Chapter 4
While Helen, Frank and Grandma Mazur was eating, Joe came by the house.
"Helen, I want to talk to you." Joe said as he stormed into the Plum house.
"Joseph we are eating right now, can you come back?" Helen asked him.
"I want you to help me get Stephanie back" Joe yelled at her.
"She is happy with Ranger, and I am not going to stop her. She told me last week that you cheated on her at least a dozen times. Also that when she needed help with her job, you would not help her. So I am not going to help you get her back. I know she is a lot happier with Ranger. Now please leave we are eating" Helen told him.
Joe looked at Frank and back at Helen. "Fine but this is not over" Joe said as he left the Plums house.
After dinner, Helen called Angie, "Hi Helen, what is going on?"
"Joseph came by to the house and wanted to me to help him get Stephanie back. I told him no. He was not happy with me" Helen told Angie
"Okay, thank you for letting me know; please be careful. I will figure something out and help my son somehow." Angie said, and then she hung up the phone.
Later that night, Helen was in the bathroom when it happened. She heard Frank yell "Helen stay in the bathroom" Then she heard gunshots and then nothing. Helen walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom; saw Frank in bed bleeding. She went downstairs and called 911. "My husband has been shot; please send an ambulance." Helen gave her address and went outside waiting for it.
After what seemed like houses but was probably just a few minutes, an ambulance came. Helen showed the EMT's to the bedroom, and they got Frank stabilized and brought him to Trenton Memorial Hospital.
Just then, Grandma came in. "Helen," Edna said. "Frank was just shot; let's get to the hospital now," She told her mother. The two of them got in big blue and left for Trenton Memorial. When they got to Trenton Memorial, Helen phone Ranger, "Carlos," Helen said in tears.
"Helen, are you okay?" He asked her.
"Frank was shot tonight. I am at Trenton Memorial Hospital." Helen said.
"Okay, both Stephanie and I are on our way," Ranger said. He got on the phone to Tank, "Hey I need you to stay with Julie. Stephanie's dad was shot" Carlos told him.
"Right I am on my way up now" Tank said.
Ranger kissed Babe on the lips; she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Babe, we have to get to Trenton Memorial Hospital your dad was shot."
"What about Julie?" Stephanie asked him.
"Tank is on his way up now" Ranger told her. Ranger put on his Cargo pants and heard a knock at the door.
"Hey Tank come on in. Tell Julie I will be back as soon as possible" Ranger told him.
"Right just do what you have to she will understand" Tank told him
The two of them got dressed and left for the hospital. When they got there, they saw Valerie, the girls, and Albert and Grandma and Helen.
"Hey, mom, what is going on?" Stephanie said. Helen came up to her and hugged her, "I don't know what is going on. I was in the bathroom when I heard two gunshots I walked into the bedroom and found, your father bleeding in bed. I called 911, and now we are all here."
"Excuse me, Mrs. Plum, I am Dr. Bronson, I am so sorry, but we could not save your husband. I am so sorry." The doctor walked away .
Stephanie sat down next to her mother. Helen put her head in Stephanie's chest.
The girls rushed in Valerie and Albert's arms.
"Mom, I need to talk to Carlos for a few minutes, okay," Stephanie said.
"Yeah, okay," Helen said.
"Carlos, there should be a detective here already asking questions, and there is no one here. What is going on?" Stephanie asked him.
"I don't know. Let me make a phone call." Carlos told him.
"Captain Peterson, this is Carlos Manoso, I don't know if you heard about the Plums, but Frank Plum just passed away. There is no detective here." Ranger said.
"I don't understand because I assigned Morelli because of his connection to the family. Is he there?" Peterson asked.
"No, Captain, he is not," Ranger told him.
"All right, I will check on him, and Detective Jameson just walked in. I will give him the case. He will be at Trenton Memorial in five minutes." Captain Peterson told Ranger.
"Okay, thanks, Captain," Ranger said.
Ranger walked back up to Stephanie, "Babe."
"I will be right back," Stephanie told him.
"What is going on?" Stephanie asked him.
"Well, the original Detective is Morelli, but he has not shown up. Captain Peterson is sending Detective Jameson; I have worked with him before. So hopefully, he will let Rangeman help." Ranger said,
Just then, Ranger saw Jameson walk in. "Jameson," Ranger said.
"Hey Ranger, what do we have?"
"My girlfriend's father just died after being shot while in bed; well, you need to speak to her mom yourself."
Detective Jameson walked over to Helen introduced himself and asked her to explain what happened.
"I was in the bathroom, I heard two shots, and then nothing. I go into the bedroom. I see Frank in bed bleeding. I rush downstairs and call 911. We get here, and they work on him. He's gone, Frank, my husband is gone." Helen said, and she started to cry again.
"Mom, Grandma, we have a room that you can stay in if you want. You can stay with us." Valerie told her softly.
"Thank you, Valerie, we will take you up on that offer," Helen said.
"Just one more question, is there anyone who could have a vendetta against your husband?" Jameson asked Helen.
"No, but Joseph Morelli came by my house earlier when the two of us were having dinner, and my husband told him to leave. Yesterday, I also talked with him and told him to leave Stephanie and Ranger alone. I can't remember what he said to me right now. I spoke to Angie Morelli and asked her if she could talk to her son. That was it."
"Detective Jameson, Ranger, and I have been dating for six months; we were trying to keep it quiet. Morelli came over to my apartment a couple of days ago when he found out he was not pleased. He does not like it when I am with someone else and not him." Stephanie told him.
"Just then, Detective Jameson's phone rang, "Yes."
"You can't find him; what do you mean?" Jameson.
"Okay, so Morelli is not in his house and his clothes are gone, and so is Bob," Captain Peterson told him.
"Okay, it seems the Detective was giving Stephanie Plum and her mom some trouble. This is because Stephanie was dating Ranger Manoso." Jameson told Peterson.
"So, this is your fault, Stephanie," Valerie yelled.
"Valerie, don't you dare blame your sister for this." Helen snapped at her oldest.
"Your sister is happy with Ranger. She does not deserve to be with a womanizer like Morelli. You have no clue what Morelli was like. I know I didn't for a long time until I talked with your sister." Helen told her.
"Valerie, Morelli cheated on me constantly. Remember all the times I broke up with him. All those times, I threw drinks and pies in his face. That was the reason. I got fed up with it, and Ranger was there to help me realize that he was not worth it. I started to date Ranger, and I am finally happy."
Just then, Ranger's phone rang, "What."
"Stephanie just got red roses and a diamond ring. Please tell me that you sent her those, boss," Tank told him.
The police will pick up the flowers. Call the Florist and ask who sent the flowers" Ranger hung up.
"Babe, we have a problem. Someone just sent you red roses and a diamond ring." Ranger told her.
"Who would do that and why?" Valerie asked.
"Morelli would do that; he is obsessed with your sister. " Ranger told everyone.
Jameson added, "We need to find him, and while you are at it go to Rangeman and pick up the flowers and the ring" He said to a couple of officers that left the hosiptal