Morelli and Ranger linked an arm around mine and pulled me to my feet. They both took a step back and I brushed myself off. Joe's face was whiter than a ghost, except for the thin scar slicing through his eyebrow. Ranger's eyes caught mine. Like usual, no fear what-so-ever. He managed a weak smile and folded his arms across his chest.
They both exchanged glances. "Where is she safest?" They're stares were asking.
Joe shrugged and said under his breath, "I don't care."
One of the blue-and-whites pulled me aside and sat me on the hood of a patrol car.
"You're buddy 'Sally' needs some help." He motioned through the windshield. Sally smiled and struggled in the cuffs.
"Sure, what's he need?" I said politely
"A shrink." The cop shrugged. "Anyway, I have a few routine questions to go through."
"Whatever you need, but you're going to let him go, right?"
"You really want him on the streets?"
Not really, but he had just saved my life, and what about all thoughts kids who wouldn't have a bus driver? There was a long pause. The cop sighed and looked down at his clip board. "It says here I have to ask you if the injured was armed, but lets make this easier. Who wasn't armed?"
"I was too scared to count bodies and who didn't have a gun."
"Reasonable. Can you name anyone?"
He balanced over to me. Sally and the band were higher than the clouds.
"Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie." He repeated, shaking his head. He licked his thumb and wiped my cheek. Ewww, a transvestite spit-bath!
I checked out my face in the squad side-mirror. Most of my mascara was smeared to my ears and my hair was a mess. I looked at Sally. He did the thumb-thing a few more times. I re-checked myself. Good enough.
I turned to check on Ranger and Joe. They were still talking, only they were both facing me. Both of their faces were sullen and emotion-less. Ghost-face turned to cop-face. I walked toward them, trying my best to pretend I wasn't scared. They stopped when I was within ear-shot. Damn men. All men. I smiled and they returned it. That's when I slipped on a crack in the pavement. I hoped to land on my knees. They were already bruised.
I stopped short. Ranger caught me and pulled me to my feet. Joe looked over and sat on the bench behind him. His head was shaking in his hands. Ranger led me and sat me down next to Joe.
"I'll bring your stuff by in the morning." He kissed me lightly on the head and glared at Joe, probably to see if he minded.
Joe waited till Ranger got into the Bronco. "He scared me. A lot"
Couldn't blame Joe. He knew that he wouldn't be able to protect me standing next to Ranger. He couldn't catch me fast enough. Ranger knew every detail of my next screw-ups. One of the cops came by and whispered something in Joe's ear. Joe got very still and very serious. He pointed at me like he dose to Bob, but didn't tell me to 'Stay'. I couldn't move, even if I wanted to.
Joe ran over to the bus. Sally backed it up and revealed Junkman in his whole wicked-ness. Joe turned to me and gave me a disturbing look. I got up, but he waved me back down. He unclipped his cell phone and punched in a number. He explained everything to the person over the phone, staring me down the entire time. Once he hung up, he briskly walked back to me.
"Safety's over." He said and gave me a soft shove.
He piled me into his SUV and shut off the Kojak light. I looked into his eyes. There was a very scared man behind them. "Joe..." He pressed his finger to my lip.
The door shut behind him and he walked around the hood. He opened the door on his side and hoped in. "What's up?" I asked.
"Tell you later." He said, not looking at me
"That's not fair! I deserve to know!" I screamed.
"Steph..."He cut me a look via the rear-view mirror. That ended out conversation.
He turned on Haywood. I knew my way back to my many homes. This wasn't one of them. "Morelli......where."
I got another look through the mirror. "Ranger's"
Joe taking me to Ranger's apartment. How weird was this? I pinched my arm. "Ow." I whispered. I wasn't dreaming. Ranger was sitting by the garage gate. He punched his key and let Joe in. Joe pulled to a stop and I got out. "I'll call you in the morning." He said and drove off.
I looked at Ranger. "What's going on?" I asked
"Its late, Babe." He said.
I let out a frustrated sigh and followed him into the building. Hal was slouched in one of the lobby chairs. He smiled evilly. "I'll get you back." He muttered. Ranger punched the button on the elevator and we stepped in. He leaned against the back wall, hands folded and his head pressed against his chest.
"Ranger?" I said
"Hum?" He responded and looked up.
"Nobody's telling me what's going on."
There was an awkward pause and the elevator stopped. Ranger slung his arm around my shoulder and walked my into his apartment.
"Come on, Ranger." I pleaded.
He silently stalked into his room. He brought out a pillow for me, and one of his sheets. I sat on the couch, and he sat next to me. He folded his hands and leaned forward. "They haven't found Norman Carver."
"Yeah they did. He was hit by the bus." I croaked.
"It wasn't him. They found ID on the body. Jack Layrant. Junkman's cruising the town looking for you still"
I was dumb struck. This Junkman-guy, or Norman-guy wasn't stupid. For the third time tonight, there was a long awkward pause. Ranger finally got up and tossed my the pillow. "I planned on you sleeping on the couch, but I'll be in the other room if you get spooked." He shut off the lights and disappeared into his room.
I closed my eyes. Sleep sounded really nice right now. I woke up thirty minutes later, drenched in sweat. Ranger was squatting, his face right next to mine. He smiled when I opened my eyes.
"Bad Dream?"
"Junkmans still out there..." I paused for a breath, but before I could begin my next sentence, Ranger kissed me, tongue and all. I was too weak to fight him off, not that I really wanted to. The kiss ended and he got to his feet. " Get some sleep."
And he was gone.