Protecting the King Ch 5

Chapter 5

Stephanie – Day 2 late afternoon Thursday

Thursday morning, Stephanie slept in a little then took her time getting ready for the day. It was 10:30 a.m. when she headed over to Steve Wilmer's house, hoping to catch him before he left for work. Evidently most of his neighbors were also out at work or at the store because there was plenty of parking on the street. She found a spot a few houses over from his where she could also see the side street. His car was one of the missing ones. Okay, so instead of trying to catch him before he left, she'd be catching him on his way back in. Still a good plan. She settled in to wait, wishing she'd brought more snacks.

It was after 2:00 p.m. before she called it quits. Wherever he was, Wilmer wasn't in any hurry to come back to his Mama. Despite the empty candy bar and Tastykake wrappers littering the passenger seat, Stephanie was hungry. She motored over to Cluck in a Bucket. There was a special on the Clucky Family Meal so she got one of those and headed over to the bonds office. Even though it was well past lunch time, she didn't want to show up unless she had enough for Connie and Lula too. It was the polite Burg thing to do. She wouldn't mention the two drumsticks and a biscuit that she'd wolfed down on the drive over.

The instant she opened the door, Stephanie had the full attention of both Connie and Lula.

Connie, in her usual seat behind the lone desk in the room, was the office manager for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. She wasn't very tall, but she was well built, and always dressed up. She had connections to the kind of Family that loved pasta and frequently needed bail bonds. Behind her, the door to Vinnie's office was closed.

Next to the desk stood Lula, arms crossed, weight on one leg so her hip stuck out. Lula was a file clerk but she wasn't that good at it. Probably because she spent most of her time gossiping with Connie. Lula also assisted Stephanie with takedowns, trips to the mall, and hitting up a drive through when either of them was the least bit hungry

For once, the fast food bags in her hands went unremarked as she walked over to Connie's desk. Stephanie held the bags out. When neither woman reached for them, she set them on the desktop.

"White girl! Why the hell you ain't answering your phone?" A self-described big beautiful black woman, Lula was once again testing the structural limits of elastic. She preferred clothes that were three or four sizes smaller than she was. Even though the main fiber content was Spandex, there was only so much stretching it could do.

"It's probably still on silent from last night. I took Grandma Mazur to a viewing."

Steph reached into her purse, scrabbling through the jumbled contents before pulling out her phone. Huh. It was on silent and there were 18 voicemails, 22 text messages, and 34 missed calls all starting just a few hours ago.

Scrolling through the list, she saw the names of her mother, her grandma, her sister Val, her best friend Mare, Connie, Lula, Mooner, Sally Sweet, and several people that were the sort of acquaintances who loved gossip. Mooner, Sally, and the acquaintances only called or texted once each. The others called, texted, or left voicemails multiple times. Her mother alone accounted for fifteen calls and twelve voice mails – she'd never gotten the hang of texting.

Preoccupied though she was by her phone, she remembered her manners enough to half-heartedly offer the food. "Have chicken. There's plenty."

"Girl, we ain't got time for chicken. You need to tell us what the hell is going on."

Steph's head snapped up and she stared at Lula, wide eyed. Lula turning down free food was like Stephanie ignoring her mother's pineapple upside down cake. It was something that had never happened.

Then Connie jumped in. "Yeah, the whole Burg is buzzing with it but there's different versions going around."

"Versions of what?"

This was starting to make her nervous. What would Stephanie know more about than everyone else? Absolutely nothing had happened at the viewing with Grandma Mazur. Maybe someone made something up and started gossiping anyway? At least that would be easy to clear up. But Connie and Lula were looking at her with an intensity she'd rarely seen. It seemed like way beyond the Grandma set something on fire again level of gossip.

What else could it be about? The only other new thing that had happened to her since she'd seen Connie and Lula yesterday was falling out of a tree. Oh, and her car broke down. That sucked, but it wouldn't get that kind of gossip going. And once Ranger got there it, it wasn't even –

She gasped, suddenly remembering exactly what happened once Ranger got there.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Lula as Connie slapped her palm on her desk.

Stephanie felt her heart stop. Oh, crap. Crappity crap. Someone must have seen them practically having sex against her car right out the open and now word was all over town. Here she'd thought that being behind the bicycle shop at night where it wasn't well lit with his car blocking most of the view of them from the intersection had kept it mostly private. Okay, so that was what she thought later, this morning, once she'd had a chance to think about it because at the time her thoughts were more along the lines of 'naked, now' and 'Oh God, do that again'. But she knew how the gossip mill exaggerated. It probably had them in some kind of massive orgy in the middle of 33rd Street.

Embarrassed didn't come close to covering how she felt. Having not just her sex life but an actual sexual act out in the open for everyone to gossip about? Comment? Critique? It didn't matter that she and Ranger had been fully clothed. Their movements, the feelings, the intent, were the same as if they'd been skin to skin in private as they should have been. As they were later. If that car horn hadn't interrupted, she had no doubt that both of them would have come right there, where any passers-by could see.

This was so awful that she couldn't think how best to express how awful it was. It was humiliating and shameful. Stephanie was mortified. This was absolutely the one thing that might break her. The one thing she couldn't get past. Maybe … maybe the whole event didn't make it into the gossip mill? Sure, she had been really distracted when they broke apart, but she didn't recall seeing anyone on the streets around them.

Maybe it was just those initial kisses that someone saw. That was pretty hot. Maybe she could spin this. She'd have to downplay it as much as she could.

Okay, Stephanie, she thought to herself. Act cool, like it's no big deal. You can do this.

"You guys, it was just a kiss. A really hot kiss but that's all." She was aiming for nonchalant but the tightness in her voice meant she'd hit anxious instead.

Her statement didn't get the response she might have expected. Both ladies looked confused.

"What kiss?" asked Connie.

"Oh! I know!" Lula waved her hands in excitement. "It was seeing you kiss Officer Hottie that made him snap and kill that guy and then later was when he went all ninja in the cop shop and knocked everyone out."

"He didn't go ninja in the cop shop." Connie shook her head, "No, he killed someone in cold blood and then he and Morelli got into an epic fight when Joe went to bring him in. There's video and everything."

Lula objected. "There ain't no video of Ranger and Supercop going at it."

"I'm talking about the video of Ranger shooting that guy in the head."

The door to Vinnie's office whipped open, startling all of them, and Vinnie himself popped out. He pointed directly at Stephanie. "I don't care if Manoso has been detained for questioning for murder. It better not affect your takedown rate. I need you working, not moping." With that he stepped back into his office and slammed the door.

Stephanie gaped at the door, then at Connie and Lula. What the hell? Murder? Detained? Video?

Connie pursed her lips and looked her up and down, assessing her current state. "You haven't heard, have you?"

Stephanie's brain was whirling, trying to make sense of everything.

Lula snapped her fingers in front of Stephanie's face. "Hey! White girl! You in there?"

Stephanie blinked and her brain came back online. "Ranger's been picked up for murder? When? Who? What –"

"We heard about it when my cousin Joey called Vinnie around noon, so it had to be before that," said Connie.

"Yeah, and right after that, we both started getting texts and calls from the whole neighborhood about that video showing Ranger kill that guy," added Lula.

This was a different kind of awful. Stephanie felt guilty for being relieved that the gossip wasn't about her, especially since things look so bad for Ranger. Whatever had happened, Ranger wouldn't kill anyone in cold blood. Okay, he would but not without a good reason. And it would take a lot of her kind of bad luck for him to get filmed doing it. This had to be a mistake. That's all she could think.

"This has to be a mistake." She wanted to keep repeating that but managed to stop herself.

Connie shook her head and looked sympathetically at Stephanie. "It's on video for everyone to see."

"He'll probably get off, though," said Lula. "This is Batman. Just because they can prove he did it, doesn't mean he'll go down for it. He'll get off on one of those technicalities or the charges will just get dropped and everyone will pretend it never happened."

Connie nodded along as Lula spoke, clearly in agreement.

That pissed her off. She didn't care what was on that mystery video. Either Ranger didn't do it or Ranger had a damn good reason for doing it. For Connie and Lula to talk about him like a common criminal, or worse, a criminal with connections who'd get off no matter how guilty he was, was aggravating.

This wasn't the time to dwell in denial land where she could pretend that Ranger had never killed anyone whether while he was in the military or afterwards. Stephanie knew he had and would continue to do so because he was still under contract with the military. He contracted with the alphabet agencies, too, and took the highest risk cases from Les Sebring and other bond companies. Ranger always took the hardest jobs, the ones that put him and his men up against violent criminals. There would be blood and she was grateful it wasn't usually his.

But Ranger never took action without a clear need.

"Where is he now?" she asked.

Connie shrugged one shoulder. "Probably at Trenton PD. It's only been what? Four hours since they took him in? Of course that depends on what rumor you're going by."

Grabbing her car keys, Stephanie pushed her purse back on her shoulder and pivoted, letting anger propel her toward the door. Behind her Connie and Lula called her name, but she ignored them.

The drive to the Trenton Police station was a blur. For once she found a decent parking spot but couldn't enjoy it the way she would have any other time. Her walk was nearly a run, she was moving so fast. Up the three steps, in through the side door, then she slid to a halt. She'd forgotten about the new vestibule. At this moment, it was doing the job it was designed for – keeping an enraged person contained.

The older woman stationed at the reception window looked vaguely familiar but wasn't someone she'd dealt with a lot. There was more gray in her short hair than blonde. Her nails were natural, her makeup very light. A pair of small gold hoop earrings and a gold rope necklace were her only adornments. Based on her uniform, she was probably one of the civilian employees, not an officer.

She looked warily at Stephanie who only now realized how dashing in here, frowning and upset, might look. She tried to compose herself.

"State your business, please." The woman blatantly looked her over. One of her hands was on the counter. The other was out of sight under it, probably on a panic button.

"I'm here to see Detective Joe Morelli."

Crap. That didn't come out the way she meant it to. Her voice was harsh and loud. Time to pull back on the temper. She could hear her mother saying something about catching more flies with honey. Wouldn't want to scare … Stephanie squinted at the name tag. Wouldn't want to scare Alison.

"Do you have an appointment?" Alison typed something into the computer and started clicking the mouse. Both hands were above the counter now.

Doing her best to appear harmless, Stephanie replied, "I don't need an appointment. I'm his girlfriend."

Granted, Morelli had insisted on an open relationship and had already taken out at least one woman, not to mention that Stephanie had decided to break it off altogether, but nobody other than Ranger knew that yet. If she could use her status as Morelli's semi-girlfriend one last time to get to Morelli and help Ranger, then she would.

The door to the parking lot opened behind her so she glanced over to see who had come in. Eddie Gazarra, childhood friend and husband to her cousin Shirley The Whiner, smiled at her, then looked worried as if he'd suddenly remembered something.

Eddie was about average height, about average weight, with light brown hair, and light brown eyes. There was a sprinkling of freckles across the pale skin of his face. Physically, there was nothing really remarkable about him aside, perhaps, from his inability to tan or burn no matter how much time he spent outside. He was also kind-hearted and thoughtful. Some people got into police work because they wanted authority. Eddie was one of those that joined to help the community.

"Um. Hey. Are you here to see …" He trailed off as if reluctant to finish that sentence.

"Joe." She folded her arms across her chest and made an effort to sound non-threatening. "I'm here to see Joe, but apparently I have to start making appointments now."

Alison made a "hmph" noise but Steph ignored her and kept looking at Eddie instead. When she didn't blink or look away, he folded like a cheap suit.

He gave Alison a brief smile. "It's okay. I'll escort her in."

From the way her mouth was set, it seemed that Alison was displeased. "Well, she still has to sign the visitor's log. Sergeant Peters was very clear about that during training for the new procedures."

"Sure, sure she will, won't you Steph?" Eddie gave her a look that was half pleading, half hopeful.

Stephanie, mindful of the flies and honey rule, and knowing that as a gatekeeper, Alison was in a position to help or hinder her in future, smiled sweetly. "Of course."

Alison slid the log book across the counter through the opening in the plexiglass. Stephanie dutifully printed her name, arrival time, purpose of visit and signed where indicated. Alison buzzed the door. Smiling, Stephanie thanked her for her help and followed Eddie into the station house.

The main room had the usual day-shift buzz of background noise; people talking, phones ringing, paper shuffling, keyboards clacking, and the myriad scuffle-tap sounds of a group of people walking, sitting, and moving about. No one was paying any attention to her or to Eddie.

The minute they were out of earshot of Alison, Stephanie hissed "What the hell is going on, Eddie?"

He pulled her over to the wall near an empty cubicle and whispered back. "Ranger's been detained for questioning. Some guy got shot near the projects last night and there's a video."

"Have you seen it?"

"Yeah." He looked somber. "Have you?"

"No." Stephanie hesitated but she had to ask. "Is it really him? Ranger?"

Eddie made a face. "I mean, it could be? The guy looks about right but you only see him from the back."

"Then why did you guys go after Ranger?"

Eddie looked around quickly and lowered his voice even more. "There's these texts on the dead guy's phone setting up a meeting with Ranger."

She felt her temper rising again. "Let me guess. Morelli couldn't wait to pick him up and grill him. Anything to make Ranger suffer and hurt his business."

Eddie was shaking his head. "No, not at all. It's the new guy, Simpkins. Transferred over from Newark two weeks ago. He came in here and made some disparaging comments about Ranger and Rangeman first thing. Morelli's trying to keep him reined in on this."

She was dumbstruck. Joe Morelli had the chance to go after Ranger but not only did he not take it, he was trying to hold back the guy who did?

"But why?" she asked.

"For starters," said a voice behind them, "I can't take the lead on any case involving Manoso because we've worked together in the past."

Eddie flinched, his cheeks turning pink. Stephanie flinched too, but instead of blushing, she mentally cursed her luck.

Turning to face him, she said "Hi, Joe." She was amazed at how calm she sounded when her heart was racing and her stomach was in knots.

"Cupcake." Morelli nodded once. "Alison said Eddie was escorting you to my office. Thought I'd come to meet you."

"I'm gonna … " Eddie pointed over to his desk and slunk off.

"Joe, what –"

He raised his hand, cutting her off. "My office."

Irritation scratched at her. "No. You tell me –"

Joe grabbed her upper arm and started walking. "Do you really want to discuss Manoso's business out in front of everyone?"

Admitting he had a point, she walked with him. The minute she stopped resisting him, he let go of her arm, and the eyes that had been watching them turned away.

Once in his office, he closed the door. It was small, barely big enough for the desk and the credenza behind it. His office chair was worn and missing patches of fake leatherette. Two hard plastic chairs sat in front of the desk. There was just enough room between the wall and the desk front to pull out the visitor chair in order to sit. Neither of them sat.

"What's going on? Why has Ranger been detained?"

Morelli blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "He's not detained."

"But Eddie said –"

"He's been arrested."

She dropped into the visitor chair like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Morelli sat on the corner of the desk in front of her.

"What? Why did you arrest him?"

"Again, it wasn't me. Between my working relationship with Ranger and our … " With one hand he gestured from her to himself then off to a third point, "... whatever this is between the three of us, I wouldn't be allowed near any investigation into Manoso or his business."

Stephanie snorted. "Well at least this –" she repeated his gesture but managed to make it mocking, " – is over. That open dating bullshit was the last straw."

"What the hell?" Morelli frowned at her. "I give you permission to see anyone else you want and you use that as an excuse to break up?"

Oh, that was it. This had been festering all week and she had had enough. Rhino mode engaged. She could feel her face harden and her nostrils flare. She stood up so fast that the chair screeched back. Surprise showed for a split second before Morelli's cop face activated. He drew back slightly, but stayed where he was. She could feel her hands tighten into fists and put them on her hips, arms akimbo.

"First of all, you don't give me permission. A relationship is two people working together, not one person laying out the rules to the other."

He took a breath in and she raised one finger to stop him.

"Second of all, you didn't say that I could see anyone. You saved that for yourself. You put limits on me. Anyone but Ranger because you know he's the only real threat to what you have with me."

Morelli's eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together. He was in the beginning stages of getting mad. What did it say about them as a couple that she not only knew what he looked like when he was angry but also recognized the different levels, the stages, of his anger? Instead of waving her finger again, because that often made him madder, she put her palm out toward him and continued.

"And third of all, and listen very carefully to this, because it's all about the timing. You told me about that open dating crap at lunch on Friday and that same night – that same night – you took Verbena Hasselbeck to Rossini's. There is currently a two week wait for reservations at Rossini's. And no, you didn't just happen to get lucky and get a cancellation. You made that reservation two weeks ago. I checked.

"And you wouldn't have made that reservation unless you'd already been flirting with her for at least a couple of weeks if not longer and we've been in an On Phase for eight months now. And that means that you were already stepping out with a side piece for at least a month, probably two.

"The only reason you tried that open dating for you but restricted dating for me crap was because you figured you could have it both ways. You could date all you wanted and still have me waiting in the wings as backup. You're a shitty boyfriend, Morelli. And we are done."

He didn't move. Didn't speak. She could see the muscles in his jaw working.

Eventually he said "Fine." It sounded like he'd had to drag the word up his throat and force it out through his teeth. He stayed where he was on the corner of the desk, but now tension was in every line of his body as he continued.

"Fine," he repeated harshly. "If we're done, then I won't get two dozen phone calls every time you roll in garbage, blow up a car, or set something on fire. I won't have my friends and family constantly asking why I put up with that crap."

His eyes were narrowed, his face pinched. Anger radiated from every pore. "Now I can go out with women who aren't pining after someone else, who know how to cook, and never get kidnapped or stalked. Maybe I can finally cancel my subscription to the antacid of the month club."

The Rhino mode that had ebbed as she hurled her words at him rolled back in, hot and furious, as he flung his back at her. She wanted to respond. Even had the words ready. Like, how maybe now she could go out with someone who actually took her places. Verbena got Rossini's best table. She got Pino's takeout on the couch. She was ready to go toe to toe with him, trading insults and recriminations.

But two things stopped her. One was the sudden insight that she was partly responsible for being treated like that. Not because she deserved it but because she had allowed it. She could have spoken up at any time but never had. Later, she'd have to figure out why that was. Right now, the second thing was more important. Don't alienate the person you've come to for help.

She took a slow deep breath and visualized her emotions reeling back in. One breath wasn't enough so she took a second. Hurt and anger were still there, simmering instead of boiling over, but she had enough control to speak calmly. She unclenched her fists, shaking them out. She wasn't quite sure what to do with her hands, though. She crossed her arms for a second then let her arms drop, hands dangling. Finally she clasped them in front of her.

"Okay, Joe. Now that that's out of the way, tell me what's going on with Ranger."

There was a long pause while he stared at her, cop face on. The tension between them ratcheted up with every second of silence. When it felt like it was at the breaking point, he huffed out a breath. His muscles relaxed so he wasn't sitting ramrod straight.

"I can tell you haven't seen the video." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and began tapping. "This was publicly posted so I can share it with you. You'd have seen it anyway. Here."

He handed her the phone and the video played. She watched it in shock, too stunned to notice details but she saw the guy dressed in black and heard the victim say Manoso. Holy cow. No wonder people were saying Ranger did it. Except, that wasn't him. It was subtle, but the way he moved, the way he walked wasn't quite right. She handed the phone back.

"You know that's not him."

"I know that I can't comment on an ongoing investigation."

And she was back to angry. That was the same tone he used when stonewalling news reporters.

"But it's not your investigation, is it?" She emphasized the words with a head bob. "You made that clear. It's Sampson? Simpkins? That new detective that I need to speak to. In fact, if you could point the way to –"

"Don't." Morelli's tone was firm. "Don't go near Simpkins."

"What, are you jealous of him, too?" Stephanie knew that was unfair but couldn't help lashing out.

Morelli rolled his eyes at her then got serious again. "He's not going to put up with your interference the way I have. Simpkins will have you up on changes of obstruction before you know what happened. With your luck, he'll have you on accessory charges as well. You won't get any leeway because of who you are, who you know, or what you've done for the police department in the past. Whatever charges he comes up with will stick."

There was a notable gravitas in Morelli's eyes, in his speech, that made it different from any other time he'd tried to wave her off a case. That told her this wasn't hyperbole. He wasn't exaggerating. This new guy, this Simpkins, would go after her and would most likely be able to get her. A chill ran up her spine but she shrugged it off.

"So I can't ask him anything and you won't tell me anything. Great. Thanks for all the help," she said sarcastically.

"Please listen to me on this." He stood up and took a small step forward. "Stay out of it. If you don't care about the risk to yourself, then understand that you'll do Manoso more harm than good if you butt in."

She didn't reply, but turned toward the door. As she opened it, his hand was on her shoulder, pulling her back to face him again.

"Stephanie, I –"

Morelli's eyes were soft and warm. Letting go of her shoulder, his hand came up to caress her cheek. For a moment she thought he might kiss her. Then he took a deep breath and dropped his hand.

"I might be a shitty boyfriend," he murmured, "but I do care about you. Please stay safe. Please, stay out of this."

Maybe it was because this time the break up was real. Maybe it was her worry over Ranger. Whatever it was, some emotion came welling up, closing her throat and making the back of her eyes start to burn. Stephanie could feel them start to water and had to get out before it got worse. She didn't dare try to speak. She gave Morelli a short, sharp nod and left.

~ ~ to be continued ~ ~