AU of Takedown 20, contains canon plot points and some dialogue.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Cal had taken Lula back to the office in the fleet vehicle once he'd stopped twitching. I wasn't nearly as lucky. Tank had insisted on driving me to St. Francis to have me looked at. After he'd called Ranger and ratted me out personally. He stood over me in the waiting room, a tower of scowl dressed in black. Considering I was a slightly battered pregnant lady, that was attracting some attention.

Ranger showed up ten minutes after we did, facing me with hands on hips. "Talk."

"Jeez. I know you're new to this whole girlfriend thing, but that's not how you speak to—"

"Steph, you went alone into a social club frequented by retired mob in broad daylight without calling in for backup. After you were expressly threatened with a bullet. That was not a smart move."

"Oh, so now I'm not smart?"

"Smart people do stupid things all the time. Because they don't think through the consequences."

"What about you being sneaky with the audio in my car? What consequences did you see that having?"

"I saw my pregnant girlfriend staying alive."

"Even if she was mad?"

"Yes." Our eyes held for a long moment. His dark and impenetrable. Mine trying very hard not to back down. He pulled in a deep breath and actually sighed. "Stephanie, I've done very little to try and slow you down the last couple months. I know you hate staying still, and I'm self aware enough to admit I get some personal satisfaction watching you in action. But you are four months pregnant. There's a lot more at stake these days than your professional pride."

"You want me to go on maternity leave."

"I want you to delegate. I know this is who you are, Babe, and I love who you are. I'd never ask you to change. But you're risking for two now. It might be time to consider stepping back from captain to navigator. Watch somebody else do the takedowns for a while."

"Not every skip requires the big guns. Most of them aren't even worth pizza money. Are you telling me it makes financial sense for me to call someone in for an indecent exposure or a minor possession?"

"I'm not worried about what makes financial sense right now."

"What kind of BEA am I if I can't apprehend an indecent exposure?"

"Babe, if you really need to wrestle someone into cuffs that badly I told you I'm game."

"Now you're talking dirty in front of Tank!"

"Tank's heard worse. Now, are you willing to be a backseat driver or do I have to be the bad guy?"

I was saved from immediate answer when my name was called. Ranger went back with me. Pretty easy to claim the family connection when I'm in a family way and my name is on his insurance. Most of the damage was minor bruising, but I had jammed my finger grabbing Sunny. Required a splint. That was going to make it a lot harder to put my pants on in the morning. It was also going to be nearly impossible to fire a gun. Sigh. Maybe backseat driving wasn't the worst idea after all.

We went home for lunch, but I was in too sour a mood for anything fun to happen, so when it came time for Ranger to go back to work, he agreed not to stop me from going back too as long as I took Tank. Since there was obviously no way around this without sneaking out of the Fort Knox building and ditching my trackers, I thought the grown up thing to do was to roll my eyes with a heavy sigh and hold the elevator.

Tank insisted on driving, but consented to stop by the bond office to pick up Lula. We were going after Ziggy Radiewski. He owned a little row house in the shantytown on Post Street, but the place he lived was Ginty's Bar. Lula and I had apprehended Ziggy a bunch of times. Usually it was really easy. Ziggy wasn't trouble. He was just so pickled from his constant liver abuse that he often didn't know what day it was, and frequently forgot his court date. On a good day, this just meant giving him a ride to the police station to reschedule. Bad days meant he had trouble walking and remembering his name.

We parked in the small lot between the bar and the hardware store and Lula and I hopped out and went right in. Took a second for our eyes to adjust to the din. Wasn't hard to find Ziggy. He was one of only three men at the bar. He was fifty-six, but looked seventy because of the self abuse. He recognized us the second the bartender pointed us out. Swiveled his stool our way. "Ladies, long time no see."

"Are you ready to go for a ride?"

Ziggy hiccupped. "Barkeep. One for the road."

The bartender set a fresh beer in front of Ziggy. Ziggy chugged it. I heard the front door open and close and felt Tank's massive presence behind us. Ziggy set his glass on the bar, turned to look at us, and fell off his barstool.

"You have this strange effect on men," Lula said to me. "They're always passin' out on you. Guys get stuck with darts, and run into walls, and fall off barstools."

"I think this time it was Tank. I think he scared him," I said.

"That could be true," Lula said, "cause it looks like he wet hisself."

"Cripes. Just help me get him outside."

Tank pushed between us and scooped Ziggy up off the floor. Lula and I were debating how to get him to lockup without soiling my Mercedes when Tank opened the cargo area and pulled out a roll of plastic sheeting from a hidden compartment under the floor. I stared at him. "That was in there this whole time?"

"Yeah."

"What the heck was it for?"

Pause. "Keeping the car clean."

"You know what, never mind. I don't want to know. Just wrap him like a burrito so we can buckle him and go."

ooo

I'd had to promise the cop at the processing desk that the guy wrapped up in the plastic sheeting was in fact drunk and not recently deceased. Took some convincing given the smell. He still wasn't entirely sure until Ziggy started snoring. The cop gave me my body receipt and I took it back to the office.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Text from Ranger.

Business meeting tonight. Catch up with you after Bingo.

Which meant I was eating alone again.

My finger was really starting to hurt, and Tank wasn't exactly fun-sized, so I cut my losses early and went home to Rangeman. Thankfully, Ranger had deemed Bingo a safe activity that didn't require Rangeman attendance. Well. It was that or none of his men had been willing to go. Either way, I was free and on my own when I picked up Lula and Grandma and headed to the Seniors Center.

The crowd at the Senior Center was exactly what I had expected. Same group in their sixties and seventies that went on every outing, every trip to Atlantic City, attended classes and demonstrations, and played cards in the afternoon. They took their Bingo pretty seriously, though. I'd gone the cautious route with four cards, Grandma had twelve. Lula got thirty. This caused some upset when she had trouble keeping up, and then started name calling with one of the regulars. We got out of there before things could get out of hand.

I kind of wanted to poke around Rita's house to see if Uncle Sunny was there, but was equally freaked out by the idea of getting caught. Not because I was afraid of Sunny or Rita. Because I was sort of afraid of what Ranger would do if I didn't call backup this time. Ranger wasn't the screaming and yelling kind of boyfriend. When he got upset, Ranger got very quiet. All you saw was the darkness in his eyes, or a curl of smoke off his scalp. That moment in the hospital waiting room might have looked like a casual disagreement to the average observer, but it had been our first public fight. I wasn't eager to face him at home if I turned around and did the same thing again just hours later.

I decided it was safe enough to do a quick drive-by. No sense calling in for backup if I wasn't leaving the bulletproof car. Lights were on in the front room. No car in the driveway. No thugs hanging out on the front porch. I made a U-turn and parked across the street. Now I was in a pickle. I really wanted to peek in some windows to see if he was in there, but somehow I thought that might violate the terms of agreement. I bit the bullet and called control.

"Tank's enroute already," Ram told me.

"How did you—"

"Ranger gave specific orders that if you were seen heading to the Hamilton Township address or 15th Street, we were supposed to send Tank."

He didn't sound apologetic in the slightest. But then, Ranger's guys were way more afraid of him than they were of me. Good thing I'd called it in. I held in a sigh. "How long till he gets here?"

"ETA five minutes."

I thanked him and hung up. "Tank will be here in five minutes."

"Boy, this is exciting," Grandma said. "Way better than Bingo. We're gonna bust in there like that TV bounty hunter."

"That's not likely. I'm sort of hoping to get Sunny without any busting in. Rita did threaten to shoot me."

"Shouldn't we get the lay of the land so Tank'll know which door to stomp in? I bet we could see all kinds of stuff through them windows."

"Oh you can," Lula told her. "I went peepin' last time and I seen her livin' room and her kitchen, and even her bedroom. It's real pretty. I bet she got a professional decorator."

"This I gotta see."

"I promised Ranger that I would wait for Tank," I said. "He wouldn't be happy if I got out of the car without a really really good reason."

"All we wanna do is look in some windows. What's the worst that can happen?" Lula said.

I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be rhetorical.

While I was thinking about it, Grandma and Lula got out of the car.

Crap.

ooo

Tank

He shouldn't a been surprised when he parked behind Steph's Mercedes and found her AWOL, and yet that didn't stop the goddamn surprise. Shit. He'd been sure, the way Ranger had laid it out earlier, that she'd a at least tried to do what he'd asked. Steph was headstrong and stubborn, but she usually seemed to respond on the rare occasion when Ranger made an emotional appeal. The fact she'd made the call was supposed to be a good sign. Even if she had made it at the last possible second.

Tank angled out of the Escalade and pulled his weapon, keeping it tight to his body. The night was silent. Slight rustle of leaves on the wind. Dog barking half a block away. Then he heard the shouting. There were squeals at the back of the house, and then he saw Lula and Steph's granny hauling ass to the car. Lula wiggling around on those five inch spike heels, her tiny skirt sliding up to show every last inch of ass. He tore his eyes away and searched the shadows for Steph. She showed up in the light the second the front door banged open. The skinny geezer came out waving a gun.

Steph had two conflicting thoughts at once. Fight or flight. He saw it when fight won. She put her head down and ran the last few feet, knocking him back so he couldn't shoot her. They both went down. Rangy old yellow dog verses rabid badger. Tank sprinted for them, but before he could get there, a man-eater in red heels showed in the door with a doublebarrel. "Let him go or I'll shoot!" she said, racking the gun. Steph was instant hands off, rolling to her feet to rabbit away, but Sunny dove for her as Rita fired and he got an assfull of buckshot for his trouble.

"You fucking idiot," he yelled at Rita. "You shot me!"

"You got in the way," Rita said. "Stay down."

She was taking aim at Steph's back until two of Tank's bullets clipped the doorframe. She shrieked and dove inside. Tank caught Steph midstride and she flipped out, catching him with a well placed elbow in the gut before she realized who it was. He swept her all the way over to the Mercedes and deposited her in the front seat. "Stay."

"Where are you going?"

"To get your skip so we don't have to fuckin do this anymore."

She looked relieved. Good. Maybe that meant she'd stay put this time. Tank turned back toward the house, searching the side yard for signs of Sunny. He wasn't on the lawn anymore. Musta limped his ass inside. Couldn't see Rita either. Tank called control. Stuck to the shadows. He was halfway through getting backup when the garage door opened and a cheap looking black Mercedes whipped out onto the street and screeched away. Steph's skip behind the wheel. The car squealed around the corner and disappeared.

There goes that.

Tank sauntered back to Steph. Holstered his weapon. He could see the squirming. Solid evidence she knew she'd fucked up. "Keys," he said to her.

She looked like she wanted to argue, but after a second she surrendered the keys. He opened the back door for her and she slumped out of the driver's seat. "What about your car?"

"Control is sending someone to get it. I'm not letting you out of my sight until we get back to Rangeman."

ooo

Steph

I was on the couch watching television when Ranger came home. I didn't hear his shoes on the floor, but I could feel the change in air pressure. The magnetic gravity that my body instantly responded to whenever he was near. He walked into the den with that effortless athleticism and took a relaxed seat on the coffee table in front of me. Flicked the TV off via remote. I let him draw my eye. I was folded up on his sofa, wearing a plain white t-shirt and striped pajama bottoms with a drawstring waist that didn't want to go higher than lowslung, leaving a few inches of bare, swollen belly between pants and shirt. Ranger's eyes traced it. Flicked back up to mine. Hard to tell what he might be thinking.

"I did call for Tank," I preempted when the silence started to burn me. "The only reason I didn't call sooner was because I didn't know if it was going to be worth getting out of the car. I was just going to stake it out a while, but then Grandma and Lula got excited and they went to peek in some windows, and I knew that was like letting Ethel Merman team up with Rose from the Golden Girls so I chased after them. Found them with their faces pressed to the kitchen window watching Rita make Sunny a grilled cheese sandwich. I tried to get them back in the car, but they were spotted, and then there was running, and shooting. I might have tackled Sunny, but to be honest some of it is kind of a blur. I was just trying to keep him from shooting me in the back while I ran away."

Ranger was all silence. Still staring.

"I'm not hurt this time," I offered. "At least I don't think any of the bruises are new." More silence. Oh boy. My nerves were squirming so much I could feel it in my body. A little flutter right below my belly button. "How mad are you?"
"I'm still deciding. For now why don't you start with how it went tonight."

"We sort of got kicked out of Bingo."

The blank expression eased enough for a hint of smile. "Babe."

"Lula got into a fight with Mildred Frick. You don't want to know the details, but the highlights were Mildred called Lula a dumb bunny and Grandma a slut. Although I think Grandma liked being called a slut."

"Did you learn anything helpful?"

"I can honestly say I didn't see anyone there that I could suspect of murdering little old ladies. Okay, maybe Mildred Frick, but she would be a long shot."

"Anybody talk about the murders?"

"Not that I heard. Bingo is serious stuff at the Senior Center. You get your cards set up, you hunker down and concentrate. There's not a lot of chitchat."

"Men?"

"I counted seven. None of them looked robust enough to heave a body into a Dumpster."

"Did any of them look robust enough to persuade a woman to empty her bank account?"

"Hard to say. You can't always tell with old people. You think they have one foot in the grave, and next thing they're ramming you with a shopping cart at Costco."

The smile twitched again.

"So. The mad thing?"

"I'm not mad, Babe. I'm worried."

"I didn't think you worried about anything."

"I worry about everything. It doesn't help that you're Calamity Jane. I put safety measures in place for a reason. So that you can do your thing and not die."

"I tried to follow the rules, I swear!"

"You can follow the rules on other things, but from here out Tank is the one after Sunny."

"You can't do that."

"Babe."

He said it soft. Tender enough to encourage the squirming flutter. It didn't feel like nerves exactly. Or guilt. It was more like a ripple or a gas bubble. Nudging at my insides. A thought occurred to me and my mouth fell open. "Holy cats, I think I just felt the baby move."

"Where?"

I rubbed the spot two inches under my belly button. Ranger shifted from the coffee table to the seat next to me. Put his hand on my belly. I guided it to the spot and pressed it tight. Waiting. I felt the flutter again. "There. Do you feel it?"

"No."

"There it is again!" I adjusted his hand, chasing the flutter. "You have to have felt that one."

Ranger smiled and scooped me up, bringing me across his lap to face him. Smoothed my curls back to kiss me slow and tender. "It'll probably take a couple more weeks before it can be felt from the outside. For now, I think this is just between the two of you."

I rubbed the belly between us, trying not to be overwhelmed. This was so much more than the abstract understanding that I was growing a person. This was real. A sign I wasn't alone in my own body. Part of me wished I could share it with Ranger, but there was something special about it being just us, at least for a little while. Ranger's eyes warmed when he saw that. "I think he likes your voice," I told him. "He moves more when you talk."

"If she's anything like her mother, it might just be a show of defiance."

"Ugh, fine. Tank can have Sunny. But he owes me."

"I'll be happy to pay his tab," he said, kissing my lips.