Chapter 26

"Well," Arnie muttered. "This is mighty fine for a holding cell." He patted the thick pad on the bunk where he sat. Cozy. His back leaned up against the wall. He knew it was impenetrable, concrete probably, but it was not cold like the lockup at county. Arnie sighed with contentment. He could do a whole lot worse than this.

The guys at RangeMan were tough but fair. Though he had no idea what brought him here today, he was more than willing to wait it out and find out what they wanted from him. He looked around his temporary housing again. A pony wall in one corner offered privacy that he never experienced during his infrequent visits to other jails.

A class act, he decided, that is what RangeMan Inc was. He settled back onto the bunk. While there was no remote for the flat screen that was hung high up on the opposite wall, Arnie was content to doze off watching whatever was on the small TV monitor. Weather. Arnie laughed out loud. "Hot and humid, with some more hot mixed in," he said, utterly amused with himself.

No, he concluded. Until he knew what he was doing here, this was not bad. Not bad at all.

Up on the fifth floor, Woody was monitoring both of the men in the holding cells. He knew Arnie, everyone knew Arnie. He was a useful weasel. Though he did not seem to be aware of it, Arnie provided a great way to discreetly disseminate information to the right people. A little self-importance went a long way with the man. All it took was a few well-chosen words to build him up in his own eyes, then let him go and watch him walk right out and do what they wanted him to.

Woody shook his head. Pathetic. It was the other man downstairs that held Woody's attention now. The mayor was clearly drunk and out of control. Not something the man usually let anyone see. His fists had met every wall in his small cell in his unsuccessful attempts to break out of his confines. Woddy picked up the phone and called Bobby to be ready to look at the bruised and bloody knuckles that had resulted from that stupidity.

Ella would also have to be alerted too. Though Woody hated to call her in, the silver facilities behind the small wall had also come into play. The poor man did not seem to be able to hold his liquor very well. Woody had no doubt that the stench of vomit was still evident in the room, adding, he was certain, to the discomfort of their guest.

Sure enough, Holmes bellowed out his disgust, shouting his demands to the walls, as there was no one there to complain directly to. Another irritant to the man who held the highest office in the city. "Let me out of here," he screamed, his face red with the effort, his inebriation, and his frustration. "Do you know who I am?" he demanded. Woody laughed. He had used that line before. Many times. Guess he had forgotten that no one here cared.

"Yes," he said to the screen. "I know exactly who, and what, you are!"

. .

"I just can't think straight," Lula muttered, more to herself than to the woman sitting in the passenger seat. The shiny car zipped down one street after another. Lula had no idea where to go. Her own place was out of the question, as was the Plum residence. And they had already blown their cover at Stephanie's.

The beauty parlor and the funeral home and Valerie's house were ruled out immediately too, though Lula did appreciate the suggestions that Edna had made. They were in this together, all the way in. In deep. So deep they had to disappear til this whole thing blew over. Of course, Lula had no idea how long that would take.

Behind them, a black truck followed at a discreet distance. "The mall," Lester said. Hector shook his head and touched the earbud in his right ear.

"No," he said. "Too public, too obvious." The car he was following made another turn. Left this time. Hector rolled his eyes, they were going in circles. "The river," Hector said. The direction they were heading now would take them downtown. It was a logical conclusion.

"Uh huh," Les said quickly. "Another public place, and besides, it's way too hot to be walking around outside. They will find someplace that is air-conditioned. You know, like the mall."

Bets had been placed with Lester. An entertaining pastime that the men all enjoyed. Lester knew he had probably lost with his guess of the mall, reluctantly admitting that Hector was right. But, it was air-conditioned, and he still maintained that the ladies would seek some comfort, as well as a refuge.

Stopped at a red light, Lula tried hard to think. Her head rested on the steering wheel, her breathing came in loud puffs.

"You've got to settle down now," Edna said soothingly. "We got away from the cop, that's a good thing." A small chuckle bubbled up in her throat. "You were somethin' else," she laughed. Lula joined in. Their escape had been fun, now that she could look back on it. Her heart had been beating so hard at the time, it was all she could hear. She couldn't remember being scared like that in a long time.

Suddenly Edna sat up and pointed. "Look," she said. "Over there."

"Aren't you Catholic?" Lula asked as she followed Edna's gaze. "That there is for the Episcopalians."

"Right!" Edna agreed. "That is why no one will ever think to look for us there."

When the light turned green, Lula headed toward the big church building. Once in the parking lot, she drove as far from the street as she could. Feeling fortunate to find a shaded a spot under a tree, Lula pulled in beside a long passenger van.

"Couldn't ask for a better place to hide your car," Edna said as she opened the door and jumped out.

Lula locked the car and motioned to Edna. They raced toward the church. Lula reaching the door first. She pulled on the handle but it would not budge. Her mouth went dry, and she made a strangled sound. Edna caught up in time to see the look on her friend's face. "What?" she said. Concerned.

"It's locked. The church is closed." Lula sputtered.

Edna had never seen that before. Her church was always open. You could slip in and pray any old time you wanted. Her eyebrows drew together and she pursed her lips in confusion. It was just not sinking in that a church could be all locked up tight.

Suddenly, she grabbed Lula's arm and motioned to the door with her head. "Look!" she said.

It took another moment or two for Lula to see what she had missed before. There was a sign on the door. When door is locked, use parking yard entrance.

"Parking yard entrance?" Lula said.

"Parking yard entrance," Edna replied grabbing her hand and pulling her around the building in search of the door that would let them into the building.

Hector looked on with disbelief. "You aren't going to believe me," he said into his comm. Lester waited. "They are in a church!" He heard Lester laughing.

"A church?" Lester said, he could barely get the words out. "No one wins this bet."

. .

This was his favorite restaurant and Ryan couldn't help but wonder if he had missed something important when Trina surprised him by bringing him here tonight. It was not a birthday, no even giving it an extra thought, he was sure he was safe there. And he was positive that he had not missed their anniversary. Still, the possibility that he had overlooked something vitally important plagued him.

With thoughts as wild as the leopard print carpet under their feet, Ryan desperately tried to find the answer. It was not only this surprise that had him worried, Trina was not herself lately. Of course, there was always a certain amount of stress that she experienced every time a guest conductor came to work with the orchestra, but he was pretty sure that this went way beyond that. The anxiety that poured from her was at an all-time high, especially in this past week.

Once seated at their table, Trina smiled at him and took his hand in both of hers. She smiled. "I'm going to order dessert first," she said. "I will not miss out on the chocolate mousse pie this time!" There was a sparkle in her eyes as she spoke, belying the tremble that Ryan could feel in her hands. No, it was not his imagination, there was definitely something that he was missing.

His own anxiety soared when a bottle of wine and an order of crab cakes were brought to the table before they had even seen a menu. 'Wow!' Not only had she scored reservations at The Prime Rib, that has to be the busiest restaurant in Philadelphia, Trina had gone to the trouble of placing their order ahead of time as well.

Jazz spilled from the grand piano across the room filling the space between them. Trina was tapping her finger on the table in time with the rhythm. Music was her life, Ryan gave that some thought as he watched her. Her eyes were closed and the same sad smile, that he had been noticing for weeks now, just touched her lips. She was so beautiful. Even through the turmoil in his mind, he felt the tug of pride that said that she was his.

"Summertime," Trina said as the pianist started another song in his set. She looked up at Ryan and he heard the intake of breath as if she was ready to speak. Whatever she might have said in that moment was lost when the waiter appeared. Stiff in his black tux, he placed plates of food on the table and poured more wine before he moved away. Ryan felt a loss, he knew that he had missed out on something important.

Trina was talking now, sharing details of her day at work. Ryan did try to follow and he made the appropriate comments at the appropriate times, but his mind was still frantically searching for whatever it was that he was missing. On the black lacquered wall behind Trina, he stared at the painting that hung there. A lithograph, he corrected himself. By a famous artist, who was it?

All during dinner, Ryan felt his eyes straying to the image of a young lady swathed in a silver gown. He could not help the feelings that continued to haunt him. This moment that they were sharing tonight seemed to be as elusive and delicate as the art deco bubbles she was blowing. Large and shimmering, what would happen when they popped?

"You have hardly touched your salmon," Ryan commented. "Is there something wrong with it?"

The smile she gave him nearly made Ryan forget any of his misgivings. "Chocolate mousse pie," she said with a subtle shrug of her shoulders. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with a touch of mischief. "I refuse to miss out on it tonight."

Much to his delight, something shifted in that moment. For the rest of the evening Trina seemed to be calm and more relaxed than he had seen her in weeks. Ryan was so relieved it did not matter what had caused the change. It was so nice to see the love of his life this way, thoroughly enjoying each of these minutes with him.

"I have a surprise for you," she said suddenly. Some of the sparkle disappeared from her eyes even though the smile remained. Ryan felt the delicate balance in her moods shift again.

"I thought that tonight was my surprise," he said lightly, not willing to let go of the moments he had been reveling in seconds before.

"It has been lovely," she said. "Just perfect."

A name came to Ryan suddenly, Louis Icart. The Artist. One of those fragile bubbles burst when Trina reached across the table and grasped his hand. She leaned forward and kissed his knuckles before hugging his hand close to her neck. He searched her face for any sign of what was going through her mind. That tentative smile of hers was back.

Another bubble exploded with the next words she spoke. "Jeffrey is alive," she said. Ryan had to lean forward to hear her faltering voice. "We have to find him."

"Trina," he said, unsure of what to think. "He is d..."

"No," she said quickly. Tears formed in her eyes. Ryan watched as her lips trembled. The grip she had on his hand tightened. "Tomorrow," she said softly. "Tomorrow we will find him."

. .

All day long Stephanie had been running on adrenaline. It had been an emotional roller coaster ride for the last twenty-four hours and she could feel the crash starting to set in. But she was not done with what she needed to do today.

Ranger had stepped over to talk with Tank so Stephanie busied herself by cleaning up the kitchen. After organizing the pages with the instructions for the meeting tomorrow, she gathered up the contents of the mystery package and stuffed them back into the box. Uncertain if, or when she might need any of these things, she was going to hang onto to it all, just in case.

Suddenly, she felt arms circle her from behind. Stephanie melted into the warmth and strength that she felt from Ranger. "How are you doing?" he asked.

Instead of answering, Stephanie turned in his arms taking a moment to gaze up into his eyes. Finding what she needed in the dark brown depths, she wrapped her arms around him. Her head rested on his chest, and for the longest time she was content to listen to the steady beat of his heart.

Finally, Ranger led Stephanie over to the couch. It wasn't until then that she realized that they were finally alone. Tank was gone. All that remained to remind her of the events of the day was the discarded box from the deli and the circle of empty chairs.

Her mind still buzzed with an overload of information. Trina was ready to meet with her tomorrow. This lady, who she had never met, was counting on Stephanie to uncover clues to find her brother. What they had done today was only the beginning. From the message Trina had painstakingly left for her, Stephanie knew that there was so much more to learn in the morning.

Her silent reflection was being observed by Ranger. He was patient, for as long as he had known Stephanie, she had needed time to let the volumes of information she found sink in and simmer for a while before she was happy with any conclusions she came to.

No doubt what she was fretting over right now was about this Jeffrey Phillips and his sister. Ranger, however, had a few other things on his mind. He could wait. What he had to say would probably be the most important words he had ever said to anyone in his entire life. It had taken years to come to this point in his life, in his relationship with Stephanie. He could wait a few minutes more for the woman he loved to be ready to hear what he had to say.

It did not take long. Ranger watched as Stephanie turned her head to look at him. He analyzed each of the emotions that passed over her beautiful and incredibly expressive face. Confusion, worry, wonder, love. He saw it all and was humbled down to his core to know that he was the object of her deep and overwhelming feelings.

He took her hands in his as they sat facing each other on the couch. "Stephanie," he started.

"No," she quickly said. "Let me say something first." Stephanie cleared her throat, her hands twitched in his and she held on tight in order to control them. He almost smiled.

"I missed you." she finally said. "When you were gone all I wanted was to tell you that I love you."

Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes popped open, as if she was shocked that she had actually said those words. That she had finally let him know how she felt. She had waited so long for this moment and now that it was here, it was nearly impossible to believe it. "Uh," she began, trying to explain to him, to herself, why she had just blurted it out like that. Certainly, it had not come out the way she had imagined it, rehearsed it in her mind so many times.

Again, Ranger could see all of this written in her expressions. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, gentle and tentative at first, so unlike him. But as soon as she responded, deepening the kiss, he did not hold back any longer. With his arms completely enfolding her, Ranger pulled Stephanie in as if he could not get close enough to her. he lost his breath all over again when her hands found their way up his back, his neck and tangled in his hair. For the longest time, there was nothing else. Nothing but the feel of her lips, her hands. Her breath.

Finally, thoughts began to slip back into his mind. Ranger had intended to be the one to say this. All of the words that Stephanie had managed to say just now had been exactly what he wanted to tell her. Of course, he may have intended to say it in a different way, using too many words to get the message across. Hitting him like a ton of bricks, Ranger realized that he still needed to tell her how he felt. In words. As much as he was an action kind of guy, and he could definitely show her with his physical affections, he could not make that mistake again.

Some of his actions had been misinterpreted yesterday. It had been all his fault, all because he had not told her what he thinking, feeling. With a renewed surge of emotions building up inside of his chest, he knew it was time.

Ending the kiss, Ranger was ready to say the words that he knew Stephanie needed to hear. With one hand he lifted her head to look into her eyes. "Babe," he said. Stephanie nodded. She heard what he meant and he knew it, but it was not enough. "Steph," he started again. "I missed you too and I want to tell you that I love you," Ranger said, echoing her words. After all, she had said it perfectly, how can you improve on perfection?

Her arms were around his neck and she was kissing him again. Stephanie had not understood until that moment that she had needed to hear him actually say the words. That she had hoped it, that she had felt it, that she had known it, really wasn't the same as hearing it.

And now, nothing else mattered.

Tomorrow would come. Stephanie would do her best to find her old teacher. But now, she did not have to think about any of that. The man she loved was here, in her arms and he loved her!

Nothing else mattered!

. .