Chapter 16
"What are you planning, Little Girl?" Tank asked.
"I'm having a parcel delivered to Detective Morelli. It's a compilation of dated photographs of him in compromising positions. If he doesn't leave me alone, the second parcel will get delivered to the chief," Stephanie stated.
"Who is delivering the package?" Lester asked.
"Grandma, of course," she replied. The guys laughed.
Joe couldn't figure out why Stephanie left over a year ago. When he asked Helen, she didn't know what transpired with Stephanie. Although, he thought she kept a secret from him.
Edna approached Morelli inside the Rangeman lobby. "I have a delivery," she maniacally laughed before she tottered out the door. Helen was shocked her mother entered Rangeman like she did that regularly.
Morelli opened the envelope to read the note from Stephanie.
Joe, we both know a relationship between us would never work. I also know you are not marriage material. You see, I know all about your indiscretions with Joyce Barnhardt, Terry Gilman, Cynthia Beckham, Connie Rosolli, Lula and Jackie. Oops, I forgot to mention the Stark Street prostitutes... I mean your "confidential informants" you used to get information.
Don't try to deny my claim. I have photographic proof. If you don't believe me, open the other envelope. Even when we dated, you couldn't remain faithful to me.
I wonder how your boss would feel if he received irrefutable proof that you are sleeping with the mob. I'm not making any threats because this is a promise. Leave me alone.
My heart belongs to someone else, and it always will.
Steph
"What the hell?" Joe thought to himself. "There's no way she could know about the women I had on the side." He looked at the pictures and saw him with twenty other women. All were in compromising positions as she promised. The note dropped from his hand as he looked at the photos.
Stephanie was watching the video feed from Hector. She couldn't stop laughing at Joe's facial expressions. The photographs got organized according to oldest to newest.
Edna and Frank were watching from outside the door. Hector sent Frank a link to view the spectacle Morelli made of himself. They could see the photos as Morelli flipped through them. Frank watched Morelli as he paid attention to his wife.
"I see someone added to them," Stephanie commented when Edna answered her phone.
"You bet I did. Hector gave them to me. He took those on the morning Morelli was supposed to marry you," Edna replied.
"Disgusting," Frank added. "I'm glad you didn't marry Morelli, pumpkin."
"Me too," Stephanie replied.
"Joseph! What have you done?" Helen screeched when she saw the pictures as Morelli flipped through them.
"Nothing. These were taken before I started dating Stephanie," Joe lied.
"We can fix this. I'll find my ungrateful daughter and bring her to you, Joseph," Helen promised.
Frank was disgusted by Helen's words. The woman had to get stopped before his grandchildren got injured. If Helen thought detective Morelli was so great, then she could have him. Frank was through. It was time to let Helen go.
Cal smirked when he said, "If I were you, I'd leave Stephanie alone."
Joe shoved the pictures into his pocket but left the note. He wasn't aware it fell to the floor, and Cal snatched it. The Merry Men who watched the action couldn't stop laughing.
Edna made copies of the photos. She still had the second parcel to deliver to the TPD police chief when Stephanie gave her the order. If Morelli continued to harass Stephanie or talk to Helen about tricking her into marrying the jerk, Edna would release one. She wanted to have fun with the more colourful pictures. Edna knew Stephanie married Manoso, and they have a son. It wasn't her place to inform Helen.
When she saw the picture of Morelli with Connie Rosolli and another with Lula, Edna was disgusted. The women were supposed to be Stephanie's friends. With friends like those women, who needed enemies? Mostly, Edna was disappointed with her daughter.
Frank dropped Edna off at Stephanie's apartment before he met with his lawyer to file for divorce. He didn't understand why Helen wanted Joseph Morelli as a son-in-law. Stephanie was happily married to Manoso.
Helen stomped out of Rangeman, embarrassed. She got used to Stephanie embarrassing her all the time, but she felt betrayed by Joseph Morelli. He claimed the pictures were taken before he dated Stephanie. Helen noticed the date and time stamped on the images. They were taken during the times he dated her youngest child.
She heard the rumours regarding his extracurricular activities but thought the women lied to get Joseph and Stephanie to break up. Helen foolishly believed Angie when she claimed that Joey didn't behave like his father. Her dream to have a Morelli grandchild ended when Joe got his prostate removed.
Why me? Helen wondered as she drove home. Why was her youngest daughter so difficult to please? She ran around with the hooligans at Rangeman and pined after their thug leader, Manoso. If Stephanie ever married that thug, she would disown her. What would the neighbours think?
Edna spoke to Dillon, the building superintendent. She changed the name on the lease agreement. Stephanie had the rent paid in advance. Dillon contacted Stephanie before he made the change. Stephanie told him to put the lease in Edna's name, but she would set up an account for the rent to get paid once the cheques ran out. She didn't want her grandmother to spend money on the apartment. Edna reluctantly agreed, but understood her granddaughter wanted to help.
Frank called Valerie to announce the divorce petition. Valerie was sad but understood his reasons. He left Helen the house and car but nothing more. Frank had money from his special ops but not a military pension. The money he received from the post office pension was enough to pay their bills with a comfortable wiggle room.
Helen didn't know Frank invested in Rangeman as a private investor when Manoso started the company a few years earlier. His investment more than tripled when Manoso and his core team bought out the private owner's shares. He knew how to hide his money through a shell company.
His lawyer printed the documents for him to sign. Frank quickly added his name. He went home, packed his bags and waited for Helen. Everything in the house was old. Helen didn't let him replace the worn furniture. While he waited, Frank sent Stephanie a text. She replied to say he could live at her house. They had plenty of room for him.
Angie was visited by Helen. They talked for a few hours until Helen announced she had dinner to cook. When Helen left, Bella said, "I curse Stephanie, her children and her children's children."
"Enough, mother," Angie snapped. "You already cursed Stephanie. It rebounded and made Joey sterile." Bella Morelli exhausted Angie. She wanted to kick Bella out but thought, "What would the neighbours think?" Angie felt stuck.
Cal stopped by the Plum's home to drop off job applications for Helen. He laughed when Stephanie called in the request. Stephanie asked Cal to print off the job application forms to her mom. The applicant information got filled in before Stephanie sent Cal the email.
"How may I help you?" Frank asked when he opened the door.
"Stephanie asked me to drop off these applications for Helen," Cal replied.
"Huh. It looks like the button factory and feminine protection plant are hiring," Frank said as he read the pages. "I'll see you back at the house." Cal laughed as he walked down the sidewalk towards his SUV.
Helen parked her car in the driveway. She noticed Frank had parked the cab in front of the house and wondered why it wasn't in the garage. Helen grabbed her purse and the bottle of whiskey. She entered the house, removed her jacket, placed her purse on the entry table and went to the kitchen.
Frank sat at the table with papers stacked in front of him. Helen clutched her chest as though Frank startled her. "Sign these," Frank ordered.
"What am I signing?" Helen asked as she accepted the pen.
"Divorce papers. If you do not sign or disagree with the terms, I will leave you with nothing," Frank stated. Valerie and Albert arrived with the children. Helen signed the divorce petition, Valerie witnessed her signature. Frank collected the document and left the job applications behind. "They're hiring," Frank added as he pointed to the papers. "My lawyer will drop off your copy tomorrow."
Helen felt defeated as Frank left the house. She blamed Stephanie for the demise of her marriage to Frank. "You have reached the voicemail for Edna Mazur. Please leave a message after the tone," Stephanie's answering machine message played.
"For goodness sake," Helen screamed. "Mother! Why is your name on Stephanie's answering machine? Why me?"
Edna screened her calls. She laughed as she listened to Helen's frantic message. Frank sent a text earlier to say he filed for divorce. Edna didn't feel sorry for Helen. Her daughter made her bed, and now she must lie in it alone. Manny arrived at the apartment to remove Morelli's devices. She had Eddie Gazarra come over to observe.
Eddie entered the tracker numbers into the TPD app on his phone. The registration showed Morelli commandeered the devices over a year ago. There was no reason for Joe to monitor Stephanie. Morelli should get reprimanded for the misuse of TPD equipment. Manny deactivated, uninstalled and turned over the devices to him. He couldn't understand why Morelli would invade Stephanie's privacy.
"Morelli is a putz," Edna stated. "Didn't take no for an answer, and the girl off the market."
"What do you mean?" Eddie asked.
"He kept sniffing around Stephanie. She's too good for Morelli. My granddaughter got married and has an adorable son. I have something for you," Edna said. She grabbed the second parcel from Stephanie and removed the photo of Morelli and Lula. Eddie laughed and promised to circulate the image throughout the TPD.
A few weeks after Morelli received the pictures, the one of him and Lula got released. He got a lot of ribbing from his coworkers. All the times he vehemently protested having sex with Lula proved to be a lie. Morelli tried to find the person responsible, but nobody would talk.
The letter he received from Stephanie got circulated too. Somebody photocopied it and left it on cars throughout the Burg. Joe suspected someone at Rangeman circulated the letter. It was the only place he recalled seeing the note from Stephanie.
Ricky screamed, "Dada."
"Hey, baby," Stephanie said as she lifted her son.
"Mama," Ricky said as he burrowed his face into her neck. Her son missed his dad. Ranger left a few days earlier and would be gone for several months. Mateo and Hal accompanied Stephanie to her prenatal appointments.
A couple of months later, Stephanie learned she was pregnant with another boy. She couldn't wait to tell Carlos the news. "He'll be home soon," Mateo reminded Stephanie.
Ranger got to his check-in location a few hours late. He didn't want Stephanie worried, so he sent an encrypted message to Tank. Ranger knew his friend would put Stephanie's mind at ease.
The target got neutralized. Carlos tried to get out of the area but got waylaid by a rogue soldier. Jason Casey was a disgrace to the specialized group of Rangers. Casey was hotheaded and did not think before he reacted. He vowed to notify the program head to report Casey.
Ranger guided the team towards the extraction site. When Ranger got to the coordinates, he held back and ensured the men got onto the chopper. Casey ran towards the helicopter without checking for threats. Gunfire ripped through the area and tagged Casey in the back. He fell forward to land face-first on the ground. Ranger and the other men shot their weapons to kill the threat. The pilot took off the second Ranger pulled Casey into the cabin of the chopper.
"Is he dead?" Parker asked.
"Yes," Ranger replied.
"I guess we don't need to report him after all," Parker surmised. Ranger's lip twitched slightly. He wasn't the only person resolved to report Casey.
The team talked about everything Casey did to compromise the mission. Ranger shook his head as he listened. They should have remained silent until they got debriefed. Carlos planned to extend his military contract to train Ranger recruits but decided to end his military career. He wanted to focus on his future with his family.
Tank visited Stephanie. "Ranger's safe, and I just received a message that he's on his way home," Tank announced. Stephanie was relieved to hear Carlos would be home soon. She missed him and wanted to tell him their second child was a boy.
Stephanie asked Mateo to leave the room while she got the ultrasound. She didn't want anyone to know the gender before Carlos. The doctor gave her the sonogram image of her son. He was slightly smaller than Ricky during this stage of pregnancy, but that could change by the time she gives birth.
Joe was questioning a witness at the tattoo and piercing shop in the building beside the four-story medical clinic. He stopped mid-question when he saw Stephanie exit the facility with Hal and a man resembling Manoso. She rubbed her baby bump before twisting her wedding band. "Excuse me, detective. I don't have all day," Juan Marino said to grab his attention.
"Right. Where were you between the hours of 2 and 6 am?" Joe asked.
"At home, in bed with my wife," Juan replied. "I don't know the man in the shop." Juan pointed to the dead man lying on the procedure table. Joe finished asking the questions and left the area.
He was shocked to see Stephanie pregnant. She always maintained that she didn't want kids. It hurt when he realized she didn't want to have children with him. Joe noticed Stephanie wore wedding rings. His Cupcake was a married woman.
Stephanie let Mateo help her get into the SUV. "Did you see Joe at the tattoo parlour, Hal?" she asked while she buckled the seatbelt.
"I did. He recognized you," Hal replied.
"That's what I thought. Oh well. I guess we need to take a trip into town after we pick up Ricky," Stephanie suggested.
Hal drove to the house to pick up Ricky. Frank helped Stephanie strap Ricky into his car seat. It was time for Stephanie to come out of her hiding spot.