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I own none of these characters, and make no profit
rating for mild language and violence
…
Julie gave Steph another quick hug before walking over to her dad. She sniffed and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her pajamas. "Bye Steph," she said, giving a small smile.
"Bye Julie."
She looked up at Ranger, but still couldn't read any emotions. He didn't say anything, so she just turned and walked out.
She climbed into her car and pulled out. She didn't want to be caught crying on the camera, so she waited until she was back on the main road before she had to pull over, her tears too thick to be able to see the road.
…
Wednesday February 1st…
Steph stopped at Tasty Pastry on the way home, and bought six boston crèmes and six jelly doughnuts. She ate three of each while still in the car. She lugged the rest up to her apartment, and promptly collapsed on the couch.
She fell asleep almost immediately.
She woke a few hours later, and it took a minute for her to figure out where she was. Her eyes filled with tears as it all came back. Ranger…Julie…
She sat up and grabbed another doughnut. She was not going to cry. She had been prepared for this, and it was a good thing. She had her job and her friends and Rex…
Well, Rex was still with Julie. Steph sighed. That may have been a bad decision. Not that she could take Rex away from Julie now. She grabbed another doughnut. Jelly this time.
She took a scalding hot shower. She needed to go talk to Vinnie about getting her job back, and catch up with Lula and Connie. She dressed carefully in bright colors, and layered on the eyeliner and mascara.
She was halfway out the door when she realized all the things she should have said to Ranger before leaving. She would just have to call him. She grabbed the last doughnut and downed it for courage. She sat back on the couch, closed her eyes tight, and pressed speed dial one.
It went straight to voice mail, thank god.
"Hey, it's me," she said after waiting for the beep. "I forgot a whole bunch of stuff today. Julie has lacrosse practice after school. The schedule is on the fridge. My sister's been picking her up from school – I'll call her today and let her know you'll cover it. She's having problems in math. You'll need to use the flashcards that are on her desk. Oh, and her bedtime is 9:30, and she's not allowed to roll her eyes. Rachel left lots of instructions. You're mom has all that. If you have any questions, she or Rachel should be able to answer anything."
She paused and cleared her throat. "I am glad you're back. And I'm sorry about what I said this morning. Um, like I said, if you have any other questions about Julie, your mom or Rachel should be able to explain anything. Bye."
She hung up and leaned back into the couch. There, that hadn't been so bad. She laughed and held her hand up in front of her face. It was still shaking. She cursed her poor smushed heart under her breath, shoved her phone into her bag, and walked out the door.
…
"What the hell are you standing around here for?"
Steph's head snapped up at Vinnie's screeching voice.
"There are skips to catch! I don't pay you to stand around and gossip with your girlfriends!" He turned around, stalked back into his office and slammed the door behind him.
Steph turned to Connie. "Uh…"
"Ranger was in here this morning. Said that if you came in, you were to be given your job back without any hassle." She stopped and fanned herself. "It was so hot."
Lula spoke up from her place on the couch. "Yeah. He was all up in Vinnie's space and menacing. That man is the shit."
Steph just nodded faintly.
Lula squinted at Steph. "You know, I would have thought you'd be happier now that Batman is back. You don't look happy at all."
"Yeah," Connie said, "you actually look kind of sick."
She felt kind of sick. She just sank down on the couch. "He got in last night. I moved back to my apartment today."
Connie's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything.
Lula stared at her for a minute. "Yeah, that was probably for the best."
Steph smiled at her. She knew Lula was lying, but it was the perfect thing to say at the moment. "Thanks. Well," she said, turning to Connie, "guess I should get to work, huh?"
Connie held out a stack of folders. "Congrats."
…
Friday, February 3rd…
Anna Marquez sat down in one of the seats and clutched the program tightly. She opened it and ran her finger down the list of names, till she got to Inez. She smiled.
Inez was cast as Juliet in the play "11 Variations on Friar John's Failure." Anna laughed all the way through as Friar John was given chance after chance to save Romeo and Juliet, and still kept failing.
In the last scene, when Inez fell on her sword the eleventh and final time, Anna stood and clapped with the other parents.
She stood and waited near the stage exit for Inez to come out. When she did, Anna quickly called her name.
Inez turned and saw her. "Hey, you came!"
"Yes. You were wonderful."
"Thanks. You really liked it?"
Anna gave her a quick hug. "I thought it was great."
Inez glanced over to where the other parents stood. "I should probably go find my parents."
Anna nodded. "I'll see you later. Thank you for inviting me."
Inez nodded and dashed off to find her friends.
Anna headed out. It was awkward, trying to build a relationship with an almost-teenager who had her own family. She glanced back down the program still in her hand. She would save it, she decided.
She was glad she had walked this evening. It was only about half a mile from Dunn Middle School to her house, and in spite of the cold air, the night was clear and crisp.
Two blocks from her house, a man stepped out in front of her. He was huge, and wearing a black mask.
She screamed as the man reached out and clamed a hand down on her arm.
…
Steph laughed as Julie gave her a big hug. "Did you see me, Steph?"
"Yes, I did. You were wonderful!"
"It was only a little role, since I moved here so late. But it was fun! My friend Inez got to be Juliet. Did you see her?"
"Yes, she did good too."
Julie hugged her again, and raced off. Steph watched as she ran toward her dad. Ranger picked her up and hugged her tightly. Steph wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying, but Julie had a huge grin on her face.
Ranger set her down, and she dashed off again, this time toward her friends.
Steph watched as Ranger started to walk toward her. But then he stopped, just staring. Steph was confused why, until she heard a voice in her ear.
"Hey Cupcake."
She turned to see Joe. "Hi Joe. What are you doing here?"
"Johnnie, my sister's kid was in the play." Joe rolled his eyes. "I promised I'd come watch. Julie did well."
"Yeah, she did. I told you we'd send that kid to acting class yet." She glanced behind Joe, but he was alone. "Is Anna with you?"
"No, she said she had something to do earlier this evening. I may stop by her house on my way home. Bet you're glad Manoso's home, huh?"
Steph shrugged. "You know, I thought I would be. It was really getting hard taking care of Julie by myself. But it's been two days, and I already miss the kid."
Joe smiled. "Did you move back out?"
Steph kind of shrugged and nodded at the same time.
Joe wrapped an arm around her waist and laughed. "Nice to know that it wasn't just me." He kissed her on the cheek. "See you later, Cupcake."
She watched him leave, and then turned back to where Ranger had been standing. He was gone.
…
Joe said his goodbyes to his sister and mother, and headed for his car. He was halfway to Anna's house when he heard a call over the police scanner about an injured woman in an alley. He was only a block away, so he responded.
He stepped out of the car and drew his gun. He walked into the alley and immediately spotted a woman lying on the ground in a long dress coat. He heard the ambulance sirens in the distance, coming toward them.
He double checked the alley, and then knelt by the woman, feeling for a pulse. The pulse was strong, but the woman was barely conscious. She was probably going into shock.
"Ma'am, can you hear me?" Joe said. He tried again, a bit louder, when there was no response. "I'm with the police, ma'am. Help is on the way."
The woman groaned and mumbled something incoherent. She turned far enough for Joe to see her face in the dim light filtering into the alley from the street.
"Anna?" He frantically turned the woman's head farther so he could see. Her face was cut and bruised, but it was definitely Anna. "Anna, honey, look at me."
Anna's eyelids fluttered open. "Joe?"
"Yeah, sweetheart, I'm right here. An ambulance is on the way."
Anna nodded faintly and her eyes slid closed again.
"Anna, open your eyes. Look at me." He waited until she opened them. "Sweetie, what happened? Do you know who did this to you?"
She groaned and turned her head away. He grabbed her hand and squeezed.
"A man…mask…" She gasped and opened her eyes wide, clutching Joe's hand tightly. "Joe, he took…my keys…my house keys."
Joe's blood froze in his veins, and he had to force himself to keep breathing. "It's okay, I'll take care of it." He pulled out his cell phone, and called dispatch. He gave them Anna's address, and had one of the cops go there.
The ambulance pulled up, and two EMTs rushed over. They pushed Joe out of the way, and started working.
Joe stepped back to give them room. He turned around to see Eddie and Big Dog walking up behind him. Both men nodded.
"What've we got?" Eddie asked.
"It was Anna. Someone attacked her."
"Anna Marquez, the girl you've been seeing?"
Joe nodded.
Eddie put a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Jesus, Joe. What the hell happened?"
"Remember that string of assaults from last fall? I think it was the same guy. He took her keys."
"Shit. I thought that was done."
"Yeah. I never could get a handle on it, but the attacks stopped. I just assumed he went to prison for something else. I sent a patrolman down to her house to make sure it's safe and I'll get the locks changed tomorrow."
Eddie nodded. "Let us know if we can do anything. We'll start on the scene if you want to go to the hospital."
Joe nodded. If he still had as few leads as he had last fall, he was going to need all the help he could get on this case. He watched as the EMTs put Anna on a gurney, and wheeled her toward the waiting ambulance. He climbed in with her and grabbed her hand.
…
Saturday, February 4th…
Steph drug her cuffed skip into the police station.
"Damn, Steph. You're really reeling them in this week," Eddie Gazarra said, watching her.
"Yep, this is the seventh one since Wednesday."
Eddie nodded. "Heard you were back at Vinnie's. You doing okay? You left RangeMan kinda quick."
"I'm good. I was just at RangeMan so I had better hours to take care of Julie. Now that Ranger's back in town, he can take care of her. I'm back at Vinnie's and back in my apartment."
Eddie motioned her outside, out of earshot of the other cops. "We're almost family, Steph," he said when they were alone. "Are you sure you're okay?"
She wasn't okay. Not even close. "Thanks, Eddie. I'm fine. Really. We had never planned on my staying after Ranger got back. And to be honest, the mommy-duties were starting to wear me out."
Eddie laughed and slapped her on the back. He led her back into the police station. "Yeah, kids will do that to you. And you gotta keep your guard up around them. One slip…" he sighed and shook his head.
Steph was collecting her body receipt when Joe came bustling past.
"Hey, Cupcake," he said, snagging her arm. "I was just going to call you. Can I steal you for a minute?"
She followed him to his office, yelling bye to Eddie over her shoulder. "What's up?" she asked as soon as they were in Morelli's office.
"That assault case. What did you find?"
There was an urgency to Joe's questions and demeanor that hadn't been there earlier in the week.
"Nothing," she said. "I didn't find a single connection between the victims. They're spread out all over the city, with very different lives."
Joe nodded. "That's what I was afraid of. Anna was attacked last night."
"Oh my god, is she okay?"
"She's still in the hospital. Some broken bones, but she'll recover."
She reached out and touched Joe's arm. "I'm sorry, Joe. Is there anything I can do?"
"Can you try searching again? Maybe there's a connection somewhere or info we missed…"
"Of course. I can…" She trailed off and swallowed hard. All the info was still in her desk at the Haywood office. And she'd need their computers. But this was Anna who had been hurt, and Steph genuinely liked her.
She looked back up at Joe. He clearly hadn't slept last night. He looked tired, frustrated, and worried. She nodded. "I'll do that now. Give me the info."
"Thanks Cupcake," Joe said, sitting down at his desk. He opened a file and copied down Anna's name, address, and social security number. With the programs Ranger had, that would be enough to find out what Anna had for breakfast and how old she had been when she was potty trained.
Steph walked back out to her car. She could steel her stomach and call Ranger, or she could take the coward's way out and call Tank.
Who was she kidding? She scrolled through her phone for Tank's number and connected.
"Tank here."
"Hi Tank, it's Steph."
"Hey Bombshell, how are you?"
The pleasantry threw Steph for a minute. Merry Men didn't bother with words they didn't mean. She smiled. "I'm doing just fine, Tank. I promise."
"Okay. What's up then?"
"Well, uh, here's the thing. Remember that case I was looking into Tuesday for Joe?"
"Yeah."
"There's been another attack, Joe's girlfriend actually. Joe needs me to do a search on her, and see if I can find anything, but I left it all in my desk and your guy's programs…"
"Bombshell. You can come in any time. You still have an access card and your desk."
"Uh, yeah. Well, thanks. But uh…jeez this is embarrassing."
"Ranger's in Newark with Julie."
Her breath came out in a huge 'whoosh.' "Oh thanks. I'll be right there."
Steph hung up on Tank's big booming laughter. Twenty minutes later, she was at her desk, booting up her computer. All the searches she had run on Tuesday were still spread out on her desk where she had left them.
Tank stuck his head in. "Want me to pass Ranger a note after gym class?"
She gave him a stiff middle finger without turning around. His laughter echoed all the way down the hall as he walked off. She shook off her embarrassment and focused on the information in front of her.
The case was starting to creep her out. She started the background check on Anna to compare to the others, and then started skimming through each of the police reports.
"Oh my god!" She quickly pushed her chair back from her desk and dropped the police report she was holding.
Lester stuck his head into her cubicle. "You okay, Beautiful?"
"No! This sicko takes their keys and their ID!"
"Huh?"
Tank came up behind Lester and raised an eyebrow.
"These assault cases," Steph said, "he takes their house keys and their driver's license."
Tank and Lester's faces both hardened.
Steph looked up at them. "He knows where they live, and he has keys." A shudder ran through her. "I can't imagine how Anna must feel right now."
"Why don't you take a break for a minute, Bomber," Tank said. "Come get a snack."
Steph nodded and followed them to the break room. She sank down into a seat. "Can you imagine how terrifying that must be?"
"No, I can't," Tank said, setting a bag of potato chips in front of her. "It's a really sickening thing to do."
Steph nodded and absently ripped open the bag of chips. "Even after the initial attack, they must live in constant fear…" She grabbed a handful of chips and shoved them into her mouth. She was halfway through chewing when her eyes popped wide and her half-full mouth dropped open.
"Hey! Where'd you get potato chips?" she said, spewing crumbs.
Tank chuckled. "I keep them for emergencies. Can't have my best little researcher going into shock."
Steph closed her mouth and grinned. "Thanks Tank," she said after she finished chewing. "That was nice of you. And for the record, I was not going into shock. I was just disgusted."
Tank nodded and stood. "Let me know if you find anything else."
Steph headed back to her cubicle and read through the rest of the police report. The MO was the same in each case. The attacker surprised the women when they were alone after dark. He beat them badly, then he took their keys and ID, but left their money and credit cards.
The women themselves all gave a version of the same story. He would start by scaring them. He would get them down on the ground before beating them. And he would laugh.
Tank stuck his head back in the cubicle. "Anything new?"
"It's like he's toying with them." She looked up at Tank. "It's weird. He doesn't bother to hurt them badly enough to kill them, and he doesn't rape them. But he forces them onto the ground. It's like he's just playing with them and seeing how scared he can get them."
"Any connection between the victims?"
Steph shook her head. "No, not yet. But I haven't gone through each of the backgrounds in detail."
Tank nodded and wandered off.
She tried again after lunch but still didn't make any progress. Anna Marquez was as remotely connected as the others. She was Hispanic and younger than the others, only 27. She had been attacked walking to her house Thursday night. Steph cringed as she read part of the background check. It was so incredibly invasive. Despite Steph's natural curiosity, learning this information without Anna knowing felt wrong.
Anna had been raped when she was 15, gotten pregnant during the assault, and given the child up for adoption. But she had healed and moved on. And now she had to live in fear. Again.
She studied the police report from Anna's attack carefully, trying to be objective. Something felt off. Her spidey-sense was tingling, but she didn't know why. On the surface, the attack looked identical to the others. But it was…less. That was it. Anna had fewer bruises. She had the broken bones, but she didn't have the same scrapes on her knees that the other six woman had. Still, everything else was so similar…
Finally, with a disgusted sigh, she called Joe.
"Morelli," he answered.
"There's nothing. There's absolutely nothing here."
"Steph?"
"Uh, yeah. Sorry. I'm pissed. No new information came up in the searches. I did insanely intensive background searches, and there's still no connection between the victims. These attacks had to be random."
Joe sighed. "That's what I was afraid of."
"The only connections are between the two Burg mom's, but that's probably only because their lives are so similar. And the two hookers. I mean, these seven woman don't even grocery shop at the same place. They drive different cars, live in different parts of town, have different hobbies…"
"So knowing who the victims are doesn't help us at all."
Steph sighed. "Pretty much."
"I'm at a complete dead end here. With a new attack, these women are all living in fear until we catch this guy."
Steph shuddered again. "The keys…god, that's so terrible. You didn't tell me that part earlier."
"It's not pleasant information to share."
"Are you sure Anna was attacked by the same guy? She's younger than the other victims, and Hispanic. And she didn't seem beaten as badly as the other women."
"Her keys and ID were taken. That fact was never released to the press. And believe me, Cupcake, the beating was bad. I'm the one that found her. I'm sure it was the same guy."
Steph knew Joe well enough to know this case was getting to him, the personal nature of it making it even worse. His voice was low and distracted, the frustration evident. "You'll get there eventually, Joe. I'm going to set this aside for right now, but I'll come back to it and see if I can spot anything I might have missed."
"Thanks Cupcake," he said, and hung up.
Steph found an empty file folder, dumped all the reports into it, and shoved it into her desk drawer. She slammed the drawer hard. The case was getting to her.
She glanced at the clock. It was after eight. She needed to find food and go home. She was packing up her stuff when she heard a familiar squealing voice.
"Stephanie!" Julie yelled.
Steph grinned involuntarily and stepped out of her cubby into the hallway. Julie took off a dead run, and caught Steph in a giant hug.
"Hi Julie," she said when loosened Julie's hold enough to breath. "How are you?"
Julie grinned up at her. "I'm good. I miss you Steph."
"I know! I've missed you too." And she had. Terribly. Much more so than she was prepared for. "Is you daddy here?"
Julie shook her head. "He had to go catch a bad guy. He dropped me off and told me to stay with the guys and behave."
Steph took a big breath and let it out. Thank god. She couldn't avoid Ranger forever, but she could at least avoid him tonight. "Well, why don't you hang out with me instead of the guys. I'm way more fun."
Julie nodded. "Oh yeah."
Lester walked up behind Julie. "I don't know, Julie. I think we're more fun."
Julie looked back and forth between Steph and Lester, debating. "Nah," she finally said. "I like Steph better. She paints my nails."
"Well, she's got me beat there." Lester smiled at Steph. "We've got pizza and poker in the break room. Are you two girls having too much fun to join us?"
"Oh pizza!" Julie said.
"Okay, pizza it is. I haven't eaten dinner yet anyway," Steph said. "Lead the way."
They all piled into the break room. Julie immediately sat down at the round table and started shuffling cards. Steph grabbed a piece of pizza for each of them and sat down beside her.
"Do you play poker, Julie?" Steph asked.
"Oh yeah. I've been taking these guy's money for years."
Steph laughed and looked up at Lester.
He nodded. "Sad, but true. She's almost as good at bluffing as Ranger is."
Steph turned back to Julie. "I'm impressed."
Julie ate her pizza, and as soon as they rest of the guys filed in, she started dealing. It was the two girls, Lester, Tank, and Hal.
They spent hours playing poker and eating pizza. The guys drank beer while Julie systematically stripped them of their money. Insults were being traded around, and Julie was doing a shocking job of holding her own.
Sitting there beside Julie, laughing with the guys, Steph felt better than she had in days. She could almost forget that Ranger had come home. If she tried, she could pretend that it was just her and Julie, and they were hanging out with the guys after work. Almost.
The air in the room electrified and crackled. Ranger. Steph didn't look up from her cards.
"Look Daddy!" Julie said, leaning over her pile of chips. "I'm winning!"
Steph felt Ranger's finger tips trail across her back as he walked past her to stand behind Julie. "I think my men need more training if you can out bluff them, Julie."
All three men groaned. Julie grinned.
Steph kept her eyes carefully trained on her cards, even though her heart was thudding out of her chest.
"You ready to go home?" Ranger asked Julie.
Julie eyed her pile of winnings. "Yeah. I think I've tapped out this cash cow."
Lester, who had lost a significant amount of money to Julie glared at her while she started shoving all the money into her backpack. "Anytime you want to come back for a rematch, Julie, let me know."
"Sure Lester. Just be sure you bring more money next time."
Tank and Hal had simultaneous coughing fits. When Steph chanced a peek at Ranger, he was grinning all 200-watts.
"Come on, Julie," Ranger said. "Say good night. It's way past your bedtime."
Julie said good night to the guys and gave Steph a hug. "Bye," she whispered, and headed for the door.
Ranger laid a hand on Steph's shoulder as he walked past her. He leaned down and spoke softly into her ear. "We miss you, Babe." He pressed a chaste kiss to her temple, and was gone.
Steph sat perfectly still, staring at her cards. When she glanced up, Tank, Lester, and Hal were all staring at her.
She gave them a cheeky grin. "What? You all scared you're going to lose to another girl?"
Tank smiled and shook his head. "We can take you, Bomber. You okay?"
All three guys looked worried that she was going to burst into tears at any moment. She gave them each a smile. "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine. Really. Now, are we going to keep playing, or do we need another person?"
"I'll call Bobby," Tank said. "He can get more beer on his way."
…
Sunday, February 5th…
Steph woke up to little men with hammers pounding away in her head. She rolled over on the soft sheets and groaned. Turns out the Merry Men could definitely out drink her.
She opened one eye and looked around. It took her a minute to realize where she was. Her mind was still fuzzy, but she had vague memories of Lester throwing her on the bed in Ranger's apartment.
She rolled over again, luxuriating in the soft sheets and down comforter. Even hung-over, she was the kind of girl who could appreciate 700-thread count sheets.
Finally, she forced herself out of bed and out the door. She'd shower at home. She didn't figure Ranger would be in the apartment on a Sunday, but she wasn't willing to chance him coming in and finding her in the shower.
His words the night before flashed through her mind. We miss you, Babe. She shook her head. It didn't matter. She missed him too, but it didn't mean they would ever be anything more than friends.
…
Please, please, please review! We'll get back to the info in the prologue very, very soon, I promise. Things will really speed up now, so I'll try to post every day until the end. Please keep letting me know what you think – the reviews really do wonders for my state of mind!