for it. "Slippery like a snake"? "A tyrant"?
They talked as if i wasn't there! "Excuse me," my eyes cut across to Ramon. "What did you just say?"
Ramon was still standing at ease, in front of Kyle. His eyes cut back to me. "You lost us, Stephanie. You left us scrambling, like you always do. We all like you. Its good to keep our skills sharp, but Ranger will freak out if we don't keep you safe. You don't trust us. You always run. You're going to get killed acting like a vigilante. We will feel the wrath for it when it happens. We will be blamed for it. Ranger would likely break up the team, if something like that happened. None of us are willing to go to bat for you anymore unless you work with us. This is between us, and you. If I hear you tell him we had this conversation, my head will be on a stick. We are a team, we invite you in. Stick to us."
Kyle watched all this unfold in front of him. "That is the best advice you will ever receive, Stephanie. Don't fuck up the friendship and teamwork with this group, and you will forever be family with them. They will not only watch your back, but they will die for you. I know this first hand. Ranger's team is faithful to the death. Be a part of it, you won't regret it. Decide to go off on your own, you will be standing out there naked."
Kyle gave me a book on some of the training practices we had worked on. He told me to be careful, and if I needed anything, I knew where he was. He kissed me on the forehead, and told me he was impressed I had lost one of the best trackers and teams he had ever worked with. He was looking forward to seeing where my life led.
The plane ride back to New Mexico was quiet. Ramon put it all out there on the line for me. Of course they were right to be pissed that I had done this again, making them look bad. I got spanked right in front of Kyle, and I was feeling a little defeated from the experience. Ramon was letting me be one of them, but in return, i had to start trusting. That one was difficult for me.
I didn't know what to say. We were almost to the cabin, And I asked Ramon to stop the truck. "Do you really think I'm a tyrant and a slippery snake?"
He smiled. "Those may not have been the best words for it, but you are making us look bad. We all like you. Work with us, not against us. We are a family, and Ranger invited you in. That means you are part of us. Trust us. Give us credit. We could have worked that out with the office, and you wouldn't have gotten shot. We are here to keep each other alive. Just trust us, and be part of the team, and things will go a lot smoother."
I made peace with them. They felt that they were all my brothers now. I guess that would be OK. A girl needed big brothers to help her out once in a while. We drove back to the cabin a lot happier. I still wondered about the tyrant and snake comment, but I would keep it to myself.
I thought a lot about what to do next. I was having the Jeep brought to Trenton. I was anxious. I didn't know what to do to fix this. I didn't know what to expect when I got back, either. I missed my family. I missed my old life. I still missed Joe. I sighed. That part of my life was over, and I had no idea how to deal with seeing him again. He lived there, he worked Homicide. I would have to face him. It had been almost a year. It was still painful, but it was getting better. His presence still cluttered my life and my heart. He was part of my past, and I needed to deal with it. I hugged myself. It was going to be a long few weeks. I had grown up a little, I learned a lot, and I had kept my Jeep. That had to count for something.
Ranger came in with Tank after midnight. I had tried to stay up and wait for them, but instead fell asleep watching a nature show about cactus. Everyone was anxious about getting home. The whole atmosphere was different from yesterday. Ranger was all business when he walked in. He had a big file of papers in one hand and his pack in his other. Without a word, Hal and Lester picked up and left.
Tank got himself a glass of water and smiled at me. "I wish I would have been there to see you punch Joyce. He blew me a kiss. Goodnight Stephanie."
I said goodnight as he walked out the door. I shut the TV off. Ranger dropped the files on the table, shrugged his pack of his shoulder, dropped his gun belt on the floor, took off his jacket and came over and sat down on the couch opposite me. He leaned forward. The lights were low in the cabin, but I could see his eyes. He looked concerned.
"That could have gone a lot smoother, today. You're lucky they didn't kill you. How's your leg?"
"It hurts."
He continued to stare at me. "Can you stand?"
"Yeah, I can stand." I stood up to show him I wasn't completely helpless.
"Drop your pants."
Ranger had said strange things to me before, but I didn't know where he was going with this.
"What? Now. Here?"
I was standing there, thinking,what if one of the guys came back in? I was feeling kind of modest about just dropping my pants in the living area, of basically a frat house.
Ranger sighed.
"Come here then, he said. I want to see the wound, and I can't see it if you don't take your pants off."
"Oh. Ok. That's different." I said lamely.
I limped over to him and he undid the button on my jeans. I felt a hot flash go through me. Remembering the last time we were together. I tried to pretend I didn't feel it. I mean, this was NOT supposed to be a sexual thing, and he just wanted to see the bullet hole. But when I looked at him, his eyes had turned dark. His pupils encased the brown of his eyes, and I could tell that just being near my buttons was getting to him.
He put his thumbs inside the lining of the jeans, and shimmied them over my hips, down to my ankles. I stepped out of them. I was standing in front of him in just my hot pink lace thong. I wore them for courage. After the bullet hole, I needed something to make me feel better.
Ranger's eyes focused on them. His breathing got deeper. He slid his finger along the lace elastic, then his eyes slid down to where the bullet hit me. There was a huge bandage around my leg. He inspected the binding, making sure that it was secure.
He stood up behind me and touched the back of my shoulder-blade, the pressure from his thumbs working it out the kinks from the last 24 hours. The pain in my leg was going away. He kept the pressure on and I closed my eyes. He kissed my neck, just below my jaw line. I was putty in his hands. His fingers crept back to my panties.
"We should really get upstairs, and get some sleep. We need to get up early tomorrow; I can't put off any of this police shit anymore." When I looked at him, I could see sleep was pretty far from what he wanted. Before I had a chance to speak, He grabbed my clothes, picked me up and took me upstairs.
Morning came too soon, and covers were pulled away from me. I groaned, and went into the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. Ranger had been up, probably for hours. I was sure by now he had probably run twenty miles , flew around the world, did jumping jacks on Mount Rushmore and Tie Chi.
Me, No. I stood in the shower, starting to wake up as the water hit my skin. I had to wrap my leg in plastic before getting in, so the bandage didn't get wet. Getting shot was a pain in the butt. I decided I would try harder not to do that anymore. What was I thinking, losing the team to try to handle everything alone? I dried my hair, slathered mascara on my eyes, applied some smokey black eyeliner and managed to get my hair to cooperate. I looked pretty good for someone who just fell down the stairs, and got shot. My knuckles hurt a little and I looked at them, remembering Joyce. I didn't break anything. All was well. It was a great punch. I needed to thank Kyle for that when I got a chance.
I padded downstairs. Enjoying the cool air and the silence of the morning. I checked the fridge in hopes of finding breakfast pastries and muffins. The kitchen held the usual. There were bagels and coffee, fruit and cheese.
I wanted cereal, milk and a boatload of caffeine. I opted for a bagel, cream cheese, honeydew and coffee. Thank goodness for coffee, or I would turn into a toadstool. I brought it all over to the big table. The meeting was this morning. Time for reality to hit. I was more ready for it this time. I suppose hitting Joyce and breaking her nose made me feel better.
The front door opened and everyone ambled in dressed in Rangeman black, all looking professional and ready to take on the world. They gave me the confidence I lacked. Ranger came in last. No one chose casual today. Ranger took business seriously. they took a seat at the table. Ranger handed everyone a thin folder. Inside we had all the information he had compiled. I opened it. There were pictures and profiles of about 10 different people. All associated with the problem I was having. Tony the Tool, Fredrick the Weasel, Aerie and Betty Watson from Killemall, Montana, Leo Farnsworth, who was in the backseat of the Watson's Cadillac, Then there was a picture of me. Four other pictures were of people I had never seen. Ranger sat down next to me and touched the computer screen. It came on. The screen was large, about 30 inches wide. The image was separated into four boxes. Each box had a table of eight people. I knew one had to be Rangeman, in Trenton. I was guessing the other two were other Rangeman locations. The last, was an image of a room I had been in before. It was the conference table for Trenton PD. Five people were sitting at the table including Joe Morelli. My heart fluttered for a moment. I looked at Ranger.
"Can they see us?"
"Yeah," He said quickly. He turned to the monitors.
"Good morning, Gentleman." He said "I want to thank each and every one of you for coming in early to do this. Just so everyone knows, Trenton P.D is with us, so heads up.
Ranger introduced the room, and then the others. Some people I had met before, most I had not. When they got to the Trenton table, I could see Joe was still there. He looked good, He also looked happy. Not sad,depressed, heartbroken or ready to kill himself. He actually looked relaxed. I took a deep breath and went with the flow. I listened to the reports of what had gone on and what had changed since yesterday.
Trenton Police had been investigating Tony "The Tool" for over five years. When his name resurfaced eleven months ago, everyone was elated. Hoping they could finally bring him in. Then, he disappeared again. Two weeks ago, at least four hit men that the police knew about were in Trenton. Informants were talking. No one knew what was going down. Only that a target was coming back into the game, and the money for the hit was growing. Two weeks. That couldn't have been me. I was not planning to come back two weeks ago. I felt maybe this meant that I was not the target after all. Apparently no one else thought I was out of hot water yet. It appeared everyone was more concerned with this news.
Joe was the first to speak. "Look, I don't know what you're thinking of doing, but bringing Stephanie back now is extremely dangerous, and stupid. With all that we have just given you, you should reconsider. We might even be able to put her in some kind of protective custody. Keep her safe and away from this until we can figure out what's going on. Unless you are looking to get her killed, you need to keep her away from Trenton."
"I appreciate your thoughts on this, but it is not my decision." Ranger said. "This is Stephanie's. I think she has a good point; This needs to be dealt with at a professional level. Running and hiding never helped anyone. Dealing with this up front is the only way to resolve this. I agree with her decision to go back."
Joe looked at me, He seemed to really look this time. He smiled, but it looked from here like a stressed smile.
"It's nice to see you again, Stephanie. I hope you know what you're doing." Joe had lost his happy and relaxed look. In fact, he looked really pissed off.
Ranger Continued. "Plum Bail Bonds was hit in Scottsdale four days ago, we don't know if there is a connection, only that the bottom floors were searched, and we have reason to believe that two snipers took shots at Stephanie to engage her to leave and possibly lead them to the second residence."
Joe sat up straight in his chair and looked down at the papers in front of him. Ranger let that sit for a moment and then continued. "We have evidence linking these events to the FBI investigation over the disappearance of Fredrick "The Weasel" Camarillo. He was found a month ago. We now believe that a hit was initially called on Stephanie because she either took, or was thought to have taken something from Paul Banter, aka Fredrick Camarillo. Maybe the incriminating evidence against the families of organized crime in New York and Trenton. The FBI, we feel could be looking for ways to cover up the mistake they made. Losing the witness and the evidence, and hoping that they could recover original footage of Miss Plum and Fredrick Camarillo at the residence of Vincent Plum and Stephanie Plum in Scottsdale, Arizona. We have no way of confirming any of this. Please keep this as theory only. There has already been an attempt on her life. As of yesterday, this is a high priority case for us. The details of the attempt have been faxed to all of you."
I could see Joe, he was looking at the new information sitting in front of him. "Are you seriously telling me, Manoso, that Stephanie has already been shot in the leg, shot by FBI snipers, knocked down the stairs, and has killed a hit man all in the course of three days? Un-freakin'-believable. And you actually think coming back to Trenton to face the Mob is a safe thing to do?"
I could feel the tension in the air. If these two were together in the same room, there would be a real problem. All hell would feel the wrath. I read through the updates, making sure I was up to speed on everything.
Calmly Ranger continued to speak, ignoring Joe's raised voice and temper tantrum. "Just so you know, for my squad, Miss Plum is not a client, this investigation is personal. Please treat her with the same respect that you treat me. I will reimburse Rangeman for any expenses incurred."
When he said this, I shifted my eyes first to Ranger, and then to the screen where Joe was sitting. Joe was glaring now. Ranger might as well have said "Mine!" Grabbed me by the hair and pulled me back into the cave. I felt my face flush, and my leg started shaking. Ranger was calmly sitting next to me, and I felt his hand rest on my knee and quiet it. He left it there. It was more comforting than possessive. I knew Ranger said what he did as an alpha male, personal property-let Joe know that I was not up for grabs thing. It really didn't bother me like I thought it would. Having Ranger set up boundaries was okay. At least for now, maybe I could use some.
Ranger ended the meeting with a thank you, and telling his team when we would be arriving back into town, and what he expected from RangeMan employees when he came in the door. The screen went black in front of us. I started looking through the file that was in front of me instead of looking at the people who were in the room. Ranger was using his personal account for me; Joe was freaking out. All these new updates. No one said anything. Not Ramon, not Tank, not Lester, and not Hal.
It had never been discussed what my role was with Ranger, only that at RangeMan I was his personal property, which I thought was rude. I was told to deal with it, on more than one occasion, and it never felt right. Ranger didn't seem to notice. He was in a zone. Trying to deal with keeping people in check and working out mathematical formulas for Flubber for all I knew. He got up from the table, and went upstairs to pack his things. I looked at everyone else at the table, and they just stared at me.
"What?" I said, flustered.
"If you look at it the way Joe said it," Tank said. "It has been a pretty crazy week."
Why was Joe concerned about me anyway? It was none of his fricken business. He was calling me a walking disaster; I could hear it in his voice. Jerk.
And Ranger. I knew I wasn't a client; but it still was a strange way to put things. I went upstairs to collect my things and get going to New Jersey out-of-the-way. It felt like years since I had been there, and I was apprehensive. I felt like my head was on fire. I was still feeling the sunburn I had gotten. I think I may have burned my scalp.
Ranger was in the bathroom. Gathering things, cleaning up and getting the cabin ready to be closed up again. I started putting my stuff in my bag and looking around, making sure I didn't leave anything. To say it was an uncomfortable silence was putting it lightly. I didn't know how to approach the topic of "what happens with us in Jersey?" Without looking like I was getting my hopes up. I didn't know what I really wanted from Ranger. I thought we had gotten really close the last few days, and I did want it to continue. Having him say one of his "no commitment" lines was going to make me feel different this time. I needed to just keep my mouth shut, and be a big girl. I was pretty positive Ranger would revert into "Ranger Mode" when we got back, and I had to be ready for the let down.
Ranger finished his bathroom clean-up and walked over. He sat down on the side of the bed, putting his leg up leaning against the headboard.
"If I said something that bothered you down there, I need to know."
"The speech about the personal thing, what was that supposes to mean?"
He sat there quietly for an annoyingly long time. I started to just gather my things again. Waiting for the inevitable.
"You are not a business decision, Stephanie. You are also not a commodity, and you are not something I can run numbers around. You and I have a personal relationship, one that I have no control over. I can't put it under entertainment anymore. I don't know where this is going. I cannot put a time and date stamp on you, like I can with others. Just so the rest of the company knows, and so my books are right at the end of the month, I have to accommodate for you."
We stood and stared at each other in silence. I was expecting some unemotional hogwash like he always gives me. I believe he was telling me he cared about me, and he said it out of respect for me, maybe even for us. I finally broke the silence and asked what time we were leaving. I had found a connection between Ranger and I. Whatever was going on between us was going to be given some serious thought and not just from my point of view either. For now, we had a plane to catch.
