Chapter 19
I was furious. That scumbag, creep, raping pig tricked me into wearing his clothes. I was still in the room with Robin, so I stripped off the clothes and threw them towards the door. "I'd rather be naked than wear his clothes!" I shouted.
"Open up," I heard Eddie call through the door. Robin opened the door, carefully preventing it from opening too wide. "Give these to Steph. They're from her husband."
Robin passed me the clothes from Michael. I was happy to pull on clean panties and bra. Michael gave me one of his shirts and Rangeman cargo pants. "You have an amazing husband," Robin observed.
"He is amazing. You should meet my children. They would love you," I said. She reminds me of Celia.
"Would you be here long enough?" she asked.
"Not likely, but you never know," I replied honestly. "Can you do me a favour and launder those clothes before returning them to Morelli?"
"Sure will. It's kind of creepy if you ask me," she replied.
"I agree." Eddie grabbed Morelli's clothes and passed them to Tank. I knew he would have them laundered at Rangeman immediately.
Robin led me to the interrogation room where I went through the events of my night and morning multiple times. The line of questioning was exhausting. I have no idea what they wanted to hear. A confession? Most likely.
Morelli entered the room to question me. "Why aren't you wearing the clothes provided by the department?" he asked.
"Do you mean your clothes?" I asked instead of answering his question.
He smirked before saying, "They will still contain your scent."
With a sweet smile, I said, "Not likely." Eddie knocked on the door and dropped the freshly laundered clothes on the table between us.
Morelli removed the pants to sniff the crotch. I muffled a laugh when the scent of Ranger's Bulgari filled the room. "Nice touch guys," I said to the two-way mirror behind Morelli. "Thanks."
"Why were you at the scene of the crime?" Morelli asked.
"I was worried about Carmen. She bombed my car yesterday and I was afraid her husband would do something to retaliate," I answered honestly.
"That's motive," he stated with a smirk.
"To you, maybe. I'm not the vindictive type," I stated.
"Yes, you are. You're the type to keep my child from me. I want to see my child," he said as his fist hit the table.
"We have no children together, Morelli. I have no idea who would tell you differently," I insisted.
"Prove it!" he demanded. I can't believe he was drudging up the past. It was a very traumatic time in my life.
"Can someone ask Ram to get the information?" I asked the mirror. We had the forethought to send my medical files to Bobby at Rangeman.
When Bobby first read my file a few days ago, he asked how I felt after losing a baby. He was furious when I told him a boy from my hometown raped me. I had no intention of telling him the story, but I felt he deserved to know the truth. Bobby promised to keep the information to himself. The only thing I hid was the boy's name. From Morelli's current demand, he will soon learn the truth.
It wouldn't take much longer for my Merry Men to learn all about my past with Morelli. Michael knew I didn't want everyone to know, but it was inevitable. Morelli was taking it upon himself to let all my Rangeman friends know.
Again, Eddie entered the room and dropped something on the table between me and Morelli. I recognized the document as a copy of my medical records from the miscarriage. He read the report and the procedure performed. His face fell before he shouted, "You killed my son!"
Several men burst into the room as Morelli punched me. Pain radiated from my nose after I heard the crack. Eddie and Carl restrained Morelli as Bobby tended to my broken nose.
I was immediately released from custody. After spending most of the day in custody, I was anxious to go home. Bobby took me to the hospital to have my nose checked. "We're here for another reason," Bobby whispered. "Manny was shot outside of the bonds office."
"Is he okay?" I asked.
Bobby shook his head, "We don't know. Ranger is his power of attorney for medical decisions. They will only release the information to family."
"I've got it, Bobby. Trust me," I said. I approached the nurse station and asked, "Can I see my husband?"
The snobby nurse asked, "What is your husband's name?" She was staring at my bloody nose.
"Manuel Ramos," I replied. I pointed to my nose, "I was in a hurry to get here when I tripped on the steps and face-planted into the sidewalk."
She gave me a sympathetic look before leading me to Manny. "He's in here. The doctor should be here soon. I hope your husband pulls through," she kindly stated.
"Thank you. I'll only stay for a few minutes," I promised. When she gave us some privacy, I asked Manny, "What happened?"
"I was responding to a break-in at the bonds office. When I looked in the front window, I saw Ranger. My gun was raised, but I didn't want to shoot him," he quietly told me.
"It wasn't him. His imposter resembles him from the front. If you see him from the side or back, you'll know it isn't him," I said, letting him off the hook. "Any one of us could have made the same mistake."
"He got away with seized weapons because I hesitated," Manny groaned.
"Hubby," I said when the nurse entered the room. "I just want you to concentrate on getting better. Our little one needs you," I said to ham it up some more.
"We're having a baby, wifey?" he asked, playing along.
"Yes. Now concentrate on getting better. They need to take you to surgery now," I said before lightly kissing his lips.
I heard the nurse say, "You're a very lucky man. She wanted to make sure you were okay before getting her broken nose checked."
"I'm very lucky to have her as my partner," I heard him reply.
Bobby pulled me towards the doctor waiting to check my nose. He repositioned it before taping it into place. "Keep this on for a few days. If it swells more or you have trouble breathing through your nose, come back to see me."
"Thank you," I said before walking towards my real husband.
"He's heavily armed with grenades, semi-automatic guns and explosives," Michael told me.
"We need to find Julie soon." I would hate for Julie to get injured or killed from Scrogg's carelessness.
A message was on my answering machine when I entered the apartment. I hit play and listened to the unfamiliar voice of Edward Scrogg. "Hi, Stephanie, it's Ranger. Meet me at Quaker Mall at midnight. Wear leather pants and a top like that redhead I saw at Plum Bail bonds. Come unaccompanied, don't bring any trackers or I will punish you. Get into the car parked in the lot. Leave your phone in your car. See you soon," he said before hanging up.
I gave an involuntary shudder. He wants me to wear the dominatrix outfit I saw Joyce wearing the other day. Where am I going to find that at this time of night?
Ranger entered the apartment, a shopping bag was in his hand. He lifted the bag from Leather and Boas. I took the bag to remove the items. "Ella sent me your sizes," Ranger said as I inspected the items.
Grumbling, I carried the offensive items to the bedroom and changed. With the low cut of the leather pants, I couldn't even wear a thong. I searched the bag hoping to find a slinky pair of bikini panties but finding none. There was no place for me to stash my panic button tracker.
I took a deep breath and pushed it deep inside me. Hopefully, he wouldn't make me strip to check for trackers. It would be indicative of sexual assault if he finds it.
Taking another deep breath, I exited the bedroom to show the men the outfit. "Oh, momma," Michael growled.
"Babe," Ranger said with a thick husky voice.
"Mami," Hector stated.
"Little girl, you look hot," Tank moaned.
"Beautiful," Lester sighed.
I looked around the room to see all five men sporting impressive erections. Awkward, I thought. It was difficult keeping my eyes away from their packages. Think unsexy thoughts, I repeated in my mind. I love my husband, but I wouldn't be a woman if I didn't get aroused by the salute I'm receiving.
Michael pulled me into his arms. "Where did you hide it?" he asked.
"Inside," I whispered. His eyes darkened as my words registered in his brain.
All the men moaned as I bent over to pull on the four-inch heeled knee-high boots. "Anie," Michael groaned. He moved behind me to hide the view from the other men. They already got an eyeful, so it was pointless to hide me.
"Can you see the bandages on my back?" I asked. I looked over my shoulder to catch them staring at my visible butt crack. "Did you have to get the low-rise ones, Ranger?" I asked.
"Babe," he groaned.
"Men," I muttered before grabbing my keys and leaving the apartment. I had my gun belt around my waist. A pair of cuffs, my gun, taser and knife were tucked into the compartments. I pushed my Rangeman phone into another pocket, hoping Scrogg wouldn't find it. Michael has my private phone. I didn't want Scrogg to find my children.
My spidey sense was humming. This was not going to go according to our plan. We were completely at his mercy. Hector gave me a slim knife I tucked into my left boot. Ranger found a pair I could easily conceal a knife near my ankle.
Unless Scrogg knew where to look, he shouldn't be able to find it. The boots were stiff from mid-calf to ankle. I had a few picks stored in my right boot in the same area as the knife in my right one. Please let him think the knife and picks are part of the boot structure, I prayed to the gods.
So many things could go wrong with this mission. We knew Scrogg was devolving and killed Carmen. He didn't think twice about shooting Manny. I pray he didn't hurt Julie.
The car was where Scrogg said it was located. A cellphone was on the driver's seat. I lifted it when it rang. "Remove your gun belt," he ordered. I put the phone on speaker so I could listen to his instructions as I removed the belt. "Place it on the ground a few feet away from the car."
I reluctantly put it on the ground as directed. "Turn around slowly with your arms raised," he added. Lifting my arms, I slowly turned around so he could see me from all angles. I could feel him watching me. My phone was on so the men could hear all the instructions. "Get into the car and drive to the parking garage at 201 South Warren Street. Park on level three, south side of the lot."
The men were getting into position as I headed towards the garage. I parked the car and waited. Scrogg opened the passenger door and pressed the taser to my leg before I could stop him.
When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a small, dirty bedroom. My leg was shackled to the metal bed frame. I noticed I was wearing track pants and a tank top. "I need to go pee," I shouted.
Edward entered the bedroom and dropped the broken tracker on the floor at my feet. "Were you planning to activate this?" he asked. Bile filled my mouth when I realized he stripped me to find the device.
He quickly unlocked the cuff around my ankle so I could vomit in the dirty toilet. When I emptied the contents of my stomach, he led me back to the bedroom and replaced the cuff.
I waited until he left before I talked to Julie. "Are you okay, Julie?"
"I'm fine. He hasn't touched me or anything, in case you were wondering," she offered.
"Thank goodness. Your father's looking for us. Have you talked to him yet?" I asked.
"No, but maybe you can convince him," Julie suggested.
"Hey, Ranger," I called.
He leaned on the door frame. "What would you like?"
"Have you let Julie call her mom? To let her know she's safe with you?" I asked.
I watched as the realization crossed his features. "You think your mother's worried?" he asked Julie.
She replied, "I know she is. It would really make her feel better. Can I please call her?" I stifled a laugh when Julie gave Edward her best puppy dog eyes.
He caved and passed her a phone to use. "Steph, I can't remember mom's cell number. Can you help?" I knew she wanted me to call her dad. She watched as I entered the numbers. "Ah, I always get those two digits mixed up," she said for Edward's benefit. "Hi, mom. I'm with Ranger. Yes, I'm safe. Stephanie's with me now. Okay. I can't wait to see you. I love you, mom. Bye," she said before ending the call.
With quick fingers, she quickly deleted the number from the call log. Edward wouldn't be able to redial the number to see who Julie actually called. He snatched the phone from her hands and checked the phone log. When he couldn't see the last number dialled, he backhanded Julie across the face.
I was fuming. Something inside of me snapped. I jumped on top of Edward and punched him until he stopped moving. Julie grabbed the keys from his pocket and moved the shackles from our ankles to his.
She used his phone to call her dad after activating the phone's GPS. I check his pockets for lock picks and weapons. He had a pick stuck between the sole and shoe insert. Another one was threaded through his belt. As he did to me, I asked Julie to turn around and stripped him bare. I used his taser to shock him and the scissors to cut the boxers and pants to pull over the chains.
After assuring Edward had no more hidden items. I used his taser again to keep him unconscious. Julie found a large towel we could use to cover him. Her small hand steadily held the gun as she pointed it at her captor. She started shaking as I removed the gun from her hand.