Chapter 9

It was a long night, and sleep was restless and uneasy. I got up twice in the night to check the floor bolt and the windows, and several times dreams woke me. In one, Joe had burst into my apartment and found me with Ranger, and they'd shot each other. In another, I was in bed with Joe on one side and Ranger on the other and I was slowly coming apart down the middle. It wasn't hard to figure out that I was conflicted about the men in my life. Thoughts of relocating to Kansas surfaced again, and I looked out the window at the gray rainy morning. Surely Kansas was prettier in the spring than Trenton. It would almost have to be. But then again, Kansas had tornados…

I sighed and made myself get up. Feeling sorry for myself wouldn't help anything, and I still had work to do. Even if I held off searching for Jensen for a while, I had two body receipts to turn in, and Connie might have more skips for me, too.

I skipped a shower even though I had major bed head. I was a sore in several places this morning – from going over the fence, from getting jerked around at the club…and from over-use of the shower massage. I found the Excedrin and took several, hoping they'd help. Then I made coffee and sat at the table with it, sipping it and letting the fragrant steam drift up over my face while I waited for the pain-relievers to kick in.

Two cups of coffee later I was a good as I was going to get. I got dressed for a rainy day in jeans and a baggy mock-neck shirt with my rain-proof Docker shoes, and pulled my unruly hair into a ponytail. Tempted to skip makeup entirely, I reconsidered when the mirror told me I looked tired. I did the minimum and decided it would have to do. Wearing a slicker so I didn't have to lug around an umbrella, I set off.

I thought about getting donuts on the way to the office but didn't stop. It was just as well. Connie and Lula were camped out at the desk with a box of Krispy Kremes between them when I walked in.

"Hey, girl, come and have a donut," Lula invited as I stopped inside the door to take off the dripping jacket. I crossed the floor with my wet shoes squeaking on the linoleum to inspect the offerings. A couple of my favorites remained but strangely the sight of them made me feel a little queasy.

"I don't think so, not today," I said and went over to drop onto the sofa.

Connie and Lula exchanged looks.

"Something you want to tell us, Steph?" Connie asked.

"No," I said, then caught their look and repeated it more emphatically. "NO! Whatever you're thinking, it isn't that. I pulled a few muscles yesterday going over a fence and took Excedrin with coffee this morning. I don't think it was a great idea on an empty stomach."

Lula fixed me with a disbelieving look. "Uh-huh." She paused, but when I didn't say anything else she went on. "Well, the grapevine is humming today. Rumor has it that there was a disturbance at that dance club called Dante's last night involving a woman named Jeannie Burrows and someone that matches Ranger's description." She paused leadingly.

"So?" I asked. Stay calm, I told myself. There's nothing to tie me to this.

"So rumor has it that Jeannie Ellen Burrows is wondering who was using her name to cause trouble." Jeez, I'd only spoken the name once, who else could have heard it? I don't think Jeanne Ellen liked me even on a good day; I really didn't want her angry at me. She was damn near a female version of Ranger.

I worked up a vaguely disinterested snort. "Who says anyone was using her name? There are eight J. Burrow's listed in the greater Trenton area phone directory."

"Closer to thirty if you check other spellings," Ranger's voice came from the door and we all jumped. He grinned slightly, giving me an enigmatic look. "But who's counting."

"Were you at Dante's last night?" Connie asked curiously. Ranger nodded and surprisingly she continued. "Did you see the Jeannie Burrows woman that caused trouble?"

He kept a straight face. "Actually, I think she said her name was Jean Burrows."

"So you saw her?" Lula asked, getting into the mystery. "Did you recognize her?"

"I saw her, but she didn't look familiar. I didn't hear her mention where she was from, so she may have been just passing through."

He lied so smoothly it was a struggle for me to keep my face blank. It helped me, I'm sure, that Connie and Lula were so focused on questioning Ranger – and Ranger was carefully not looking at me.

"What'd she look like?" Connie asked.

"She was about 5' 7", neon blue streaked Mohawk, one earring with chains that connected up here," he gestured to the top of his own ear, "razor blade necklace, tattoos on her stomach, arm, and collarbone that I could see, outfit by Edward Scissorhands…" he trailed off then the edges of his mouth quirked up a little. "Some guy got a little rough with her and she dislocated his knee."

"Whoa," Lula said, looking at Connie. "Sounds like Jeannie Ellen to me."

"Maybe she has a twin," Connie suggested. "Or a clone."

As the women veered off into a series of conjectures, Ranger came over and sat down next to me.

"You ok, babe?" he asked softly.

"Rainy day, sore muscles, coffee and Excedrin on an empty stomach…" I trailed off and gave him a smile. "I'm fine. I came to see if Connie had any new skips." I paused a moment as he nodded, then added, "Edward Scissorhands?"

He grinned outright. "Full riot gear advised," he said softly. Then he got up, handed Connie some body receipts, took a new stack of files, and left.

I waited a few minutes until it became clear that Connie and Lula, uninterrupted, might talk about the mysterious woman all day, then pushed myself up.

"Connie, do you have any new skips for me?" I asked, digging the body receipts out of my bag to hand over. "I have these two done, and Jensen's a freaking ghost."

"You'd better find Jensen! I'm not eating that bond!" Vinnie yelled from the safety of his office.

"I've got ten more days, you turd. Stop yelling!" I yelled back, and rolled my eyes for the girls.

Connie ignored the exchange and handed me files. "These two missed court yesterday. They're not worth much but they'll keep you busy until something breaks with Jensen."

"Thanks," I said. "I'll see you later."

Once I was in the jeep I decided maybe I'd feel better if I ate something, and I headed for McDonalds. Since it was cool and cloudy today I decided to eat inside, and took the folders with me to read. I bought a burger meal deal and sat in a corner to read and eat, taking my time.

Nearly an hour later I looked up to find it was raining outside, and sighed. My new skips looked average – one was shoplifting and the other was drunk and disorderly. Nothing big, and they were both Trenton natives so they weren't likely to be linked to Jensen and Meyers, either. I should get to work.

I tossed my trash and slipped the folders inside the slicker to keep them dry, and headed out the doors pulling up the hood. And promptly ran into Joe, who was on his way inside.

"Sorry," I said, "I wasn't looking where I was going. Getting breakfast?"

Joe's mouth quirked up and he looked at his watch. "It's lunch time, Cupcake." He stepped backwards and held the door for me to come on outside. "I was coming in to talk to you, actually. I saw your Jeep."

Standing under the overhang we were out of the rain, but I could feel tiny drops of mist in the air. It was cool but the air smelled fresh, the kind of rain-fresh that makes you want to just stand there and breathe deeply. I gave Joe a smile and waited to see what he wanted.

"Ranger called me last night, late," he began. I felt my smile fade slightly but kept quiet and waited for him to continue. "He said his skip, Meyers, was in Dante's club last night, keeping company with a Slayer and a car thief, and he got the definite feeling that there was a lot more going on under the surface. He wanted to know if we – the cops – had heard anything."

I nodded so he'd know I was listening but stayed quiet.

"There was an altercation at Dante's last night, too. Some woman dislocated a guy's knee, kicked him for getting rough with her or something." He waited as if for a reaction from me then went on. "The guy with the blown knee was Jensen. Connie says he's one of your skips. And from what I hear, Jeannie Ellen Burrows is all pissed off because she says the mystery woman used her name."

Okay, I rolled my eyes at this. "Jeez, does she really think she's the only Jean Burrows in the world?" I started to walk away but Joe caught me by the arm and pulled me around the corner of the building with him. We were still under the overhang out of the rain, but out of sight of the door and the street.

"The woman was described as having a Mohawk with blue streaks, and multiple tattoos. She left with a man whose description could fit Ranger."

I let my breath out in a huff. "Okay, so I was there working a distraction job for Ranger. Things got weird."

Joe's eyes were crinkling and he was trying hard not to smile. "Weird?"

"Meyers was there with Jensen and the Slayer guy, so Ranger decided to call it off. Meyers got a little nasty when I tried to leave, and Ranger had to come get me out."

"And Jensen's knee?" he prompted.

"All three of them went after Ranger. I tried to trip Jensen; it was an accident."

Joe was laughing silently now, leaning against the brick of the building. "You accidentally dislocated his knee?" He shook his head. "What about the tattoos in the description? How did you manage that?"

For a moment I considered pulling the neck of my shirt down to show him the vine, but then I remembered the marks Ranger had left. I didn't know if they'd faded or not. And the one on my arm would mean taking off the slicker. That left the dragon.

Looking around to make sure no one else was in the area, I sighed, opened the front of the slicker, and lifted the hem of the shirt enough for Joe to get a glimpse of the dragon on my belly. Joe's eyes went wide and he caught my hand when I started to pull my shirt down, raising it instead so he could get a better look.

"When in the hell did you get this?" he demanded. I wondered if he realized how territorial he sounded.

"It's not real," I said softly, pushing his hand away so I could pull my shirt back into place. "It's a temporary. It will fade away in a couple of weeks."

"Temporary? It looks real."

"That's the idea, Joe."

"Can I see the rest of it?" he asked with a glint in his eyes.

"Not right now!" I laughed. "Later, maybe. It'll be there for a while. Back to the subject – have Trenton's finest heard anything about Meyers being tied into something big? Or something going on with the Slayers?"

Joe sobered. "Your friend Bunchy's in town. He was outside my house this morning when I came out. He came by to say hello, and to tell me he's got company this trip."

Bunchy was a Fed, with the Treasury Department. And he had company…? "That doesn't sound good. Is that all he said?"

"There's a meeting scheduled with some Feds at the Department this afternoon. I should know more soon, and I'll let Ranger know what I can if it has anything to do with Meyers or the Slayers. Meanwhile, Cupcake, be careful. Jeannie Ellen may not be the only person you need to watch out for."

"That's just peachy," I muttered. "Just what I needed." I sighed and looked up at Joe. "Tell Bunchy I said hello. And you be careful, too."

"I'm always careful, Cupcake," he said. He leaned down and gave me a kiss before he ran back through the rain to his car. I watched until he pulled away, then I pulled the slicker hood back up and headed for the Jeep.

I thought about calling Ranger about Bunchy but decided to wait. Joe said he'd tell Ranger what he could, and I knew they would both be happier if I stayed out of it. Both of the men in my life tended to be overprotective of me. I appreciated it, even when it made me crazy. But it felt a little weird to know they'd be talking to each other without me.

My peaceful bubble lasted until I pulled into my lot. A big black car was parked in one of the primo spots near the back entrance – and Jeannie Ellen Burrows was waiting for me at the door.