Chapter Seventeen

It only took a few seconds to straighten my clothes. Ranger didn't have to straighten at all. How he could have such complete control over himself was beyond me. If Joe and I had been interrupted that close to having sex, he would have been stuck in launch mode until something could alleviate it.

Hell. I was still kind of in launch mode. "Stupid Pritchard."

Ranger laughed beside me. Stuck his hand in my back pocket on our way to his front door, giving me a gentle squeeze. It must not have been enough, though, because he pressed me up against the wall when we got to the door, pinning me there with every inch of his body. He lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me softly. "If we can deal with Pritchard fast, I promise I'll make it up to you."

"What's fast?"

A grin pulled at his mouth. His lips still brushing mine. "The next half hour, if we want to take our time. I have a client meeting at three, and then I have to follow up with a subcontractor. Should be through by this evening, though, if you want to discuss this over dinner. Then maybe you could spend the night."

Hmm. Something to think about.

By the time we got off the elevator on the fifth floor, I'd mostly managed to cool off. Now I was only a little tempted to push Ranger into a broom closet. Pritchard stood when we came in. He was surprised to see me, but I could tell by the smile he was pleased. "You brought in the ringer. That was quick."

"Stephanie was already in the building. What is it exactly that we can do for you today?"

"I have a briefing with my superiors this afternoon about the deaths downtown. I thought it best to touch bases first. Make sure the information is as complete as possible."

"In other words, you're hoping we'll make you look good to your bosses?"

I shot Ranger a look. Jeez. Ranger gets cranky when he's interrupted right before sex. Who knew? Pritchard didn't seem bothered, though.

"Between you and me, I could use all the help I can get. We only just start proving the man hours have been worth it on this, and then there's a massacre on our watch."

Ranger shrugged. "There was no avoiding it. Power plays are an inevitable part of territory disputes."

"I wish that's all this was," Pritchard said. "You've seen the reports, right?"

"I was on scene for several hours last night."

"With Ms. Plum?"

"No. I haven't had a chance to fully brief Ms. Plum on the subject. I was attempting to do so when you asked for this meeting."

Pritchard looked from Ranger's blank expression to me. I wondered for a wild second if he would realize what we'd been about to do. Maybe my clothes were a little wrinkly, or my curls were extra frizzy in back from laying on Ranger's bed. If he noticed, he didn't say. "Then you know this wasn't just a territory dispute," he said, looking to Ranger again.

Ranger considered him a moment, leaning back in his chair. He nodded.

"But did you know that two of the victims were CIs?"

That got Ranger's attention. I could tell by the way he brought his hands in front of him, steeping his fingers. "Go on."

"My office had contact with them, but they weren't on the same crew. I want to believe it was a coincidence, but…"

"But the chances that two CIs from rival gangs would be taken out at the same time are slim. I agree. Any idea who would have had access to them?"

Pritchard shook his head. "I don't know who they were talking to, but I'm working on it. In the meantime, I followed up with the lab. You were right, Stephanie. The joints found in your man's possession when he was arrested were in fact laced with a designer drug. It's not PCP, exactly, but it causes similar symptoms. A stronger dissociative state. Agitation and extreme violence. It showed up in the hospital tox screen too, prior to his death. Depressed his breathing and stopped his heart. He's officially been added to our growing list of confirmed victims."

"Anything new on where it might have come from?"

"Not yet."

"So what are you looking for from us?" Ranger asked him again. "Seems you know quite a bit already."

"I was hoping you might have more about last night. As far as I've heard, they've only identified three of the bodies. Our CIs, and a foot soldier from the Latin Kings named Castillo. Of the other two, we know one was in Kings colors. The other was from a local Crip gang. They're not as big as the Kings, but they've caused their share of trouble the last few years. Headed up by a piece of shit named Skeezer."

"We're familiar," Ranger said, still giving nothing away. "So you want to know if we've identified the remaining bodies and if we knew who's responsible."

"Basically."

Ranger thought about that for a second and then opened his desk drawer and pulled out a large manila envelope. "I was planning on going over these with Ms. Plum after I'd finished catching her up on the agency files. But since you're here," he said, dropping it on his desk. He pulled out a stack of photographs and started laying them out. Grouping them together in clusters. There was a lot of blood. More than I was expecting. I've seen my fair share of bloody crime scenes and mutilated bodies since I became a bounty hunter. This was a new experience.

I moved next to Ranger. My hip brushing against his shoulder. If I was being completely honest, it was as much to feel his reassuring presence as it was to take the compulsory look. He didn't seem to mind, though. Even let an arm down when Pritchard turned his attention to the photographs so that he could stroke the back of my leg. That effectively took my mind off the gruesomeness.

There were five clear piles of reddened clothes. I might not have guessed they were once people if someone hadn't told me. Three of them were wearing black and gold. The other two in indigo.

"These are a combination of official PD crime scene photos and shots taken by the men I had on scene," Ranger said. "We were only able to identify four of the victims. The last was too far gone."

Pritchard nodded. "Hard to identify a body with no head like that."

I tried not to grimace, but I don't think I was successful. At least not by the amused look in Ranger's eyes. Of course, he wasn't fazed at all. Batman wasn't bothered by a little decapitation.

"I can confirm that the first man from Skeezer's crew was named Garcia. I'm guessing that was one of your CIs?" Pritchard nodded. "We're still working on the second. Without identifying features, we have little to go on beyond a general guess that he used to be about 5'10", 180lbs. I've got someone working Skeezer's crew to identify him through process of elimination, in case the coroner has trouble fitting a name to the body. The others with Castillo were Angel Garza and Jaime Mendez. Mendez was low level, but Garza was an enforcer. Taking him out sends a serious message. It's a safe bet our John Doe was high level too, given the brutality."

Pritchard's eyes cut to us for so brief a second it was hard to read. He turned back to the crime scene photos. "So you think we've got both a confidential informant and a high level officer each from two of the most influential gangs in the city?"

"It would seem so."

"Well, shit."

Ranger nodded. No need to explain what that might mean. This wasn't just a power play. It was a hostile takeover. "You think someone planned this all along?" I asked him. "Flood the market with bad drugs to upset the balance, and then start eliminating the competition?"

"Could be. Or it could be they saw an opportunity and took it."

"Any clue who 'they' are?" Pritchard asked.

"Not yet. But I've got all my resources working on it. No one wants a war."

Pritchard frowned. It didn't sit right on his otherwise good natured face. Made him looked older and tired. "Someone does." He let out a low breath. "Is it possible for me to get copies of these?"

"I'll have a set printed for you."

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

We spent the next half hour going over the photos in detail. Didn't help much. By the time Pritchard left, any mood that might have been stoked upstairs was effectively gone. Even with the way Ranger's hand fit behind my knee. He leaned back in his chair to look at me. "You alright?"

I nodded. "I wish I could have been more helpful."

"Give it time. It's a lot to take in all at once."

That was true, but I still thought he was being overly optimistic. "Why do you have so much faith in me?"

This time he smiled. Caressing the back of my thigh. He gave me a tug and I fell into his lap across the arms of his desk chair. He held me close and kissed me. Slipping a hand under my shirt like there'd been no interruption. Liquid fire poured down to my toes and back up my center and I think I forgot how to breathe for a few seconds. He glanced at his watch. "If I had more time I'd take you right here on my desk."

"How much time do you have?" I asked. I know. Glutton for punishment. But at the moment it was hard to think about anything but a Ranger induced orgasm. Especially when he grinned at me like that.

"Not enough. I'd need a lot more for everything I want to do to you."

I sucked in a breath when my body reacted to just the promise. God. I was going to burn in hell for this, but at that moment I wanted nothing more than to let him do it. He brushed a light kiss across my lips. "What did you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Nothing much. I'm just waiting for a call on Ronald Walker."

His thumb brushed across my nipple, sending another jet of lava to my doo-dah. "If you like, you could take the rest of the case material upstairs and look it over. Spread it out across my bed. Get comfortable. If my meeting goes smoothly, I could be up in an hour of two. Then we could explore some of our options before we go out to meet with Gregorio."

"We?"

"If you want," he said, teasing my lips with his. "Should be interesting. He's been doing some legwork for me. Trying to find the weak link in the supply chain. What do you think?"

"I think I'm in," I answered, taking a fistful of his t-shirt so I could drag his mouth onto mine.