Chapter 11

The body receipt for Roger Klueger was burning a hole in my pocket, but Tank was adamant that I couldn't go to the bonds office and risk being spotted. Apparently Rangeman had patrols in the area and they could confirm that Los Reyes were doing regular drive-bys. So instead, I called up Lula and arranged to meet her at a convenience store a couple miles away. Tank had barely pulled into a parking spot when the back door was wrenched open and Lula swung herself up into the backseat.

"I love this clandestine shit," she said, excitement sparking in her eyes. Then she cocked her head at Tank. I may have failed to mention him to her. "What's Stud Muffin doing here?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Tank's face flush a bit, but he remained stoic. "He's our bodyguard for the afternoon."

"What happened to Batman?"

"He had to cover a shift," I fibbed. I hadn't fully filled Lula in on all the craziness with the Gabriella situation. I didn't want to pull her any further into this than she needed to be, for her own protection.

"Hunh. I guess if it can't be Batman, then there's no one else I'd rather be guarding my body."

The corners of Tank's mouth lifted up.

Carefully, so I didn't pull my stitches, I lifted my whole body so I could face Lula in the backseat. "Were you able to get my check?"

"Of course. You better know I'd come through for you." She pulled a folded check from her cleavage and handed it over. "All $550. You have any trouble with that armed robbery fella?"

"Nope," I lied. In exchange for the check, I handed Lula the body receipt, which she stuffed away for safekeeping, giving me a glimpse of her leopard-print bra in the process. By the way Tank's eyes were glued to the rearview mirror, I'd say the glimpse didn't escape him, either. The wink from Lula also implied that the glimpse was not-so-accidental.

"You got time to grab some lunch?" Lula asked me.

"I was hoping you'd be up for it," I said. "How does Cluck-in-a-Bucket sound?"

"Do you even gotta ask?"

I turned to Tank. "Let's go to the one on Hamilton and Lueckel."

"The one at Chambers is closer," he said.

"Mmm," Lula hummed. "Gotta appreciate a man who's got a good radar for fried chicken."

It wasn't that I didn't enjoy the googley eyes they were now making at each other in the rearview mirror, but I was a woman on a mission and needed to keep us focused. "Yeah, but Vincent Guzman threw a cherry bomb through the drive-thru window at the one on Hamilton and Lueckel."

Roger Klueger was in the bag. Gabriella was still in the wind. I had a plan to bring in Kate Fitz tomorrow, with or without her dirtbag husband, and I also had my finger on Lenny Bennett, who I planned to pick up at Dougie's flash sale on Saturday. That just left one more skip - Vincent Guzman. Assault with a deadly weapon, aka, a cherry bomb.

By the time we parked at Cluck-in-a-Bucket twenty minutes later, we were at the tail end of rush hour. The lot was full, and Lula jumped out of the way of a blue Hyundai that zipped into the free spot where she'd been standing. We all made our way inside and got in line for the register.

The line was longer than usual since the drive-thru was currently closed. As we got closer to the counter, I stood on my tiptoes to see past the burly guy in front of me, beyond the cashiers, and toward the back of the building. The area that used to be the drive-thru was cordoned off with hazard tape. The walls were black and sooty, the window was boarded up, and the soda dispenser was charred. When we made it to the front of the line, we were gestured to one of the registers by a young girl with greasy blond hair.

"If you want soda, we've only got bottles," she told us. "What can I get you?"

"What happened to the drive-thru?" I asked.

"It got blown up." She shrugged. "It happens, I guess."

"She got a point," Lula said. "It happened to you when you used to work here."

Jeez, I'd forgotten about that. It had happened before. I wished I were the type of person who didn't forget bombings that had occurred in my vicinity.

"Were you here when the bomb went off?" I asked.

"Nope. It was the morning shift. I don't ever work mornings. Steve does sometimes." She pointed to a guy at the register next to her who looked to be around my age. His nametag said 'Ass. Manager'.

I started edging my way toward Steve, but was stopped by the woman who stood in front of Steve's register. "I know you aren't about to try cutting in line. That's a real unhealthy thing to do during lunch rush."

"We all have places to be, lady," said the next man in line. "But we all have to wait our turn."

"I'm not cutting," I promised. "I just need to talk to Steve real quick."

"You have to order something," Steve said. "And if you want to order something, you'll have to wait in line."

Lula placed an order with the blond girl while I turned to get back in line for Steve's register. Tank made a move to follow me, but Lula grabbed him by his arm. "I was hoping we could have lunch together, Big Guy."

"I have to guard Stephanie," he said.

Lula's bottom lip jutted out, a hand went to her hip, and she leaned forward, posing to her best advantage. "You sayin' you're gonna make me eat lunch all by myself?"

Tank's gaze darted back and forth between the two of us, and he started to look a little panicked.

"You can keep an eye on me from the table," I told him. "I'm going to be in line for awhile. I'm not going anywhere."

With that matter settled, Lula shoved a tray of food into Tank's hands and tugged him over toward a booth. True to my word, I waited impatiently while the line in front of Steve's register moved glacially.

When I got back to the front of the line, he looked at me blankly. "Welcome to Cluck-in-a-Bucket. Can I interest you in our limited-time four-for-two Double McClucky meal deal?"

"Hi. Remember me? Were you working the morning of the bomb? I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions," I said.

"Hey. No. Yeah. You have to order something."

I blew out a breath. "Yeah, you were working that day? Do you know the man who threw the bomb?"

"Yeah, it was Vince. Everyone knows Vince. What would you like to order?"

"I'd like a four-piece Clucky Cup," I said. "So does Vince come here often?"

"Every morning on his way in to work. He likes the Clucky Breakfast Biscuit and extra-crispy hashbrowns. Can I get you anything else?"

"Do you know why Vince threw the bomb?"

"Is the Clucky Cup all you want? If that's all you want, then you need to step aside so I can help the next customer in line."

I glanced behind me. The rush had died down and there was only one more woman waiting. "I'll take a small coleslaw. When's the last time you saw Vince?"

"He was here this morning, just like always."

"He still comes here, even after he blew up the drive-thru?"

"Every morning, like clockwork. Vince really loves that Breakfast Biscuit. We just know now that we can't forget to give him the honey butter for it. What else can I get you?"

"What time does Vince come by for his biscuit?"

Steve stared at me blankly.

"I'll take a Coke," I said. "Now, what time does Vince come by for his biscuit?"

"Every weekday at 9 AM." He slid my soda across the counter. "We only have bottles."

Steve drove a hard bargain. I had to fork over my last $15 for the food I'd purchased in exchange for information. But at least I knew that when I came back tomorrow morning, I'd make a cool $500 on Vincent's capture. That was a pretty decent return on investment.

Lula was already done with her bucket of chicken and halfway through a large tub of coleslaw by the time I joined her at a table. Tank noticeably relaxed once I was back within body-blocking range, and he downed half his bottle of lemonade. The three of us chatted while I ate my lunch, and Lula stole one of my Clucky tenders in between flirting with Tank.

When I was finished, we made our way back out to the parking lot and I made an excuse about needing to check a couple of voicemails. Tank kept an eye on me while I paced across the lot, but it gave the two of them an opportunity to spend a few more minutes alone. I didn't really have any voicemails, but I did take a moment to pull up my online banking app. Taking into account the check I now had in my pocket, plus the ones I planned to earn tomorrow when I brought in Kate Fitz and Vincent Guzman, I was hoping I had cobbled together enough to pay my rent and my upcoming electric bill.

To my credit, I was in the throes of some serious mathematics, which is probably why I was surprised at the sound of a car door slamming behind me. I jumped and fumbled my phone, which clattered to the pavement. I hadn't heard another vehicle pulling into the parking lot. I'd violated the first commandment of the number one rule - I hadn't maintained awareness of my surroundings.

My hand had automatically dipped into my bag to grasp my defense spray, and I had a split second to feel proud of myself for that instinctual reaction. I saw Lula turn her attention away from Tank, and her gaze focused over my shoulder, eyes widened. Footsteps were approaching from behind me, and my already-stuttering heart started to pound harder.

Without another moment to waste, I hauled the defense spray out of my bag, my finger already on the trigger. I threw my other arm over my face to protect myself as I whirled around, right as I heard Tank call out a warning.

"Stephanie!"

"Steph!"

Wait… was that a warning in stereo?

My blood was pumping with adrenaline, but my hand wasn't shaking. My aim was true. I let loose a long spray, only letting my finger off the trigger when the stream from the small can started to slow.

I took two big steps back as I lowered my weaponized hand first, and then I backed up a couple more steps for good measure before I removed my arm from my face. As the haze of pepper spray started to clear, I got my first good look at my attacker.

"Ohmigod," I squeaked.

While the blood rushing through my head started to calm and I could hear again, the first sound to greet my ears was that of Tank laughing his ass off. The second was that of Ranger gagging on the face-full of pepper spray I'd just doused him with.

"Fuck," Ranger croaked. He was bent over, hands braced on his knees.

"Ohmigod, ohmigod." I rushed over, but Ranger held out a hand to stop me in my tracks.

"Stay back," he managed. "Let the cloud dissipate."

"I'm so sorry! Ohmigod, I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you!"

"Damn, girl," Lula said. "Remind me never to sneak up on you again."

Tank was trying to get himself under control, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Oh, shit. Ranger, you okay?"

Tank's tears were nothing compared to Ranger's. His eyes were bloodshot and watering like a faucet. He was still bent over, but he managed to nod. "Fine."

The cloud of poison seemed to be gone, so I made my way to Ranger's side, waving my hands in front of my face just in case. Then I placed my hand on his back. "Are you? Are you really okay? I'm so sorry!"

He straightened up and clasped his hands on top of his head, blinking his eyes like crazy while more tears spilled out. "Proud of you, Babe. You got the drop on me."

"I wasn't paying attention," I admitted. "And then I just heard you coming up behind me, and I panicked."

"You didn't panic. You remembered your resources, and didn't hesitate to use them."

The fact that he was standing there and praising me while his eyes looked like an over-dramatized Visine commercial only made me feel worse. "What can I do? How can I help you?"

Tank had finally managed to pull himself together, and he ambled over. "Just checked in the SUV, and there are no decon wipes in the med kit."

"Wipes?" I asked.

"Specially designed to cut through the capsaicin in the defense spray," Tank said. "The other option is flushing the eyes with baby shampoo."

"We're close to my parents' house! They have baby shampoo for Val's kids!" I wrapped my hand around Ranger's wrist and started to pull him toward the SUV, but he didn't budge.

"It's not safe there," he said. "I'll be fine. Let's just get inside somewhere, and Tank can watch our backs while this wears off."

His tough-guy statement was diminished by the grimace of pain on his face. I turned to Tank. "How long does that take?"

"Let me see the can." He held out his hand, and I handed it over carefully. He read it, and I saw him suppress another laugh as he shook his head. "That's heavy-duty shit. The worst effects could last anywhere from an hour to three. And the stinging will stick around a full day."

"No way." I shook my head. "We're getting this taken care of."

"Gabriella?" Tank asked.

I looked to Ranger expectantly. I was surprised and a little embarrassed that I hadn't remembered to ask about her myself, but in all fairness, the pepper spray situation seemed a little more urgent at that moment.

Ranger shook his head. "She lost us. She's still in the wind."

Ranger allowed Tank to place a call to the men who were assigned guard duty at my parents' house, and they confirmed that Los Reyes were still casing the Burg, and sometimes even a couple guys in Par de Balos colors. That ruled out that idea. The compromise that we landed on was stopping by a drug store, where Lula ran in to buy baby shampoo. Then the four of us were back at the Cheshire Motel once again.

Tank walked us into the new room we'd been assigned, cleared it, and then turned to Ranger. "You good?"

"We're good," Ranger replied, even though he still had tears streaming down his face and was nearly blind.

Tank had offered to drive Lula back to her car where we'd picked her up earlier. I locked the door behind him and then we were alone.

"Come on, tough guy." I led Ranger into the bathroom and stripped him out of his t-shirt. At first I thought I would help him flush his eyes in the sink, but I soon realized that the tiny bathroom wasn't going to allow for that. There wasn't space for Ranger to get his head under the faucet, much less for me to squeeze in to help.

Instead, I turned the shower on and let the water warm up for a minute. Ranger stood there under the obnoxious fluorescent lights, shirtless and with his hands laced on top of his head, trying not to touch his face. Despite the circumstances, I couldn't help but let my gaze wander. May as well take advantage of his blindness to covertly ogle his body.

"I may not be able to see you, but I can still feel that," he said, proving once again that he has super powers of observation. Unlike me.

"I'm really sorry about this," I said again.

"Don't worry about it. I've had worse."

I grimaced, knowing that was true. But still. This time, I was the one who had inflicted his pain. That really didn't sit well with me. "Come here."

He stepped forward and I managed to maneuver us both within the small confines so that he could step back to the shower. Standing on my tiptoes, I placed my hands on either side of his head and gently tipped it back into the spray.

"Ah, fuck," he groaned.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. "The water just makes it worse for a second. The capsaicin is oil-based. Where's that shampoo?"

I snatched the baby shampoo from the vanity counter and poured a generous amount into my hand, then lathered it up. Reaching back up, I gently massaged the soap over his face, focusing especially around his eyebrows and eyelashes. "Open your eyes now, let the suds rinse through."

He followed instructions, blinking repeatedly, helping the soap cut through the poison.

"Better?" I asked.

"Yeah. Getting there. Can you hand me that shampoo? I need to wash my hair, make sure it's all out."

"I've got it." I dumped more shampoo into my hands, lathered, and then brought my hands back up.

My fingers slid through his hair, working the suds in, and I massaged his scalp with my fingertips. There would be no trace of capsi-whatever left by the time we were through. Not on my watch. I tilted his head back under the spray, running my fingers through the strands to rise away the suds. Ranger groaned again.

"Does it still hurt?" I asked, pulling away.

Ranger's hand came around my waist, keeping me close, while he opened his eyes. "No. Feels good."

That's when I realized that the entire front of my body was plastered against Ranger's. His knee was between mine and I was basically straddling his thigh, leaning against him for balance while I reached up to his hair.

I cleared my throat and stepped back. He let his hand fall from my waist, letting me go. "Your eyes don't look red anymore."

"It doesn't feel like they're on fire anymore, either." He leaned around me to snag a towel from the rack, and ran it over his face. "Thanks for your help."

"Least I could do." I averted my gaze while Ranger dried his neck and chest. I looked down at myself and noticed that the front of my shirt was damp from the water that had dripped down his body. I grabbed my own towel, but left the tiny bathroom before drying myself off. It was getting a little too warm in there.

Not once, not twice, but three times today that I'd been at this damn motel with Ranger. There was only so much temptation a girl could take, and it was best that I remove myself from it. Had I thought about tossing his towel aside and offering to lick the droplets of water off his abs? Sure. Who wouldn't? But I knew that wasn't the safest thing for me to do right then, and I was sincerely trying to take my safety a little more seriously.

Physically, of course, Ranger would take good care of me. Boy, would he ever - I knew that from experience. But I also knew that I got a little more emotionally entangled after every orgasm he'd ever given me, and lately I'd started to fear that I was coming up quickly on the Point of No Return.

I'd thought a lot over the past couple of days about what Morelli had said to me that evening in my apartment. I'd had to face the music and let Morelli go because I knew we'd never be on the same page. Unfortunately, I also had to face the fact that the same was true of me and Ranger.

I didn't blame him. He'd warned me a dozen times that he wasn't cut out for relationships. Granted, he hadn't given me that speech in awhile, but I remembered the sentiment. His love was the kind that didn't come with a ring. And while I wasn't necessarily at a place in my life where I needed a ring, I did think that the relationship piece sounded nice. Logically, I knew that was something that Ranger wasn't able to offer. But during intimate moments like the one we'd just had in the bathroom, the logical side of my brain wasn't always the one in charge.

I loved Ranger. And he loved me back. But I knew that our love could never progress past what it was today - friendship and physical attraction. Ranger couldn't make any promises beyond that, and my promise to myself was that I wouldn't let myself forget it. Remembering was a little more difficult when we were skin to skin or when his tongue was in my mouth, so I was going to try to make things easier on both of us by limiting those moments as much as possible.

"You okay?"

Ranger's voice interrupted my train of thought, and I looked up to see him leaning in the doorway of the bathroom. He'd put his shirt back on, thank goodness.

"You were looking a little lost, there," he continued.

"I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Anything I should know about?"

"Just about how your Staying Safe 101 lecture earlier today really came back to bite you in the butt," I lied. Although, now that I thought about it, that was something else that was eating at me. Would I never be able to get this right?

"I already told you, I'm proud of how you handled yourself." He walked over to take a seat on the bed beside me.

I sighed. "First, I get caught in a freaking booby trap made by a guy who we both know has the IQ of a dodo bird. Then, I forget to pay attention to my surroundings - I swear, it wasn't for more than like two minutes - and I nearly take out Batman, completely on accident."

"It takes a lot more than that to take me out," he corrected.

"Look at us. Twice in one day, we've had to come to this rat trap motel for emergency clean-up. And both times were my fault."

"Shit happens to everyone."

"To who?" I demanded. I was only about 20% hysterical, but quickly working my way up. "Who else does this happen to?"

Ranger paused for a moment, clearly thinking. "Remember the time one of your FTAs kicked Tank in the nuts and took him down? The little old lady who ran the porn shop?"

I bit my lip because I felt a smile coming on, but I didn't feel like smiling. I was pouting, dammit. When a girl has a life like mine, she deserves to pout every once in awhile. It's expected.

"There was also the time that two of my men lost your FTA because he'd convinced them he was sick and they stopped to let him out of the car."

That one didn't make me smile, but he did have a point. I knew that first-hand, because the same thing had happened to me with a different guy. "It's an understandable mistake."

"It is. Which is why they weren't reprimanded." He reached over and laid a reassuring hand on my thigh. "Everyone is allowed to make a mistake now and then."

"Even you?"

He was quiet.

"What?" I demanded. "Everyone else gets to make mistakes, but not you?"

"I'm thinking."

I rolled my eyes, but waited patiently. As patiently as I was capable of.

"There was a capture mission," Ranger started. "My team had to hunker down in a bog of mud and wait until our target made an appearance. My boots ended up getting stuck in the mud, and I had to lead the op in my socks."

I pursed my lips. "That's a pretty good one, I guess. I bet you still got your man, though, right?"

"Yes."

"See?"

He looked at me. "You always get your man, too."

"I wish that I didn't have to always end up doing it messier than most." I wasn't feeling totally ready to be done pouting. "Was that it? That was your one embarrassing mishap?"

He was quiet for so long that I didn't think he was going to say anything more. Then he expelled a short breath. "I've made plenty of mistakes in my life, trust me. It's a scary-long list. But usually when I make a mistake, the consequences are a lot steeper than needing to take a shower. People have died over mistakes that I've made. I don't want to burden you with those kinds of mistakes."

That was sobering. I chanced a glance over at him, and found him staring at a spot on the carpet in front of us, looking like he was the burdened one. I didn't want that for him, either. I put my hand on top of his. "Mistakes make us human."

He gave up his staring contest with the carpet to meet my gaze. "I'll keep reminding you of that, if you'll do the same for me."

"Deal." I squeezed his hand. I had to admit, sometimes I did enjoy the reminder that he was as human as the rest of us. "Now tell me about Gabriella."

I saw his jaw tighten. "She lost us. I can say this about her, she's good at staying hidden. At this point, I'm still counting that as a good thing."

"At least we know now that she's still in town," I said. "And for that matter, that she's still alive."

He flipped his hand under mine and tangled our fingers together. "We'll find her again."

"Any other news?"

"Guys from both Los Reyes and Par de Balos are still looking for you. Both have been doing regular drive-bys of the bonds office and your apartment. The team that has your GPS tracker from Los Reyes are still being followed."

"So I guess that means we're still staying in Newark."

"Yeah, and speaking of, we should get going. Unless you've changed your mind about wanting to go to this thing tonight?"

That brought a smile to my face. "No way. After the day we've had, we deserve a nice, relaxing family barbecue."

"If you're aiming for relaxing, then I've got a better idea."

"Not a chance. I'm ready to see how the Manosos party."