AN: Chapter two got cut off for some reason and I've gone back and fixed it. It's just the beginning of Ladies Night and Joe Meeting Linda Beals. this chapter is a beast and any medical terminology used in it comes from WebMD. I'm in no way an expert. As always it all belongs to JE.
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Lester's feet were on the edge of the massive soaker tub in their apartment. He wouldn't normally get in the bath with Meagan - you could cook lobsters in Meagan's bath water and he didn't want to injure body parts he was rather fond of - but he would keep her company. He'd pulled up a chair and was using the tub as a foot rest. They were on their second read through of Morelli's notes.
"This isn't good." he said.
"On the bright side we're good stalkers. Beals does want additional security. He's been requesting a female presence."
"Not gonna happen, Meagan. For the same reason we can't use Burrows and why this is such a fuck up. You are his type and not in a good way. You are exactly what he likes in a victim. You know Ranger won't let you go in."
"Who do you suggest then? Stephanie? Ranger is barely letting us use her for this. She's a good investigator, she has a good head on her shoulders and her training is coming along nicely but she isn't ready to go in alone. Not by a long shot."
"Lula could go with her. She's finished the training."
Meagan sat forward in the bath. "Actually..." Lula had taken to the training like a fish to water. She was a natural at everything except for shooting. She was clever, quick, and strong... Lula could be Steph's backup for real now, "I'll send Ranger an email and get Lula on a plane."
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"Somebody had better be dead." Meagan muttered into the phone. She felt like she had just closed her eyes.
"Yeah, a girl named Tina Gillian." Zero's voice said in her ear. Meagan winced and looked at the clock, 0639. She'd been in bed for three hours, asleep for an hour. Lester had been thorough. She was still slightly boneless.
"I'm up." She turned to wake up Lester but he was already gone, "I'll be down in 10 minutes."
"Santos is already out on a call with Brown, boss said to pick a partner today."
"Leave Hal and Cal on Steph, I imagine I will be with Tank and Ranger at the scene so I'm covered."
"Nope. Ranger said you get a shadow and Santos and Brown threatened me with bodily harm if I let you leave the building alone." She pinched the bridge of her nose. Dying has a way of making the men in your life a little overprotective, she thought. She'd been dropped off in the middle of a jungle by herself before and survived. She'd done countless missions more dangerous yet her husband and surrogate brothers were demanding she take an armed bodyguard to a crime scene loaded with FBI and Trenton's Finest. Yeah that was totally necessary.
"I'll take Jimmy. He should be introduced to the boys in blue so he doesn't get arrested for being big and scary looking," she said finally, "has Ranger already left?"
"No. He's been up and to the gym already. Bomber said he was in the shower. He'll meet you at the scene with Tank. Your meeting has been moved to 0800."
"Thanks." She hung up and swung her legs out of bed. She needed another profiler on staff besides her husband. Yes, they were a good team but he was actually Bobby's partner. She could use him this morning, he knew the case as well as she did and would be able to spot within minutes if it was their killer; but he was out saving the world already.
Okay, Tink, get dressed.
She willed her body into waking up and put on a clean bra and underwear, next she strapped a gun to her thigh. She slipped on a black camisole and shoulder holster, added two more guns and then a knife was strapped to her other thigh. On went a black pencil skirt and gun number four went into the waistband. Finally her black blazer went on followed by a pair of 5-inch black stilettos. She clipped her FBI badge and her Rangeman credentials to her hip then shoved a mini stungun, her cell phone and a mini pepper spray into her pocket and she was ready to go.
She caught the elevator to five and picked up Jimmy. He'd remembered how she liked her tea and handed her a To Go cup. "You are a god among men, Jimmy," she said as he stepped into the elevator.
"Just trying to redeem myself by sucking up," he said.
She snorted, "I like you. Which, depending on how you look at it, could be good or bad for you."
"How's that?"
"Today you begin learning how to profile and you get to be my partner whenever Lester is busy."
Jimmy stared. He couldn't believe his luck. "Thank you." it was all he could think of to say. The doors opened to the garage.
"Think you will fit in my car or do we have to take an SUV?"
She bleeped open her Veneno. "I'll make myself fit." he declared.
"Hello, Joe," I said as I walked into the conference room. Ranger had pried me out of bed this morning and told me I had work to do before a meeting. He handed me a folder with my cup of coffee and made me read crime scene notes. He'd removed pictures, thank God, but I was learning about our killer and it was a good thing Batman shared my bed with me or I would be having nightmares. We hoped to have wrapped this case up months ago but then every lead went cold. There were no more killings in Miami, which was to be expected because our prime suspect was living in Princeton; but there were none in New Jersey either. Meagan said it might be a cooling off period. Maybe he was focusing his attentions on the stalker. Either way Joe was still undercover and Meagan was getting frustrated. So why this morning I had to be up at the ass crack of dawn reading about murders and victim profiles was beyond me.
Seeing Joe in the conference room was weirder. I hadn't seen him since the bar. Ranger followed me in a few minutes later. He'd left me with my notes and gone out to save the world or something. Apparently, it didn't take long. He was back after half an hour. Must have been a regular sized villain and not a super one.
"Morelli, we have a body. Meagan and Jimmy are just wrapping up at the scene. They should be back any minute." Ranger said.
Santos and Brown were a few minutes behind Tank and Ranger. Then, much to my complete surprise, Lula walked in. I thought she was still in Miami.
"Hey, White Girl!" She had been spending a lot of time outside by the looks of things. Her skin was a few shades darker than normal. She looked gorgeous. She had lost almost 60lbs. Her clothes fit her and if it weren't for the fire engine red hair, I might not have recognized her.
We hugged. Joe was slack jawed. Lula was beautiful. She had always hidden behind her wardrobe. You often didn't really get to see how pretty she was because you were too busy staring at cleavage. Now, however, she looked like a badass Rangeman employee and had several less miles of cleavage.
"So, why did I get called away from the beach? I was having a fine time staring at all of those half naked hotties."
"No idea. We're waiting for Meagan to come back."
Meagan and Jimmy pulled up and parked in the sea of flashing lights. Several heads turned at the sound of her car engine and she noted, with interest, which men were drooling and which ones were adjusting their pants. She made sure that she had parked so that her side of the car was facing the scene. She spun her legs out and let them get a good look before she got out. She liked to throw new people off balance and she wasn't above using her body to do it. She climbed out gracefully and glided over to the officer in charge who just happened to be Eddie Gazzera.
"Nice car, Santos." He said and she grinned. She liked her married name.
"The body is where?"
"ME already has her. The scene is all yours though."
"Shit, Eddie." She admonished.
"I know. We didn't even make the connection to your case until an hour ago or we wouldn't have moved the body. It's not his typical style."
"Laundry room?"
"Yes." He didn't want to even guess how she knew where the body was. He wasn't privy to all of the details of this case and he wasn't sure he wanted to be.
"He was angry this time. Make sure you pay close attention to any blood evidence. It's possible some of his is there." Jimmy sidled up to her. He was looking nervous. "Don't worry, Jimbo. He cleans up after himself. There isn't much carnage to see. We're here for a vibe."
They took the stairs to the victim's fourth floor apartment first. Meagan slipped on gloves. She was right, he had been angry; he'd trashed the place. "What do you know about profiling?"
"Not much, just what I read last night after you left," he said. She cocked an eyebrow. "Zero told me that you sometimes did profiles for the FBI but that you didn't like to do it. He wasn't sure why. I've heard lots of stories about you, I know it's not because you are squeamish so I thought I'd do some research."
"And?"
"You would rather read people than crime scenes."
"Why?"
"Because a crime scene is too late."
"Well, yes, that's part of it," she agreed but didn't elaborate. "Look around. What do you see?"
"This guy is disorganized. He's trashed her place and it looks like she struggled a lot."
"He was angry, that's why he trashed the place. He took his time killing her and her body will be a mess, but she didn't struggle. Tox screen will most likely show that she had suxamethonium chloride in her system when he killed her. It is a highly effective chemical restraint. She would be able to feel, see and hear but completely unable to move or speak. It is a great way to maximize terror. Look at the pattern of destruction. It's even. It's not random. There won't be any stray fibers found but maybe DNA, though I doubt it.
"He wears a paper suit and gloves. When he's done, he takes it with him unless he's trashed the place like he did this time. Then he takes the victim to the building's laundry room, strips her naked and tosses all of her clothes and the suit into a washing machine full of bleach. We think that's when he rapes her. Her body is usually found in front of the machine fully washed down with bleach inside and out and no evidence of the violation beyond some vaginal tearing."
"So he's organized."
"Very. He's not spontaneous in any way. He trashed the room because he wanted us to know he was pissed but he was selective in what he chose to destroy. Only personal items, things that potentially have great sentimental value, but he leaves alone impersonal decorations."
"And you know for sure it's this guy you are watching?"
"Pretty sure, we just can't prove it because he doesn't leave evidence."
"So if you know who it is, why are we here?"
"To make sure it was him this time and not a copycat. There was a lot of press in Miami and copying him would be a good way to hide a non-related murder." She snapped off her gloves, "We're done here."
"Don't we need to go downstairs to the laundry?"
"Nope. If they'd left the body than yes, but they didn't so there isn't much point. If there is anything to find, the CSIs and TPD will find it. Without the body all we're going to see down there is a washing machine filled with water and bleach and a paper suit. The room will be otherwise spotless."
"How do we know it's him?"
"Victimology is very specific. She has no family pictures because she doesn't keep them. He only goes after petite women who are orphaned, no family to be hurt by her loss, are naturally blonde, and in what he perceives as a man's job. She fit all of those criteria."
"You know, Tink, that kind of describes you."
"Not kind of." They went back down and ran into Carl and Big Dog. Normally there would be some good natured teasing and begging to drive her car. This time Big Dog surprised them all and gave her a hug.
"You be careful, Princess." TPD had adopted Joe's nickname for her. "He's met you and you have that look like you might want to become a massive pain in his ass." He said.
"We've heard what you are doing. This wasn't your fault. You have been pressing his buttons for months, something else has happened to set him off." Carl said. Boy did she know it.
"You boys are sweet. I'm fine." She grabbed Carl's wrist and check his watch for the time, "I have a meeting that started five minutes ago. Can you email me your notes and any pictures?"
"You got it, Princess." Carl said, "You got a kojak in that thing?" he gestured towards her car.
"No, but how awesome would that be?" She answered, "Pino's tonight?" They agreed and she went towards her car, Jimmy right on her heels.
She met Ranger and Tank at her car.
"Any point in us being here?" Ranger asked.
"Nope. It's him." Gazzera waved her over and she sighed, Ranger squeezed her hand briefly. "Let me finish up with Eddie. He's going to want to know what I saw in there; unfortunately, it's nothing new. I'll meet you back at the office."
She walked away from them and Tank looked at Jimmy, "The tracker on his car puts him two blocks from here. You stick to Tink like glue, got that?" Jimmy nodded.
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While we were waiting on Meagan to come back, Lula and I caught up. She had been training in Miami for a couple of months and appeared to have liked it there. "To be honest, white girl, I'm thinking of staying there. I know you and Ranger are there a lot so we'll still see each other. But I like it better there."
"I bet you do. This has nothing to do with rumors of you and a certain computer expert, does it?" I teased. Tank had been like a bear with a sore paw since the rumors of Lula and Rangeman Miami's computer expert, Silvio, being an item made their way to Trenton. Lula smiled shyly and since Lula didn't have a shy bone in her body, I knew I was right on the money.
"I don't think that's all of it, but I love the guys there. It's fun being the only girl. They spoil me. I ain't never been spoiled before." She said, "Don't get me wrong; they're still kicking my ass. But they take care of me after."
"Hey, I know the feeling." I said.
"Yeah, but then I barged in and took over right, Steph?" Meagan said behind me.
"Nah, they love you but they are scared of you. They adore me. You're no threat." I grinned. Meagan and I were currently on a mission to torture the boys of Rangemen. Make them tell us who they loved better. I firmly had Hal. He was all mine, she had this new boy whipped pretty fast but I also suspected Zero was defecting to her camp especially after her distraction outfit. But, then again, Manny was mine. The competition wasn't real. Every time one of the guys chose a side we would make it our mission to turn them back. Don't think our husbands were off limits in this contest either. I just about had Les the other day when I brought him a doughnut out of my secret stash. She retaliated and I found her kicking the shit out of one of the recruits while Ranger watched. He'd been smiling.
At the end of the day though I walked by her office and saw that she had her feet in Lester's lap and was practically purring while she told him about her day and he massaged her calves. I was walking back to my cubicle when Ranger dragged me into his office and kissed me before locking his door and tossing me on the sofa. When he was done with me, he said, "No contest, Babe, although Lester and I are enjoying being fought over so keep it up." I hadn't told Meagan about the comment yet, revenge would be in order. She was apparently reading my mind because she leaned in and whispered, "Lester is enjoying the spoiling too much. I suspect Ranger is, too. How do you feel about going on another cleanse?"
I grinned and then projected my voice, "I've been feeling sluggish, too. Last time we went on that diet I had sooo much energy. I have no idea where it came from. Should we start today?"
"No time like the present." Meagan picked up our bag of doughnuts and tossed it. Lula eyed us suspiciously. Ranger and Lester both swallowed hard. Meagan grinned evilly at me and then blank faced and looked back at the room. Joe was smiling. He loved that two more alpha males were no match for the Jelly doughnut hormones.
"Why am I getting an ice cream headache while I am drinking hot chocolate?" Lula murmured.
"That only happens when..." I turned and there was Jeanne Ellen Burrows. She nodded to the room and then looked at me, "Stephanie. Good to see you." My feelings towards Jeanne were mixed. Our paths had crossed professionally here and there and she had been a pain in my ass but once I was no longer in her way she had been helpful. It was rumored that she and Ranger had a thing back in the day but I couldn't exactly complain about it with Joe in the room without looking like a hypocrite.
Jeanne looked at Meagan, "I always thought you'd be taller," she said., "Your work in Brussels was impressive. I didn't know it was possible to do that with a shoelace. It's even more impressive now that I know how much you had to stretch to do it?"
Meagan grinned, "I didn't. I stood on a chair." Jeanne laughed.
"Now I'm just jealous," she said. Meagan gestured to an empty seat.
"Now that Catwoman has graced us with her presence, the gang's all here." Meagan said to Ranger, "Unless you called in anyone else."
Ranger shook his head. He was probably wondering what was going through the heads of his men, probably for the first time ever at Rangeman the room was almost 50% women. I was the only one in the room not dressed to kill. Literally, my gun was upstairs, I'd put it on before I left the building though. Ranger looked at Morelli. "Talk." he ordered.
Joe glared at Ranger out of habit and then looked at his partner, his mouth in a stubborn line. Meagan, who was still standing, walked around the table and smacked Joe upside the head, then her look dared anyone to smile. Yeah, nobody was that dumb. Not even Ranger fucked with Tink when she was pissed.
Jeanne leaned over to me "I've always wanted to see her in action. She's the reason he trained me." she whispered. Really? Blonde, gorgeous, smart, natural ability, it made sense, "always wondered if I lived up to her."
"She might spar with you later." I whispered back,"you could find out." Jeanne was actually alright, I decided.
"Talk," Ranger repeated and Meagan glared at him, Ranger wouldn't say please to Joe, he wouldn't back down either but he had thawed a bit.
"About two weeks ago I spotted a tail. I managed to lose him and double back. It was the goon who had tested Cupcake when she and Manoso did the consultation at Beals' brother-in-law's house. This was the first time I spotted a tail. After that they must have realized I was on to them. They didn't even bother to hide it. I stayed with Linda every night for about two weeks and stayed away from the safe house because I didn't want it found. She suggested that we move in together, her father would get us a place and she would tell him she would have it swept for bugs. Repeatedly. She wanted privacy with her new boyfriend, me, and she didn't want him listening in on her sex life. I brought the arrangement up with Ranger and we decided to table that discussion until necessary.
"Then about four days ago when I took Linda home with me, there was a surprise waiting for me there and Linda was less than pleased about it. She stormed off. I caught up to her and talked her down or so I thought. Two nights ago I got to the safe house and found it full of bugs and the surprise was back. I disposed of it. I figured that anyone watching would enjoy that show. Last night it was back again and this time there were shots fired at the house. I hauled ass and got out of there."
"What was the surprise?" I asked.
"Terri Gillman." Shit.
"Can I ask what may seem like a dumb question?" Lula asked and Joe nodded, "If Linda knows that you are a fed and that your relationship is a fake, why the hell does she give a shit if you're banging Mafia Barbie in your safe house?"
I looked at Joe and saw the slight tightening around his mouth. The real question was why he was bringing her to the safe house in the first place. Then the light bulb went off, "Because he's sleeping with her. She doesn't think their relationship is fake anymore. Jesus, Joe."
"Morelli?" Ranger cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Steph's right. Only she's not the only one who doesn't think it's fake anymore." Joe said,
"What I would like to know is how Terri found the safe house in the first place." Meagan said.
"When was the last time you saw Terri?" I asked. I had a hunch. If I was right, I was going to have to fight not to laugh myself silly. This would be too easy.
"Three weeks ago I ran into her in a bar." Joe said, "She said she knew that you and I were quits and wanted to rekindle some things. That was before Linda and I... I told her that I was working and that we'd talk when I got back."
"Did she give you anything?" I asked.
Ranger caught my drift and said, "Empty your pockets." Joe stood up and did. "There." Ranger picked up the money clip Joe was using, "She planted a tracker on you."
"Don't be embarrassed, Joe, it happens to me all the damn time." I dumped my bag on the table. There were no less than 7 things with trackers hidden in them. I was getting pretty good at sorting them out. Ranger grinned. Meagan pulled out one of her guns.
"This one's my favorite." She said as she pulled out a gun, she took out the clip and added it to the pile of trackers. "Puts a completely new spin on the term tracer rounds."
"It's been on you for a month. How long have you known it was there?" Lester laughed.
"A month."
"Damn."
"It was sneaky. I'll give you that. Ranger put it there?"
"Bobby. While you were in the firing range."
"Ah."
"Seems like your ex is taking notes from the men of Rangeman," I said, "The question is why?" and then a thought occured to me, the latest victim, her name, Tina Gillian, was awfully similar to Terri Gillman, was that the reason why she was chosen? "Uh is Terri still blonde?" I asked, knowing the answer already.
"She is. That's why I'm here I bet." Jeanne said. Ranger nodded. "She fits the victimology. Stephanie and Lula are going to guard Linda? So what does that make me? Bait or eyes on Terri?"
"Tink is going to be the bait." Ranger said, "She's already pissed him off once. She's been to the latest crime scene, put on a bit of a show to get his attention; and as expected, everyone on the scene deferred to her because she's the Pixie. We're hoping he puts her in his sights."
"I'm sorry, what!?" Lester and Joe said at the same time.
"I don't think so. No way. Not going to happen." Lester said.
"I agree with Santos." Joe said, "No fucking way."
Meagan was standing beside Jeanne Ellen. Jeanne got to her feet. She pulled out her weapon and grabbed Meagan and held it to her head. Meagan reacted instantly. Her hands came up and she ejected the clip out of the gun without looking, caught it and used it to jab Jeanne in the bridge of her nose. Jeanne loosened her grip on Meagan enough that Meagan was able to use her weight to throw Jeanne off balance. She threw an elbow into Jeanne's ribs, grabbed her wrist and twisted it painfully until she dropped the gun. Meagan continued to twist until Jeanne's hand was behind her back and then she bent her over the table. I'm not sure when her gun found it's way to her hand but it had and it was pressed to the base of Jeanne Ellen's skull.
If I hadn't actually seen it I wouldn't have believed it. It literally took only a couple of seconds. Meagan never registered surprise at the sudden threat; she barely showed any emotion at all. It had been mechanical; like it hadn't required any thought. I'd seen the same expression on Ranger's face before when he was in action. Complete control. I bet her heart rate wasn't even elevated.
"Sorry. Reflex." She said and helped Jeanne up. She leaned across the table and grabbed a box of tissue and handed it to Jeanne Ellen.
"I think she can take care of herself, boys." Jeanne said holding a wad of tissue to her nose. It was bleeding and she would probably have a couple of black eyes, but her nose wasn't broken.
"Yeah, she can handle herself like that but what if he shoots her full of tranquilizer and she can't move?" Lester demanded.
"I will be moving with a bodyguard and I will have a subcutaneous tracker. We know he likes to take his time. If he takes me, you will have to find me before he can kill me," Meagan said.
"No, Meagan, just no," Lester objected. When they were working he NEVER used her name. He called her TINK like anyone else. He said it was so he didn't see the woman he loved and saw the operative instead. She did, however, just about die the day after they got married. Her heart had stopped twice and she almost bled out. It was still pretty fresh for everyone. The idea of her deliberately baiting a serial killer wasn't something he was thrilled about. I didn't really blame him. I didn't like it either. She and Ranger were very close. I don't know how he'd take losing her a second time. Also, she was my friend, I wasn't in any hurry to lose her either.
"Les, I'm going to do this to draw attention away from Terri. She doesn't know the danger she is in now. He killed last night for the first time in months because of her. He's going to start to focus on her. Jeanne is going to keep eyes on her. All I am going to do is make myself visible. It's a long shot because I think he will be going after Terri."
"You know this how?" Joe asked.
"She hurt his daughter and she's his type. You are out of it now. If when this is over you want to reconnect with Linda, by all means do it. You are a target now, too. You stay on lockdown until it's over," Meagan said.
"Like hell I will." Joe said.
She tossed her credentials at him, "Don't make me pull rank on you, Morelli."
"I'm not going to sit around and do nothing while you wander around as bait. It's not going to happen in a million years."
"No." Ranger spoke up, "you will be trading jobs with Tink and helping run the investigation from the safety of the building. She's right. It's too dangerous for you on the streets right now."
The meeting might have degenerated after that if Lula hadn't spoken up. "I think we all need a time out. Steph and I still don't know what the hell we are doing, and it's getting a little testosterone heavy. Burrows needs an ice pack and we all need lunch. I say we go to our corners and come back this afternoon."
"I'm with Lula". Tank said. He'd been silent for most of the meeting. He smiled at Lula who ignored him.
"Should I be dying my hair?" Jeanne asked.
"So far his only interest has been in blondes so it wouldn't hurt." Meagan said.
"Looks like I'm headed to the spa for the morning." She nodded to us, "Ladies."
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"Princess, it's about the most boring job on the planet. If you can't talk to your partner, you go insane. I don't have anything against Hector, besides that he's probably a little psychotic, but he doesn't speak English." He had her there. Hector was a little crazy, "Pair me up with anyone else."
"It's three hours. You will survive," she said. It had been two days since the meeting. She'd had to pull rank and Joe was losing his mind.
"You know, Tink, he's right," Manny said. She was about to have a revolution on her hands when Ranger and Les walked up. Ranger saw Meagan's amused expression and even though his expression didn't even change in the slightest the question was there.
"You don't do monitor duty so you don't know," Zero said, and then he started back-pedaling "not that you have to. I mean we know you're busy."
"Meagan?" Ranger asked.
"The guys were just saying that if you can't have a conversation with your partner while on monitor duty you will die of boredom. I was just telling them that it wasn't necessary."
"The core team hardly ever does it. So you guys don't understand. I bet if you had to do a six hour shift where you couldn't talk to your partner you'd have more sympathy." Joe said.
Ranger cocked an eyebrow, "I'll take that bet. In fact, for 12 hours the monitors will be run by members of the core team. Bobby has to look after a patient so he's out. You guys pick two teams."
There was intense discussion. I was considered part of the core team. I was the head of Investigations. "Tank's out. He can go actual weeks without speaking." Manny said, "Ranger and Les?"
"Nope. Bad idea." Zero said, "He and Tink are both ex-Special Forces so whoever we pair with them will be quiet because Ranger and Tink will be. No. We put Lester and Bomber together. No way can they keep their mouths shut for 6 hours."
"Hey!" I stomped my foot.
"Les is Special Forces too." Meagan said evenly.
"We have our teams." Joe said, "What are the terms?"
"Two weeks offline for the core team when this case is over." Meagan said.
"And 24 hours offline starting tomorrow at 0800," Lester said.
"Doughnuts for a week for me," I said.
"Silence on monitor duty for a week," Ranger said with an evil grin.
"If we win, shifts on the monitors go to 2 hours a shift for a week and Bomber has to buy us all doughnuts. And, we each get an extra day off" Zero said.
"Get Tank," Ranger said. Tank came grumbling out of his office. The bet was explained to him.
"Fine," Tank said. Always an arbiter of fairness he laid out the ground rules, "Rules are, you can't talk to your partner unless it's related to a client emergency. Phone is only to be used to speak to clients. Rangeman employees are only to call with case-related information. You are not allowed to speak to each other through any form of sign language. There is to be no texting or emailing back and forth. Lester and Steph start in an hour only because I need Ranger and Tink before they do their shift."
"I want to add a rule." Joe said, "No texting to anyone at all unless it's client related."
"Done," Meagan said, "we need our hour to plan."
We filed into Tank's office. He called up Bobby and we sat down, "Nice rules Tank." Bobby growled. "I could use the vacation and the day off tomorrow."
"Shut up. Ranger and I have a plan. It's too bad Vinnie's is closed; we could have used Connie." Meagan said.
"Frank and Helen are clients." Ranger pointed out, "plus there are both of our families,"
"True," Meagan said, "and we have time to go sign up Mary Lou and Lenny as clients."
"Tank draw up a schedule. Steph can last about ten minutes before she either needs to eat or speak," Ranger said.
"Hey! I'm right here!" I reminded them. I have no idea when they communicated their genius plan but they did proving they both have ESP. Just as our shift was about to start, Joe came into the room, "Good luck Cupcake. Just remember that Boston Creams are my favorite too." Meagan gave him a dirty look, crouched down beside Lester and whispered something in his ear. He turned and kissed her hard on the mouth and then grinned from ear to ear. I could guess what she said. Well played, Meagan, I thought.
"And your shift starts now." Tank said. Meagan bent down low to pick up the pencil that had fallen out of her hair when Lester kissed her and Lester took full advantage of the floor show to ogle his wife. I'm not going to lie. I may have ogled her a little bit, too.
Ten minutes went by and the phone rang. I answered it."Stephanie, it's your mother. I'm having a problem with the security system. Your grandmother keeps tripping off the alarm when she tries to sneak out the window."
"Why is she doing that?" That led to 20 minutes of my mom going into in depth gossip about the burg. When I got her off of the phone I promised that someone would be out to see if they could do something.
I sat for another 20 minutes when the phone rang again, "Stephanie, how good to hear your voice!"
"Hi, Mrs. Manoso, would you like to speak to Carlos."
"No, just whoever is on duty right now. I know he's busy." She said.
"Oh, that would be me. What can I do for you?"
We chatted for a bit before she explained her problem. The tracking device in her car was on the fritz. It kept shorting out her sat nav and she was wondering if someone could come fix it. I got off the phone. An hour and a half had already gone by. Wow. The phone rang.
"Oh, yay, you answered my first official call to Rangeman."
"Hi, Mary Lou. What can I do for you?"
"Well, the guys are here installing the alarm system and I was just wondering if you think cameras in the yard are necessary." So we talked about that for a bit. For the rest of the shift, clients called with problems and I was never off the phone for longer than ten minutes. Sure, the clients were all friends and family but still, the shift ended and I didn't have to speak to Lester once.
"That was cheating." Joe said.
"Actually, I think you will find we followed the rules exactly." Lester said.
"We have to break them." Joe said to Manny and Zero.
"Meagan and Ranger once spent six days not talking while on assignment. Six hours is nothing," Lester said. And it was. Unlike our shift the phone didn't peep once. The guys tried to distract Ranger and Tink but they were like palace guards. Neither one of them reacted. Meagan would lean forward and Ranger would glance at her and press buttons to enlarge an image on the screen. She would either sit back and he would shrink the screen or Meagan would call and send a team out. Their entire shift was uneventful. It was like the bad guys in Trenton sensed who was watching them and didn't dare step out of line.
"I believe their shift was over five minutes ago." Tank said, "I believe it was supposed to be Vince and Hal on duty now. Where are they?"
"On a call. They should be back in 20." Manny said.
"Thank you for volunteering to take their shift." Tank said ominously, "Cal will help you and tell Binkie I want him in my office,"
Meagan and Ranger stood up. She stretched on her toes and yawned, flashing a navel ring that I didn't know she had. "That was fun. We should do it again sometime."
"Don't listen ahead. We'll finish it in the car on the way to the cabin." Ranger said.
"Yeah, Tink, no spoilers. Seriously." Hector said.
Meagan and Ranger took out ear pieces and handed them to Hector. "Tank has all the power. He's the one that downloaded the book." The boys were staring open-mouthed at them.
"It was a six-hour shift where nothing happened. You need to do something to keep your mind occupied," Meagan said.
"That's cheating," Joe said again.
"I don't think so. There were no rules stating that we couldn't listen to books. Just no music."
We were surrounded by angry goldfish.
"I think we should make it a rule now though, don't you, Tink?" Tank asked.
"Absolutely."
"Why are you smiling?" I looked up at Ranger who looked incredibly pleased with himself.
"I'm just thinking about how quiet it's going to be around here for the next week," he said. He checked his watch and tapped Meagan's arm, "We'd better go, Hermana." She got to her feet, gave Lester a quick kiss and followed Ranger down the stairs to the garage.
"Where are they going?" Zero asked.
"They have a surveillance shift to do." Lester said and I shuddered. Surveillance after six hours on monitor duty? Their asses were going to be completely numb. "What do you say, Beautiful? You inviting Bobby, Tank and I up for a victory dinner?"
"Sounds good to me!"
RSRSRSRSRSRS
Lester Santos was bored for the very first time in his life. He'd never before been bored and he didn't know what to do with himself which, he supposed, was the point. We aren't talking the kind of boredom that comes from an afternoon of sitting around doing nothing which is what he did in front of the monitors. We're talking the kind of boredom that develops when you feel like your life is missing something. His life was missing something. He had officially retired from the military; he wasn't going in the wind anymore. He never thought he would miss it but he did. He missed the adrenaline. Any action lately had been few and far between. No redecorating jobs, no major busts, and the work on the Beals case was interesting but it wasn't exactly a thrill.
He sat in his office looking over the request sent to him by Generals Frakes and Vadrine and he was torn. He didn't want to leave Meagan. She still wasn't right from everything she'd been through; she often woke up screaming in the night. She'd always been plagued with nightmares, but they were worse than he'd ever seen them and he wasn't going to leave her knowing that she needed him. She was being treated for PTSD and she had developed severe claustrophobia. Being locked in a trunk for days would have that effect on anybody. He was contemplating running it by Bobby when there was a knock on his office door.
He looked up when the door opened, "I'm going to kill Morelli." Tank said and Lester smiled. He liked Morelli. "He's worse at being locked up than Bomber is."
"And you want me to fix this how?"
Tank tossed a folder on Lester's desk. Lester opened it and quickly scanned it, "It will be a dull job but maybe you two can talk shit and he'll feel like he's being useful and won't be pissing me off anymore. At the very least it's a couple of hours out of the office and hopefully putting an end to nuisance calls. Your wife has already okayed it." Lester grinned; of course she knew he was bored.
"Where is Morelli now?"
"Staring at the monitors because he has nothing better to do," Tank replied and left. Lester read the rest of the file, got up from his desk and tucked his gun into the back of his pants. He opened the door and stepped right into the monitor room. He slapped Morelli on the back of the head and Morelli took his feet off of the desk and looked up.
"Come on, man. Let's go find something to do. Bring your gun."
"With an offer like that how could I possibly refuse?"
They got to the garage and Morelli looked longingly at Meagan's new wheels. "If we didn't have to blend in man, we'd be in the Devil's Lambo." Lester said, "It's not exactly subtle." The Devil's Lambo was a fitting description of the car. There was something sinister about the lines of the Veneno and the black red just added to that. Meagan had spoken to a friend at Lambourghini and had him choose the color. It was somewhere between black cherries and blood.
"How did she get one so fast?"
"She knows people."
"That's a common answer when it comes to her, isn't it?"
Lester grinned and beeped open one of the black Explorers and climbed in the front. Twenty minutes later they were parked down the block from a jewelry store under a burnt out street light and staring at a dark empty street. "This is only marginally more exciting than staring at the monitors," Joe observed.
"Yeah but you gotta look at it this way; it's like the difference between watching a ball game on TV and at Yankee Stadium. It's about the experience." Lester replied. Joe chuckled and took a sip of his coffee.
"Why are we here?"
"A couple of punks keep tripping the alarm at that jewelry store down there; by the time we get there they are gone. Nicky Nicky Fucking Nine Doors. It's a waste of our time and resources so we are here to strongly discourage it." Twenty more minutes went by without even so much as foot traffic down the street. Lester blew out a sigh and slumped back in his seat.
"You look bored." Joe said.
"I am bored." Lester replied.
"I get the feeling that's not a good thing…"
"I dunno. I've never been bored before. It's a new experience for me."
"How can you be bored married to Meagan? I'd think she would keep you on your toes."
Lester laughed, "Meagan Harris is an adrenaline rush personified and I'm never bored around her. Problem is, I only see her for a couple of hours a day at the most. My marriage isn't in any way the problem. Bobby says I'm having reentry issues now that I'm done with the military. I can't re-up because I can't do that to Meagan. She'd be supportive but she'd also want to come with me and would hate that she can't. But my particular skill sets aren't exactly high in demand here. The Psychology shit is her deal. I just back her up when she needs it. I need a new focus that isn't personnel or paperwork." Having no answer to Lester's dilemma Joe abandoned that line of conversation.
"I don't like that she's out there as bait. I don't know how you are standing it."
"I fucking hate it but it's her job and she is good at it. I fell in love with all of her, not just the good bits. She can't stay behind a desk any more than I can and asking her to stay away from trouble is about as smart as commenting on a woman's weight." Joe was about to say something more when they finally had some action. Two teenagers dressed in black hoodies with the hoods pulled up over their faces, walked up to the store. "They could be more obvious," Lester said casually and tilted his head slightly as if trying to figure out just how stupid the punks in front of them were. "Stay back and let me handle it, I've got energy to burn." He got out of the car without bothering to do normal things like make noise and strolled over to the two punks about to break into the shop.
"The response time for the security company has been 8 minutes the last three times we set off the alarms so let's grab as much shit as we can in 4 and book," Punk Number one said.
"You got your gloves on right?"
"Yeah."
Lester stood behind them with a grin on his face, just waiting, watching to see how they were tripping the alarms. One of the punks produced a lock picking kit and spent about five minutes working the lock. Amateurs. The alarm tripped as soon as they opened the door, "Okay, four minutes starting now."
"Boo!" Lester said behind them and they both jumped and yelled. "I'm sorry am I early? I can come back in five minutes." He motioned over his shoulder with his thumb, a look of innocence on his face. They both made to take off and Lester's arm shot out and grabbed the back of the lead kid's sweatshirt and yanked him backwards into his partner then stepped out of the way as they both landed on their asses. One of them reached for a gun and Joe stepped up weapon drawn and stopped his partner from doing the same while Lester efficiently disarmed and cuffed his associate. "A water gun? You've got to be fucking kidding me." Lester handed the gun to Joe who held a similar one in his hand. His look of disgust mirrored Lester's "Here's a good safety tip, don't bring fake weapons to a robbery."
"It's a really great way to get yourself ventilated," Joe added as they dragged the kids back to the Explorer. They locked them into the back and climbed back in. A technical team was on the way to replace the damaged locks and reset the codes.
As soon as they saw the flash of the lights of the back up car they pulled away. "Boo?" Joe asked with a grin.
"It felt right. Why? Too much?"
"No, I liked it."
Once they got the punks dropped off and booked they decided they had earned a pizza. Lester took them to Shorty's. They walked into the bar and Lester held up 5 fingers and then two. Two pepperoni and five Rangeman pizzas, fully loaded pizzas with extra hot sauce. Heartburn on a pie, basically. Might as well treat the office. Lester walked over to the pool table and Joe dropped a twenty on it. Lester shrugged indifferently and produced a bill of his own. He let Joe break sinking two stripes in succession then scratched. Lester ran the table from that point.
"It would have been easier if you'd just pocketed the money from the beginning. It would have saved me from looking like an idiot. What the fuck was that?"
"I'm gifted," Lester said with a shrug. "Besides being a Sex God and exceptionally good looking, I apparently have exceptional visual acuity as well as 'super human' spatial intelligence. Whatever. It means I never miss what I'm aiming at."
"You were a sniper."
"I am a sniper. I haven't stopped being a sniper; there just hasn't been much call for those particular skill lately. Why are you stressing about Meagan in the field? Is there something you left out of your report?"
"Gut says this is very wrong. That we are missing something big and obvious. I don't think he's the killer we think he is."
"Why?"
"I spent a lot of time around him and, to be honest, I don't think he's smart enough. The man doesn't do anything without staff there to back him up. He gets off on giving people orders. Sure he hates strong women but he doesn't have the control required to keep the crime scenes clean."
"He's former military and a pilot. He might have more control than you think."
"I'm former military and I have a short fuse. Ask anyone who saw Steph and me fighting in the Police Station. If I were to kill someone, I doubt I'd be detail-oriented enough to take all of the forensic counter measures that this killer does."
"That's fair, I guess," Lester mused. "What's your take on the wife and daughter?"
"Mom is Edna Mazur 40 years ago. Does everything her husband says to the letter, is repressed and ready to break free. Linda is the apple of her father's eye and could get away with murder as long as she keeps herself in a woman's role. Nurse works for him. I'm sure he's connected; I just think that if he's actually the one doing the killing, then he's not working alone." Joe took a swig of his beer, "That's not my only concern."
"Yeah?"
"Beals lived in Boston before he lived in Miami; he didn't show up in any of our checks because they were living in a friend's house while Beals was getting his company established. I want to look at timing. I just think it's interesting that three of the cities Meagan owns property in happen to be places Beals has lived. I think we should get someone checking to see if Boston is where he started killing and when."
"You think Meagan doesn't just fit the victimology; you think she's his original focus?"
"I'm saying we should look into it. I don't like coincidences."
Lester checked his watch, "It's 2200. Let's get back to Haywood. We'll give it to Hector. I don't think he knows how to sleep. If there is a connection on paper somewhere, he'll find it. The problem is that if their military careers crossed paths, we won't be able to find it. Meagan wasn't kidding when she said that her record had been redacted to the point of being useless. There might be a crossover that we won't be able to find. If she crossed paths with him in Iraq or Afghanistan she might not have met him at all. You saw how Jimmy looks star struck by her? It's because she's famous in certain circles. Beals may have spotted her on a base and heard the stories."
They were silent for the drive back to Rangeman. When the gate didn't go up right away when he pulled into the garage and he had to actually fob the gate open, Lester became tense. "Something' s wrong. The guys on the monitors open the gates for Rangeman vehicles unless there is an emergency."
"Another body?"
"Maybe," Lester said. He parked the car and got out. He scanned the lot and didn't see Ranger's truck, "They should have been back by now." Lester and Joe took the stairs two at a time to five. Steph and Tank were standing in the control room. Tank's mouth was in a tight line and Steph was pale.
When Steph saw Joe and Lester her lower lip trembled, "They're gone, Les."
"Maybe they got a lead and…" Lester started knowing he was grasping at straws and that they would call in anything they found.
"No, man. Their relief found his truck empty at the house they were supposed to be surveilling, all trackers inside. Julio hasn't been down to do the sub-que ones yet. We have no way of knowing where they are."
"What about history? Do we know..." Tank held up his hand to stop Lester from speaking.
"Hector pulled up their history and found this security footage from a Starbucks."
He pressed a couple of buttons on one of the keyboards in front of the screens.
The footage showed Meagan and Ranger walking into the Starbucks; they were obviously bickering affectionately and from the way he gestured towards her feet it obviously had something to do with Meagan's lack of footwear. For some strange reason she was only wearing socks. They walked up to the cash and placed their order then went around the counter to wait for their tea to come up. They both visibly tensed then Ranger grabbed Meagan and tossed her out of the way. He dove right after her as a large black panel van crashed through the side of the building. They both came up, guns drawn as the building flooded with men dressed in black with ski masks on. The men from the truck began firing at everything and the Barristas behind the counter, went down. Ranger managed to take out four of the men before he got tasered. Meagan was a smaller target and harder to hit. She managed to tag two more men before she was tasered and went down. The remaining men dragged the two of them out of the building and that's when the video cut out.
