Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ranger

They'd indulged in each other for hours throughout the night. Catching brief respites of sleep in the total relief that always followed. Making love to Stephanie had always been different than sex with other women. More so now that even more of the barriers were gone. There was a depth to it. An intimacy. Satisfying not just body, but soul. Even if she was still holding back a little. Steph had a tendency to overthink things, especially where he was concerned. It came from her strong sense of self preservation. Stephanie was the kind of girl that needed promises. Promises he wasn't sure he could make. But god he wanted to. The idea of having her to himself had been an obsessive whisper he'd kept on the backburner since Hawaii. One that never went away fully. Now it was loud in his ears. Mingling with her slow, even breaths.

He caressed her beneath the sheets and heard that breathing change again. He knew her arousal by heart. Knew her body like a master musician. In no time she was panting and cooing. Squirming in just the right way as he painted her with kisses. He focused on his favorite parts a while before he moved over her. Cradled by her eager embrace when they became one. Pulled together in a primal rhythm.

They broke the surface at the same time. Her breathless cries dragging him over the edge. He gave over to it. Settling back onto the bed with her on top of him, all boneless and purring. He grinned, kissing her head. "A man could get used to this."

He felt her smile.

His phone vibrated on the bedside table. He wanted to ignore it, but that wasn't really an option. Only Steph and Tank had access to that number. And Tank didn't make social calls. Ranger reached around Stephanie to get to it, unwilling to let her go even a little. Good news or bad, he was enjoying every moment with her he could before karma took it away again.

He opened the line on speaker so Steph could hear too. Tank didn't wait for the unnecessary greeting. "We got a bite. As you suspected, the number linked to Dolohov's burner wasn't active when we called. Left a message that the goods were ready for delivery. Got a text back a few minutes ago. Silvio tried to trace it and came up empty."

"What did the text say?"

"Seems Fenetti intends to come to us."

"Makes sense. He doesn't want to be burned a second time. Meeting a seller on his own turf gives you the opportunity to case the area ahead of time. Control the circumstances. He give any indication he knows Dolohov spent the night in federal custody?"

"None. And he's expecting Dolohov to meet him personally."

"That could be a problem. If Fenetti's done his homework, he'll know if we bring a replacement. Might have to call Carson. See what strings can be pulled."

Tank acknowledged and disconnected. Steph looked at him. "What kind of strings?"

Ranger lifted her hand and kissed it. "The kinds that get us an arms dealer day pass." He kissed her lips. "You've got until I finish talking to Carson to get off the bed. Then I'm taking you in the shower with me."

That got him a very mischievous Steph grin. By the time they were dressed and heading out the door, Steph's smile looked permanent. The relaxed glow of a woman who'd been thoroughly loved. Cute. With any luck, he'd get the chance to keep that smile on her face for quite a while.

They pulled out of the garage and into the city. Cut across Olden on their way to the turnpike. And then Steph went rigid. "Omigod. Stop the car."

Shit. "What now?"

"That was Carl Shultz in that alley! The FTA who's been stealing mail. I've been looking everywhere for him."

"Babe. I'm not stopping for Carl Shultz."

"But he's FTA. It won't take long, I promise."

"And what would you do with him after? Can't exactly walk him into the police station."

He saw the dammit cross her face. She slumped back in her seat. Hadn't thought that one through yet. On an ordinary day, he'd have loved nothing more than to cut her loose and watch her do her thing. It was one of the major turn-ons that proved he wasn't normal. But that wasn't really a good idea under the circumstances. Steph understood that. He could see it in her eyes. Didn't mean the riled up terrier inside of her would calm down as quickly. She'd be a tightly wound spring now until something could release her again.

Too bad they were heading away from the bunker house. Releasing her was one of his favorite things.

It took a fair amount of control to keep the grin on the inside.

ooo

Steph

Dolohov's warehouse was swarming with henchmen when we pulled up to the main parking lot. Ranger didn't bother with the blind in the trees, or the lengthy stakeout. Ranger knew what he was walking into. I was still pretty nervous. Ranger had said Carson arrested Dolohov and his men the day before. I was expecting the place to be shut down and empty. The current level of activity didn't look any different to me today than it did yesterday.

Ranger angled out of the Mercedes and came around to open my door for me. "Relax, Babe. These aren't Dolohov's men. They're mine."

"But I don't recognize any of them."

"You wouldn't. It would be too conspicuous to pull men off patrol around Trenton. No doubt Fenetti has his people watching mine. Probably expecting me to tip my hand when I'm ready to make a move. Most of the men here are from the Boston office."

"Smart thinking."

"It's not my first rodeo, Babe."

Agent Carson was waiting for us when we got inside. A line of crates taking up a big chunk of space in the center of the floor. Carson wasn't one of my favorite people. And I was guessing by the look on his face that the feeling was still mutual. But it was nothing compared to the look on Yuri Dolohov's face. The disgruntled glower of a muzzled mastiff.

Carson chucked his chin in a dismissive greeting. "This plan of yours better work. I'm not happy about using a big fish to catch a minnow."

"If I'm right about Fenetti, he's anything but a minnow. Trenton PD has been looking at him for a number of homicides, in addition to everything from extortion to racketeering. At the very least we need him to admit orchestrating the deaths of Lupita Ortiz and two bikers at a bar outside of Newark."

"To get you and your girlfriend here off the hook?"

"Jack, we both know there would have never been charges filed. But being wanted for questioning is a definite inconvenience when a mob-legend-wannabe is trying to kill you and your loved ones just to fit in his daddy's shoes. If it doesn't end here and Fenetti backs us into a corner, I won't hesitate. I'd prefer that not happen. There's enough red in my ledger already."

"Remind me never to piss you off."

Ranger almost smiled at that. "Are we all set?"

"Yeah. I've got a half dozen agents in place, mixed in with your men. Most of whom look like they belong in a soviet prison, by the way. Where did you even find these guys?"

Ranger ignored the question. "And the wire?"

"It's crap, but it'll have to do. Budget cuts."

Ranger seemed to be expecting this. Reached into his pocket and produced an ear bud just like mine. "This will transmit to all coms, but it'll only receive from mine. I'll be able to provide prompts from the command center my man has set up in the office. I've also taken the liberty of installing a few motion detectors and exterior cameras to prevent an ambush."

"When did you have time to do that? This was a crime scene until a couple hours ago."

"It's what we do. What's Fenetti's ETA?"

"About an hour and a half from now."

"Means we should expect him any minute. If he's smart, he'll want to observe site activity before showing up at the front door. It's best he sees what he's expecting to see."

Carson nodded. Offered the ear bud to Dolohov. He was definitely pouting when he shoved it into his ear. Murmuring what I could only guess was a litany of Russian curse words. Ranger gave him a warning glare. "You don't want to screw this up."

"Fuck off."

"Yuri."

It had been a gentle reproof. But the steel underneath it was unmistakable. Ranger wasn't playing around. And Dolohov knew it. His ugly bulldog face wrinkled in even deeper disgust. "Sonovabitch. Fine. You want assurances? I give you assurances."

"You know what's at stake here."

"My freedom?"

"Sarcasm won't change the outcome."

"The outcome was supposed to be I tell you things and you leave me be. Instead I end up with this asshole." Dolohov cut a look to Carson. "Why should I do anything for you?"

"Because it'll get you extra protection in that nice comfy federal prison cell your getting. Unless you'd rather be in gen pop with the enemies you've made over the years. Not to mention the other inmates. Lotta them don't appreciate the kind of man who would sell underage girls to the highest bidder."

Boy. And here I thought Dolohov couldn't frown anymore.

Ranger paused a beat. A silence only I seemed to pick up on. He was listening to the voice in his ear. "There's activity on the road at the northeast edge of our perimeter. Looks like it's show time."