DISCLAIMER: SEE CH 1. Don't own them. Any resemblance to person or persons
in real life is completely on purpose.
CHAPTER TWO
The painkillers knocked me out through most of the ride, so I don't remember where we went or how long it took to get there. In fact I don't remember much until the next morning. The bedside clock read 9:13 am Thurs. Feb. 13. This is how I knew I wasn't home. My alarm clock was never this helpful. I was in a lot of pain and it took a moment to remember it was because I had been shot, and then another to realize I was lying on my injured arm. There was a note from Tank next to the clock. I sat up and read:
Good Morning Bombshell, I thought you'd like to sleep in. You have the house to yourself, but there are people watching it 'round the clock. The alarm code is 031291 and it's already been set. Just remember to call me if you need something and DON'T LEAVE. That's why they call it a safe house. I'll be stopping by later, the fridge should be stocked. Feel free to look around. There should be breakfast waiting for you. Good luck, Steph. See ya soon.
Tank
P.S. The kitchen is all the way down the hallway on your left.
The painkillers were by the bed next to a glass of water so I read the instructions on the bottle. 'One every four to six hours as needed'. Well I definitely needed it now. I wanted to take two, but I resisted. I was hungry and if the bedroom was any indication I should have accepted all of Ranger's past offers for a safe house. It was practically the size of my whole apartment decorated in shades of green and white. The bed sheets were white and the comforter was a dark forest green with little gold designs on it. The furniture was dark mahogany with gold accents. I think I could look at this room all day, but the smell of bacon and eggs was drifting into the room and making my stomach growl.
The bedroom was at the end of a 40 or 50 foot hallway. There were three doors on the right and two on the left. They were all wooden doors, dark mahogany, just like the bedroom. I would explore those later. The house was only one story but the hallway was slightly higher than the living room, dining room, and kitchen so that there were four steps leading down into one big open area. The kitchen was on the left, just like the letter said, and nearly took my breath away. All of the countertops and other surfaces were black marble. The floor was white marble and the rest was stainless steel. There was a large island of black marble in the center of the room and above it was one of those pot racks. The stove had one of those surfaces for frying as well as the burners for the pots. There was currently a large man scrambling eggs and frying bacon. He turned around and it was Lester.
"Hey bombshell. Feeling better?"
"Yeah. Still hurts, but the pain pills will kick in soon. What are you doing here?"
"Tank thought you might like breakfast. He figured you wouldn't feel like making it though."
"So you came over here and made me breakfast?"
"Yeah. My girlfriend wasn't too happy, but she'll survive. Besides, I wanted to see the house."
"You haven't seen it before?"
"Tank and Ranger are the only ones who've seen this."
"Why?" He hesitated like he didn't want to tell me something.
"Uh, it's . . . new."
"Oh." New? And extremely well furnished? Was there something wrong with this picture? Oh, there's that floaty feeling again. I like this. And breakfast looks really good.
"Well, my work here is done. I'm gonna go and try and repair the damage. Just put the dishes in the dishwasher when you're done." He motioned to the machine like I couldn't have figured out where it was on my own. We waved goodbye and I sat down to eat. The bacon tasted kind of funny, so I decided not to eat it, but the eggs were fantastic. I had a second helping and it quieted my stomach. I put the dishes in the dishwasher and decided that I'd better start exploring.
What better place to start than the room I was already in? I went over to my favorite part, the fridge. It was well stocked but the food was too healthy for my tastes. I found out why the bacon tasted funny, it was turkey bacon. That was just wrong. Bacon is made from pigs and anything else is against nature. The pantry was well stocked and I don't think there was a speck of dirt in the whole place. The kitchen opened up into the living room/dining room, which was done in shades of gray and gray-blue. The dining room table was large and light pine with white marble inlay. A small chandelier hung above it. The living room sofas were white and unbelievably soft and comfortable, I know because I tried all three of them. They made a semicircle around what looked like one of those entertainment systems that rise up from the floor. There was an alcove with another unbelievably soft loveseat in front of a black marble fireplace. The carpet was a medium gray color, but the steps I had come down were also made of white marble.
That gave way to a slightly more realistic hallway. The hallway was painted a dark navy blue and the light fixtures were semicircles of frosted glass with gold edging. I decided to look in the first door on the left. It was some kind of game room. There was a pool table and a mini-bar. The floor was wood paneling and there was also a big screen TV with all sorts of Nintendo games lying around on the floor to the side. There was a chair and another loveseat in front of the TV. I knew I could have fun in this room.
I decided to check out the first door on the right side. It was a bathroom. A very large bathroom. It was done in shades of teal. The tiles were teal with what looked like jewels randomly placed in them. It had a shower/tub combo and the mirror was framed in gold. I was beginning to see a theme here. The second doorway on the right was a huge surprise. It was a little girl's room, complete with pink wallpaper and a pink canopy bed. The funny thing was it looked like it was never used, just like the rest of the house. There were toys in one of those nets in the corner, and a desk with hello kitty stationary. There was even a dollhouse. This room was kind of creepy. Why would a little girl's room be in a safe house? I mean, a kid's room I can understand, but why for a girl? I left that room more confused than ever.
The second doorway on the left was a hall closet. A walk-in hall closet. That was pretty boring considering mine was the only coat in there. The last door on the left was a library. It was the kind of library you see in all the mansions on TV only smaller. Books lined the walls in mahogany bookcases and the furniture was brown leather. There were three reclining chairs set in a triangle all facing each other and there was a tea table set in the center. I was feeling very groggy at this point and decided to go back to bed.
The bedroom that I had only barely noticed before now had my full attention. The bed was the centerpiece of the room. It was huge with a canopy of the same material as the comforter. There was a dresser and a stereo system along with a desk complete with a computer I probably couldn't figure out how to turn on. There were two doors on opposite sides of the room. One led to a walk-in closet, which was empty, and the other led to a bathroom about twice the size of the other. There was a bathtub big enough for four of me, and a shower set into the corner with all three sides and the door made of frosted glass. There were three showerheads high up, one on each wall. The whole bathroom was white with gold faucets and handles.
One thing the whole house had in common though was the fact that nothing was personalized. I walked back into the bedroom and flopped on to the bed facedown. It probably would have hurt if I hadn't been on such pretty pills. I must have fallen asleep because Tank woke me up around 2:00.
"Have a good nap bombshell?"
"Yeah. I'm, feeling pretty good."
"Good enough to head out?"
"Head out where?"
"Shopping. Ya gotta spend your five grand."
"Sorry. That's going to pay my bills."
"Bills are already paid, bombshell."
"What are you talking about?"
"You went above and beyond the call of duty. Therefore you get paid more."
"I didn't think you'd caught him yet."
"We haven't. But we know where he'll be tomorrow."
"Valentines Day."
"Yup."
"So, what do you say? Suzie thinks you might want to get out."
"I'm going shopping with your wife?"
"Well, Lester and I are going to follow you around just in case, but yeah." I though about all the practical things I could do with that money. I could pay next months rent, or fill up my fridge, or go shopping with Suzie. Yeah, that last one sounded good.
"Okay, sure. I'd love to meet Suzie."
"And she'd love to meet you bombshell. In fact she can't wait."
CHAPTER TWO
The painkillers knocked me out through most of the ride, so I don't remember where we went or how long it took to get there. In fact I don't remember much until the next morning. The bedside clock read 9:13 am Thurs. Feb. 13. This is how I knew I wasn't home. My alarm clock was never this helpful. I was in a lot of pain and it took a moment to remember it was because I had been shot, and then another to realize I was lying on my injured arm. There was a note from Tank next to the clock. I sat up and read:
Good Morning Bombshell, I thought you'd like to sleep in. You have the house to yourself, but there are people watching it 'round the clock. The alarm code is 031291 and it's already been set. Just remember to call me if you need something and DON'T LEAVE. That's why they call it a safe house. I'll be stopping by later, the fridge should be stocked. Feel free to look around. There should be breakfast waiting for you. Good luck, Steph. See ya soon.
Tank
P.S. The kitchen is all the way down the hallway on your left.
The painkillers were by the bed next to a glass of water so I read the instructions on the bottle. 'One every four to six hours as needed'. Well I definitely needed it now. I wanted to take two, but I resisted. I was hungry and if the bedroom was any indication I should have accepted all of Ranger's past offers for a safe house. It was practically the size of my whole apartment decorated in shades of green and white. The bed sheets were white and the comforter was a dark forest green with little gold designs on it. The furniture was dark mahogany with gold accents. I think I could look at this room all day, but the smell of bacon and eggs was drifting into the room and making my stomach growl.
The bedroom was at the end of a 40 or 50 foot hallway. There were three doors on the right and two on the left. They were all wooden doors, dark mahogany, just like the bedroom. I would explore those later. The house was only one story but the hallway was slightly higher than the living room, dining room, and kitchen so that there were four steps leading down into one big open area. The kitchen was on the left, just like the letter said, and nearly took my breath away. All of the countertops and other surfaces were black marble. The floor was white marble and the rest was stainless steel. There was a large island of black marble in the center of the room and above it was one of those pot racks. The stove had one of those surfaces for frying as well as the burners for the pots. There was currently a large man scrambling eggs and frying bacon. He turned around and it was Lester.
"Hey bombshell. Feeling better?"
"Yeah. Still hurts, but the pain pills will kick in soon. What are you doing here?"
"Tank thought you might like breakfast. He figured you wouldn't feel like making it though."
"So you came over here and made me breakfast?"
"Yeah. My girlfriend wasn't too happy, but she'll survive. Besides, I wanted to see the house."
"You haven't seen it before?"
"Tank and Ranger are the only ones who've seen this."
"Why?" He hesitated like he didn't want to tell me something.
"Uh, it's . . . new."
"Oh." New? And extremely well furnished? Was there something wrong with this picture? Oh, there's that floaty feeling again. I like this. And breakfast looks really good.
"Well, my work here is done. I'm gonna go and try and repair the damage. Just put the dishes in the dishwasher when you're done." He motioned to the machine like I couldn't have figured out where it was on my own. We waved goodbye and I sat down to eat. The bacon tasted kind of funny, so I decided not to eat it, but the eggs were fantastic. I had a second helping and it quieted my stomach. I put the dishes in the dishwasher and decided that I'd better start exploring.
What better place to start than the room I was already in? I went over to my favorite part, the fridge. It was well stocked but the food was too healthy for my tastes. I found out why the bacon tasted funny, it was turkey bacon. That was just wrong. Bacon is made from pigs and anything else is against nature. The pantry was well stocked and I don't think there was a speck of dirt in the whole place. The kitchen opened up into the living room/dining room, which was done in shades of gray and gray-blue. The dining room table was large and light pine with white marble inlay. A small chandelier hung above it. The living room sofas were white and unbelievably soft and comfortable, I know because I tried all three of them. They made a semicircle around what looked like one of those entertainment systems that rise up from the floor. There was an alcove with another unbelievably soft loveseat in front of a black marble fireplace. The carpet was a medium gray color, but the steps I had come down were also made of white marble.
That gave way to a slightly more realistic hallway. The hallway was painted a dark navy blue and the light fixtures were semicircles of frosted glass with gold edging. I decided to look in the first door on the left. It was some kind of game room. There was a pool table and a mini-bar. The floor was wood paneling and there was also a big screen TV with all sorts of Nintendo games lying around on the floor to the side. There was a chair and another loveseat in front of the TV. I knew I could have fun in this room.
I decided to check out the first door on the right side. It was a bathroom. A very large bathroom. It was done in shades of teal. The tiles were teal with what looked like jewels randomly placed in them. It had a shower/tub combo and the mirror was framed in gold. I was beginning to see a theme here. The second doorway on the right was a huge surprise. It was a little girl's room, complete with pink wallpaper and a pink canopy bed. The funny thing was it looked like it was never used, just like the rest of the house. There were toys in one of those nets in the corner, and a desk with hello kitty stationary. There was even a dollhouse. This room was kind of creepy. Why would a little girl's room be in a safe house? I mean, a kid's room I can understand, but why for a girl? I left that room more confused than ever.
The second doorway on the left was a hall closet. A walk-in hall closet. That was pretty boring considering mine was the only coat in there. The last door on the left was a library. It was the kind of library you see in all the mansions on TV only smaller. Books lined the walls in mahogany bookcases and the furniture was brown leather. There were three reclining chairs set in a triangle all facing each other and there was a tea table set in the center. I was feeling very groggy at this point and decided to go back to bed.
The bedroom that I had only barely noticed before now had my full attention. The bed was the centerpiece of the room. It was huge with a canopy of the same material as the comforter. There was a dresser and a stereo system along with a desk complete with a computer I probably couldn't figure out how to turn on. There were two doors on opposite sides of the room. One led to a walk-in closet, which was empty, and the other led to a bathroom about twice the size of the other. There was a bathtub big enough for four of me, and a shower set into the corner with all three sides and the door made of frosted glass. There were three showerheads high up, one on each wall. The whole bathroom was white with gold faucets and handles.
One thing the whole house had in common though was the fact that nothing was personalized. I walked back into the bedroom and flopped on to the bed facedown. It probably would have hurt if I hadn't been on such pretty pills. I must have fallen asleep because Tank woke me up around 2:00.
"Have a good nap bombshell?"
"Yeah. I'm, feeling pretty good."
"Good enough to head out?"
"Head out where?"
"Shopping. Ya gotta spend your five grand."
"Sorry. That's going to pay my bills."
"Bills are already paid, bombshell."
"What are you talking about?"
"You went above and beyond the call of duty. Therefore you get paid more."
"I didn't think you'd caught him yet."
"We haven't. But we know where he'll be tomorrow."
"Valentines Day."
"Yup."
"So, what do you say? Suzie thinks you might want to get out."
"I'm going shopping with your wife?"
"Well, Lester and I are going to follow you around just in case, but yeah." I though about all the practical things I could do with that money. I could pay next months rent, or fill up my fridge, or go shopping with Suzie. Yeah, that last one sounded good.
"Okay, sure. I'd love to meet Suzie."
"And she'd love to meet you bombshell. In fact she can't wait."