"Can we stop for a snack?" I asked as we drove past another fast food sign on the freeway.
Ranger gave me a look. "We just had lunch."
"Yeah, but I don't think I ate enough. I'm eating for two now, you know."
His mouth twitched in amusement. "Babe."
"I think a milkshake would probably do the trick."
"For what, an hour?"
I rolled my eyes. "I finally get over my morning sickness, and now everyone's giving me crap about being hungry all the time."
Ranger gave my leg a sympathetic pat. "What kind of milkshake?"
"Chocolate," I blurted without hesitation. Then I thought for a moment. "But maybe vanilla would be more refreshing. Or strawberry. That's healthier, right? Because it's got fruit?"
The look on Ranger's face made me wonder if he was regretting inviting me along on this little adventure.
"So, strawberry?" He turned off at the next exit.
"Maybe. Except I don't really like strawberry all that much."
"Just go with the chocolate then."
I sighed. "Fine."
We pulled up to the drive thru window, and a staticky voice asked to take our order.
"One regular chocolate shake, please," Ranger stated.
"Large," I countered.
"One large chocolate shake, please."
"Will that be all for you, sir?"
He snuck a quick glance my direction. "One can only hope."
"Hey!" I yelled, punching him hard in the shoulder.
I heard a small laugh over the intercom. "Please pull forward for your total."
We pulled up to the window, and a middle-aged woman in a hairnet took Ranger's money. "Just a minute, handsome, and we'll have that right out for you."
Ranger smiled politely.
A moment later, the cashier returned with the milkshake, and Ranger handed it to me. I just stared at it.
"Is somethin' the matter, sweets?" the woman asked.
I gave my best dazzling Stephanie smile. "Would you mind making this a cookies and cream instead?"
Ranger gave a barely audible sigh as he passed back the untouched beverage. "I'll pay you for another one," he said by way of an apology.
"Nonsense. How far along?"
"Almost five months."
"Her bump's adorable."
"Thanks!" I called over Ranger's shoulder.
Several minutes later, our inconvenienced cashier returned with a large cookies and cream milkshake. And a little brown bag.
"What's in here?" Ranger asked as he passed everything over to me.
"A complimentary order of fries," she replied. "The sweet and salty thing used to really hit the spot with me when I was pregnant."
I opened the bag and started bawling. "That's…so…nice!" I spluttered, grabbing a napkin from the bag for my dripping nose and eyes.
The woman smiled. "Anytime, sweets. Good luck to you both."
We started pulling away, and Ranger's eyes widened ever so slightly as I downed half the milkshake in a matter of minutes.
Just as we were about to get back on the road, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "Wait!" I yelled.
Ranger hit the brakes, and we both lurched forward. "What?" he asked, eyes full of concern.
"I think I need to pee."
###
After a few more hours in the car and several more pit stops, we finally managed to reach our destination. A little, nondescript house in upstate New York.
Nick Fox stood on the porch, his clothes looking sharp and pressed. His smile casual as ever; relaxed as if he hadn't a care in the world.
"Wow, something's different here," he smirked when we got out of the car and he noticed the rounded bump protruding from under my shirt.
"They always warn you not to swallow those darn watermelon seeds," I shrugged.
Nick grinned.
Ranger ignored the exchange and took my hand as he guided me up the steps. "Thanks for meeting us, Fox."
"A pleasure as always."
Nick ushered us into the house, and we all stood in the entryway for a moment.
"So this is the whole trophy place, huh?" I asked.
Honestly, it didn't look like much. Especially considering the previous owner's rumored occupation. I mean, from what I could tell, it didn't even have marble floors or gold-encrusted furnishings. What had this guy been blowing his money on? Books?
"No offense," I said eyeing Nick, "but what are you doing here? I thought our business was already concluded."
He shrugged. "I'm good at cracking safes."
I can't say the admission was all that surprising.
"This place has a safe that needs cracking?"
Ranger glanced around. "There's a good possibility. Smart people don't leave their valuables out in the open."
Yeah except the owner of this joint was currently pushing up daisies. I'm not sure how smart you can really be if you're dead.
We walked around for a while taking in the house that theft and extortion built. I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed.
"Are we looking for something specific?" I asked Ranger.
"Yes."
"Mind filling me in on some details."
"Would if I could, babe."
Nick called to us from another room. "I may have found something of interest over here. You two may want to come and take a look."
I followed Ranger down the hallway to a small and simple bedroom. Nick was standing near a wall, inspecting it with his fingers.
"Do you think that maybe we got the wrong address?" I asked.
Ranger shrugged.
"Okay," I called over to Nick. "What's so interesting in here?"
He pointed to a seam in the wallpaper.
"Yeah, that stuff's really ugly, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it interesting."
He laughed before turning to Ranger. "You got a knife?"
Ranger retrieved one from his pocket and handed it over to Fox who proceeded to slice along the seam in the paper. I whole section peeled away revealing a metal square behind it. Cool.
"Something tells me this guy was a little paranoid," I said.
Ranger gave Nick a nod, and he set to work messing with the safe.
An hour passed, and I felt my boredom alarm start blaring at full volume. Not to mention I kind of had to pee again. So I started fidgeting.
Ranger glanced my direction. "Is something wrong?"
"Do you think I could use the bathroom here?"
His mouth twitched.
"It's not my fault," I protested.
"Go. But be aware there probably isn't any running water."
Fantastic. I loved using bathrooms without running water…
I concluded my business and stood staring at the vanity mirror for a while. You know, pregnancy didn't look all that bad on me. Granted, I was only halfway through, but at least I hadn't morphed into a puffy Pregzilla yet. Although maybe that depended on who you asked these days. Some of the Rangeguys had seen some rather interesting hormonal behavior. Hopefully I hadn't ruined our relationship. Or scarred them for life.
I leaned a bit closer to inspect a small blemish when my elbow bumped the corner of the mirror. It sank into the wall slightly. Curiosity got the better of me, so I pushed it again, but with more intent. The whole thing moved revealing a deep hole in the wall. Stacked to the brim with a whole crapload of cash, jewels, and other shiny things! Holy crap!
"Ranger!" I called. "You're gonna want to get in here!"
I heard him quickly padding down the hallway.
"Are you okay?" he asked, assessing me for any damage.
I just pointed to the hole.
"Interesting." He poked around for a moment before his eyes widened, and he raced back to the other room. "Fox, stop!" he yelled.
But it was too late. Or at least I assumed it was. Because the next thing I knew Ranger was sprinting back to the bathroom for me and running us at lightning speed out the front door; Nick a pace or two behind us.
And then the whole house exploded.
I frowned as I watched it burn from across the street. This sort of thing hadn't happened to me in a while. Guess the con artist really had been paranoid. Enough so that he'd booby-trapped his own safe. Go figure.
We all looked at each other. Guess that was the end of our whacked out treasure hunt.
