All familiar characters belong to Janet. Mistakes are solely mine.
I was just being handed my capture receipt when I saw my buddy Gazarra walk into the station looking like today's already been a long one despite it being technically still morning.
"Hey, Eddie!" I called. "Bad day?"
He made his way over to me, his shoulders going from completely slumped to only mildly fed up. "I've had better. This is the fourth call this week that had us out at Barnhardt's new place."
I nodded, not at all surprised. "That's what happens when you grow up to become a costitute."
His eyebrows raised in a … WTF's that? … question.
"It's a person who leases out their body, soul, and independent life for the sake of getting their hands on someone else's paycheck so they don't have to work for one themselves. Unfortunately, that usually leads to living with someone you don't like … which devolves into constant fighting that more often than not involves the police showing up."
He sighed. "You're not wrong. She can't keep her trap shut and refuses to let him leave until she's done with him. And he keeps putting up with it. Say what you want about Shirley, but I'll always choose ten of her over a dyed, silicone-enhanced, insult generator like Joyce."
I couldn't stop a grin from forming. "This is why I love you. You always call things exactly how you see them."
"I can say with one-hundred percent certainty that the neighbors are completely done with both of them. At the first hint of a raised voice, every one of them is on the phone calling us. I've already warned the Chief that if that house catches fire, investigate the neighbors first. They'd see it as the only path to peace at this point."
He nudged me in the direction of a freshly made pot of what the station tries to pass off as coffee. I politely said 'No fucking way' when he offered me a cup but took a seat as he prepared to poison himself by fixing himself an oversized mug full of the crap.
"The Burg's been less fun since you decided to shack up with Manoso across town. Seeing how jealous of you Joyce has always been, I wouldn't be surprised if her domestic not-bliss is partially because of you."
My hands went up in a stop gesture. "I've been blamed for a lot of things over the years, but there's no way to connect the dots from me moving out of my apartment … to Joyce making everyone around her want her to move out."
He closed his eyes as he appeared to actually savor a mouthful of coffee that I know tastes like the bottom of a horse stall. "I disagree. However fucked up it is, she's always seen you as competition. You living your best life with the guy who's never spared her a glance unless it was one filled with disgust or contempt, royally pisses her off. She can't compete … and this new guy she neutered is feeling it."
"That's sick."
"It's likely true, though."
I didn't understand it, because Joyce had every advantage I never had. But she hated me on sight … and her dislike has only intensified over the years. Guess she didn't get her rocks off for sleeping with my then-husband or trying to move in on my bounty hunting job with Vinnie, since I conveyed that she could have both without needing to say it out loud. I got my for-life guy and a cushier - and a hell of a lot steadier - job with his company. I was happy to leave the Dick, Vinnie, and the skank favored by both in the past.
"How is life with Manoso?" Eddie asked. "He's treating you alright?"
Like he'd actually go up against someone like Ranger if he wasn't being the type of man and boyfriend I was scared he'd be. I was always able to keep a certain amount of emotional, and sometimes even physical, distance between myself and anyone I've been with, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do that with Ranger.
I was right except for thinking that loving Ranger completely would end up destroying me. I was sure at the time that his interest in me was just entertainment for him while he was working in Jersey. Truth is, he needs me in a way that I didn't see until recently, and still don't completely understand. I'm just ... me ... and he's freakin' Batman!
"I couldn't have ordered a more perfect boyfriend," I assured Eddie. "He would've sent Lester and Bobby out after my skip if I didn't insist I was hoping to see you when I dropped my FTA off. We compromised and Bobby came with me."
I waved to my partner for today, who easily tracked me down, and I got a flash of Bobby's watch in response. The guys are always on the clock, while my schedule is more … relaxed.
"Do you have to be somewhere?" I asked Eddie. "Or can you hang out for a few minutes? We haven't had a chance to talk in weeks."
"Unless I'm called out for an actual emergency, I'm not doing shit until after I've had lunch."
I nodded. "Okay, good. I'll just let Bobby know he doesn't have to stick around."
I left Eddie to his horse stall sludge and walked over to Bobby. "I was hoping to catch up with Eddie for a few minutes. You can go if you have something better or more important to do. I can get a ride back to the building."
His face remained unreadable, but I'm slowly learning how to read the Merry Men.
"I'm in a police station. I'm almost as safe as I'd be back at Rangeman. I'll be fine," I told him.
He took out his cell and no doubt called The Boss. "Steph and I are at the station. Her skip's been turned in, but she wants to stay and visit with Gazarra."
He disconnected the call without telling me what Batman said. Ranger knows that after him and Mary Lou, Eddie has been my biggest supporter. He wouldn't have an issue with me taking time to talk to the cop who actually behaves like one of the best the state of Jersey has.
"I'll be heading out," Bobby said. "Don't get into any trouble without me."
"Eddie is against anything fun, so I'll be safe. Thanks for helping me today."
"Anytime," he said, and then he was gone.
"You up for a vending machine snack?" Eddie asked when I walked back to him. "I know you're not a fan of police station fare."
"I'm looking forward to hearing about you and your life, not a snack. How's Shirley and the monsters you call your kids?"
"Still alive when I left the house this morning. Can't say if they stayed that way."
I laughed. "If you ever need extra cash, I bet you guys could rake in the dough making birth control ads."
"Funny."
I nodded. "Likely true though," I repeated, lobbing his own words back at him.
He drained his 'World's Greatest Dad' mug and gave it a rinse before turning to me. "It's working for you."
"Yup. Anytime I think maybe reproducing isn't such a horrible idea, I picture how exhausted and dazed you and Mary Lou both look on a daily basis, and quickly thank God that my uterus remains an untapped resource."
As expected, he wince-cringed at the mention of a uterus. Whether it was caused by me reminding him that I have one, or because of what inevitably comes out of Shirley's, is anyone's guess.
"Let's go somewhere less busy to talk," he said, when two younger officers walked in to get coffee.
We walked back down the hallway, and I heard an immediate silence descend right before my neck started to tingle. My guy is in the building.
"Hold on," I told Eddie. "Ranger's here."
"What? Where?"
I ignored him, scanning the crowd near the entrance until my heart triple thumped when I spotted him pushing a cuffed guy forward. His eyes met mine and he handed his skip off to an officer and headed our way. He pressed a chaste but still sexy kiss to my lips, so my question was asked around a dopey smile.
"You didn't arrest someone just to have a reason to meet me here, did you? You didn't have an apprehension scheduled today."
"I already had a reason. This department is known for hiring people with questionable ethics. I don't trust anyone except me or someone I've trained to deliver you safely home."
I cut my eyes to Eddie. "Does that answer your earlier question?"
"Yeah. Looks like you're finally in good hands."
"You've been looking out for me forever. I've always had a safety net."
He turned a nice shade of 'don't say shit like that' and I grinned at Ranger. Usually, I'm the one getting embarrassed and turning red in public. This is a nice change of pace.
"I have an hour," Ranger said to let Eddie off my hook. "Are you hungry?"
As if he told it to, my stomach growled in sheer happiness at being acknowledged. Thankfully, I only felt it. No one heard it. Or they at least pretended they didn't.
"I appreciate the offer, but Eddie doesn't have a lot of time to talk …"
He tucked an escaped curl back behind my ear, and I had to order myself not to purr or melt into a puddle at his Bates-booted feet. "I wasn't asking you to choose between us. You have time to eat if you'd like to join us," he said to me before he'd turned to address Eddie.
"Technically, my lunch break isn't for another twenty-minutes."
I knew what was coming, so I just looped my arms around Ranger's waist and let him school Eddie in the way the Mighty Manoso operates.
"I'll be the first to say time spent with Stephanie is vital to survival. If the Chief has a problem with you feeling the same way, he can call the front desk at Rangeman and make an appointment to talk to me about it."
