Chapter Fourteen
It didn't take long to get to Pete's, the little dive bar near St. Francis Hospital. The street was filled with flashing lights. Patrons and curious bystanders loitering on the sidewalks to watch paramedics patch up the burly men in black who were sitting battered and bloody on the curb. He parked the Turbo and got out. Searched Steph to be sure she wasn't hurt before he turned a sharp eye on his men. He showed them the stern warning they'd come to expect from their hardass boss. Judging from the general reactions, only Steph recognized the glimmer of amusement he was trying to hide.
He put his hands on his hips and glared at Hal. "A bar fight?"
The kid turned red around the bright promise of a fist shaped bruise on his cheek. Binky wasn't looking at him at all. "They started it," he said to the asphalt. It took a good deal of control not to laugh. The situation was so ludicrous. Steph had got his men involved in a bar fight and she wasn't even ruffled. And the best part was that she'd been the one to take down her man. Knocking him senseless with one blow. If it weren't for the fact it might encourage them, he would have given them all bonuses from the entertainment budget.
"Get patched up and get back to work while I clean up your mess."
They were quick to obey. Probably figuring they'd gotten off easy. Ramon stepped after them and Ranger caught his eye to make him pause. He'd done well, keeping Steph out of the thick of it. Followed orders to the letter. There'd be a reward coming. "Transport Walker to the police station. See he's all tucked in for the night."
Ramon tipped his head to acknowledge and left. And then Ranger turned to Steph. There was no point hiding his amusement from her. She saw right through him anyway. He scanned her again just to be sure, letting the grin surface. "You never disappoint."
"I aim to please."
Sounded promising. Just thinking about it made his blood hot. "If I didn't have to deal with this, I'd take you back to Rangeman and find out."
"That bad?"
"Not really. But I'll have to follow Cal to St. Francis and get him checked in. Then there will be the police to deal with, reports to file. Might take a couple hours. You want to wait for me at Rangeman?"
She blew out a sigh. Temptation warring with practicality. Temptation didn't win. "I think it might be better to go home. It's late, and I kind of promised to pick up Terry Kroychek and give her a ride to the courthouse tomorrow."
Disappointing, but not surprising. "Understandable. Would you like me to stop by when I'm through here? See if you're still awake?"
"Only if you want to."
The wolf grin pulled up one corner of his mouth. He always wanted to, but it was nice to have an invitation to follow through. Being in her bed was almost as good as having her in his. She got into her silver Audi alone and drove off. Headed toward home.
Ranger followed the ambulance to St. Francis and watched them unload Cal in the emergency bay. He was still unconscious. A laceration across his tattooed forehead. He'd need an MRI to make sure there wasn't any permanent damage. Ranger filled out the paperwork and handed it back to the nurse. Contacting the control room. Nollen answered. "Yeah boss?"
"I wanted an update. Is Walker in jail?"
"Ramon hasn't messaged confirmation, but he's at the police station now."
"Good. I've got Cal checked in at St. Francis. I need someone to wait here while I follow up with the police. Is Stephanie home yet?"
"She's on her way," Nollen said. Then he paused. "Huh. That's weird. She just turned around."
"Where's she headed?" Her parent's house? Morelli's?
Ranger didn't like the darkness that filled his chest when that thought crossed his mind. She had no reason to see Morelli. And Ranger had no right to object if she did. Just because she might have his baby didn't mean he owned her. Shit.
"She's heading away from Chambersburg. Back toward center city."
The darkness eased and he chastised himself. There was something seriously wrong with him. Spend the day with the constant promise of sex and suddenly he's a jealous boyfriend. Dick. Steph might have changed her mind about waiting at Rangeman. Hell. She might be making a convenience store run for candy bars since she didn't get the sexual satisfaction she'd been anticipating. No matter what she was doing, he wasn't on firm enough ground to justify having feeling about it. Not unless she was in danger.
The unease didn't go away, despite his Zen revelation. Fucking dick. "Keep an eye on her. Let me know when she gets where she's going."
Nollen didn't give him the 'willdo boss' he usually did. The hesitation was more obvious than that. "She's stopped at a carwash on 3rd."
Weird. Even for Stephanie. And definitely a break from her normal pattern. He couldn't remember her ever going to a carwash. Most of the time she either let the rain wash the rust wagons she bought or one of Ranger's guys would do it behind her back when he lost a bet. Even if Steph had decided to be a more responsible car owner now that she was driving a higher end vehicle, she would never have done it this late at night in that neighborhood. "Who's near her?"
"I've got Raphael and Woody about two miles away. Three more cars in the area."
His instincts were whispering to him again. Not good. "Send all of them, but have them stay covert. I don't want her spooked if she's not in danger. I'm right behind."
"You got it, boss."
He disconnected. It was overkill. He knew that. At least in his rational mind. Trouble was, his irrational mind was working overtime these days. It took a fair amount of his concentration most of the time to ignore. Nollen called back five minutes later.
"Woody's on scene. Said he pulled up just in time to see a big guy get into Steph's passenger seat before she pulled into the carwash."
"Big how?"
"5'10", 250lbs?"
"Was he black?"
"Didn't say. He was wearing sweats with the hood up. Might not have got a good look."
That was a bit on the flairless side for Baller Thatch, but he was the only man Steph knew who might have fit that description. Thatch was shady as hell sometimes, but he was pretty honorable, considering he was a drug dealer. Ranger was confident he'd never hurt her. The disquiet in his chest didn't ease, though. "Have Woody and Raphael take up shadow posts at the carwash exit. Have the others watching the sides and entrance. I want an open channel."
Nollen acknowledged. The sound coming through the Turbo's Bluetooth expanded and he knew all Rangeman communications were being redirected to the same bandwidth. Each man checked in with a verbal call sign when they reached their position. Watching the silver Audi appear and disappear in the faint light that shone between the carwash brushes. Ranger reached the lot just as the light turned green and the brushes fell still. Steph's car pulling out of the three sided concrete box.
"I see movement," Raphael said. "Confirm."
"Two on foot," Woody answered. "Hanging back."
"I see one of foot, rapid approach!"
"Stop him," Ranger said, but before either of his men could respond a pop rang out.
"Shots fired! Shots fired!" someone was shouting from the open door behind him. Ranger was out of the car and running. Weapon in hand. Zip in his periphery. Zero catching up. They sprinted for the silver car. A shadow stalked toward the passenger side with his gun raised. A glint of nickle in the darkness. Ranger lined up his sight mid stride and squeezed the trigger. The man's shoulder rolled back in a spray of red and he fell.
Ranger pointed at the passenger side. "Don't let him bleed out! Zip, with me!"
They split off and did as they were told. A well oiled machine. Raphael and Woody were sprinting after the other assailants on foot, but Ranger's focus went pinpoint when he reached Steph's door. Wrenching it open. She flinched. "Babe." He closed around her, but she resisted. Her darkened hands holding Thatcher's chest to stop the bleeding. Tears streaming down her face. "It's okay. You can let go. We've got him."
Zero was in the back seat. Dropping Thatch back so that he could take Stephanie's place. Ranger scooped her up to clear the driver's seat and Zip slid in. Steph's arms were a death grip around Ranger's neck. He held onto her tight to keep her from falling apart. "Head straight to St. Francis," he told Zip. "They'll be waiting in the emergency bay." The man nodded and took off with a chirp of tires. He gestured for Vince to do the same with the gunman and then turned his attention to Steph. He kissed her temple. "Are you okay?"
She nodded like she couldn't feel her body. "Yes."
"The blood?"
"All Thatcher's."
He let out the breath he'd been holding. Grateful. She'd be upset and traumatized, but she wasn't hurt. As resilient as Steph was, she'd bounce back in no time.
A blue and white pulled into the lot with a siren chirp and Steph's friend Eddie Gazarra climbed out, turning three shades whiter when he saw the blood. "Is she—"
"It's not hers," Ranger said. "Archibald Thatcher was shot in her car. He's on his way to St. Francis. Vince has the gunman in custody, also on his way to St. Francis. I'm taking Stephanie home. Any statements you need can be made in the morning."
Ranger didn't wait to see Gazarra's reaction. He was getting Steph away from this circus as quickly as possible. She was all shock and adrenaline right now. Soon she'd be shaking from the burn off, and then the exhaustion would take over.
"There were two more," she told him. Trying to keep her body from shaking.
"We're aware. Raphael and Woody are in pursuit."
"Don't you need to oversee all this stuff?"
"Not tonight. Tank can handle it." Because there was no way in hell he was leaving her alone. Chances were good she'd crash as soon as he got her cleaned up and cozy in his soft comfy bed, but there was also a chance the shock would get worse. He needed to look after her tonight. For his own peace of mind. "Tomorrow, we're going to discuss why you thought it necessary to have an unsecured meeting with a drug dealer without calling for backup."
She didn't argue. Possible she was all too aware of what might have happened. Knew he was right. It was also possible she'd hit the wall and exhaustion had drained away all her fight. He opened the car door for her and helped her into the passenger seat. Belting her in when she didn't lift her arms. Christ. He didn't like seeing her covered in blood. Even if it wasn't hers. He slid behind the wheel and pulled out into the night.
Steph watched the city move over them for a minute. "Where are we going?"
"Rangeman."
"I need to go home."
"Babe. You were just involved in a shooting. There's no guarantee Thatcher was the only intended target."
"You're not putting me on lockdown."
"It's not lockdown. I'd just be happier if you were secured tonight."
"I can be secured in my own apartment."
He glanced her way. Trying to read her. If he could figure out what her objection was he might be able to reason. All he saw was emptiness. He knew he could force the issue. Drag her upstairs and toss her onto his bed like a caveman. But that would only upset her. Fuck. Why was loving her so difficult? "Are you sure?" he asked. Praying she'd change her mind.
"I'm sure." The uncertainty was there under the determination. She didn't want to be weak. Hiding in his apartment from all the bad things in the world but him. He couldn't blame her. Didn't matter anyway. He wasn't leaving her no matter where they ended up.
And then, like a bad omen, Morelli's green SUV was waiting for them in her lot.
It was too late to turn around. The second they slowed beside her building Morelli had her door open, dragging her out of the seat and into his arms. "Eddie called me. Said you'd left the scene, so I came straight here." He looked her over and fear filled his eyes when he saw the blood. "You're not—"
"I'm okay. It's not mine."
"Thank God." He crushed her to his chest like he would never let her go again. Like fucking hell he wouldn't. Ranger opened his door and stood. Willing every ounce of discipline he had into keeping his expression passive. Morelli went still. The utter loathing on his face mirroring the fury in Ranger's soul. "I oughta kick your ass for this, Manoso. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"It wasn't his fault, Joe. It was mine," Steph said, trying to pull Morelli's focus. Like Ranger needed protecting. "I went to see Thatcher on my own. Ranger didn't even know Thatcher had called me."
"You should have asked for backup."
"I know. Ranger said the same thing."
A muscle was working in Joe's jaw as he glared at Ranger. Hating that they agreed on something. "I suppose he found you with that damn tracking system he's always sneaking onto your car?"
"Stephanie is fully aware of the GPS unit and where it is," Ranger said to him. "And yes. My control room noticed her double back and thought it was suspicious. We arrived just in time to see shots fired."
"You catch the sonofabitch?"
"One out of three. I hope to improve that ratio before the night's out. The gunman is already at St. Francis with a GSW to the chest."
"I'm surprised he's still breathing."
"Dead men can't give up their associates."
He could see Morelli trying hard to find fault with that. He couldn't. He unclenched his jaw with some effort. "Thank you."
Ranger would rather Morelli shove his gratitude up his ass and back off. Unfortunately, that didn't look like it was going to happen. And if Ranger forced the issue now, they'd all be losers. As much as he hated it. He gave Morelli a curt nod to acknowledge the dignity he'd sacrificed to say it. And then he let his eyes fall on Steph.
She was still unsure. Pinned to Morelli's chest like she didn't know what to think or feel. He wished that she would volunteer to go with him. Or tell Morelli to fuck off and let Ranger have her. But that would have been a stupid move, even if she was willing to take that leap of faith with him.
Fuck.
He could have lost her tonight. And instead of curling around her and feeling the peaceful rhythm of her sleeping beside him, he had to leave her with the prick who thought peanut butter and bread were more important than she was. The man she kept going back to again and again, despite the fact he didn't deserve her.
If Morelli took advantage of her tonight, he was a dead man.
"She's on your watch," Ranger said with every ounce of cold fury he was trying to hide. Morelli gave him a nod of begrudging respect. Ranger didn't take his eyes off of Steph until he dropped into his Porsche. Put it in gear and peeled away.