Thanks for the support on this unconventional one. I've been sick since Saturday morning and since I had this update already done, here's the continuation.
I was kinda afraid that there would be confusion between Steph jumping back and forth between the present and the recount of her day in the first chapter, but glad it wasn't an issue. This chapter goes back and forth between Hal's POV and Stephanie's POV, as well as gives us more background on the new mess Steph's inadvertently stumbled on. I mean Steph did listen to Ranger. She did take a partner...
Let me know your thoughts on this one longer update (the actual chap's over 3k).
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. The typos? Mine.
Hal's POV
Looking at my watch, I noted that it was close to seven. Fetching my phone from my back jeans pocket, I dialed Stephanie's number. I frowned when the call went straight to voicemail, fighting the increasing feelings of negativity that threatened to take hold.
Something wasn't adding up, so I decided to check with the control room.
Lester and Ram were on monitors tonight. Glancing at the screens before them, I realized it was a slow shift so far.
"Have any of you heard from Stephanie?" My question had Ram shrugging and Lester shaking his head. No, they haven't heard from her.
"What's going on?" Lester asked without taking his eyes off the monitors.
"After we delivered the FTA to the station, we drove to the bonds office so Stephanie could drop off her body receipt. She stayed back to talk with Connie and Lula. I caught a ride with Zero since he'd stopped by for three high bond files for Rangeman." I explained that Stephanie and I were scheduled to go to dinner. It's part of her thank you ritual whenever one or more of us help with one of her captures. "We made plans to meet up in the underground garage at six." Before the guys could think that I was possibly overreacting, I also told them that she hasn't answered any of my texts for the last half hour and the call I placed minutes ago went straight to voicemail.
"Shit." Lester said under his breath before reaching for the desk phone beside him.
"Hi, Connie. This is Lester calling from the Rangeman control room." I listened as Lester asked Connie if Stephanie was still with her. The bonds office would be closed at this hour and I had a hard time believing that Stephanie would blow off our dinner plans without reaching out first. It's very out of character. "Thanks." Lester hung up, sounding very frustrated.
"Well?" Ram inquired, also frustrated because he couldn't take his eyes off the monitors.
"Connie said Steph left at around three." Lester cursed as he pulled up Steph's trackers.
"She sent me a deposit at around 3:20pm." I shared as I scrolled through my alerts. Johnson was a personal skip of Steph's. We weren't on the Rangeman clock while we were out, so she trasnfered me a portion of the capture fee.
"Okay, so she went to the bank after she left the bonds office." Ram said as he continued to look at the screens, taking point since he knew Lester was looking at her tracker feeds.
"Her car, shoulder bag and last cellphone ping put her at her apartment since 3:39pm." Les shared.
"Maybe she took a nap and her phone died?" Ram tried to keep us from freaking out too soon.
"Yeah, could be." Lester said, not sounding very convincing even to himself.
Yeah, could be... for anyone other than Stephanie Plum. Nothing is ever as easy as that whenever she's involved.
"I'm going to swing by her apartment." Just in case something's wrong, although I was already praying that nothing was wrong.
"I'm coming with." Lester shouted just before Zero popped out of the stairwell, seemlessly taking Lester's place.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
"We're not here to hurt you." I promised as I tentatively took two small steps closer to Mary. She looked spooked, but didn't bolt again. It was probably because Hal's big body was blocking her path opposite me, yet I'd still like to think that I'm getting through to her. Because if I succeed, then I can hopefully have her on her way to fixing the mess she's in. I would even call Connie on the drive to the TPD to see if Mary can be re-bonded so she wouldn't have to spend the night in jail.
"How do I know you're not part of their group?" Mary's blue eyes shifted rapidly between me and Hal. His blue eyes and blond hair seemed to glitter in the sunlight, which made him look a lot more friendly. I frowned, because if we'd swapped out of our all black Rangeman uniforms then we might look a bit friendlier to her. Usually we want to make skips be more on the intimidated or scared spectrum. In this case, further freaking her out just seems wrong.
"I'm not sure what group you're referring to, but I work for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds." Now that we'd had a chance to sort of catch our breath, I hit Mary with the calmer version of my bounty hunter spiel. The whole let's get you re-scheduled/re-bonded works surprisingly well for me when it comes to non-threatening skips. Sure, Mary ran when she first spotted us, and it's kind of hard to blame her for it. We did literally bump into her in the middle of the woods.
"If you're with the bail bonds people, then why do your T-shirts say Rangeman?" Mary wasn't going to trust us easily and that could be a problem.
"I have the contract in my bag. I'm going to get it, okay?" I made sure she knew that I wasn't reaching for a weapon by moving very slowly. Once I produced the paperwork, Mary still gave me a wary look as she glanced over it.
"How do I know you're Stephanie Plum?" Yeah, Mary's probably the most paranoid FTA I've had lately. Perhaps the only one.
"You seriously don't know me?" I found it a little odd since she wasn't living very far away from Trenton. In fact, she worked in Trenton. Hmm... "Here." I flashed her my Driver's License so she could match a face to the name. I would have covered my address, but that would be futile since everyone already knows where I live.
"Okay, so you are who you say you are." Mary flicked her eyes over to Hal as she handed me back the contract. "Who's he?"
"He's my partner, Hal." Jabbing my thumb his way had Mary glancing between us quickly.
"You trust him?" It wasn't what I was expecting to come out of her mouth, but at least we were getting somewhere.
"Yes." I replied without hesitation.
"Okay." Mary responded after several beats, making the decision to come with us without further resistance. "Straight to the police station?" She asked as I gently cuffed her hands in front of her.
"Yup." I promised as soon as I walked her towards my Jeep.
We did just that. We delivered my FTA to the TPD and I got my capture receipt without much fuss.
I quickly tried to place the man's face as he removed the hood from his head. while entering my space. He looked familiar but not really. It was weird. I got the sense that I've seen him before, yet we have not interacted closely.
As he moved to stand in front of me, I got a good look at his face. Blue eyes, blond hair, rough expression lines on his face… my eyes widened when I finally placed him.
S&R
Hal's POV
Arriving at Stephanie's apartment building in under the usual ETA made my stomach automatically clench.
The parking lot was eerily quiet and sure enough Steph's Jeep was parked in the space next to the dumpster.
Her front door was locked but the chain wasn't engaged. That was a dead giveaway that she wouldn't be inside.
But we forged on anyway.
Her keys and cellphone were on the kitchen counter by Rex's cage. Her shoulder bag was hung on the hook by door, along with her utility belt, so we know she made it inside of the apartment. Except it was empty.
As Lester alerted the control room, I quickly ran through our capture. Stephanie had found the FTA's rambling about a cult off somehow. I didn't. Not really. It sounded very fantastical, to the point where I actually believed that she was under the influence or off of a medication. Now? It's starting to sound a lot more plausible.
"Where are you going?" Lester barked out as I hurried out of the apartment.
"To bond out Steph's skip." Connie couldn't re-bond her, so Mary was currently sitting at the TPD.
"What the fuck is going on? I thought the capture was a success?" Lester asked as he flew to catch up to me down in the lobby. When I gave him a look he said Slick and Binkie would be on scene in two minutes.
I gave Lester the short version as I drove to the station.
"A cult?" He sounded as skeptical as I'd initially been.
"Yeah." I ground out as I took a corner a little too sharply.
"Like what kind?"
"Are there different kinds?"
"Well, yeah, that's why there are different ones." Hate to say that Lester had a point, so I kept my focus on the road and my mouth shut.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
"Welcome back, Stephanie." His voice was rougher than his face, a deep tone with a heavy Jersey accent.
"Sergeant Caruso." I greeted back, angling my face up to be able to give him my best defiant look. That story that Mary told is starting to sound a lot like reality. Especially her whispered warning when we got to the TPD, whispering to me that the police could not be trusted.
A creepy grin formed on his face as he bent forward so that he could be at eye level with me. If I could just untie myself from this chair, I'll be golden.
"Ah, you actually do know who I am." A sickly grin spread across his face. Caruso was older than me, but it was hard to tell by how much.
"Yeah, it just came back to me." I confessed, causing a weird glint to flicker across his blue eyes. He'd shown up at my apartment and flashed me his badge when I opened the door. When I asked him what he needed, he asked to come inside. I countered back by asking what he wanted to talk about without moving my body to grant him entrance. It was lights out after that.
"In all the years I've been at the TPD, you've never acknowledged me. Didn't know you even knew who I was." Again that freaky grin re-appeared.
"Was I supposed to?" I let out before I could keep my mouth shut. I've had a lot of crazies come after me. Serial killers, yes. Psychopaths, yes. Narcissists, yeah. Plain old crazed, yup. Never a cult leader, but a crazy is a crazy so I'll make do.
I wasn't expecting to be slapped across the face, yet it happened lightning fast. Usually they like to talk and tell me their whole story and reasons for kidnapping me. Guess not this one.
"Listen very carefully." With a fist gripping my hair, his fingers looped through my curls to be able to pull me back so I could face him again. "I don't tolerate any disrespect." Yeah, he's the king of all crazies.
"What'd I ever do to you?" I said, obviously not learning my lesson. Even though I was braced for it, the second slap, this one to the other side of my face, still hurt. In fact, the added smacks made the headache worse. Nice going, Stephanie.
"You have a lot to learn, Babe." The use of Ranger's nickname for me had my spidey sense on instant alert. If I don't recall having any beef with this guy, then maybe he has a grudge against Ranger or Rangeman? "From now on you'll only speak when spoken to."
"Or what?" Maybe I do have a death wish, but it's just who I am. Staying quiet has never been my strong suit. I rebelled against my mother growing up, despite knowing full well how bad of an idea that was when I was still living under her roof and fully dependent on my parents. This asshole with fake airs of grandeur can bite me! He should have known better than to fuck with someone like me.
Instead of hitting me again, his grin widened. "You caught my eye a long time ago." He confessed, giving my hair another painful yank as his lips hovered dangerously close to my parted ones.
"So why now?" Yup, he's going to lose his patience real soon if I don't shut up. And shut up quick. My lips accidentally brushing against his as I spoke actually made him pull back slightly. Good!
This time my punishment wasn't another slap. Nope, it was a solid punch to my stomach. That gut punch left me wheezing for air for several moments. Asshole.
"You'll learn." He promised, gracing me with a very practiced Burg glare as he released my hair. "But if you must know, you've been off limits for years."
My mind was racing again, trying to use the new, limited information available to try to figure out what the hell I've found myself in the middle of this time. After debating my fixed options for a few seconds, I decided it was worth it to risk another strike to get more intel.
"What do you mean with I've been off limits for years?" He smirked at my evident defiance.
Caruso reaching behind his back, digging under his dark cloak for something, redirected my attention away from his sick face. I should have known that he was reaching for a weapon before the barrel of his gun became visible.
"You will learn or you simply won't live to tell the tale." Was the only warning I received before he hit my forehead with the butt of his gun. Just to take his threat up another notch, he turned this into an enthusiastic round of pistol whipping. By the time he was done, I could feel blood tricking down the side of my face and had added aches on my shoulders and upper chest. Yay! Not.
He stood, looming over me to force me to look up at him in this clear power play. "Once you and Morelli were officially and permanently over, you became fair game." Caruso kicked the side of my chair, turning me haphazardly to face the entrance.
Seeing at least three more cloaked figures standing outside told me that I was in some deep shit.
S&R
Hal's POV
"You better start talking." Lester ordered, crossing his arms as he stared down at Mary. We bailed her out and drove straight back to Haywood. She's our only solid lead so far.
Mary glanced around the large conference room on five. Any man not on patrol or watching monitors is crammed into this room waiting for new intel so we can act.
Sensing that Mary was going to clam up with how intimidating the guys are, I decided to step up.
"Mary, we really need you to tell us everything you know." Mary was sitting at the head of the conference table, with the window right behind her. She gave me the impression that she would attempt jumping out of the window and falling down all five floors if we didn't gain her trust.
Ignoring the odd looks the guys were giving me, I tentatively reached out to take her trembling hand. "Stephanie is our friend. We care about her very much."
"Yeah, she's not just a coworker." Manny said from the back of the room.
"Si. We love Estefania." Hector spoke up from the farthest corner to Mary. Speaking of love, I gulped as I remembered that at this moment Tank was making the difficult call to inform Ranger of the situation.
"Alrighty then, but I don't think you're going to believe me." Her scared eyes shifted down when she spoke to the group. The obvious sign of submission made my stomach clench. This wasn't good.
"Try us." Lester vocalized for the group. From the corner of my eye I saw several heads nod their agreement.
I gave Mary a nod as well to show her that it was okay for her to speak freely. We weren't going to judge her.
By the time she was done, the whole room was in shock. No, we were shook to the core. We've seen some shit out in active combat and some even weirder shit since meeting Stephanie, but in all the years I've never heard such a tale. It was the type of story that instantly made you want to slip into denial, because it was so twisted. Things like that couldn't happen in the real world.
But there was also a part of me that knew all too well that darkness is all around us. We've seen true evil in the flesh before. So has Stephanie. It sounds like this is something straight out of a movie, yet I also know that real life will always surpasses a script.
"Let me get this straight." Lester was once again the unofficial designated spokesperson for our group. "There's a secret sect, society, cult, or whatever…"
Mary frowned at Lester's rambling before once again ducking her head in an attempt to make herself a smaller target. "Yes." It was whisper soft, reminding us to keep our murmuring voices low so that we wouldn't miss anything.
"This group is being led by some wannabe chosen one?" Lester began pacing, which was impressive since it was standing room only at this point. "And he's a police Sergeant at the TPD?!" Lester's voice rose an octave there, but it didn't make his indignation any less valid.
"Yes". Mary kept her head low, her brown hair providing an extra layer of protection as it partially curtained her face.
"Why would he want Stephanie?" Zip asked.
"Where can we find that son of a bitch?!" Woody added.
"Where would he take Stephanie?" I asked instead, noting how the various questions made her anxious.
"I don't know why he would want her specifically, but she fits his type." Mary shot me a quick glance before redirecting her focus to the rest of the men.
"What do you mean that she fits his type?" Tank's booming voice carried forward from his position in the open doorway.
"Uhm…" Her wide eyes took a look at Tank, all six plus feet of him, before continuing. "The females, we uh, all have brown hair and blue eyes." To demonstrate, she tugged at a strand of her straight hair. "The guys, they uh, have blond hair and blue eyes." The quick side eye in my direction said more than enough.
"Oh fuck." I muttered as it suddenly made sense why Mary had been so distrusting of us when she saw Stephanie and I. The reason behind her early wariness was crystal clear to me now.
My newfound understanding also told me that we needed to find Stephanie and ASAP!