Chapter Seventeen

Stephanie came out the interview room. Morelli gave her a quick scan his eyes flickering over her shoes. He gave her a questioning look. Stephanie's shoulder went up in a half shrug. At least she'd learned one thing tonight. Never send a mercenary to buy footwear.

"Look Joe, I know things aren't the best, and this doesn't mean we are back together, but can I stay with you?" Stephanie started.

"I want you to stay with me Steph."

"You do?" She was assessing him. He seemed sincere.

"Yes. Besides, we need to talk." Stephanie's gut clenched at that statement. Nothing good ever followed. It was like déjà vu with the text from Ranger. Stephanie gave him a stiff smile.

"OK. But maybe tomorrow, because tonight all I really want to do is take a shower and go to sleep, and by that, I mean by myself in your guest room."

Morelli looped his arm around her. "Are you sure. They say men in uniform really get women hot and bothered." His tone was joking. She appreciated him trying to lighten the mood.

"I'll let you in on a secret. It's not really the uniform that gets to us. It's the fact that a man is groomed and wearing clothes that actually fit." Her eyes cut to Eddie and the buttons straining perilously over his belly. She scrunched up her nose. "Mostly fit."

Morelli chuckled. "Point taken. Besides I have to say cupcake, those shoes and that t-shirt, are a really effective form of birth control."

Stephanie snorted. "Right. Like that has ever stopped you before."

Morelli pulled her to him and kissed the side of her head. "I'm really glad you are OK. And, I'm really glad you aren't fighting about needing protection. Sly Novak is a bad guy." They headed out of the station.

Stephanie scanned for Ranger, but he was no where to be found. Neither was the Marshal. She tried to ignore the fact she was disappointed. Maybe that was her problem, she pushed Ranger away, but what she really wanted him to do was fight for her. Yeah, like that wasn't totally messed up. It was the grown-up equivalent of boys pulling your pigtails because they liked you. She'd like to think that women were more evolved than that, but right now that seemed debatable.

What did she want? Ranger to just toss her over his shoulder liked she weighed nothing and carry her to his lair. OK, so maybe that had a little appeal, when she thought about it. At a later time, when she was alone and had given it some thought, she'd probably find the flaw in that reasoning, but oddly enough it made sense at the moment. She was a little afraid the lack of oxygen to her brain might have done some damage, because that was about the only thing that would explain the fact Ranger still seemed like the safer bet.

Stephanie looked around the parking lot. "Where is my car?" Surely no one had stolen the damn thing from the parking lot of the police station, but then again this was Trenton.

"RangeMan said they'd take care of it." Morelli responded.

Stephanie had no idea what that meant, but she was really too tired to worry about it. At least it wasn't in police impound or at a chop shop, maybe the night was looking up. Of course, being nearly gunned down and choked to death by a psychopath didn't exactly set the bar high when it came to a good night.

Morelli helped her into his truck and they drove in silence to his house. As they pulled onto the street, Stephanie noticed a big black SUV with blacked-out windows.

"Is that RangeMan?" She asked as they got closer to the SUV.

"Yeah, it looks like one of Ranger's fleet vehicles."

It also looked a lot like the SUV that had been following her this morning. She knew she really shouldn't be surprised or pissed off, but she was a little of both.

"What's the deal with you and Ranger?" She asked as they drove past the SUV. It was impossible to see who was inside.

Morelli thought about it a second.

"Ranger is dangerous. He's a shade off normal."

"How so?" Stephanie asked. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.

"He operates a little too far left of the law for my taste. I know he always gets his man, and has a lot of contacts and government contracts. But the guy's nuts. He doesn't have an address. The address on his driver's license is an empty lot. And I think he kills people."

"Kills people?" Stephanie's voice went up about an octave. These were probably things she should have asked about before she slept with him. It was Jersey so the killing people question was always a valid one, even if the guy didn't dress in all black and have a gun on his hip.

"I'm pretty sure he only kills bad guys." Morelli conceded

"Well, that makes me feel a lot better." Stephanie rolled her eyes. Besides how bad could it really be. He was doing contract work for the U.S. Marshals, surely, they frowned on that sort of thing. He must operate within some set of guidelines. Maybe.

"What's the deal with you and Ranger? Morelli asked her." Don't tell me you don't know him. I saw how he looked at you."

"How he looked at me?" Stephanie hedged stalling for time. Her heart gave a little stutter. She really didn't know what to say.

She didn't know Ranger at all, but Mark Pardo she knew. She knew every luscious, hard inch of him. And boy had there been a lot of inches. Her mouth went dry at the thought. They'd had sex. Lots of sex, and not just ordinary sex. But the kind of sex that shreds your defenses, shatters you, and leaves you trembling, and begging for more.

The kind of sex she'd never actually had with Morelli now that she thought about it. She figured she should probably keep that to herself. Ranger was the kind of man that was attuned to his lover's body. He knew every breath, every sound, the subtle change and the shifting tension when he hit the right spot. He instinctively knew just what she wanted. Ranger would know if she was faking it, and she had a feeling, he'd have none of that. Morelli never seemed to notice when she faked it. Or maybe he did, but he just didn't care.

Not that she faked it that often. OK, maybe more so lately, but things had just been off. Morelli was an unpredictable lover under the best of circumstances. Sometimes he was slow and thoughtful. Sometimes he was almost violent with need. Sometimes he was funny. Frequently he was all three. Lately, Morelli just seemed distracted. And not in the Giants are playing the Patriots kind of way. More like his mind was somewhere else, with someone else.

Last night, Ranger had been a hundred percent focused on her. She'd never had a man spend that much time learning the feel of her body or taking so much pleasure from doing so. A little shiver went up her spine. How did you ever come back from that? She was pretty sure Ranger would be the man she compared everyone else to, and she had a bad feeling they would all come up short. Probably in more ways than one.

Morelli's voice yanked her out of her trip down memory lane.

"He looked at you, like you look at ice cream and butterscotch tastykakes." Morelli glanced over at her.

Yep, she thought. That would about cover how she thought of him too. She'd take Ranger over tastykakes any day and that was definitely saying something.

A beat went by, and she didn't answer Morelli. Mainly because she didn't know what to say. Clearly Morelli knew something was going on.

"Stay away from him Steph. Ranger is bad news. He's a thug."

They pulled into Morelli's driveway, and she hopped out of Morelli's truck cursing her sore feet before she had to answer the question about Ranger. Morelli was a good cop. She had a feeling he wasn't fooled. Besides the Burg gossip tree was already buzzing.

They got inside and Morelli opened the refrigerator and handed her a beer.

"Want some dinner?" Morelli asked.

"Yeah. What do you want?" Stephanie asked.

"Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans."

"How about a peanut butter sandwich?"

"That would be my second choice."

Stephanie pulled out the bread and Morelli got the peanut butter.

"What's going on Steph?" Morelli asked as he leaned against the counter eating his sandwich, watching her with his cop eyes.

Stephanie shrugged. "I'm not sure. All I know is Raymond is dead."

"That's it? That's all you know." Morelli didn't seem convinced.

"Isn't that enough?" Stephanie snapped.

Morelli sighed. It was one of those long-suffering sighs, that grated on her nerves. "Why are we so bad at this cupcake?"

"At this. What exactly do you think this is?" Stephanie hissed. Her voice taking on a steely quality.

Morelli gestured between them. "Whatever this is. This relationship thing." Morelli bit back, she could see the tension in his body and the irritation in his eyes.

Stephanie glared back. "Are we fighting?"

"No. We're discussing." Morelli was using the same pained voice he used with his nephews when he tried to explain why underpants should be worn under your clothes, even if they did have superheroes on them.

"Are you sure?" Because Stephanie wasn't so sure.

It sure seemed like they were fighting or getting ready to, and she wasn't up for that tonight. She really just wanted a shower and some sleep. Her relationship with Morelli had been a problem since she was six. Really what was another day or two. Besides, if Sly Novak had his way, her relationship with Morelli would be the least of her problems, assuming she lived.

"Am I yelling?" Morelli asked.

"No."

"Is my face purple?"

"No."

"Are the cords on my neck standing out? Am I waving my arms around?"

"No."

"Then we're not fighting." Morelli gave her the look that said they may not be fighting, but she was definitely trying his patience.

Stephanie just raised her eyebrows at him and looked down her nose. She gave him her best hoity-toity look. "OK, go on then."

They could do this. They could have an adult conversation. One that was clearly overdue.

"The sex part is pretty good, most of the time." Morelli shrugged. "It's just the commitment part that never seems to work."

Pretty good? Did he just say pretty good? Stephanie could feel the outrage starting to steam and take root. She tapped it down, and narrowed her eyes at him. She was an adult, having an adult conversation she reminded herself. But he'd just said pretty good, and he'd given sex top billing. Not love, not commitment, and not marriage that was for damn sure. Nope, sex. Not that it should surprise her. Morelli's first thought was always of sex.

Stephanie took a deep breath. In the interest of being an adult, Stephanie chose to ignore the part where Morelli basically said they had just OK sex, because after last night, she couldn't really argue the point. She knew that was true. Although, she couldn't help but wonder who Morelli had good sex with. Her money was on little red teddy. Irritation skittered through her.

"You know what I think." Stephanie stated. Morelli was looking at her like he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like what she thought, but he nodded anyway.

"I think the sex part is the problem. You're like most men. You always want to have sex. All you need is a place and a willing woman, but women aren't like that. Women need a reason to have sex, or at least I do. And, I think that's why we keep dancing around the commitment thing. If I think we might be getting married, I can justify sex with you, and you know that if you dangle marriage out there, you'll get what you want." Stephanie lifted her shoulder. "I really think it's that simple."

"So, you think this is all because I'm a horn-dog and you have a bunch of Catholic guilt about meaningless sex?" Morelli didn't sound like he thought it was a ludicrous idea. In fact, he sounded like he thought it might be true.

"But Steph I do care about you. I may even love you." Now he just sounded confused.

"I know. But I think you love me like a friend, but because I'm a girl it confuses you. We keep trying to make it more, and it just isn't. You don't know what to do with a woman that is just a friend. Your default around a woman is to get her naked."

She could see Morelli considering what she had said.

"There could be some truth to that." He allowed.

"Look Joe, we grew up together, we have a history. Some of it good, some of it not so good. You have always been part of my life. That doesn't just go away, you don't just turn that off."

"So, what are you saying?" He was eyeing her like she might be a tad dangerous. This new calm Stephanie had definitely thrown him for a loop.

"I hope you will always be in my life, but maybe it's better if we are just friends. We've tried the whole relationship thing for years." Stephanie's voice trailed off. "I don't want to settle and you shouldn't either."

Morelli pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. "This sucks."

Stephanie wrapped her arms around him. "I know." And, it did, but probably a whole lot less than getting married or dancing around each other for another few years.

Morelli stepped back. "There's something I need to tell you, and it is probably going to make you want to rethink that whole friend thing."

Stephanie couldn't help it. She crossed her arms over her chest. She knew it wouldn't soften the blow that was coming to her heart, but a girl could hope.

Morelli rubbed the back of his neck like he was trying to ease some of the tension. "You were right about Terry. I've been seeing her on and off for years."

Morelli's eyes locked with Stephanie's. He looked tortured, and she almost felt sorry for him. "She's pregnant Steph."

Stephanie couldn't help the sharp intake of breath. "Pregnant?" She breathed.

"Yeah. I don't know what we are going to do."

Stephanie's mind was reeling. Terry was pregnant, no doubt a result of Bella's meddling. Gawd, what if she and Terry had ended up pregnant at the same time. A little strangled sound escaped her throat before she could stop it. As she looked at him it dawned on her. If that had happened, Morelli's choice would have been clear.

"You're in love with her." Stephanie could hear the disbelief in her own voice.

"Yes, I always have been. Ever since high school." There., he'd said it out loud. Now there was no going back. Speaking it into the universe made it true.

"Wow." Stephanie tried to process what he had just said. Anger was licking up her neck making her feel alternately hot and cold. Calm down she told herself. You said you were his friend, now act like it.

"She's in the mob."

"And I'm a cop."

"That sucks." Stephanie realized that was the only reason Morelli and Terry were not together, and a little dagger went through her heart.

She'd only ever been a stand in for what Morelli really wanted. The whole time they'd been together Morelli had been doing Terry, and the whole time he had been in love with Terry, wishing it was her and not Stephanie.

Stephanie's anger boiled over. Maybe one day this would be OK, but not right now. She really wanted to hurt Morelli like he had hurt her.

"And Joe, for the record. It's too late on the Ranger thing. Too late to stay away from him. Why you ask, because I fucked him last night. A lot. Like all night, several times. And it was way better than pretty good."

Stephanie registered the look of pure shock and then anger on Morelli's face right before she stormed upstairs into the bathroom and slammed the door. So much for the adult part of that conversation.

Stephanie brushed away the hot tears. Fuck, that had not gone well at all. But Joe and Terry. She'd always suspected it, but somehow knowing made it real. Now it was final. She and Joe were done, and right now she wasn't even so sure about the friend thing. Stephanie stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. The hot water stinging her arm where the bullet had grazed her.

Yeah, Terry and Joe were the least of her problems. Not getting killed by a deranged mobster was definitely at the top of the list. That and getting a look at those files. Then she'd deal with the fact E.E. Martin had burned to the ground, and she was probably out of a job.

Her arm burned and throbbed. Raising it over her head made a searing pain shoot up her arm. She skipped washing her hair, because the last thing she needed right now was more pain. She climbed out and wrapped a towel around her. The flash drive sat on the counter like a silent invitation to destruction.

Her laptop was at her apartment, and the last thing she was going to do was plug that flash drive into a cop's laptop. Stephanie caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and almost shrieked.

Her hair had long ago given up being tamed into any semblance of a style. It was a wild tumble of curls around her head. She had a bruise on her cheekbone, but that paled in comparison to her throat. Ugly purple bruises encircled her neck. If she looked closely, she could see the distinctive hand pattern. She reached up and absently touched the skin. The bruises would heal. She wasn't so sure about her heart.

The funny thing, it wasn't Morelli that came to mind, it was Ranger. Ranger had somehow taken her mind right off Morelli, which wasn't an easy feat. Morelli was hard to forget. She'd put a lot of effort into it over the years, but had never been successful. Now if she could just get her mind off of Ranger. She had a bad feeling, if Morelli had been hard to forget, Ranger would be impossible.

Stephanie took the flash drive and looked around. She needed to stash it somewhere for the night. Tomorrow she'd take a look, meet with the prosecutor, and hear Ranger out. She owed herself that. Besides, it was entirely possible she might need his help. She had a bad feeling she was in way over her head, and like it or not, Ranger might be her only option.

Stephanie tucked the flash drive under the sink in the tube of the extra toilet paper. She doubted too many people would think to look there.

Stephanie opened the bathroom door. Outside was a little pile of clothes. A Navy t-shirt, boxers, and a pair of underwear. At least she recognized the underwear as hers she thought bitterly. She yanked the clothes up.

She wasn't sure if it was pissed off pride or spite, but she pulled the RangeMan t-shirt back on along with the underwear and boxers. Stephanie crept down the hall. She could hear the TV on downstairs. She knew she should go down and face him. There were things that needed to be said. Instead, she made her way to the guest room. Exhaustion pulling at her with every step.

Morelli had made up the bed with fresh linens. A little pang went through her at the sight. She knew she was being childish, but right now she just couldn't deal with any of it. She crawled in bed, the feel of the fresh linens cool against her skin. The clean scent tingling her nose, reminding her of sheets on the clothesline in the heat of summer. Part of her wished for those simpler times about now. Everything was complicated.

She flopped on her back and willed herself to sleep. The minutes ticked by as she stared at the ceiling. Her body ached and her limbs felt heavy, but her mind was chattering away like a crazed monkey. A lone tear popped out and ran down her cheek. She was too tired to wipe it away, instead she just squeezed her eyes closed and wished things were different.

Stephanie must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew there was a hand covering her mouth and voice whispering in her ear. She jerked awake. Panic flashed through her.

"Easy cupcake, it's just me." Morelli whispered in her ear. Her deep voice, instantly calming her. "I'm going to take my hand off your mouth. Don't make a sound. Do you understand?"

Stephanie nodded. She realized Morelli had a pair of jeans on and nothing else, except for the gun in his hand. Fear snaked down her spine. Morelli was in full-on cop mode.

"Someone's in the house. Get up and come with me." Stephanie immediately complied, doing her best to be stealthy and avoid the squeaky board in the floor.

"Stay behind me."

The house was dark, and she could barely see, but she did what he told her. Stephanie really wanted to ask what the plan was, as they crept into the hall. It wasn't lost on her that despite everything, Morelli was risking his life to keep her safe. He was moving them towards his bedroom. Gun out scanning. His breathing was slow and steady, and his movements were fluid and practiced. Stephanie realized how little she really knew about Morelli's life. She knew he was a cop, but until this moment she hadn't really realized what that meant. That Morelli risked his life pretty much every day.

Stephanie could taste the metallic tang of fear in her mouth, and feel her heart hammering against her ribs. She could hear just the slight whisper of noises downstairs as someone made their way through the darkened room, gingerly picking their way around the furniture.

The next part happened so fast it was almost a blur. She saw a shadow move on her left and let out a scream. Morelli whirled and fired just as the shadow did. The report of gunshots was so loud, her ears were ringing. The flash of muzzle temporarily blinded her. A beat passed, and she watched as Morelli crumpled to the ground beside her. The shadow was on the floor unmoving. The smell of gun powder hung in the air and stung her nose. She watched in horror as a glistening dark patch started to spread underneath Morelli's still form.

She heard screaming and it took her a second to realize it was her. She was on her knees next to Morelli. His eyes were closed and she couldn't tell if he was breathing. She was desperately trying to stop the bleeding, but it spilled through her fingers hot and thick. She was afraid it wouldn't matter, because she was terrified Morelli was already dead.

Two more shadows emerged from the darkness.

"Shit man, why did he do that!" One shadow barked to the other.

Her lips were numb and tears were blurring her eyes. Get the gun echoed through her head as she lurched forward, desperation and adrenaline driving her. The barrel of the gun barely brushed her fingers before a heavy boot came down on her wrist. Stephanie cried out in pain as the boot pressed down hard. She prayed the crunching sound wasn't her wrist snapping like a twig.

Stephanie looked up but all she could see was the gun pointing at her head. Terror blinding her.

"Grab her." A voice barked.

"We're supposed to whack her." Stephanie's gaze swam into focus. A man she'd never seen before was pointing a gun at her head and smirking.

"We need her to get out of here. We have to go. Everyone will have heard that, and those RangeMan assholes will kill us. You can get rid of her later." The second shadow barked.

Stephanie felt a big hand wrap around her arm and pull her to her feet. She slipped in the blood as she tried to gain her footing.

The man was big and dressed all in black. Stephanie let out a squeak of surprise has he shoved her forward. The sound of the door crashing open startled all of them.

Hal and Cal were sitting in the SUV watching Morelli's house. Dawn was fast approaching, and Hal was looking forward to some fresh coffee. Stakeouts were his least favorite thing.

Les and Bobby made one more circuit of the block. Driving slowly, looking for anything out of place.

Bobby gestured to the black town car. "That's new."

"That shouldn't be here." Les responded. A spike of adrenaline went through him.

Les radioed Hal. "We have an unidentified vehicle in the back. You need to check the house." It was probably nothing Les assured himself. Just then the sound of gunshots broke the still of the night.

"Oh shit." Les shouted. Really, what was he thinking? This was Stephanie Plum, the queen of chaos. He was going to need combat pay before this was over.

Bobby and Les were out of the SUV guns drawn, running towards the back of the house. Les put his boot to the back door splintering the wood as the door crashed open.

Some big ass motherfucker had Stephanie in front of him using her as a shield. A gun pressed against her temple. Les' heart lurched. Stephanie was covered in blood.

Bobby was right behind Les. They fanned out; weapons trained. Les saw the second man, just behind the big one. He put three shots in his abdomen in quick succession. The man grunted in pain as his eyes widened in surprise. He looked down trying to catch the blood with his hands. The man crumpled to the floor clutching his stomach. Les knew it was too late for him, but the man hadn't quite registered that fact.

"Put down your gun or I shoot her." The big one that had Stephanie barked.

"Not happening man. You're only play is to let her go, and you might live." Les kept his voice calm, like this was just a walk in the park and somehow, they were all going to walk out of here.

Stephanie was staring at Les. He was totally transformed. He was no longer the goofy guy with the easy grin. His eyes were hard, his voice was hard, and he looked big and lethal. He'd taken that guy out without so much as blinking.

"Bobby." Stephanie stammered. "They shot Joe. You have to help him."

Bobby's eyes and gun remained trained on the guy with the gun pressed to her head.

At least Les knew where the blood came from. It probably shouldn't have made him feel better, but it did. At least it wasn't Stephanie's.

"I will. I promise." Bobby told her. "Are you hurt?"

"No, please just help Joe." Stephanie wailed.

The sound broke Les' heart just a little. "Stephanie it's going to be OK." They both knew that was a lie.

The big guy was pushing her forward, the gun still pressed to her temple.

Les followed him with is gun as he used Stephanie as a shield, pulling her through the door with him. There was no shot that didn't risk Stephanie.

Frustration pulsed through Les as he let him pass.

"Bobby clear the house, and help Morelli." Les barked as he followed the other guy out the house.

The guy was holding Stephanie with one arm and he fired on Les. Les dove for cover. He felt the heat of the bullet whiz by his head.

"Take the shot Les, take the fucking shot." Stephanie was screaming as the guy hauled her towards the car.

Another shooter appeared out of the bushes, giving cover fire to the guy that was dragging Stephanie towards the waiting town car. She was fighting, kicking and screaming. Les saw the big guy crack her in the side of the head with his gun and her body went limp. Another volley of fire came Les' way, pinging all around him. He heard the car doors close, the trunk slam, and tires squeal.

"Fuck." Les barked and ran towards his SUV.

Hal and Cal came running out the back.

"House is clear." Hal shouted at Les. "Two tangos down hard."

"They've got Stephanie."

Hal and Cal ran back around the house and jumped in their SUV to follow the town car.

"I've got a visual." Les heard Tank report. Tank had been driving the cross streets looking for anything suspicious in the neighborhood. Yet somehow, they'd all missed these assholes rolling up on Morelli's. It felt an awful lot like these guys were well acquainted with the neighborhood.

Les dialed Ranger. "They've got Stephanie. We are in pursuit. Morelli has been shot. Bobby is with him. We need a clean-up crew." Les gave Ranger a rapid-fire report.

Ranger felt all the blood drain from his face, as he sprinted towards the Porsche. "Location!" Ranger barked. "I'm on my way to intercept."

Ranger wasn't a particularly religious guy, but he started praying anyway. Bargaining with god, or the universe, or whatever was out there that Stephanie would be OK, because she had to be OK.

This was his fault. He should have insisted that she come with him. He should have protected her, even if he had to sling her over his shoulder and haul her out of the damn police station kicking and screaming. At least she would be safe.

Ranger realized with absolute clarity, that somehow Stephanie Plum had gotten under his skin. He was not emotionally distanced, and he really didn't think he could live with myself if something happened to her.

The streets were a blur as he floored the Porsche. Hold on Babe, I'm coming.