Standard Disclaimers apply: Not mine, not making money.
AN: Sorry it's taken so long for an update and this one is rather on the short side. My muse is having temperamental fits or something. If you like it please let me know. If you have constructive criticisms, please let me know. If there are typos, errors, etc. please let me know about those too.
Any Man of Mine Chapter 4 Continued
I didn't even wait for Joe to finish with Connie before I left the office. I knew Ranger would find out what the cops knew and tell me what he thought I needed to know. Not ideal, but it was going to have to be good enough for tonight. I'd worry about getting the rest out of him later. As soon as Lester was there and had been filled in on the basics by Ranger, I had him take me home. Ranger had offered to let me stay at Rangeman, but I didn't want to give this maniac too much control over my life just yet. It was bad enough I had to have a guard on me 24/7 now, I wasn't about to let him run me out of my own home. My car was still at Rangeman; I assumed Ranger would have one of the guys bring it by later. That was pretty much SOP when my car and I were separated.
Despite the surveillance cameras still in operation, Lester did a walk through of my apartment, gun drawn, upon our arrival, bid me good evening, and went back down to his SUV where he'd stay until Cal arrived or something happened that required his attention. After the Dickie fiasco, Ranger and I had come to an understanding concerning the security camera in my foyer. Given the frequency with which my apartment was broken into, I would activate the cameras when I left the apartment and during any Code Red situations. Code Red is when a nut job is after me and Rangeman goes on Stephanie Watch. When it's not a Code Red situation, I deactivate the system while I'm at home. One of the tech guys at Rangeman set it up so that I can activate and deactivate the system over the phone. The camera set up doesn't provide coverage for the fire escape though, so I guess Lester's walk through made some sense.
Once Lester was secured elsewhere, I went into my bedroom to change. I figured I was in for the night. I also figured that there was a decent chance that I would have a visitor at some point before daybreak. I weighed the options available to me and settled on one of Ranger's shirts and a pair of girl boxers. They hugged a bit tighter and aren't as long in the legs as boy boxers, but certainly covered more than my usual underwear. I made sure my hair wasn't doing its Medusa impression but drew the line at wearing a bra just to sit around my apartment.
After gathering the necessary provisions of chocolate ice cream and some TastyKakes, I settled onto the couch, grabbed the remote and located a retro-replay of an old Rangers-Red Wings game. It wouldn't have Mike Richter as goalie but it sure beat anything else that was on. I fell asleep at some point during the game, junk food consumed, wrappers on the floor.
I heard the locks tumble on my door. Normally I wouldn't have, but I was still in the living room and sleeping very lightly. Slowly I sat up, letting the throw blanket fall to the floor. I reached for the remote and turned the TV off. Given the fact that – I look at the clock…12:30 am – Cal was watching the building, I figured it could only be Ranger but called out somewhat softly anyway.
"Ranger?"
"Yeah Babe." I smiled sleepily at him when he came into sight. "What are you doing sleeping on the couch?"
"I fell asleep watching an old hockey game." I stifled a yawn. He took off his utility belt, dropping it on the table, before coming over to sit on the couch next to me. "What'd Joe find out from Connie?"
Ranger reached over and pulled me closer to him, so we were sitting side ways on the couch, my back to his chest. I wasn't complaining. "Connie wasn't able to give him a whole lot to work with initially. Delivery from Flora's Florals and the delivery guy seemed weirded out by it. Said he couldn't get away from the flowers soon enough, barely even waited for Connie to sign for them. So she opened them."
"Oh," I took a moment to process Ranger's words. "You said initially. Did she remember something else?" I asked hopefully. It wasn't so much that I looked forward to knowing about this guy but more that I couldn't wait for this to be over with.
"Joe relayed the information to Costanza. He tracked down that the flower order was called in, using a credit card issued to a Paul Shapiro. Does the name mean anything to you?" When I shook my head, Ranger continued. "Joe's doing a work up on him now. I've got Silvio doing a full check on him as well."
I pushed up a bit to turn back and look at him. "You don't trust Joe's work?"
"I think Silvio can do better. There are things he can access that Joe couldn't easily get to, Babe." I pondered this for a moment. Ranger was right. I'd worked the computers and search programs available to Rangeman previously. If this Paul Shapiro had any secrets, he wouldn't for long. Satisfied that this wasn't just a display of stupid macho pride, I resumed my previous position. Ranger shifted some, catching the throw blanket with on hand and covered me with it. I snuggled deeper into his embrace and let out a contented sigh. This felt nice. Really nice. Ranger kissed the top of my curls. "Get some sleep." I didn't need to be told twice.