Warning: violence. As always, let me know what you think! – Heather
Chapter 37
Despite my…uh…relaxation techniques, it still took me a while to get to sleep. Consequently the morning had started without me. Actually the morning had started and ended without me. It was 1pm, lunchtime. Oops.
I dragged myself into the shower and scrubbed myself clean. The day after Ric had left for Boston, I'd gone and gotten my legs and bikini line waxed. My legs were deliciously smooth, all ready for Ric. I hummed to myself as I lathered up the Bulgari shower gel all around me. Mmm, essence of Ric.
I didn't put a whole lot of effort into my hair; I'd have another shower before Ric came home and do it properly then.
By two I had showered, dressed and eaten. Danny and I headed to the Vinnie's; we were supposed to be picking up a new file, and then hopefully the Fta.
I only gossiped with Lula and Connie for ten minutes. Ok, half an hour. Fine, forty-five minutes. Danny and I were ready to split when Connie asked to talk to me in the weasel's office.
She shut the door behind her, 'You remember you asked me to check out Pedral for you?'
I nodded.
'He's bad shit, Steph, and he's got a hate thing going on with Batman.'
I nodded, 'I know.'
'I haven't been able to get that much info Steph, not without drawing attention to myself. And after what I've heard of this guy, I don't want his attention.'
'Don't worry about it Connie, don't put your neck on the line – we'll get other sources of information. No worries.'
She nodded, looking relieved. 'I did find out one thing though.'
I raised an eyebrow.
'It might be nothing.'
'But it might be something.'
Connie nodded, 'apparently he brought a house in Miami, in the suburbs somewhere. Big houses, big plots of land, big gates, so if you had someone there against their will…'
'No one would hear anything.'
'Exactly.'
'I'll pass this on to Ranger, thanks Connie.'
'Sure.' She paused, 'and Steph?'
'Yeah?'
'Keep your guard with you.'
I nodded, and giving her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, I left the office.
Danny raised his eyebrow, tacitly asking what Connie and I had been talking about.
I shook my head slightly.
Danny raised the other eyebrow but he dropped the subject. I didn't want to talk about Pedral now, I got angry and upset and it distracted me. Distraction is not a good thing when going after a felon – except for if you're doing the distracting of course.
We pulled the bronco to a stop a block away from the Fta's house, and went over the file together.
Aldwin Fairhouse was arrested for assault; I'm not surprised, if I was called Aldwin I'd have aggression issues too. Fairhouse was worth a fair penny to Rangeman, but he was a repeat offender, he'd been in the clink before; he'd know the drill.
We walked towards the Fta's suspected location. 'Plan?' I asked Danny.
'He'll probably run, so you take the front, and I'll take the back. Ok?'
'Yeah.'
Danny disappeared round the side of the Fta's house, and I gave him a minute to get in position before I rang the doorbell, standing to the other side of course.
'What?' Fairhouse snapped out, opening the door oh so graciously, with a glare on his face.
'I'm Stephanie Plum, you missed your court date, you need to come with me so we can get you re-scheduled.'
His face cleared, 'oh right. Come in a second will you? I just need to fetch some pants.'
Sure enough, he was just wearing boxers and a shirt. I couldn't just stand outside, so I sighed and nodded, walking into his house.
He shut the door behind me, 'just wait in there.' He said, gesturing to the living room.
My spidey sense was tingling, and my tummy felt uneasy.
Don't be stupid, Steph, just because he's actually being co-operative.
I mentally rolled my eyes at myself and stepped into the living room.
The instant I opened the door I tried to close it, but Aldwin shoved me from behind, pushing me stumbling into the room full of men dressed in black – and they weren't Rangeman.
'Get her.' Someone commanded.
Five of them rushed at me, and I silently thanked my Bro for his training.
Still, I wasn't stupid – I needed back up.
'DANNY!' I screamed at the top of my voice.
I heard commotion from outside the living room and knew Danny was tangling with Aldwin.
The Fta wasn't our biggest problem though; I'd gotten in a couple of good kicks to the men attacking me, but five others were just standing there watching – if they joined in I was fucked. As it is, I'd only ever trained against Danny or Bear, sometimes the two of them at the same time, but never more. I didn't know what to do with five attackers, let alone ten.
'DANNY!'
The door burst open and Danny assessed the situation quickly. 'RUN!' he yelled at me, whilst leaping into the fray. The other five men joined in as well.
'RUN!' Danny repeated. I glanced back to the open doorway, I could get out, but there was no way my Bro could get out as well.
It was the smart thing to run.
I should let Danny do his job and protect me.
He's my bodyguard; it's what he's supposed to do.
But he's also my brother, my Bro.
And in the Burg, you never abandon family.
Never.
I threw myself back into the fracas.
'STEPHANIE, GO!' Danny yelled.
I waded in until I was back to back with Danny; 'I don't abandon family.' I yelled back.
There was no way we could get out of this, no escape that I could see. So we did the only thing we could do. We fought.
Two of them were unconscious, one of them had a broken nose and a broken right arm; but there was still seven if them, and only two of us.
I took two punches to my stomach, and heard Bro get several hits in the ribs; I heard a sickening crunch and knew someone else had broken bones; but I didn't know if it was the bad guys or my Bro.
I got another hit to my stomach and I dropped involuntarily to my knees. I tried to pull myself up, but as I looked up I saw the kick that was coming down. Someone's CAT boots slammed into my head, and the world dropped out.
