Chapter 11
I refuse to cry. I have cried myself out today and I will not let fear cloud my judgment. The faster I figure out what is going on the faster I can have a break down. I've been burned, injured, abused, publicly humiliated, and terrified in the last 24 hours. Watch out Trenton, Stephanie Plum is pissed!!!
Ranger and I continued to listen until it was over just to make sure that there was nothing at the end of the tape. There wasn't.
I slid off of Rangers lap and sat facing him on the sofa. He was watching me with anger clear in his expression. I closed my eyes and slowly counted to ten to help clear my head. When I opened my eyes I took two deep breaths and watched Ranger.
He was really mad. He wasn't bothering with self control. He got up, walked into the kitchen, grabbed a plate, and threw it at the wall as hard as he could. I wasn't scared of Ranger but I had never seen him lose control like that. It reminded me of what happened with Joe.
I told myself to relax, that this was just Ranger. I closed my eyes again and shrank into the couch more so that I could relax. When I opened my eyes, Ranger was crouched in front of me, concern in his eyes.
"Babe, I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to. Okay?" he asked. I nodded.
I didn't want to live in fear of this guy. I needed to figure out what was going on. I knew that I needed to tell Ranger what had happened last night even though I didn't want to. I had a feeling that this was somehow connected with it.
"I need to tell you what happened last night Ranger. I don't want to be interrupted though. I don't want to tell you in the first place so make it easier on me and just listen. Okay?" I asked. He nodded.
I told him everything. From the time he left the apartment to the time I met up with him that morning at Pino's he knew exactly what had happened. He was angry, I knew, but he had his blank face on and I only knew that he was angry because I wasn't stupid. I told him about my assumption that someone was helping him and that I thought that the package was linked to it.
He nodded and stood up from in front of me. I had been calm the whole time but at the end I was struggling to hold it together. He noticed me and pulled me to him gently. I buried my face into his chest and he held me. I never cried. I wouldn't let myself, now was not the time.
I pulled away eventually and looked up at him. He let me go and then pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number and had a quick conversation where he summoned someone up here.
A couple minutes later Tank, Bobby, and Lester were standing in the living room. Ranger said, "We have a situation here boys. Steph has another crazy and he seems to be a member of the Ramirez family. Tank, I need you to check to see if Benito had any siblings and where they live. Lester, arrange a meeting with Joe Morelli. Get him here within the next hour in my office. Get him here in any way possible without killing him. That's my job. Bobby, stay here. We need to talk." All three men hastened to do as they were told.
When Tank and Lester had left Ranger began again, "Bobby, you were on surveillance last night at Steph's apartment. Was there anything at all that was out of the ordinary? Even the slightest thing could be very important here."
Bobby was obviously thinking. Then he spoke, "At about 2 a.m. someone threw a smoke bomb under my car. I figured that it was just some kids playing a prank because it was a really cheap one and didn't think anything of it. When I checked the equipment to see if anyone had picked her lock the results were negative."
Then I spoke up, "He had a key. I left my keys on the counter last night and when you kicked him out yesterday, Ranger, he must have picked up my spare. Sound doesn't carry through the apartment so Bobby couldn't have heard us."
When I began speaking, both men stared at me as though they had forgotten that I was there. Hell, maybe they had.
Just as I finished speaking, Ranger's cell phone rang. He had a quick conversation and then turned to me. "That was Tank," he said, "Benito had a brother, Siriano. He was locked up here in Trenton but escaped a week ago. He was arrested for destruction of property primarily. He completely destroyed a bar when he found out that his brother had died. They were twins and they shared looks and personality of lack thereof. He vowed to get whoever killed him if it was the last thing he did. Tank also said that they have Morelli in my office now and they are just waiting for us. You don't have to go if you don't want to Babe but it might be better if you did."
I hesitated. I didn't want to see Joe but I knew that he may not talk to Ranger or his men. I was pretty sure that is was Siriano who had sent me the package and I wanted to find him. Fast. If Joe was my only way of doing so, than so be it.
"I'll go down Ranger," I told him, "but I get to be the only one who talks to him. He may not talk to you guys and we need all the help we can get."
He smiled at me, proud of my bravery but concerned about my fearlessness.
I understood what his smile meant and said, "I am scared Ranger. But I know that you will be watching the security cameras in the control room and that you won't let anything happen to me."
He smiled at me again and pulled me to him holding me as though I were his last life line. I was trying to soak up all the courage I could get from him, knowing that I would need it for what I was about to do.
Eventually I let go and took a step back looking up at him. Then he said, "Go get 'em Tiger."
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