AN: Your reviews are all absolutely wonderful! All of you are turning me into more and more of a review whore! :-) As we all know, I don't own them, I'm just playing...although I'd love to own Ranger (who wouldn't?). So here's another chapter, hope y'all enjoy it!
As always, please Read and Review!
Rediscovery
Chapter 14
Penelope had no idea how long she lay in the alley. Her body was aching and it seemed like the only thing she could do was simply lie there and hope that help came soon. She wanted to pass out. In fact the idea of doing so was completely appealing to the point that when she felt hands on her she was close to unconsciousness.
The hands on her began picking her up. She let out a small groan and tried to push away from the person. The most soothing voice in the world came to her ears. "Easy, Gorgeous. I've got you."
Lester, she thought with relief and caved to the desire to become unconscious.
Of course, when she woke, the steady beeping of a heart monitor pierced through her mind, making sure she was very awake. She winced inwardly and struggled to open her eyes. As soon as the light hit them her eyes filled with tears. Blinking them away she couldn't stop the smile that came to her face when a pair of beautiful green eyes filled her vision.
"Hi." She whispered.
"Hi, Gorgeous." Lester said, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. "Good to see you wake up."
"Need some water please." She said.
Lester brought a cup of water over and helped her sip through the straw. She closed her eyes, enjoying the delicious cooling sensation that slid down her throat. Lester helped her sit up and sat on the edge of the bed, holding one of her hands. He watched her as she continued to drink the water from the cup.
When she called him and told him she needed him to come get her from the alley behind her work, he had panicked. He knew she had planned on going to work for a few hours to figure things out before getting ready for their double date that night. The moment he'd found her and the bloody mess she was in he felt his heart freeze in fear, then his blood surged with a primal anger that he'd never felt before. Even when he had served with Ranger in the Army he had never felt such anger. It was something his cousin had counted on when they went on missions. He kept cool, calm, and solid. He didn't allow anyone to mess with him. The playboy stayed stateside until they returned from their mission.
But finding that someone had beaten the shit out of Penelope had brought forth something that he wasn't familiar with, wasn't sure how to control.
"Deep thoughts, Les?" She asked. He looked at her and saw her watching him contemplatively. Her beautiful face was sporting a good sized bruise across her cheek. He knew there were other injuries, but the doctor had refused to tell him anything because he didn't hold her power of attorney.
"Pen, what happened?" He asked running a hand up and down her arm casually.
"I got jumped because someone wanted to deliver a message and they felt I should listen to the message." She sighed. Pain shot through her side. "Ouch."
"Let me go get your doctor." He said standing. He was almost to the door when the doors opened and Ranger and Stephanie walked in. Stephanie was carrying a bag with her. She looked at Pen and smiled.
"Pen, we've got to stop meeting up here. If you need a girl's day, just tell me." She teased.
Pen laughed a little. "But if I get the attention from some delicious looking men why stop?" Lester flashed her a grin before leaving to go get the doctor. She looked at Ranger and grinned, ignoring the pain in her cheek. "Lester told me what kind of dirty things you'll do to me."
Ranger's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"
Stephanie pulled a chair next to Pen's bed and sat with the bag in her lap, then leaned back to watch Ranger's reaction. Pen nodded. "Yep. He said crawling through mud with a twenty pound pack. You yell too."
His lips quirked and turned up in a small smile. "He forgot to mention the jungles I'll have you go through. Weeks upon weeks with no showers or baths."
"Really?" Pen grinned.
Stephanie laughed, glad to see that the man she loved could joke with one of her oldest friends. "Pen, I brought you doughnuts."
"Did you bring me doughnuts or did you bring you doughnuts?" She asked.
"Both." Stephanie rolled her eyes. She held open the bag and let Penelope dig through for a doughnut before choosing one for herself.
Penelope began to bite into her sugary confection when Lester and the doctor walked in. Lester immediately sat next to Penelope on the bed taking one of her hands in his. Ranger and Stephanie shared a look with one another. The doctor looked at everyone in the room and shook his head. He was glad that Ms. Thayer hadn't been injured enough to keep her in the ICU. They had been able to put her into a private room.
"Ms. Thayer, I'm Dr. Quinton." He introduced himself. "You had quite an encounter today."
"That's an awfully nice way to put having the shit kicked out of me." Penelope said around a bite of doughnut.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
She paused and looked at him long and hard, then said, "I'll have to file a report with the police. What's my damage and when can I leave?"
"Something you two agree on." Ranger teased Stephanie as he sat next to her in a chair. She shot him a grin and felt herself warm up with fuzziness when he casually took her hand in his.
"Ms. Thayer, you've got a couple cracked ribs and a whole lot of bruising." He said kindly. "I'm keeping you overnight for observation then you can go in the morning. I do have to ask…based off the way Mr. Santos brought you in, do you need a rape kit done?"
"No." She shook her head. "They didn't get a chance to get that far."
"I'm sorry you went through whatever it was," Dr. Quinton said, "But I am glad you didn't go through worse."
"You and me both!" Penelope sighed.
Lester watched her, then stood up and walked out of the room. Penelope looked over at him confused before looking at Stephanie with the question on her face. Ranger stood up. "I'll go talk to him."
"Doctor, is there any medication you might have for me right now? My sides are hurting an awful lot." Penelope said. Along with her back, parts of her leg. Good lord, she thought annoyed, she was going to be a walking bruise.
"I'll have one of the nurses bring something in for you. Later I'm going to have a prescription for you to fill." He told her.
Ranger found Lester up on the roof of the hospital. He was stalking around looking like he wanted to hit something. There was a new look in his cousin's eyes that he recognized. One he had seen in the mirror any time Stephanie was hurt.
Lester didn't acknowledge him. He knew he was there, but until he found something to hit, he was going stay up here. A small voice in his head told him staying up here where he couldn't watch Penelope wasn't going to help. Who knows who could get her while he was gone? Finally, he let out an angry growl and hit the metal door as hard as he could.
"Feel better?" Ranger asked.
Lester looked at his hand that was already swelling. "I will when I find the bastards who did that to her."
Ranger nodded. "Tank and Cal have already put trackers on her car. With the mistrial, I don't have to tell you Kazarra may target her for not agreeing to swing the jury."
"No." Lester shook his head. "You don't."
"Jace is coming back to RangeMan tomorrow. It looks like the Feds will need our help." Ranger said looking out across the way. "You'll stay with Penelope."
Lester was about to tell his cousin that he didn't need his permission, but knew what he was doing. With Kazarra being a free man, and with no leads as to who exactly was threatening Penelope, along with the Feds coming into Trenton, they had no way of knowing how much of a target Penelope was. Ranger usually assigned someone other than his core team to follow people other than Stephanie, but seeing how attached Lester had become to Penelope he knew he would protect her.
Instead, he nodded and said, "Let's go back before Beautiful shows Gorgeous how to sneak out from under our noses."
Ranger chuckled as they walked back down to the hospital room. The fact that they found both women still sitting in the room was a surprise and a relief. They were both happily munching on doughnuts. Stephanie's eyes lit up at the sight of Ranger. He walked over, kissed her on the forehead and sat next to her. Lester sat next to Penelope and took her hand in his. She smiled at him, then noticed the swelling on his knuckles.
Before she could ask about it they heard a shrill, overdramatic voice. "Where is she? Where is my baby?"
"Oh god no!" Stephanie whispered horrified. She looked toward the window.
"Don't even think about it, Plum!" Penelope hissed. "You jump out the window and you'll become a pancake."
"Better a pancake than dealing with Mommy Dearest." Stephanie shot back.
"If I have to deal with her then so do you." Penelope growled.
"She didn't give birth to me!"
"Ladies." Lester chuckled, "Care to enlighten us?"
The door slammed open and an extremely well dressed woman stepped in. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight bun that made it look like her skin was being pulled away from her face. Her thin lips were pursed into a practiced pout while her wide pale green eyes looked around.
"There she is! Oh my poor baby!" She cried out rushing forward.
Stephanie grit her teeth together and closed her eyes. Perfect, she thought.
"Hello, Diane." Penelope said stoically.
"Now, now, dear, is that any way to greet your dear mother?"
Penelope gave her a well-schooled formal look. She said firmly, "The last time we saw each other it was agreed that you're not my mother. It ruined your image to appear to have a child."
"I changed my mind." Diane said sniffing. "It doesn't do any good for us to be on the outs. We're all we have left."
"Ahh," Penelope gave a cold smile, "You ran out of the money Daddy left for you and you're sucking up so I'll give you some."
"That is not it at all!" But the slight flush in her cheeks told everyone in the room that was exactly why she was there.
"Did you find our girl?" A male voice boomed out.
Simultaneously Stephanie and Penelope went, "Oh fuck!"
"Of course, Derek." Diane smiled over her shoulder. A man who wasn't much older than any of them, with the exception of Diane, walked into the room. He was Hollywood handsome, with dirty blonde hair that was slicked back in a perfectly styled manor. His blue eyes were piercing. His skin was tanned, showing he spent a lot of time in the sun.
"Penelope, why didn't you call me?" Derek walked over, ignoring Lester, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "After all, I am your husband."
She felt Lester tense, instinctively she clutched his hand tighter, "Ex-husband."
"You married him?" Stephanie shot her an ugly look.
Penelope returned one toward her, "You married the Dick!"
"Touché." Stephanie muttered and began munching on a doughnut to keep her mouth from shooting off.
"I decide your medical matters, darling," Derek said as he leaned against the wall, assessing both Lester and Ranger.
"Actually, neither of you decide my medical." Penelope said cheerfully.
They both froze and looked at her. Diane spoke first. "I'm your mother, Penelope. Of course I should have your power of attorney."
"You'll have to understand if years of trust issues prevent me from trusting you with my life should anything happen that causes a need for someone else to decide whether I'm worth saving." Penelope said coolly.
"Darling, don't you trust me?" Derek asked in a voice that usually got him exactly what he wanted. Lester wanted to reach up and slug him. Ranger was steadfastly avoiding the occasional gaze that Diane was shooting his direction.
"Not since I found my mother riding you like you were one of the toy ponies at a playground." Penelope retorted.
"Damn." Stephanie murmured so Ranger could hear her. "That just trumps what Dickie did."
"Dear, that's all in the past." Diane smiled. "You didn't have to divorce him."
"Yeah I did." Penelope replied. It had been ugly. She had murdered him in court, which had entertained most of their upper class friends because Derek was also a lawyer and watching the two of them in court had been something else indeed.
"And how did you know where I was?" Penelope suddenly demanded.
"Oh, one of your friends at the old club mentioned your move. I stopped by your condo to see you, but no one answered." Diane sniffed. "I can't believe you don't have anyone taking care of you so you don't have to worry about break ins. Someone should be there to watch your home and make sure it's safe. What would your father say?"
"He'd say I'm living my life without acting like a spoiled brat!" Penelope grumbled.
Lester grinned at her and brought her hand up to his lips. Derek narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry, we've been rude. I'm Derek Franco." He held his hand out to Lester.
"Lester Santos." He took the hand in a firm grasp and by the slight grimace he saw in Derek's eyes the other man clearly knew he wasn't going to be intimidated by his pomp and polish.
"And you?" Diane purred toward Ranger.
He raised an eyebrow. "Ranger Manoso."
"Manoso." Derek rubbed his chin. "You own RangeMan."
Ranger nodded, not speaking. Diane sidled closer. He felt Stephanie's fingers tighten in his. He squeezed back reassuringly. Diane smiled coyly. "You're a very successful man, Mr. Manoso."
"It pays to keep people safe." He replied.
"I've heard you're not a married man."
Penelope looked at Stephanie with a raised eyebrow that said Could she be any more obvious? Ranger spoke before either of them could. "Not being married doesn't mean I'm available. I'm very unavailable."
Diane took in their joined hands. "With Stephanie?" Her lips curled delicately. "Why on earth would you want someone like her? She's barely better than trash."
Stephanie felt the sudden surge of anger off Ranger. He opened his mouth to speak and she did the only thing she could think of. She shoved the last couple bites of her doughnut into his mouth.
"You've had work done, recently, haven't you?" Stephanie asked sweetly.
"A woman always has to take care of herself." Diane replied.
"Hm. The doctors must not have done a good job. You've got some wrinkles showing." She said. Diane's eyes widened and one of her hands came up to her face. Her cheeks turned pink and she couldn't seem to hustle herself out of there fast enough. Derek smirked and walked back over to the bed. He kissed Penelope on the cheek and said, "I'll come back some other time. We have a lot to discuss."
"No need." Penelope replied. He ignored her as he left.
She looked at Lester who was staring at Stephanie with horror etched across his face. Stephanie was watching Ranger with wide eyes. Ranger looked like he'd bitten into a lemon.
"Shit, Beautiful. You decimated the temple!" Lester said in a stage whisper.
"I…um…it….I didn't know what else to do!" She replied. Ranger turned and looked at her. He swallowed the doughnut. "Lester…tell my family I love them…"
"Babe." Ranger leaned forward. "Paybacks a bitch."
"You could make her crawl through the mud and rain with twenty pound on her and make her go through jungles." Penelope said helpfully.
"You're supposed to be on my side!" Stephanie hissed at her.
She smiled. "I am, but I don't want Ranger doing dirty things to me."
Lester burst out laughing. Penelope's stomach started growling. He calmed down and smiled. "Tell you what, why don't we do our dinner here? I can go out and get something and bring it back for all of us."
"That sounds great!" Penelope replied. She looked at Stephanie who was eyeing Ranger out of the corner of her eye. "Is that good for you guys?"
"Yeah." Stephanie answered.
"I'll call the TPD so you can make your statement before we eat." Ranger said pulling out his phone.
An hour and a half later, the TPD had left and the four of them were eating and enjoying each other's conversation. Pen eyed Lester carefully. Finally she said, "Go ahead and ask, Lester. I won't hide anything."
"You and your mother have an odd relationship." He said.
"That's mild." Penelope set her fork down and leaned back on the bed. "Diane and I…tolerate one another. Or rather, I tolerate her to an extent."
"She wants money from you." Ranger stated eating a bite of salad.
She nodded. "Yeah. She always wants money from me. You've probably heard of my father, Mark Thayer?" Ranger and Lester both nodded. He was old school money and he had several investments that were a security firm's wet dream. Unfortunately, Mark died before anything could happen and when everything was settled no one could get ahold of anyone who'd inherited anything.
"My father knew my mother is a vapid and vain little woman with nothing better to than tear people down that she views as inferior." Penelope rolled her eyes. "He left her a small trust, which as I called her on, she blew through. If she'd been smart, she wouldn't have had to ever find someone for money again."
"She still likes her face lifts and Botox and other beautifications." Stephanie said munching on a breadstick.
"Yeah," Penelope grinned at her, "Nice play by the way."
"Thanks."
"Anyway, she knows Daddy left me the majority of his fortune. There are a good number of investments he has that I have kept because they're smart and removing them would be foolish on my end. She showed up with hopes that I would provide her with more money."
"Gorgeous, it sounds like she wants to bleed you dry." Lester said.
"She does." Penelope shrugged. "I've made my own fortune, so touching Dad's money isn't an issue. I sound shallow, but giving her his money to blow when he worked so hard for it to maintain the family name just grates on me like you wouldn't believe."
"Why do they care about your power of attorney so much?" Stephanie asked.
"Like I said, years of trust issues." Penelope shrugged. "I don't trust them to give me a chance to fight if anything happens. I'm pretty sure they think they'll get everything if I croak."
"And they won't?"
"Nope. They've been cut out. I've made my will so airtight it would take them years upon years for them to fight in court."
"So...who does have your power of attorney?" Steph asked.
"You."
"Me?" Stephanie squeaked.
Penelope nodded. "Yeah. When I thought about it at the time and it stands true now, you and I have similar thinking patterns. I figured if anyone could decide what I would want, you'd be the best one."
"Even after all these years?"
"Yeah. Hell, Steph, I haven't changed all that much." Penelope grinned at her. "If you're in a situation where you wanted to fight for your life, would you want someone who probably wants you dead to decide for you?" When Steph shook her head, Penelope nodded, "Exactly.
"How long will your mother be here?" Lester asked.
"If she's tapped dry, for a while I imagine." Penelope replied. Suddenly she looked over at Ranger. "Ranger, can I hire you to put a security system on my condo? With this attack and the fact that Diane and Derek are here, I'd like to keep my condo safe."
Ranger nodded. "We can get something set up for you before you go home tomorrow. I'll have Hector over in the morning to do the installation."
"Thanks." She looked pleased.
Stephanie opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly found it full of salad. Lester and Penelope started laughing. She turned and glared at Ranger who was smirking at her. Swallowing the salad she asked, "Is that payback?"
"Babe." Ranger leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Not even close."