CHAPTER 16

Cup of Joe

Joe sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee while watching the sun rise through the bay window. Ironically, this was the same spot he was sitting when he got the news that Stephanie was missing, but it wasn't his kitchen—and he wasn't in Trenton.

He took another sip of coffee—might as well, it wasn't like he was going to be able to get back to sleep. Truth be told, he hadn't slept a solid night since he found out Stephanie had disappeared. He tried to believe they were going to find her, but with each passing day, he lost a little more hope. He knew the odds better than anyone. After forty-eight hours—rescue was bleak—and after seventy-two hours, they were looking for a body. This wasn't like the normal trouble she got into. She'd been gone for twenty-one days now, and he'd finally realized she might not be coming back—at least not alive.

He scrubbed his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes harder than he should have and let out a long sigh. He was so damned tired. They'd followed every lead, even the long shots. The meeting at the Plum's had yielded some good leads, but it came as no surprise to anyone on the investigative team that the number Mrs. Plum gave them was for a burner phone. One of Ranger's men was monitoring its signal on the off chance her abductor got sloppy and turned it on, even for a minute. That's all it would take to pinpoint a location, but Joe wasn't holding out hope. Most likely the kidnapper had tossed it.

The one thing that was plentiful was video surveillance footage. The police had obtained all the traffic camera footage of the area as well as footage from surrounding businesses, but it was through Rangeman's private security cameras that they got their first glimpse of the man that likely abducted Stephanie. The camera caught a dark, curly haired man wearing a business suit as he entered and exited Giovincini's to have his 'impromptu' meeting with Mrs. Plum. Unfortunately, he was filmed from the back and side views, but nothing straight on. And the quality was too pixelated to be of any use.

Surveillance footage was also gathered from both of Joe's neighbors, which turned out to be a bust. Mrs. Lukach's camera was out of range, but they did catch sight of something interesting on Mr. Gorvich's footage. A blurry image of Stephanie's suspected abductor was captured in profile as he entered Joe's house through the back door. He was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie, which obscured his face and hair. Due to the poor quality of the camera and the fact it'd been raining that day, the picture was grainy. Hector had attempted to clean up the image, but it was too pixilated to run through facial recognition. Bottom line… they had nothing new to distinguish him from any other man who owned black jeans and a hoodie.

The best hope of finding him had come when they discovered a partial print left on the pen when he wrote down his phone number for Mrs. Plum. It wasn't as good as a complete print, in fact it was the epitome of a longshot, but it gave them something solid to work on. As expected, when the feds ran it through IAFIS, it returned an overwhelming possibility of matches… 677 to be exact. Ranger's men were working systematically to rule out each possibility, but it was time consuming and frustrating. On the upside—they'd effectively ruled out 135 million convicted criminals, military personnel, and civil employees whose prints were in the system. Which meant they'd wasted a lot of time looking in all the wrong places.

To sum it up. They were looking for a man with short curly dark hair, medium build, tall, and handsome. It could be anyone. The only thing they'd been able to accomplish was to identify who hadn't taken Stephanie. They had no persons of interest to talk to. No one to lean on for information and nowhere to go with the investigation. It was dead in the water.

But Ranger wasn't willing to accept defeat. He'd set up a 24/7 tip line for anyone to call in with information leading to Stephanie's whereabouts. His men checked out every single lead, even if it was clear the caller was only after the reward money, which was now up to one million dollars. Joe leaned forward in his chair, placing his elbows on his knees and shaking his head. He could barely contemplate that amount of money.

Objectively, he was impressed with Ranger's whole operation, and his dedication to finding Stephanie, but if he was being honest, he also felt threatened by Ranger's strong feelings for her. He knew they had a connection, because no man in his right mind would willingly offer to spend one million dollars in reward money on a casual friend. If Ranger was the type to commit to a woman, Joe would have to force Stephanie to end her friendship with him.

He huffed a laugh, thinking how funny life was sometimes. He hadn't had any interaction with Stephanie for a dozen or more years and then when his life was at its lowest point, there she was, suddenly thrust directly in his path. If it hadn't been for her taking the job with Vinnie, he didn't think he'd have ever reconnected with her. Hell, he'd probably be in prison for a murder he hadn't committed.

In the beginning, he was more interested in regular sex than a relationship, and she fit all his qualifications but one. She wanted some sort of a commitment from him before she'd let him get her into bed. He'd resisted for as long as he could and then finally started offering her tiny promises that he'd take back after the moment had passed and he'd been satisfied. But there was a big problem he hadn't foreseen. She was addictive. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted her, but she wasn't the only one he was seeking comfort from.

He straightened when he heard a noise behind him. Just before he looked over his shoulder, a pair of delicate arms slid around his neck. "Come back to bed, baby," a sultry voice whispered. "It's too early to be up."

As she kissed the outer edge of his ear, he slipped his hand inside the silk robe, running his fingers up her thigh. He loved Stephanie, he really did, but no matter how hard he tried to distance himself from Terry, he always made his way back to her. It'd been that way since high school.

At the age of fourteen, they'd been each other's firsts. They danced around each other the same way he and Steph did, giving in when the need became too great, but there was no future for them. Her family was the mob and he was a cop, you couldn't draw a line thicker than that. If they were publicly involved it would be the end of his police career, and she'd never ask that of him.

"I think I'm going to head back to Trenton," he said, hoping she'd understand. He was feeling more guilt than usual being here with her while Steph was missing, but the stress of looking for her was getting to him, and he'd needed a release.

Terry made herself at home on his lap, running her fingertips down his chest, hovering at the waist band of his boxers, teasing him. "You know she's going to be fine." She tried to convince him. "How many times has she been in scrapes and managed to turn up after getting everyone worried. It's what she does. Can't you see that?"

Joe was aware of Terry's jealousy toward Steph. It took her a long time to forgive him for the bakery incident because she knew Stephanie wasn't like the other girls he fucked on the side. Terry never liked it that Joe couldn't be a one-woman man which is why they were on and off over the years, never able to make it work for long stretches at a time.

In Terry's mind, Joe belonged to her and always would. She hated every woman he fucked, especially Stephanie, but Terry didn't know her as he did. Steph was selfless. Her willingness to help people was what always got her into trouble. No matter what he told her, it wasn't always her fault. Hell, he should know, he was once the trouble knocking on her door. She was so young back then, working at the bakery, and he knew better. He was older, and supposedly wiser, but he seduced her anyway. He moved fast, overwhelming her senses, keeping her hormones on the cusp of something unknown to her so she wouldn't think about the consequences.

She hadn't stood a chance.

"I'll come back to bed in a little while, I can't sleep right now." His mind was occupied with too many thoughts of Stephanie.

What was she doing right now? Was she safe? Was he hurting her?

He hated feeling helpless. All his training and the resources of the whole fucking federal government had given them nothing. She was out there somewhere, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"Who said anything about sleeping?" Her finger slipped inside his boxers, heading south. They'd already gone a couple rounds and he wasn't sure he had anything left in him. She got up, kissed him on the mouth, and sashayed her ass across the room, and down the hall toward the bedroom they shared when he could find the time. Her confidence was her biggest attraction, even when they were teenager's she had an air of sophistication about her that none of the other girls had.

He didn't move to follow her—not yet. He continued drinking his coffee, thinking about the woman he proposed to. Stephanie was easy to fall in love with. The thought of marriage no longer seemed like a noose around his neck. But the times he'd been ready to move forward in their relationship, she was backing away.

It shamed him to admit, but sometimes he deliberately picked fights with her to trigger an off cycle in order to ease his conscience when he needed to be with Terry. It wasn't right and he knew Steph would be hurt if she found out, but that was his ugly truth. He had feelings for two women. One loved him but couldn't decide if she wanted a life with him, and the other wanted a life with him, but circumstances prevented it.

Over the years, he's had to be careful meeting Terry. It was one of the reasons she bought this house in Philly. It wasn't even in her name. It was owned by a holding company that she controlled. He'd spent many nights here while he was away on 'assignment.' If Steph ever found out, she'd leave him without a backward glance. It wouldn't matter to her if it happened during their off times or not. She wouldn't cut him any slack even though he did when he caught her with Ranger in Hawaii.

His nostril's flared. That had been humiliating. The Italian Stallion of the Burg, coming in second to that psycho mercenary who believes he's Rambo. The man is so full of himself he's got Steph thinking he's some kind of superhero. She does anything he asks of her, never stopping to think about her safety. Most of the dangerous situations she gets herself into are because of him. But he couldn't tell her that, she wouldn't listen to anything negative about Ranger.

He thought he'd simplified his life when he'd taken her to Cuba and asked her to marry him. He'd made his choice and intended on ending things with Terry after he got back, but Steph surprised him when she said she needed time to think. He knew that was code for figuring out her place in Ranger's life.

The man had been a thorn in his side for years now. He never would have allowed him to hover on the fringes of his relationship with Stephanie if he'd known they would develop feelings for each other. But that was the price he paid for continuing to juggle two women. It was impossible to be in two places at one time and Stephanie got into a lot of trouble. One man wasn't enough to take care of her. He needed Ranger to pick up some of the slack and now it seemed to have backfired.

What really worried him is how things would change if they found her. Would this be a wakeup call to Ranger? Would he decide to get serious? If he did, he'd have a fight on his hands.

Thinking like that was getting his emotions riled up. He dumped the rest of his coffee down the sink and walked toward the bedroom.

One more round wouldn't hurt.