Surviving Stephanie Chapter 37
Disclaimer: Janet's plot was badly mauled but other than that nothing was hurt in the making of this fic. The universe belongs to Janet Evanovich. Alyssa doesn't. Hence, the mauling.
Note: Thanks everyone for all your kindness and all your feedback and in general being great audiences. There is one more chapter after this, which will probably be short and sappy. My apologies for the crappy fight/action scenes. I really have trouble doing them first person.
Allison: Thankyou! These are all excellent questions. Some of which may even get answered someday. lol.
stamper:Wow, thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying it, and that this story stands out. Oh, she'll get him to dance, eventually.
Nathan'sRaven: I finally got the book this weekend. I loved Ranger... erm, I mean, I love the book... A bit much Morelli for me, but my Cupcake friend seemed to appreciate that.
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I skirted the edge of the cabin's yard, staying well into the trees and keeping low. They could be coming out at any moment and I didn't feel like another flying run through the forest so it was best to stay hidden. Besides, I was weak. I was running on adrenaline and I didn't know how much longer that could last.
I was almost even with the side of the cabin when the hand settled on my shoulder. There was an ominous click like a gun being cocked. "Well, what do we have here?" muttered an unfamiliar male voice.
My blood froze.
"Ms. Plum, I presume?" the voice was disdainful and amused as a circle of cool metal pressed against my temple.
"Presume away." I swallowed hard, not daring to move.
"Boss wants to see you." The hand on my shoulder pushed me toward the edge of the woods. I guess I could have fought back, but I didn't know what would end up with the bullet in that cylinder NOT going through my brain.
So much for hiding until morning.
"Get going, Ms. Plum." The voice's tone was dark and spoke of Bad Things that Happen to Nice People. Probably the owner of the voice was one of those bad things.
"I'm going," I muttered, though I was dragging my feet a little.
The cabin loomed ahead. A cheery blue thing, edged with flowers and lacy curtains, cheerfully welcoming me in to die a horrific, lingering death. The gingerbread house all made over for modern times.
I was going to throw up. No, correction, if anything had been left in my stomach I would have thrown up. As it was my stomach roiled and twisted in new and agonizing ways. This wasn't good. This just wasn't good at all.
Think Alyssa, think! Come on, what would Mac do?
Inspiration struck in the form of another damned root as we were almost to the edge of the woods. I stumbled, and let myself fall forward, while twisting to the side and pulling my legs up in an almost-windmill. His step faltered as I connected with his legs and I kicked again, this time hitting him right around the knees and forcing him down.
He was falling and the light from the cabin was gleaming off the gun. I grabbed at it and got a hold on the barrel just in time to twist it as it went off with a small muffled sound. He had a silencer. That was cheating. But good cheating because it meant the other goons hadn't heard it even if I was pretty sure the bullet just cost me a lock of hair. If bullets did that sort of thing.
I kept my hold on the gun and pulled while I kicked out with my legs, aiming at his head. He had one hand on the gun but the other grabbed my ankle and twisted.
"Bastard!" I yelped, wiggling that leg and continuing to kick with the other, while I held onto the gun, trying to keep it pointed somewhere other than at me as it went off once more.
My left foot connected with his face and I heard a very unpleasant crunching noise followed by a howl of pain. Oh good, he made noise. The gun went off again. He needed to quit wasting bullets.
I kicked repeatedly, making sure to use my heel as Mac had instructed. A lifetime of being reminded to always point one's toes was hard to fight. The howling stopped. Aw, no more noise… Damn. I kicked the face once more for good measure. Nothing. Maybe he passed out. Definitely I was happy it was too dark to see what I had done. There had been too many crunching noises for my taste. I told myself it was probably just the leaves and twigs we were rolling around on.
I lay where I was, panting for breath, one ankle still held by Mr. Coma, one hand wrapped around the barrel of a gun, and my other leg resting on the head of Mr. Coma. Okay, check the gun. I had the gun. Guns had bullets. Bullets made bad people die. This was good for me.
I yanked the gun out of the guy's hand and sat up. Maybe he had extra bullets. He better after wasting so many shooting my hair, and then a couple innocent trees like that… I grimaced as I forced myself to pat him down. Vest, wallet, keys, knife… I pulled the knife and the keys and tucked them into my own pocket. In the end, I checked him thoroughly but I couldn't find any extra bullets. Cheap bastard.
Well, I had a knife and a gun with a silencer. I could have done worse.
I sat back on my heels and looked at the passed out guy. I should make sure he couldn't follow me. I should kill him.
Too bad I didn't want to waste a bullet… I should knife him, but I couldn't make myself do it. I just couldn't pull out the knife and sink it into him. Maybe Ranger was right. Maybe I better start working on my flower arrangements.
Damn it. I hated it when Ranger was right. Stupid commando bat monkey.
I poked the unconscious man again a couple times but he didn't move or moan. Maybe he'd have sense enough to get up and walk away when he woke up. His face looked funny… no, don't look at the face. Look at the cabin. The cabin is dangerous.
I turned my attention back to the cabin. Abruzzi had at least three more guys in there and he was still ranting. I bet he did that a lot. He struck me as a generally unhappy person. If I were a Napoleon-obsessed mafia boss with serious mental problems I probably would have been unhappy too.
I took a deep, cleansing breath. Time to go play peek-a-boo. I crept out of the forest, crouching lower and scuttling toward the wall of the happy little Cottage of Evil, while I tried to keep my eyes on the one lighted window near the edge. It was open and the lace curtains stirred faintly in the small breeze.
No one came into view as I moved across the yard but I was still shocked when I made it. Apparently they didn't feel it was necessary to post any other guards or anything. Of course they didn't. How else would Valerie have managed to get into the van? Abruzzi's guys were sure they hadn't been followed. They were at ease. They were sloppy.
If you are going to be a raving lunatic sociopath Underworld boss, don't be a sloppy one. Come on, you don't see Tony Soprano doing this shit.
I leaned against the wall and listened. Abruzzi was yelling about incompetent idiots but he wasn't suggesting anyone go look outside. Actually it sounded a lot like he was doing more than…
A scream of agony cut through the night, followed by a delighted chuckle. Oh holy hand grenades. Where's a rocket launcher when you need it?
He was torturing someone in there! Oh my god, what if they took Joe? Maybe he did have Valerie? Shit, why hadn't I checked on Valerie today?
I had so screwed up. My stomach twisted until I wondered if I was going to get an ulcer. God, I couldn't handle this. I was a college kid for crying out loud. I was supposed to be stressing over hellish tests and beer money and frat boys! What the hell was I doing here, outside a mob boss's country cottage listening to someone getting tortured?
I was going to hyperventilate. My breathing was getting ragged and too fast.. too fast.. too much…
What if it was Joe or Valerie in there? They didn't have a chance if I didn't do something. I stopped breathing and stared up at the little window, at the filmy lace with lovely floral designs moving with the wind, at the beams of lovely yellow light drifting through it and fading off into the inky night.
I was going to have to look. Oh, gods, I was going to have to look.
I could do this. I could. I had to. There wasn't a choice. I knew what blood looked like. I'd helped Dad with the farm work. Hell, I'd watched him slaughter a few deer, even. I could do this.
I swallowed hard and inched my way to the window, my heart drumming in my ears. I lifted my head slowly, forcing myself to do this. For Val. For Joe. For whatever poor idiot he had caught in there….
Through the delicate lace I could see the interior of what must have been the living room area. Wicker furniture, a large thug by the door, a pretty floral carpet with a growing bloodstain, a large man writhing on the carpet being held down by two more thugs, and a chubby suit-clad guy chuckling happily as he held what looked like a branding iron.
Well at least there wasn't anyone—oh, shit. There in the corner, huddled in a little ball was Valerie. She had her hands over her ears and was rocking back and forth. Janet never would make anything easy, would she?
"You disappointed me again, Remo. I warned you not to do that…" My attention jerked back to the jolly little sadist who had to be Abruzzi. He advanced on the bleeding guy with the branding iron. I pulled my head back down. I had helped with branding cattle too. I didn't want to see what branding a human looked like.
I looked down at the gun and flipped it up to check the chambers. I had just enough bullets for all of them. If I did anything, I couldn't miss.
I wasn't a good enough shot for that. Evelyn's face flashed through my mind. Screw it. Glory over length of days. I turned back and lifted my head back through the window. Remo was begging, a continuous stream of pained whimpers and half-intelligible pleas. Abruzzi taunted him with the poker, waving it an inch in front of the guy's eyes and cackling with glee.
I raised the gun and steadied it on the window sill. I took my time, kept my breathing even. Just a target. Back on the range with Mac… just a target… My heart was beating painfully against my ribs.
Abruzzi chose that moment to lower the poker and lay it against Remo's cheek. The man's scream shattered my concentration and my hands clenched without meaning to. The dull muffled shot sounded and Abruzzi staggered backward, a red stain blooming on his chest.
I stared, open mouthed for a half a second too long. The thug by the door looked right at me and raised his own weapon. I swung the gun toward him and fired wildly, before dropping away from the window and running toward the back of the cabin. I could hear yelling and the pounding of large feet as the thugs made for the door.
I rounded the corner and breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the back entrance. Thank the stars. I'd so have been screwed if I had to climb in a window…
I ran to it and tried the knob. Stuck. No, no, no, this couldn't be happening. Please, don't let this be happening. I could hear the thugs out front, arguing about which way to go. I had to get in this door and I had to get in now, damn it!
I twisted the knob again, harder this time, and leaned my weight against it. I rocked back and thumped against it, not too hard because I didn't want to risk making much noise. The door popped inward as if it hadn't been stuck at all. I blinked in surprise, then eased it open just far enough for me to slip into the dark room and closed it again.
There was a doorway to my left, a bed in front of me. Why anyone had a bedroom with a door leading outside was beyond me, but then look who owned the place. At least, who I was assuming owned the place. It didn't matter anyway. What mattered was getting to the front room, making sure Abysmal was dead, getting Val and getting the hell out of Dodge. Somehow.
It sounded like the goons were doing a perimeter check. I had to move fast. Why the hell weren't they taking their boss to a freaking hospital? Cripes, send one goon with boss to a nice doctor, and the rest worry about the girl…
Someone was moving around in the living room. I could hear them, and a dull repetitive pounding sort of sound. Oh shit. He wasn't dead. Maybe he wasn't even badly hurt. That's why they weren't taking him to the doctor…
I tip-toed down the hallway, praying I wouldn't find too many creaky floorboards before I at least got a view of the front room. I held the gun up, elbows bent, aiming it at the ceiling. I'd seen cops on TV do it that way and holding it down didn't seem like a good idea. I stayed close to the right wall, until I got to the end. Another step and I'd be in the light.
I peeked around to check out the living room. Valerie was still huddled in the corner. Goon one was sprawled by the door. Abruzzi was… Oh. That's what the sound was.
Reptilicus, who Abruzzi had called Remo, was on his feet now, one of his hands bloody, a nasty burn blazing across his cheek, blood dripping from shallow cuts on his arms and torso. He was standing over Abruzzi, holding the branding iron in his one good hand,beating the motionless mob boss with it. Over and over, the rod making a dull thumping noise as it smacked into Abruzzi's fleshy body. I watched Remo for a moment, trying to decide what to do.
As much as I really didn't mind him continuing to pound his former boss into a pulp, I didn't want him pulping me or Valerie. I was probably supposed to shoot him, grab Val, and high tail it into the van, but I just couldn't.
"Remo?" I said quietly. "Remo?"
The poker slammed into Abruzzi's skull one more time before he turned to look at me. I shuddered at the look in his eyes. Gods, I didn't want to know what I'd missed during my run through the forest.
"You," said, his deep voice devoid of emotion.
"Do I need to shoot you?" I asked, without thinking.
He looked down at Abruzzi's bloody body. If he was alive after that last hit, he was a human potato. Remo's eyes glittered with something I was happy not to have a name for.
"No," he said and returned his gaze to me. "Thanks."
I swallowed and shook my head. "Sorry I didn't happen by sooner."
"I was supposed to deliver you," he said absently, as if this were only now occurring to him. I shrugged and gave him a wide berth as I walked around him to Valerie. I kept Remo in my line of vision and he watched me just as warily.
"Valerie!" I said, touching her shoulder. "Valerie, come on, we have to go."
"St-Stephanie?" she whimpered, finally opening her eyes.
"Yep. Come on, we have to go."
"They were—he was—" she looked up at Remo and shuddered. "You—you need a doctor."
"Yeah, Val. He needs a doctor. Come on, help me out." I pulled her up and looked at Remo.
"We need to go."
"I'll get the keys," he said, and walked to the door, swaying a little as he moved. I frowned. The guy who kidnapped me in the first freaking place is helping me get out? No way, this had to be wrong. Then I thought again about the poker swaying over Remo's face, about the screaming. I heard the goons outside, moving around the perimeter, closer to the back now. They'd find the other guy soon, probably.
Val was shaking as bad as I was. "They made me watch," she whispered. "They were going to do that to you and me…"
"I know Val. We have to get the van," I told her as I yanked her along. "We have to go or they'll come back."
That got her attention. I didn't have to pull her anymore as we scrambled into the van they'd kidnapped me in earlier. I heard someone yelling as we slammed the doors.
"Get down," Remo instructed. Val flattened herself to the floorboard automatically and I crouched down in front of the passenger seat, putting a bracing hand on the dash as Remo threw the old clunker into reverse and we flew backward amid a series of gunshots and the sound of breaking glass.
"Remo!" I yelled, worried that they might have hit him. I didn't care to be in a wild van with a dead driver.
"Fine,"I heard him growl,and I relaxed slightly.
"Head for Trenton!" I said as we slowed. He didn't reply but I hoped he heard me as we flipped around and bounced down the road.
When I was pretty sure I wouldn't hear any more gunshots, I struggled into the passenger seat and slumped back. Almost there. Now we just had to get to town and… Oh, that would be a problem.
I looked at Remo, bloody and burned and I swallowed hard. I didn't want him to go to jail. He'd kidnapped me, sure, but well, he was sort of a soldier thing, right? Orders were orders… And he killed Abruzzi. At least I hoped he killed Abruzzi. He helped us get away. Okay, he was helping himself too, but still. I didn't want him to go to jail even if he was a reptile. Reptilians were people too. Sort of.
I bit my lip and watched him carefully. I couldn't help thinking that being at Abruzzi's mercy was worse than getting stunned and intimately acquainted with the road system.
"You want me to drive?" I asked him.
"I'm good. I'll pull over if I need to."
"Why did you kidnap me?"
"Got hired. Boss said he wanted you. I got you." His eyes slid to me for a moment before he focused back on the road. "'Course, then you got away."
"I'm sorry he did that to you."
"Would have been you. And nobody would have shot him before he was through."
That was a good point.
"I don't want you to go to jail." I took a shaky breath, and looked down at the gun I was still holding like a security blanket. I didn't want him to go to jail. Abruzzi had just done worse than the prosecutor would ever be able to prescribe. "Is there somewhere you can get help?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I know some places."
I looked back at Valerie who was just now peeling herself off the floorboard. "Well, that takes care of you. Drop us off… drop us off at a filling station or something…"
"No good. They won't be far behind us."
"Ranger," I said sighing. "Drop us by the RangeMan offices if you can."
"No problem. You oughtta be pretty safe that way."
I laughed. "He's probably going to kill me, but yeah."
"Oh my god!" Val said, now sitting up and looking at me. "Do you know what the hell just—what I just—" she stopped and looked back at Remo. "What the hell kind of life do you lead, Stephanie?"
I sighed and gave a helpless shrug. I didn't have the energy to think about it. I didn't have the energy to think about anything. I'd worry about it tomorrow. Right now, Remo would drop us at the office, and I'd need to call… call someone. Ranger. Yeah, call Ranger…
"Remo, what do we tell the cops? I guess that he caught a ride with some guy in a truck… would that be good? The RangeMan office isn't far off that one highway…"
"35. We'll be on that. It works."
"Okay. We got a ride and he dropped us off there… Abruzzi was alive when we left. I shot him. We ran to the road. The guy picked us up. Nobody had a phone. We hightailed it back to base." I let out a long breath, putting my remaining energy into thinking up the story, adding some details in my head before I ducked back to sit next to Val.
"Listen to me, sis. This is really, really important…" I said as I set about pulling the masking tape of her wrists. I was pretty sure she hadn't even remembered it was there until I started pulling it off.
We spent the rest of the ride playing 'Let's say…' She seemed to find this less stressful than just sitting and thinking. I didn't blame her. She'd actually had to see what happened to Remo. I was trying not to imagine it.
For his part, Remo was silent, but I could tell the driving was putting a strain on him. His skin was getting a gray tinge, and his face was developing lines of stress. When we finally pulled to a stop a little way from the RangeMan offices I followed Val out then stopped by his window, waiting for it to roll down.
"Are you sure you're okay to drive? I could take you."
He gave me an unreadable look. "I'll be fine."
"Okay," I tried to smile but it just wouldn't happen. "Thanks. And be careful, okay? Good luck." I inclined my head and hurried after Val.
"You too," I heard just before the van shifted into gear.
Inside the office building almost all the lights were on and I could hear trucks and various vehicles in the parking garage as we got closer. I jumped as something grabbed my hand, and turned toward Val in shock. She shrugged a little.
"Thanks for getting me out of that."
"I was the reason they got you, Valerie. I really am sorry I didn't make it sooner. I didn't know they had you."
"Yeah, it was supposed to be a surprise to make you talk in case torturing you didn't work." I shuddered and squeezed Val's hand.
"It's all right. We're fine."
"You sound like your Dad," she said, laughing a little. I blinked. Right, of course.
"I'm glad I got you as a step-sister," I said, because I couldn't think of anything else to say and it was Valerie's turn to look shocked. "Want to go shopping tomorrow?"
"Sure. We can go back to Priscilla's."
"Deal," I grinned and pushed open the doors of the building.
It was my first good look at the lobby- last time I'd been ushered in by a phalanx of giants and swept up by an angry Bat Man. This time I got to be fully impressed by the cool stone, shiny metal, and clean lines. If a bank vault and an ultra-modern business firm cross-pollinated, this was what it would look like.
I stared around, having a hard time focusing suddenly. It was Val who pulled me now, straight to a desk where a security guard was eying us with polite alarm.
"We need to talk to Ranger," Val said. "Ranger Manoso… Or Jack Ryan."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Manoso is busy," said someone else, before the guard could speak. We turned to the apologetic voice to find an older man with salt-and-pepper hair and an athletic body only starting to go to seed. Considering he looked about 60 it didn't seem such a bad thing.
"I'm Louis Guzman," he said, extending his hand. "And you ladies are--?"
"I'm Valerie Plum, and this is my sister Stephanie."
Louis' eyes widened and his jaw dropped a little. "Forgive me. John, call Ella. Have her send up some dinner. Right this way, please," he said, gesturing toward the elevators even as he flipped open a cell phone and hit a couple numbers.
"They just walked in and they seem all right physically… Of course." And that was the end of the phone call. I could have bet large amounts of cash on the identity of the other person. Only one person in the world had phone skills like that.
We followed Louis onto the elevator and he put a key in and selected the 7th floor. I was going to say something when he cut me off. "Ranger will be here in ten minutes. Have you met my wife, Ella?"
"Umm… I don't think so, Mr. Guzman… maybe..." I frowned trying to remember. "Everything's a little fuzzy right now," I added truthfully. I was having a hard time thinking suddenly. Nothing would arrange itself in my head the right way, it just seemed like a jumbled mess of noise and blurred colors. He nodded in understanding and looked closely at Val and I realized with a start that we were still holding hands. Oh well, I didn't care. Apparently neither did Val.
Louis ushered us off the elevator and into the suite and Val and I finally separated as she took in the magnificent view from the open window. I had to admit it was pretty awesome, and I didn't even like cityscapes. While Val wandered toward the window to admire, I flopped onto the sofa and wondered if I'd ever be able to get out of it, and furthermore if I would ever want to.
"Wow, Steph. Come look at this!"
"I've seen it," I sighed. Well, I had, more or less. Without waiting for a reply or for permission from Louis I headed for the bathroom to answer the call of nature.
Once nature was done with me I bit the bullet and took a look in the mirror. I nearly screamed. There were murder victims that looked better than me. My hair was a mess. I had scratches along the left side of my face, blood on my nose and chin. I looked back down at my torn, bloody clothing in despair before deciding I could at least attempt a clean up.
I was intensely glad Ranger had black towels. Maybe there really was a reason for all the black after all. It didn't show blood as much. That was a sobering thought, as if tonight needed any more sobering. What tonight really needed was a fifth of tequila, a truckload of Capt. Morgan, and some Jagermeister. Maybe even a few TK's and AKL's to liven up the party.
Several minutes later I had worked a most of the tangles, leaves, sticks, and snarls out of my hair and gotten most of the blood off my face. Now I looked like I'd just been in a bar brawl but that was still an improvement. As good as it was going to get. I wandered back to the front room in time to face a violently curious Val.
"You've been here before?" she demanded.
"Yeah." Uh-oh…
"At night?"
"Umm…" I looked at Louis for help. He looked amused. I rolled my eyes and gave up. "Yeah."
"You've been here, at night, with Ranger and you didn't tell me?"
"Um." Yeah, I was all about the eloquence.
"I can't believe—" A knock on the door silenced her and we both turned to watch as Louis held the door open for a pretty gray-haired lady in black, pushing a cart of what had to be the officially best-smelling food ever created.
My love for Ella increased by lots of big mathematical terms as Val's train of thought almost visibly derailed. I followed her look of mouth-watering lust and felt my own thoughts hit the skids.
Cheesecake. There was cheesecake on that tray.
"Hello, girls," Ella said cheerfully, grinning as she caught us salivating over the cheesecake. "I thought this might come in handy."
She was setting the table. Why was she setting the table? We had hands. There were trays. Oh yeah, civilized. We were supposed to be civilized. Stupid concept. I sighed and resigned myself to the plight of the civilized world as Val and I sat ourselves down at the table.
I then watched in disbelief as Val actually took meat and a few other non-cheesecake dishes while her eyes barely ever left the actual cheesecake. I blinked. Nope, she was still eating a main course. I looked at the main courses and selected my own. I guessed civilization would have to win tonight.
Ella and Louis joined us at the table but said they'd already eaten. It struck me as odd until I realized it was probably really late. Or maybe it wasn't. Time had sort of had it's own speeds recently. Too fast, too slow, nonexistent…
"What time is it?" I asked. I thought it might have been sixish when Morelli had shown up at the apartment and I was pretty sure a whole day hadn't passed, but other than that I really had no clue.
"Ten-thirty," Louis said with a quick check of his watch.
Four hours. Four hours and it felt like four years. I blinked and looked down at my plate. Screw civilization, I was taking that cheesecake now. But even as I looked at it, the predatory gleam faded out of me. Cheesecake wasn't going to make it better.
Whatever 'it' was.
I sighed and wished everyone would go away so I could cry. Instead Ella jumped up and got something off the cart.
"I almost forgot about this!" she laughed, walking back over with a thermos and some mugs. "Anybody want some hot chocolate and marshmallows?"
I grinned, and I blinked the stinging out of my eyes. Dobby had nothing on Ella. I loved Ella.
I told her so emphatically. This brought a chuckle from Louis and an even brighter smile from my new true love herself.
"You've got another one," Louis said, smiling.
"Oh heavens, it's only hot chocolate."
I shook my head but didn't try to explain it as she poured out a steaming cup of hot cocoa salvation and set down the bowl of marshmallows. "Thank you."
I curled up in the seat and huddled down to enjoy my treat, the rest of the universe fading into chocolate-coated inconsequence.
Ella and Val discussed meals and baking and running a home and whatnot. Louis seemed happy to sip his chocolate and listen. I listened a little, but my thoughts drifted back to Remo and then to Joe, finally to Ranger. I kept thinking he was going to be mad. Really, really mad. He should be mad. I just couldn't think of why.
I hoped Joe wouldn't yell. I hoped Ranger didn't yell, either. I was pretty sure I'd have a total melt-down. I took a sip of the chocolate to stop myself from thinking about it.
The sound of the door opening jolted me back into real time and I felt my spine stiffen, my head jerking toward the sound.
Male voices drifted in, and their owners stepped into view. Ranger and Mac came first, tricked out in full SWAT mode, followed by Tank, Jack and Hector, who were equally armed to the teeth, and then Joe, still in his plainclothes, but he had his gun.
I cringed and stayed put, squashing down my sudden urge to tackle Ranger. Joe too, because I was truly relieved he was okay. Instead I stayed frozen, waiting for the tirade. Someone was going to yell, I just knew it. I didn't want to hug one of them and then get yelled at.
There was a moment when everybody seemed just as frozen as I was, then Ranger's eyes caught mine and held for a moment.
"Where is he?" Jack asked. I tore my eyes from Ranger and looked at Jack. His green eyes were worried and there was definitely some anger in his pose. They were all hyped on adrenaline, I realized. They were ready for someone to go down. In a very painful way.
"I think he's dead." Crap, there went my mouth again... "We were in a cabin in Pennsylvania. Um, I mean, yeah, Pennsylvania. Not that I knew that at first or anything, being in the van and stuff and then I was in the woods because I rolled out of the van but then I ended up at the cabin and the guy had a gun so I fought him and I kicked him in the face and he quit making noise so I took the gun and I shot him. AbruzziImean. I shot him, and then--" I stopped to take a breath and was surprised to find Ranger kneeling by me.
Gently he took the mug out of my hands to set it on the table. "Slow down, Babe. Start at the beginning."
I bit my lip and looked down at him, suddenly uneasy. "You're going to be mad."
"I won't be mad at you," he said quietly. "What happened?"
I looked at him for a moment then looked up at the others. Joe was just behind Ranger, looking uncertain of whether to stay where he was or push Ranger out of the way. Mac was looking unreadable. Hector looked like he was itching to be told who to punch. Tank was joining Mac in the I-am-the-stone look. Jack was talking quietly to Val.
Hm, looked like she was doing pretty good with him. Too bad, I could really have liked Jack. Then again, I had enough guys on my plate and Jack was the kind of guy maybe you should be serious about. Speaking of which...
I sighed and focused back on Ranger's black eyes. Probably you should be serious about 'forever' too... "They hit me with something, like a tranq dart or whatever…" and the entire story spilled out. I barely managed to get control in time to give the cop-safe version of the get away.
When I was through Ranger was giving me an odd look. I lifted my eyes to Joe and he smiled reassuringly. Good, as long as he bought it. I could tell the actual events to Ranger some other time.
Ranger stood up, blocking my view of Morelli and I caught his hand. The last thing I needed was for him to do something stupid like misinterpret a look. Monkeys tended to be weird like that.
His eyes clouded for a moment, and he gave me a look that let me know somehow I better be ready to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth later. I squeezed his hand and let it drop. He smiled, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. "Proud of you, Babe." Then he turned to Ella. "Can you take care of her?"
At Ella's nod, he led the rest of the Justice League back out. Joe stayed to give me a kiss on the cheek. "I was worried about you."
"Thanks." I smiled, and he looked torn. "Better go make sure Ranger isn't planning anything illegal," I advised to stop him from doing something stupid like kissing me. I was pretty sure I wouldn't have had the will power to push him away and Ella would probably have poisoned my hot chocolate.
I watched Joe leave and then poured myself another hot chocolate.
"No more, young lady. We're taking you down to third floor," Ella announced. I stared at her. "I need to look at those cuts on your arms and legs. And I don't want to think what your ribcage must look like…"
I let her whisk me down to the 'infirmary' and begin inspecting me. Infirmary? What kind of office building had an infirmary? Did I even want to know? Nope, right, I didn't. However, I did get to find out that Ella served as part-time nurse and full-time housekeeper. She liked Ranger and thought he was lonely. She seemed to think I was going to fix that.
I nodded and encouraged her to keep talking. I guessed I would be fixing that loneliness bit, what with being a permanent fixture of the Bat Cave now and all. But I wanted to know more about… other stuff. She told me about her cousin hooking her up with the Bulgari. I noticed she really was making sure to point out lots of Ranger's good qualities.
The lady could sell, I gave her that.
"Ella, stop it," I sighed after a while as she was cleaning up some of the scrapes on my legs. "I'm already sold. I love him already. You're going to force me to put him on a pedestal."
She laughed but her eyes were needle sharp. "Do you?"
"Yeah. He's a good guy." And I did love him. That didn't worry me. What worried me was how much. What worried me was 'forever'. I was much happier when I had firm dates. How long was forever?
"Good." Ella smiled and went back to her work.
"You're really good at this," I said to change the subject.
"I should be. You wouldn't believe the kind of injuries those boys get."
It seemed like it took hours for her to go over the worst scrapes with bandages. I was beginning to feel and look like a mummy when she was through because my entire right leg was one big case of road rash and most of that arm and side. I had bruises on bruises and my entire body was turning various shades of unnatural colors.
Added onto it, the adrenaline had died off and I was feeling empty and drained. There were no more worries. Just bed and sleep… I relaxed slowly, smiling at the prospect.
Abruzzi's eyes looked into mine, and the red spot on his shirt got bigger. Remo screamed. There was a sizzling sound and the smell of burnt meat. I hadn't noticed it, had I? I'd been too focused on the stupid gun. Why hadn't I noticed it?
It could have been Valerie. It could have been me.
The man hadn't moved… I killed three people in one night. Three people. I was a serial killer. The thug looked at me, his eyes narrowing as he slid the gun out of his holster. Someone was pulling my ankle… pulling me down… kick them, kick with the heel...
I couldn't breathe. I was missing something. Not noticing… damn it, where was that gun, I just had it… I choked back a sob.
Everything was moving and it wouldn't stay put. There was a blurry lady-shape talking.
"Mama?" I asked, drawling it the way I'd used to whenever I stayed in Oklahoma with Grandmary.
"No, honey, I'm Ella…" she was holding a cell phone.
I shivered and pulled the blanket around me tighter. Blanket? Where'd I get a blanket? And I needed the gun…
I just had the gun… I just killed somebody with it. Two bodies.
"Have you seen the gun?" I asked the Ella-blur. She kept going side to side with everything else. No fair, I wasn't going side to side.
"Grandmary, you need to stop moving." No, wait, not grandmary. Ella. Ella with hot chocolate… "And marshmallows…" I murmured.
Do you get marshmallows when you kill people? Now that hurt. I blinked back tears and closed my eyes to shut out the stupid blurry world.
Where'd my gun go again?
Someone was screaming and the meat was burning… A bumblebee must have stung my arm...
I looked up wondering where the bumblebee went. If it stung me it died too. I didn't want it to die too.
I didn't see a bumblebee. I saw Tank. He was holding me still. Ella was putting something away.
"Did I kill the bumblebee, Tank?" My voice shook because I was trying not to cry. I cried too much lately.
"No. No, it's fine," he said gruffly. His voice sounded odd. I tilted my head and stared at him but his face didn't hold my attention, I looked down, still wondering where the bee went.
"Can I go home soon? I miss Chelsea and Renee."
"Sure, angel."
I yawned and wondered why my eyes were so heavy. "You're nice," I said, leaning my head on his shoulder. "You're the nicest killer teddy bear ever."
I closed my eyes and listened to see if he had a heartbeat. Yep, heartbeat. He had a heartbeat. I had a heartbeat… the world had a heartbeat…
Or was that a front porch…