We waited another twenty minutes before Ranger slipped out of the car, heading for Romano's house.
I crossed the road as quietly as possible. I was nowhere near as good at stealth as Ranger was. At least I was trying.
Ranger pulled his lock pick set out of his jacket pocket and picked the lock on the back door. He snapped on a pair of gloves and handed a set to me. He then began to meticulously search the whole house.
He was nothing like the cops on all the shows where they just threw everything around the place when they're serving their warrant. Ranger made it look as though he had never been there.
With the whole house searched, Ranger then headed to the garage, which housed a red Ferrari. The car looked a little dirty, which was very out of character for a guy like Romano.
Ranger tried the driver's side door. "Locked."
"What kind of person locks their car, in their locked garage?"
He looked blankly at me for a second pulling out his lock pick and opening the lock. After an initial scan which turned up nothing, he popped the trunk.
There was a bottle of water, a small toolbox, a stack of CDs and an esky floating around the back. Ranger grabbed the esky while I flicked through the CDs. His taste in music was criminal!
"Babe, you might want to look at this."
I looked into the esky and clutched my stomach.
"It's… That's…"
"Nigel Taylor's head."
"What's it doing in Romano's trunk?" I asked once I was safely in Ranger's car.
Ranger settled deeper into the seat. "Pietro Romano was busted for robbery gone wrong. He was supposed to only go in there and take the cash. One of his hostages tried to stop him escaping and got killed for his efforts.
"There were only two people involved in the robbery. Romano and a newbie whose street name is Whale. Whale wasn't happy about the murder, so he went to the police."
"He ratted on Romano?"
"Yes. Whale agreed to testify against Romano for a shorter sentence. The police apprehend Romano, but he got out on bail."
"So since then, he's been hunting down this Whale, which was why he missed his hearing?"
Ranger nodded.
"But this doesn't explain what Taylor's head was doing in Romano's car."
"Think, Babe." He stared at me while I thought. He then started to smile when the penny dropped.
"Taylor is Whale! Taylor dobbed, Romano hunted him down and missed court because he was so determined to kill Taylor who missed his trial because he was dodging Romano." I paused to mentally pat myself on the back.
"Taylor was in the Mafia. So what do we do about he head?" I asked Ranger.
"Wait until Morelli's shift."
I sighed then got out of Ranger's car and headed to my CR-V and Rex. He waited for me to start the engine before driving off. He made my night.
I was lovely and warm in my bed when the curtains were opened and the covers pulled back. I opened my eyes, moaned and shut them again.
"Ranger, it's seven o'clock."
"And I've already been running," he said with a smile. "I thought we could grab breakfast and review Edwards' folder."
"Food?" I asked as I struggled into a sitting position.
"Get dressed, Babe," he ordered as he walked out of the room.
Forty-five minutes later, we were heading to the diner in Ranger's Bronco.
"Why are we doing this now? I thought I had to wait for the bank heist, before I got paid."
Ranger cocked his head to the side. "Clorinda and Alej have gone back to Miami, so I figured I'd help you out."
"It's an early payment, huh?"
"You've followed up on all of these leads?" He wasn't going to answer me.
"Yes. No luck."
"Right, so we start from the beginning and apply pressure again."
Joy. My favourite pastime, applying pressure.
So, after breakfast, we drove to Edwards' pink apartment and knocked on the door. There was no answer. I could tell Ranger was considering pulling his pick out when I noticed smoke coming out from under the door.
"I'm faster at picking the lock," he said he had obviously read my mind wishing he'd force the door down.
He walked in and laughed.
There was my skip, passed out in the armchair, a couple of empty rum bottles on the floor around him and a light cigarette on his jeans. His whole right leg was in flames and, if we weren't quick, he'd be a human candle.
I grabbed a blanket that was on the other armchair and threw it on his leg, extinguishing the flames.
"Better call an ambulance."
A few minutes later, an ambulance arrived and took Edwards away (under police supervision) to the hospital. There was no way police would let him walk, because Edwards was responsible for starting several serious fires last night. The little pyro had been busy.
Ranger was driving me back to my place, still in a light mood.
"It's not fair," I said with an hmpf. "Why did if have to be unconscious the day you help? Why couldn't he have done it when I first tried to get him?"
"Haven't you learnt, Babe? Skips never do what you want them to do," Ranger said with a Ranger-smile.
I pulled up next to Ranger's Bronco. I was a little late, but I didn't really care. Tank's black van was parked on the other side of the car park.
Ranger acknowledged my presence with an eyebrow raise. It was kind of disappointing; usually I get a Ranger-smile at the very least. I guess he was mad at me.
We sat in silence until our meal arrived. I ordered bacon and eggs. I even had a juice, so that I could start my daily intake of fruit and vegetables. I looked at Ranger's meal. A fruit salad. How un-American.
"You know you should eat protein. You need carbs too."
He gave me a shut up look.
"I was watching the Discovery Channel with Grandma and they were saying that proteins aid muscle repair."
"Cease and desist." Special Forces, Ranger.
"You know, that's actually redundant?"
"What's wrong, Babe?" He looked intently at me.
I shook my head and returned to my breakfast. He continued to stare at me.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea. I'm the bounty hunter from hell and you want to put me in a bank, which you know a mafia guy with a gun and possibly a bomb is going to rob!
"I'm not trained for this sort of thing. I'm trained for taste testing donuts. Not talking my way out of a hostage situation. You want to use me as bait. Yeah, sure, been there, done that and got the t-shirt. But DeChooch is different from a guy wanted for armed-robbery."
"Feel better?" he asked when I stopped. I nodded. "I'll have you wired up, so I can talk you through it if I have to. You'll have your gun and you'll be wearing Kevlar." I must have looked surprised when he told me about the vest. "You don't think I'd put you in there without protection, do you?"
I didn't say anything. My food had lost its appeal. But Ranger was still able to eat.
We payed the check and headed out to our cars and headed for the office.
"Where's Vinnie?" Ranger asked Connie as he shoved open the door.
"He hasn't come in yet."
Ranger nodded and I followed him into Vinnie's office. I heard Connie gasp as Ranger shut the door behind me.
He dumped the bag of stuff he had been carrying on the desk and turned to me. He was waiting for me to take my shirt off so he could attach the wire, but I couldn't move.
With a Ranger-smile, he pulled the hem of my top over my head.
"Once you pull over, I'm turning the wire on. I do not want you going in there until I give you the all clear. Understood?" I nodded. He had just finished taping the wire to my body. His hands were gentle. If the circumstances were different, I think I would have enjoyed it.
He stood back and looked at me standing there in my jeans and bra with a wire taped to my chest. He handed a Kevlar vest and this time I managed to do it myself. Once that was strapped on, I grabbed my shirt and yanked it on. I shot him an I'm scared like hell look.
He placed a two-way earpiece in my hand and offered me a small smile.
I was about to pull open the door, when Ranger grasped my wrist and pulled me against his body. "I've got your back, Babe."