Disclaimer However totally hot, Ranger is not my character, and neither is Steph, or any of the other ones. I am not Janet Evanovich, and never will be.
That is, unless I make a body switching machine, and totally snatch her life and job and riches!
Or I can just sit here and type this fic.
Yeah, let's go with that.
What I did find, however, was a body standing up. Or more leaning. On the door. And when I wrenched the door open, I found myself holding up a body of a very heavy, very naked dead guy that had just fallen on me. With a disgusted grunt, I tossed the body faceup on the ground, in which he started to bleed again. I wondered how long it took to totally release the blood you have when you're dead, but it wasn't a major priority.
Just then the door creaked open an inch, and I turned, hand on my gun that had once more retreated to the belt as the guy slid to the floor. Steph's voice rang through the gap, and I dropped my hands to my sides.
"Is everything alright? What was that thud?"
"You don't want to know, Babe."
"That bad?"
"I think you should call the police."
"That bad."
She closed the door once more and I looked around the apartment. The blood was slowing coming from the guy, but it was still all around the living room and corridor. Who could do something this...this...horrifying to a woman's apartment? Espicially a woman like Babe.
The police came in about fifteen minutes later, the time in which I had sat outside the apartment waiting for them with her. She didn't take that well to blood, and despite my efforts to at least get her inside and into her bedroom, she had dug in her heels. I knew this effort all to well now. There was no chance she would get in there willingly with all that blood, and the body in plain view.
Morelli appeared a minute or two behind the official homicide cops. I watched out of the corner of my eye with a mixture of emotions as they embraced. Anger, jealosy, wistfulness...the list went on. He shouldn't be hugging by Babe. That was my Babe. But even I had told her that she should go back to him. My life wasn't suited for relationships like that. It wasn't fair to her that I had to keep up and moving, or leaving for work and meetings, and there was always the constant threat of being shot and killed. And I had made myself a hefty amount of enemies that with a snap of their fingures have a croonie snatch her up as collateral for my appearance, or ransom. There was just too many things that were blocking my way to her, it was just completely unfair.
But I wouldn't change my lifestyle. I, like her, had been accustomed to this life, and it is what I knew, what I liked, and what I was good at.
The police were in her apartment, and I got up to follow them and explain. It seemed that the man had several large, assumingly, knife wounds in his stomach and back and chest. No wonder he was bleeding so much, there was nothing to keep the blood in.
We finished a little after nine, and she went to spend the night with Morelli. She was incredibly distracted, and she didn't say goodbye or thank you to me as she left. This had me downtrodden, but I could excuse it. She had a dead body in her apartment and blood trails that would bother any normal sane person. But the fact that she was with Morelli, and what they could possibly do tonight...
Despite the knowledge that Morelli was a nice guy and he loved her didn't lessen my feelings. I loved her too. But I wasn't going to marry her, and that was more than likely the only love that ever mattered to a woman.
But God was I exhausted now. This emotional draining felt almost as tiring as the staying up nearly two whole days. And as I walked into my truck, alone, I leaned against the cool metal, and turned my attention up the the apartment. A few policemen were still there, and the lights were still on. Nothing else here for me. I guess it's time to go.
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Once again, the apartment over the offices was closer, so I drove there and parked in the slot closest to the door. I keyed the elevator up to the seventh floor and as soon as I opened the door I unlaced my boots, stripped, and landed under the covers with a bounce. This was two days wide awake, and I hoped to make this sleep at least a full seven hours.
However, my sleep was turbulent. I kept waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. I was having nightmares again, and this time I could clearly remember them.
She was kidnapped, and I couldn't find her trail. Then a scream pierced the night, and I knew it was her. And she was dead. And I couldn't do a damn thing to bring her back.
And then she was here, on my couch, watching TV with me. I was holding onto her tight with one arm, posessive, then the door opened to Morelli. He saw us then raised a gun and pulled the trigger...
And the last one wasn't about her. It was just me, and I was all alone. I didn't know where I was, or who was keeping me there. The silence was deafening, and I knew I had been in the darkness a long time.
After the last nightmare, I decided I really didn't want to have another one. Deeply regretful, I pulled myself out of bed, not daring to check the clock. Whatever the time, I would be outside running, beating out the nighttime fears and the self-doubt. I would be regenerized, refreshed, and hopefully I could make it through another day.
So when I got back, I took a shower, changed, and went down to work. I holed myself up in my office and stared at the papers for an hour of attentiveness. The second and later hours were spent trying to remember how to read and keep my eyes focused. Two and a half days without sleep. Tonight, no distractions. I was going to sleep. Babe wouldn't need me. She had Morelli. She thought Morelli could keep her better than I could, so that's how I let her think.
If only she knew it was tearing me up inside.
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At five PM I headed off to the office to see what else I could do with my time. I parked my mercedes on the curb of the street and remoted it locked, than strode inside. I knew what was awaiting me, because I saw an ever-so-familiar powder blue buick outside as well.
And there she was, looking through a file and standing with her back to the door. I entered and the eyes of the two other women in the office looked up, and Stephanie only looked up to watch them watch me. I wonder if Connie and Lula ever get bored with becoming total coon dog when I walk in the room, but my attention is fully on Stephanie. I rest a hand on the base of her neck and she looked over to me with a small smile.
"Any new FTAs for me, Connie?" I said and she hurriedly turned and grabbed two files. I checked them both out immediately, and noted that if I got both I would gain myself a pretty penny...or a hefty amount more. I thanked her and nodded, and brushed Stephanie's shoulder as I turned to leave. She turned in my direction as I was leaving, but I didn't stop. I was already too affected by this encounter, I didn't need to do anything else that would bring me to close to her. I wouldn't be able to contain myself if I was around that beautiful woman too long.
One of the FTAs, Shale Velote, was charged for armed robbery. He was packing serious heat, the file exclaimed as I saw four different weapons that the cops had confiscated on him. He also seemed pretty doped up, but you can never underestimate these guys. Espicially when he had a gun pointed at several tellers and fired several shots into the glass seperating them. He had barely escaped before the cops ran him off the road and cuffed him.
How Vinnie the weasel would bail this SOB out, I had no clue. But than again, Vinnie would do completely odd things when it was a promise of money for him. He got really stressed when his FTAs weren't being apprehended, but the BEAs that work for him normally just shrug him off. At least, Stephanie and I do.
The other was Alec Mannion, who was a serial rapist. The police had reason to suspect that he had killed a few women, but no evidence ever made the full journey to the courthouse, oddly enough. Witnesses had a habit of dissapearing. And now he was MIA.
I picked up my cell and called Tank.
"Yeah?" he asked when he picked up.
"Grab Lester and Bobby. We're going on a stakeout."
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So that's where we were. I decided to go after the rapist, first, because there was the possibility of another rape higher than the probability of another bank robbery that the police could handle. Tank and I were in a borrowed LaSabre, and Lester and Bobby were watching the back of the row house in a similar vehicle. I was having a hard time focusing, and the sun was promising to set. We had spent two and a half hours doing nothing.
I had only asked the guys to go on stakeout with me because the police file also mentioned an amazing list of arsenal in the rapist's posession and house. Most of the weapons were certified and verified, but the ones that weren't were whisked away. And, the man might of picked up more since he left, breaking bail, but that's just a small factor when the police got him again.
By seven thirty-seven, we saw a newer-looking silver Honda Civic pull into Alec's driveway. I tensed my sleepy muscles and strained my eyes to see the man coming out of the car, and by the light of the sunset, I could see a sandy-haired discreetly-muscled man who looked like he could fit the description. I grasped my cell and called Lester.
"He's in. Stand backup." I said then disconnected. Tank and I crept out of the LaSabre, and I grasped my gun with one hand as I knocked on the door. I would try the standard approach, and if he showed any sign of negative reactions to being hauled to the slammer, I would haul my weapon, point, and make him go. If that meant slamming him to the floor and twisting his arms around, than that wasn't really my fault nor my problem.
Alec opened his door a crack and looked at me and Tank up and down. "What?"
"Mr. Mannion, you missed your court date."
He scoffed and slammed the door, but it landed on my foot. Oh well. They hardly ever go the way it's supposed to. I liked the 'interior decorating' jobs more. I could bang the door open, start yelling, and round the people up. Here, being a BEA, I had to go by the book.
Well, okay. My book.
I shoved the door open with my other hand and Alec stumbled. My adrenaline was high, and there was no falling asleep feelings here. Nope, not one.
Okay, I was constantly tired, but this was the thrill of the hunt we're talking about here. This is the best part.
I had Mannion to the floor and was just about to cuff him when he twisted under my grip and kicked out with his feet. I caught a shoe to the knee and growled angrily. With one free hand I shoved him back on the ground and hit his head on the floor, so he would be momentarily stunned. And it worked. I was able to get the other cuff on him and I shoved him to Tank, who was waiting with Lester. Bobby, I assmed, was gaurding the back door.
"Great. That was fun." Lester said as he looked at me. "We didn't even do anything."
"You want to get the takedown next time?" I said getting up out of my crouch.
"I want to smack some sonnavabich around, man! Just waiting for two and a half hours than doing nothing. That's a total rip!"
I gave a small resigned smile. "We have one more to go to tonight. I had planned on getting to him tomorrow, but he might be halfway to Florida by then. Lets get him tonight while he's probably still here."
That was fine by all of us. Sleep would come after, when I felt the rewards of sucess. Then I wouldn't have the nightmares, I hoped. I would feel good, and sleep would come easy.
Right?