Chapter Fourteen

Joe wasn't happy to see me standing with Baller Thatch. In fact, he looked like clenching his teeth together was the only thing keeping the yelling at bay. He stared up at me, hands on hips, while the uniforms moved in around him.

"I don't suppose there's a back door," I said to Thatcher.

He considered me with a raised brow. "I thought you were bond enforcement. Aren't the cops kinda your people?"

"She's only looking to avoid one in particular," Ranger said from behind us. He hadn't bothered coming to the railing. Either he knew Joe was down there from my body language, or else he really could read minds. "It's too late for that anyway, Babe. All the exits are covered."

I looked down at Joe where he cut a path through the stilling crowd, heading straight for the iron staircase. "Crap."

It was hard to tell what Joe was thinking when he got up to the top level. The glare was a fair indicator that he wasn't happy, though. His black eyes scanned me from head to toe before he cut them to Baller Thatch. And then he looked at Ranger. Didn't seem overly surprised to see him. Double crap.

"You want to explain to me how I came to execute a search warrant and found out that Batman here is out on a date with my girlfriend?"

Thatch shot a look at Ranger that was both concerned and impressed, but in all honesty, I was too annoyed to care. "Excuse me? So now I'm your girlfriend? What happened to maybe, maybe not?"

"What happened to steering clear of him?"

"You said that, not me. He's helping me look for my FTA."

"That's not all he's doing," Joe said, cutting a glare to Ranger. "It's supposed to be a coincidence that you found your way here ahead of a police taskforce, right? Who tipped you off? Feds? Someone on the department? Because whoever they are, they're slipping."

"We were following a lead on Mina Velasquez," Ranger said with a level of calm Joe just wasn't capable of. On the outside, it might look like he was being the voice of reason. But I knew too well that when Ranger gets quiet, it's not a good sign.

The tension between them was palpable. The bruising had mostly faded, but Morelli still had a mark from the broken nose Ranger had given him. Fractured his hand doing it, too. I didn't see a cast or a splint anymore, but I doubt it was fully healed. The fight in Hawaii had been short and brutal. Lots of pent up anger on both sides. Understandable from Morelli, since he'd just spent 16 hours on an airplane to surprise his girlfriend and found her with another man. Kind of surprising from Ranger. Ranger wasn't into relationships, so it wasn't like he was jealous or threatened. I might have thought it was just a natural reaction to being attacked, except that the way he had laid into Joe was more savage and deliberate than you'd expect from self defense.

They glared at each other with such loathing that even Thatcher was getting nervous. "What's this about?" he said. I thought it was kind of brave, given the way the men were posturing like rival gorillas. Lucky for all of us, he pulled Joe's attention. Joe handed him some papers.

"We have a warrant to search your premises."

"If you wanted an invitation, Detective, you could have just asked. And what is it exactly that you think you're looking for?" Thatch was completely unmoved, like he wasn't worried at all. "I run a thriving and above board business here. All my permits and liquor licenses are up to date. All our guests are legal drinking age—"

"Cut the crap, Thatcher. Everybody knows about your side business."

"You mean the car dealership? Or the drycleaners?"

"I mean the dime bags of Bombay you sell out of the back room."

"Baseless rumor."

"Yeah, we'll see."

Joe turned to look over the balcony at the uniforms who were going about their search. I leaned closer to Thatch. An inch taller than he was in my four inch heels. "Do you really sell out of the back room?"

"Not a chance, babygirl," he said quietly. "Those businesses are so separate they don't even share an accountant. Selling in your club is like peeing in your own pool."

I tried to hold in my giggle, but it came out anyway. Catching a half smile from Ranger and a frown from Morelli. Morelli cut a glare at Ranger. "Not only are you all over my girlfriend in public, but you're letting her fraternize with a lowlife drug dealer? And that's on top of dragging her into the middle of this shit storm investigation? Are you trying to get her killed?"

"This is Stephanie's investigation. Her FTA. Her lead."

"Bullshit. You're using her to shove your nose into police business and we both know it."

Excuse me? "Using me?" I asked indignantly, but Morelli didn't even bat an eye.

"You have the fucking nerve to dangle her as bait? Like she doesn't have trouble enough already?"

Ranger's face was blank, but I could detect a curl of smoke coming off his scalp. A dangerous indicator that his Zen control was slipping. "Stephanie's more than capable of finding trouble all on her own," he said quietly. "Which is why I'm helping her instead of trying to hold her back like an idiot. Left to her own devices, she would have found her way into the middle of this eventually anyway. She's a professional pain in the ass and that gets her results."

"Results like an M16 drilling into the side of her truck?"

"Yes."

The energy between them was so charged I was sure it was going to come to blows at any second. They were about the same height. Morelli six feet of lean Italian muscle and tightly contained energy. Ranger all quiet, deadly power. I'd watched them go toe to toe in Hawaii. Like a pair of rabid feral dogs. If it happened again I'd do more than stun gun them.

"At some point, you're going to have to accept that Stephanie makes her choices," Ranger said to Morelli. Their dark eyes held. An unspoken understanding passing between them. They had to accept my choices, even if they put me in danger. And Morelli had to accept that Ranger would have my back when they did. Whether Morelli liked it or not.

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until the air went stale in my lungs. I let it out and Morelli finally tore his eyes away from Ranger's, looking me over. He knew I was pissed. The cop face went back into place. "Get her out of here. The less her name shows up in the reports the better."

Ranger's nod was almost imperceptible. He made an open gesture for me to follow him to the stairwell. Smart enough not to take my hand in front of Morelli. That would have been like poking the bear.

I went to follow and paused, turning to Thatcher. "It was nice to meet you," I said, offering him a hand. He beamed at me.

"The pleasure was all mine, babygirl," he whispered so the other men wouldn't hear. "You be careful now. You dig too deep in this even Ranger won't be able to get you out."

I smiled. Touched that he actually cared. I leaned down an inch and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I'll be careful. But if you hear anything, call me?" I slipped him my card so Joe and Ranger wouldn't see. Thatcher was hesitant, but he took it. Probably realizing that I wasn't one to give up easy. He nodded just a bit and I smiled at him before I followed Ranger out of the club.

Neither of us said a word while we slipped out to the street with the other patrons. Ranger's guy was waiting at the curb with the 911 Turbo. Ranger opened my door for me and then angled into the driver's seat without more than a glance. He threw the car into gear and revved away from the club into traffic. Absorbed in his own thoughts.

We drove in silence for a few minutes before it got the better of me. "Did someone really tip you off?"

I thought he might still be mad, which is why I was surprised when the corner of his mouth lifted like he was thinking about smiling. "No. That was pure coincidence. It actually never occurred to me PD might try to raid Thatch's club. They're not gonna find anything."

"He's that careful?"

His smile got just a little more obvious. "When you walk the line between right and legal, it's always a good idea to keep your ass covered."

That actually made me feel a little better. Archibald Thatcher might be a drug dealer, and he probably did some pretty unsavory things because of it, but I didn't like the idea of him ending up in a cell. Especially if he was likely to be a target. "Who's Delgado?"

"Manny Delgado is one of the bigger players in the Trenton drug scene. Has a hand in everything from weed to ecstasy, and doesn't appreciate when he loses business. In fact, if Thatch isn't careful, it won't just be Delgado's enforcers crawling up his ass."

"The other people he mentioned."

Ranger nodded. "I believe you're familiar with Marquez. The others are just as bad. If not worse. They've carved up Trenton to keep from stepping on toes and starting a war."

"And now someone's tainting the market and blurring the lines."

"Not good."

"You think this has to do with Alvarez?" He cut a glance at me. "I doubt you'd be taking time out from the hunt for him if you didn't think you'd learn something tonight."

He grinned at that. "How do you know I didn't just take the night off so I could enjoy the way you fit that dress?"

I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed. Then his hand touched my leg again. The sensation thrilled up my center, uncurling in my stomach with a low burn. His fingers were on my inner thigh. Caressing me as high as he could without slipping a hand under my skirt.

"He hasn't left Trenton. That means someone is hiding him, and it's not any known associates. I've been going over the records left with me by our FBI and DEA contacts. They detail all the evidence and information Alvarez gave the FBI about the Mexican cartels, some of which led to some high level arrests and interception of major shipments. And I've got a diagram that shows who the known players are in Trenton. Would you like to come back to Rangeman and see them?"

I had to think really hard about that. Which wasn't easy, given the fact that most of my attention wasn't on anything close to rational thought. I knew what would happen if we ended up at Rangeman. I doubt we'd ever make it to his office. In fact the way I was feeling I couldn't see us getting past the elevator before he pressed me up against the wall and hit the button for seven. And while the prospect already had me halfway to an orgasm, the fear of what it would mean for us was enough to give me pause.

He was right. I was seven days late. And while I had every confidence that the test was accurate, his behavior was starting to make me worry that my confidence was misplaced. Which would make everything so much more complicated.

"It's late. Maybe I could see them tomorrow?"

His fingers slipped just a little higher, pushing my skirt up an inch. "That was already my plan."

Oh god. If he kept doing that, I was going to combust right there in the car. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Only one way to find out."

"Tempting. But I think maybe you should take me back to my apartment."

He didn't argue, but he didn't take his hand away, either. Whether he would have still wanted me this much if we hadn't spent most of the night half fornicating in public was debatable, but it was actually kind of comforting to know he wasn't completely turned off of me. Despite the fact that I might be a ticking time bomb.

We pulled into my building's parking lot and swung the Porsche into a space in the back beside my silver Audi. Ranger didn't get out of the car right away, though. He sat for a moment watching the rear view mirror, his hand firm and protective on my thigh. "Wait here."

I didn't get a chance to ask him what was wrong. He angled out of the car and started for the building without an explanation. I got out anyway and came after him. The deliberate calm in his pace told me he knew I'd disobeyed him, but he didn't turn a stern eye my way or order me back to the car. I took that for unspoken consent.

A shiny black Mercedes was parked by the glass doors. The front window rolled down to allow a glowing cigarette to dangle from an arm beside the driver's door. Ash drifted down to the macadam. Ranger held up a hand so I wouldn't follow any closer. Then he walked right up to the open window and leaned down enough to peer in.

A quiet "oh fuck" broke the stillness.

Ranger leaned in close and spoke with that dangerous, low voice of his. The one that scared the crap out of me and made my nipples hard all at the same time. Whatever he said, the guy didn't dare argue. After a minute the Mercedes peeled out of the lot, leaving the smoldering cigarette as the only sign it was ever there. Ranger walked back to my side like there'd been no interruption. Put a hand at my back to guide me into the building. "He was waiting for me?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Ranger opened the stairwell door. "There was only one man in the car. Said he didn't bring anyone with him. My guess is he thought he could intimidate you by invading your turf. Didn't know you don't scare that easy."

He unlocked my door and pulled his gun, giving the place a once over just to make sure. It was undisturbed. Kind of surprising. Most bad guys broke into my apartment when they wanted to intimidate me. Skeezer's guys apparently didn't know that.

Ranger put the gun away and pulled me against him. "I should probably stay a while to be sure they don't come back."

"That's not necessary," I tried to say, but my voice went thin and breathy when he brushed a kiss to my cheek, his fingers following the line of my neck.

"It's definitely necessary." He lifted my chin and kissed me. He was gentle at first, but then the heat took over and his tongue parted my lips, his body hard against me. I might have blacked out for just a second because the next thing I knew I was pushing his coat off his shoulders while he was carrying me toward my bedroom.

"Are you sure?" I breathed.

I'd been asking myself, but Ranger smiled in answer, brushing a light kiss to my lips. A real contrast to the possessive way the rest of him was touching me. He kissed across my jaw to my ear, his shortened breaths warm on my skin. "Babe."

A second later my dress was on the floor and Ranger was laying me out on the bed, worshiping every inch of me. He moved over me and I lost the room until his phone started to ring from somewhere on the floor. He ignored it. Something I'd never seen him do before. He wrangled me a little when he felt me lose focus, wrapping me tighter around his waist and threading our fingers together above our heads. Taking on such intensity that I forgot that the phone was even there. I clung to him and fell over the edge into blinding white ecstasy.

He didn't roll off after. Just laid there listening for a moment to our pounding hearts. A smile lifted his mouth and he kissed me slow and deep before he went for the phone. I pulled the sheet up to cover myself and he glanced at me, amused by my sudden modesty. He read the text I hadn't even heard come in and the smile faded.

"Some bodies just dropped on Stark."