Disclaimer: Not making money, they belong to Janet Evanovich.
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"Want me to call and see if he's okay?" I asked Lula. She nodded as she sat on the couch. I pulled out my cell phone to call the control room, as Les got the RangeMan skips from Connie.
"Control room," Hal's voice said.
"Hey Hal, do you know where Tank is?" I asked taking a seat next to Lula.
"He just got in from an all night shift with Bobby. He's actually crashing in his apartment," Hal told me.
"Thanks Hal, and if he gets up soon can you tell him to call Lula?"
"Sure Steph, see you later."
"Bye." I finished the call and turned to Les, who had folders in hand. He looked at me and I nodded.
"Lula, Tank just got off from an all night shift with Bobby. He's gonna call when he wakes up," I informed her. She looked up with a smile.
"Thanks white girl!" Lula said, eating another donut.
"No problemo. Les and I are going to head out. See you guys later," I called, walking out the door.
"Bye Steph!" Connie called. I waved and saw Lula say something, but it was hard to hear what, since her mouth was full of donut. Lester and I walked out and got in the car.
"So what are we going to when we get to RangeMan? I mean we need to find out who the spy or spies are," I said. Les looked at me.
"Well, I know this sounds like a crazy idea, but when we get to work we could, work," Lester said with a grin, "I mean whoever it is, isn't gonna watch us while we're working." I rolled my eyes.
"You know what I meant," I said as we drove to the underground parking area.
"We going to the gun range after we drop the files off?" Les asked, parking the car. I nodded.
"We always do," I said with a smile. We got out of the car and took the files up to Tank's office. We dropped them off and headed down to the gun range. I put one of the shooting targets out there and I got ready to shoot. I looked over at Les who gave me a thumbs up. I turned back to my target and aimed for the balls. I shot three times, I hit it dead on. I even made the three bullets into a triangle. I then shot the head a couple times. A bullet in each eye, then I went for one bullet in the heart. It was good, if I was aiming to kill, which usually, I'm not. I reeled in the target and Les took a look at my target.
"Damn good shooting Tex," he said with a grin. I laughed, "let's see yours." He showed me his and I saw most of them in the center of the forehead and a couple in the nuts. I smiled.
"Who you mad at?" I asked with a grin, even though I knew. He shrugged.
"Oh, you know," he said, as if it was not a big deal. I rolled my eyes and nodded. We put all the targets away and went upstairs. When we were in the elevator Les scrambled the camera's, just like Ranger did. He pinned me against the wall, "you know, making you know who jealous, is going to require more than just a kiss, right?" His warm breath tickled my neck. I nodded and I knew my hormones were in overdrive. Damn Hungarian hormones. I leaned up to reach Lester's lips and he responded. His hands tangled in my hair. The elevator was perilously close to opening and Les stepped back just in time. Dang! I'm a slut. Chase, Ranger, and Lester. Maybe we should just have a four-some. Somehow, I didn't think Ranger would go for it. Not to say Chase and Lester would, of course. Crap, I need to stop thinking about sex. I looked at Lester and grabbed the front of his shirt like a crazy woman.
"I need sweets!" I told him, giving him a little shake. I saw his eyes widen marginally.
"Calm down Bomber, we'll get the secret stash," Les said, grabbing me and pulling me towards his cubicle. He pulled out a chocolate bar and handed it to me. I ripped it open and bit a piece off. I moaned as it melted on my tongue. Mmm, chocolate. I saw Lester smirk.
"Better now?" he asked. I nodded as I took another bite. I felt like we were being watched again. I looked at Lester and tried to send him a mental message. He looked at me curiously. I moved my eyes around, without moving my head.
"What?" he asked. I narrowed my eyes. We need some sort of code for someone's watching us.
"The walls have eyes," I said, with a sheepish smile. Hopefully he got it now. I saw his eyes widen and I knew he got it.
"Oh," he said, his mouth staying in the 'O' shape. I nodded.
"Yeah." We walked around the cubicle and I noticed a couple people watching us. One of the people was creepy Derrik, the other was Ella, who was smiling, and Manny. I waved to all of them and Derrik gave me a bone chilling creepy smile. I gulped and turned around, taking another bite of my chocolate bar. I turned around to see Les standing there, looking at me.
"I'm going to mention the Salvador's loudly and you need to see who does something odd," I whispered to him. I saw his eyes move up in down, a nod.
"Have you heard anything about the Salvadors?" I asked, rather loudly. I saw Lester checking out the people behind us. He pulled me all the way into his cubicle.
"Alright, the only person who did something was Derrik, and he only called someone on his cellphone," Les informed me, "don't know if that means anything." I shrugged.
"Who knows, maybe he was just calling his grandma," I suggested. He raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" he asked. I grinned.
"I know, unlikely, but we never know," I said. He shook his head.
"Unbelievable," he said, "you want me to check his file out?" I nodded.
"That'd be good," I said, "so what did Ella and Manny do?"
"Well, Ella just dusted a table and I swear I could make out a little hum. Manny was talking to Zero. So that leaves the newbie Derrik," Lester said with a shrug. I nodded, "he gives me the willies anyway." I saw Lester grin.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"I'm going to go to my cubicle and work, we can drive to my place afterward and I assume you'll have his file by then. We can go over it with BM," I said, coming up with a code for Ranger. I saw Les look at me with a smile before he burst out laughing.
"BM?" Les asked, still laughing, "what made you come up with BM?" I didn't understand what was so funny.
"Bossman," I said like it was obvious. He started laughing again.
"Bomber, you do know BM also means bowel movement, right?" Les asked, still sporting a grin. I rolled my eyes and had to smile at that.
"Well, we can still call him that, it might irritate him a little," I said. I saw Les rub his hands together.
"Oh, I'm so gonna remember this for when he comes back from the dead." I rolled my eyes.
"You do that, and I'm going to go work," I told him, eating another piece of chocolate. I walked back to my cubicle and started on the piles of searches I had from Rodriguez in my inbox. It took my a couple hours to finish all the searches. I scooted back and stretched right before my cellphone rang.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Stephanie, this is your mother," my mom's voice said over the phone. I internally groaned.
"Hi Mom, what's up?" I asked, spinning in my chair.
"Have you seen your grandmother?" she asked, her voice telling me how much she was worried.
"No. When was the last time you saw her?" I asked. I wasn't too worried, Grandma Mazur was known to have some fun now and then. I was more worried about whoever she was with.
"I dropped her off at the Cut n' Curl a couple hours ago. I told her I'd be back after I went to the grocery store. When I got back she wasn't there and the ladies said they saw her leave with two big guys," Mom said frantically, "you have to find her."
"Alright, but she'll probably be home when she feels like it," I said.
"Are you coming to dinner tonight?" she asked, pausing, "I'm making pineapple upside down cake." I sighed, she knows I can't turn down pineapple upside down cake.
"Do you mind if I bring someone?" I asked her.
"A man someone?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah, probably Lester," I told her.
"Yes! I mean, it's okay if you bring him," my mom said, a little too excited. I rolled my eyes.
"Alright, I'll see you at six. Bye," I said. I clicked end and then I put my phone down. I stretched again. I was about to get up and go to the break room when my cellphone rang. I picked it up.
"Stephanie?" I heard Grandma Mazur ask.
"Yep, Grandma, where are you? Mom is going crazy," I told her.
"These two guys came into the Cut n' Curl and told me that I had to go with them. They were good looking so I didn't resist, 'cause I mean I wanted some action! Well, anyways I didn't get any action. It's a let down--ow! I'm getting on with it," Grandma told me, and the last part I knew she wasn't talking to me.
"Are you okay?" I asked her, getting worried now, "where are you? I'll come get you."
"They were just reminding me that I'm supposed to tell you to stop talking about and looking into the Salvadors," Grandma said, "hey! That's my purse! Get out of there you no good-" I heard nothing else and I knew that Grandma was gone. I closed my phone and tried to think of what to do. A few seconds later the phone rang again.
"Grandma?" I asked, hoping it was her.
"No. We've got your grandma, and we want to let her go. She's more of pain then she's worth. You better stop looking into the Salvadors or else!" a man threatened.
"Okay. So, where is my grandma?" I asked, "look my mom is really worried about her, and she's not gonna give me dessert if I don't get her home safe."
"Listen lady, we'll give you your grandma, we're just doing what we're told," the guy said, "we'll drop her back off at the beauty shop. Just heed our warning or we'll do more than just kidnap your grandma."
"Alright, alright. When are you dropping her off there? I've got to get her home before six," I told him.
"We'll drop her off in twenty minutes," the guys said, "jeez! Old lady watch it! I've got a wife and kids!"
"You kidnapped me! I should at least be able to get some," I heard Grandma yell. I laughed. Way to go Grandma! I just hoped she wouldn't tick them off enough for them to kill her.
"Lady, I'm gonna drop her off in ten minutes! I swear if she gropes me one more time, bang!"
"Alright, let me talk to her," I told him. I heard some shuffling before Grandma got on the phone.
"Hey baby granddaughter, these guys are no fun! See you in a few," she said before disconnecting before I could tell her not to grope the guys again. I sighed and called my mom.
"Stephanie, have you found your grandmother?" she asked.
"Yeah, when I come to dinner I'll bring her," I informed her.
"Great, I'll see you at six," mom said cheerfully. I hung up and went to find Lester. I checked his cubicle, which turned out to be empty. I checked the control room to see Lester sitting at one of the screens. I snuck up behind him as quietly as I could and I was about to scare him when he quickly turned around in the chair.
"Boo!" he said. I shrieked and jumped back. My hand flew to my heart.
"Jeez Les! What was that for?" I asked. He grinned.
"You can't just try and sneak up on me and not expect me to do something to you," Lester said. I sighed.
"Yeah, okay. So, when does your shift end?" I asked him, looking at the monitors. He looked at the clock on the wall.
"In five minutes," he told me.
"You feeling up to going to my parents for dinner?" I asked him, with a hopeful smile. He smiled and shook his head.
"Only you beautiful, only you," he said, he sighed, "yeah I'm up to it. Want me to drive?"
"Sure, we'll have to make a stop at the Cut n' Curl 'cause some guys kidnapped Grandma to stop me from investigating the Salvadors. They are letting her go, apparently if she gropes them one more time, bang!" I told him, making a gun with my fingers. I saw Lester laugh a little.
"I have a theory, we'll talk about it on the way to your parents. Also, I have the file," Les told me. I nodded.
"Meet you downstairs in a few," I told him. He nodded and swiveled back to the screens as I walked back to my cubicle.
A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. I had a little case of writers block, and it was hard enough popping this chapter out, but I did. =) Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think!