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 FOURTEENI woke up with my hands pinned behind me and with my legs tied together. I felt groggy and struggled to clear my head. I strained my eyes and tried to sit up. I had to rock back and forth to do it.
"Babe."
I looked over and Ranger was similarly tied but his back was leaning against the wall. I tried to scoot over to him. It took a while but I finally did.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I think it was a tranq dart." Ranger answered.
"Where are we?"
"Not sure."
I leaned my head on his shoulder, taking some comfort in his closeness. He kissed the top of my head.
"I think my phone is still in my pants pocket." Ranger said.
"Is it on?"
"No, I shut it off when we went in the hospital."
"Which pocket?"
Ranger bent his knee and indicated a pocket on his inner calf.
I had to sit backwards to get to the pocket and I couldn't see what I was doing so it was difficult to maneuver. Finally I got the phone out.
"Give it to me." Ranger said when I had the phone in my hand.
We twisted around to make the hand off. Ranger turned the phone on and I held my breath when I heard it beep.
"It is calling the office and then they will at least be able to track us." Ranger told me.
The door started to open. Ranger slid the phone behind him.
"Don't you look cozy?" A loud voice boomed out.
I recognized the man from his photo. This was Teddy Sanchez. He loomed over us holding a pistol in his hand. I tried not to cower too much. Craning my neck I peered out the door hoping to get a sense of where we were. Two more men came in, big men with no necks. They stood behind Teddy, blocking the door.
"I really didn't want thing to get this far. You know who I am?" Teddy Sanchez said.
Sanchez stomped his feet. "I asked you a question." He turned to the men, "make him answer."
The no necked men walked over to Ranger and pulled him to a standing position. One held him up and the other punched him in the face. Ranger stood there unflinching. I bit my lip so I wouldn't cry out.
"Do you know who I am?" Teddy bellowed.
"I know who you are." Ranger answered quietly.
"Why you want to fuck with me man?"
"I don't know why you say that."
"One contract. All we asked you to do is step away." Teddy said. "You been on Ramos's side all this time haven't you? We tried to scare you away with the murders and the shootings but you are too stupid."
Omigod we were wrong. It wasn't the Ramos Family. It was Teddy Sanchez that killed everyone.
"What are you doing Sanchez?" Perry Bruzniak walked in the room flanked by three huge bodyguards.
"Shut the fuck up." Teddy called out, not bothering to turn around to greet the man.
"I'll say whatever I fucking want to." Perry announced looking the room over. "Hey, there's a cell phone right here. You letting the prisoners make calls?"
Teddy picked up the phone, shut it off and threw it across the room swearing. He said something to one of the bodyguards in Spanish. If I live through this I swear I'm signing up for Spanish classes.
Bruzniak and Sanchez stepped outside leaving the five bodyguards in the room with us. I could hear them arguing but I could not make out any words. I was next to Ranger, but he was still standing. He looked down at me.
"Move over there." He said quietly, gesturing to the other side of the room with his head.
I watched the bodyguards move across the room towards Ranger.
I slid across the room, biting down on my lip so hard it hurt. I heard the first punch and the second. I didn't want to watch but I was afraid they would kill him.
Sanchez came back in the room and they took Ranger out. I wanted to scream but I said nothing. All the men left and I was left alone. They might be somewhere in the building but I could hear nothing. I pressed my ear to the floor, desperate to hear footsteps, voices anything. All I could hear was the dull whir of the electricity humming through the building.
I started crying I couldn't help it. I was so scared and worried about Ranger. I started thinking about Nicole and how we were supposed to pick her up tomorrow. Or maybe it was today I didn't even know how long we were had been in this place.
The door opened and I was scared to look up.
"Stephanie are you in here?" A voice softly called.
It was Hal with Lester and Bobby behind him.
"I'm here."
They ran to me and unlocked the cuffs and untied my ankles.
"They have Ranger." I started crying all over again. "I don't know where they took him. They were beating him."
"We'll find him." Hal assured me.
I was still in shock the next morning when I took the flight with Cal and Junior to Miami. There was no word of Ranger. I didn't want to leave Trenton not knowing he was safe, but we made these plans to pick up Nicole and I didn't know how to change them. It still seemed to me that she would be safer here. Even if Ranger wasn't here the men could keep her safe. I didn't know the men in Miami.
I tried to look like a normal person. I wore a khaki cargos and a blue sweater. But with my bandaged wrists and ankles and bags under my eyes I knew I looked kind of freaky. Before leaving Philadelphia I bought an I love Philadelphia bag and filled it with things I thought a ten year old might like. Okay so they were things I liked but I had no clue what ten year olds were about. My nieces were aliens. One thought she was a horse and the other acted more mature than I did.
Cal and Junior seemed to know where they were going when we got off the plane so I followed them. I wondered if they met Ranger's daughter before. I can't imagine she would be standing there with a name badge on. They actually seemed to recognize the men watching Nicole and her grandmother. They were all sitting on chairs waiting for the planes to come in at the last security checkpoint.
I think I might have been able to recognize Nicole as Ranger's daughter even without context. She had his eyes and his mouth as well as his coloring. Her hair was dark like his and she wore it in a ponytail. She looked at me curiously.
"Hi." I said. "I'm Stephanie."
"Hi." She said, "I'm Nicole, this is my grandma."
"It's nice to meet you." I held out my hand first to Nicole who was surprised but shook it and then to Ranger's mother.
Ranger's mother was a couple of inches shorter than me. She was of indeterminate origin. "Mrs. Manoso it's nice to meet you."
"Hello Stephanie." She greeted me. "Sit, while we wait for your flight. Nicole move over and let Stephanie sit between us"
I sat where I was instructed. The Manosos must all be bossy.
"Where's Carlos?" She asked me.
I wondered what took them this long to notice Ranger's absence. Ella told me to tell them the truth. I was so much better at lying. Couldn't I just say he missed his flight? Got a flat tire. He's at home with the flu? I really don't want to tell his mother and his daughter that he got kidnapped.
"Um, we had a bit of a problem."
"What kind of problem?" Mrs. Manoso looked at me sharply.
Nicole leaned towards me. "Is Daddy dead?"
"No." I assured her. How could I assure her of that? It was really hopeful thinking. I felt the tears well up in my eyes and I willed them away. Now was not the time to lose it.
"Stephanie, where is Carlos?" Mrs. Manoso looked at me expecting an answer. She didn't resemble Ranger much, but I swear I recognize that expression.
"He's with some men right now and we don't know exactly where he is. The police and his men are looking for him." That sounded a little better than the truth.
Mrs. Manoso pulled money out of her purse. "Nicole, ask Don to take you into the gift shop and go buy yourself a book and some candy."
Nicole put the money in her pocket and stared at us for a minute. I could tell she didn't want to leave, she knew she was getting the brush off. But she reluctantly walked away approaching one of the large men in a suit sitting nearby.
Mrs. Manoso waited until the girl was out of earshot to speak.
"Carlos shouldn't be bringing the girl into his circus of a lifestyle. It won't do her any good to go to New Jersey to watch her father get killed."
"I don't think he's planning that. What's happening now is not his fault. He loves his daughter and he wants to protect her."
"You think he is very glamorous and handsome. I hope that will be of comfort to you when he is dead."
"I will worry about myself thank you." I finally managed to say. This woman was really a surprise.
"You do that. I'm worried about my granddaughter." Mrs. Manoso said.
"She will be protected. You should have more confidence in your son."
"You would tell me what to think of my son?" The woman sounded offended.
"I don't mean to offend you. I am trying to reassure you that Nicole will be safe and so will Carlos. He knows what he is doing and he has a lot of resources in place to provide security." I couldn't believe I was saying this to her.
"I will still worry." Mrs. Manoso said. Some of the stern look did leave her face.
Nicole was quiet at first on the plane.
"What happened to your wrists?" She asked, gently touching one of them.
"I was handcuffed and the handcuffs cut them." I told her honestly.
"My Daddy was kidnapped wasn't he?"
Jeez she was eleven years old and she knew about kidnapping.
"Yes you could call it that." I said.
"Were you with him?" She asked.
"Yes. At first we were together. But they separated us. They found me, but they are still looking for your father."
"Do you think they will find him?"
"I'm sure they will." Okay I was still assuring myself too.
"Why are you sure?" Nicole looked at me.
"Because that is what they do."
"But sometimes they don't find people." Jeez this kid was a real downer. Was Mrs. Manoso filling her head with ideas?
"The police are looking for him, and his men are looking for him. They will find him."
I handed her the bag of goodies from the airport. "Here I got this for you. I don't know what you like."
"Tastykakes?"
"You've never had tastykakes?"
"No, they look good. Are these all-different flavors? I love sweets especially chocolate."
I liked this kid already.
I got her comic books a puzzle book and a map of Trenton.
When we landed I had five messages. Two were from my mother, just wondering what I was doing. Two were from Morelli needing to talk to me. One was from Ranger's sister Nelda wanting to know if we had landed. I wonder how she got my number. Maybe the guys at the office gave it to her.
Cal checked in with the office and there was no word on Ranger. I told them I wanted to see Morelli before we drove to the safe house.
"His house would be okay." Cal informed me.
Morelli met us at the door. I took Nicole and went in followed by Cal. They weren't leaving us alone for a second.
Morelli took a look at us and gave me a puzzled look.
"Hi." He said looking from me to Nicole to Cal.
"Joe this is Nicole and I don't know if you know Cal." I started the introductions. "Nicole this is my friend Joe. He's a police officer."
Morelli was looking curiously at Nicole. Nicole was looking equally curiously at Morelli. I just told her we were stopping by to see a friend of mine who was a police officer.
"Are you really a police officer?" She asked Joe solemnly.
"Yes." Morelli answered.
"Are you going to find my Daddy?"
Morelli looked at me for help.
"Ranger is her father." I told him.
The look on his face was complete shock. You would have thought I told him Martians landed in his backyard. I probably should have prepared him, but who expected her to ask a question like that. I really had a lot to learn about kids.
"There are many officers looking for your father pumpkin." Joe kneeled down in front of her. "Sometimes it takes time to find someone. I know it can be hard to wait."
He walked into the living room and turned on the television and flipped the channels until he found cartoons. "Why don't you sit on the couch and watch TV. I need to talk to Stephanie for a few minutes."
Nicole looked at him with wary eyes and then walked over and sat on the couch. Joe motioned me outside.
"I didn't know Ranger had a daughter. I think I actually feel bad for the man. Why are you taking care of her?"
"I told Ranger I would. She was living in Miami with Ranger's mother and someone shot at his mom. He put them in a safe house. But I talked him into bringing Nicole up here."
Morelli shook his head. "I don't know how smart that was. We were able to take in Marco Sanchez. He had guns at his Trenton restaurant. We also were able to take in Luther Smith and found evidence of ties to Bruzniak Contractors and the Sanchez Brothers. But Teddy and Perry are long gone."
"Do you think they have Ranger?"
"It's very likely one of them does."
"They did not get along very well. I heard them arguing."
"We don't know for sure if they are together."
"Where are you going now?"
"To a safe house."
Morelli nodded. "Good."
"Will you let me know if you hear anything?"
"Yeah."
"May I see your police car?" Nicole asked Morelli as we were leaving.
"I don't drive a police car. I drive an unmarked car."
"I would still like to see it. May I please?"
Joe looked to Cal and me. I didn't see any harm in it and Cal shrugged.
Joe opened up the front door and let her climb in. Cal loomed over them making sure nothing happened. Like that wouldn't be the ultimate irony. To be shot while standing by a police car.
"Why are you so interested in police cars?" Morelli asked her when she got out.
"I want to be a police woman when I grow up. But I hope the cars get better."
Morelli laughed.