Thanks for the huge support on what was supposed to be a oneshot that turned into a short story.
Work has been exhausting; 70+ hours a week is no fun. Anyone else feel as short-staffed and overworked as me? No? OK.
I've worked on this update for about two weeks now, but hand't had the chance to sit down and do edits until now. Hope you enjoy this next update.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. The typos are mine.
Ranger's POV
The drive back to Trenton would take way too long, so I pulled some strings and got an instant helicopter ride back to Jersey. Tank tagged along, leaving his Truck behind for one of the guys to pick up later.
By the time we arrived in Trenton, Rangeman and the police had mobilized.
"Report!" I barked as soon as I laid eyes on Lester. Everyone was currently milling about, too unmoving for my liking.
"Stephanie arrived about fifteen minutes before her scheduled meeting. Unfortunately, she was intercepted before she had the chance to even turn off the ignition." Lester reported that Woody, who was first on scene, found Babe's SUV still running. She'd parked in the visitor's lot, about ten spaces from the nearest entrance.
I cut my eyes to Juniak. Some Chief he is if this happened literally in his precinct's grounds.
Lester cut his eyes to me before switching to Spanish to fill me in on Hector's developments. Hector was able to tap into the TPD's cameras, so I knew that we had footage of Babe being taken. Unfortunately, the asshole knew where the blind spots were located so we couldn't get much out of it. For now.
"Cut the secrecy." Juniak bit out, motioning me to sit so that we could go over the information the police side has gathered.
My chest tightened and nausea filled my insides as I watched Babe being yanked out of the SUV as soon as she parked and reached for the handle. The hit to the back of her head worried me further, especially as I watched him carry her limp body off camera. Of course this asshole knows where the blind spots are to create reasonalbe doubt. His timing was impeccable. In and out in under a minute. The shitty cameras didn't give us too much, but we got enough to know it was Morelli's green SUV peeling out of the lot.
Heat coursed through me as I glared at the chief.
"We have a team already at Joe's house. It's empty." Juniak returned my glare as he tried in his best professional voice to tell me that he was doing everything in his power to find my wife. His assurance wasn't enough. "Ranger!" He yelled after me when I stormed out of his office.
Silence fell as I stormed past officers and staff. No one got in my way as I neared the exit.
You're a dead man, Morelli.
I cursed in my wake as my hand pushed the door open.
"I'll drive." I heard Lester say as he followed behind me.
The short ride through the Burg felt eternal. Lester kept his mouth shut, but I could feel his pent up energy radiating off him in waves. Or maybe it was mine.
I was out of the SUV even before it fully stopped.
"Ranger." Eddie put up a hand to keep me from blowing past him, but he didn't stand a chance. None of them could stop me.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
The minutes ticked by but nothing happened. My neck was still going haywire, but I didn't know what was taking Ranger so long.
Because I was distracted with my thoughts I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. Bad move, I thought as I felt a hard jab to the left side of my face. The chair didn't tip over this time, but my head did move in the opposite direction due to the force of the hit. My thoughts were pretty scrambled after that punch, but my distraction kept me from eliciting even a grunt of pain. When I raised my head again, locking eyes with Joey, I caught the flash of confusion that crossed his glassy eyes. The look he shot me next I've been quite familiar with for as long as I can remember. It's the same look my mother gave me every time I did something she didn't consider Burg level or ladylike. I flashed Fabrizzi my best grin as he stalked closer.
See, one upside of being kidnapped so many times is that I've lived through something like this before. And with people like Fabrizzi, this will only end one of two ways. He's very confident that he's the one that will walk out of this, but I beg to differ.
Fabrizzi might be a lot of things, but an expert at tying knots he is not. Neither am I, but I've gotten pretty good at getting myself out of bindings. Newbie Fabrizzi wrapped thick rope around my calves, securing me to the chair's legs by looping the same rope horizontally across the width of the chair. Instead of individually binding each calf, he just resorted to two tight loops around me and the wood. He did a pretty solid job, leaving the rope quite snug. But when he knocked me over with his initial slap, my legs moved slightly off position. He didn't even think to check the bindings when he righted my chair. Amateur. As he's continued with his recount of how we allegedly got to this point, I realized that if I could get my shoes off then I'd be able to free my legs since he didn't think to tie my things to the seat either. It's not perfect, but freeing my lower half is better than nothing. And thank goodness I opted for sneakers today instead of my CAT boots.
"What're you smiling about, Plum?" He snarled, clearly still confused. So much for being a self proclaimed genius.
"Stephanie." Morelli warned, his tone still cold. I could practically hear the 'Don't!' he must have mentally shouted. Fuck him.
"No one's really been able to tame you." Fabrizzi snarled, his twisted smile giving off a contorted appearance as he moved away from the only light bulb in the room. "But guess what?" His grin was wide as he stalked closer. "I bet if anyone's going to break you, it'll be me."
It was my turn to smile wide as I timed my move with his approach.
"Cupcake!" Morelli growled just as I used my sock clad feet to move my legs slightly inward and away from the chair's legs.
"Yeah, behave, Cupcake." Fabrizzi was two steps away by the time I had my legs free. Sadly for him, he noticed my impending attack when it was too late. "Ahh!" He groaned, automatically dropping the knife in his right hand so he could soothe his pride. A good shot to the balls never fails to bring a man to his knees.
"If my mother and the Burg couldn't break me, then neither can you!" I spat as I wrapped my legs around his neck. The Merry Men have taught me that I can use gravity to my advantage in the event of an uneven match. And Fabrizzi definitely fits the bill. He was always a big guy, but he's put on a lot of muscle mass since the last time I saw him face to face. He hit the ground the same way Cal did when I finally mastered this move.
But unlike Cal, Fabrizzi was not above fighting dirty. Even as his fist moved down to strike against my right thigh, I didn't falter. Nope. I tightened my hold instead of letting him go.
"You bitch!" He gurgled out as his movements became more desperate. I braced myself as best as I could as I felt the chair tipping over. Leaning my body towards Fabrizzi's had me and the chair thudding down seconds after his body began an incessant thrashing motion. "Give. It. Up." He tried to sound as intimidating as he could, but my thighs closing in over his face drowned him mostly out.
"You should have given me up." I groaned as his writhing movements dragged me, along with the chair I was still bound to, after his body. The rope hurt as it slid against my arms, sliding roughly against my skin just below my short sleeves. As Fabrizzi continued to squirm against my hold, I felt the tightness of the rope against my torso begin to give out. If I timed it correctly, I could get him to help me slip off this binding. "What'd I do to you?" I groaned out, continuing to follow his movements to minimize the hard jerks to my body.
My question seemed to infuriate him, or maybe it was the fact that he was getting desperate as air became a clearer necessity. He couldn't reply because he was too busy trying to pry me off him. Tough luck asshole. My Rangeguys may have taught me the move, but I repeatedly practiced my hold on one specific Rangeman: Ranger. Batman didn't mind my tight hold as we loved each other against any available surface in the penthouse.
After a series of hard yanks, I felt the scraping on my left shoulder as the force literally tore me off the chair. The rope was still around my torso after Fabrizzi's forceful writhing tore my torso right off the back of the chair.
I can work with this.
Which I did. I worked on getting my hands free, but it was quite a difficult task considering they were tied behind my back and I was pretty preoccupied with neutralizing Fabrizzi as best as I could.
I'm not giving up. I promised myself as I held my own against Fabrizzi.
S&R
Ranger's POV
Where are you, Babe? I asked myself as I continued to glance around Morelli's backyard. We've been through the house and the outside, but have found nothing. Even Bob is shinning with his absence.
"He's not at his mother's house." Big Dog informed the Chief, who was standing mere feet away.
"His brother Anthony and his cousin Mooch haven't seen him either. Both their houses are clear too." Constanza added.
"He didn't have much of a head start." I barked out, beyond angry.
"The Plum home is also clear." Gazarra added when he rejoined our group.
"Even though she doesn't live there anymore, we checked out her old apartment on St. James." Hal shook his head to let me know that there was nothing found there either.
"I can feel her." I let slip out as I glanced around the yard once more. She's nearby. I know it.
Various sets of eyebrows shot up in surprise. I shrugged them off, knowing they wouldn't understand our connection. Babe's close by, but where?
"Why are you all standing around wasting our hard earned tax dollars?" We heard a female voice shout sourly. Looking over my shoulder I caught sight of an elderly woman poking her head out of a second story window next door to Morelli's. The Burg sure loves their gossip. I almost rolled my eyes as I glared at the gossiper.
Don't they have anything better to do in this neighborhood?
"We're conducting a police investigation…" The woman cut off Constanza with a dismissive gesture before he could finish.
"Mrs. Torricelli…" The Chief began in his usually soothingly calm tone.
"Instead of harassing poor Joseph here, you should check out the Dumon home." Torricelli went on to say that she saw activity there earlier, which was odd considering that the Dumons are out of town and the home should be vacant.
All heads snapped towards the way Torricelli pointed. Surprise, surprise. The Dumon home was right behind Morelli's. If Morelli's home is empty and I can feel her so close, then there's no doubt in my mind that's where Stephanie's being held.
"Ranger!" The Chief hissed as I darted away from the house, easily scaling the wooden fence separating the properties from the small service alley behind them.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
"Don't come any closer." I warned without fully lifting my head Morelli's way. Guess he'd been just as busy getting out of his bindings too.
"Stephanie." Morelli tried using his cop tone, but I shrugged it off as I slipped my arms under and then over my legs.
"Stay away." I warned as I kept an eye on Fabrizzi's unmoving form. He's still breathing, but unconscious. I don't know if he's faking it and I'm not about to give him the element of surprise so he can pounce on me again. "Stop." I uttered with finality as I used my teeth to loosen the rope around my wrists.
"You can trust me." Morelli tried as he inched closer.
"I don't think so." I muttered as I kicked the knife away from everyone's reach.
"Steph." Morelli stood in place, giving me his best charming smile. I couldn't help rolling my eyes at his cheesy attempt. "I had to play along." He said as I pressed my back against the wall and he cradled his left side. There's no way I'm turning my back to either of them.
"Of course you did." I bit out as I inched towards the only door in the room. "Shit." I muttered seconds later when I saw the blinking light on the gizmo attached to the locking mechanism. Fabrizzi isn't such a newbie after all. From my previous vantage point I didn't have a clear view of the door. I bit down the wave of fear that threatened to take hold of me. I couldn't break now.
"Nobody's going to walk out of here now." Fabrizzi sputtered as he dragged himself into a semi sitting position, gun leveled my way. "Couldn't leave it up to chance." He said smugly as he waved the barrel at Morelli, indicating he should step back.
"Why do you hate me so much?" I asked instead, effectively tucking my body against a corner. I kept the wall covering my six as I got as far away as possible from the other occupants in the room. It was an additional plus that I was also equidistant to the door. The small high window on the opposite side of the room told me that we were in some basement. Great. "And don't give me the basic response of 'Because you took me back to jail', 'cause guess what? That's my job." Or at least it was until I found out I was expecting.
"That's one reason." Fabrizzi bitched as he used the chair to help himself onto a standing position.
"And the other?" Morelli inquired, which caused Fabrizzi to shoot a warning shot at Morelli's leg. "Fuck!" Morelli cursed as he went down on his ass, blood trickling out of his left upper thigh.
I didn't think using a revolver was such a great idea, seeing as Fabrizzi now has at most four rounds left in the five shooter Smith and Wesson. If I can strategize properly, I can get the drop on him, again, when he has to reload.
"You've always been too nosy for your own good." Fabrizzi groaned as he touched his throat with his free hand.
"Curious." I couldn't help but correct.
Fabrizzi rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Same thing." He pointed the revolver my way as his sickening smile reappeared. "You have a way of stumbling into other people's business and ruining everything."
I pursed my lips tightly to keep myself from blurting out a smart ass reply.
"There's certain crimes you should just look the other way for." Fabrizzi's shrug gave me shivers. He was completely off the rails.
"You were wanted for murder." I bit out, waving a hand around us to emphasize my next statement. "Case in point."
"You really haven't made the connection yet, have you?"
"Oh enlighten us!" Morelli gritted out, clenching his teeth in obvious pain as he tried to staunch the blood flow. Fabrizzi, annoyed, shot him in the other leg.
"Shut up, Detective." Fabrizzi shot again, narrowly missing Morelli's crotch. "Damn. I missed." He deadpanned to a shocked into silence Morelli.
That leaves him two bullets max.
"So what's your deal with me then?" I asked as a distraction.
Fabrizzi flashed me all his teeth as he refocused his attention towards me.
S&R
Ranger's POV
It didn't take long for us to confirm Babe was in the home. With Hector's invaluable skills, we managed to get a top of the line aerial and 360 degree view of the two story home. The Dumon home has a similar set up to the Morelli's: two floors with a basement and detached garage.
Thanks to an upstairs open window, Hector had an entrance for his device. Having inside eyes gave us a good map of the place as well as confirmed that the upper two floors were clear. The garage was clear as well, though it did hold some interesting things. Someone's been using that garage for sometime and it hasn't been the Dumons.
"Sótano." Hector announced as he carefully retreated his specially made toy out of the home.
"Basement?" Juniak surmised, passing a hand across his face in frustration.
"I need Bobby to be ready." I said over my shoulder at Lester as I shed my suit jacket and tie. Rolling up my shirt sleeves was as much as I was willing to waste time doing. This would have to do.
"Copy that." Lester nodded, already relaying the information.
"I can't let you go in there." Juniak tried to persuade.
"Like hell you can't." Anna surprised me by adding her two cents. "He tried to let you handle this and look where it got us?"
I gave Anna a quick nod as my men and I got ready to move inside.
Gasps and curses were released at the same time as soon as we heard the first gunshot. Sharing a look with my men, I kicked my foot against the back door.
By the time I crossed the door facing the backyard and into the kitchen, two more gunshots pierced the eerie silence.
I moved with efficiency, clearing each room despite already having preliminary visuals.
Muffled sounds floated up the stairs that led down to the basement. Despite the distorted voices, I knew one of them belonged to Stephanie. My heart hammered wildly in my chest as I signaled to the men behind me.
After a few seconds of dishing out silent commands, we stealthily descended down the steps. What happened next was a blur of activity that unleashed simultaneously. First, the moment my hand closed around the door knob and pulled the door open, a flash of light blindsided me for several beats.
While being momentarily blinded, I was assaulted by a series of mental images from the last several weeks. Babe was absolutely stunning in her white lace trim A-line dress. It had a plunging neckline that showcased a nice peek of cleavage. The loose, flowy skirt fell just above her knees which left her legs bare for my hungry gaze. Being mindful of the warm temperatures, Babe opted for a dress with sleeves to keep herself from getting a bad sunburn. Just like the skirt part of the dress, the sleeves swayed with the breeze. But what really drove me crazy about the dress, aside from the fact that it was what she decided to wear to our wedding, was the intricate see-through lace band that wrapped around her torso just below her breasts. Babe did her hair in a low ponytail, weaving several strands to create a braid on the left side of her head. Watching Babe smile as her curls moved with the breeze as we shared our vows is an imagine that will forever be burned into my memory.
The images of my beautiful bride were sucked away by the renewed activity around me. Shaking myself out of my momentary stupor, I realized I'd only been down for a few seconds. But seconds can cost even the best of us.
The muffled voice of a man was promptly followed by a female reply. My heart beat faster in my chest as I rushed to my feet.
"What good will it be to you?" A sickening chuckle pierced through the temporary ringing in my ears. "You only got one shot left!"
"One shot." Babe acknowledged just before she leveled a revolver at the man charging straight at her. She pulled the trigger, tagging her target at chest level and narrowly missing his tackle as he went down face up.
"One hell of a shot." I heard Tank mutter behind me before he dished out orders.
"Babe." I called out to my wife as I approached carefully so as not to spook her.
Electric blue eyes focused on my darker ones. "Ranger?" The quick fluttering of her lashes was a telltale cue of hers. She's actively trying to snap out of her fight or flight mode.
"Stephanie." I choked out as I reached out, wrapping my arms around her slightly trembling form. "Babe?" I asked when she buried her face against the side of my neck. As I passed a soothing hand across her back, I shifted to get a better view of the room. I knew my men had the situation under control, but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't aware of my surroundings.
"Agh!" Morelli's yelp of pain alerted me to his presence. Tank and Lester were applying pressure on what looked to be two gunshot wounds to his thighs. "You did it on purpose." He bitched, glaring at Lester.
"Can't have you bleeding out." Lester replied dryly, applying more pressure as Morelli groaned.
My eyes snapped to the man that was obviously dead. His sprawled body was unmoving as his lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling. Judging by the blood soaking his sky blue T-shirt, Babe tagged him right through the heart a la Jimmy Alpha. Pride spread through my chest as I squeezed her still shaking body. Nothing made sense right now, but as long as Babe was plastered to me there would be time to figure everything out.
"What happened?" Juniak demanded as he descended into the now too crowded room.
"Joey broke into my home and abducted me just as I was getting ready to leave for the station." Morelli said through clenched teeth. "When I woke up, he had me tied to the beam and Cupcake to a chair." He sucked in a breath before continuing, no doubt because Lester pressed a little more at the use of the nickname, but Babe interrupted.
"Fabrizzi held a grudge against me for taking him back to jail when he skipped bail." Babe's muffled voice was distorted amongst the activity around us. So, I repeated what she said so she wouldn't have to. "He took me when I arrived at the TPD. His plan was to make it look like Morelli killed me and then himself in a jealous fit." Stephanie finished, only slightly moving her face so that her mouth wasn't pressed against my skin and her voice could carry to the others clearly.
At the knowledge of what could have gone down today, my stomach dropped. A staged murder/suicide. I had to momentarily shut my eyes to help myself regroup. My hold on her instinctively tightened.
"I'm gonna… gonna be sick!" Babe exclaimed as she disentangled herself from my hold. She only managed to take two steps away from me before she collapsed.
"Babe!" I was close enough to catch her before she could hit the floor. "Stephanie?" The feeling of having all eyes on us didn't deter me as I adjusted my hold so I could scoop up my unconscious wife.
I took the stairs two at a time, cradling her too still body closer to my chest, as I called out for Bobby. Hold on, Babe we're almost there. I mentally promised as Bobby rushed towards us at the top of the stairs.