Chapter 3

That was when Huckby suddenly fell limply on top of me. I had no idea what had just happened and scrambled to push him off me. As I'd sat on the ground with Huckby lying unconscious next to me that was when I'd seen Hector stood over us. Now Hector can be a pretty scary guy. I knew him because he worked for Ranger as his top electronic engineer. Why scary? Well maybe the tear drop tattoo under his eye was one of the reasons, but to be honest it was how he was so quiet that usually creeped me out. He only spoke Spanish which didn't help, and he only ever seemed to work on his own. Not the team player kind of guy.

Hector had cuffed Huckby and was lifting him to his feet by the time I'd managed to stand up and then he simply led him to my car and put him in the rear seat. I'd been so relieved to have had his help that without thinking I'd stepped up to Hector and while saying gracias, had kissed him on his cheek. Yep, it had been a lucky night for me in catching Huckby.

"Any new files?"

I asked wanting to change the subject before Connie asked anything more about Huckby.

"No. It's only Monday so maybe by the end of the week we'll have some more"

Which wasn't that helpful as I remembered that I was going to be away.

"About that, I'm going to be away for a few days, at a family wedding"

I saw how Connie looked up at me surprised. I have to admit that I wasn't all that sure whose wedding it was because my father had always been vague about the history of his family. Okay, I knew that his dad had emigrated from Italy years ago, but I had no idea who else had come with him.

"No problem. Vinnie's trying to placate Lucille at the moment, something about a rumor going around about him and some woman down on Stark. Talking about rumors and gossip, how'd it go with Morelli?"

I was close to smiling as I looked back at Connie and seeing the look on her face.

"As planned"

Yeah, Connie knew of the rumors of Joe shopping for an engagement ring, she'd been the one to tell me. I'd spent some time talking to Connie and the advice that she gave me?

"If you need to talk about it with me, then you can't be ready to say yes to him"

Which to be honest had made sense to me.

"The rumors are making their rounds so someone must have seen the two of you at that restaurant, have you spoken with your mother yet, she must have heard by now"

I shrugged my shoulders thinking of the previous afternoon and my mother's solution for fixing that problem.

"That's why I'm going to a family wedding. Apparently, Joe is out of town, the coward, so she thinks if I am as well then people will move onto another hot topic, and she can deflect any gossip away from me"

"Makes sense. Remember the three files that you have then. I'll hold the fort until you get back"

Three files that I'd put off because I knew that they'd be easier to deal with.

"I'll go get Birch now so I'm back for lunchtime. Lula and I need to shop for a dress for me"

"Ask Dougie, I hear he picked up some new merchandise over the weekend"

Dougie was one of the files that I had so maybe I'd go there with Lula first and look at what he had before taking him to the station. Lula always loved going to see Dougie for what he was selling.

Leaving the office, I walked down the block to where I'd parked my car and was soon heading back to my apartment, where Mr Birch just happened to live. It seemed some of the residents were out which meant that I could park near the door for once. I just hoped Mr Birch had remembered our conversation from Friday. He'd promised me that he would go into the station on Monday morning because his daughter was visiting over the weekend, and he hadn't seen her for ages. Mr Birch lived on the ground floor which was good for him seeing as he struggled with his walking. For some reason he'd taken offence to a woman in the local grocery store and had started to hit her with his walker. Of course, the police ended up being called and of course several stands of items had been knocked over in the ensuing brawl, so Mr Birch had been charged.

Knocking on his door I was really hoping that he'd be in and was pleased at hearing the bolts on the door begin to slide back. What surprised me though was having an older woman stood there looking at me.

"Can I help you?"

I had no idea who she was and started to get a feeling that something wasn't quite right. Maybe it was the red of her eyes or how blotchy her skin looked, and I felt as though I was intruding.

"Err, Mr Birch agreed that he'd talk to me today"

No way did I want to say that he needed to go to the police station, it just didn't seem to be the right thing to say to a total stranger.

"He died Saturday"

How did I not know that, unless it was when I was out with Joe?

"I am so sorry. Are you his daughter?"

I watched as she nodded her head and didn't have the heart to stop her from closing the door on me. It wasn't usual for someone to have died before they reached their court date, but it did happen. It just meant more paperwork for Connie to have to submit in order to get the bail money back. I felt quite saddened at that news. Mr Birch was a genuine person and always so polite. I'd been really shocked when his file came to me because it was so out of character for him.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs on my way back out of the building, I decided that I didn't want to go up to my apartment, I thought it would just make me feel sadder for Mr Birch. Once sat in my car I looked at the second of my files. I'd been prepared to do this tomorrow but maybe I could spend a couple of hours now just checking where I assumed she'd be.

Delia Sharong was 42 years old and ran a hair and beauty salon outside of the Burg. She had a good business going for her, seemed happily married and had a teenage son. It seemed that one of the women who had worked for her had decided that she was jealous of Delia and had gone out of way to usurp her and her life. The woman had set up her own business and after spreading some nasty rumors on Facebook about Delia's business had also taken some customers with her. What had finally driven Delia over the edge was when this woman had started meeting up with Delia's husband under the false pretense of him mediating between them. More lies had turned the husband against Delia and the husband was now shacking up with the woman.

Delia had set fire to the woman's new beauty salon and had been arrested for arson. To be honest I couldn't blame Delia for being so annoyed and it had taken a lot of persuasion on my part to talk Delia into letting me take her in. Okay, I'd hit her where it hurt by using the son as a reason for her to turn up. She'd lose her son and her business if she pissed off the judge, but if she explained everything in court then she might get away with community service. The price, well Lula had an appointment with her at 1pm the next day and I had an appointment for 3pm. That would give us all afternoon for her to get booked in and Connie had agreed to bail her out as soon as possible.

Parked outside the salon I looked through the large glass window for Delia, relieved to see her working on the hair of a client because I had been worried that she might make a run for it with her son. That taken care of I made my way back towards the office and again had to park further away, down a side street, luck with parking certainly wasn't with me this morning. As I walked toward the office, I noticed a black SUV parked outside and for some reason instead of feeling elated that Ranger might be there, I held back.

After the conversation with Lula yesterday and spending so much time mulling through my emotions, I wasn't sure that I was ready to see Ranger yet. He hadn't spoken to me, messaged me or anything for weeks and I didn't want to be that pathetic woman who went running to him when he suddenly turned up. I'd called Rangeman and left a message for him but obviously he'd ignored it. If I meant anything to him at all then he would have been in touch with me. No, it was time to cut myself free of him, no matter how much it tore at my heart.

I stepped into an alley and waited, watching as he and Les came out of the office. I was transfixed on watching Ranger. Just seeing him had my heart rate going up and it took every ounce of strength not to shout out to him, I hadn't realized just how much I had missed seeing him. Les was carrying some files but Ranger kept looking around, yeah, forever aware of his surroundings. It seemed that the visit was business, no doubt dropping receipts off and picking up new files so had nothing to do with whether or not I was there. I stepped back into the darkness of the alley out of sight as the car pulled out and then waited until I was sure that they'd passed me by. They wouldn't see my car where it was parked, and in some ways, I was glad that I'd had to park so far away and walk.

Walking into the office I didn't have it in me to smile. I'd purposely avoided Ranger, something that I'd never done before, and it hurt.

"Hey, why the glum face?"

I looked up to see Connie watching me and then noticed that Lula was sat on the couch, her face hidden behind the magazine that she was reading.

"Mr Birch. Well, he died on Saturday"

That was when Lula popped her head over the top of the magazine. Maybe she didn't know that I'd seen Ranger in here a few minutes ago.

"The old dude in your building?"

I nodded my head and handed Connie his file, she'd need it to complete the paperwork.

"Yeah, his daughter answered the door. She was too upset for me to start asking how it had happened"

Connie took the file from me and placed it on the desk in front of her, so I took that as being the end of our conversation. I was keen to get out of here so quickly turned to Lula seeing her standing up and heading for the door.

"We ready to shop till you drop White Girl?"

That had me remembering what Connie had said about Dougie.

"We need to go via Dougie's. He has some new stuff in but he's also one of my files"

I saw Lula raise her eyebrow at me, as though she was letting me know that she'd read through what I was saying.

"Fine. Let's see what he has and get him to the station. Then we shop"

I was almost glad to get out of the office because I was dreading Connie saying anything about Ranger having been in. Or maybe I just didn't want to hear that he hadn't asked after me. Lula insisted we took her car seeing as it had a better sound system, heating, well better everything than mine. That the volume was cranked up to ear splitting level meant that we couldn't talk anyway, which I was thankful for because I really didn't want to get into a conversation about Ranger's visit to the office.

I had to shake my head when we stopped and the music suddenly went dead, trying to stop my ears from buzzing. As we were parked right outside of Dougie's door it was only a question of getting out of the car before I was knocking on his door. Dougie was quick to answer the door and actually looked confused until Lula started with her talking.

"I hear you have some new merchandise that might be to my liking"

"Err, maybe"

Was all Dougie said as he looked up and down the street. That did have me wondering if Connie had it right as to what he was selling. As we walked inside, trying to avoid the boxes scattered throughout the hallway he stopped at the stairs and pointed up them.

"Second door on the left. I'm not too sure they're quite you though Lula"

After a look between us we started up the stairs prepared to find out for ourselves exactly what he meant. Him saying that could mean anything, literally anything. Dougie was one of those people who came across merchandize, usually from the back of a lorry or through one of his less than legal contacts. I was surprised though when we entered the room to be seeing racks of clothes inside bags hung up. Lula started at one end of the room, so I went to the other pulling down zips to peek inside. I couldn't understand what he meant because to me the clothes that we were looking at looked to be designer labels.

"These here are all small. Hell, even I know I couldn't squeeze my beautiful body into some of these"

A look at the labels pinned to one of the bags confirmed that, though I was confused when the labels also had a girl's name written on them. Looking through the selection I dismissed some of the dresses as they were a little too bold for a wedding, either the color or style wouldn't be suitable.

"This here is the one"

I turned to see Lula holding up a beautiful dress that looked to be made from a fine material that seemed to flow. I quickly removed my sweater and jeans while Lula stood in front of the door in case Dougie walked in. The dress slid over my head, clinging to my waist and hips before swirling out above my knee. The dress was off the shoulders, so I'd need a strapless bra but with how it fell above my chest I knew I'd have a bit of cleavage but not a lot.

"That is amazing on you. That color, it's just you"

The color was a blue, not too light yet not dark, and as the material wasn't shiny it looked good.

"Girl you could be set here. There are outfits for any occasion and they're all in your size"

I was feeling excited as I tried on each outfit that Lula handed to me, and I had to admit that they did look and feel good. By the time I eventually got back into my jeans and sweater Lula was holding a bundle of clothes in her arms. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to afford everything that she was holding, but I knew that I'd be disappointed if I had to put some of them back.

I was surprised to find that Dougie was waiting outside for us sat on the floor and had boxes of shoes around him which could very well go with some of the dresses.

"I thought maybe they'd be good for you Steph. I have shoes and bags to match"

I know I was frowning because I was becoming increasingly suspicious of where these outfits had come from. Was I going to let that stop me from buying them, hell no. What I didn't know couldn't hurt so I wasn't about to ask.

"Okay Dougie. How much?"

I let Lula take over after that, man can she haggle a price. Dougie didn't stand a chance against her arguments. I suppose that the dresses were all small sizes and more sophisticated rather than nightclub attire helped. Once outside I watched as Lula packed the garments into the trunk of her car before getting in. Dougie wasn't happy about being taken to the station but acknowledged that he had to go and the sooner the better. At least parking at the police station was easy and I was fortunate that the station was quiet and was soon walking out with my receipt.

"Victorias Secret. We need that place for some underwear to go under some of them dresses"

It was late when I eventually got home but I felt that the day had been successful. I had some beautiful outfits to wear, though I wasn't sure if the place that we were going to for this wedding would be the kind of place to wear them. I had enough underwear and new sleepwear so by the time I bought some hair products from Delia tomorrow I'd be set. I fell asleep dreaming of wearing some of those outfits, dancing under the stars to some sexy slow music. The problem was that it was always Ranger's face looking down at me.

There was no rush to be up the following morning. I texted Connie to update her on Delia and that I would bring her in this afternoon but also checked if there were any last minute files. I'd had a reasonable few weeks recently so knew that I had money in the bank that would cover my bills for the next month. All that I would need was some cash for the trip, just in case. My mother had messaged to tell me to pick up my bag this morning and to fetch Rex with me so that I could pack everything ready for the following day. Though thinking about it I had no idea what time we were leaving.

After a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, that finished my supply of bread, washed down with a coffee I was ready in my jeans and T-shirt to start the day, even if it was later than usual. The jar of peanut butter would go in the fridge, and I poured the last of the milk down the sink, not wanting to come home to soured milk. I put all of Rex's supplies in a bag then locking up headed downstairs to the basement to talk to Dillon, the building supervisor. As he opened the door his eyes instantly fell onto Rex's home.

"Is everything okay Steph?"

Of course, Dillon would think the worst. He was probably worried that I had a mad stalker after me that might cause damage to my apartment or even the building. Unfortunately, that had happened too often in the past and I'd always taken Rex with me to stay somewhere safe. Usually with Ranger.

"Everything is fine. I'm going out of town to a family wedding so am just letting you know"

I saw the relief wash over his face as he nodded his head before closing his door. I'd set up a direct debit with the bank for my rent to be paid so knew that I didn't owe any money but also hoped that there were more skips for me when I got back to bolster my account.

Once Rex and his things were in my car I was soon heading for my parent's house. My plan was to scrounge some lunch with them before going over to Delia's. I knew my fridge was empty and clean and there was no fresh food in my apartment. In fact, it felt as though I was going to be away for more than a few days, though once again I had no idea how long this trip was going to be. I was trusting my father with all of the details.

My mother was unusually quiet when I called in to pick up my bag and clothes. Grandma was out with her friends at a coffee morning so there was no opportunity to grill her for any answers, and as for my father, he was out doing his usual taxi runs. I spent my time folding my clothes as my mother ironed them and then helped her as she prepared some sandwiches for lunch. I tried to make small talk, but I wasn't sure why she was so quiet. Was this her way of showing me how annoyed she was with me for refusing Joe's proposal or even something to do with the fact that my father and I were going to this family wedding. The only subject that I hit on with a favorable response was the subject of my sister Val and her kids.

I left there with enough food for Lula and Connie so was once again going to be calling in at the office. I ignored an open space in front of the office and parked where I had done the day before. In some ways I felt guilty for avoiding Ranger but then again if he wanted to see me then I was pretty sure I had a tracker on my car and probably a few in my bag. One thing was for sure, I would make sure that when I was away for the wedding there were none with me.

It was an early lunch, with Lula and me leaving Connie some cake and the rest being packed in a bag for Lula and me to eat later. The arrangement was for me to call Connie when we were on our way to the station with Delia so that she could bail her out as quickly as possible. At exactly 1pm Delia was in the back of Lula's car, and I was sharing some of the chocolate cake with her but when we arrived at the station, I was surprised at how busy the parking lot was. I was just pleased that Delia was a cooperative FTA because had I been trying to get my usual type of FTA inside it might have been impossible. Lula parked her car down the street from the station then stayed with the car as Delia and I crossed the street and walked inside. While Delia was being processed, I stood to one side of the room looking around. It was Eddie who saw me and was the one to come over to me to talk.

"Stranger, I haven't seen you in a while"

"Hi Eddie. I've been in but it's usually quieter than this"

To be honest I wasn't too sure why there were so many people milling around.

"We've got a recruitment program running so the people here are potential applicants. Joe isn't back yet. He took some vacation time"

I wasn't sure what Eddie knew already or what he was wanting to know but I wasn't willing to say anything. To be honest I wasn't interested in what Joe was doing but was curious why he had lied about being out of town on a case. I could only be thankful that I'd be leaving town in the morning and wasn't going to have to put up with any more rumors, hopefully Joe would put everyone straight when he got back. By the time I came back in a few days hopefully the new gossip line would have moved on and people would know that Joe and I had broken up. I kept looking for Connie to arrive and as soon as I saw her walk through the door, I was saying goodbye to Eddie and walking over to meet her.

"Hi Connie, here's the receipt. I'll wait outside, while you sort Delia out"

For some reason I had a desperate need to be out of there, maybe Lula's allergy to being inside the station was catching. I quickly walked through the parking lot and across the street before I leant against the wall on the opposite side of the station with a view of the doors waiting for Delia to come out. I had no idea how long that was going to take. It was as I watched the door that I was aware of a black SUV pulling into the parking lot, making me wonder how they were going to park. Of course, there just happened to be a car pulling out, so the SUV managed to park in front of the door.

My heart hitched when I saw Ranger drag a man from the back of the car and I couldn't help but watch. Even from where I was stood, he still took my breath away, the muscles clearly evident under the long sleeved top that he was wearing, his long soft hair that touched his collar and of course his amazing looks. My heart ached that what I was feeling was so one way, I was like a love struck teenager idolizing her favorite rock band. It was pathetic, I was pathetic and with that thought I moved to where I couldn't be seen.

I was just hoping that Ranger didn't start to talk to Connie or if he did, she didn't let on that I was waiting outside. It was probably a good job that Delia knew where we were parked because she surprised me when she suddenly turned up next to Lula's Firebird. I was soon joining her in the car with Lula pulling away into traffic.

"That went really well and my lawyer, the one that you suggested, she really made a difference. She's pretty sure the judge will be lenient"

I'd recommended a friend who I'd gone to school with who was now a lawyer, so I was pleased that Delia had been in touch with her.

"I owe you. I have two hours free until my next appointment, so I'll sort out your hair for you"

I spent the rest of the journey back to the beauty salon trying to avoid that happening but as Lula had said I was going away for a few days so maybe I needed someone to tidy my hair for me, I mean how bad could it go?

Two hours later I left that salon feeling so much better. Delia had trimmed my hair, straightened it and styled it. It was shiny and soft and fell perfectly down my back. I have to admit that Delia knew her job. I had a bag of products for my hair, shower gel and body lotion and while Delia had fashioned my hair Lula had found a neutral polish and applied it to my nails, so I now felt ready for my trip away.

"What time are you leaving tomorrow?"

A question from Lula that had me looking at her. How had I missed that one, had my father told me and I'd forgotten?

"Girl, you are definitely losing it. I aint seen you so disorganized before"

Maybe she was right, then again, the whole of my life was disorganized at the moment. I felt that I needed to block out any emotions or thoughts just to get through the days. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't regretting my decision with Joe, but I could understand from the loneliness that crept up on me how I'd gone back to him. Maybe I was also trying to purge my thoughts of Ranger as well. It seemed ironic to me that as soon as Joe and I had finished, and I'd decided that the attraction I had to Ranger wasn't good for me that I'd seen him twice in two days. I had one night to get through before leaving town, though what the hell I would do after that had a small amount of panic settle through me. Could I manage without Ranger in my life? Would I end up a simmering mess?

While we went up in the elevator to my apartment, I dropped a message to my father to ask him what time he would be picking me up. Once in the apartment I was keen to start on the Chinese takeaway that we'd bought, making do with eating from the boxes to save on having to wash any dishes.

"You got everything that you need?"

I nodded my head at Lula as I forked some noodles into my mouth. All I had to do was recheck my small case and transfer things into a smaller bag.

"You need help packing?"

"Nah, I did that. I have my dresses in a garment bag, so they don't get creased and just have to put my bathroom products in my case"

"You know you're gonna have a good time don't ya. You can be yourself and scout out the talent"

I didn't think that would be happening, but I have to admit that I was looking forward to the time away from Trenton and maybe as Lula had said some time to relax. Maybe I'd be able to get some perspective on where I stood with Ranger, maybe even accept that he could only ever be a friend.

"You knows Ranger was in the office, so he's out and about?"

I'd wondered when Lula was going to mention that but hearing the question that she'd asked me I was pretty sure that she hadn't said anything to him. It didn't stop me from being curious as to whether he'd asked after me though.

"Did he say anything?"

I could see it in Lula's eyes before she even answered me and knew that I shouldn't have asked when I wouldn't like the answer that she was about to give me.

"No. You want us to tell him where you're at?"

I thought about that but to be honest I was still trying to manage the disappointment that he hadn't been in touch. He obviously hadn't asked about me yesterday so why tell him anything if he wasn't interested.

"No. He could have called or asked yesterday, Lula. I need to move on so maybe being at this wedding will help"

I heard the ding go from my phone so putting the fork down was keen to see if my father had replied. I had to admit that I nearly choked on the chicken that I was eating and began to cough.

"You okay girl?"

"My father's picking me up at three in the morning"

Lula had picked up my bottle of water and was holding it out to me while she was patting me on the back. Shit that was five hours away, but why did he want to set off in the middle of the night?

Lula finished her Chinese and then helped me to clear away. She even took the rubbish down to the garbage skip down in the parking lot so my apartment wouldn't smell of Chinese. We hugged our goodbyes and I promised to let her know how I was doing which left me time to sort myself out. I washed and shaved before applying some body lotion and after debating what to wear went for jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt. I needed to be comfortable if I was going to be sat in the car for the journey.

By 2.30 my small case and garment bag were packed and by the front door and I was sorting through my shoulder bag to decide on what I needed. My cuffs and pepper spray went into a shoe box in the closet, along with my gun, thinking that the cookie jar wasn't the best place to leave it.

I had a wallet with my bank cards and money inside, some lip gloss and the earbuds for my phone. Not a lot really but seeing as I had no idea what might contain a tracker, I decided that I could always buy anything that I needed when I was at the hotel. I toyed with my phone not knowing what to do. Ranger had always let me know when he was going to be out of town. I certainly didn't want anyone at Rangeman to worry about me if they saw that my trackers were stationary for a few days, so I opened Watts app to Ranger's contact number. He'd be asleep at this time in the morning so he wouldn't read it yet and by the time he did I'd be on my way.

"Going out of town"

Was all that I wrote feeling like I was saying goodbye. Maybe I was in a way and maybe by the time I came back home I'd be more able to cope. I felt a tear fall down my cheek before I turned off my phone. I certainly didn't want to be talking to anyone at this time in the morning and hopefully could sleep while my father drove.