Author's Note: Oh my! Thank y'all for the well wishes for myself and Harley. And thanks for not hating me... yet... ;-)
Chapter Twenty-Five
He'd been home for about an hour making it a little after one in the afternoon. He'd been texting Steph for most of the day and she has failed to answer. He's called several times and while the calls never went to straight to voicemail, they were left unanswered. He hadn't been worried though. She knew self-defense and she carried her gun and she knew how to use that too now. He just assumed she was busy or something. But just in case, he pulled up her trackers. (Okay, so he was worried). All of her trackers showed that she was at the Bonds Office. He knew then that his gut was right. Something was wrong.
The first number he dialed was the Bonds office.
"Plum Bail Bonds, what do you want?" Connie answered.
"Is Steph there?" Hector asked, foregoing all formalities.
"Hector?" Connie questioned, ignoring Hector's question.
Hector growled his displeasure. "Is Stephanie there?"
"Um… no." Connie drawled out.
"Her trackers show her and her car are there." He replied with a snap of teeth.
"Well, she's not here. Only me and Lula."
"Check outside." He ordered harshly.
"Um…." Connie hesitated.
"Now!" Hector snarled.
"I'm checking now." Connie assured him.
Hector listened as Connie shuffled around and then he heard the doorbell sound. He then heard Lula in the background, although he couldn't make out what she was saying.
Connie grunted. "Her car is in the alley, but I don't see –" Connie broke off suddenly as Lula shrieked loudly in the distance. Then Connie let out a loud gasp.
"What?" Hector practically shouted.
"Steph's not here that I can see, but she's obviously been in an accident. Her side is completely smashed in. I don't even know how she managed to get out." Connie mumbled.
Hector took a slow, agonizing breath. "Is her stuff, phone and shit in the car, Connie?"
"Yes." Connie whispered, barely audible.
"Fuck!"
Hector hung up and immediately dialed Ranger.
"You calling for your job?" Ranger asked, answering the phone.
Hector ignored the question. "Have you seen Stephanie?"
"She isn't exactly speaking to me, remember?"
"She was coming to you this morning to talk, to clear the air. Have you seen her?" Hector asked through clenched teeth.
"No."
"She's missing, Ranger."
"Enemies?" Was the reply he got.
"It's Steph." He growled.
Ranger sighed. "Stalkers?"
"None that I'm aware of."
"Ten minutes."
"I'll be there.
Ten minutes later, Hector was in a RangeMan conference room with Ranger, Tank, Bobby, Lester, Cal, Ram, Binkie, Woody, and Bones. Hector didn't question where anyone else was. He just didn't give a fuck.
"Steph is missing." Ranger stated.
A rumble of growls and curses ripped through the quiet room and with one look from Ranger, everyone went deadly silent.
It was clear that RangeMan had changed.
"Lester, report."
"Car was broadsided and by the damage it did, I would say by a big truck, maybe a F150. Paint chips left behind were a dark blue. Everything was left behind including her purse, pepper spray, two separate phones, and a gun which was loaded."
"What's up with the two phones?" Bobby cut in, asking.
"After Ranger opened his mouth and told all of you, she wanted a new phone but she kept the old one too so she wouldn't have to worry about any of you looking for the new number." Hector explained.
"She hated us that much?" Cal whispered, hurt etching his rough features.
Hector shook his head. "She didn't hate any of you, she just didn't want to talk to anyone yet."
"Anyway…" Tank cleared his throat and continued. "So she was probably knocked out and completely out of it."
"Had to be. She would have fought back." Hector told them.
"Self-defense?" Ranger questioned.
Hector nodded. "She can kick my ass."
Ranger slowly nodded, clearly deep in thought.
"What's the plan?" Tank asked, impatient as hell.
"She doesn't have any open cases and Kelly is still being tortured in prison."
"So… we have to fucking wait!?" Lester growled, enraged.
"Fuck that shit." Ram spat.
"We don't have a choice at the moment." Tank pointed out.
Hector shook his head. "I'm headed to the streets, asking everyone and anyone if they heard or saw anything."
"What if her kidnappers call?" Woody questioned.
Like it was summoned, Ranger's phone started to ring.
Tart Story – Tart Story – Tart Story – Tart Story
Steph moaned as her body slowly came awake. She ached. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head, she ached. Especially her neck. She tried to lift her arm to rub her neck but that was when she discovered she was handcuffed. No wonder her arms were hurting. She blinked slowly, trying to open her eyes to take in her surroundings but her eyes ached too.
"That's the meds working. Once the drug is completely out of your system, you'll feel a lot better. That is…" The cold voice trailed off, laughing softly. "That is if I let you live long enough." Whoever it was starting laughing again.
Steph tried not to think about dying and instead concentrating on opening her eyes and finding out who was behind her kidnapping. She was pretty sure she knew who it was since she only knew one female in her life at the moment who hated her.
She was finally able to focus completely on the person in front of her and she wasn't disappointed.
"Maya." Steph moaned as she tried to move and pain went through her sharply.
Maya giggled. "Aww, you remember me?"
"Hard to forget a cold-hearted bitch such as yourself. And you stink too. I can smell ya way over here. You should really take a bath. Bitch Eau De Toilette doesn't suit you." Steph replied.
Maya growled and kicked Steph in the stomach. Steph moaned in pain as her body curled in itself.
"Stupid slut, teach you to speak like that to me." Maya spat as she kicked Steph again and again, kicking any piece of flesh that was bared, including her head. Steph felt the darkness take her as the pain became too much and she passed out.
She wasn't sure how long she'd she been out, but when she finally came to, the pain was almost too much to bear. She wished that Maya had killed her. What had finally woken her up? Then she felt the gentle touch on the side of her face. It was caress. A sweet, gentle caress. But from whom?
"Oh, Stephanie, why did you have to piss her off?"
Steph froze at the voice. She knew that voice. She knew that voice well and trusted that voice. But would that voice really betray Ranger? Opening her eyes, she gasped in absolute shock and horror.
"HAL!?"