Disclaimer: JE owns the characters. Small reference to Justin Timberlake.
Thanks, Linda.
After a quick discussion over food, Lula and I hit the sub shop. The new hairdo and the two guns that were tucked into the back of my jeans, covered my an overly large Pink Floyd shirt that I had stolen from Bobby, left me feeling strange. I decided that I would have to find some quiet time later to analyze this new feeling. We grabbed subs and drinks for the three of us and headed back down the street to the bonds office.
It was mayhem in the streets. There were three fire trucks, ten police cruisers, two ambulances, and three black Broncos. Plus, we can't forget, Ranger's Porsche and Joe's SUV. Lula was telling me about her last date with Tank as we walked down the sidewalk towards the office. I half listened to her and half watched the men put out the flame engulfed Jeep.
I waved at Tank when I saw him climb out of one of the Broncos. His brows furrowed into confusion before I saw recognition flicker across his face. I guess having all of your hair shaved off can alter your appearance somewhat.
"What happened?" he asked as he crossed the street.
"A minor mishap at Simon Diggery's house this morning," I said as I smiled up at the large man.
He seemed to ponder my response for a moment before he asked, "Gum?"
"I wish," I laughed as I grabbed the drink carrier from Lula and headed into the office.
I thought that it was only fair to let her steal a moment with her man while he was here. I dropped the drinks and the bags on Connie's desk as I sat in the chair that sat in front of it. We both watched Lula and Tank through the windows as our hands mindlessly sorted through the bags. It was cute to see the two of them together. Tank was such a large and hard man that it was always so startling to watch the blank face fade and see the love move in.
"Oh," Connie said pulling my attention from the window. She pulled a bag out of her bottom drawer and tossed it to me. I caught the bag and examined it. It was a bag of bullet shells. Connie continued her train of thought. "I couldn't believe what you did. I almost fell out of my chair laughing. You should have stuck around. I had to pound on the wall to tell Joyce that it was her Jeep that just blew up. She flew out of Vinnie's office as she was pulling her pants up."
"Damn," I swore with a laugh. "I can't believe that I missed that."
"She ran out into the street and started screaming," Connie said with a chuckle. "I was able to go out and sweep up the shells as she ranted and raved in the middle of the street. No one even noticed me with all of the screaming that she was doing. The paramedics just took her away because she fainted and hit her head on Lula's Firebird."
"I hope she didn't dent it," I laughed. I held up the bag before I stuffed it into my purse and said, "Thanks."
"It was worth the risk of getting caught. That's going to be Burg gossip for days. It might even trump your new do," Connie said as she unwrapped her sub. "I told the cops that a late eighties blue, Ford pickup stopped in the street and open fired on Joyce's Jeep."
"Where'd the pickup come from?" I asked around a mouthful of food.
"Some asshole who cut me off yesterday," Connie said after she took a drink.
We sat there and ate while we watched the fire department get everything cleaned up. Lula ambled in just as the tow truck pulled up. She had a huge grin plastered across her face. I recognized the face of that of a woman who had just seen the man in her life. I momentarily wished for what she had. It was only a moment because Joe chose the next moment to pop his head into the office and motion me outside.
"What's up?" I asked once he closed the door.
"You know anything about that?" Joe asked as he pointed to the burnt metal that was now sitting on the back of the tow truck.
"Nope," I said as I smiled up at him and slung my purse over my shoulder.
"You didn't see anything?"
"Nope. Me and Lula were at the sub shop," I said simply. I knew when Joe was trying to interrogate me. He was a lot more subtle then the rest of the boys in blue.
"Did you happen to see any suspicious vehicles?"
"Nope."
"Your head is freaking me out," Joe said after a moment of silence with a sigh as he shook his head.
"That came out of nowhere," I said with a huff as I crossed my arms. "It's starting to grow on me."
"It's distracting me. I can't talk to you like this," Joe said as he ran his fingers through his hair.
I had learned over the years that this was a sign of frustration, stress, and aggravation for Joe. I'm sure that I'm causing him all three at the moment. He's frustrated because I have nothing for him. He's stressed because the only lead he has on this crappy case is an eighties pickup. And he's aggravated because I'm sure that the guys are giving him a load of shit for my lack of hair even though we aren't together any more. I guess that those are all things that he's just going to have to get over.
"I'd love to sit around and talk about my head all day," I said with a pleasant smile, "But I have work to do."
"I'll call you if I have any more questions," Joe mumbled as he watched the tow truck pull away.
"Great," I said as I waved at Connie and Lula through the window.
I walked over to my Tracker and hopped in. I leaned over to grab my files and shrieked when my door opened on its own. I looked over at Ranger who was smiling at me. I rolled my eyes in anticipation of the 'be more aware of you surroundings' lecture that was coming. This earned a chuckle due to Ranger's ESP.
"I'll save the lecture for later and just take these," Ranger said as he pulled the two guns out of the back of my pants and tucked them into his. "I thought that you might want to know that I heard Lester taking bets on what happened to your head. You may want to track down the Diggery's and re-enforce the no talking rule."
"Thanks for the heads up," I said with a nod.
"You still aren't going to tell me, are you?" Ranger asked. I could see his eyes crinkle in the corners. I was once again amusing him.
"Not until hell freezes over, martians abduct me, and I somehow wake up with my virginity intact," I mused. I love it when I know something that he doesn't.
"I guess I'm in the market for a grave robber."
"I'll race you to Diggery's," I said quickly as I flashed him a wicked grin.
I barely saw his eyes light up at the challenge as I pushed him back and slammed my door shut. He was like a black streak as he headed off to his car. I was lucky that I wasn't blocked in by seven other vehicles like Ranger was. I just threw my Tracker in reverse and spun my tires as I made a u-turn in the street.
Buildings gave way to trees as I cruised down the road towards Simon's place. I knew that he would be at home either trying to sober up or getting more sloshed since Connie had bonded him right back out again. I ran my fingers over the CD holder that was attached to my sun visor and stopped randomly. I grabbed the CD and popped it in as I raced down the road.
Future, sex, love, sound.
I started to dance in my seat as I drove towards the Diggery homestead. I spied a black dot in the distance through my rear view mirror. Ranger was about ten miles back when I turned off the main road. I sped down the road and fishtailed into Diggery's driveway. I grabbed my stun gun and cuffs before I jumped out of my Tracker and ran to the trailer.
I realized that God was still on my side when I flew through the front door and found Simon, his father, and his brother still drinking at the kitchen table. They all stared at me as I slammed the door shut and locked the dead bolt. I know that it was a joke to do that with Ranger being the one on my heels, but it would buy me a few extra moments.
"Everybody up," I said as I waved my hands.
"What's going on, Stephanie?" Simon asked as he stood up.
"We have an issue that will be here momentarily," I said as I ushered the three drunk men through the kitchen to the back door.
"What issue?" Simon's dad asked.
"Ranger feels that he needs to know exactly what happened this morning," I said as I looked out the back door through the window. "I can't let him get you at the moment."
"That's understandable," Simon said as he shook his head. "Do you have a plan?"
"Yep," I said when I heard the Porsche pull into the driveway. "Ranger is a creature of habit. He'll walk around the trailer and try to find the best way in. That's going to be your front door since there are so many weeds back here. Once he starts working on the locks, I'll get you guys out the door. Go into the woods. Stay together. I'll find you."
I saw Ranger round the corner on the back side of the trailer. He was quick and quiet as he moved around the yard. Then, I heard the unexpected. I faintly heard the lock on the front door start to move. I swore under my breath and crept back into the living room. I stood behind the door and waited for the person on the other side to open it. I inched back as the door slowly opened and I saw a hand come in. Faster then I ever thought possible, I reached out and zapped the hand.
Lester fell through the door and landed with a loud thud. I turned into Wonder Woman and yanked him the rest of the way into the house. I slammed the door shut and locked it again. Simon appeared at my side and frowned at the man that was lying on the floor as he placed a chair against the door to brace it. We picked Lester up and sat him in one of the other kitchen chairs.
"Is someone still watching the back door?" I asked as I cuffed Lester to the chair.
"Dad is," Simon said as he used the clothes line from this morning to tie Lester up. He stood back and said, "This looks familiar."
I nudged Simon and pointed at my head. I caught his nod out of the corner of my eye as I moved to the back door where Simon's dad was. I peered out and saw Ranger circle back around the trailer as he took his cell phone out. A moment later, my cell started vibrating in my pocket.
"Yo," I said into the phone once I answered it.
"You taking hostages?" Ranger asked. I could hear the smirk in his voice.
"Yep," I smirked back. "I want a fueled helicopter, a million dollars, and an autographed picture of Adam West."
