Chapter Twenty-Six

I took my time in the shower. There was no rush, after all. And I was forced to use Ranger's delicious shower gel because, oh darn, we'd forgotten to grab mine when Ranger had hastily packed for me. After the shower, I wrapped myself in one of his fluffy robes and went to get dressed from the Martha Stewart laundry basket that had been shoved to a random spot on the floor last night to make room for marathon sex. It was pretty easy to find what I needed. Underwear. Clean jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Then I was faced with what to do with the rest of my clothes.

Ranger had said I could put them anywhere, but the idea of putting my clothes in his closet was kind of intimidating. It felt way too much like moving in. I'd lived with Ranger before. Several times, in fact. But aside from the time we spent in Hawaii, it had all been pretty much plutonic. Mostly. And Hawaii. That adventure had been so removed from reality that even now it still seemed like a dream.

Putting my clothes in Ranger's closet would be too real. I knew this was supposed to be a temporary arrangement. Ranger didn't want anything more than temporary. And that scared the hell out of me.

I ended up putting the basket just inside the closet door. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

I wasn't sure what to do with myself after that. Didn't really feel like going down to Ranger's office. Pritchard was alright, but while Ranger could handle an ass as long as they were good at their job, I wasn't quite as practiced at the whole Zen thing. I wandered into Ranger's den and looked over the case material that had collected on his desk.

There was something I wasn't seeing. I was sure of it. Some connection I hadn't made. I looked at the maps of the five block radius we'd used to search for Mini. There were notes, and things circled, but nothing useful. It was pretty frustrating. Mini had to be hiding somewhere.

I'd tried calling her a few more times, but she wasn't answering. Not surprising. Time to break out the some of the more tedious tools in my bounty huntering tool box.

When people hear bounty hunter, they usually think of black leather and badass attitudes. Kicking in doors, guns drawn, and taking down bad guys with a little brute force. Truth is, most of the job is boring. I've always lacked the muscle and professionalism to really excel when it comes to the takedown, but the boring stuff I've got. I called up the map on my phone's GPS and asked it to find all the food delivery places in the five mile radius. I was betting Mini wasn't going out to the supermarket while she was on the lam. That meant she was either relying on someone to bring her food, or she was getting take out under a false name.

I made some calls, giving them Mini's burner number to see if they had it on file. Got a hit at a deli. I ordered a meatball sub and asked them to verify the address they'd be sending it to. Bingo. Sometimes the boring stuff pays off big time.

I took the elevator down to five and popped my head into Ranger's office. All three men looked at me. "Just checking in. I'm following a lead on my FTA."

"The possession with intent?"

"Yep."

"You armed?"

I rolled my eyes so big I actually made myself dizzy. "Ugh. Fine. I'll get the gun belt out of the Cayenne."

"Take a fleet car. It'll be less recognizable. And take Nollen."

"No Hal or Ramon?"

"Hal just came off a shift and I've got Ramon covering Thatch. Nollen will do fine. Just try not to break him."

"Ha ha."

I could see the smile in his eyes. Ranger thought I was amusing.

I closed Ranger's office door and turned to the control desk.

Nollen was a pretty big guy. Not Hal or Tank big, but he was at least 6 feet of solid military muscle. Dark blond hair buzzed so close to his head he was almost bald. Thick shoulders tightening under his black Rangeman shirt as he watched me watching him on the monitors. He was sitting very still when I approached him from behind. As if he thought my vision was based on movement like a T-Rex.

Better to just rip off the Band-aid, right?

"Ranger says you're with me today."

He knew I was there and he flinched anyway. Jeez. You'd think I was the boogey-man.

Nollen stood up. A look of regret crossed his face when Junior took his place at the monitors. I didn't get one glance from him on the way to the elevator. Not until we stepped in and the doors closed. Leaving us alone. He cut his eyes to me in one of those quick movements guys do to check out a woman on the sly. All reflex. His eyes went round when he realized he'd done it. You could hear the Oh, crap being shouted in his head. Busted. "Problem?"

"No ma'am."

"You can call me Stephanie."

Nothin'. Not even a nervous blink. Jeez.

"So I'm guessing you were in the Army?"

He nodded once.

"Infantry?"

It was a blind guess, but it got me another nod.

"Probably did some tours overseas, right? Where?"

"Afghanistan."

Wow. Four whole syllables. Talking to this guy was like pulling teeth. "You can relax. I don't bite." His eyes dropped shut, trying to hide his pained grimace. Guess he got a mental picture. "And the guys were just joking about Ranger kicking your ass. He doesn't really do that." That I know of. Nollen was still unconvinced. "This'll be painless, I promise."

"Didn't Cal get bashed over the head on your detail?"

"It wasn't my fault. And that only happened once." Okay twice if you count the time he bounced his head off the delivery room floor when Valerie was in labor. But that wasn't my fault either. He hadn't been prepared for the shower of amniotic fluid or seeing part of one human being sticking out of another. In all honesty, I can't really blame him for fainting.

Nollen stayed in perfect step with me when I stopped to get the utility belt out of Ranger's Cayenne, and then all the way to the fleet SUV. Only peeling away to get in the passenger seat. Guess he didn't want to argue over who got to drive. It took ten minutes to get to the apartment building. He hopped out first and scanned the street while I got out of the car, a hand on his sidearm like he thought we would be ambushed at any moment.

Actually. That probably wasn't as farfetched as it sounded, now that I thought about it.

He stayed right on top of me when I started for the building. "Cripes. Didn't your mother explain to you about personal space?"

The nervous look was back. I could see the wheels turning. Deciding which was more dangerous, taking a risk something would happen to me, or taking the heat for being all over Ranger's woman. I didn't envy him. It was a dilemma.

"Look. I'm armed," I said, pointing out the gun belt I'd strapped to my hip. He didn't need to know I wouldn't use it. "And I'm a professional." More or less. "You don't have to hover."

He nodded again and took a step back. Yea. An extra two feet of freedom. Every girl's dream.

We tried the first floor apartment the Deli had on file, but Mini wasn't there. I wasn't overly surprised. Mini was wily. Probably met the delivery guy in the hall. An elderly man had answered the door. I showed him Mini's photo.

"Have you seen this girl?"

"Who's askin'?"

"I'm her cousin. She ran away from home and my aunt is worried sick. She's only fifteen."

Now, I know it's not nice to lie, but you use the tools you've got. I'm not strong, or fast, or particularly coordinated, but I'm a world class liar. He considered me a moment, rubbing the scraggly gray stubble on his chin. "You don't look like her cousin."

"Our moms are sisters. She takes after her dad."

He looked like he might have bought that. "Fifteen you say? Little bitty thing?"

"Yes! Have you seen her?"

"Might have. Said she was in trouble. Said bad people were looking for her." He gave me another hard look. Trying to judge if I was bad people. Thankfully, he hadn't seemed to notice that I was armed. His eyes fell on Nollen over my shoulder.

"This is my boyfriend. He didn't think I should be in a rough neighborhood alone."

I heard Nollen choke behind me, but I ignored him. The guy gave Nollen a good, long stare. "Good man. Can't be too careful. Things are dangerous these days, what with the hoodlums killing each other over god knows what. Last I heard, you're cousin was staying in an apartment on four. You get that little girl and you take her where it's safe, you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

He gave us a curt nod and shut the door. Okay, so I guess I didn't feel bad lying this time. Normally when I lie to find a skip, it's so I can drag them back to jail. This was different. This time, getting Mini to safety was my exact plan.

We headed up to four via the stairs, since the building didn't have an elevator. I was struggling not to huff and puff like a loser by the time we got there. I didn't want Nollen to think I was wimpy. There were only four apartments on each floor. I pulled in a deep breath and knocked on A. Nobody home. B was a stoner. Settled in for an afternoon of Halo and cheese doodles. I went to C and raised my fist to knock when the door opened. A girl stopped short to look at me with wide eyes. She was about five feet tall, and aside from the bleach blonde hair, she looked a helluva lot like Mina Velasquez.

She reacted before I did. Whipping around on her heels and sprinting for the other side of the apartment. I darted after her. Mini reached the bedroom window and threw it open. She launched herself onto the fire escape and was running for the ladder when I stumbled onto the mesh platform. The grating tore my jeans when I fell, cutting into my knees. I grabbed a fistful of her sweatshirt. "Stop!"

"No! You have to let me go!"

"I can't! I promise I won't take you to jail."

"Liar."

"Not about this," I said, but she was already shaking her head.

"If I'm seen, he'll kill me in a heartbeat. Like he tried to kill Thatch. And he's sure to see me if I'm with you. He wants you way more than he wants me."

"I know I'm on a hit list—"

"Not just a hit list. This is so much bigger than a hit list. He'll be after you for what you can get him. Like he is with me. He knows I know too much. Supply lines and dealer names and chains of command. But you. You're the ticket to everything he wants."

"What does that mean?"

"It means he'll burn the whole world to the ground to get away from Ranger. And that includes you."

"Who? Who's after us?"

She looked at me like I was stupid. Then her eyes darted over my shoulder and she blanched. She kicked me in the knee and punched my shoulder like a tiny little ninja. I stumbled back. I tried to hold onto her, but she broke my grip. Slid down the ladder as I lost balance and fell back toward the railing and a four-story drop.

A big hand snatched the front of my shirt to keep me from plummeting to my death. The stretchy fabric caught my weight, but that's about all it did. Pretty sure Nollen saw everything from collar bone to belly button when my neck gaped open. He yanked me back in through the window and I bounced off his body. "Holy shit!"

"I have to go after her."

"Hell no. You could have been killed. I'm not going to be the one to tell Ranger his girlfriend died chasing Mighty Mouse. Vince and Zip are down there. Let them take the heat if she gets away."

"What do you mean Vince and Zip are down there?"

"Crap."

"Oh no. You don't get out of this that easy. How many guys are following me?"

He wasn't in any way happy. "Two cars with two guys each."

"So five including you? For how long?"

"Since you're little run in with Baller Thatch. If it makes you feel any better, Ranger's got backup too. Tank and Cal are on his six any time he leaves the building. In fact, no one goes anywhere without a partner until this is over. No exceptions." He eyed me carefully. Thought I might snap. But my mind was running a mile a minute.

"He'll burn the world to the ground to get away from Ranger. Who would be that afraid?"

"Have you met Ranger?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "He's not as scary as you think."

"You're probably the only person who has ever said that." Nollen shifted on his feet. "Speaking of which...can we not tell Ranger about me copping a feel when you almost fell?"

"Yeah. I'm good with that." I pulled out my phone and called Ranger. "I just had a run in with Mini," I told him when I heard the line open. "She got away from me."

"Babe. She's five feet tall and you've got armed backup."

"Yeah, five of them. Which we're going to talk about when I get back. But the reason I called is that she said something before she squirreled away. I think I know who we're dealing with. I just don't know why."

"I'm listening."

"I think our mastermind is Alvarez."