Chapter Twenty-six
Ranger had his hand on her low back guiding her to the conference room. Stephanie had an almost overwhelming desire to shake it off. She knew it was childish, but she really wasn't sure how many more of these random conversations she could have with Ranger and make it out with her sanity.
This morning he'd told her his life didn't lend itself to relationships or marriage. He'd made it clear he only wanted to pursue something physical with her. Not that the idea didn't have merit, but it wasn't something she was comfortable with long-term, but she understood his point. Short-term it might even be something she wanted. Maybe. Really who didn't want to have sheet-clawing, brain-melting sex with Ranger the sex god, especially since her life expectancy wasn't looking too good. It wasn't like she'd have that much time to live in regret if Vito or Novak got their way. Almost dying had a funny way of warping your priorities.
Stephanie thought they had settled everything this morning. His view of relationships wasn't likely to change and she'd be a fool to think otherwise. Ok, bummer but she could accept that. She appreciated the fact he had been up-front about it, knowing full well it might result in no future orgasms. Unlike Morelli, he had at least been honest about his feelings or lack thereof.
Then he'd gone and done something stupid. The man had just told her he loved her. She'd seen the look of horror cross his face when he realized what he had said. That weird backtracking thing he had done was even more confusing. She gave him an out. It was a joke, but instead of taking the win, he had felt compelled to explain. Ranger the mysterious man of one-word answers had suddenly turned philosophical and wanted to talk about the kinds of love in the universe. She'd really wanted to smack him for making it more awkward than it needed to be.
It was like he was obsessed with making sure she understood he didn't do marriage. OK, she had wanted to scream. She got it. She wasn't actually daft, despite all evidence to the contrary. He'd said it in a language she understood. He didn't need to bludgeon her over the head with that fact. She had gotten the point true and clear this morning. Sex and no strings. A pretty easy concept. In theory anyway. In practice it was proving a little trickier than she would have liked, but that was clearly her problem; not his.
That stupid and insipid 'there are all kinds of love' speech had been cringe-worthy. She was beginning to think he was certifiably insane. Or she was. Currently she wasn't sure which one of them was nuts.
Apparently, no one had ever taught Ranger you could love someone and not be married, or maybe he was like her mother and thought all women wanted to be married and spent every waking hour figuring out how to make the dream a reality. Well, that wasn't her. Ranger was a mass of swirling confusion, and she was in danger of getting sucked into the whirlpool.
He was sex walking and clearly, they were attracted to each other. Check that box. He'd made it clear no marriage and no relationship. OK, check that box. So why tell her he loved her? Then act like she was the one confused.
She didn't ask him to say that or anything for that matter. Nor had she expected it. Ranger had some screwed-up notions about love that was for sure. It was like he was terrified someone might genuinely care for him. No preconceived notions, no expectations. Just care for him exactly the way he was.
Maybe he really couldn't wrap his head around the fact not all women wanted marriage. In her opinion, monogamy, romance all good. Marriage, maybe not so much, she really hadn't figured that one out herself. She definitely wasn't interested in marriage any time soon, so that didn't really bother her. No, it was everything else. The emotional whiplash, the distance he seemed to want to create. Maybe the real problem was they were both screwed up.
Whatever, she had bigger problems than an emotionally stunted sex god to worry about. One of the biggest ones stood about six foot something waiting for her in the conference room.
Montero's back was to the door as they approached. He was talking on the phone, looking out the window. It looked like he was having a tense conversation. She could see the stiffness in his broad shoulders. Her eyes scanned down his body. She'd been right about one thing. His ass was a bona fide work of art. She caught his eyes in the glass, and he gave her a knowing smile. Stephanie gave him a look back that said turn about fair play. And then he grinned at her. Full-on grinned at her. She just couldn't help but like Montero a little. OK, maybe a whole lot more than a little.
Stephanie had always thought blue eyes were cool, assessing. Maybe even a little remote. Right up to the point where Montero turned around and his eyes slid to the bare expanse of her stomach showing between the hem of her shirt and the waist of her cargo pants. Then she learned blue eyes could burn like fire, and radiate enough heat to make a girl want to fan herself.
Her heart did a little stutter, and she might have stopped short from the force of his gaze, if Ranger's hand hadn't been on her back propelling her forward. She swallowed; her mouth suddenly dry. She wondered if Montero wanted to play ball. By the look of things, he definitely liked her toys.
Montero's gaze slid back to her face, and he studied her for a minute. No doubt taking in the red eyes and blotchy skin. She saw his expression change to one of concern and he took a step towards her, but pulled himself up short before he reached out.
"Are you OK?" Montero asked her.
"I will be." She replied and pulled away from Ranger, putting some distance between them.
"I brought you something." Montero said switching gears.
Stephanie smiled. "A tastykake?"
Montero chuckled. "No, I'm afraid I didn't' think to wrangle up any of those culinary delights, but I will be sure to bring them next time."
"I get the distinct feeling you are dissing a Jersey classic."
"No ma'am. I wouldn't dream of it. They are a unique treasure."
It was pretty clear the Marshal wouldn't be eating Tastykakes again any time soon. At least not willingly. Stephanie laughed at look on his face when he'd said unique treasure. It was a genuine laugh that came from her belly. She was surprised, because if someone had asked her a few hours ago, she probably would have told them she didn't think she would ever laugh again. It felt good. It felt like hope, even though she knew hope was an insidious creature.
"I'm thinking we may have to do a beignet tastykake contest." She raised her eyebrows at Montero and gave him a challenging look.
"You're on, but I hope you can handle defeat Plum." Montero warned.
Stephanie was pretty sure she could feel Ranger mentally rolling his eyes. She could certainly feel the irritation rolling off of him. She felt him shift behind her. Her body attune to his. It was weird. She knew where he was in a room without looking.
Montero handed Stephanie her purse. "We haven't cleared Morelli's house yet, but I thought you might need this."
"Thank you." Stephanie was glad to have her license and credit cards back. Somehow it gave her a sense of security that she could leave if she wanted and things might get back to normal. It made her feel less trapped and less like a victim. She had a feeling Montero knew that, and she was grateful for the small gesture.
Montero motioned to the chair. "Why don't you take a seat and tell me what you know. The parts you haven't told me already." Montero gave her a pointed look.
Stephanie sat down and so did the Marshal. Ranger stood in the corner; arms crossed over his chest. The energy between Montero and Ranger held the edge of tension. It was clear they were both used to being the top dog. Giving orders, and rarely taking them. She gave them credit. They were both trying to play nice, but the cloud of testosterone in the room was still a little stifling.
Montero waited while she gathered her thoughts.
"I haven't been in my position at E.E. Martin very long. It opened up because Brian Fry died. I didn't think too much about that, at the time. It just seemed like one of those things, you know. A tragic accident. I was tasked with expanding the department, and I thought understanding the financials would be a good place to start."
Montero nodded and Stephanie continued. "When I started looking at them some things didn't make sense. Vendors that were paid large sums but didn't supply much of anything. Then there were the vendors that Raymond Skagal wanted me to add. Vendors I hadn't vetted and never heard of. All with substantial orders. When I looked one of them up, they were in a vacant warehouse. It seemed odd, so I decided to speak to Raymond and do some more digging."
Stephanie could see the grim set to Montero's mouth. His face remained expressionless, but she could tell he knew what was coming.
"I went to vacant warehouse, and I found two guys shredding files. They looked like mob guys to me, and they had guns. One was the big guy you showed me yesterday. The one with the broken nose, and the other one was the guy that attacked me at the hospital."
"How did you know it was the same guy? At the hospital?" Montero clarified.
"The shoes."
Stephanie saw Montero's eyebrow go up a fraction.
"Wing-tipped shoes. He had his feet up on the desk at the warehouse, and I saw his shoes under the stall door. Doctors don't wear wing-tipped shoes. Mobsters on the other hand." Stephanie's voice trailed off.
Montero gave her a small smile.
"Anyway, I only had a limited set of financials. Just the ones for my department, but I decided I needed to take broader look. I was also a little concerned Raymond might be setting me up. He had been adamant that I needed to enter the vendors in the system, and that they didn't need vetting. It set off my spidey sense." Stephanie did an inward groan. She couldn't believe she had just told a U.S. Marshal she had a spidey sense. Now he would really think she was unhinged.
"You have very good instincts." Montero murmured.
Stephanie registered that he hadn't laughed or raised his eyebrows at the fact she thought she had a spidey sense. To the contrary, he told her she had good instincts. A little flush went through her.
"I got a complete set of the company financials."
Montero held up his hand. "Wait, you're telling me you have all the financials for E.E. Martin, not just for your department."
Stephanie nodded. "Yes."
"How did you get those?"
Stephanie grimaced a little. "I might have talked the IT guy into downloading them for me."
"How exactly did you manage that?" Montero aske suspiciously.
"Boobs." Stephanie declared. Montero gave her a slightly confused look. "The bigger the boobs the dumber the man." Stephanie gave him a sweet smile.
Montero was trying really hard not to laugh. "I see. Good thing to keep in mind."
Stephanie gave him credit; his eyes never once left her face.
"So where are these files now?" Montero asked.
"I uploaded them to my cloud account."
Montero scrunched his nose a little like he was thinking.
"Why? Is that bad?" Stephanie asked. She really hoped that didn't implicate her or something.
Montero shook his head. "No, it just makes verifying authenticity a little harder. But that is not your problem. You did good. Really good. If you hadn't done that, we would have nothing. The explosion and the fire destroyed all of the electronic records and paper records."
"I also have the flash drive the IT guy gave me if that would help."
Montero's eyes shot to hers. "Where?"
"Under the sink at Morelli's, hidden in the extra toilet paper."
This time Montero did give a bark of laughter. "You are a force of nature Plum." Montero took out his phone and sent a quick text.
"The rest you know. I had a meeting with Raymond, and when I got there, he was dead." Her voice trailed off. She really didn't want to relive the gunshot or the choking part of the evening.
"And that's it. All of it?" Montero asked, his eyes locked with hers. It was his cop face, eyes flat, mouth set in a grim line. It made him look hard. She had no doubt that look scared a lot of people into confessing.
"That's it." Stephanie confirmed.
Montero assessed her for a minute. Satisfied she was telling the truth, he nodded. "OK."
Stephanie was waiting for him to chastise her about keeping things from him, remind her lying to a federal officer was a felony, but he didn't.
Montero's phone dinked and he looked at it. "They found the flash drive." Montero confirmed.
"We started looking through the files on the cloud account. We tied payments for Fry and Skagal to both Novak and Vito, and the fake vendors to Vito." Ranger interjected. "We are closing in on Novak's location."
Montero nodded. "Good." His eyes swung back to Stephanie and his hand covered hers sending a little jolt of electricity through her. "This should be over soon. The information in those files will be enough to arrest Vito, and Novak can't run much longer. Just hang in there. If it weren't for you, we would have nothing."
Stephanie smiled at him. She felt a little off kilter. This was the second person in one day that had embraced her crazy risk-taking behavior. Instead of yelling and waiving their arms around, they'd praised her. It almost felt like she'd found people that understood her.
Montero's eyes cut to Ranger. "Could you give us a minute?" Even though he phrased it as a question, it was very clearly not a request.
Ranger nodded and stepped out of the room. Stephanie figured he'd be listening anyway, but she kept that to herself.
Montero's hand still covered hers. It felt warm and comforting. His blue eyes were searching her face.
"If you don't want to stay here at RangeMan, I can move you. If you want a different detail, it can be arranged."
It was pretty clear Montero had picked up on the tension between her and Ranger. Not to mention it was obvious she had been crying. Did she want to be moved? Just make a clean break with Ranger and be done with it. That was probably the sensible thing to do. Especially after their last awkward exchange.
"No, it's fine." She heard herself say. "It has just been a hard couple of days. That's all." Stephanie gave him her most reassuring smile.
Montero's thumb absently stroked over the back of her hand, and she felt her breath hitch. An awareness was swirling between them.
"Ok." He finally said. He withdrew his hand and she instantly missed the warmth. The reassurance.
They stood up facing each other. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you Plum. I promise. You have been incredibly brave. Without you, we wouldn't have a case, and I know that. I need you to trust me. It may take a little time, but this will get sorted out. Just hang in there."
Stephanie felt tears prickle in the back of her eyes and blinked quickly to push them away. Montero reached out and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. His finger traced a line at her temple, their eyes met, and for a terrifying moment she thought he might kiss her. The moment passed, and Montero pulled back. He headed towards the door.
"Butterscotch." She called to him.
Montero stopped and turned back to her with a questioning look.
"My favorite flavor of Tastykake." Stephanie shrugged. "You know. For next time."
Montero gave her a broad grin. "Yes ma'am."
She watched as Montero stepped out and spoke to Ranger. Stephanie dug through her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Dozens of missed calls and texts. Mostly from her mother. Some from Mary Lou, Rory, and others. The Burg grapevine was alive and as inaccurate as ever. Stephanie sent a few texts letting people know she was fine. She sighed and turned off her phone. The last thing she wanted to deal with was her family.
She looked up and Ranger was leaning against the door. Arms and ankles crossed.
"Hungry?" Ranger asked. "Ella made us a late dinner."
Stephanie nodded. They headed to the elevator. Stephanie noticed Ranger didn't put his hand on her back. She found she missed it. The warmth, the comfort, the closeness.
Ranger let them into his apartment. Stephanie went over to say hi to Rex. He was asleep in his new deluxe hamster mansion. She really hoped Rex didn't get too used to his new digs. It would be hard to give them up when the time came. She had a feeling the same would be true of her too.
Ranger pulled dinner out of the warming oven. Huh, so that is what the drawer was for. She'd always thought it was for storage. At least she'd learned something new. Not that the knowledge would come in particularly handy. One of the many benefits of a peanut butter sandwich was it didn't need to be kept warm.
Ranger dished up a couple of plates. It was some sort of chicken casserole thing. It smelled heavenly. They sat down at the table. The silence was heavy around them. The only sounds the clinking of silverware.
"Any word on Novak?" Stephanie finally asked.
"Not yet."
OK, well that seemed to have exhausted the lively conversation for the evening Stephanie thought. Ranger cleared their plates, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher. He put away the leftovers with the same ease he did everything else. It seemed surprisingly domestic for the man of mystery.
Ranger pulled out a baby carrot from the refrigerator and plopped it in Rex's food dish and checked the water. Stephanie quickly hid her smile. If she didn't know better, she would think Ranger might have a soft spot for Rex. Of course, they had about the same level of verbal skills so there was that.
"Careful, you are going to spoil him." Stephanie said as she watched Rex pop his head out of his luxury den and sniff the air. Little whiskers twitching. Rex scurried out shoved the carrot in his cheek and scurried back to his den.
Ranger's mouth hinted at the ghost of a smile. "He's good company. And he's cuter than a gold fish."
"Yeah, but with all this organic food and luxury accommodations, he may not want to leave."
Ranger's eyes locked with hers. "I'm not sure that would be so bad."
Stephanie's breath caught. She had a feeling they might not be talking about Rex anymore, but she pushed it away. Ranger didn't do relationships, which meant he probably didn't share his closet either.
Ranger held out a phone for her. She took it. "My number is programmed in. If you need anything just text or call. I'll bunk downstairs with Santos."
Ranger turned and then he was gone. She heard the door close behind him, and then silence. OK, well that had felt a little abrupt. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting. A back rub, a foot rub, a flaming orgasm or two would have been nice.
Rex came out and got on his little wheel to nowhere. Stephanie could relate. She wandered into Ranger's bedroom. A bag was on the bed. Inside were clothes, underwear, and toiletries. Ella had gone a little overboard, and there was way more stuff than Stephanie had asked for.
She'd have to thank Ella in the morning. She rifled around and found a toothbrush and took it to the bathroom. She turned on the water, and the steam begin to rise and curl around her.
Stephanie stepped into the shower and let the hot water beat down on her back, easing some of the tension. She had no doubt Ranger and Montero were sincere when they said they would keep her safe. The problem was she wasn't entirely sure that was possible. Outside of staying locked in Ranger's apartment there didn't seem to be any safe spaces. They'd come after at Morelli's and they'd come after her at the hospital. She couldn't stay locked in Ranger's apartment forever.
How long would it take to find Novak, and how long would it take to build a case against Vito. Things like that could take years. She didn't have years. Stephanie didn't even have a job anymore. She needed to figure out next steps. Something she decided she would do tomorrow. Tonight, she was just tired.
Stephanie popped the top on the shower gel and inhaled. Longing so stark washed over her it almost buckled her knees. How could she be this far gone, in this deep so fast. Stephanie squirted out a glop of shower gel and started lathering up. The intoxicating scent drifting around her. Soothing her senses. She closed her eyes and pretended Ranger was with her as she slid her hands over her skin.
As a heated flush went through her, she moaned. She couldn't believe she was getting turned on by shower gel. Stephanie rolled her eyes. She'd officially become a shower gel slut. How pathetic was that. The way things were going, shower gel was probably going to be the only thing of Ranger's joining her in the shower from this point forward. Wasn't that a depressing thought.
Stephanie rinsed off and turned off the water. Pulling a towel from the rack and snuggling into it. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair.
She'd seen a pair of pajamas in the stuff Ella had bought her. Blue with a little paisley print, all done up in a nice soft cotton. Just right for spending and evening alone, pretending she was safe. Her mind went to Ranger's black, silky boxers, and she took a detour to Ranger's closet. Stephanie pulled open the drawer and took out one of his t-shirts and slipped it over her head. She didn't know why, but it made her feel better. It was soft and it smelled like him.
Stephanie went into the kitchen. Rex was still running on his wheel to nowhere, about like her libido at the moment. Stephanie dropped down on the couch and pulled out the TV remote. It took her three tries to figure out how to turn the TV on. Everything in Ranger's apartment was state-of-the-art. Everything but her maybe. She did some channel surfing looking for something to take her mind off things. You would think with four hundred channels there would be something on. She watched the tail end of Moonstruck. She figured that was apropos, and vaguely wondered if she should tell herself to snap out of it Ranger was just three floors below her, and the thought made her overheated and frustrated.
Stephanie flipped off the TV and went into the bedroom and flopped on the bed. Not even Ranger's million thread-count sheets could soothe her burning skin or ease the ache inside of her. She stared at the ceiling, praying for sleep, knowing her prayers were not going to be answered.
Ranger opened the door to Les' apartment and stepped in. Les was standing at the bar, and looked up.
"I'm bunking here tonight." Ranger told Les. He was working to push down the anxious, almost sick feeling he had when he left Stephanie upstairs.
Les was looking at Ranger arms crossed over his chest. "So that's how it is with Steph?"
Ranger just stared at him.
"Hit it, quit it, and forget it." Les said.
Ranger punched Les. It was pretty clear Les had been expecting it, because he dodged and Ranger's fist barely glanced off his chin.
"It's not like that." Ranger growled.
"I know brother. But she doesn't, and you being down here with me, isn't going to reassure her." Les was giving Ranger a pointed look. One that said he was pretty sure Ranger was an idiot.
"She needs you. You need to have your ass up there holding that woman, telling her she's the most amazing thing you have ever seen, and everything is going to be OK." Les knew what women needed. What they wanted. Granted he wasn't the one to give it to them, but that didn't mean he didn't understand.
Ranger ran his hand through his hair. "No, she needs a good guy. One that doesn't have all my baggage. One that can give her what she wants."
"And what's that?" Les asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You say she needs someone that can give her what she wants. What does she want Ric?"
Ranger just glared at Les. A lesser man might have stopped talking, but not Les.
"From where I'm standing, what the lady wants is you. She doesn't strike me as all that delicate. She did kick the shit out of Lyons and Tiny and Novak. I think she may be better suited to your life than you want to admit. I'm pretty sure she can handle it. You, handling her, I'm not so sure." Les just shrugged.
"I don't do relationships." Ranger sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that more than Les.
Ranger was running through all the reasons in his head. He had enemies. He'd done things that he wasn't proud of. He was focused on building a business. He didn't have time for a woman, and he wasn't good at meeting their needs, outside of the bedroom anyway. None of those things really seemed to make sense right now. He was just tired. That was all.
"OK, well no sweat." Les retorted. "I'm sure Montero does relationships."
Ranger lunged at him and Les just laughed. The thought of her with another man, made Ranger want to punch something. He couldn't even contemplate the thought without anger spiking through him, robbing him of rational thought.
"Man, I'm going to bed. Why don't you get your head out of your ass and get back up to seven where you belong?"
Ranger just glared at Les and flopped down on the couch. He scraped his hand across his face. He wasn't a hopes and dreams kind of guy. He was married to his work. To building a successful business. Ranger didn't need two wives. And that was the end of that. Ranger gave Les a dark look that pretty much said fuck-off.
Les held up his hand. "Suit yourself brother."
Les ambled off. Ranger heard his bedroom door close and he let out a tired sigh.
Ranger stared down at his phone for the three hundredth time in the last forty-two minutes. Not that he was counting. Maybe he should text her. Just to see if she was OK.
No, what he needed to do was get some sleep and forget the Stephanie Plum was a few floors away snuggled in his bed. Without him. Ranger groaned. With considerable effort, Ranger pushed way the startling realization he desperately wanted to be up there with her.
Adrenaline kept surging through him and something akin to panic kept blasting through his veins at the thought of her up there alone, vulnerable, and upset. It was almost primitive. This crazy urge he had to soothe her. To tell her everything was going to be OK. To make everything OK for her. He had no idea where this crazy need to reassure her came from. He wasn't the nurturing kind.
It was clear to Ranger, she was a woman with a lot of fire. She had spent her life trying to be less, so that everybody around her didn't feel so inadequate. She was a woman with a lot of pent-up need. Need he could satisfy. It was like something inside him had awakened, and he didn't know what it meant. All he knew is he felt anxious when he was away from her, and the jealous, restless beast in him only relaxed when he was with her.
Ranger pulled the black t-shirt back on and headed to the elevator. A minute later he stood outside her door. Indecision washing over him. Should he go in, should he knock. Just go back down stairs. He paced in front of the door like a caged tiger wondering when he'd lost the ability to make a decision, to be bold. He was pretty sure he was going to wear a hole in the carpet at the rate he was going.
Stephanie finally gave an exasperated huff, and sat up. Everything was so quiet. And so lonely. Not even street noise dared to enter Ranger's apartment.
She looked over at the phone Ranger had given her. It sat silent on the nightstand, like a beacon to her destruction. Stephanie reached over and picked it up. So light, so small, and yet it wielded so much power. No messages. Not that she had expected any. A little stab of disappointment went through her. She chose to ignore it.
Stephanie put the phone back down on the nightstand and glared at it. Maybe she would get a glass of milk. Or whiskey she thought and rolled her eyes. Of course, the milk would be skim, and Ranger probably didn't have any whiskey for fear it might pollute the temple of the sex god. She chuckled to herself. Ranger didn't have too many flaws that she could see anyway, but the man knew nothing about food.
Stephanie picked the phone back up. She could at least see if he was still awake. Right? That wouldn't hurt. That didn't imply anything. She pulled up contacts and couldn't help but laugh out loud. There were two contacts programmed into the phone. One was the RangeMan control room, and the other was Batman. Who knew Ranger had a sense of humor?
Stephanie was still smiling when she typed, "Still awake?" She quickly hit send before she could change her mind.
Stephanie was staring at the phone when Ranger answered about five seconds later. "Yes."
He was lounging up against to doorframe. Stephanie gave a little startled yelp. Had he been in the apartment the whole time? Clearly, he hadn't just come up from the fourth floor. Not even Ranger was that quick.
Well, he was here now, and she had no idea what to do with him. The light was low, but it highlighted all the hard planes and beautiful angles that made up Ranger. Light and dark perfectly blended. He looked like temptation or maybe it was damnation.
Stephanie pulled back the covers. Ranger pushed off the doorframe and pulled the t-shirt over his head and shucked his cargo pants. He stood there in a pair of silk boxers that rode low on his hips and hid exactly nothing.
Yeah, Stephanie thought this was a bad idea. Good thing she rarely bothered herself with good judgement or common sense.
Stephanie patted the space beside her, and Ranger was to the bed in a couple of strides. He slid in beside her and pulled her into his arms. She snuggled into his chest and laced her fingers with his. He covered them both with the comforter and kissed the top of her head. She could hear his heartbeat, slow and steady and feel the rise and fall of his chest. The tension and the fear eased out of her. A girl could get used to this if she wasn't careful. Her eyelids felt heavy, and she promptly drifted off to sleep.