AN: Sorry for the wait! My kids decided that they each wanted to give me different cold and I've been gross and pathetic for a week now. In this chapter we get to meet Lester's brother and there is what I'm gonna call smut lite because I just couldn't really get my mojo going while hopped up on cold meds. Please enjoy. Thanks to Di for making my NyQuil induced ramblings into something readable.
"If you're scared of me, leave now," he said, his teeth clenched as he fought to hang onto his self control. I could see the struggle on his face and that little bit of fear evaporated. He might be aggressive, almost out of control and maybe even a little feral; but this was Ranger. He would never hurt me. I've never backed away from him before and I wasn't about to do so now. He needed me and just like he was always there for me, I needed to be there for him. I put my hand on his cheek and turned his head so he was facing me again. He opened his eyes; his stare was penetrating and I met it without blinking.
"Kiss me."
One day, just after I married Ranger, I was sitting in the truck listening to Bill Engval on satellite radio. He was talking about sex in the movies. He was talking about hot, angry sex, where clothes get torn off in the heat of passion and he said, "Sex ain't like that in real life, because unless there is already a hole in them those panties ain't ripping and then all you're doing is yankin' on their underwear." I remember laughing myself sick over that.
What he forgot to mention was that with certain men it is exactly like it is in the movies. One touch from Ranger and my panties practically tore themselves off. What should have been worrying me at that point was fuck the panties because while he was kissing me senseless I somehow lost my actual pants! I remember feeling the tug and hearing the tear of my underwear disappearing but I was sure I had been wearing pants before that. I say 'should have' because at the time I was too preoccupied by my t-shirt being yanked over my head and wondering why he didn't just make it disappear like my pants.
I didn't have time to contemplate that long as he was lifting me up off the floor and pressing me further into the wall. I was grateful for how much time he spent in the gym since he did it like I weighed nothing and I'm not exactly dainty. I wound my legs around him and tugged impatiently at his shirt while he used his teeth to pull the cup of my bra out of his way so he could take a nipple in his teeth. This completely short circuited my fine motor skills which made taking his shirt off now a job as difficult as painting the Mona Lisa on the side of a moving train, with a paint roller. I was mostly naked and he had everything on and that just wasn't working for me. I growled in frustration and felt him smile against my skin.
"Hang on," h e said and carried me to the bedroom where he dropped me back on the bed and peeled off his shirt. God I loved him shirtless like that. I bit my lip as I took him in; all perfect and sculpted. It never got old. My moan of appreciation brought another smile to his lips and suddenly I had my Ranger back. It was like a switch had turned off and the scary was gone.
I sat up and began working his belt buckle. As soon as I got it undone, I pushed his pants down his hips and he shucked them off. He gently lowered me back onto the bed and began gently kissing everything he'd caressed roughly in the front hall as if he was trying to kiss hurts better, hurts that didn't exist. It was like he was trying to make amends for something he did wrong and I wanted to stop him. To tell him that I was okay; but I was selfish. I liked how he was making up to me. The feather light kisses against my skin were giving me goose bumps and the gentle caress of his hands felt like they were everywhere leaving a path of fire in their wake. When he finally made it back to my lips, his kiss was full of need but I could feel him trying to hold back.
"Don't" I whispered as I stared into his eyes. "I want it all, Batman. I need you to lose control." His eyes flashed again, his kiss was fierce and I saw stars as he hitched my leg further up his hip and he drove inside me. His whole body stilled and every muscle tensed under my touch so I looked up at his face to see if everything was all right.
"You're beautiful," he said and began to move at an agonizingly slow pace. Our eyes were locked onto each other and what he was doing was slow, delicious torture. I could tell it wasn't about me. He wasn't holding back, he was savoring, big difference. Holding back for my sake would have just frustrated me. This made my eyes roll back in my head and made me feel every gloriously slow, deep thrust. I barely noticed that the pace was increasing. I was just one giant nerve ending being strummed for pleasure and I felt myself tensing, knowing that it was only going to get better. Ranger's arms were beginning to shake as I clung to him, unable to control my own body anymore, as he wrung every ounce of pleasure out of me before I cried out as wave after wave of release flooded my body. I thought I was going to drown in sensation. Ranger bit down gently on my shoulder as he followed me into oblivion and collapsed on top of me shuddering with his own climax.
He recovered just enough to roll onto his back bringing me with him so that I was sprawled bonelessly over top of him. I was listening to his heart pounding in his chest and was lulled into a trance by the rise and fall of his chest as our breathing slowed.
"I'm sorry." he said.
"For what?"
"Scaring you. I shouldn't have…"
"What, given me new fantasy material?" I teased, "Because it was very hot, Batman. I'm not going to be able to walk into this apartment without thinking about how I'd like to get ravished against the wall by the front door," He chuckled softly and idly tangled his hands in my hair. I both loved and hated when he did this. I loved it because it was mutually relaxing. I hated it because when he played with my hair, it was always very scary the next morning. At the moment though I couldn't have cared less about bad hair, "You don't scare me, Ranger. You wouldn't hurt me; it's not in your nature." His hand had left my hair and he was now tracing lazy circles up and down my spine causing me to practically purr with contentment, "Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?" I almost asked, but what I really said was, "Do you waaaaannnnaatakbooutwhathaaapnnight?" Because I yawned half way through the sentence and my mouth refused to stop speaking the sentence I'd already started.
He laughed. "Want to run that by me again, Babe?"
"Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?"
"It was like when we were first partners and we would go out without Tank. It was easy to just slip into the old roles. We were bickering about her boots when I saw the headlights out of the corner of my eye and hauled her out of the way. I remember reaching for each other's guns because it was quicker than going for our own and we both knew it. I always know exactly what she's going to do when we are in a tight spot because we think so much alike. I remember thinking that I had missed that." He was quiet for a few minutes, "I remember seeing the two kids behind the counter get shot and killing one of the men doing the shooting. After that I don't remember much until we woke up."
"Getting your brain scrambled with electricity will do that."
"Yeah. Then I woke up and was hanging from the ceiling by my wrists." He told me about the rest of the escape, but he was glossing over bits that he knew I wouldn't like to hear. When he was finished speaking, I straddled him and kissed him deeply.
"I know you don't like what you had to do tonight and, call me selfish, but I'm happy you did because it means you're home. I can't lose you, Carlos Manoso." He caressed the back of my neck and pulled me back down for another slow, deep kiss before he rolled me back under him.
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"Do what you need to do." That's what Tank said. That meant making sure all of their weapons were locked in the safe, the apartments were set up for maximum comfort and to have first aid kits ready. Lester had Ella bring tweezers and magnifying glasses from the infirmary and added them to the kits. There had been a lot of glass at the scene and Meagan hadn't been wearing shoes, but bitching about glass in her feet is not something she would do when there were more important things to worry about.
While Joe searched for weapons stashed for convenience around the apartments, Ella and Lester took care of the random details such as placing large brown paper evidence bags in each of the bathrooms to put their clothes in, turning on the heated floors in each bathroom, and making sure the towels were on the warmers. They also ensured there was ready-to-eat food in the fridge, if necessary. It didn't take long and then time seemed to crawl as they waited for Meagan and Ranger to get back.
It was all Lester could do not to drag her into his arms and up to their apartment the second he saw her. She was deep in her head and she was limping. There was something else he couldn't put his finger on either and it kept niggling at the back of his mind. She hadn't been violated sexually. Ric would have known and she would be at the hospital. Something was really bothering her though. It was like she wasn't there. As soon as he was sure that the Manosos were safely on seven, he walked her to the stairs. He disabled the cameras in the stair well and immediately picked her up so she wasn't walking on her poor tortured feet anymore.
He was hoping that it was the pain that kept her from opening up to him. He carried her straight to the bathroom and sat her down on the counter. He untied the simple white sneakers she was wearing. Her socks were sticky with blood and Lord knows what else. He carefully pulled them off of her feet trying hard not to feel like a bastard when she winced. He carefully placed the socks and shoes in the paper evidence bag. Next he pulled off her t-shirt and bra and put them in the bag. Unable to resist, he placed a kiss on her collar bone and it elicited a small smile. He unbuckled her belt and she lifted her hips so he could drag her pants and underwear down her shapely legs leaving her naked and still sitting on the counter. He gently swung her legs around and placed her feet in the sink full of cool water. "Don't move," he said and carried the bag out to the hallway where Bobby was waiting to take it down to their lab for processing.
He went to the bathroom again and his heart broke at how listless she was. It was too soon for her to be in a situation like this. Not after everything she had just been through. He walked to the tub and turned it on then went to her and pulled one of her feet out of the sink. The water was tinged pink with her blood and he felt for her. He painstakingly removed all of the tiny slivers of glass that were embedded in each of her feet and cleaned what dirt he could out of the tiny lacerations. He was on her second foot when she finally spoke.
"I should feel bad about what I did tonight Les but I don't." She told him everything she remembered. He carefully finished cleaning up her feet as he listened intently to what she had to say. She hugged her knees to her chest while she spoke, her tone flat, her eyes distant.
"You shouldn't feel bad about what you did, Meagan. You did what you needed to do. You know what Beals is like; you know what he would have done to you if you hadn't done exactly what you did. I wouldn't even really blame you if you had enjoyed it a little."
"That's just it Lester, I didn't feel anything. I felt detached, almost like I wasn't there. I was locked in a small, dimly lit, windowless room and I wasn't the least bit anxious. Elevators make me nervous now. I should have been trying not to freak out and instead I just didn't care. I mean I cut off a man's thumb tonight so I could unlock his phone. I should be feeling sick about it now but there's nothing." She shivered and he remembered that she was naked and sitting on a cold marble counter top.
He picked her up and set her down on the edge of the hot bath. Meagan swung her legs around and hissed at the initial sting of the hot water hitting the cuts on her feet then she sank herself into the hot water sighing as it began softening the tense muscles in her neck and her weirdly stiff shoulders. She smiled as she heard the soft thump of Lester's pants hitting the floor and she sat forward in the bath so he could slide in behind her. She waited until he was settled before she spoke again. "I'm afraid of what I'm turning into if I don't feel anything about killing people anymore."
"Meagan, it's not in your nature to panic. You're exhausted and were shot by a taser tonight; you've just locked it all away until you are capable of dealing with what happened. Right now you just need to sleep so you can process it all." She nodded and nestled into his embrace. In minutes her breathing was deep and even and she was asleep. He laughed ruefully; this was not how he was expecting this evening to turn out if he was honest. He was pretty damn sure she was going to be all over him. She usually was. He used his toes to pull the plug in the bathtub and then adjusted her weight so he could carry her out of the tub. He awkwardly dried them both as best he could without having to set her down and then carried her to their bed. He was glad Ella had thought to turn down the sheets and he put her down and drew the fluffy duvet up over Meagan's sleeping form. He finished drying himself properly and slipped into bed beside her.
She was immediately drawn to his heat and draped herself over him. He grinned when he felt her tracing her nails over his abs. Meagan loved cut abs. Lester had become almost obsessive about making sure his were perfect because they were one of her biggest turn ons. For him? He loved the little secret rebellions she had. The small tattoo on her pelvis just to the right of where her hairline would be if she wasn't always waxed was his favorite. It was just a tiny little thing that only he, Ranger (because he'd been a part of that drunken fiasco that had resulted in the three of them getting inked), the tattoo artist and the small Korean woman who did her bikini wax knew about.
He smiled thinking about the tattoo. The stud in her naval was also quite hot and he was glad she had it redone. As he was contemplating these things, her hand slipped well below the blankets and his smile ratcheted up a few notches. He grabbed her wrist to stop her inquisitive hand from exploring much further and rolled her onto her back. She smiled lazily up at him with a hand on the thigh opposite him; he leaned down and placed a soft probing kiss on her lips. "I felt that," she purred when he released her lips. Without saying a word he kissed, nipped, licked and teased his way down her body on a quest to inspect the tattoo that never failed to make him feel just a little bit smug. He finally reached his destination and nipped gently at the ink and he felt the vibration of the silent laugh at his preoccupation. The laugh turned into a shiver of desire as he placed a hot open-mouthed kiss so close to the promise land.
'I'm becoming obsessed with this thing." he said as he kissed it again. Just two little cursive letters she'd put there for his birthday the year after they had moved in together. L.S.
"You should get more ink," he said as he kissed his way across her pelvis, "Here," he kissed the side opposite the tattoo.
"What should I get?" She breathed.
"Mrs. Santos." He said and then went to work with his incredibly talented tongue that made her forget about forming a coherent response.
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Lester woke up at noon and grinned down at his wife. She was still sprawled over top of him and looked like she wasn't going to move anytime soon. He gently extracted himself from her and went to the bathroom to take a shower. When he came out fifteen minutes later and crossed to the closet to get dressed she was still in the exact position she had been in when he'd left. Lips twitching he tucked her back under the blankets and went to their living room to watch the news to see if they had successfully kept the kidnapping away from the media. The official story was that a van lost control and crashed into the side of the coffee house. Things would get infinitely dicier if it got out that right now Ranger and the Pixie were vulnerable.
His phone rang in his pocket and he frowned. Offline meant no communications except for emergencies. He checked the readout and saw TPD. "Yo."
"It's Eddie."
"S'up?"
"We've got another body. If she's up to it, her boss, wants her to make an appearance at the scene. Can you come out?"
"She's not even awake, man. I'll see what I can do but she was up for 22 hours and they weren't exactly what you'd call restful."
"I know. Just do what you can." Lester disconnected and went into the bedroom and sat on the bed. Meagan didn't get a lot of deep restful sleep like this and he really hated waking her up especially after what she had just been through. He stroked her gorgeous hair off her face and placed a soft kiss on her slightly parted lips. She didn't even twitch and he shook his head. "So much for Sleeping Beauty," he said softly and gently shook her shoulder, "Come on, Gorgeous, wake up. We've got another body." Still nothing so he shook her harder and her head simply lolled to the other side, "Aww fuck." He shook her even harder and still got no response, "Fuck, Baby, I'm an idiot," he punched speed dial two on his phone.
If it had been any other pair than Meagan and Ranger, they would have known last night there was something wrong. Ric's eyes were dark enough that when he was pissed they were almost black and Meagan's were actually black. So unless you were staring them in the eyes, under a bright light you wouldn't see it. The lack effect? Not feeling anxious about anything including a genuine phobia, falling asleep in the tub. The signs were all there. "I'm sorry Meagan. You tried to tell me something was wrong. I'm an idiot."
"Yo." Bobby sounded half asleep as he finally answered his phone.
"B get up here! She's non-responsive. I'm pretty sure they were drugged."
"Shit." Bobby disconnected and within two minutes Ranger and Bobby were in the room.
"Tell me exactly what happened after you got up here last night." Bobby demanded as he started checking Meagan's vitals.
"She was in her head. I cleaned up her feet and she told me that she was worried about the fact that she didn't feel anything. She was afraid of what it meant that she no longer felt remorse when she killed. I told her that she was exhausted and she was compartmentalizing until she was ready to deal with it. We had a bath and she dozed off in the tub. I took her to bed, she woke up and…"
"I don't need specific details unless there was something unusual about her behavior?"
"Maybe?" He frowned, "She was just as responsive as she usually is, just not as active; but she had a long day yesterday and I figured she was just genuinely exhausted." He looked at Ranger, "What about when she woke up in the cell?"
"She had a headache and fell asleep in the car on the way to Boston."
"What about in the chopper back here?"
"She slept all the way back, too."
"Anything else. Anything at all?" Bobby asked. Ranger quickly relayed what he could remember.
"She was cold." Ranger said, "But she's always cold."
"Is she naked under this blanket, Les?"
"Yep."
"Well, it will make things easier if she doesn't kill us for looking" he reasoned with himself and then looked at Ranger, "Listen, Meagan has naturally low blood pressure and this wouldn't be the first time we haven't been able to wake her up after she run herself into the ground. That being said, it sounds like a benzodiazepine so we're looking for needle marks. It can be injected in the muscle or vein." They flipped the sheet covering her hips until it just barely covered her business.
Within seconds Lester found it (which was not surprising given how good his eyesight was and that he knew her body better than anyone else) There was a needle mark on the inside of her left elbow. Bobby pulled a camera out of his bag and, careful only to have the elbow in the frame, he took a picture of the needle mark. He put the camera back in his bag. He started an IV, took a blood sample and then hooked her up to some saline.
"She's dehydrated but she's stable. I'm going to continue monitoring her but I don't see any point in moving her until we know if we have to." He snapped off his glove and pulled another pair out of his bag, "Ric, shirt off please."
"I'm fine Bobby."
"Not a question, Ranger. You were electrocuted, probably drugged and hung from a ceiling for who knows how long. I'm not willing to just take your word for it. So take off your shirt."
While Bobby was examining Ranger, Lester was looking over Meagan and he discovered a small bruise on her upper right thigh. "I think they dosed her twice. I think I've found another injection site," he said. "There's bruising around it."
"She probably woke up. Meagan is really easy to under-medicate," Bobby said as he looked at Ranger. "I want Julio to look at your shoulders when he gets here." He handed Ranger back his shirt.
"They're fine. Just stiff." Ranger replied. He pulled his shirt back on.
"Again, it wasn't really a request, Boss."
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When Ranger woke me up to tell me he was going to a crime scene, with Tank, I figured that if he was going to work I might as well drag my ass out of bed to work too, which is how I found myself sitting in Ranger's office staring at surveillance footage from the house in Boston. I was on my third go through of the footage when there was a knock on the door and it opened before I could tell whoever it was to come in. I looked up and decided that Rosa Manoso really knew what she was doing when she combined her genes with her husband's, because Lester's brother was just as drop dead gorgeous as Ranger and Lester.
Besides the word 'delicious', the best way to describe Julio Santos would be to say he was a good mix of Lester and Ranger, a little taller than Ranger but shorter than Les and lighter skinned than both of them; but like both of his relatives, it was a combination of a killer smile and incredible eyes that sucked you in. Lester's eyes were a startling almost hypnotic green, Ranger's a piercing deep dark chocolate that seemed to see right into you soul, Julio's were like two pools of molten bronze constrained by a dark brown ring and they put you instantly at ease. Although I suspect that he was like Ranger and Lester and you probably didn't want on his bad side.
"Well if it isn't Mrs. Ranger," he said. "I'm Julio Santos." He held out his hand and I shook it, "We haven't really had a chance to meet yet."
"You were at the hospital for Meagan and you were at the reception but you disappeared pretty quickly so we didn't actually get a chance to talk."
"There was press there and my charming ex-wife showed up and was going to cause a scene. Figured it would be easier if I just got her out of there."
"How did she get past the security?" I asked.
"She didn't but it wouldn't have stopped her from doing her damnedest to ruin the night. She doesn't like me much and knows that Lester and Meagan are my Achilles heel. She'd have no qualms about hurting them to hurt me but it's no fun for her if I'm not there watching her be a complete bitch."
"What did you do to her?"
"We're prone to be workaholics in our family and I'm a surgeon." He shrugged, "The idea of being married to a doctor was way more appealing than the reality of being married to a trauma surgeon. I was never home and she felt neglected. I forgot my cell phone at the hospital one day and they called the house while I was on my way home. She set up a little surprise for me to get my attention and I didn't react the way she wanted."
"What was the surprise?"
"She was participating in a video chat on a porn site. She wanted to get caught and for me to be jealous."
"Wow. I'm almost afraid to ask…"
"I had just spent 8 hours trying to put an 8-year-old back together who had been hit by his school bus and it was still touch and go. I was exhausted, I needed a drink and I wanted to sleep. I wasn't in the mood for games. So instead of getting upset like I knew she wanted, I let her have the truth. I'm open-minded about sex. Those sex chat sites are basically just phone sex with visual aids. As long as she was safe about it, I wasn't really concerned what type of porn she used to help get herself off."
"And she took exhausted and open-mindedness for not caring."
"Oh yeah. She left me that night," he said, "You know how your divorce is part of New Jersey lore? Mine was the Miami version." I shuddered. My divorce had been nasty and, while I was happy to be rid of the cheating bastard, I definitely got the fuzzy end of that lollipop.
"Why did you start working for Rangeman?"
"I had no intention of ever doing that but then Meagan died just after they opened the business. Lester was an absolute mess, Ric and Hector weren't much better and…I… I was shattered. I needed to be around people who knew her and I needed to try to keep my little brother together."
"Are you going to leave now that she's not dead?"
"Nope. They'd fall apart without me." He grinned and winked at me, "Actually, I find that I have an aptitude for running the different branches and I still have hospital privileges in New York. My mind is like active. I need to keep it busy or I get myself into trouble."
"You are way chattier than Ranger and Lester," I teased.
"You're family. Besides, to get Lester to open up just apply tequila and hide Meagan. He gets very chatty if she's not there to distract him. Although Lester, Meagan, Ranger and tequila together usually add up to extremely questionable choices and one hell of a party."
I picked up my pen and wrote Lester + worm = Dirt on Ranger. Julio threw back his head and laughed, "So what are you working on, Mrs. Ranger?"
"Trying to figure this out; something is just really weird about it." The video of their capture and captivity was playing on the screen, "It doesn't fit anything else we think he's done so far. It's too messy. I'm really hoping you are going to tell me that there is a smoking gun at the house."
"Nope. Not a damn thing. The place was completely scrubbed. There was evidence that the family had been there recently; but there were literally no fingerprints in the basement, no DNA, nothing to say that Meagan and Ric were in the basement but their word."
"And the stuff Hec pulled off of the phone?"
"Yeah, the way he did that could get thrown out of court by a shrewd lawyer. It's their word against his and since they were drugged…"
"We need more," I said and he nodded. There was a knock on the door and Julio leaned back and opened it, Jimmy was there.
"Jimmy! How are you liking Jersey?" He asked.
"Jimmy is already in love with the Boss Lady," I teased and he blushed. Julio laughed.
"Ahhh, Jimmy, you aren't the first and won't be the last to be ensnared by her. She collects men." He turned that molten gaze on me and chuckled, "You do, too, I bet. How many of the men in this building are in love with you, Mrs. Ranger?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said and innocently batted my eyes at him. He didn't buy it and I smiled, "What can I do for you, Jimmy?"
"The labs are back on Tink and Ranger," he said.
Julio flipped open the folder, "Jesus," he muttered, "I'm surprised she's been awake at all. We're lucky she's not in a coma. They gave her the same dose of Ativan as they gave Ranger. May I use the computer?" He started typing and accessed a program I didn't know we had, pulled up Meagan's chart and read it through. He got a text and pulled out his phone, "She's awake and bitchy. I think at the moment we'll leave her with Les and Bobby. They'll chill her out."
"Actually, Joe's in there. He's baby sitting because Lester went to the crime scene with Ranger."
"Oh, they came back about ten minutes ago. They are all up there," Jimmy said. Raised voices were coming from the control room. Julio tilted his chair back again and his whole demeanor changed.
"Well, hello. Who do we have here?" He righted his chair with a thump and stood up to go investigate.
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It was the pressing need to pee that woke her up. She groaned and flatly refused to open her eyes. She still had the bitch of a headache and she felt like she could use a few more hours of sleep. She went to sit up and felt a tug in her hand and she realized she was hooked up to an IV, "Dammit, Bobby," she muttered and unclipped the tubing. She had to pee and then she really needed to brush her teeth; they were so fuzzy it felt like she had a stuffed toy factory in her mouth. She spun her legs around and started to stand and then promptly sat down again.
"Take it easy, Princess. You were drugged. You're going to be a little disoriented," Joe said and she suddenly remembered what she had gone to sleep in. She was in no way ashamed of her body, or at all shy, but she still didn't want to just walk around naked in front of man that wasn't her husband. She relaxed a bit as it finally registered that she was wearing silk pajamas and was actually dressed.
"Where's Les?" Joe opened his mouth to speak and she held out her hand and peeled opened an eye, it was just him in the room, "Wait. Just let me pee. Whatever you have to say can wait a few minutes."
She stood up and stumbled to the bathroom, wincing slightly because her feet were still tender. She quickly took care of urgent business, brushed her teeth and then gave herself an appraising look. "Ohh, aren't I a treat?" She looked longingly at the shower. Her hair was spectacular and she'd slept in her makeup having not washed it off in the tub. She opened a drawer and began the ritual of washing her face- cleanser, toner, serum, lotion, eye cream, and skipped the sun block because she seriously doubted that Bobby would let her out of the apartment today anyway. She brushed out the rat's nest her hair had become after sleeping on it wet then threw it into a loose braid. She gave herself another look in the mirror, grinned at her pajamas, which were pale pink silk with black piping and the top belted closed instead of buttoned. They were new and she hadn't bought them. Lester wouldn't choose this although he'd love it. No, these were the work of Ella.
"She's trying to get me laid again," she chuckled. She knew that if she looked in her dresser she'd find all kinds of new lingerie, all of it would be decadent and very expensive. Ella's subtle way of telling her she needed to go on vacation. They hadn't been to their house for almost a year. A month there would be wonderful. Quiet. Well, until she pulled out Ella's latest purchases. She smirked. She needed to speak to Hector first. Lester's birthday was coming up. If she could find a way to get him to go out of town for a couple of weeks, she could get him his present and get the house ready. She examined herself again, she was very tired and she looked it. A month at their little hideaway was just what the doctor ordered.
She walked out of the bathroom and the smile at her private plotting dropped. She'd been invaded. Now, not only was Joe in the room (she still didn't know why), but so was Lester (he, of course, was always welcome), Bobby (not a shock, given the IV), Ranger and Hector (probably here for the same reason as Morelli) and they were all strewn about her room. Ranger had his arms folded across his chest and he was leaning, propped against the window sill, with a manilla folder under one arm. Lester was on the far left of the giant bed leaning against the headboard, ankles crossed, Bobby was hanging another bag of whatever from the IV stand to the right of the bed. Joe was still sitting in his chair at the foot of the bed, feet propped up and ankles crossed.
They all looked at her when she walked in. Lester, Bobby and Joe did an involuntary full body scan of her. Yep the pajamas were well appreciated. She'd have to tell Ella. Hector smirked since he'd lived with her long enough to know Ella's gentle manipulations when he saw them. Ranger looked like he was thinking about smiling. She stood there letting them take in the look so they could get it out of their systems.
"S'up?" She asked and the three gawking idiots snapped out of their trances.
Bobby motioned for her to get back into bed. She did as ordered and slid in close to her husband as Bobby went about reattaching her to the IV. "So you were dosed with something, labs should be back soon," Bobby said as he sat on the edge of the bed and started checking her vitals again.
"Feels like a benny of some kind. At least that's what the headache feels like."
"It's what Julio and I think. How much of the initial kidnapping do you remember?"
"Not much after Ranger tossed me and the two kids went down; then it's one big blur until we woke up in the cell."
"I'm really leaning towards Ativan for this. Memory loss, headache, fatigue, chills, explains the lack of anxiety."
"Sure does. Idiot actually made me more efficient because he took away the anxiety I would have been feeling being in an enclosed space." She looked at Ranger, "What's in the folder?"
"New victim," he said, "Kimberly Long. She's a federal prosecutor with an impressive record."
"Body was found in the building laundry room by the janitor this morning. Apartment is the worst we've seen yet. The beating was the most savage and she wasn't just raped; she was mutilated ante mortem," Lester said.
"He's escalating. He was pissed we got away last night."
"So I'm thinking he has a list." Lester said, "This is the first time he's killed two victims in less than a week and both of them were impulsive; but they can't just victims of opportunity. His victimology isn't just about body type and hair color, it's about personality and employment as well; not to mention all of them live in walk-up apartments with onsite basement laundry rooms. We have 12 victims across 2 states and it's always the same story - not a coincidence."
"You're probably right," she said. Bobby was fiddling with something in a box beside her while she flipped through the file. He held out a hand for her arm so she lifted up her right arm and he grasped her wrist, "Do we have time of YEOUCH! Dammit, Bobby, what the fuck was that?"
"Your new tracker, Gorgeous."
"God, warn a girl!" She shook her head as he pressed some gauze over the injection site. Hector opened his laptop and placed it on Meagan's dresser then pressed a few keys.
"You're up and running," Hector said in Spanish.
"As I was saying," she glared at Bobby, "Do we have a time of death?"
"Between 3 and 4 this morning," Lester answered.
"There's something funky about all of this. Where's Steph?"
"Downstairs obsessively watching the security footage of our escape because she has the same funky feeling as you and Morelli do," Ranger replied.
"How much is on camera?"
"All of it," Ranger said.
"What do you mean all of it?"
"From minute we entered The Coffee shop until we left the house. There is a couple hour gap where they were transporting us but that's it. The rest is on video."
"Have you watched it?"
"Not yet."
"I feel like we should get popcorn," Bobby said.
"For sure popcorn," Lester agreed. "I'll call Ella."
"Actually, I'm starving," Meagan said as she nudged Lester. "Request fully loaded nachos too, please."
AN: I'm no longer at deaths door thanks to antibiotics. Hopefully I get you a couple of chapters for next week. I love your reviews so let me know what you think. All my medical knowledge comes from the internet and a little poetic licence so if it's horribly wrong, roll with it... or even better PM me to let me know how I can make it better and I'll fix it.
