Disclaimer: All credit goes to JE for creating her characters and writing the books. Original characters I've created are all mine (muahhahaha).
Warnings: It's a Babe story. Rated M+. Bad Language, Violence, Alcohol, Drunken Decisions, Sexual Situations, Attempted Sexual Assault and related themes, and a Happy Ending. Not cupcake friendly, but no brutal bashing…
Loving all the reviews! We're about half-way through the story.
Chapter Ten
Wednesday morning, three days after the Talavera mess, I bounced into the Bond's Office at eight thirty. I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ranger the past few days, but he'd been in my apartment because he'd left me a note with the time and place to meet up for my interview at the cop shop. He usually didn't have any problems waking me up if I was asleep when he visited. But then again, trying to figure out Ranger was like trying to catch smoke. Connie glanced up at me from her nails and raised an eyebrow.
"You alright, Steph? Boys from Rangeman said Turner gave you a hard time. Report from TPD said he had two bullet wounds."
"Turner was an alias for Zac Talavera. That name ring any bells?" I asked, plopping down in the visitor chair.
"Shit! I'm sorry, Steph. I wouldn't have given that son of a bitch to you if I'd have known it was him!" She rummaged through her filing cabinet and pulled out two files, comparing them. When she flipped them around to face me, I nodded. Talavera looked a lot different to his Turner alias, similar, but different enough you wouldn't pick it unless you were looking hard. All of his other details were different too; date of birth, residence, bank details - everything. It would have been expensive to develop an alias as thorough as Turner – and how had he gotten around the fingerprinting issue at the TPD? Why had he gone to so much trouble?
"I know, Connie. It all worked out in the end I guess. Do you have anything new for me?" I wondered, glancing at the stack of files at her elbow as she folded the other two away.
"You up to it?" she wondered, staring pointedly at my bandaged wrist and then back up at the fading bruises on my face.
"Yep."
"Okay, I've got one repeat and a mid-range bond." She pulled my files out of her stack and set them on the corner closest to me. "You're out of bed early today," Connie remarked as she divided the remaining files into two stacks.
I studied the two stacks. As far as I knew, Vinnie only had Rangeman and myself looking for his skips at the moment. Joyce had taken off after bigger fish for a while. So who was the second pile for?"
"I have to be at the cop shop at nine with Ranger, we're meeting here. Who are those files for?"
"Rangeman," Connie answered too quickly.
"And?"
She hung her head. "Jeanne Ellen Burrows."
"What?" I whispered.
"All of the mid to high-range skips are now to go to her. You get the low to mid, Rangeman gets the high."
"And when did this happen?"
"Ranger came in a couple of days ago to meet with Vinnie. After he left, Vinnie told me how it was going to be from now on."
"Shit." I wasn't sure how I felt about Ranger coming in and deciding what skips I could and couldn't go after. I realised it was coming from a good place but it still didn't make me happy that my income was potentially reduced. Although, come to think of it, I rarely did mid to high bonds anyway, not that many came in compared to low range bonds. And maybe Ranger was trying to… I don't know, tempt me into working more at Rangeman? After facing Talavera, working at Rangeman seemed like a pretty good option. But then, was Ranger even offering that? But why would he cut my income and not help me out; that didn't seem fair. Oh Plum, you could go around in circles about this for days. Damn Ranger, why couldn't he just spell out why he did things?
"Yep."
"And Sebring is okay with it?" I wondered.
"Apparently Jeanne is going to give Les a cut of her finder's fee. Just so long as she doesn't start dropping the ball on his skips, he's fine with it."
The bell on the front door tinkled and both Connie and I swung around simultaneously. We both knew who it was before we'd even looked. Shit like this just seemed to happen to me. Often. Surprise, surprise. It was Jeanne Ellen Burrows. "Jeanne," I greeted as warmly as possible.
She still looked the same as the last time I'd seen her. Black leather pants, white t-shirt, cropped black leather jacket, black high heel boots, and a gun at her hip. In other words, she was a smoking hot badass and knew it.
A tiny smirk appeared on her lips as she took in my appearance. Fading black eyes, light wash jeans, black Sabbath sleeveless t-shirt and a light burgundy brown bomber jacket matched with a pair of black shit kickers. I had my dark oversized shades at the ready to disguise my bruised face. I thought my outfit had looked kickass this morning when I'd dressed. Now, not so much.
"Stephanie. Heard you had a run in with Talavera?" she asked with that stupid little smirk still on her face as she leant one hip against Connie's desk.
The door didn't tinkle, but I turned to stare at it when a shiver of desire shot down my body straight to my doo-dah. Ranger.
"She found him and captured him in one day," Ranger said softly, stepping around Jeanne to get to me. When he did, he bent down and gently brushed his lips against mine. It sent a warm buzz through my body and a jolt straight to my heart. My first thought was, take that, Jeanne. My second was, what the hell is up with Ranger kissing me in public lately?
"You ready to go, Babe?"
"Uh." I blinked at him stupidly for three seconds before I remembered the cop shop. "Yep. I thought we didn't need to be there until nine."
"Being early won't hurt you." Ranger humour. He slid his hand into mine and tugged me up to my feet. Then he scooped up both my files and his. I wasn't even sure how he knew which stack was his. He gave a little nod to Connie, and the same to Jeanne. "Ladies."
I followed Ranger out of the door, I had no choice really considering we were holding hands, and straight into his ridiculous SUV.
Once we were both inside, instead of turning the car on, he just looked at me. I wondered if I still had hash brown on my face from my hasty breakfast earlier.
"You alright, Babe?" Ranger finally asked.
"Yep."
"Got a problem with Burrows working part time for Vinnie?"
"No more than usual."
For a split second, surprise flashed in his eyes. "You usually have a problem with her?"
"Uh." I'd said too much. Clearly I was not about to blurt out the fact that I was jealous of her, or of her relationship with Ranger, or of her badass skill set. If we were in a competition on who was best suited to Ranger, she'd win hands down.
"Babe." His eyes were speculative now, trying to figure me out no doubt.
"Well, why did you give my skips to her? You know I have trouble making enough money as it is," I asked huffily.
"Babe." He reached over and tucked a stray curl behind one of my ears, giving me a slight smile.
I tried very hard to ignore his distraction attempt. "Seriously, Ranger."
"Steph, Jeanne's only going to be taking the bonds between two to five hundred thousand dollars. She'll be assigned more of Rangeman's bonds than yours. You know we're cutting back on bounty hunting, Babe. She approached me with the proposal. Financially, it's a smart move for Rangeman," Ranger explained.
"Huh." I wasn't sure how I felt about it still, but at least I knew Jeanne wouldn't be stealing all my skips. I guess it did make sense to bring in someone experienced that Vinnie could trust. But why couldn't Ranger have just left those bonds to me, knowing I'd ask him and the guys for help? Maybe he didn't know you'd ask for help, a little voice said. Or maybe he just didn't want to bleed money over it.
"You know there's always a job waiting for you Babe, if you need it," Ranger said softly.
I stared at him carefully. So this was a plot to get me to work at Rangeman full time? I thought hard over his words for a few minutes. Didn't sound like a plot. Sounded like support. Or a backup plan.
"You sure you're up to the cop shop today?" he wondered carefully.
"I'm fine. Thanks for taking me."
Ranger somehow started his spaceship and pulled into traffic. "No problem, Babe."
"Ranger, there's something else I'd like to discuss," I broached hesitantly. He just gave me a look and an almost nod. I took that as my cue to keep talking. "My rent – "
"There's nothing to talk about," he said quietly, cutting off my words.
"But –"
"Remember when I said there's no price for what we give each other?" he asked.
I paused and reluctantly nodded.
"No price, Babe. I don't want to hear about this again. You don't owe me. Don't try to pay me back. That'll just piss me off. Understand, Steph?" As he pulled to a stop at a set of lights, he grabbed my chin and gently turned me to face him. "Understand?" he wondered again, a little more gently this time.
"I don't like it, but okay," I said faintly.
He pulled me closer to him and gave me a kiss that scrambled all my thoughts. The light turned green and Ranger let me go. Ranger went into his zone for the rest of the drive to the Trenton Police Department. I just tried hard to not think about the questions they were going to ask me.
"You ready, Babe?"
I glanced forward and realised we were parked two spaces down from the front door of the TPD. Damn, that time went way too fast. "Betcha."
I jumped down out of the car and met Ranger on his side. He had a thick folder in his hand and a bag of what looked like clothes. He draped his arm across my shoulders and tucked me against his body as we entered.
Jimmy Neely was manning the front desk. "Hey Steph, you should be right to go on through to Interview C. Ranger." Jimmy gave Ranger a respectful nod as we passed.
"Thanks Jimmy," I muttered.
I wasn't sure where Interview C was, but Ranger sure seemed to know the right direction. We arrived in no time flat. Ranger pushed open the door and guided me inside. No-one else was there yet. We really were early. Ranger moved over to stand by the tiny window. I stood next to him, unsure what else to do.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Steph. Ranger, how are you?" Andy Zajak greeted us as he dropped a voice recorder, pen and paper and camera. "Robin won't be a moment."
The door opened again and Robin Russell came in, locking the door shut behind her. "Are you okay, Steph?" she asked as we all sat down.
Ranger was seated on my left, Robin was across from me and Andy was sitting on her right.
"I'm fine."
"We'll take your statement first, Steph, and then ask you some questions. You know the drill," Andy said.
I nodded and we began.
Two hours later I was ready to tear my hair out. We'd gone over my statement multiple times, I'd answered question after question, and Ranger had given them the photos I had taken, the results of my finger nail swabs, and my clothing from the day of the incident. I didn't bother asking how he'd managed to get my clothes before I'd washed them. That was one mystery I probably didn't want to know the answer to.
"Alright, if we put a line-up together, can you identify the perp?"
"With pleasure!" I cried, happy to escape the room that seemed to be getting smaller and smaller by the minute. I could have sworn the walls were starting to close in on me.
Ranger slipped a hand under the table and rested it on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. Oh boy, I hope he didn't think that would calm me down.
"We'll come and get you when we're ready," Robin said, giving me a pat on the shoulder as she walked out with Andy.
I slumped back in my chair. "This seemed to take longer than last time. Does it usually take this long?" I asked Ranger.
"Yes."
"Am I being impatient?"
No answer, but he gave me a raised eyebrow. Great. I was being impatient.
*S^R*
"Alright, we've got a line up ready for you, Steph. Just follow me," Robin said warmly some time later.
"I'll catch up, Babe. Gotta go see the Chief," Ranger said, pausing long enough to press a branding kiss to the corner of my mouth before he was off around the corner with his thick file.
Huh.
"You still with me, Steph?" Robin asked with a teasing smile on her face.
"That man is too damn hot for his own good," I said, fanning my face with my hand.
"Damn skippy," she agreed, directing me into a room that was slightly longer than the interview room we'd just been in.
"Okay, Steph. Are any of these men the man who was using the name Isaac Turner and assaulted you?" Andy asked as Robin closed us inside.
We were standing on one side of a wall made of two-way glass. I stared at the seven men. I picked Talavera from the rest almost instantly. He was the one grinning straight at me. It sent creepy shivers down my spine. "Yep. Number four. That's Talavera."
"That's the man who was using the alias Turner and who assaulted you?" Andy clarified.
"Correct."
"Okay. Robin's going to escort you back to a private room. I want you to show her your injuries so she can make a positive ID with the photo's you've provided."
I stiffened. "What, you don't believe me? Do you think I'm lying and just doctored up some photos?" I asked, my voice growing higher and higher in pitch.
"Easy, Steph. It's pretty standard procedure," Robin assured me.
I was still sceptical, but what could it hurt, really? Robin took me into a private room and I stripped off my top half, making sure to hold my shirt against my tattoo so she couldn't see it. She had a camera with her and took another couple of photos of my chest and my still hand-shaped bruised wrists.
"What about your neck and face, Steph? You didn't mention those in your statement?" she wondered as I pulled my clothes back on.
"I got in between two women having a cat fight. They're not from Talavera," I explained.
Robin looked sympathetic. "I advise you next time to let them have at each other."
"Thanks, I'd kinda already learnt that lesson."
Robin, myself, Andy and Ranger reconvened back in Interview C a handful of minutes later. Andy had prepared my statement on the takedown and what had happened at the end of it for me to sign. I grabbed the pen straight away but was stopped by Ranger's hand.
"Read it, Babe. All of it," he advised.
I gave him a quick look, noted his serious face, and hunkered down to read my long statement. I sat it back down on the table.
"You happy with it?" Ranger asked.
I gave a nod. Ranger reached over and slid the papers to his side. Then he sat there and read it. Once again, Batman had my back. "Okay, Babe. You can sign now," Ranger said, startling me out of my pre-nap zone.
I grabbed the pen and signed at the bottom of my statement.
"Thanks for your time today, Steph and Ranger," Andy said, standing and holding out his hand.
Ranger shook it firmly first, then I did.
"I'll walk you two out," Robin volunteered.
We said goodbye to Robin at the door of the cop shop. I sucked in the not so clean city air like I was a man fresh out of a fifteen year sentence. It was good to be free.
"C'mon , Mandela," Ranger said, a tiny smirk playing around the corners of his mouth. Ranger humour, twice in one day!
We climbed into his SUV and hit the road.
"Babe, grab the files from the back," he asked quietly.
I turned around in my seat and snagged them. It was pretty easy for me to sort them into his and hers stacks. His had a few extra zeroes on the end of the bonds.
"Who've you got, Babe?"
I gave him a funny look, but flipped open my first file. "Dougie Kruper. Looks like he got caught selling lost and or stolen credit cards. Must be the repeat offender Connie mentioned. Bond's set at two grand."
"Next."
I set Dougie's folder aside and opened up the other one. "Whoa. Kyle Jackson. Age twenty four. Arrested for possession of four and a half pounds of marijuana. Bond's set at twelve thousand. Second time offence for possession with the intent to distribute and dispense."
Ranger fell silent for so long I'd thought he'd entered a zone. He pulled into the slot behind my car outside the Bond's Office. I was just starting to collect my things when he finally did speak. "Babe, you need help with Jackson, you call me."
I bit my bottom lip. He thought Jackson was out of my league. He probably thought I should give him to Jeanne. Over my dead body. "You think it's more than I can handle?" I asked as neutrally as I could.
"Babe, you can handle anything. Doesn't mean you have to handle it alone." That made me stop and think. Damn, Ranger always had my back. It sent a warm fuzzy feeling through my body.
"Okay, if I need help, I'll call you."
"Me, Babe," he reiterated quietly.
I paused. Maybe I'd hurt him more than I'd realised when I'd called Tank instead of him. I leant across the console slowly, placed a palm on his left cheek and brushed my lips across his lightly. "I'll call you," I promised, pushing on my sunglasses and hastily jumping out of the car.
I didn't bother heading back into the Bond's Office, I just made a beeline for my car and hopped inside. I'd go after Dougie today and worry about Kyle and calling Ranger tomorrow.I'd rescheduled with Sketch again while I was on R and R, but he couldn't fit me for a few weeks. He'd told me to just come in then, and he'd see if he could work on the colour while I was there.
I spent most of the day at Dougie's apartment watching Star Trek re-runs and managed to have him home back in time to watch I love Lucy. All in a day's work.
TBC...