47. Party Palace
Sitting in Tank's office on Tuesday, Lil was engrossed in the latest ordering reports from Ram when her cell phone buzzed. Noting Stephanie's name on the screen, she decided to answer. The bubbly woman knew Lil was working, meaning the interruption must be something important. "Good Morning Sunshine! Break any good stories lately?" Steph laughed. "Actually I have, but that's not why I'm calling… It seems someone has been talking about you around town." Hmmm. "OK, I'm curious enough to want more details then that. Is this coming from your mysterious Burg Grapevine?" Stephanie sighed. "Ya, but it's reliable. From what I heard from Mary Lou, she heard Kelly telling Marge that Morelli was talking about you at Pino's yesterday. According to Lou, he was saying something to Big Dog about you getting yours soon enough." Lil rolled her eyes, if Steph was there in person she would have been proud. "Cripes, that moron doesn't know when to quit, does he?" The brunette sighed, "You know, on one hand I'm grateful he isn't pestering me… But I never wanted him to turn his Italian macho temper bull on You!" They chatted for a few more minutes, Tank listened to Lil's half of the conversation with a death grip on his pen. "Just do me a favor Lil, watch yourself. I'm getting a weird feeling about Morelli's mouth running now. Why would he wait so long after the confrontation at the hospital? You spoke to the Captain that day… So, why now?" Lil wasn't very worried about Morelli, in the scheme of crazy men after her, he ranked pretty damn low. Tank sent a text to Ranger anyway.
During the Wednesday morning meeting Ranger informed the group that one of his informants reported seeing Charles Erikson on the southern end of Virginia, near Emporia. That was interesting. None of their current information had him tied to anyone in the state or surrounding areas. It was rumored he had an elderly aunt in Florida's panhandle, but that was a rather odd route to take if Apalachicola was his true destination. He could simply be running to anywhere, now that the Mob wasn't there to protect him. Also, the informant could have been mistaken. Either way, it changed nothing for Lil or her security procedures. Until Erikson was caught or killed, they were operating accordingly. Ranger said he was dispatching two of the Miami Rangemen to drive up through the state and check out the aunt's house.
By Thursday morning Lil couldn't shake the sensation that bad news was coming. The damn headache was back. She went through the motions at the morning meeting, then met Ram in the range for her practice. "Pumpkin, can I have a backup piece? Tilde and I are going shopping today for birthday supplies." Ram raised his eyebrows and opened the cabinet for her to choose. "Oakley, you feel free to take whatever you want. Do you want me to switch schedules with someone and go with you? Who are your partners for the day?" Lil smiled and patted his arm. "No sweetie, that's OK. Slick and Binkie are going with us. Plus I'll have my panic button and trackers. We'll be fine. I'm just jumpy about Erikson
and Stephanie mentioned Morelli was running his mouth. I just want to be prepared. If my radar is tingling and hers is buzzing…best not to ignore the signs. I'd leave Tilde at home but she's so damn excited to help shop for her own party. I think all the event planning we've been doing lately has really caught on with her." Ram chuckled, "Ya, I think our girl is going to be an Einstein party planner when she isn't busy running the universe..." True, so very, very true.
The girls and their guards left Rangeman in an Explorer later on. After an hour at the fabric store for Tilde's costume and two hours in Walmart, Lil was done with people. They had purchased most of the necessities for decorating and serving food. All that was missing was the Disney themed merchandise to pull it all together. Whenever Lil caught herself getting stressed from the shopping and Trenton society, she'd remind herself of how hard Ella was currently working on her sewing machine. This really was the easier end of the deal. The only real workout she was getting was to her credit card and her patience. They pulled into the parking lot of the party store and found a good spot up front. Binkie and Slick were like two handsome, beefy bookends, escorting them inside. It didn't take long for Lil to find the needed aisles. Twenty minutes in, with a cart that was filling fast, Tilde turned large watery eyes to Lil. "Mommy, I don't feel good." Lil barely had time to move before the little peanut was throwing up. With practiced efficiency, she scooped up the retching child and started moving to the back where signs pointed to the restrooms. "It's OK baby, try to relax. We'll fix it." Slick and Binkie felt helpless, no one ever wanted to see Tilde like this, ever. Lil had her daughter in one arm and her giant bag over the other shoulder. "We're gonna go inside and get cleaned up, then we'll probably head home." The men nodded, wishing there was more they could do. Lil took Tilde into the ladies restroom. Slick looked down at the cart. "Take this and go pay for that stuff, I'll keep watch." He was handing Binkie a wad of cash. Binkie shook his head, "I got it Bro, no worries."
Lil had Tilde sitting on the sink in the bathroom. Even in times like this, she couldn't bring herself to use the handicap stall. The little girl continued to heave up everything she had eaten that day, plus what felt like another three months worth of food. Lil was busy holding her while taking her blood pressure with her fingers. She could tell that Tilde was dehydrating more quickly than the last time. Reaching into her bag of mom-tricks she produced a bottle of Pedialyte. It had been so long since Tilde had gone through an episode like this away from the safety of home, Lil's nerves were on high alert. When she heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots in the store, her fight or flight instincts were both battling for control. Tilde's face was swimming in tears, from being sick and pure fright. It was eerily quiet on the other side of the restroom door. The fact that Slick or Binkie hadn't run in to check on them was bothersome to say the least. Lil pressed the hidden buttons on both her earrings. "Listen to me closely Tilde. I'm gonna sit you in here," she pointed to the back stall, "and I want you to sip your drink and stay super quiet for mommy. I know you feel yucky, just try, OK?" Tilde nodded, taking her mother's instructions seriously. Lil gave her daughter their bag and settled her as much as she could, removing her sick-soaked coat in the process so Tilde would have some kind of barrier between her little bum and the dirty floor.
A few miles away, Stephanie was sitting outside of her apartment, fighting the urge to be sick. Something bad was happening somewhere. She just knew it. Damn spidey sense had yet to fail her. She switched on the illegal police scanner Lula bought her as a birthday gift from Stark Street. Steph had to admit, it came in handy when she was trying to chase a breaking story. Lula only wanted to use it to avoid the cops… The device crackled to life and the voice on the line made Steph's blood run cold. An unknown male on the other end was sending an alert to any nearby patrols: 'repeat, shots reported at the Party Palace on Cliff Street. All vehicles please respond.' When a familiar asshole responded, she jumped on instinct. Morelli's voice filled the car, 'Officer Morelli already on scene, everything looks fine here. Maybe the caller gave the wrong address.' Oh that bastard was lying, she could tell. She had been listening to him lie for over thirty years, Stephanie Michelle Plum KNEW he was lying through his goddamn teeth. Two years ago, she would have done something foolish, like drive over there. No, not this time. Instead she dialed a number she made sure to memorize in case of emergencies just like this. "Yo." "Ranger, something's happening. Are any of your guys near Cliff Street? There's been reports of gunfire. Morelli's there but says everything is fine. Ranger, things are NOT fine. You have to do something!" She was rambling at this point, her voice raising in pitch. "I'm on it Steph. Thanks." He disconnected. It wasn't a goodbye, but better than nothing. Not knowing what else to do, she pulled out of her parking lot and started driving. Her gut was sending her toward St. Francis. Well shit.
Inside the restroom Lil was straining to hear, anything. Binkie and Slick still hadn't appeared. The bathroom door opened slowly. Lil held her breath, waiting. She was waiting for trouble, she was waiting for the calvary. What she wasn't expecting was for a half-in-the-bag Morelli to stumble inside. He had a broken nose, a blooming bruise on his left eye, and he was favoring his left side. Good. "Hello Ms. Peyton. Sorry it took me so long to get to you, your guard dogs put up one hell of a fight." She couldn't stop herself, she rolled her eyes. This of course only set him off further. "I've already shot three people today. Don't push it Bitch." Inside the back stall Tilde squeaked. Now Lil's heart was racing. Morelli gave her a toothy smile. "So the brat's with you huh? Good, he'll like that even more. Why don't you bring her out. Now." Lil shook her head. "You're problem is with me, not my daughter." Morelli cocked his gun and shot a hole in the grungy drop ceiling, right over Tilde's stall. "I said NOW. And while you're at it, remove your gun and slide it over to me." Lil moved slowly. She unholstered her Ruger, made sure the safety was on, and slid it half way between them on the bathroom floor. She moved inch by inch to Tilde's hiding spot. If she could just stall long enough, maybe someone would help. Every molecule in her body was screaming to just kill him and be done with it. But, she had a feeling she knew who the 'he' Morelli referred to was. There was no way of knowing when more danger was going to arrive. She also couldn't risk her daughter getting hurt in a gunfight.
She worked her way to the stall door, all the while chanting the word 'incinerator' in her head. Lil opened the door and held out her hand to Tilde. "Come with mommy Peanut, it's gonna be OK. I promise." The little girl still looked flushed. As Lil picked her up she gave her skin a slight pinch, crap, still a little dehydrated. "OK, we're both here, what do you want Morelli?" He eyed the child in disgust. "I don't want anything from you, except payback. I was suspended without pay for a week after that stunt you pulled at the hospital. Since then the Captain has been keeping his fucking nose in everything I do. You tried to embarrass me in MY town." Before he could complain more, the door reopened behind him. There, in the flesh, was Charles Erikson. He looked like hell. Surveying the scene he turned to Morelli. "Good job, hold the kid. The cunt is mine." Morelli looked pained, "I'm not taking that brat, she's covered in sick!" Lil was having another one of those twilight zone moments. She hadn't been this close to Erikson since the shooting. His mere proximity made all of her scars hurt. Holding her scared daughter in her arms, it was like being shot all over again... Only worse.