Chapter 43
LPOV
I pulled my wife into my arms and whispered, "You never told me that story."
"To be honest, I completely forgot about it until today," she replied.
Mallory squeezed into the minuscule space between us to hug her sister. "Helen really was a bitch," she whispered.
"Do you still want a dog?" I asked her.
"Maybe someday, after we have a child," she answered.
"Okay, after we have a child," I agreed.
We agreed to wait before having a child, but I'm starting to feel the urge to become a father. Nothing would make me happier than having a child with this gorgeous woman.
"Will it be my dog too?" Mallory asked, interrupting me from my thoughts.
"Sure Mal, it will be your dog too," Stephanie laughed. "Now let me get cozy with my husband." Mallory laughed before joining Manny.
"Stephanie, you need to see this," Lester stated. She moved to the laptop to see what was happening. Her laughter filled the room as Hector snuck up behind Dixon. Within a few minutes, Hector had Dixon was hogtied in the back of the Rangeman SUV.
Hector was sitting beside Dixon sharpening his knives. Stephanie started laughing when Dixon pissed his pants. This man killed many enemies during missions. He wasn't afraid of Ranger, yet he was afraid of Hector sharpening his knives.
"He's a little intimidating," Mallory stated. She started laughing when Hector rolled Dixon's shirt from his back, covering his eyes to obscure his view. We wouldn't want to tip our hand. Literally keeping him in the dark will add a whole new level to the element of surprise.
"My hermano is not intimidating. He's just overly protective especially when it concerns me," Stephanie explained. "Give him a chance. You'll find he's a very loyal friend. Just like all the men here."
"I see how they all gravitate towards you," Mallory admitted.
"They gravitate towards you too," Stephanie stage whispered.
Lester decided to add to the mix, "You're just like Stephanie, but wrapped up in a different package."
Mallory and Stephanie looked at each other before laughing so hard they started crying. They started mumbling about packages, but their speech was too incoherent.
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SPOV
I'll have to tell Luke the story behind our joke. I seriously doubt Binkie or Manny would appreciate it, but I should still tell him. He could always use a good laugh.
"They're here!" Bobby announced. Ranger escorted chief Joe Juniak to the containment area. I followed them while dragging my husband behind me.
My phone chimed before I entered the secure area. Moving to the stairwell, I answered my phone. "I'm sending a team to pick up your guests. Tell Ranger, he have until 0600 to interrogate them," Uncle Bernie stated.
"Rangeman rooftop?" I asked.
"Affirmative. Four men. Two from each organization," he stated.
"HUA," I answered before hanging up.
When I entered the containment floor, I heard Ranger ask, "Who do you want to see first?"
"Russell," Juniak answered. I could understand why he would want to talk to her first. She's always been very nice to me. Maybe we need a more feminine touch for this little talk.
"Hey, do you mind if I join you? I have a feeling she was manipulated," I suggested. It wouldn't hurt for Robin to have some kind of support. He nodded, allowing me to follow him into the room.
Robin had tear stains down her face. She looked completely unhinged. My heart broke a little for her. Wiping the tears from her face, she took her seat and straightened her shoulders. She waited for her boss to start the questions.
"Give me a valid reason why I shouldn't fire you," Juniak stated.
"I was at Joe's house for dinner. It's our date night," she stated. "I'm allowed to date whomever I want off the clock. TPD policy only prohibits officers from dating their superiors." She's actively dating Joseph Morelli.
"When did you start dating detective Morelli?" he asked.
She looked at me before whispering, "Eight months ago." Robin was one of many woman dating Morelli while dating my best friend Sonya.
"Would you like to have a lawyer present?" Juniak asked her.
Shaking her head, she said, "I have nothing to hide."
I couldn't stop myself from asking, "Do you make it a habit to date unavailable men?" My best friend Sonya moved to California to work in their emergency department. Having constant reminders of Morelli's infidelity drove her crazy. Not to mention the number of women getting STD tests after having unprotected sex with him. Thinking about our last conversation still makes me shudder.
"He said he broke up with her," she defended him.
"About that… he was lying," I told her. I could see her getting angry. "Listen Robin, I'm going to give you a bit of advice. Morelli does and says whatever will paint him in the best light. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're not the first woman he's lied to."
"It makes me feel like a complete fool," she said dropping her chin to her chest.
"Robin, you're not a fool. I get it, there aren't many good looking, eligible men in Trenton. Do you realize you lost you chance to date a very nice man?" I asked her.
"Surely one of those thugs you work with," she snapped. Okay, this is definitely not going in the right direction.
"Then we'll talk about something else," I suggested. "When you were asked to come here tonight, were you asked to come alone?"
She looked at her captain before answering, "Yes."
"Why did you bring detective Morelli?" I asked.
"His phone rang just after I hung up with the boss. He said he was asked to come along. I figured we'd just take the same car," she replied.
"Yet when you arrived, you told everyone you invited him along," I reminded her "Did he tell you who called?" I asked.
Once again, she looked at Juniak and replied, "Yes. Captain Juniak."
I grabbed my phone to pull up the videos of Juniak's calls. "Captain, do you mind if I show Robin this video?" When he gave me permission, I showed her the video "If you think this video was in any way doctored, please watch the clock behind your boss. I can also have your boss show you the time he placed the calls. Watch," I ordered. Capturing the clock when he recorded Juniak's calls was pure genius. I'll have to thank my wonderful husband later.
She watched as her boss called Eddie first, her second, then immediately called Carl and added Big Dog to the call. Juniak wanted Big Dog to hear the conversation without them putting their phone on speaker. Her mouth opened wide as she noticed the time of the calls.
"Can I see the time on your phone?" she asked Juniak. He opened his recent phone calls to show her the time stamp and length of each call. "His phone number isn't even listed. So there is no possible way for Morelli to have received a call from you," she admitted.
"If detective Morelli was invited to Rangeman, why did he hide in your trunk when you parked the car?" I asked.
"I'm such a fool." She was being really hard on herself.
"I guess we know why Morelli insinuated he was invited," I commented. Robin was right, she didn't do anything wrong except believe a master manipulator.
"To save face with me," Robin groaned. "I'll accept any punishment you feel necessary to administer."
She was to remain in the secure room until the following afternoon. I could tell she didn't like her situation, but it was unavoidable. There wasn't a spare room at Rangeman for her to use.
I pressed a button on the wall and asked, "Did you record everything?"
"Affirmative," Tank replied.
"Robin, I'm so sorry for how he treated you. You're a very nice woman. It's a shame you listened to other people's opinion of my Rangeman friends," I said with sadness before I reached for the doorknob. Leaning close enough to whisper I asked, "Did you have unprotected sex with Morelli?"
Robin shook her head, "I may be a fool, but I'm not stupid. Of course I insisted we use protection."
Turning around at the door, I added, "I'll ask them to turn off the room camera to give you some privacy."
It really was a shame she never gave the men a second glance. Our shy man Hal had a crush on officer Russell. He's a very good man and would have made her very happy.
Uncle Juniak followed me from the room. Ranger quickly locked the door, leaving Robin alone in the dimly lit room. He relayed the order to turn off the camera in the room, but the one pointing at her door was still on.
"I don't think I could have gathered as much information from her," Uncle Joe admitted. "Good job."
He motioned towards Morelli's cell down the hall from Robin. Ranger, Juniak and Tank entered the room. I had no interest listening to what he had to say for himself. However, I was interested how Dixon will react once he faces me.
Lucas reached for me when I left Robin's cell. "I feel bad for her," I whispered.
"It was her choice to lay with the wolf in sheep's clothing," he joked. I gave him what I refer to as the Burg glare. He resisted the urge to laugh. "Seriously Sweetheart, Robin decided to ignore her instincts and slept with him anyways. If you knew, would you have told Sonya?"
"Definitely. I warned her so many times. She just wouldn't listen to me. Some things you just have to learn for yourself," I admitted. "Thank you for making sure the clock was visible in the video."
"No problem. I figured it would help prove the video wasn't edited," he told me. "Sweetheart, having your uncle show her his call log was genius."
I laughed. "I thought the same about the clock," I said nuzzling into him.
"How's your shoulder feeling?"
"Not too bad today. It's a bit itchy. We should probably get Bobby to clean them and apply the ointment," I said on a yawn.
"What did you do to your shoulder?" Bobby asked.
"You'll see in a minute," I replied. I was wearing a thin strapped tank top under my borrowed Rangeman shirt. Quickly, I pulled the top over my head to expose my bandaged shoulder.
Bobby carefully pulled back the bandage and gasped. "It's beautiful," he said.
"Did you hear him honey? Bobby says your design is beautiful," I giggled. Lucas watched Bobby clean the tattoo and apply the ointment.
"You need to keep it covered for another few days," he stated as he applied the dressing and bandage.
"Luke, your turn," I said sweetly to my husband. He pulled my shirt over his head. Bobby removed my bandage and started laughing.
"Matching tats. I should have known," Bobby said with a laugh.
"I wonder if he'll notice," I stage whispered.
As Bobby applied the ointment, he said, "Not matching after all. Steph's has a golden heart charm, you have an…." He didn't finish his sentence.
"Lunar Eclipse," I whispered. "You would only notice if you look close enough," I added. "Can you clean the other one?"
He cleared his throat when I started pulling down the right side of my yoga pants. Bobby quickly cleaned the tattoo and applied ointment and a bandage. "Are you still taking your antibiotics?" he asked.
"Of course. Do you need to check my stitches too?" I sassed.
"If you don't mind," he answered honestly. He removed the bandage from my arm and almost immediately put a new one on. "It looks great. Tomorrow you can leave it uncovered."
Bobby lifted his chin towards Morelli's cell and raised and eyebrow. "Yes, I'm curious, but he lies so much it would be like watching a train wreck," I stated.
"You'll be surprised what we can uncover with our methods," Bobby led us to another room where Lester, Cal, Woody, Manny and Mallory were listening to the interrogation of Joe Morelli.
"He actually believes the lies he's telling," Mallory stated. She knew everything about me.
"If you tell the lie enough times, it can overwrite the true memories," I said before taking a seat next to Mallory. "What did he say?"
"Morelli says you were a willing participant at the bakery when you were sixteen. Uncle Joe reminded him it was impossible for you to have slept with him because he was there and knows nothing happened. Morelli was trying to convince him it was true and to ask you," Mallory stated.
"He did have sex with someone at the bakery, it just wasn't me. I was a virgin until my first time with Luke," I confessed. The other men stared at us with their mouths open. "When Joe spread the rumour, I told people the truth, but they wouldn't believe me."
Joe laughed when asked about sabotaging my job at EE Martin. "It was an excellent plan and it worked. She came home after losing her job. The icing on the cake was when she handed out resumes using her manager as a reference. A few negative references and she wouldn't get hired," he said while laughing.
"She had a few jobs," Juniak countered.
"None lasted more than a week. All I had to do was promise a female coworker a night with the Italian Stallion, and they had the boss fire her. Then the stupid bitch had to get married to one of your goons. I have no doubt she was coerced into marrying the man. She belongs with me. Helen promised," he nearly shouted.
We watched Hector enter the room, his knife visible in his left hand. He took a seat across the table from where Morelli was shackled. As he sharpened his knife, he muttered in Spanish. Even though he couldn't understand, Morelli started sweating. Whenever Hector caught him in a lie, he would carefully run his finger along the sharp edge.
Within 20 minutes, Hector got the full confession from him. "See Steph? As I said earlier… he's intimidating," Mallory stated.
"We need to have a couples date. You invite Manny. I'll invite Hector and Roger. Tomorrow night? Please?" I asked while giving my sister big puppy dog eyes. Mallory quickly agreed since she couldn't say no to her little sister.
Ranger entered the room and watched the exchange. He tipped his head back to laugh. "I can't believe you fell for it," he said to Mallory. "Stephanie's also a sucker for the word 'please'," he added.
Mallory gave me a not so threatening glare. I laughed and gave her a big smack to her lips. "Don't ever do that again," Mallory said on a laugh.
"We have already spooned and cuddled, but we never kissed," I joked. "Don't worry sis, I didn't enjoy it either. I'd rather kiss my husband."
The mood became less tense as Mallory and I teased each other. It was exactly what the men needed after an intense interrogation with Morelli.