Warning: Strong Language
Chapter Twenty-One
Ranger followed me out of the conference room and we walked together, but in silence, down the hall. I kept my eye out for Jase, but before I had a chance to find him, Hal came barreling down the hall towards Ranger and me.
"Yo, Ranger, I got something. Wanna come take a listen?"
"My office. C'mon, Babe. You'll be interested in this," Ranger said, gesturing for me to enter his office ahead of him.
Hal hesitated. "Are you sure? I don't know if it's such a good idea for, you know…," he finished weakly, nodding his head towards me, not-so-subtly.
Ranger gave him a hard look. "Play it."
Hal nodded and sat down at Ranger's computer. He banged on the keyboard, typing in a long series of commands. I held my breath, for what I wasn't sure, and gasped when, suddenly, Lester's voice boomed through the speakers.
"What are we gonna do about Trenton? We're a fucking joke there. The Bloods and Latin Kings are sitting back laughing while we get taken down by a snatch and a fucking drag queen."
I frowned as I realized I was the so-called snatch.
"Trenton's under control, Santos. Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about it? What the fuck does that mean? I sure as hell hope you're doing more than you have been because as far as I can tell, nothing's changing."
The unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh could be heard through the speakers. My hand instinctively covered my mouth.
"Don't fucking talk shit to me, Santos. Don't you forget who I am. I'm in charge here."
"I won't forget who you are, Rivera, as long as you don't forget who I am. From where I'm standing, you need me a hell of a lot more than I need you. I've got connections in Trenton that can make or break this whole fucking organization. Now, I want to know what you're doing to make sure the Slayers regain their power in Trenton."
"Fine. You want to know? What if I tell you we're in the process of acquiring some top of the line heavy artillery? This shit makes Rambo look like a pussy. One round will blow a guy to so many fuckin' pieces his own mother won't even recognize him. We're taking back what's ours and we're gonna make a statement doing it."
"That's good, that's good. So how do we plan on getting our hands on shit like that?"
"You're asking an awful lot of questions, amigo. Why you so interested?"
"Like I said, Trenton's my turf and I want to make sure we get our status back. I got a reputation, man."
"Since Trenton's your turf, maybe you've heard of a guy named Victor Scully."
"I've heard of him."
"Well, he's involved in some deep shit. Buys guns for next to nothing from some piss-poor country in South America and sells them here. He's got one major buyer, but he set skimmed a stash off the top just for us."
"I want in."
"How do we know we can trust you?"
"Don't give me that bullshit. I've already proven myself."
"Yeah, but I still can't help notice where you been sticking your dick lately, Santos. That's the bitch that brought us down. Makes me wonder where your loyalty really lies."
Lester laughed.
"Don't you know that bitch is Manoso's woman? She doesn't mean shit to me. Yeah, I fucked her, but just because I could. Call her a conquest if you want. My way of stickin' it to Manoso for all the shit he's put me through. Next to putting a bullet in his head, I couldn't think of a better way to get back at him than to fuck his woman."
Several people laughed.
"You've got balls, Santos. I'll give you that."
"So the exchange, am I in?"
"You sure that bitch means nothing to you?"
"Not a damn thing."
"Then it won't bother you if we give her up to Scully in exchange for the weapons."
"Never gonna happen. Manoso won't let you get close enough to her."
"Not us, but you."
"So, I'm in?"
"Yeah, hombre, you're in. Be at the old Baxter warehouse near the docks on Tuesday at 9pm, and bring us the girl. You fuck this up and they'll be fishing your body out of the river. You got that?"
My ears were ringing and my heart was threatening to explode out of my chest as I listened to the conversation, to the callous way Lester talked about our relationship, the horrible, degrading things he said about me, the inevitable outcome of the whole thing. A feeling of nausea came over me and I couldn't breath. I couldn't listen anymore. I had to get out of there. I turned and ran out of Ranger's office, down the hall and threw open the stairwell door. I ran down one and a half flights before I sank down and sat on the cold cement stairs, my face buried in my arms, tears streaming down my face. I let them fall as sobs wracked my body.
Moments later I heard the stairwell door open and close and then Ranger was beside me. "You okay?"
I tried to answer but I couldn't speak through the tears. Ranger sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders, gently squeezing and rubbing my arm. I concentrating on breathing and eventually was able to get myself under control. It was then I realized I was leaning into Ranger and he had his arm around me. This time I didn't tense up and I didn't pull away, but instead, I let myself be comforted by my friend, because I knew in my heart that is all he was doing…and I was grateful for it.
"Yeah, I'm okay," I finally answered, taking a deep cleansing breath and wiping the tears away with the palm of my hand. "I just had to get out of there. I couldn't listen to anymore."
I felt Ranger nod his head.
"I know he's playing a role," I continued, "but he sounded so convincing. I guess I just didn't expect him to be so good at being a Slayer. It makes me kind of wonder, if maybe he's playing a role around here, too. You know, like, which one is the real Lester?"
"You know who the real Lester is."
"Do I?" I asked, looking up to meet Ranger's eyes. I could see his jaw clench and a brief flash of anger crossed his features.
"Don't, Stephanie. Don't make that mistake. You know who he is," Ranger said to me harshly, causing fresh tears to threaten to fall. "He's out there risking his life for you. He's putting himself on the line so you can be safe. Don't ever confuse the real Lester with the one you heard in there. It's not the same person and you know that. He took a risk and wore that wire in there because he knew we'd be listening. He has to be believable or he's dead. You know who the real Lester is."
My bottom lip trembled and, as much as I didn't want them to, the tears started falling again.
"Jesus, Babe. Come here," Ranger said, pulling me to him once more. I leaned into him and he enveloped me in his arms.
"I miss him so much and I'm so scared. If anything happens to him…" I said, unable to finish for my voice breaking.
"Nothing is going to happen to him."
"You don't know that."
"But I know Lester and I have faith in him and right now, you need to have faith in him, too."
I nodded. I knew he was right and I felt ashamed that I could've doubted Lester, even if it was only for a brief moment.
"Did I miss anything on the tape after I left?"
"Nothing important."
"So Lester is going to come back and get me."
"No."
"But he said…"
"That's what he said, but that's not what is going to happen. His whole purpose for going there is to keep you out of it. We've got two days before this goes down. He's not done yet. Remember to have faith."
I gave him a half-hearted smile and nodded. "I need to find Jase and take care of things at my apartment."
"Do you want me to go with you instead?"
"No, I know you're busy. I'll be okay with Jase. I appreciate the offer, though. I really do."
He gave me one last squeeze. "Anytime, babe."
--------------------------
Morelli hadn't been joking when he said my apartment had been turned upside down. Scully had taken a knife to my couch, ripping giant holes into the fabric and letting the stuffing spew out. My dining room chairs were lying broken on the other side of the room and there was a hole in the wall from where I'm guessing one of them hit after he'd hurled it across the living room. My coffee table and dining room table were both upturned. There was a lot of broken glass on the floor in the kitchen and bathroom. My bedroom didn't look much better. My mattress was turned over and lying half-way on the floor and my drawers had been emptied, leaving some very embarrassing items strewn about. I blushed when Jase picked up the Herbert Horsecock that Lula had gotten me. I'm sure the police officers had a good laugh about that one before I'd gotten there.
I looked around my apartment at the devastation and I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I never claimed to have much. I'd always lived paycheck to paycheck, or should I say body receipt to body receipt, but what I did have was mine and I'd earned it. Everything in that measly apartment I'd bought with my own money. The couch that was now ripped to shreds, I'd purchased the day after I left Dickie. It was the first thing I'd bought on my own and it took me six months to pay it off, but I'd done it. My bed, I bought it two months later, after I decided I couldn't sleep on my couch another night. And my TV, I got it right after the Rangers made the play-offs that year so I could watch their games. And that plant that is broken in half in the corner? I got it a month before I brought Rex home. I'd told myself that if I could keep a plant alive for one month, then I could be trusted with a hamster. Three years later, that plant was still kicking. At least it had been.
"Can you tell if anything was taken, Steph?" Joe asked after I'd had a chance to survey the damage.
"It doesn't look like it," I said, when suddenly I remembered something. I ran to the kitchen and lifted the lid to the cookie jar. I breathed a sigh of relief. My gun was still there. See, it's a good hiding place after all. Not that I had any illusions about Scully's ability to obtain a gun, but I did feel better knowing that, if he was going to shoot me, I hadn't been the one to arm him. "Nope," I said, turning back to Joe, "nothing's missing."
"You may want to take that cookie jar with you before one of the uniforms decides to lift the lid," Morelli said. Good thinking. I handed the cookie jar to Jase and he looked at me with the same expression he had when he picked up ol' Herbert, but took it without saying a word. "I'm going to ask you again, Stephanie, does the name 'Marjorie' mean anything to you?"
"No, why?" Withholding information from a police officer...please let my mother never hear about this.
"Your neighbor, Mrs. Karwatt, heard a man's voice inside your apartment yelling for Marjorie."
"Huh. That's really weird." I'm so going to hell.
Joe eyed me suspiciously. "If you think of anything, you'll give me a call."
"You got it, Joe."
Jase and I left, while the cops stayed to collect evidence. As we exited the apartment, I turned and took one more look from the doorway. I saw my broken plant lying in the corner and felt a tear fall down my cheek. Jase put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to him, placing a kiss on top of my head. I appreciated the gesture. It was exactly what I needed right then, and I decided at that moment, standing in my doorway, looking at my demolished apartment, that quirks aside, Jase is a good guy.
----------------------------
By the time we finally got back to Lester's house, I was too exhausted to do anything but say goodnight to Jase and climb the stairs to Lester's second floor bedroom. It had been such a long day and I was emotionally and physically exhausted.
When the day started, I was bored from having nothing to do, now I wish I could go back and just stay in bed. Then I wouldn't have had to deal with the FTAs from hell, and I wouldn't have had to deal with Scully and his threatening letters, and I wouldn't have had to deal with my emotional rollercoaster of a whatever-it-is with Ranger, and I wouldn't have had to deal with hearing Lester call me those horrible things, and I wouldn't have had to deal with my apartment getting ransacked, and I could just sleep in denial-laden obliviousness. Maybe I should take a hint and take the next two days until this is over and spend them in bed. I feel safe in Lester's bed, bad things can't touch me there. The only things that touch me there are good things, I thought, my mind drifting back to that last night with Lester. Very, very good things.
I peeled off my clothes and pulled one of Lester's t-shirts over my head. It hung down to just about my knees, so it was practically a night-gown. I crawled under the covers and, as I'd done every night since Lester left, picked up the note he left for me and reread his words, taking comfort in each one. When I finished, I placed the now-worn piece of paper back on the nightstand next to the bed. I picked up the dog tags that were hanging from my neck and placed a kiss across Lester's name. I turned off the bedside lamp and burrowed under the covers, hugging Lester's pillow tightly. It still smelled of him and I liked to fall asleep breathing in his scent. I'd spent the first nights after Lester left tossing and turning, but tonight my exhaustion caught up with me and sleep came quickly.
Some time later, I felt the bed shift and someone brush hair off my face. I opened my eyes and gasped at what I saw.
"Lester!" I practically yelled, as I sat up and threw my arms around him. "You're back!"
He planted kisses in my hair. "I couldn't stay away. I missed you so much."
I turned my face up to his and our lips met. I parted my lips in invitation and he gladly accepted.
"There are so many things I want to tell you, Stephanie," he said, pulling back several minutes later.
"I know, Lester. Me, too. But first, I want to make sure you're okay. They didn't discover what you were doing, did they?"
He didn't respond, but I saw his jaw clench.
"Lester?"
Just then, the door to the bedroom flew open and three men I didn't recognize stormed in, guns drawn.
"You can't run from us, Santos. Nobody deceives the Slayers and gets away with it," one of them yelled.
Lester continued looking at me, his eyes never wavering. "I'm sorry, Stephanie," was all he said. I don't know how many times they fired, my screams drowned out all but the first shot, but I felt the impact as the bullets entered Lester's body. The men turned and walked casually out of the room, as a motionless Lester slumped over me. I don't know how long I sat there screaming, tears pouring down my face.
"Stephanie, shhh, it's alright. I've got you now."
Jase's words slowly penetrated my brain and I blinked through my tears so that I could see. Lester's body had been moved. He was no longer lying on top of me. How come I didn't notice anyone take him away? How could someone have taken him away from me?
"Where's Lester?" I demanded. I was shaking and my body was covered in a cold sweat. My heart was threatening to beat its way through my chest. "What did you do with him?"
-----------------------
First off, sorry for the long delay. Secondly, and always, thanks for reading. Thirdly, and always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. -Kendall