Dawn Tracy
The characters you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just borrowing them for fun and pleasure.
Rating: R
Spoilers: HS through EOT CHAPTER FOUR"What's bothering you? You hardly ate a thing." My mother hovered over me. "This is because of Joseph isn't it? You miss him and you're sorry you broke up with him."
"Mom I'm not sorry Joe and I broke up. I ate an entire plate full of lasagna, I just don't want anymore."
"It's because she's not getting sex all the time like she used to." Grandma Mazur piped up.
My father looked up from his plate and shook his head and continued his feeding ritual.
"Please." My mother said, clearly horrified to think of her daughter involved in sexual activity.
"Sex really makes you work up an appetite." Grandma Mazur explained. "Why aren't you taking up with that hot man you work for Ranger? He would have you back to your normal self in no time. A woman has to satisfy her urges." She gave me a wink.
My father made a choking sound.
"Have you ever heard of the Morrison Center?" I desperately wanted to change the subject.
"Are you chasing after criminals again Stephanie?" My mother wanted to know.
"I'm just searching for information." I assured her.
"That's in the hood." Grandma Mazur said. "Gumbazzi construction thought they were going to get the contract to do the remodeling job but they didn't get it. Rumor has it the company that got it Bruzniak Contractors bribed the city officials."
."How do you know this?"
Clarabelle Gumbazzi is George's mother and she is always at the beauty salon when I am. She is two years older than me. I have better legs though, and I know how to dress. She dresses like an old hag."
"Does this have anything to do with your car getting blown up?" Grandma Mazur wanted to know. "It's not as exciting as when you were kidnapped but I want to make sure I have all the details."
"Uh, not exactly. But I'm going to be moving out of my apartment and staying at the Rangeman offices until they find out who put the explosive device in my car." I spoke quickly, hoping to get though this quickly.
"Why don't you stay with Joe?" My mother asked.
I blew out a sigh. "Mom. I told you, Joe and I broke up. I don't want to stay with Joe."
"You're going to be living with Ranger aren't you?" Grandma Mazur wanted to know. "I think that is a good idea. Maybe you can get some action."
"You can still reach me on my cell phone." I informed my mother.
I knew Ranger had someone trailing me. I spotted them when I got out of work and drove to my parents' for dinner He was driving an identical Explorer to the one I drove. I wonder if I was the only employee on my second vehicle in less than two months.
I looked in my rearview mirror and saw that it was Tank now. Guess he had night shift. I was friendly with all the guys. But Tank and Hal were my best sources for information. Tank was more closed mouthed than Hal, but he would occasionally crack after a great deal of pushing.
"Why don't you come upstairs?" I said to Tank through his closed window.
"I was planning to." Tank angled out of the Explorer.
I realized he was thinking about checking my apartment for bad guys, explosives or dead bodies. But I was thinking of grilling him for information that Ranger had not told me. It would be easier if Tank were sitting on my couch.
"I thought Ranger grounded you after the photos." I asked, trying to sound casual.
"Yeah, he did. I talked him into letting me do this."
"Why?"
Tank shrugged. "I was bored."
"Do you really think we are in danger?" A man like Tank probably sees danger from a different perspective than I do so that might not be the best question.
"Can't be too careful." Tank regarded me with a calm gaze.
"Do you want some cake?" I emptied the bag of leftovers my mother packed for me.
"Cake?" Tank repeated the word like it was a foreign concept.
"Yeah cake. My mother made spice cake." I cut off a piece and handed it to him.
"Why don't you stay at Ranger's place?" Tank asked me after eating the spice cake. I guess he didn't have Ranger's no dessert rule.
"I might decide to do that." I didn't want to commit myself one way or the other. I could be a woman of mystery.
"It would be safer."
"But then you would be bored again." I joked.
"It's none of my business but do you enjoy making Ranger worry about you?"
I blinked in shock at Tank's words. It was so out of character for him to make a personal comment. "Uh. Do you want to watch Ghostbusters?"
"No, I'll go back outside. Have a good night." He looked a little uncomfortable too.
Scared him off with Ghostbusters. So much for information. Oh well, means I can have the rest of the spice cake to myself. I watched the movie, polishing off the spice cake, the remaining chunky monkey ice cream and a package of M & Ms. Full and a little nauseous from my too sweet indulgence I went to bed and tried not to think.
I heard the locks tumble open and I started to panic. I reached for the gun on my nightstand and aimed it at the door. Probably I should get up if I actually planned on shooting someone. But actually grabbing the gun seemed like a major accomplishment.
"Its just me babe." Ranger walked across the room and sat next to me on the bed. "Glad to see you prepared." He slipped the gun out of my hands and placed it on the nightstand.
"What are you doing here?" I knew Tank or someone was out in the parking lot.
"Needed to talk to you."
Ranger needed to talk to me? Was he going to do it in Morse code? He was just sitting there silently.
"I'm awake now and I'm ready to listen." Did he get another letter?
I reached over and turned on the small lamp on my nightstand. I really should get out of bed, but I was only wearing a t-shirt and undies. I scooted over on the bed, because the sensation of him so close was doing crazy things to my insides. With me in bed and him so close I was thinking about removing his shirt and then maybe his pants. Did he still have his boots on?
"I found a body in my truck tonight." He said it very calmly. He did not look upset. I could see the subtle signs of tension in his jaw and in his shoulders. He seemed to be waiting for me to react.
"Omigod." So I'm not the queen of eloquence. And I'm apparently not very good with timing. I'm thinking of ripping off his clothes and he wants to talk about murder. The subject did put a damper on my raging hormones.
Ranger found a body in his truck. These things never happen to Ranger. I thought about those photos. Nothing is supposed to be able to touch him. He's Batman. What if it had been Ranger's body in the truck? I didn't want to think about what it would be like to live without him. I barely knew how to live with him.
"What did you do? Whose body is it? Where were you?" I finally managed to spit out.
"I called the police. It was Rodney Smith's body. I was at the Morrison Center." Ranger answered me calmly.
"Rodney Smith, the same one I did the search on today?" I couldn't believe it.
"Yeah."
Why did it keep coming back to that place? "That is very weird. You were doing security and you didn't see anything?"
"They got something on the monitors, there were other things going on. My truck was parked outside the property. The video is a far shot. The police may be able make something out of it. " Ranger said.
"What was going on?" I asked.
"Some kids were shooting, providing distraction for deals going down in the courtyards behind the building.
"Don't you call the police for things like that?"
"Sure." Ranger said. "But the cops only come out once or twice a night. Usually after that we're on our own unless there's someone shot. Last night they were at it all night. They called the cops four times, by the fourth time they didn't come until we found the body."
"So you were responding to the shooting when the body was put in your truck?"
"Yeah. Ram saw someone by the truck on our monitor, but we couldn't spare anyone to go check until we were finished. Lester came over from the office, but by the time he got there we found the body and called the police."
"Do you think they dropped the body while you were chasing the shooters so you were distracted?"
"I'm sure of it. But I don't know why." Ranger said. He placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Did you tell the police about the letters and photos?"
"Yeah. I had to bring copies to the station. I did that before I came here."
I realized just what he was saying. "They made you go in for questioning didn't they?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going to be considered a suspect?"
"Probably at least right now." Ranger said. " But my activities for the entire night are accounted for. Both at the Rangeman building and at the jobsite on video on video monitor you can see when I arrive and leave. I have GPS tracking for my vehicle if they want to get that technical. I hope it won't come to that."
"This whole thing doesn't make any sense."
"I know." Ranger kissed my lips softly. " I'm going to be out of contact for a couple of days. I'm going to see what I can find out. In the meantime keep doing what you are doing. Report your findings each day to Tank. Stay away from the Morrison Center."
He was leaving? I ignored his last statement. I wasn't planning to go there, just near there. Just taking a little drive by.
"You're leaving? Did you tell the police that you would be out of contact?"
"No, I'm not going far and Tank will be able to get in touch with me if necessary. I will make this as quick as I can." He slid his arm around me. "You told me you would move into my apartment tomorrow."
"Did I say that?"
"I worry about you." He tucked a stray curl of hair behind my ear, and kissed me above my ear. "It distracts me. Think about moving some of your things to my place tomorrow. Stay there until this is over. Will you? Please?"
"I'll think about it." Maybe it was my ego talking but I liked the idea of being able to distract him. Even if it was just to worry about me. What did that mean anyway? Did he worry about Tank to distraction? Now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"You have keys." He got up from the bed and it felt empty. "I have to go."
"You're going? Right now, tonight?" This didn't seem real. Why did the men in my life always have to come and tell me good-bye.
"Yeah." He leaned down and put his hand behind my neck, pulling me towards him. He kissed me, tongue and all and then he left.