Chapter Two

I woke up wrapped in Diesel's arms, which was a good thing because I was beginning to think that the gloss had rubbed off our relationship.

It was late when we came home from Pino's the previous night. We'd fallen into bed and apart from a perfunctory kiss good night, we hadn't indulged in any of our normal activities. How often did other couples do it? I had nothing to compare our track record with. The only other time I'd lived with someone for anywhere near this length of time, was when I was shackled to the Dick, and sex with him was sporadic from the very beginning.

I rolled over within the circle of Diesel's arms to face him, only to find him watching me.

"Morning." I smiled at him and he pulled me closer and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"Good morning, hon." I could feel his hands starting to caress my spine, sending tiny little chills throughout my body and raising goose bumps on my skin. I pulled my arms out from under the covers and brought his head back down to mine for another kiss.

The evidence of his continued interest in me was hard against my hip, and I relaxed into his arms with the knowledge that things were still all right.

"Want to save some water this morning?" Diesel asked suggestively as his very talented hands caressed my bare skin.

I could think of nothing I'd rather do than shower with him. "Oh, yeah. I think I need some serious washing. It might even take several attempts to get me completely clean."

Diesel got out of bed and reached out for my hand to pull me up. Just as I put my hand in his, my cell phone rang. I rolled my eyes at him and reached over to the night table to pick it up.

Glancing at the readout, I rolled my eyes again and answered the call. "Good morning, Mom."

"Stephanie, you have to help me out this morning." My mom sounded more than a little harassed. "You're grandmother needs to cash her social security check, but your father won't take her to the bank and she's threatening to take the Buick. You know she's had her license revoked."

I could hear shouting in the background; it sounded like my father and grandmother were about to start a war.

"I'll take her. Tell her to calm down and I'll take her."

"She's going to be the death of me yet. You should see what she's wearing!" I ran my free hand through my hair as I imagined my mom's frantic efforts to persuade Grandma to tone down her attire.

"I'm not sure I want to, but I guess I'm going to. I'll be there in about an hour."

"Hurry and I'll have breakfast ready for you. There's enough for Diesel too if he comes with you."

I looked over at Diesel, he was grinning at me. He couldn't possibly have heard my mom's side of the conversation but I guessed that he wouldn't turn down one of my mom's breakfasts. "He'll be coming with me, Mom."

I disconnected and walked over to Diesel. Molding my body to his, I grinned saucily at him. "I assumed you wouldn't say no to one of my mom's breakfasts, however, we're going to have to take a rain check on that joint shower."

"Figured. You go first; I'll get the coffee started." I skipped away from him before he could smack my butt as I made my way to the bathroom.

A little over two hours later, I was driving my CR-V and trying not to let the day-glow orange and pink nightmare sitting in the passenger seat distract my concentration from the road.

Grandma Mazur had obviously been taking fashion lessons from Lula. Unfortunately, where Lula could look good in fluorescent colors because of her skin tone, Grandma just looked like the undead trying to get noticed. She was wearing a luminous orange sweat suit with Barbie pink stripes that ran down the seams. Across her withered chest, emblazoned in rhinestones, was the legend "Hot Mama".

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grandma turn towards me with a grin on her wizened face. "How's that magical hunk you're living with?"

"If you're talking about Diesel, then he's good."

"No, I meant, what's he like? Does that package of his live up to expectation? And what about his magic, does that add a, you know, an extra dimension?"

"Grandma!" I could feel a blush starting on my cheeks. "I'm not going to tell you intimate details of our relationship! And what do you mean 'magic'?"

"I saw a lot more than you think I did when we were in Atlantic City."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Realizing I had to throw her a bone, I continued. "But I do love him, and if that's what you call magic, then yes it does add an extra dimension."

I saw her shake her head and grin. I sincerely doubted that was the last I'd hear on the subject. I made a mental note to talk to Diesel about being more subtle when using his powers around my family. I had a feeling that Grandma was going to be watching him very closely in the future.

To help me concentrate on my driving I diverted my thoughts to what Diesel had told me as he left my mom's house. He'd opted not to join me on my excursion, but instead had gone to meet someone who would be his possible back-up on the Steward case. I wondered if his back-up was another Unmentionable or someone in law-enforcement who was a trusted confidant of Diesel's world. I should say 'our' world really, but I still hadn't gotten my head around the fact that I was now part of that extra-ordinary existence.

I was thankful that the drive to the bank wasn't longer as I pulled into a space right outside the bank. For once, the parking gods were watching out for me. Grandma and I piled out of the vehicle and I followed in the wake of the Roman candle into the bank. My eyes were riveted to her butt. I had thought the "Hot Mama" on her chest was bad, but across her butt, the rhinestones spelled out "Sexy Mama". If I met anyone I knew while I was with her, I hoped the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

The bank wasn't particularly crowded and Grandma made a beeline for the shortest line. Once in position, she started to dig around in her oversized purse. I assumed she was looking for her check. I tried to look like I didn't know her and stood to one side watching the other customers. A man at one of the counters caught my eye. There was something familiar about him. I could only see him from behind, but my spidey-sense was zinging off the charts.

I kept Grandma in sight as I edged my way around the lines at the tellers. Eventually I found a spot where I could watch both the man at the counter and Grandma. Unfortunately, the man turned away from me and I still couldn't see his face.

Grandma was now pulling things out of her bag. While trying to extract the envelope, which held her social security check out of the depths of her purse, she managed to spill some of the bits and pieces that she carried around with her. A packet of breath mints hit the floor closely followed by, what I was sure was a packet of condoms. Then my heart sank as I saw her pull out her .45. She looked over to where I was standing, caught me watching her, and brandished her gun at me with a grin. In an instant, pandemonium broke out in the bank.

Obviously, someone had seen Grandma's gun and had set off the alarm. The man at the counter turned as soon as the alarm started to ring and I saw his face. My spidey-sense had been in good working order. It was Steward.

Women were screaming, children were crying and men were shouting and remonstrating with Grandma. Steward had something in his hand. It was a bag; and using the distraction, was making good his escape.

I didn't think twice, I just took off after him. He shot out of the bank and up the street with me in pursuit. The guy was in good shape and he set a fast pace. I saw him glance over his shoulder and I immediately started to doubt my ability to catch him.

Steward was still running full tilt when he turned into an alley. I followed, keeping him in sight. I was so intent on not losing him that I failed to see the garbage cans.

Plowing into the cans, I fell heavily onto my hands and knees in garbage, and I wondered briefly how I could fail to see such large trashcans. My musings came to an abrupt halt when I felt the stabbing pain in my knee. Rolling over sideways into more garbage in order to take the weight off my knee, I inspected the damage.

The knees of my jeans were ripped and I was pretty sure I was bleeding, but a full examination of the extent of my injuries would have to wait until I could strip off my pants.

By the time I'd struggled to my feet, Steward had disappeared. I gave myself a mental head slap, amazed at my stupidity. The man was an Unmentionable, he'd probably popped away. And damn it, I was an Unmentionable too. I could've avoided the garbage so easily.

I staggered out of the alley and painfully found my way back to the bank. My step faltered somewhat when I saw the police cars outside the building. But it wasn't the patrol vehicles that made me sigh with relief. It was the black SUV that was parked across from the First Trenton Loan & Trust that gave me that feeling.

If I couldn't have Diesel there to sort out the mess that Grandma had gotten herself into, then Ranger was a good second best.

The man himself was leaning against the hood of a police car, arms folded across his chest. Just behind him, Grandma was arguing with the cop who was trying to get her into his squad car. From the snatches of conversation that wafted over to me, I figured that Grandma had somehow mislaid her condoms or her breath mints in the bank.

I ducked into the bank and a quick scan of the floor around the teller area produced a packet of cherry flavored condoms. What is it about cherry flavored condoms? Lula always carried them too.

I palmed the package and returned to the blue and white.

"Here you go, Grandma." I tried to pass the condoms to her surreptitiously, but Grandma had other ideas. She grabbed the packet and waved them around.

"Thank you Stephanie, dear. I would have been so upset to lose these. I've got my eye on a real hottie at the bingo hall."

I could feel my face burning with embarrassment. I was certain that Ranger was watching and listening.

He wandered over and glanced at the package clutched in Grandma's fingers. He raised a questioning eyebrow at me. "I thought you preferred strawberry, Babe."

I sputtered, unable to form a coherent thought, let alone a retort.

"Babe." He raised his hand and picking some spaghetti out of my hair, his eyes went serious. All humor gone, I was mesmerized by his gaze. Suddenly I felt as if he was looking into my soul and I had a fleeting sense of sadness for what might have been.

I gave myself a mental shake and glanced over towards where Grandma had now settled into the back seat of the blue and white. Grandma was definitely not unhappy about being arrested. I turned back to Ranger and raised my eyebrows in an unspoken question.

"She's been arrested for carrying concealed and without a license."

I stumbled over to the wall of the bank and slumped against the bricks. "My mother is never going to forgive me. I can't even keep Grandma out of trouble on a simple trip to the bank. I guess I'd better follow her to the station and call Connie to bond her out." I tried to straighten up but my right leg gave way and I grabbed onto Ranger to stop myself from falling. His strong arms held on to me and then guided me back over to the police car.

"No need, Babe. Ram'll do that and then he'll take your grandmother home. We should get that knee seen to."

I looked down and, to my horror, saw that my jeans were now a dark rust color from the knee down.

Leaning heavily on Ranger, I reached the car in which Grandma was sitting. She looked fit to burst with excitement. "Grandma, it looks like I got a little cut up and I'm going to have to get it sorted out." I gave her a weak smile. I indicated the gorgeous male specimen in RangeMan black who was standing by the equally black SUV. "Ram will follow you and get you bonded out, and then he'll take you home."

Grandma looked across the road at Ram then turned back to me. "Oh no. I don't want to go home. I want to go to the Clip 'n Curl. The girls are going to bust their corsets when they hear I've been arrested." She could hardly sit still she was so elated by her good luck! "And when I turn up with one of those hunky Rangemen in tow, well I'm gonna be the center of attention for weeks."

I couldn't help but grin at Grandma's exuberance. My mother was definitely going to kill me.

As I watched Grandma being driven away I swayed a little and started to feel faint as the pain in my leg began to take root. Ranger swiftly put one arm around my shoulders, his other under my legs and carried me over to my CR-V, despite my feeble protests that I could walk. He set me down next to the vehicle and using my keys, he unlocked it. I gave him a look as he lowered me into the passenger seat, wondering just how and when he'd managed to obtain my keys. Then again, this was Ranger, nothing about him should surprise me anymore.

He closed my door and I buckled myself in, watching him as he walked around to the driver's side. I loved Diesel, but there would always be a connection between Ranger and me, and it saddened me just a little to think of what we would never have.

Not wanting Ranger to be able to do his ESP on my thoughts, I closed my eyes as he climbed into the driver's seat. "I don't suppose you're going to just drive me home. My knee may hurt, but I'm sure it's not really that bad. I just need to get off of it for awhile…"

"Babe." Was all Ranger said as he pulled out of the parking spot, and I knew the argument was over before I could even get it started.

We were almost at the hospital before Ranger spoke again.

"Who were you after?"

"A guy named Rob Steward. He's not local. FTA on a disturbing the peace charge." I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. My knee was throbbing and the pain was starting to interfere with my thoughts.

"He may not be local, Babe, but I've heard of him. He's not as harmless as he seems. Heard some bad things about him. Be careful."

I opened my eyes and glanced at Ranger's face. Why was I not surprised that he had his blank face in place?