Disclaimer: All characters belong to Janet Evanovich, except the ones that are mine. I'm only playing with them and I promise to send them home unharmed, although Ranger may be a bit dehydrated.
Warning: Language, Smut, Quotes from all 16 books, Bad writing, Absent Muse …
A/N: Thank You to Kashy, Editor and friend Extraordinaire, to Sue for the medical information, to Lisa, Burggirl, for the laughter and friendship, pep talks and support, to Miranda for the Edit, Comma Addiction, and Hyphen Fascination, as well as friendship and encouragement and letting me rant, and to everyone who has read and reviewed Love. I love you all … Thanks, Babes.
And a special 'Thank You' to the Cupcake who inspired this story.
What I Did For Love
Stayce
(XJerseyGirl)
Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart.
William Butler Yeats
For Stephanie, I couldn't resist:
'Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.'
Charlie Brown in "Peanuts"
Charles M. Schulz(1922 - 2000)
For the Chapter:
Do you love me?
I think so.
Do I love you?
I hope so.
Anonymous
Chapter 29: Love Happens!
Ranger flipped his phone open, pressed his finger to his lips in a 'shhhh' signal, and hit the 'speaker' button. "Manoso."
"Mr. Manoso, this is Detective Rinaldi, with the Attorney General's office."
"Yes, Detective. What can I do for you?" Ranger said smoothly.
"I'm trying to locate Stephanie Plum. I just read the report about yesterday's incident at the mall involving her vehicle. I've left her several text messages and voice mails, but she hasn't responded. I'm trying to find out if she's all right."
"So far as I know, Stephanie is just fine." Ranger ran his hand up and down my back.
"Good, good." He sounded relieved. There was a long silence on Rinaldi's part, like he was trying to decide what to say. "Let me get right to the point. I understand that you have a … personal … interest, in Ms. Plum."
I glanced up at Ranger, looking for his reaction to that, but his blank face was firmly in place and he wasn't giving away anything.
"And if I do?"
"I have reason to believe that she is in imminent danger, and I'd like to enlist your help in keeping her safe."
"What, exactly, would I be keeping her safe from, Detective?" Ranger sounded cool, calm, and unconcerned.
I could hear Rinaldi blow out a long breath. "Look, it's imperative that I speak with her as soon as possible, and once I do, I'll be in a position to fill you in on everything I know."
I watched Ranger chew that over, and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. "All right, Detective. Stephanie will be meeting with members of the ATF, TPD, and Arson Unit today, here at RangeMan. If you would care to speak with her here, and she agrees, I'll make a conference room available to you. Say four o'clock?"
"I'll be there."
Ranger closed his phone and put it back on his belt. "Well," he said as he picked up the carafe and filled my coffee mug for me. "That was interesting."
"Umm," I said and took a swig of coffee, waiting for the caffeine to hit my brain. "But you want to explain why can't I just call Rinaldi or go see him? Why have him come here?"
"There are a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that I don't trust him, or anyone, connected with this whole mess. There's no way I'm giving anybody an opportunity to get you alone." He reached out and hooked a finger in the belt of my robe, well, his robe, and pulled me up against his chest. "I told you that I can't let anything happen to you."
I leaned my head against his shoulder and batted my eyelashes up at him. "Awwwww, my hero," I said, trying to lighten the mood.
He smiled and shook his head at me. "Smart ass!" He bent and kissed the tip of my nose then let go of the belt.
"So you really think Rinaldi's involved?" I asked as we sipped our coffee.
Ranger blew out a deep breath. "I think we've eliminated the possibility that it was some kind of strange coincidence that the bomb was planted in your vehicle." Ranger shot me one of those 'you're not going to argue with me about this' looks. I shrugged. "That means you were specifically targeted, so whoever did the targeting had to know where to find you." He cocked that damned eyebrow at me.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. As much as I hate to admit it, you're probably right," I said with a sigh. After all, I liked Rinaldi and I didn't want him to be the one who'd tried to turn me into Crispy Critters.
"It would have been very easy for Rinaldi to access your vehicle registration, get your plate numbers, and sic somebody on you. Right now, since he was the only one who knew exactly where you were going to be, he's the most logical candidate."
"Yeah, I guess. But anybody who can access Motor Vehicle records could do the same thing, right? I mean, somebody framed Joe, maybe that same somebody's trying to set up Rinaldi, too!"
"At this point, anything's possible. Just don't trust him because you think he's a nice guy." He topped off my coffee for me. "You have great instincts, Steph. Unleash that spidey sense of yours and let it work for you. Try to get a real read on Rinaldi today."
I cut my eyes to Ranger to see if he was making fun of my spidey sense, but he was dead serious. "Okay," I said and blew out another sigh. "I'll try to forget that I like him and see if I can look at him as a threat."
"Good girl!" He slung an arm around my shoulders, pulled me close and kissed me on the top of the head. "Tell you what," Ranger looked up at the kitchen clock. "We missed breakfast. You've got to be hungry. Go get dressed, and I'll take you out and feed you."
"Okie-dokie. Give me thirty minutes." Food sounded really good, so I took my coffee cup and headed down the hall toward the bedroom.
Ranger stuck his head out of the kitchen and called after me. "And Steph, you don't need to wear your gun in the shower. It'd probably prefer a little gun oil to the soap and water," he said very seriously.
Jeez! Like I'd really do that! I turned around with my hand on my hip and gave him a snotty smile. "And here I thought you always washed your big gun in the shower," I tossed back at him with as much sarcasm as I could muster. The words were no sooner out of my mouth when I realized that I'd set myself up. I heard Ranger bark out a laugh, and I squinched my eyes shut and dropped my chin to my chest.
Ranger leaned through the kitchen doorway again and gave me a full-on, high-wattage smile. "Oh, I do, Babe. But if you'd care to oil my big gun, that cherry-flavored stuff would work just fine!" Ranger humor! Har-dee-har-har!
I let out a huge groan and shook my head at the ceiling. "MEN!" I yelled at him. "You all have one-track minds." He was still laughing when I closed the bedroom door.
I showered and shaved and shampooed, and all that good stuff, blow-dried my hair as straight and smooth as I could get it, and pulled it up into a pony tail. I went extra light on the makeup, deciding that for my 'interviews', I'd go with the 'girl next door' look.
Hey, if I could 'slut up' for distractions, I could go just as far in the opposite direction to look like a wide-eyed innocent, right? After all, makeup was an art form for a Jersey Girl, and I was an arteest, thankyouverymuch. And if I do say so myself, I looked pretty damned good!
Hoping that I could set up Mr. Smarty Pants for another little revenge zinger, I purposely took longer than the half hour I told him I needed. I was killing time in the dressing room, hoping he'd come looking for me, and I was just about to give up when he finally knocked on the bedroom door.
"Steph, you ready yet?" he called. I didn't answer.
He knocked again and I just kept quiet, waiting for him to come into the bedroom. I heard the door open and Ranger said, "Steph?"
It was 'Show Time'! I had my hands behind my back, in the process of hooking my bra, when I stepped out of the dressing room and headed for the bed where I'd laid out my clothes.
I was halfway across the room when I 'saw' him and froze. "Oh! I…" I let my voice trail away.
I heard his sharp intake of breath and could feel his eyes rake my body. He scanned me, from my pony tail to the pale pink satin scallop shell bra and matching bikini panties, all the way down to my pink painted toe nails. He surprised me by letting out a long, low wolf whistle that would have done Lester proud.
Ranger lounged back against the door frame and folded his arms over his chest, obviously enjoying the view. A slow grin crossed his face, and his eyes crinkled at the corners. "You could pass for jail bait, Steph … from the neck up."
O-kay! Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult? I narrowed my eyes at him. "And from the neck down?" I asked, the warning in my voice very clear.
His grin turned wolfish. "From the neck down, you would be the Devil's own temptation," he drawled, and he let his gaze slide over my body again. Oh brother! Make that grin Big Bad Wolf-ish!
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Thanks, but since you're the Devil in question, probably you should leave." Of course, he didn't. Without taking his eyes off my bare legs he just shook his head 'no'.
"You know that old saying about the Devil getting his due. Someday …" He didn't need to finish the sentence, I knew what he was going to say. My heart fluttered in my chest.
"Aw, come on," I pleaded. "Just get out of here so I can finish getting dressed, and then we can go eat. I'm starving," I said.
"So am I," he said slowly, his eyes on my pink panties.
"You're hungry?"
"Ravenous." He raised his eyes, hot and hooded, to mine and gave me a slow, sexy smile that sent a little thrill through me. We both knew he wasn't talking about food.
My eyes rolled so far back in my head that I thought they'd spin all the way around. "That's not hungry," I scoffed. "That's horny!"
"Aaahhh, tomato, tomah-to. Same difference," he said, still smiling.
I still had my arms twisted behind my back and Ranger watched in amusement as I pretended to struggle to hook the uncooperative bra. I didn't want him to get suspicious and guess that I was playing him, so I just scowled and gave up fighting with the bra.
I let go of the clasp, clamped my arms tightly to my sides and folded them under my boobs, holding the unhooked bra in place that way, and gave him a pissy face.
I glared at him, he grinned at me. It was a stand-off. I'll admit that I was pretty pleased with myself. I was one hell of an actress, and this revenge thing was going a whole lot better than I thought it would. And best of all, Ranger didn't have a clue that this was a set-up.
But I really was hungry, and it was time to bring down the curtain on this episode of Revenge of the Jersey Girl. "Okay, fine!" I snorted. "If you won't leave, I will!" I tossed my head, did an about face, and marched back toward the dressing room.
He smiled as if he knew what I'd been thinking. "Okay, I'm going. But let me do that for you first," he said, crossing the room and gently pulling me against his chest. The second he touched me I could feel the 'tzzit' of the neuron transmitters in my brain starting to short circuit. Oh, this was so not good!
He smoothed his hands slowly over my bare back, took the sides of the bra and expertly hooked it. The bra straps had slipped down my arms and Ranger slid his fingers under the strips of satin and then up my arms, slowly lifting the straps back into place. Tzzit! Oh boy! Was I ever in trouble here!
"There," he said softly. He looked down at me for a few long seconds before he bent to brush his lips back and forth over my shoulder, tasting me with the tip of his tongue. Tzzit! Tzzit! Tzzit! If he hadn't been holding me, I'm pretty sure my knees would have given out, and I'd have wound up on the floor.
He touched his lips against the side of my neck and laughed, low and sexy, when I squirmed under his mouth. His hands drifted over my shoulders and arms, down my back to cup my butt and pull me against him. I heard somebody whimper. I'm pretty sure it was me.
"You have such soft, smooth skin," he murmured, bringing his hands up over my shoulders to circle my throat and toy with the curly tendrils that had escaped my pony tail. His fingers trailed down to tease my collarbones, his touch so light that I shivered.
Everywhere he touched, he set a fire and my skin tingled, my nipples hardened, and a low level hum started somewhere south of my belly button as all those sexually deprived Hungarian hormones came to life.
I held my breath while he ran a finger along the scalloped edge of the bra. "Pretty," he said, his voice thick and rough. But when his fingers drifted over the swell of my breasts and he whispered, "Beautiful," all my stomach muscles clinched, my mouth went dry, my pretty pink panties went damp, and that hum in my belly revved up a couple of notches.
I tipped my head back and closed my eyes, waiting, breathless, to feel his mouth pressed to my already parted lips. I waited all right, but all I felt was my inner Jersey Girl smack me upside of the head.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" Her nasal whine echoed in my head, and my eyes popped open. "You're supposed to be getting revenge against him for setting you up! You're supposed to be making HIM suffer, not yourself, Dummy! Get away from him before you screw everything up!"
Yikes! If this was my voice of reason, I was in big trouble here. Oh, just HELL!
I took a shaky breath. "Someday," I whispered, using Ranger's own line against him a split second before his mouth touched mine. I forced myself to push away from him and sort of stumbled toward the dressing room.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as close to a sigh as Ranger allowed himself. "Considering everything that we've packed into it, that Someday's gonna be one hell of a busy day," he said to my back.
I stopped in the doorway to look back over my shoulder at him, still a little weak-kneed. "Well, be sure to let me know if and when Someday's gonna happen. Just so I can clear my social calendar," I said, trying to sound flip.
He gave me a look I couldn't quite read. "That's not my call, Stephanie. The if and the when won't be my decision." And he turned and walked out of the bedroom, leaving me staring after him.
Oh boy!
We wound up at a steakhouse outside of Trenton that was known for its wonderful food and its huge floor to ceiling stone fireplace. It should have been known for its man-eater hostess, too. I had her pegged the minute I laid eyes on her. She was a blue-eyed, blonde knockout who took one look at Ranger and put him on her personal menu under prime cuts of beefcake.
She was a piece of work, all right. Shoulders back, boobs out, her eyes fixed on his, she sauntered over, put a hand on his arm and looked up at him through her lashes. Blondie purred to Ranger, "You can have the best seat in the house. Let me show it to you." And the bitch did.
She led us through the dining room swinging her ass so hard I was surprised she didn't throw her back out. I cut my eyes to Ranger, but he was looking straight ahead, his lips tipped up into his 'almost smile'. Hmmm.
Blondie seated us, well, she seated Ranger, at a table right in front of the blazing fire, and it hit me that this was probably the first time I had ever been anywhere with Ranger or the Merry Men that we weren't sitting in a back booth in a dark corner. I kept watching Ranger, waiting for him to say something to her, to ask for a different table so he could sit with his back to the wall.
But no, he just looked at the menu she opened and put in his hand. Mine she just tossed on the table. I might as well have been invisible.
A waiter came with a basket of hot bread and honey butter. Blondie waved the guy off and told Ranger that she was going to give him her personal attention. She took the napkin off Ranger's plate, unfolded it, and bent to put it in his lap, flashing her cleavage in his face. I fought the urge to snarl at her.
The bitch turned her back on me, cocked a hip against the edge of the table and recited the daily specials for Ranger. I watched her reach out and brush a nonexistent speck from his shoulder, leaving her hand there. I was struck by what an intimate gesture that was.
Out of nowhere, I felt a stab of jealousy, the likes of which I hadn't experienced since Carmen Manoso introduced herself to me as Ranger's wife. What the hell was that all about? I didn't have any claim to Ranger.
Even if he didn't respond to her, it really pissed me off that Blondie was fawning all over him. Granted, even though we were living together, it was in name only, and he was a free agent. But I was starting to feel a real sense of possessiveness, and I just couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do with it. So there I was, with a big knot twisting in my gut, pretending that everything was just fine. Swell!
Ranger looked over the wine list the Bitch handed him, and I noticed that even though she leaned over to give him a view of her boobage, Ranger's gaze never strayed from the list. He made his choice and she swung off to get the wine. I just sat there, staring at Ranger … along with every other female in the place. He finally looked over the top of his menu at me. "Problem?"
"Do you ever get tired of it?" I asked him.
"Of what?" He really didn't know what I was talking about.
"Women falling all over you."
He lowered his menu and gave me a rueful smile. "When I was young and stupid and selfish, I thought that being able to have any woman I wanted was the answer to a prayer. Hell, any guy would. Having beautiful women falling all over you was great for the ego." He was quiet for a minute. "I told you once that I did everything, and I did everything in excess, women included." He folded his arms on the edge of the table and shook his head. "Eventually, I outgrew that phase. Now there's only one woman I want to fall all over me," he said as he raised his menu and started to read again. "And she absolutely refuses to cooperate."
I opened my menu and held it up in front of my face to cover my ear to ear smile.
Blondie didn't give up. She flipped her hair and pursed her collagen inflated lips, put her hand on Ranger's arm as she poured the wine for him to taste. When he approved it, she begrudgingly filled my glass and then his. "Have you decided what you want … to eat?" she purred, the emphasis on the 'eat'.
"Oh yes," Ranger said, looking directly at me. I turned bright red.
Blondie finally got the hint. She rolled her eyes, tossed her bleached blonde hair, and stalked off, probably on the hunt for new prey.
And I settled back to enjoy my lunch. I ripped through a salad, filet mignon and a potato … baked and stuffed, of course. And so was I, by the time I finished my chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries, that is. Hey! It had fruit! If there hadn't been an interview waiting for me back at RangeMan, I could have taken a nap right then and there. Probably the crackling fire and the two glasses of wine I'd had helped, too.
We turned the corner onto Haywood and saw a police cruiser, an Arson Unit car, and a drab four-door sedan that screamed 'Government Issue', all parked in front of the building. As if he was trying to separate himself from the others, Rinaldi's vehicle was parked across the street.
We pulled into the garage, and I did a quick makeup check in the vanity mirror while Ranger came around and opened my door.
"You ready?"
"As I'll ever be," I said with a sigh, and I tossed a couple of Tic-Tacs into my mouth.
We took the elevator up to the first floor. Next to the reception area were a couple of small conference rooms. Ranger used them to meet with anyone he didn't want to let upstairs to the more secure parts of RangeMan, like cops and alphabet-soup agents.
Ramon was on the reception desk and gave us a smile as we exited the elevator. "Your company is all set up in there," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Detective Rinaldi went to the deli around the corner. Apparently, he didn't get an invite to the party, and he didn't want to cool his heels out here," he nodded toward the chairs in the reception area. "Oh, and I called Ram and Les to let them know you were back in-house."
I ran a hand over my hair and smoothed down my sweater. I wasn't really nervous about the whole interview thing, I just wanted it over and done with. I really needed find out what Rinaldi wanted. Ranger turned me to face him, his hands running down my arms to twine his fingers with mine.
"You know this interview is just a formality. You know the drill … answer their questions, don't volunteer any additional information, and if they have any brains at all, they'll see you were the target, not the culprit. Lester and Ram will be with you. You know they'll look out for you."
I stood and nodded like one of those stupid bobble-head dolls. "You gonna be on five?"
"No, I'll be right across the hall." He pointed to another conference room. "We have a monitor set up in there."
I was a little surprised by that. "Really? Why?"
"Rinaldi said he wanted to talk to you privately, and I already told you that I wasn't giving anyone a chance to get you alone. So I'll be right here … watching and listening."
"Thank you for taking such good care of me," I said and reached up, kissing him on the mouth. I'd never really done that before, so I don't know who was more surprised, him or me. Our eyes met and held. I'm pretty sure he would have kissed me back if the elevator doors hadn't opened just then, and Lester and Ram strolled off.
Ranger and I stepped away from each other a little awkwardly, and I caught the shit-eating grin on Lester's bright red, swollen and peeling face. Ram just looked at the floor, trying not to smile.
Lester reached over and grabbed my hand. "Come on, Bombshell. Let's get this done." And he dragged me away from Ranger and whispered, "Ranger and Stephanie sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" I elbowed him in the ribs so hard he "Oof-ed" on the way into the conference room to face the Trenton Inquisition.
The ATF, the Arson Unit, and the TPD had each set up shop in a different corner of the room so that they could interview us individually. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw that the TPD interviewer was Eddie Gazzara. He got up, bear-hugged me and kissed me resoundingly on both cheeks.
"Hey Cuz, how you doin'?" he said in his best Joisey accent.
"Hell of a lot better knowing that you're here."
He grinned at the relief in my voice. "Nice to have somebody glad to see me for a change." He pulled out a little tape recorder and put it in the middle of the table. "Let's get this crap over with first, then we can talk," he said with a wink.
Eddie asked all the expected questions: Why did I go to the mall? What time did I get there? Why did I park where I did? Who did I meet? How long was I there? Who knew I was going to be there? What kind of insurance did I have? Who would want to hurt me? I answered all the questions, not that it was any real help.
We chatted about my living at RangeMan, how I liked it, what my mother thought of the move, and whether or not I'd seen or heard from Joe until Ram and Lester stood up from their interviews and we all played musical chairs, each of us changing interviewers.
I recognized the Arson Unit guy. He'd shown up at a couple of my car explosions, so he knew my pitiful history with motor vehicles. This was no biggie, just another 'day in the life' to him. He should have compared notes with Eddie because he asked pretty much the exact same questions, right down to whether I'd seen or heard from Joe.
I sat at the third table with the ATF guy and answered the same questions for the third time, including the one about Joe, and then we were done. He warned me not to leave my vehicles unattended since it was obvious that somebody was out to get me. Of course, I didn't have to worry about that anymore. I didn't have a vehicle. Whoever was after me was just gonna have to 'get' me another way.
Ranger was waiting for me right outside the conference room. He and Eddie talked for a few minutes, then shook hands. Eddie kissed me good-bye and headed for the door, turning to call back to me, "You should stop by some time, Steph. Bob misses you."
The words hit me like a slap. I'd raised my hand to wave to him, but I was so taken off guard by what he said that all I could do was stand there and blink at him. Those three stupid words threw me for a loop. 'Bob misses you.'
That had been Morelli's line, man code for I want you, I miss you, I need you. A wave of something washed over me. Hurt? Anger? Loss? I couldn't identify it and wasn't sure that I even wanted to. All I knew was that it made my heart ache. Did I miss Morelli, or just the relationship we'd had? I really didn't have the answer to that one, either. One of these days, I was gonna have to sit down and figure it all out. But not today.
"Babe?" Ranger put his hand on my back and I was so lost in thought that I almost jumped out of my skin. "Are you okay?" Ranger looked concerned. I knew he heard what Eddie said. I just didn't know if he knew what it meant.
I plastered a smile on my face, but I don't think Ranger bought it for a second. "Oh yeah, just peachy. I, uh, need a minute." I pointed toward the restroom and edged down the hall.
Where the hell was Denial Land when I needed it? By the time I collected myself and came back to the conference room, Rinaldi was already inside, waiting for me. Ranger gave me a nod and went into the other room to watch on the monitor. I took a deep breath and went to see what Rinaldi had to say.
Rinaldi was sitting at the conference table, and he got to his feet when I came in the door. Meeting me halfway across the room, he took my arm and led me over to a chair.
"Good to see you alive and kicking, Stephanie," he said, looking me over. "I have to admit that I expected you to be panic stricken, but you don't even look rattled."
"I don't think you know my automotive history, Detective. Unfortunately, having my car explode isn't anything new … been there, done that, got the insurance rates to prove it," I said with a shrug. "At least I wasn't in it … this time."
Rinaldi shook his head, amazed. "I can't believe you're making jokes about someone trying to kill you."
I heaved a sigh. "That's nothing new either."
Enough with the chit-chat, I decided we needed to get down to business. "So why did you want to see me?"
"After I heard about the explosion, I realized that the advice I gave you was pretty lousy. Keeping secrets isn't in your best interests right now." Rinaldi actually looked sheepish.
"So, what? Now you think I should tell Ranger about Antoine's call and our meeting?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "You're already living here, and he has the resources to protect you. He needs to know what's going on so he can watch your back."
"You think I'm a target, too?" I already knew the answer.
He nodded. "And the three of us have to sit down and talk about it. We don't have time to wait. You need to tell him … now."
I pretended to think that over. "Okay, I guess," I said with a big sigh. "But he's not gonna be real happy that I didn't tell him right away. He's big on trust."
"That was my fault, Stephanie, and I'll tell him so," Rinaldi said.
I stood up. "Well, let me go find him, then."
I left the room, closing the door behind me, and slipped into the conference room across the hall. Ranger was slouched down in a chair, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle, a water bottle in his hand, the picture of laid-back relaxation. He didn't look up when I came in, all of his attention focused on the monitor and Rinaldi. I swear he wasn't even blinking.
I stood behind him and looked at the monitor, too. "What do you think?" I asked.
"Hard to tell," Ranger said, not taking his eyes off the monitor. "Either he's legit, or he's one hell of an actor. The tone of his voice, his facial expressions, his body language are all in line with what he's saying. There's no tell, no sign that he's faking anything. But then again, he could be a pathological liar, in which case there wouldn't be anything. We have no way of knowing at this point." He cracked open the water and held the bottle up to me.
"So what do we do?" I said and took a long drink before I handed the bottle back to him and he polished it off.
"We give it a few more minutes and then go in there and see what he has to say. I'm curious to find out what he wants to talk to me about," Ranger said, his eyes still on Rinaldi.
The door opened, and Tank came in, breaking into a huge smile when he saw me. "I've been watching from upstairs, Bomber, and you've been playing him like a violin. Good job." He tugged playfully on my ponytail, then pulled out the chair next to Ranger and took over 'monitor duty'. "You two go have fun with the policeman. Don't hurt him too bad," he quipped, not taking his eyes off the monitor as we left.
"Detective," Ranger said as we walked into the room. He took a chair across the table from Rinaldi. "You wanted to speak to me?"
Rinaldi reached into his pocket, took out a plastic evidence bag and tossed it across the table to Ranger. "I'm assuming that you know what this is."
Ranger picked up the bag and glanced at it. "High dollar, long-range transmitter, excellent sound quality, easily concealable spyware available to the general public." He held up the bag to show me. It looked a lot like the mic I wore in my bra when I worked distractions. He handed it back to Rinaldi.
"I found this little baby by accident, under the collar of my overcoat," he said and put the bag back in his pocket. "I got one of the guys to sweep the office and my house. He found more in my car, my phones, in my office, and on my desk. Somebody's gone to a lot of trouble and expense to listen in on me."
"Any idea who?" Ranger asked.
"No," he shook his head. "But I'm thinking that whoever it was probably overheard our entire conversation." Rinaldi turned to look at me. "And maybe it was something they heard that made you a target; I just can't figure out what. It could explain how they knew exactly where to find you, but not why you were targeted."
"You working any cases that would generate this kind of interest?" Ranger asked him.
Rinaldi shook his head. "Closing out the Abruzzi file, looking to find out if anyone is trying to take over his territory, a murder for hire case, piddly shit, nothing news worthy."
"Okay," Ranger got up, ending the meeting. "We all keep our ears to the ground and get in touch if anything pops. In the meantime, I'll take care of security for Stephanie."
Rinaldi shook hands with both of us, and I walked him to the reception area while Ranger went back upstairs. "You take care of yourself, Stephanie," Rinaldi said as he reached the front door. "Don't take any chances. We don't have any idea who we're dealing with, but we do know they want you dead." All I could do was nod.
Junior had replaced Ramon and came out from behind the desk to stand next to me. "You trust him?"
"I want to," I said as I watched Rinaldi cross the street to his car, get in and put the key in the ignition. I found myself flinching, expecting the vehicle to blow up when he turned the key, and Junior put his arm around me. Thankfully, nothing happened, and Rinaldi pulled away from the curb and drove off. I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling very cold, and went to find Ranger.
The next morning it was back to work, and breakfast was at 7am, which was just wrong on so many levels. I had decided that every day I would give Ranger a little revenge zinger, and today I was gonna start his day off right. The idea helped me haul my butt out of bed at that ungodly hour.
He was already at the table when I padded into the dining room in my jammies. "Good morning," I sing-songed.
Coffee cup in hand, Ranger put down his paper and looked up at me. "Good m…" That was as far as he got before he took in what I had on and froze. I was wearing cute blue flannel sleep pants with little yellow duckies, that hung a couple of inches below my belly button. They matched the blue long-sleeved thermal shirt that ended a couple of inches above my belly button. The five or six inches of bare skin I was showing were what attracted Ranger's attention, and his eyes didn't meet mine until after I sat down.
"Something wrong?" I deadpanned as I took the cover off of the blueberry pancakes and maple sausage that Ella had made for me.
"No. Nothing at all," he said and swallowed hard. Bingo!
Ranger and I talked until I finished eating. He got up and collected his utility belt from the back of his chair and came around the table to me, standing so close that I had to tip my head back to look up at him. He splayed his hand on my throat, then bent and kissed me, tongue and all, until I was brainless.
He said something, but my brain couldn't process what. "Huh?"
"I said, 'I'll see you downstairs'." He was grinning as he walked to the door.
The more I thought about it, the more I was starting to think that maybe Ranger was playing his own version of the Revenge Game. Hmmm.
At nine o'clock sharp, I strolled into my cubby in the Control Room to find Ramon sitting at the desk with his chin in his hand, his eyes practically crossed. "Hey you," I said to him. "I'm ba-a-ack. I guess you're relieved of Dunce Desk Duty. What did you do this time, another speeding ticket?"
"Nah," he said with a sigh. "Officer Picky pulled me over because my license plate light was out. Ranger said that I wasn't paying attention to details and here I am … again."
"Well, I'm here now. I guess you're off the hook." Dunce Desk Duty was a punishment for the rest of RangeMan. For me it was my own personal specialty.
"You been to Ranger's office already?"
"Unh-uh, why?"
"I got a call that I was supposed to send you there as soon as you came in. You in trouble already?"
"Noooo! I haven't been here long enough to get into any trouble … yet." I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed down the hall.
Ranger's office door was open, and he waved me in right away. Tank and Hector were sitting in the guest chairs in front of his desk. "I'm interrupting. I can come back later."
"No, Steph. We were waiting for you," Tank ushered me into the room and pulled up another chair for me.
Ranger came around his desk and leaned against the edge, arms and ankles crossed. His lips were tipped up into his 'almost' smile, but Hector and Tank were grinning at me like Cheshire Cats. Uh-oh! Something was up. "What?" I looked around at them, worried.
"Remember when you told me about your job as a lingerie buyer?" Ranger asked.
"Uh, ye-a-h," I said slowly, not really seeing where he was going.
Tank leaned forward in his chair. "Bombshell, we want you to do the same thing for RangeMan!"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You want me to buy nylon panties for RangeMan?" I asked, feeling like I'd stepped into the Twilight Zone.
"NO!" all three said at the same time and looked at me like I was deranged.
"We want you to shop for RangeMan," Ranger said. "You're an expert in that field."
I was totally lost. "Shop for what … exactly?"
"Parts," Hector said. "Wire, cable, connectors, sensors …"
"All those thing-a-ma-jigs and do-hickies that we run to Radio Shack for," Ranger reminded me of what I had called the bits and pieces needed to build a security system.
"Okay," I said a little cautiously. "I guess. But why me?"
"Ranger said that you've had experience in dealing with budgets and manufacturers and comparison shopping and contract negotiation. You have all the qualifications to do the job," Tank said.
I narrowed my eyes at the three of them. "Is this just busy work for me? Something you three came up with so that I wouldn't get bored just sitting at the Dunce Desk running background checks?"
"No! Absolutely not," Ranger said, but I wasn't convinced.
Tank took over. "Bomber, you know that Hector is in charge of all installations, maintenance, and repairs for all our security systems. Since we've grown so fast, he's been after us to have our own 'parts department' here at RangeMan. It makes more sense for the installers to pull the stock for a whole job from right here, instead of running all over town trying to find what they need. It would be easier, more efficient, and definitely more cost-effective for the whole company."
"And we get to work together, Chica," Hector said with a grin. "I teach you to talk dirty in Spanish." We all laughed when Ranger scowled at him.
"Okay," I said, smiling at them. "I'm willing to give it a shot if you guys are." Little did I know what I was getting myself into.
A week later, I was sitting in the passenger seat of a RangeMan SUV, tired, achy, filthy, hungry, creeped out, and more than a little pissed off that I had gotten myself into this mess. I'd spent the day with Hector and one of his crews, watching while they installed a top of the line security system in the latest old building that the New Jersey Historical Society had acquired.
The idea was that I could see, first hand, how the crews worked so that I'd have a better idea of the problems that they faced during installations. I don't know whose brilliant idea this was, but it wasn't mine! And when I do figure out whose it was, I'm gonna fix him good! The very first thing these guys needed was an exterminator.
I'd followed crew members through bug-infested basements, rat-infested crawl spaces, and bat-infested attics. I had rat crap on my boots, spider webs on my coveralls, and bat shit in my hair. Stick a fork in me; I was done communing with nature. Who knew that there were opossums in Trenton, for crying out loud?
Cal, my bodyguard du jour, was behind the wheel, his curled lip telling me that the sight of me and the smell, too, probably offended his delicate sensibilities. Although I didn't quite buy that a guy with a flaming skull tattooed on his forehead had sensibilities, delicate or otherwise.
Of course, I was forgetting that Cal was the Merry Man who passed out and concussed himself when Val's water broke and splashed on him. Okay, so maybe it wasn't sensibilities; maybe it was just a weak stomach. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!
He kept looking at me while I entered my notes into my Blackberry. "What?" I finally demanded, in NO mood to play games.
"What is that on your hat?" he nodded toward the top of my head.
"Is it moving?" I asked, panicked. He shook his head 'no', and I gingerly removed my RangeMan cap with my index finger and thumb, holding it away from me to take a look. "Probably bat shit," I said in disgust, dropping the cap daintily on the floor of the SUV.
"Hell," Cal shook his head. "You shouldn't be wearing coveralls, Steph. You need a Haz-Mat suit."
"No joke!" I couldn't wait to get out of my grungy, stinky clothes and into a hot shower. Hell, I'd be thrilled to just hose myself down in the middle of the street … winter weather and rubber-neckers be damned. Anything to feel clean.
"You wanna stop at Mickey D's or Tasty Pastry or Pino's?" Cal asked, throwing me a sideways glance. "I know you didn't eat lunch."
"No thanks. I'll wait until I can stand the smell of myself. And after all those bugs, I'm still too grossed-out to eat anything." I shuddered at the thought of them crawling all over me.
"Okay, back to RangeMan it is." Cal pulled out his phone and reported to Tank and Zero, who were parked down the block in the chase car, then pulled away from the curb and headed for the highway. I watched in the side-view mirror as Tank pull out right behind us, and sent him a little finger wave. He tooted the horn back at me.
"Ranger couldn't pay me enough to that job," Cal said as we drove along. "I'd take people shooting at me any day over having to deal with bats and bugs and rats."
"Me, too," I said with another shudder. "I don't know how they do it. Rolling in garbage and getting paint dumped on me and wrestling greased-up skips doesn't seem half bad after today."
"Amen!" Cal said so seriously that I had to laugh. "I have a whole new respect for all those installers. They may be little guys, but they're tough! I'd want 'em on my side in a bar fight!"
The thought of huge Cal needing any kind of help in a fight just tickled me, and I was feeling a whole lot better about my crappy day.
I'd been flipping through an electronic parts catalog while we talked, but I looked up when Cal cursed and slammed on the brakes. The car ahead of us had stopped short, leaving us stuck in the middle of an intersection. The driver of the car jumped out and ran off.
"Why the hell is he run…" I turned to look at him just as Cal lunged toward me, covering me with his own body. Over Cal's shoulder, I saw the eighteen wheeler bearing down on us, its shiny chrome grill coming fast, filling the driver's side windows, smashing through them.
The impact was horrendous, and it felt like the SUV was being ripped apart. There was so much noise. Glass shattered, metal shrieked, the air bags deployed, me … screaming. The SUV seemed to fold in on itself as the big rig rammed it across the intersection, turning it over onto its side. Something slammed into my head, stars burst on the inside of my eyelids, and I spun away into darkness.
The first thing I heard was Tank's deep rumbling voice. "Come on Bombshell, wake up. Open your eyes. Let me see those big, baby blues of yours." I opened my eyes to see Tank's big, toothy grin. "There you are. Zero's gonna ride with you to the hospital. These EMTs tell me I take up too much room in the ambulance, so I'll s…"
Next thing I knew I was I in the ambulance, sirens wailing, every bump and bounce making my head feel like it was going to explode. I was strapped down so I couldn't move, and I had on one of those big collars so I couldn't turn my head. Zero was sitting next to me, stroking my arm and telling me that everything would be okay.
"What happened?" I heard myself mumble.
"You and Cal were T-boned by an eighteen wheeler," Zero said. "It's a miracle that you're both alive."
I closed my eyes in relief, and lost more time. One minute I was talking to the EMT, and the next, the ER doctor, who I knew waaay too well, was shining a light in my eyes and asking me questions.
"We have to stop meeting like this, Sleeping Beauty. Where do you hurt?" the doctor asked.
"My head," I told him.
"Not surprising. You've got a real goose egg here." He poked around my scalp. "Couple of stitches and it'll be fine."
That got my attention! "No shaving my head!" The bald spot I got from my run-in with Abruzzi was just filling in. I didn't need another one.
"We'll see, Steph. What else hurts?"
"My leg."
"Here?"
"Unh-unh."
"Here?"
"Owwww!"
"Sorry. I understand you got tossed around quite a bit. Tomorrow you're going to feel like one big bruise," he said cheerfully. All the while he talked, he poked and prodded me. "Can you move your fingers and toes for me? Good, good. Does this hurt? This?" He moved my arms and legs, pressed on my sides and stomach, and just generally annoyed the hell out of me.
"Okay, so your head hurts, and you have body aches. Are you dizzy? Nauseous?
"Yes, yes, yes, and oh Hell yes!" I groaned as a wave of nausea washed over me.
"Okay, we're going to take care of that right now." He spoke to the nurse, and she left the exam room. "I'm sending you for a CAT scan or two. I know you've got a hard head, but we want to make sure you didn't crack it this time. Your spinal x-rays look good, the collar is off, and if the CAT scans are clear, we'll keep you overnight for observation, and barring anything cropping up, you should be able to go home this time tomorrow. How's that?"
"Observation for what?" I asked suspiciously.
"Stuff like brain bleeds. Every couple of hours, the nurses on duty will rouse you, see if you respond, check your pupils, make sure that nothing serious develops. They'll keep you comfortable, give you medications for pain and nausea. It's our job to see that you leave the hospital in better shape than you entered it."
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not staying. I'm fine. I just want to get out of here." I hated hospitals! They were full of sick people.
"Stephanie, I'm not going to sign your release papers until tomorrow. You've had a head injury and aren't capable of making an informed decision about your own health care, so you might as well just relax and let us take care of you," the Doctor said with a smile. "Plus, if I let you leave, your mother will tell my mother and there'll be hell to pay." Could you tell that the doctor grew up in the Burg, too? He patted me on the foot and left.
"Chicken!" I yelled after him.
The nurse came back in and gave me a couple of pills to swallow. She'd just turned me on my side and flipped open the back of the hospital gown to give me a shot, when that old familiar tingle ran down my spine. Ranger got a full moon. Could this get any worse?
I had my hand over my face and my eyes squeezed shut. If I couldn't see him, maybe he couldn't see me either. It was worth a try. "Babe?" he said softly from right in front of my face. I could hear the smile in his voice and cracked my eyes open. His chin was resting on his folded arms, his face just a couple inches from mine.
I took one look at him and tears started to leak out of my eyes. "They won't let me go home," I said with a sob.
"I know, Baby, I talked to the doctor." He pushed the hair out of my eyes. "They're gonna take good care of you."
"But I don't need anybody to take care of me. I can take care of me. I'll follow orders. I'll be good. I promise."
"I'm sorry, Babe. The doctor said he wouldn't release you until tomorrow."
"He's not the boss of me!" I clutched at his hand. "You could make him let me go," I whispered so that the nurse wouldn't hear.
"It's only overnight, and I'll spring you tomorrow. The doctor's in charge. Right now, he's the boss of all of us."
"You … you could sneak me out of here. Nobody would ever know. I wouldn't tell, honest."
Ranger chuckled. "I'm not worried about getting into trouble, Steph. I'm just worried about you."
"I'll make it worth your while!" I said, changing gears. I fluttered my eyelashes at him for good measure. At least I think I did.
Ranger gave me a full-on smile. "Thanks for the offer, but you have a concussion and short term memory loss. By the time I got you out of here, you wouldn't remember."
"You don't care about me," I wailed. "You're g-gonna go home and sit up in your p-penthouse and leave me here all by myself and let these people t-t-torture me!" And I just kept right on boo-hooing.
Ranger laughed and wiped the tears off my cheeks. "Okay, I'll tell you what. I'll stay with you tonight and make sure that they don't torture you. How's that."
"Really?" I said between sobs.
"Really," and he kissed the tip of my nose.
By the time the CAT scan was done and I got settled in a room in the OBS unit, all I wanted to do was sleep. Ranger was in one of those sleep chairs, and I settled back against the pillows, closed my eyes and fell blissfully asleep.
Four minutes later, a Nazi Nurse was shaking my arm and flashing a blinding light in my eyes. She scared the crap outta me, and I let out a shriek that brought Ranger to his feet. If she was trying to drum up business for their cardiac unit, she was doing a damn fine job of it.
My heart was still racing when she cheerfully announced that I should relax and go back to sleep, she'd be in to check on me in a couple of hours. Now I knew why firearms weren't allowed in hospitals.
Ranger came and sat on the edge of the bed. "Can I get you anything?" he asked.
"A six-pack of Corona. Three fingers of Jack. Just something light to take the edge off."
He chuckled and reached for my hand in the dim light. "Seriously. Can I do anything for you?"
"Just talk to me for a while," I said.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Oh, there are about a million things I'd like to talk to you about." Okay, so I know I must have been loopy to be saying stuff like that to Ranger. I was surprised he didn't take off at a dead run.
"Name one," he said.
"Jeanne Ellen Burrows." I said the first thing that popped into my mind. "Or should I say, your relationship with her." Oh boy! I had the feeling I'd just stepped into a mine field.
Ranger was quiet for so long, I thought maybe I'd dozed off again and he'd slipped out of the room. "That was a long time ago," he finally said.
I leaned back against the pillows and looked out the window and let him talk.
"I came to Trenton to see if it was worth setting up shop here. I put out word that I was looking for people with experience in security or skip tracing. Jeanne Ellen was one of the people who showed up. She was well trained, she was smart, and she was ambitious. I didn't hire her because she was beautiful, she was sexy, and she knew it. She would have led all the guys I'd already hired around by their dicks. Not good when you're trying to build a business.
So, Jeanne Ellen did contract work for RangeMan … distractions and jobs where a woman's touch was needed. We just fell into a mutually satisfying, and very intense, physical relationship. It eventually burned itself out. I couldn't even tell you how long it lasted, but we parted company with no hard feelings and we've maintained a good working relationship ever since."
"Forty-two days," I said. I could hear myself slurring the words.
"What?"
"It lasted forty-two days." I turned my head to look at him. "She told me.
"What else did she tell you?"
"That you said your life didn't lend itself to relationships."
"I never lied to her, Stephanie, or to you. The only difference is that I found it out after the fact with Jeanne Ellen. I told you up front."
"I know."
"Can you sleep now?"
I turned back to the window and closed my eyes, thinking that I might never sleep again because there wasn't enough brain bleach on the planet to wash away the image of Ranger and Jeanne Ellen in bed together.
I was sure I wouldn't sleep, so I was pretty surprised when my own personal tormentor woke me up with that damned light in my eyes. The headache was back, worse than before, and I was queasy again, dammit! But since Nazi Nurse came armed with more pills and a shot, I was actually glad to see her. She even brought me a cup of tea and couple of cookies.
Ranger sat on the bed again, this time next to me, and I leaned against his shoulder. "Got another topic of conversation?" he asked.
"You're a brave man, Mr. Manoso."
"One man's courage is another's stupidity. So shoot."
I took a deep breath, and tried to decide if I was being brave or stupid. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"
I didn't have to explain. Ranger knew exactly what I was talking about. He went very still beside me. "I guess I should have known you'd ask that," his voice was flat and emotionless. "Are you sure you want to know the answer?"
All I could do was nod.
If I'd been queasy from the concussion, now I was full fledged ready to throw up, anticipating what he'd say. I knew he wouldn't lie, or try to whitewash the truth, but sometimes the truth hurts, and I was really scared of what the truth would be.
He hesitated again, as if he was choosing his words carefully. "That night, I told you that I couldn't offer you anything more than I ever had, and I asked you if that was enough. You didn't say anything, just invited me in. It surprised me, but I took that as your answer."
I couldn't bring myself to look at Ranger, so I stared out the window at Hamilton Avenue. The wind was howling, and it had started to sleet. The perfect night for this kind of talk.
"On Sunday I was called to a planning meeting. I didn't know that I was going anywhere, Stephanie. That wasn't on the agenda, and I wasn't given any choice. The decision had been made before I got there. I was on a plane in minutes, and I didn't even know to where. We aren't given any information until we're en route."
He blew out a deep breath and didn't say anything else for a couple of long minutes. "But even if I could have gotten in touch with you, I don't think I would have."
I couldn't help myself, I turned to look at him, more confused then he'd ever made me … and that's saying a lot. "Why? Why wouldn't you let me know?"
"Stephanie, you agreed to a no-strings, no-relationship, no-price arrangement, and that would have been a string. It would have been me asking you to wait. That wasn't what you'd agreed to."
"Why'd you act like such a … a jerk?"
Even though the light was dim, I could see his face clearly, and he actually looked embarrassed. "I'm human, Stephanie. I wanted you to wait."
I leaned my head against his shoulder, and a sigh inadvertently escaped. "We're really screwed up, aren't we?"
"In a very large way," Ranger said and putting his arm around me, he pulled me closer.
A new Nazi came in to wake me. This one was very gentle. She did her assessment, then quietly told Ranger that this time, I could sleep for four hours straight. It sounded like heaven to me!
Ranger moved to get off the bed, and I stopped him. "Stay, please?" The room was spinning again, and I really needed something solid to hold onto. Make that someone solid.
He toed his boots off and slid under the covers next to me, tucking me gently against his side. He pressed his lips to my forehead and asked, "All out of questions?"
I yawned, more physically and mentally exhausted than I could ever remember being. "Just one," I mumbled, fighting to stay awake.
"Okay," he said, pulling the covers up over me.
"Are there other Stephanies?"
"What?" He raised his head to look at me.
"Do you have somebody like me in Boston, or in Miami? Do you have other Stephanies?"
I felt his chest move in silent laughter. "No, you're one of a kind, Babe. One Stephanie is all I'll ever need."
TBC …
A/N: So, was the accident another attempt on Steph's life? If so, who's after her? Will Ranger be able to protect her? Do you think Ranger has caught on to Steph's revenge game? Do you think he'll play too? Let me know what you think he should do … he deserves to have some fun, don't you think?
Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. I tried to respond to each review, I apologize if I missed yours. Please know that each and every review is appreciated … I'm ashamed to admit that I'm still a terrible review whore! LOL!
Stayce
