Chapter Twenty-Five
When they got back to RangeMan, Stephanie and Ranger headed to the medical bay. Her knee throbbed a little, but she was fine. Ranger insisted that Bobby take a look at her anyway.
When they stepped in, Bobby shook his head like he couldn't believe she was back from another near-death experience. Really, she could relate. She couldn't believe this was the fourth time someone had tried to kill her in less than two days. A girl could get a complex, if she wasn't careful.
"I'm fine." She told Bobby.
Bobby gave her a dubious look. She had a feeling it had more to do with her being crazy than hurt.
"Let's get you out of this vest first." Bobby stepped forward to help.
Ranger gave Bobby a dark look. "I've got it."
Bobby put up his hands and stepped back, turning his back to them gathering supplies. Pretending not to notice the tension in the room that was so thick you could probably cut it with a knife.
Ranger stepped forward and the air around her seemed to shift. It felt heavy and charged. Ranger took his time and pulled the tabs loose on the vest. The rush of cool air against her overheated skin felt nice. Ranger helped her pull the vest over her head. She was grateful when the weight lifted off of her. It probably weighed less than ten pounds, but it felt oppressive and hot.
The stupid tiny t-shirt rode up to the underside of her breasts, and Stephanie quickly tugged it down, but not before she saw Ranger's eyes dilate almost black. He rested his hand on her abdomen, his fingers grazing a trail of fire on the bare skin in the gap between the t-shirt and the cargo pants.
"Better?" His voice was quiet and close to her ear as his fingers stroked her skin.
Sure, better was good, but it would be perfect if those fingers were stroking a little lower. Stephanie just nodded. There was no way she could speak. The rhythmic stroke of his fingers had rendered her mute.
Ranger gave her a ghost of a smile and stepped back. That man knew exactly what he was doing to her.
"Do you want me to leave?"
Stephanie shook her head. "No." She whispered and reached for his hand. She was pretty sure, she wasn't just talking about him leaving the medical bay. Their eyes held for a beat and awareness and something else pulsed between them.
Bobby turned back to her, his gaze skimming across their interlaced fingers, which he wisely pretended he didn't notice. "What happened?"
"I got into a little skirmish." Stephanie gave him a sheepish look.
She could tell Bobby really wanted to ask more about what little skirmish meant, but he refrained. "Did you get punched or kicked. Any blows to the head?"
A blow to the head might explain why she was holding hands with Ranger, acting like it was all perfectly normal. She gave a negative shake of her head.
"He kicked my leg, and I whacked my knee on the ground, but I'm fine."
"Let's take a look." Bobby motioned for her to sit on the table, and she did. He pulled up her pant leg and palpated her knee cap. "Well, I think you are going to have another bruise to add to your collection, but it seems fine. I'll give you some arnica gel for the bruising, and something for the pain and swelling."
Bobby reached for her sleeve and rolled it up. He grimaced a little. "It looks like the gun shot is bleeding again." Bobby cleaned it. "Maybe I should have put in stitches instead of steri-strips."
It was clear Bobby was talking more to himself than her. Stephanie didn't bother to answer. Her gaze was locked with Ranger's. He was watching her intently. His expression unreadable. She was beginning to think that might be one of his super powers. One she wished she had. She could see where mysterious and unreadable might come in handy. Not just with Ranger, but for when she met with Montero. She hoped he didn't haul her in and throw away the key for lying to him. Although in her defense, it wasn't really lying, it was just not telling.
Bobby cleaned and redressed the wound. Stephanie had a couple of superficial scratches that he cleaned, then Bobby pronounced her good to go.
Bobby turned to Ranger. "Any new injuries?"
Ranger shook his head. "No, Steph took this one out by herself, and disarmed him." Stephanie would have sworn he said that with something like pride in his voice.
She felt a little rush of pleasure at his statement. Ranger wasn't horrified that she'd beat the crap out of some guy in the women's bathroom, he was proud that she had bested him. She felt herself blush. It was the first time in a long while that she didn't feel like she had to apologize for being her. That she wasn't being chastised for her impulsive, risk taking behavior.
Bobby helped her down and she felt the now familiar weight of Ranger's hand on her low back. He guided her to the elevator and hit seven. Ranger handed her a fob. She gave him a questioning look.
"It's for access to the garage and seven. I programmed your birthdate in as one of the codes to the apartment. You can get in or out any time you want. You should know, with the exception of seven, all the floors are wired for sight and sound."
Stephanie just stared at him. Any time? What exactly did any time mean? Was that any time for the next week or any time for the foreseeable future. She searched his face and came up empty. She had no idea what that meant, and she wasn't about to ask when she knew everyone could hear her. She had a suspicion that is why Ranger told her when he did.
They got off and walked into Ranger's apartment. He went to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water and handed her one. She watched as he took a long drink. She realized she was mesmerized by the vulnerable expanse of his throat. The flawless skin and the sheer perfection of him. His hair soft and sexy, his body with all that hard muscle, and his eyes dark brown and unreadable.
"Babe?" His tone was questioning. She figured Ranger was probably wondering if she'd bonked her head on the tile and suffered a head injury. At least that might explain the way she was staring at him, with that vacant dreamy look.
Stephanie's lips were parted and she was pretty sure she was looking at Ranger like pineapple upside down cake. With whipped cream. She quickly looked away and opened her own bottle of water and took a drink, almost choking in her haste. What was wrong with her? How in the hell did Ranger make drinking water seem sexy? Shit. She really needed to get it together. Her skin was tingling, and it was entirely possible she might spontaneously combust. All because he was drinking water. She was doomed, and she knew it.
"Just thinking." She gave him what she hoped was reassuring smile and not some crazed hyena grin that said she was imagining him naked. Because she was definitely imagining him naked.
Ranger was watching her. Assessing. He was doing that thing like he was measuring her heartrate and reading her very impure thoughts. His posture was relaxed as he leaned against the counter. Ranger was a cat, well OK more like a sleek panther. Quiet and lethal. Every muscle relaxed on command. No wasted movements or energy. Stephanie wondered how he managed it. That feigned nonchalance that could turn on a dime to pure fire. He probably did a lot of yoga. Maybe he meditated. She still wasn't entirely convinced he was completely human.
She started when he pushed up off the counter in one fluid move. He gave her that look, like he was thinking about smiling. Either that or he thought she was neurotic. Or both.
Ranger pulled the straps loose on his vest and pulled it over his head. Stephanie managed to keep from launching herself at him and dragging her tongue down his chest to his belt buckle and then lower, but just barely. She had no idea where this new Stephanie had come from. The one that wanted to be on her knees in front of him making him go blind with pleasure, just so she could hear that satisfied guttural sound he made, right before he shouted her name. The Stephanie that wanted that kind of power over him, to make him sweat and beg for more. The one that could shatter his legendary control.
Oh god, snap out of it. She mentally whacked herself on the back of the head. If the look on his face was any indication, he knew exactly what she was thinking, and he liked the idea. The man licked his lips. Like actually licked those sinfully lush lips. She could feel a whimper building as her heart stuttered erratically in her chest.
It wouldn't be a good idea to spend another night with him in the same apartment, because she would never be able to keep her hands off of him or her tongue. She didn't have that much willpower. She couldn't keep ice cream in the freezer, and Ranger was twice as nice as ice cream.
Ranger stretched, and his black t-shirt rode up. Stephanie caught a glimpse of two inches of brown skin and hard abs and almost had an orgasm on the spot.
"Babe," he said. "Are you okay?"
"Yep. Why?"
"You sort of moaned. Should I get Bobby? Are you hurt?"
Stephanie shook her head. "No. Just sore." And very clearly crazy. Zero sense of self-preservation. A smart person would be running toward the door, instead of rooted to the spot staring into the abyss.
"Understandable."
Stephanie took another big gulp of water, hoping to douse the flames that were licking their way through her body.
It was helping. Right up to the point where he said. "Do you want to take a shower? It might help with the soreness." The silkiness of his voice was like kindling.
And just like that, she was pretty sure she ruined those cute little RangeMan panties. Stephanie locked eyes with him.
"No, I'll take one after I meet with Montero." She sounded like a strangled animal.
They drank their water and pretended not to look at each other for a minute. Both ignoring the tension and awareness swirling around them. Stephanie couldn't help it when her eyes cut to the door of the bathroom, and her thoughts went to the last time she showered. She saw Ranger cover a smile by taking a drink of his water. Evil. The man was pure evil. If evil was hot, passionate, knock-your-socks-off flaming sex.
"Let's go see what Silvio found out." Stephanie nodded. Just in the nick of time. About another sixty seconds and she would have been begging him to take her on the dining room table. She was officially an unmitigated disaster.
Forget Novak's thug trying to kill her in the bathroom. Being alone with Ranger was far more dangerous than a guy with a gun.
They got off on five and went to Ranger's office. The conversations in the bullpen drop a decibel or two, but didn't come to a complete stand still like the last time. Stephanie hoped it was because the novelty of her being at RangeMan was wearing off, and not because Ranger has threatened them within an inch of their lives. She suspected the latter.
Silvio came in. He shot Stephanie a nervous smile, but couldn't quite look her in the eye. She had a feeling Silvio was the one that had done the background on her. She wondered exactly what he had dug up that made him blush. She had no doubt Ranger had state-of-the-art computer programs that left most people with virtually no secrets. He could get medical records, credit histories, shoe size, litigation, you name it. Oh shit. And probably browser history. Now it was her turn to blush.
Silvio looked like he had been running his hands through his dark mop of hair more often than usual, and had about ten too many cups of coffee. Nervous energy was pouring off of him in waves. It was such a stark contrast to Ranger, having them both in the same room was like Yin and Yang gone wild.
"What do we know?" Ranger asked Silvio.
Silvio's glance darted nervously to Stephanie. "Ms. Plum was right about the money laundering."
Stephanie gave him a pointed look. "Please call me Stephanie or Steph. It seems like we should be old pals, since I'm sure you know where I shop and what I search for on the internet."
She held his gaze and Silvio turned bright red, and tried not to squirm. It gave Stephanie a flash of evil satisfaction to see his discomfort, which she knew was petty, but it made her feel better anyway. The rational part of her brain knew this was probably standard process, the rest of her was simply horrified at the intrusion to her privacy. Some scrappy guy with a computer had accessed the innermost workings of her life. Dug through her life with a fine-tooth comb. She'd been hacked and followed. Anger rippled just under the surface.
Ranger looked down at the carpet, and pressed his lips together. She could tell he was trying not to laugh. Silvio looked to Ranger and Ranger just gave him a look at said he was on his own.
"OK, Stephanie." Silvio gave her a tentative smile. Stephanie forced herself to smile back. The guy was just doing his job. Silvio seemed to marginally relax.
It still felt like a violation, but it should be Ranger she was mad at, not his computer guy. She had a feeling her background check explained a lot of things that she chose not to think about too closely. She and Ranger had skipped a lot of steps and the talk, and she had a feeling she knew why. They weren't questions he needed to ask, because he already knew the answer.
Silvio's voice drew her attention away from her dark thoughts, and she tried to focus on what he was saying.
"Raymond Skagal and Brian Fry were both laundering money for Novak. Their financials show unexplained cash. Most of which I tracked back to shell companies connected to Novak. One of which I tracked back to Vito.
The vendors that Stephanie gave us were the most interesting. All but one of them were tied to Vito. It looks like for helping Novak, Vito was brought into the money laundering scheme. He was pushing to expand."
"Why kill Raymond?" Stephanie wondered out loud.
Silvio grimaced a little. He looked to Ranger and Ranger nodded permission. "Fry was a RangeMan informant, but he was killed before he gave us anything concrete. We are pretty sure Novak thought Skagal could also be compromised."
"Why?" Stephanie shook her head confused.
"Because they knew you had breached the warehouse. It looks like they had hidden cameras monitoring the office. When they saw you poking around, they decided not to take any chances. They shredded the files at the warehouse, and killed Skagal. They probably planned to kill you as well. Vito was paranoid, especially after Fry. He wasn't taking any chances."
Stephanie paled. "I got Raymond killed." Her legs suddenly felt weak and she grasp the desk for support.
"No Babe. Raymond got Raymond killed. He's the one that took money. Raymond set you up. He is the one that put you in danger, not the other way around. His death is not on you. Actions have consequences and Raymond made his own choice."
Ranger reached out and gave her shoulder a little reassuring squeeze.
"How tight is the net?" Ranger asked Silvio.
"For Novak, airtight. For Vito less so. Since none of the vendors were entered into the system and no payments were made, it's more circumstantial. The only direct connection are payments to Skagal and Fry."
Ranger nodded. "Any idea on Novak's location?"
Silvio shook his head. "Not yet, but I found three more aliases that we are tracing."
"Who was the guy at the hospital?" Stephanie asked Silvio.
"Limerick Lyons. Works for Novak."
"His name is Limerick?" Stephanie asked appalled.
Silvio shrugged. "Mobsters." He said like that explained everything.
"Can he tell us where Novak is?" Stephanie asked.
Silvio's gaze darted to Ranger and then to the floor.
"Tank is working on that." Ranger said smoothly. A little shiver went up Stephanie's spine. She was pretty sure she didn't want to know what working on that meant.
"Didn't Montero take him into custody?" She was eyeing Ranger suspiciously.
Ranger shrugged. "The Marshals are stretched pretty thin in this area. Since we have a contract with them, he was fine with us holding Lyons until he could be transported and processed."
"And how long will that be?"
"A day or two." Ranger's answer was purposefully vague. Her eyebrows went up a fraction. So, Montero didn't have a stick up his ass. She had a feeling she'd been right about him. He seemed like a guy that wanted the truth, and wasn't so concerned about glory and turf.
"So why did Raymond want me to enter those vendors?" Stephanie asked.
"Probably to have leverage over you, or maybe Raymond thought it would look less suspicious if you entered them." Silvio had that cornered animal look again. Someone should really teach this guy the value of a poker face. Of course, she had a feeling Silvio didn't interact with people in real life all that often.
"And." Stephanie demanded.
Silvio looked over at Ranger and he gave him a nod.
"It could be they wanted to dirty you up because they wanted leverage over Morelli. It looks like Vito has made a few runs at him over the years and it has been unsuccessful. Vito may have thought if he had something on you, he could blackmail Morelli into giving him information. Be their eyes and ears in the Trenton PD."
Stephanie snorted. "I think they grossly overestimated Morelli's feelings for me."
Silvio was back to staring at the carpet like it held the secrets of the universe.
"What?" Stephanie asked suspiciously.
"Babe, Morelli recently bought you an engagement ring." Ranger held her gaze. He could see shock and then disbelief pass across her face.
"Was that before or after he knocked up Terry." Stephanie snapped. "And how do you know it was for me."
"Communication shows Morelli asked your mom and Valerie to help him pick it out." Ranger said cautiously. His tone conveyed the fact he knew this revelation was not going to go well for him. Stephanie vaguely registered the fact she gave him credit for telling the truth, but white-hot rage burned through her anyway.
"You are spying on my family?" Anger and disbelief were evident in her voice.
God, no wonder her mother had been so unhinged about the Burg rumors. All her hopes and dreams were within reach. Morelli was proposing, and here Stephanie had gone and screwed it up again. An involuntary shudder worked its way down her spine. What if Morelli had proposed? She would be busy planning a wedding she didn't want, to a man that was in love with someone else. Being shot at, strangled, and nearly drowned suddenly didn't seem so bad.
"We were just being thorough." Ranger tried to explain, but Stephanie was up and walking out the door. She had to get away from him before she punched him. Or burst into tears. Stephanie wasn't entirely sure which one would be worse.
Shit, that had not gone well. Not that Ranger had really expected it to. Maybe he should have kept it from her, but things like that had a way of coming back to bite you in the ass. He'd already kept things from her and betrayed her trust. Sometimes things were hard to hear, but the truth always trumped a lie in his experience, no matter how painful the truth was.
The thing that seemed bizarre, Stephanie was mad about him looking into her family, and didn't seem to give a fuck about the fact Morelli had bought her a ring. Ranger wasn't really sure what to make of that. He'd like to think it was because she wasn't still hung-up on the cop, but that seemed a little optimistic.
Ranger was up and out the door. He caught Stephanie by the arm and pulled her into Tank's vacant office and closed the door.
"Babe." Ranger started.
"Do. Not. Babe. Me." Stephanie practically shouted. Her eyes were blazing, and she was shaking her head. She was vibrating with anger.
Ranger crossed his arms over his chest and waited. Eying her like a dancing cobra.
"You are a jackass." She hissed.
Ranger inclined his head. "Yes, that is probably true."
Stephanie narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Some of the wind knocked out of her sails.
"Steph, it was my job. It's standard protocol to check out the target and the people close to them. I never expected to…I didn't plan to…" Ranger's voice trailed off. "Are you mad because we looked into you, or because Morelli bought you a ring."
Ranger had always thought he was a pretty smart guy. Right up to the point where he saw the look on her face. Now he was pretty sure he was a moron and a jackass.
"Am I mad Morelli bought me a ring?" Ranger winced a little at her tone.
"No Ranger, I'm not mad Morelli bought me a ring. I'm mad because Morelli was fucking Terry Gilman the whole time we were together, and he was planning to marry me and keep fucking her. Then I meet this suave, interesting guy who takes me to his fabulous beach house, gives me the ride of my life, and guess what. He turns out to be some psychopath that targeted me, lied about his name, dug through my personal life, and drinks black coffee. Do you know what that does to you? How much that fucks with your head?" Now she was shouting at him.
And let's not forget the I don't do relationships part of that little equation, which Ranger forgot to mention before they slept together, but Stephanie kept that to herself. A girl had to have a little pride, and hers was bordering on paper thin already.
Her breath was coming ragged pants, and Ranger was pretty sure he could see the vein in her head throbbing. He knew he deserved every single thing she had said. Except for the black coffee part. That didn't really seem fair.
A lone tear had popped out and was running down her cheek. Ranger felt an unfamiliar clenching in his chest. Anger he could take. Tears ripped him apart. Mostly because he knew they were his fault.
"Babe, please don't cry." Ranger reached out put his hand behind her neck and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her shoulders shaking as the tears began fall in earnest.
"It's going to be OK. I promise. You will get through this." Ranger pressed a kiss to her head, and just held her.
A couple of minutes passed. And Stephanie pulled away from him, snuffling. Ranger took his thumbs and brushed away the tears.
"I hate you." Her words didn't have any heat to them.
"No, you don't." The corners of his mouth curved into the hint of a smile. He leaned forward and kissed her at the base of her neck, just above her t-shirt collar.
Stephanie gave him a weak smile. Her anger gone. Replaced with something else. Stephanie hoped it was resignation and not hopelessness. At that moment, she wasn't entirely sure.
"I prefer intelligent, charming, and emotionally stunted." Ranger teased and smiled back at her. A real one that reached his eyes. He was gorgeous, but when he smiled, he was breathtaking. Stephanie thought Ranger should smile more often.
Stephanie cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Psychopath just seems so limiting and judgey."
A small laugh escaped Stephanie. "Don't make me laugh. I'm still mad at you."
"I know Babe, I know."
"I'm OK. Am I all red and blotchy?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes." Ranger brushed a kiss across her forehead. "I love you anyway."
They both froze. Staring at each other. Oh shit, Ranger thought. Had he just told Stephanie Plum he loved her? Yep, apparently, he really had sustained brain damage from the lack of oxygen, because there was no other reason that would have popped out of his mouth. He blamed Les for putting the crazy, stupid notion in his head this morning.
"Steph I."
Stephanie held up her hand. "Don't worry. I know you didn't mean it like that. Just bad timing for a joke."
Holy shit. Stephanie was pretty sure her heart was going to hammer out of her chest. She knew it was just one of those things people said, that it didn't really mean anything, but damn if she didn't want it to. She felt alternately hot and cold and just a little nauseous.
"It's not that I don't mean it. There are just all kinds of love." Ranger knew he was stammering, and he sounded like an idiot. The surprising number of times that happened around this woman, irked him.
"This kind doesn't come with a ring. I'm not the marrying type." Ranger needed to get them back on solid ground, because right now, he was standing on quicksand.
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "That's lust not love." Stephanie pulled completely away from him. He instantly missed the feel of her, but ruthlessly pushed that away.
Ranger thought it might be a little of both, but he kept that to himself. He'd already put his foot in his mouth, and he didn't need to make things worse. He didn't need to confuse her. Or him for that matter. Especially not when she was vulnerable and on the edge.
"Do you think that will ever change?" Her voice was casual, and that made him nervous. Like she was really just curious. No hidden agenda at play.
"Not anytime soon." For reasons he chose not to examine too closely, he wanted to explain. Reassure her the problem was him. If things were different, she would definitely be the one that would change his mind.
"There are things you don't know about me. Things I've done."
"What kind of things?" She asked softly.
"Things you don't want to know." Ranger said simply.
Stephanie shrugged. "Fair enough."
In Stephanie's experience, if it had tires or testicles it was going to cause you trouble, and Stephanie had had just about enough trouble with men lately. She was done trying to figure them out. Done trying to save them or fix them. It was time to accept what they said as true, no matter how idiotic it might be.
Ranger didn't do relationships, or maybe he just didn't want one with her. The last thing she was going to do was beg him or tell him he was wrong about what he wanted. She'd tried to shoehorn herself into a relationship with Morelli for the last four years, and look where that had gotten her. If Ranger didn't want to play ball, that was fine. She'd take her toys and go play elsewhere. This was the new and improved Stephanie, and this Stephanie didn't need emotionally stunted, unattainable men. This Stephanie had a BMW and a hamster.
Ranger watched her expression shutdown as she distanced herself from him. He was a little bummed she didn't push. Like he wasn't worth fighting for, and that caused a little knot to form in the pit of his stomach. How fucked-up was that.
"Ready to go talk to Montero." He asked.
"Yeah, may as well get that over with." Stephanie blew out a big sigh.
.
A/N: For some reason, this song was stuck in my head when I wrote this. What do you think? Fitting?
Way Down We Go - Kaleo - You can find a video of it on youtube. ( search by name or watch?v=0-7IHOXkiV8 ) Unfortunately FF won't let me post the link.