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Chapter 28
Meanwhile, the Cuban inquisition…
Ric hung up the phone slowly, debating his options. He slipped his cell into his pocket and rose fluidly to his feet, 'It's been a long day, I'd better go and –'
'Sit down Ricardo!' His Ma ordered.
Ric contemplated refusing, but immediately dismissed the idea – he liked living. His Ma was as sweet as they come, and as tough too. You didn't refuse Mama Manoso, especially when she was smiling at you. Ric sat back down.
'Who was that?' His mother, Maria, asked.
'Um…an employee.' That had to be a safe answer, right?
'You know you'll end up telling her Ric, just make it easy on yourself and tell us the truth.' Ric's Papa, Carlos, said.
They had the good cop / bad cop routine down to pat. They'd perfected it before Ric was a teenager. He remembered all to well sneaking in late and having his mother flick on the lamp with a practised, 'Well?' And now he was in a similar position again, all these years later. Carlos was right; he was going to cave, but damn if he was going to make it easy.
'What? She works for me.'
'In what capacity?' Serena asked. Like sharks moving in for the kill, they all edged in closer. Jake and Marco stayed back, looking highly amused at the family dynamics. Huh, they might be amused – they'd never been on the receiving end.
'At the moment she's working primarily as a bond enforcement agent.'
'A bounty hunter? You're dating a bounty hunter?' Jacko chipped in, laughing.
'I didn't say anything about dating her.'
'I love you more – do you deny saying that then?' said Dominic, sounding every inch like the lawyer he was.
Ric felt a bead of sweat slide down his back. Shit.
'So? That doesn't mean I'm dating her.'
Serena opened her mouth and Dominic interrupted, 'hang on a sec Rena, I need to get exhibit A.' Dominic disappeared to the family study where the safe was kept; he returned a moment later with a small cassette in his hand. 'As a lawyer, all the phone calls I make and receive from my office are recorded.' Dom explained. He put the tape into a cassette player and pressed play.
The sound of Dominic's voice filled the room: 'Hey Bro, I was wondering if –''Now's not a good time Dom.' Ric replied, his voice sounding deeper and huskier than normal.
Feminine moan.
'This is important Ric.' Dom sounded amused.
'So is she. Later.'
Disconnect.
'My question, Bro, is this: Is it the same woman?'
'I have a headache. And I got stabbed today.'
'Is it the same woman. Yes or no?'
'Yes.' Ric said reluctantly.
'You've been having sexual liaisons with this woman.' Dominic stated.
It wasn't a question so Ric didn't answer.
'You've been screwing her but not dating her?' Serena said, outraged. 'I thought you were better than that Ric.' She sounded disgusted.
'No! I may have gone on a date or two.'
Serena smiled, 'See?' she said. 'Admitting it wasn't so bad.' She gave her oldest brother a hug, and when she pulled back she had his wallet in her hand.
'Shit! Give that back Rena!'
'Language Ricardo.' His mother said.
'Sorry.' Ric muttered.
Rena opened the wallet and searched through it, she quickly found the photo. It had been taken on their first date, and Steph looked beautiful in the white dress. Her eyes were laughing, and her face was split with a huge smile – she looked stunning.
'Exhibit B.' she said triumphantly. She passed the photo of Steph around her family.
'Damn, she's hot!' Jacko exclaimed.
'Mine!' Ric growled before he could stop himself, glaring at his brother.
'The defendant confesses!' Dom said triumphantly.
'No I didn't! She works for me, hence she's mine. That's all I meant.'
'Give it up Ric. You've been had.' Ric's Papa said, amused.
Ric sighed. 'Damn it. What do you want to know?'
'I suggest you start from the beginning.' Maria said.
'She went straight from college to marriage. Marriage didn't work out; bastard cheated on her, she divorced his lowly ass. She got a job as a lingerie buyer but got laid off during a period of economic decline. She went for a filing job at her cousin's bail bonding business, but the position had already been filled, so she blackmailed her cousin into taking her on as a bounty hunter. I work for her cousin too, and the secretary called me in to teach her the ropes.'
'We met in a small dank café, after I'd just met with an informant; I was in street mode. I told her 'This is gonna be fun. This here's gonna be like Professor Higgins and Eliza Doolittle Does Trenton' I told her to call me by my street name, Ranger. That was about three years ago.'
'Three years!' Rena exclaimed.
'You move slow.' Said Jacko.
'Not really, there was another guy in the picture. A cop. The guy came from her neighbourhood, her childhood, he was her first boyfriend. That's hard to compete with. Besides, the moment I met her, I liked her. After a while, I loved her. But I still believed it was better for her to be with the cop. My lifestyle doesn't really lend itself to relationships.' Ric grimaced as he said that.
'You didn't say that to her did you?' Rena asked, horrified.
Ric raised his eyes to hers slowly, and let a rueful smile cross his face. 'I'm an idiot sometimes.'
'Of course you are dear, you're a man.' His mother said.
'Thanks Ma.'
'You're welcome dear. So, what happened?'
'She decided it was over, for good, with the cop. I came back home after a government job and I needed to see her so badly that I broke into her apartment at 2:38 in the morning.'
'Very precise,' said Dom, amused.
'I know the time cos she yelled it at me.'
'She yelled at you?' Jacko sounded awed.
'Yeah, while pointing a gun at me. Anyway, later that morning, I asked her if she missed me. She said yeah, and when I looked in her eyes I realised she was trying not to cry. I held her, but I was so exhausted I fell asleep. She stayed still for 27 hours so that she wouldn't wake me. That's when I began to hope that she really did care about me. I started seeing her that day.'
'Aww.' Rena said, crying again. 'That's so sweet.'
'Is it serious between you?' Ric's Pa asked.
'She's meeting Aly tomorrow.' Ric replied.
'So, when was the Bam! moment?' asked Jacko.
'I'd been accused of the murder of Hannibal Ramos, and I had a hit out on me. It was a low time for me. I checked in with my answer machine and I had message from her saying 'are you ok?' That was it. She didn't ask if I was guilty, didn't doubt me for a second. Trusted me completely, it'd been along time since someone had done that. Bam! It hit me. I knew I loved her. Knew I would do anything for my Babe. Even if it was walk away.'
'Oh Ric!' his sister said, and threw herself at him, bawling her eyes out.
Ric lifted his pregnant sister onto his lap and cradled her in his arms. He kissed her on her forward and stroked her hair out of her face, 'I love you Rena. I don't say it enough, but I do.' Rene tightened her arms around him and started sobbing harder.
'Jeez.' Ric said, and sent a glance that screamed help! to Jake. His sister's husband shrugged, and made a gesture that said, 'she's pregnant.' Ric rolled his eyes. Duh.
'So,' his Ma said, 'what's your Babe's name?'
'Oh. Stephanie Michelle Plum. Steph, or Angel, or Bombshell.'
'Bombshell?' Jacko asked.
'You know all those cars I buy from your company?'
'Yeah.'
'Well, when I give them to my Babe, they have a tendency to…uh…explode or sometimes they just get stolen. The press call her 'The Bombshell Bounty Hunter' or 'The Bounty Hunter from Hell'. The boys have taken to calling her Bombshell. It's her street name, like mine's Ranger.'
'She sounds pretty unique.' Rena said; her tears all dried up.
'Yeah,' Ric smiled as he remembered what Coyote had said to him the other day, 'My Babe is one in a billion.'
