THE CHARACTERS ARE BELONG TO JANET EVANOVICH. I ONLY OWN TABBY, GRADY AND THAYER. I KNOW THAT THIS CHAPTER IS KIND OF SHORT. CRAZY THINGS HAPPENING ON MY END OF THE PLANET…JUST WAITING FOR DIESEL TO POP IN. (YEAH…THAT CRAZY) PLEASE LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS. HOPEFULLY THE NEXT CHAPTER WON'T TAKE AS LONG TO GET OUT.
It was a quarter to eight, and I was standing in the parking garage at Rangeman. Ric, Tank, Les and Bobby were inches from me in a small circle. Rubbing my hands on my pants, I nervously looked around. Diesel was NEVER late. In fact, he probably was sitting somewhere watching us. I was jonesing for a smoke. It had been weeks since I had my last one, but I was in desperate need at this point.
"Shit." I whispered softly, wringing my hands before slamming them into my pockets.
"What's the matter Tabby Catt?" Bobby asked quietly. I turned to look him in the eyes. His head was bent down, an inch or so from mine. I never smoked in front of him before. Shit, I never smoked in front of anyone but Tank, and that was years ago.
"Bobby, I need a smoke." I closed my eyes in embarrassment. He sighed, tapped Tank on the arm and whispered something to him. A moment later, a pack of Marlboro reds was waving under my nose. The smell of fresh tobacco made my toes curl in anticipation. I grabbed at it, flipping open the carton and pulling out two smokes. Tucking one behind my ear, I put the other in my mouth before looking up expectedly at Tank.
"T, those things will kill you?" He laughed as he flipped open his Zippo and ignited the flame. I lit the smoke, closing my eyes as I drew in the smoke. A small moan escaped with the exhale, and I opened my eyes and glanced around.
"Love, when did you start smoking?" Ric asked his hands folded across his chest.
"When I was 17." I smiled, pulling another long drag on the cigarette.
"How is it that I never knew?" Bobby said. "Shit, that anyone knew?"
"Tank knew." I smiled, poking Tank's broad chest with my finger. "He used to hold onto my smokes for me."
"Traitor." Tank growled. Bobby reached up and smacked Tank on the back of the head. "Ouch! What the hell, Bobby?"
"That's for supplying my baby sister with drugs." Bobby smacked him again. "And that's for hiding it from me."
"I thought I told you to quit smoking." A loud familiar voice boomed from behind the row of parked cars. Diesel.
"Yeah, well you told me to do a lot of things." I said snidely. "But I have a real problem following directions, don't I?"
It only took him a minute to cross the parking lot, before he was inches away from me. I smirked up at him. He looked tired, and stressed.
"You always were a bitch." He smiled at me, pulling me into his arms and kissing me gently.
"Yeah. It's only because you are such an asshole." I whispered into his ear. I giggled as he placed me back onto the ground and greeted the guys.
"So, what the hell is going on?" I finally asked, once the greetings, hand shaking and overall male bullshit was through.
"Tabb, you are not going to like what is going on back at headquarters." He grabbed the smoke from my hand and took a drag before throwing it to the ground and squashing it with his boot. "Grady is pulling is cards. He is trying to get the heads to revoke on my temporary custody."
"Fuck that." Bobby said.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Diesel said, raking his hands through his hair. "He's claiming the baby was his, and that you purposefully terminated the pregnancy. You know that it is considered murder, especially when it involves two Unmentionables."
"Why don't you just tell them that it was yours? You have some pull, don't you?" Les said.
"It's not that simple." I replied, grabbing Diesel's hand in both of mine. "If he admits that the baby is his, then he will be guilty of a whole mess of charges. I am only in his custody temporarily, and I am only a half-breed. It's not something that is looked upon very nicely." Diesel's eyebrows were furrowed and pain shot across his face.
"What bullshit." Tank sneered.
"Why don't you just say that it was someone else's baby?" Les suggested, putting his hands on his hips. "Someone who isn't Unmentionable. That way there is no reason for either of you to get in trouble."
"It's too late." Diesel said, hanging his head. "I have already admitted that it was me."
"You dumbass!" I cried, smacking at his chest. "They could kill you for this!" He didn't stop me as I pounded my fists against him. The tears were stinging my eyes, and my heart was racing. Ric went to grab me, but Diesel shook his head.
"Let her be." He said. "I deserve this."
"You fucking idiot!" my voice was shaking. I collapsed on to the cement floor, swatting the hands that attempted to help me up. Face in hands, I tried to control the sobbing. "They are going to pull your powers." My voice was soft now; barely audible I am sure to the men standing over me.
Diesel kneeled down in front of me, and lifted my chin with his finger. I shook his hand away and continued to stare into my palms. "Tabb, you have to listen to me. Please."
"Talk then." I said coldly, raising my eyes to see his face.
"They are willing to trade. They will take both our powers and let us out of our contract." He cleared his throat. "But Grady still has another year left on the contract with you and the higher ups can't even touch that. He would have to accept their terms." I stared into his eyes, wanting to hurt him. I love him, he is my best friend…but I wanted to kill him. "Grady agreed that he would let you go, if I would take your place until the contract is up. With no powers." My mouth dropped open. He continued. "I agreed."
That was it. I launched myself at him, punching and kicking with all my might.
"How could you?" I screamed as I tried to make contact. "He will kill you. Don't you remember what he did to me?" I punched him in the gut. He didn't even flinch. His eyes were black, and his face was blank. I felt arms come down around my waist and pull me up. I fought against them with everything I had. "Damnit Diesel!"
"Calm down, T." Tank said, struggling to maintain a hold on me. "We need to figure out what the hell to do."
"I'm gonna fucking kill him!" I screamed. Ric and Les were now helping Tank keep me from attacking Diesel. "I can't let you die for my mistake!" My voice carried across the garage. Diesel sat, legs bent, elbows resting on them. His hands were cradling his face.
"Tabb, please." Diesel whispered. "There isn't any other way. I will bring them our powers, and then be gone. When the contract is fulfilled I will find you. It will be fine."
"You have never lived without using your powers." I yelled. "You don't even know how to do laundry! How the fuck are you supposed to survive the torture! He is going to KILL you, Diesel!" I screeched.
"I would rather it be me then you." He said, pulling himself up and walking towards me. I stopped struggling, but Tank, Ric and Les held tight onto me. I looked into my eyes and touched the side of my face. Turning to the guys, he said, "Put her down. She's fine now."
A cool feeling of calm swept through my body as he stroked my face. I knew that it was one of his powers at work, and my own. Tears started to flow, followed by sobs. Diesel wrapped me in his arms and pulled me tightly to his body. "It's the only way, Tabb." He whispered over and over again in my ear.
"Let's go upstairs." Ric said, walking towards the elevators. "I think that Tabb has had a pretty rough day, and she has to go to the doctor's tomorrow. Diesel, why don't you stay upstairs on seven with Tabb? I am sure that the two of you have a lot of things to talk about."
Diesel nodded, and lifted me into his arms. We huddled into the elevator. Les, Tank and Bobby got out on the fourth floor and we continued to the seventh.
"Is there anything we can do?" Ric asked.
"At this point, nothing."
The elevator doors slipped open, and Ric opened his apartment door.
"Her bedroom is the far back one on the right." Ric said as Diesel carried me into the apartment. "I have to make some calls. Are you hungry? I can have Ella bring up something for us to eat."
"Yeah, that would be good. Some beer would be better." Diesel set me down on my sofa, and briefly touched my cheek with his hand as he kissed the top of my head. I felt numb. Diesel had just signed his death warrant. Grady would torture him, before killing him slowly. I was pretty sure that he would hold out as long as possible to get all the "fun" he could out of the deal. Grady was going to pay for this shit.
Ric and Diesel were leaning against the counter sipping on beers and talking. I grabbed the blanket from the back of the sofa and lay down. Tears rolled silently from my eyes, and soon I was asleep.
************************RANGER POV*****************************
"Here" I said to Diesel as I handed him a beer.
"Thanks." He said. "For everything. I know that this whole mess sucked ass for you."
"You brought her back in my life…in our lives." I said, taking a swig of my beer. "We missed her."
"You don't know how hard it was for her not to come back to you guys. She would sneak out sometimes, when you were all still stationed in Bragg, and follow you around." He smiled. "Shit, she knew everything that was going on in your lives for years. Even your trip to Las Vegas…I was there for that. Y'all are some serious party animals."
I shook my head, smiling. "Yeah, well when you don't get any time off you tend to make what little time you get a little more interesting." That week in Vegas was insane. I was officially banned from returning to the state of Nevada. Let me just say it involved a high speed chase, hookers, and a couple of jello-wrestling midgets. Classic. I only recently was allowed to go back, but under strict instruction that every law was to be followed. I looked over at Tabb. She had curled up into a blanket and had fallen asleep. "What's the plan?"
"Shit." Diesel said chugging the last of his beer. "Well, I plan on handing our powers over to the wards, and going to Grady. I am pretty sure that he's gonna kill me, but what can you do?"
"There has to be another way." I said, finishing my beer, grabbing his empty and tossing them both in the trash. "Another?" He nodded and I pulled two more out of the fridge. "There has to be something that this guy would take instead. He doesn't seem like the type that can't be paid off."
"He's hard core, Ranger." Diesel said. "I have to pull Tabb's powers tomorrow and then I am gone. I can't have her sitting around worrying about what is going on with me. I need you to promise me that you'll keep her safe."
"Fuck." I said under my breath. "Can't there be another way? Do your bosses know what he did to her? That can't be considered good, no matter how fucked up your laws are. Technically, he killed the baby." Diesel winced. "Listen to me. Neither of you wanted this, and I am sure that the baby would have been fine if it hadn't been for Thayer."
"Grady hired Thayer." Diesel said coldly, focusing on his beer and peeling off the label.
"Fucking asshole."
"I have tried everything. The heads don't want to hear anything about him. He's their golden child." Diesel wrapped part of a peel around his finger. "If I could get my hands on him, I might be able to get his memories...but he'd have to concent. Which is not very fucking likely?"
"What about Tabb?"
"What about her?" He looked into my eyes. "There is no fucking way she is going to be within 100 feet of that asshole. He'll kill her." He shook his head. "No. He won't kill her. He'll make her want to be dead."
"We'll figure out something." I drained the last of the beer and threw it away. "I think that we should hit the sack. It's a big day tomorrow. Her appointment is at 1030, and we all have to be there. No way am I letting her out of my sight."
Diesel nodded, finished his beer and tossed it. He lumbered over to Tabb lying peacefully on the sofa. He smiled as he leaned down and picked her up without waking her.
I walked over to her bedroom door, and held it open for him.
"Hey." I whispered. Diesel looked up at me, eyebrows raised. "No hanky panky tonight. Doctor's orders." He smiled, and nodded his head.
I closed the door and headed back to my bedroom, hitting the shower before sliding into my sheets. It wasn't long before I was sleeping.