Chapter Eighteen
Take the shot Les, just take the shot. Stephanie knew it didn't really matter if he hit her or not because if this asshole got her out of the house, she was a dead woman anyway.
Hope was dwindling fast as the goon pulled her out the door and across the yard. She held her breath as he fired on Les, praying Les wouldn't get gunned down like Morelli. God, was Morelli dead? She was pretty sure he was. All that blood. The coppery, metallic smell still invaded her nose, and she involuntarily gagged.
She realized that high pitched keening sound was coming from her. Get it together her inner voice barked. Her brain didn't seem to be listening. Stephanie started twisting and kicking. Her bare feet doing very little damage, but her efforts marginally slowed her assailant's progress.
"Bitch." The goon snarled, and gave her a sharp squeeze that that caused her breath to whoosh out. She hoped he hadn't cracked her ribs in the process.
All she was doing was pissing the guy off. Stephanie was pretty sure pissing off some snarling jackass with a gun, wasn't' the best idea she'd had this week. Not that she'd actually had too many good ideas this week, so there wasn't much competition to fret about. The goon hauled off of her feet as he kept moving away from Les.
Stephanie bit his arm, and got a little satisfaction from his pained yelp. Her satisfaction was fleeting. She felt the sharp crack of the gun on her skull. Her vision tunneled, and her body went slack. She needed to fight, but her muscles wouldn't' listen. Her hope was fading.
The man was easily holding her in place with one hand and firing with the other, moving much too quickly towards the car. Stephanie landed in the trunk with a painful thud. Stars exploded in her vision, and blackness threatened to overtake her, but she twisted and fought even as bolts of pain shot through her. She could hear the sound of rapid gunfire, and the wail of a siren in the distance. The trunk lid slammed closed and panic started to crawl over her. The icy fear making her scalp tingle and her heart race. Her body was starting to shake and she was afraid she might be going into shock.
Visions of Morelli on the ground swam into her mind. Eyes closed, the dark, sinister pool of blood spreading out around him as his life drained out of him with every heartbeat. Everything seemed so very far away. There was this buzzing in her head that seemed to be blocking out everything else.
Calm down, keep your focus. That's your only chance she told herself. She knew they planned to kill her. Her usefulness was over, now that they were out of the house. The next time the trunk opened, they would shoot her. Of that, she was sure.
Stephanie tried to focus on her surroundings. They were out of the neighborhood and driving fast. She could tell by the way she slid around in the trunk banging against the sides they were probably weaving in and out of traffic. That meant the highway. She wondered where they were taking her, and couldn't suppress the involuntary shudder that went down her spine when she wondered what they would do to her when they got there. She had a feeling they weren't going to be happy their plans had been blown all to hell, and that big guy seemed like the type to take it out on her.
The road noise was a constant hum as the tires ate up the pavement. Every time they hit a bump or a pothole, she smacked against the trunk with a bone jarring thud. Turns out there were a lot of potholes in Trenton.
Her hands were feeling around looking for anything useful. For mobsters, they were surprisingly tidy. The trunk seemed to be mostly empty as she blindly swept her hands from side-to-side, praying for a miracle.
The tail lights gave an eerie glow to the trunk, but not enough light to be useful. She needed a plan, but the only ones she could think of would probably end up with her dead. Prying the trunk open and flinging herself out, or fighting like a banshee when the trunk opened. Yep, those were her not so brilliant ideas. Then again, even a slim chance was better odds than she would have without a plan. She wondered if they would just leave her in the trunk and shoot her, or if they would make her get out and dig her own grave first, like they did in the movies.
She should have gone with Ranger. She'd put Morelli in danger, and now he was probably dead. Dead because of her. Dead because she was stubborn. Because of her ego. Yeah, it had hurt. What happened between her and Ranger wasn't real, it was just a way to get information, but she should have listened to the Marshal. She should have put her ego aside and gone into protective custody.
Morelli was dead, and he'd never even get to see his kid. And that was all her fault.
She viciously wiped the tears and snot from her face, and continued to search. Suddenly, she was violently thrown against the back of the trunk as the sound of metal screeching on metal nearly deafened her. An acrid smell filled the trunk, causing her to choke and sputter. There was a sickening crunch, and then it was quiet. No humming road noise, just silence.
Stephanie felt the car tilt and then it fell. It was like time slowed down, and the world was suspended. Then came the impact. The front end crumpled with the force of impact thrusting two-foot of metal back into the car. The car groaned like the final cry of some wounded beast as water began to pour into the trunk.
While Stephanie had seen a car crash or two, it had not prepared her for actually being in one. She was temporarily stunned. Paralyzed with shock and fear, a form of emotional blindness that left her inert.
Stephanie had whacked her head pretty good in the crash, and absently reached up running her fingertips over the lump that was starting to form. She could feel a warm trickle of blood making its way down her temple. It was probably a miracle she was actually alive. Cold water rushed in and galvanized her into action, pulling her out of her dazed stupor. She definitely wouldn't be alive long, if she didn't do something.
She knew with blinding certainty, if she didn't get out of this trunk, she was going to drown. People had a weird way of romanticizing different types of death. The truth was, it was all ugly. It all hurt, and she wasn't interested in drowning any more than she was being shot or choked. Stephanie pushed down the pure panic that was threatening to consume her. She bashed at the trunk latch with a metal can, knowing it was futile.
For a brief moment, she saw her life flash through her eyes. She realized that she was still too young to embrace death. She could not leave her parents, her friends, or Rex. She did not want to die in the trunk of some crappy town car, choking to death on tainted, toxic New Jersey water.
The water was rapidly filling the trunk and she accidentally gulped down a mouthful, as she continued to bang on the latch. She choked and coughed. She gasped for air as the burning in her chest intensified. Panic and desperation washed over her along with the freezing water.
As precious seconds ticked by, a calm settled over her, and she knew at that moment she could do nothing but say goodbye. It made her angry that she was going to leave the world without ever reaching her dreams. Without ever having really tried. She had wasted her life on a boring career, trying to fit into a mold that she hated. Trying to be someone she didn't even like. The little girl that had dreamed of being an intergalactic princess, the one that idolized Wonder Woman, was going to die trapped in a trunk full of filthy water, without ever having lived, because she had been afraid of what people might say. If she got a do-over, she wouldn't give a shit what her mother wanted, or care what the neighbors thought.
Her nose was the only thing above water, her body going numb from the cold and shock. She knew as the water continued to fill the space; she would no longer be able to breathe. She could hold her breath, but eventually the need to breathe would be too great, and she would suck in water and drown. All illusions of surviving were gone. She just hoped the divers would eventually find her and return her to her parents. Stephanie took one last gulp of air and closed her eyes as the water overtook her. "Babe" whispered through her head.
Les was driving like he was in the Indy 500, weaving in and out of traffic like a maniac. He was about to be driving like he was in a demolition derby, if the jackass in the Prius didn't get out of his way. There was a surprising amount of traffic, given how early it was.
"Come on man!" Les yelled and laid on the horn.
It wasn't like the guy didn't see the giant SUV on his ass honking and flashing its lights. No, this guy was one of the pious jackasses that thought he was morally superior because he drove an electric car. While there might be something to the whole electric car thing, now was not the time. Not when Stephanie was getting further and further away by the second.
Les decided he'd had just about enough of this shit. He gave him a not-so-subtle tap and the little car skidded and bumped to the shoulder, coming to rest pointed the wrong way. The guy's mouth formed a giant O, as he held on to the steering wheel with a white knuckled death grip. That'd teach him. Les resisted the urge to flip him off.
As he passed the Prius, Les gave a little grimace, the entire back-end of the guy's car had crumpled like an accordion. That was definitely going to leave a mark. Usually, Les got in trouble for shit like that. Ranger wasn't real fond of running civilians off the road. He thought it tarnished their image or some such bullshit, but Les figured even Ranger would understand today.
The sun had just started to rise, and the morning had that beautiful elfin glow, which just didn't seem to fit with the way this morning was going. There were so many things wrong, it was hard to categorize them all, starting with fact that someone knew Stephanie had gone home with Morelli last night. The word had been purposefully leaked that she was in protective custody, yet someone had figured it out. Then they had assembled a team that timed the entry into the neighborhood with military precision, driven a car that blended in with the forty others on the block, and had been remarkably efficient at getting into Morelli's house undetected.
That had inside information written all over it. Of course, it didn't much matter. Ranger was going to have their asses for it anyway. They'd all need that number for truckmasters when Ranger was done with them. Les couldn't say that he really blamed him.
Right now, Stephanie was crammed in a trunk with two psychopaths speeding down the highway. Les could see Tank on the far right trying to get ahead of the town car and cut them off after the bridge. Hal and Cal were trailing behind, waiting on Tank to make his move.
Les watched with wide-eyed horror as the town car suddenly veered into the right lane and clipped a Culligan water delivery truck. The town car swerved back in its lane, and the driver over corrected, bashing into the guardrail. Sparks were flying and the car was weaving erratically as it scraped and bumped along. Les let out the breath he'd been holding when the town car steadied, and continued on.
His relief was short-lived. The impact to the delivery truck had caused the five-gallon bottles to come loose, and one-by-one they started falling onto the highway. Cars were careening right and left trying to avoid the debris. One of the bottles hit the windshield of the town car with an explosion of water that shot out in all directions, blinding other drivers with its deluge, before dissipating. The town car once again veered into the right lane.
One moment the road was there, wide open, and safe, the next a sea of brakes, loud noises, and acrid smells. The sound of metal-on-metal making an unholy screeching that seemed distinctly out of place in the elfin glow of sunrise over the Delaware river.
A non-descript white POS car hit the passenger side bumper from behind, sliding under it with enough force to cause the town car to go airborne. Les figured it was just one of those things that almost never happened. Just the right speed, just the right angle. Just their luck this morning. The town car ploughed through the guardrail, teetered precariously for what felt like an eternity, and then fell nose first into the river below.
Holy fucking shit. Les let out a string of curses that were a mixture of English and Spanish. He yanked the wheel of the SUV and ploughed through the debris dragging water bottles under the SUV, and skidded to a stop. Les started counting.
Les caught a black blur out of the corner of his eye, as the Porsche sped past him. Ranger slammed on the brakes and the car skidded sideways to a stop. Silver-blue smoke billowed out and twirled skyward, followed by the smell of burnt tires and overheated brakes.
The speedometer on the Porsche kicked past a hundred and twenty, Ranger vaguely registered there was probably a road more suited to high-speed driving than the local freeway, even if it was early morning. He forced himself to let off the gas, just a little, taking it down to a more respectable ninety as he weaved in and out of traffic, and barely missed some asshole in a Prius facing the wrong way. It looked like that guy already had a little bump and rub this morning.
Ranger's heart was hammering in his chest. There were a thousand ways for this to go bad, and he was pretty sure he was imagining every single scenario. He gripped the wheel tighter. How the hell had this happened? They would do a complete post-mortem, but his money was on an inside job. Someone at the police station had leaked Stephanie's location. There just wasn't any other explanation. Five guys and three vehicles patrolling should have been enough. He blew out a frustrated breath, but they weren't, and now Morelli had been shot and Stephanie was stuffed in the trunk of a car. At least they hadn't just shot her on the spot. It was cold comfort, but it was all he had.
Ranger was pretty sure his heart stopped as he watched the scene play out in front of him. Of the thousand doomsday scenarios he'd run through his mind, somehow, he'd never even imagined this one. He watched as the town car went airborne and balanced precariously on the guardrail, before plunging nose first into the river with Stephanie locked in the trunk.
It was pure dumb luck, he didn't' wreck the car as his field of vision tunneled. He had to get her out. The next thing he knew he was diving off the bridge on a suicide mission. But that was fine by him. Because if Stephanie died, he didn't see much point in living anyway. Ranger knew bad things happened to good people all the time, but he hoped, on balance, sometimes karma smiled on those that deserved it. If it didn't, really what was the point in anything. The one thing he was sure of, Stephanie Plum deserved good karma. She was kind and she was light. Surely the universe wouldn't be so cruel.
Ranger was out and running. Les saw Tank throw Ranger a crowbar as Ranger dove off the bridge.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" Les was out of the SUV and sprinting toward the side of the bridge.
Tank caught him and pulled him back before he could jump in after Ranger.
"Santos, no!" Tank barked.
"Ranger needs help. He's going to drown!" Les was frantically trying to yank out of Tank's vise like grip.
"No." Tank repeated. There was a finality to his tone, that terrified Les. He realized not even Tank thought Ranger was going to succeed. Tank just didn't want them both to drown.
"Ranger will need help when he gets Stephanie out."
"He's not going to make it." Les was shaking his head. Not even Ranger could pull this one off. The current was too strong, the lighting was low, and the water was fucking freezing. Sure, Les had seen Ranger do things that shouldn't even be humanly possible, but there were too many variables stacked against him on this one.
"That's Ranger. He's got this." Les was pretty sure Tank was trying to convince himself more than Les.
Tank and Les scanned the river as the seconds ticked by, Les counting them off in his head. All they could see was the dark murky water swirling below. Even the headlights of the car had winked out.
Eighty-seven seconds. That's what the average person had before they reached the tipping point. The amount of time a person had before the instinct not to breathe was overcome with the reality of running out of air. At eighty-seven seconds a person's automatic breathing reflex took over and they sucked in water, whether they wanted to or not. That's when the actual drowning started. The panic mixed with the odd incredulity that it was actually happening. Ranger would fare better than the average, but he'd already been under more than two minutes. Even superheroes had tipping points.
Ranger felt the sting of hitting the water. It felt a little like being punched, but the pain only reminded him he was alive, and he had one purpose. A few seconds later, Ranger decided the pain of hitting the water was nothing compared to the cold. The good news, the cold would numb his body quickly. The bad news, it would quicky rob him of his strength and his muscles would start to cramp.
All in, some of what he'd come to think of as Plum luck had held. The car had gone over the edge pretty close to the shore. The water was less deep, and the fall had been shorter. Not that either couldn't be fatal, but Stephanie had a chance. At least that was what Ranger kept telling himself as he pushed towards the car.
Ranger could barely see the last wink of the tail lights as they blinked and went out for good. He honed in on that last flicker and kicked with all his might, praying his aim was true and he would reach the car.
The tail lights had shorted out, just as the water overtook her. Stephanie was plunged into complete darkness. Fitting she thought. She knew this was probably her last minute on earth, as her lungs started to burn from lack of oxygen. This was the third time someone had tried to kill her in the last twenty-four hours. It looked like the third time was going to be the charm. She sent up a silent prayer that Joe had somehow lived. It was time to accept the inevitable.
She heard a clanging or maybe it was a scraping. It was too distorted to make out. Stephanie couldn't tell what direction the sound was coming from, or how far away it was. Maybe it was just the car with its own death rattle.
Suddenly a thin veil of light pierced her vision, and she felt big hands wrap around her, yanking her out towards the sliver of light. She felt a strong body underneath her pushing her up. Even underwater she'd know that body.
It was the longest moment of her life as Stephanie struggled not to breathe and suck in river water. She surfaced gasping for air, sputtering and gagging. She went under briefly and was pushed up again. Stephanie could feel Ranger against her back, his arm wrapped around her. She could feel his powerful muscles pushing and straining. He pulled her head onto his chest.
"I'm going to float with the current and tow you in." Ranger shouted.
Stephanie thought that was a fine idea, because she was pretty sure floating and towing were all she was capable of at the moment.
Her whole body was trembling and her teeth were chattering. Her limbs felt like lead. Every breath she took was both a gift and a curse. Her oxygen starved lungs burned, even as they worked to suck in air.
While she knew it took tremendous strength and endurance to keep them from drowning, Ranger made it seem easy. His powerful body pushed them up to the surface every time the water took them under, and Stephanie could see the shore moving into view.
Ranger pushed them to shore, and Stephanie tried to stand. Her limbs felt numb and uncoordinated. Ranger pulled her up the bank and they both collapsed. Ranger pulled her into his lap and held her tight. His cheek pressed against hers.
"You're OK," he said.
Stephanie thought it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than her. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest. His arms tightened around her, and she snuggled closer.
It was stupid. The man had lied to her. Seduced her. Used her. Except a little voice in the back of her head said she wasn't so sure about the being used part. The man had just jumped off a bridge to save her life. You didn't do that for just anybody. Right?
She leaned back and took his face between her hands. There was almost a softness to his mouth that was sensuous and youthful, but his eyes were dark and serious and told a different story. Worry, fatigue, and terror.
Stephanie's lips brushed Ranger's, softly, delicately. When his lips opened in invitation, the kiss became demanding. She kissed him like she wanted to be kissed. She pushed her tongue past his teeth, and she heard him make a half growl, half moan against her mouth. She wanted to share one breath with him, inhale him. She felt like she was trying to devour him, that she couldn't quite get close enough. She couldn't believe they were both alive, and she had to keep touching him, kissing him, just to make sure it was really true.
"Better yet?" He breathed against her lips in-between kisses.
"Not yet." She whispered. He pulled her forward claiming her mouth again. This time he stole her breath.
That's how Les found them. When he'd seen Ranger surface with Stephanie, he had been so relieved he'd almost fainted. Les didn't think he'd been happier to see anything in his life. He'd skidded down the bank, ripping the knee of his cargo pants and ran down the shoreline to them in a flat-out sprint.
He skidded to stop in front of them. They barely seemed to notice he was there until he cleared his throat.
Stephanie was in Ranger's lap and her hands were fisted in his hair anchoring him in place. Not that Ranger looked like he wanted to move from that spot. Ever. He could see the slight tremor in Ranger's arms. He knew Ranger had come awfully close to not making it out of that river. It had been sheer force of will that got them to the shore. Les could tell Ranger's muscles were completely fatigued, and probably felt a lot like jelly, but he gave him credit. Ranger was doing a good job of covering.
Les crouched down and held out his arms to Stephanie. "Come on querida, let me carry you out of here so we can get you checked out and into some dry clothes."
He saw her instinctively press into Ranger's chest. Ranger's arms settled around her in a protective gesture. Oh yeah, Ranger was in deep. So was Stephanie. He wondered how long it would take the two of them to figure out what was evident to everyone else around them.
"Ric will be right here with us. He's just a little tired." Les reassured her.
"Ric?" Confusion tinged her voice.
Les smiled. "Ranger. I just call him Ric."
He could see her eyes narrow just a little. It was clear she was wondering just how many names Ranger actually had. She was probably also wondering how many of them were fake, but he figured that was Ranger's problem, not his. Ranger had brought that one on himself, and Les wasn't about to step in the middle of that. Les had a lot of bad traits. Stupid wasn't one of them. Well, except for women, and then Les was an idiot, but that didn't really count in this situation. Probably.
"I can walk." Stephanie's voice was a hoarse whisper. Between the choking and the near drowning, Les was surprised she could talk at all.
"You don't have on any shoes." Les pointed out. "Or pants."
"I lost my crocs?" She sounded a little bewildered, like maybe the adrenaline was starting to burn off and she was getting ready to crash.
"It's OK. I'll get you another pair." Les smiled at her, and she smiled back.
"Lucky me." Stephanie gave him a half-hearted eyeroll.
Les also noticed she didn't have a bra on, but he figured he probably shouldn't point that out. Ranger was already glaring at him, but in his defense, it was hard to miss. Her shirt was wet, and the water had clearly been cold. Les really hoped she had panties on, because god knew, if he had to carry her out of here and she didn't, Ranger would beat his ass just on principle.
She reached out and Les hauled her into his arms, doing his best to keep her t-shirt in place. He looked down at Ranger.
"You good?" Les asked.
Ranger nodded, then wobbled to his feet staggered a couple of steps, bent over the threw-up river water and fear. Ranger stayed bent over with his hands resting on his knees for a minute, willing himself to breathe. That had been too damn close. He stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Ranger's legs felt shaky but he forced himself to put one foot in front of the other and follow Les.
Les had her in bridal carry, and Stephanie had her arms around Les' neck. Her head was resting on his chest, eyes closed. Les could tell, the horror of it all was starting to drag her under. When Les reached the bridge, Tank draped a blanket around her.
Montero was there, standing with hands on his hips surveying the chaos.
"Is she OK?" he asked Les.
"She has a name, and yes she is fine." Stephanie opened her eyes and told Montero. She gave him a weak smile.
Montero smiled back at her. "Yes ma'am." His eyes fixed on something behind her. He gave her a nod and headed off.
Ranger was standing at the bottom of the incline at the base of the bridge. It seemed a little like trying to scale Mount Everest. His legs still felt like jelly, but at least his heart wasn't about to pound out of his chest. He was amazed he'd made it to the bridge without collapsing or passing out. Getting hauled out on a stretcher held some appeal, but it probably wouldn't do anything for his reputation.
He saw Montero at the top of the embankment. Montero eyed him for a minute and then slid down to him.
"You Ok?" Montero asked him.
"Fine." Ranger responded.
Ranger really wished people would stop asking him if he was OK, because he was anything but OK. And, it didn't have a damn thing to do with the fact he'd jumped in a filthy river and damn near drowned.
Montero locked eyes with him. "You're both lucky."
Ranger nodded. Yeah, jumping in after Stephanie had been all kinds of stupid, but waiting for a dive team hadn't been an option.
Montero put his arm under Ranger's shoulder and helped pull him up the embankment.
"I'm going to need to talk to Ms. Plum." Montero told Ranger.
"This afternoon maybe." Ranger hedged. He knew Stephanie was going to need some rest.
Montero nodded. "OK, I'll come to RangeMan. Or maybe tomorrow. I'm going to stay here and see if we can recover the bodies."
"Any word on the cop?" Ranger asked.
"Not yet." Montero responded. They locked eyes. They both knew this cluster fuck had inside job written all over it. "I assume you will be taking over protection for Ms. Plum."
"Yes." Ranger confirmed.
Montero headed off to talk to the dive team and Tank came up.
Ranger and Tank looked at each other for a beat. Ranger knew they both had expected a very different outcome. Tank nodded to Ranger.
"I'm going to help with the clean-up. Hal will take the Porsche back to RangeMan." Tank ambled off. If Ranger didn't know better, he would have sworn Tank looked a little misty eyed.
Ranger headed to the SUV. He got in the back with Stephanie and pulled her into his arms. Her eyes were still closed, but her breathing had normalized. She buried into his chest and let out a little sigh. Right now, he just wanted to hold her. The rest they would figure out. He was pretty sure she'd be back to hating him soon enough.
"Is Morelli dead?" Ranger heard her muffled voice against his chest.
"I don't know." He suspected the answer was yes. This hadn't been just a couple of Novak's low life thugs; these guys had been professionals.
They'd know more when Montero fished them out of the river. Ranger suppressed a shiver. The only reason that Stephanie was alive was because they'd thrown her in the trunk. Probably because she'd been fighting them, and they had planned to kill her, not kidnap her. Otherwise, they'd be fishing her body out of the river too. Ranger pushed that thought away. Emotions were not productive. They made you do stupid things. Like jump into the river with no plan and nothing but a crowbar.
"How are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm doing great."
"Liar." Ranger kissed the top of her head.
"You?" Stephanie asked.
"I wish I could say the same." Ranger pulled her closer. "I'm having a hard time erasing the vision of you falling from the bridge.
Ranger was pretty sure that would be one of those things that would haunt his nightmares for a long time to come.