Chapter 9
Authors notes: We still don't own the characters, less the ones you don't recognize, although Suzy wouldn't mind having a Merry Man. Nor would Colleen (despite her boyfriend). Please don't kill us; we'll have the next chapter up in a week or so.
It's a few days later and we're after Bowman again. His bond is up in a few days and we need to get him back into the system. We've been canvassing the area around Bowman's house, trying to find out his habits so we can find him. His neighbors are either unwilling to tell us, or don't know anything about him. My money is on the latter. He's not the sort you want to get to know, or the type to inspire loyalty in his neighbors. We tried the construction site again, but we discovered he had been fired for stealing the cement truck and the huge mess he made.
The construction people had chipped the motorcycle out of the ground, and given back to Steph. She gave it back to Ranger. Alejandro said it's now on display in the garage at the Rangeman office building. I'm pretty sure that Steph doesn't know that it's now the main attraction there. This may become a new trend, where Steph's destroyed vehicles become a part of a collection to be viewed by all the Rangemen and their clients. It could become a new source of revenue for Rangeman…it might defer some of the cost of the car insurance.
My ass is starting to get numb, and I think Steph's is too; she looks about ready to get out of here. I'm bored. I hate stakeouts, there's only so much you can do while you sit in a car, hoping that the person you're waiting for will show up. We've been sitting here, doing nothing, going crazy for the last two days. I'm starting to think that the money Steph will get isn't worth the aggravation of tracking him down.
This car is fun to drive around, but it's not the most inconspicuous, or the most comfortable to sit around in for hours on end. I'm to the point where I wish that SOMETHING would happen, if only because it would break the monotony of sitting here.
We both look up at the sound of a large vehicle coming down the street. Neither of us is expecting much, but anything happening at this point is interesting. Ew. It's a honey dipper. Not the sort of excitement we were hoping for, but it's something. The truck gets closer, and I look at the driver.
Fuck! It's Bowman. Why the hell did I have to go and open my big mouth?
I'm pretty sure that Bowman hasn't realized that we are here yet, seeing as how he hasn't done anything to try to get away or hurt us yet. I nudge Steph to get her to look closer at who the driver is, and she does, her eyes widening as she recognizes him.
Unfortunately, Bowman chose that moment to look at us and I saw recognition dawn in his eyes. Shit. He aborted the turn into his driveway and sped down the street. Steph quickly turned the car on and u-turned to follow him. I grab the door, wishing for an oh shit handle as we zoom after him. I nearly go flying out of the car; with the top down, there's nothing to keep me in.
You know how I mentioned earlier that I sometimes get these feelings about when something is about to go wrong around Steph? It's screaming at me now to MOVE and I do so, letting go of my death grip on the door, and I zoom above Steph and the car.
Unfortunately, not soon enough. At times I think that The Powers That Be like tormenting Steph and me for their own entertainment. This, sadly, is one of those times.