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 THIRTEENRanger was still dressing when I heard a knock at the door. No one ever knocks at his apartment door. I peered through the peephole and saw a woman with dark hair standing in the hall. I opened the door.
"Hello, where's Carlos?" The woman asked cheerfully.
I had no idea who this woman could be. Not sure that I wanted to know. She stood about my height with silky black hair piled on top of her head in an elegant knot. She could be Hispanic. Her eyes and complexion were dark. She wore beige slacks and a rose colored sweater. Her make up and nails were perfect.
"Who are you?" She asked.
She stepped inside, clearly coming inside the apartment. I started to feel like a cat with its fur standing on end. I didn't want my territory encroached upon. Was this really my territory?
"I'm Stephanie."
"Ah," she said, looking me over, "I'm Nelda. Carlos is still here?"
"Yes." I said.
She walked into the apartment like she knew where she was going and headed straight for the bedroom. I couldn't help myself I followed. Okay, I did want to know. Who the hell was this woman? Ranger was sitting on the bed lacing his boots when she walked in and he looked up. He clearly recognized her and didn't mind her entering his bedroom. I was starting to get a weird feeling. And it didn't feel good.
Nelda started yelling in Spanish the minute she saw him. I really wished I could understand what she was saying. When she got next to Ranger she slapped him on the shoulder. Gave him quite a smack too. It was loud I could hear it across the room. He didn't react more than a mildly annoyed look. He finished tying his boots and stood up. They continued to speak in loud voices. Still in Spanish, so I still had no idea what they were saying. Nelda grabbed his arm and tried to shake him, obviously frustrated. Ranger removed her hand and walked away from her. He walked into the sitting room.
I followed him. Nelda followed me.
"Babe, this is my sister Nelda."
His sister? I did feel really relieved she was his sister. At least it wasn't a girlfriend coming out of the woodwork. But why was she yelling at him? I thought my family was crazy. My sister didn't smack me. I wanted to smack Valerie sometimes. But that's another story.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
"My mother was shot at this morning." Ranger said. "They are moving her and Nicole to a safe house. Nelda wants to take Nicole."
"Is your mother okay?"
"She's fine, she wasn't hit."
"And Nicole?"
"She's fine, she wasn't in the car when it happened."
"We should take Nicole." I said.
Nelda started yelling in Spanish again.
Ranger said something to her and she shut up. I really need to learn Spanish.
"It was a pleasure to meet you Stephanie." Nelda shook my hand.
Nelda kissed Ranger's cheek said something in his ear, and walked out the door.
"What was she saying to you?" I wanted to know.
"Just now?"
"Yeah."
"She said I was never going to keep a woman if I didn't stop being such an asshole."
I laughed. "Are all your sisters like her?"
Ranger had four sisters. I still had three to meet. If they all stood up to Ranger like that it might be interesting.
"Nelda likes to tell me what to do. She's the oldest."
"Seriously Ranger, I think you should consider bringing Nicole here. I would be willing to go with her to the safe house until this is over. You could come and visit us."
"You would do that?" His eyes widened, and he looked genuinely surprised.
"Of course I would." I don't know why it sounded so right. I was deciding this off the top of my head.
"You haven't even decided if you want to live with me and you're willing to take care of my daughter?"
"Ranger, I love you. I know what my decision is going to be." And I did. I knew what was in my heart. It still scared me, but I knew the truth.
"I love you too. I wish that things were easier for us." Ranger pulled me into his arms and hugged me. He kissed the top of my head.
"I know, but it is not your fault." I rubbed his back.
"My sister Nelda could give her a better life than I could. She's married and she has two kids."
"You are her father. You're not starving in the street. You could give her a great life. I think you are afraid."
"I don't want to do the wrong thing."
"How could you? She's your daughter and you love her." I kissed him on the lips.
He pulled me into his arms and held onto me tightly.
That night he booked plane tickets for us for Miami for the day after tomorrow. We were going to fly down and bring Nicole back the same day. Cal and Junior were going to come with us.
I probably should be having a fit of shock thinking about living with a man and his daughter. Especially considering I don't know anything about children. Sometimes I feel like I hardly know anything about this man. But I was learning more and more about Ranger. Actually, I was feeling pretty calm about Nicole coming. It actually felt good to help Ranger work through something for once. I felt like we were making some progress in our relationship as strange as that sounded.
I called my mother and told her I was going away for a day and not to worry if I didn't answer my phone. I would tell her about Nicole when she was here. My mother had a big mouth and the world would know as soon as I told her.
Ranger and I left Tank's hospital room and walked across the garage to the car. Tank was doing better but he was still very groggy from painkillers. He obviously hated being in the hospital and restricted to bed. It would be several weeks before he made a complete recovery from his shoulder wound. He would be released from the hospital tomorrow.
Tank and Ranger argued back and forth about where Tank would go to recover. Ranger wanted Tank to go up to Maine to his safe house and Tank wanted to stay in his condo. Ranger finally won the battle. I knew he would worry about Tank, and having Tank in a safe place would be a relief for him.
Ranger grabbed my arm and stopped me and reached for his gun. I started to panic and then everything went black.