Not my characters, they belong to Janet Evanovich, but as long as Ranger can come out and play I can live with that.
Note: Tempers flare in this chapter and the resulting language may be, how shall I put this delicately, somewhat colorful.
The Right To Remain Silent
by
SueB
Chapter 25
"Ranger! Ranger, wait!"
A nondescript government vehicle idled at the curb, its driver awaiting my instructions as to destination. I stopped with my hand on the door handle and turned when I heard Eddie's voice.
He was out of breath by the time he got to me.
"Ranger," he huffed. "Had to catch you."
He glanced at the car.
"Wanted to let you know."
My heart pounded.
"About Steph," he said wheezing. "I asked around."
Now I was breathing hard too.
"Morelli hand-picked the TPD men for the takedown this morning. They were all fixed on you."
"Yeah." That figured.
He took a couple more labored breaths. "But there was a beat cop on his regular rounds. New guy. Young. They told him what was going to happen. Told him to stay out of it."
"Eddie..."
"Guess he has a sort of Bombshell fetish. Little crush, maybe. Ya know?"
Didn't every man who knew her.
"He spotted Steph and was watchin'."
"Eddie! Just tell me!"
I don't know if I sounded dangerous or desperate but he apologized.
"Sorry. Sorry. Cop said Steph moved when she heard the sirens. Started toward you. Or the bullet would have hit her in the head dead center."
"But it did hit her?" Could your heart explode?
"A graze this guy told me. He saw some blood trickle down her cheek, but afterwards he saw her sittin' up, talkin' to Brown. Shakin' her head no."
Probably refusing medical treatment. That would be like her. My initial panic subsided, marginally.
"Then Tank picked her up an' carried her over to that rusty old blue van you guys have. I know people at all the area hospitals, Ranger. I checked. She never showed. Not at St. Francis, not anywhere."
He stopped, his face pained.
I could tell he wasn't finished. "What else?"
"Tank came to the station with Santos this afternoon. Tried to see you. They were turned away."
Had they come about Cain and Solokov? Or, had they come about Stephanie?
"That's all I could find out. Not much, I know but..."
His voice trailed off as he looked at the car again.
"Figure ya can't tell me but, do ya know where you're goin'?"
It took me a second to realize what he was asking. He thought I was on my way to some Third World hot spot. Based on my waiting transportation, it was a logical assumption. Only it was wrong.
"I know now, Eddie. Thanks to you."
I'd only half listened when Whitehall told me how they were going to spin my release to the press. Most of the story was true. A ruse. Designed to smoke out a threat to national security. Complete cooperation of the DA. That part had to be a stretch. They'd omit the details that mattered. The ones that mattered to me. The betrayal. The blackmail.
"Ranger," he said when I started to get in the car. "there's one more thing."
I turned around.
"They called Morelli. To let him know. Understand he wasn't happy."
"I can imagine," I responded. "I owe you, Eddie. I won't forget."
He shook the hand I offered.
My driver didn't need directions to the address I gave him.
Haywood.
She had to be at Haywood.
#####
"Tank! You better see...oh shit!"
With the exception of Bobby who was keeping an eye on Steph and Hal who was sleeping off the aftereffects of Dolan's attack, the crew from the morning's operation was in the Control Room. We'd all been too wired to sleep so I'd given the men scheduled for duty the night off. With pay. And we had taken over.
Junior was already reaching for the phone by the time I shot out of my office. What else could go wrong?
I joined Cal and Lester at Junior's back. His monitor displayed camera feed split between the RangeMan lobby and the sidewalk in front of the building. The sidewalk section showed a man approaching the door. It was a little after two a.m. and we weren't expecting visitors. Especially not this visitor. The man's face was still shadowed, but there was no mistaking his identity.
"That's Webber on the desk isn't it. The new hire." I didn't have to ask. I knew it was Webber. Ranger had been in jail when he came on board.
"Yeah," Lester said. "And looks like the men don't call him 'Cowboy' without reason."
Webber was up and heading for the door. Weapon drawn.
There was no audio from the lobby, but we knew when the young man heard the phone from his slight hesitation and the shift of his head.
"Come on," Junior coaxed. "Pick it up. Pick up. Come on."
Slowly, with his eyes still fixed forward, Webber backed up and reached behind him to answer the call.
I snatched the receiver from Junior and barked, "Soldier."
The kid was fresh out of the military. He reacted exactly the way I hoped he would, coming to attention.
"Yes Sir!"
"There's a man at the door..."
Discipline broke down before I could get any further. Webber interrupted.
"I saw him coming, Sir. I can handle him. Don't you worry."
I shook my head. Heard Santos chuckle beside me.
"Not questioning your abilities, Soldier. Put your weapon down and let him in."
"Let him in?" An questioning frown replaced his eagerness for action.
God I hate new guys who haven't met Ranger.
"That's affirmative, Soldier. It's Ranger. The Boss!" I added in case he needed clarification. "Do not. I repeat. Do NOT shoot him. Understood?"
"Understood. Sir, yes Sir. Do not shoot him. Ranger? It's Ranger?"
"If I were you, I wouldn't keep him waiting," I advised.
Webber dropped the phone, somehow managed to secure his weapon and tripped all over his feet getting to the door.
#####
I was standing at the elevator when Ranger stepped off and into the hall.
Our eyes locked. His were hard, guarded. Masking his thoughts. Mine blazed with an anger I made no attempt to hide. This whole deal had gone far enough.
He ignored my silent warning. Tried to muscle past me. "Where is she?"
Nose to nose.
I stopped him with questions of my own.
"You a fugitive? Should I be calling TPD?"
"That supposed to be funny?"
"Am I laughing?"
There was a tightening in his jaw before he answered.
"What? You haven't seen the latest news?"
"It's two o'clock in the fucking morning, Ranger. There is no news. Last thing I 'heard' was Morelli...standing not far from where you are right now...threatening to shut RangeMan down if we harbored you. And that was before I went along with today's fiasco. So let me ask you again..."
All was quiet in the Control Room behind me. Too quiet. Lester, Cal and Junior were listening. I figured they were entitled to hear anything Ranger had to say.
He didn't see it that way. He glanced over my shoulder toward the unusual stillness and swallowed. His eyes changed. No mask, only misery.
He looked back at me. "Office," he said quietly.
I gave way, not able to deny his unmistakable plea for some privacy.
Ranger silently acknowledged the men as he passed through the Control Room.
I followed him but, I wasn't silent. With my frustration boiling over, I made a half-assed attempt at regaining control. Some control. Over anything.
"Anybody workin' in here?" I snapped. "Or is everybody on break?"
They seemed to understand. Junior nodded. Santos returned to his monitor without a word and Cal squeezed my shoulder with one meaty hand before sitting down at his. I'd apologize to them later.
#####
Ranger rolled the chair away from his desk as I closed the door.
His office had been cleared of Steph's things, returned to normal.
I thought.
Instead of sitting down, he leaned across the chair. When he straightened up, he was holding something. Something black and silky that spilled from one hand to the other, flowing like water made of midnight.
Not quite returned to normal.
I recognized the dressy top Steph had worn with her suit the day of Ranger's funeral. He closed his eyes, lifted his arm and buried his face in the scrap of material for the breadth of a second.
The uncharacteristic gesture was over so fast I almost believed it hadn't happened. When he turned to me, his arm was at his side, the garment crushed in his fist. I explained before he had a chance to ask.
"After they reported you were dead...murdered at the jail, Steph wasn't comfortable alone on seven so she moved in here. Until this morning. When we got back, Bobby gave her an ultimatum, either she go back to seven where she could rest without every random RangeMan employee dropping in to say 'hello' or, he was transporting her to the hospital for observation...do not pass go...do not collect... Know what I mean?"
He knew, but it wasn't the questioned he wanted answered.
"Tank...?"
"She's all right, Rangeman. Lucky, but all right. It was a graze. Bobby doesn't expect complications. He's watchin' her for any sign."
Instead of being relieved, he slammed the fist that wasn't grasping Steph's shirt like a lifeline down onto the desk. The vibration bounced a loose pen to the floor with a clatter.
"Damn it!" he said. "Goddamn it! She never should have been there." His voice sounded rough, accusing.
I figured his anger was aimed at me.
"You sonofabitch."
I gave him a shove. Powerful. Knocking him back. Then another. Got in his face.
"I kept your damn secrets as long as I could. Tried to get her to stay out of it. But she said she'd show up on her own if we didn't include her. Maybe," I snarled, "just maybe if you had trusted us...from the beginning, we could have handled things a little differently. Whadda ya think? Huh?"
For good measure I gave him one more shove. He didn't fight back. Didn't even try to counter my aggression. Because, I suddenly understood, it wasn't me he blamed.
It was himself.
I backed off, embarrassed at losing control,
He sank into the desk chair. Elbows on knees. Head in his hands. Silky fabric still dangling from his fingers.
His body screamed exhaustion.
I reminded myself that he'd been physically injured more than once in the past week and, probably worse for him, betrayed. Likely he'd been surviving on adrenaline.
He damn near broke my heart.
I could hardly hear him when he murmured, "Fucked up. Fucked up."
Yeah. Couldn't agree more. Having him say it still didn't make it okay.
Had he read my mind? The words were no sooner out of his mouth than he lifted his head and his whole demeanor altered. A hard-edged determination replaced any sign of defeat or failure. He got up slowly, but it wasn't from fatigue. It was the smooth cautious stealth of a cat on its prey. He became the aggressor.
I knew this Ranger well.
He moved in close and held his ground. His voice came out sharp and challenging.
"Want to pound me into the ground, Tank? Do you? Go ahead. Try. But you better jockey for position 'cause I'm damn sure that there's a line." He went on, only slightly less contentious, "You know as well as I do in our work you can't second guess. Never. You do. You're dead. I can't change what I did and I can't go back."
No mention of how he could go forward.
He reached into his top desk drawer and pulled out a key fob. "I'm going to shower in the gym," he announced. "Tell Bobby he can expect me upstairs when I'm done."
His hand was on the doorknob when I stopped him.
"Ranger."
"Yeah."
"So you know. Steph might not be all that glad to see you."
"I'm aware."
He was gone before I realized I hadn't told him we'd been forced to give up Solokov.
And he hadn't told me jack shit.
#####
Ranger had the key fob in his hand, but he didn't need it. I was watchin' for him. Waitin' with the door open. To be honest, I was blockin' his way.
"Report," he ordered as soon as he saw me.
I didn't answer at first. Just took a good long look at him. Ranger rarely gives away what he doesn't want you to see, but Tank told me the boss had all but lost it downstairs. I didn't see that happen' again. Ranger wouldn't let it even after everything he'd been through. And we probably didn't know the half of it. But, I could tell, the longer I looked, the harder it was for him not to blink.
"We waitin' on a bus?" he finally growled when he'd had enough.
I thought about keepin' him out. Steph sure as shit didn't need any more crap today an' seein' Ranger just might qualify, no matter if she loved him. Probably couldn't stop him though unless I had some backup. Not without a broken bone or two.
"Bobby, let me in and give me your assessment of Stephanie's condition. Now."
Yeah, he was comin' in. I cleared the door so he could enter. Maybe bein' an asshole was the only way he was keepin' it together.
"She's damn lucky to be alive."
"Don't fuck with me, Bobby. I'm not in the mood. Tell me something I don't already know. Should she be in the hospital? Do I need to bring the hospital to her?"
If anyone could do it.
He kept his voice soft, but he backed me up against the wall. I threw my arms out for protection. "Not fuckin' with you, man. Back it down. She's okay. Shaken up, sure. Who wouldn't be? But she's okay."
He eased off a little. "She sleeping?"
"Dunno. Woke her just before Tank called. Bullet grazed her temple. Been checkin' every couple hours for trauma symptoms. Headache, nausea, confusion...you know the drill."
"And?"
"And she's been clear. No problems. Could be some scarring. Too soon to tell."
He closed his eyes and nodded. Took a deep breath.
The bedroom door was closed, but I still heard the water when the shower came on. He heard it too.
"Not sleepin'," I said.
"I'll take over," he replied.
Shit.
"Ranger, I don't think..."
"it's a good idea?"
"That's right."
"I won't hurt her, Bobby," he said softly.
My silence told him he already had.
#####
She came out of the bathroom as I opened the bedroom door. Wearing a T-shirt. Black. Mine. A cloud of steam and a waft of Bulgari followed her. There was a towel covering her head. She was drying her hair. Rubbing vigorously. Talking without looking.
"Don't yell at me, Bobby. I know you said I shouldn't wash my hair, but it was nasty. Blood and salve and ick. I couldn't stand it. I was careful. I promise. Think I got the bandage wet though. Maybe we could leave it off. That okay?" she finished hopefully. "Bobby?" she called when she got no answer.
"Not Bobby," I got out once I conquered the mass lodged in my throat.
She raised her head. Towel draped around her face. Eyes huge.
"Ranger," she whispered.
"Oh, Babe."
TBC