Disclaimer: JE owns the characters.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading. I hope that you all enjoy this next chapter. As always... Love ya, Linda. And thanks to Nerdlee for a little tip.
"Yep," I said. "I want a fueled helicopter, a million dollars, and an autographed picture of Adam West."
"I thought that Adam West was dead," Ranger said with a chuckle.
"Nope," I said.
"I can do the first two pretty quickly. But, that last one might take some time," Ranger said with another chuckle. I sighed when I realized that I was amusing him again.
"You've got two hours," I said and then slapped my phone shut.
I had to smile when I saw a stunned Ranger look down at his phone from my post at the door. I just hung up on him. I guess he wasn't use to it. I turned from the door and looked at the three drunk men that were standing behind me.
"You should have demanded more beer," Simon said as he smiled at me. He was getting into my little game.
"If you do as I say, then I promise to get you more beer as soon as possible," I said as I motioned the guys back to the kitchen.
I froze when I saw Lester still slumped over in the chair. I slowly turned my head and looked over at Simon's dad and brother. They looked like they were so proud of themselves. I gave them a big grin and I thought about kissing both of them. That thought only lasted for a moment because I quickly realized how much shit we had just gotten ourselves into.
"It was his idea," Simon's brother said as he pointed at their dad when he noticed that I paled slightly.
"I'm not taking the blame for this one," their dad said as he put up his hands defensively. "I didn't touch a hair on that kid's head."
I looked from one man to the other very closely. I found all of the evidence that I needed after a few seconds of intense inspection. I stepped forward and pulled a clump of blonde hair off of Simon's brother's shirt.
"You are a dead man," Simon whispered to his brother.
"We're all dead if we don't get out of here," I said as I moved to the window in the living room. "It's only a matter of time before Ranger gets backup out here. He's determined to find out what happened this morning."
"Steph is right," Simon's dad said. "We need a plan to get out of here."
"I thought that we had one," Simon said. "I thought that we were going to run out the back door and hide in the woods until Steph came to get us."
"That's still part of the plan," I said as I watched Ranger through the window. He was pacing around as he talked on his phone. Probably gathering forces. "I just need to get Ranger to the front of the house."
"What about Baldy?" Simon asked as he pointed at Lester. He was going to freak out when he woke up. He loved his hair almost as much as he loved his motorcycle. And that said a lot. His Harley was his baby.
"Lester is dead weight," I said as I moved over to him. "But, we should have a little fun first."
I bent down behind Lester and picked up a bunch of the blonde hair that was laying on the floor. Once I felt that I had enough balled up in my hand, I moved to one of the living room windows that was on the back side of the house where Ranger was still standing. I pulled the blinds up and gave Ranger a smile and a finger wave. I took a very deep breath as I quickly unlocked the window and lefted in a few inches. Simon and I watched Ranger's blank face slip away when a smile appeared across his lips as he watched me release Lester's hair into the light breeze. I slammmed the window shut and locked it back up when Ranger took a step towards the window.
"When I tell you to, run out the back door," I said as I pulled the blinds shut.
"We got it, Steph," Simon said as he ushered his dad and brother towards the back door.
I popped open the front door and heard Ranger start to run around the side of the trailer towards me. I looked over my shoulder and said 'go' before I slipped out the front door. I caught sight of Ranger as I sprinted in the direction of my Tracker. He fell for my manuever and veered away from me in hopes of heading me off. He ended up being further away as I switched directions and headed towards the woods. I could hear him swear when he saw me change my course.
I disappeared into the woods and ran about a hundred feet back before I turned right. I could hear Ranger back in the distance swearing as he shouted for me. I smiled as I turned to the right again to head back around to where the Diggery's were suppose to be.
A minute later I slowed my running when I heard shouting. I veered further into the woods and crept up on a very bad sight. Tank, Bobby, and Cal had caught the Diggery's. I found a decent hiding place behind some bushes and got my breathing under control as I listened to Simon's brother tell Tank what had occurred in their kitchen this morning. Bobby was doubled over with laughter and Cal just stood there and shook his head sadly.
Shit!
I sat there and watched Tank release the guys and tell them to go back to the trailer and let Lester go. Well, at least I wasn't the only one bald now. That was a little comforting.
"Ranger?" Tank shouted.
"Yo!" Ranger shouted from somewhere over to my right.
"We got our intel," Tank shouted towards Ranger's location.
"Head out!" Ranger shouted back.
"Ten-four!" Tank shouted and then ushered the guys back towards the Diggery's.
"Babe!" Ranger shouted a couple of minutes later. "I know that you are still out here!"
I decided to stay silent. It might be the only way that I could get out of here without him finding me first. I crept further to my left in the direction on the street that the Diggery's trailer sat on. I could here traffic, so I knew that I couldn't be that far away.
"The guys already know," Ranger shouted. He sounded closer. "They'll just tell me once I get out of here."
I kept walking towards the road. I didn't want to see his face when he found out how stupid I had been. It was definitely not a proud moment for me. I wanted Ranger to always be proud of me and I knew that what I had done this morning would be beyond disappointing for him.
I had almost made it to the road when two arms came around my waist. I jumped slightly, but I knew that it was just Ranger. He tightened his grip around my waist when I tried to get free.
"Why are you still running from me?" Ranger whispered in my ear.
I froze at the tone of his voice. He sounded concerned and hurt. Those were two things that I wasn't use to hearing in his voice. I let him turn me around in his arms, but I couldn't look up at him.
"What's wrong?" Ranger asked quietly as he placed a finger under my chin and tilted my head up.
I looked up at him through blurry eyes. I really am a disappointment.
"You've never disappointed me, Babe," Ranger said as he tucked a curl behind my ear.
"You don't know what happened this morning," I whispered as I blinked to clear my eyes. I let the tears fall down my cheeks unchecked.
"Is it so bad that you can't tell me?" he whispered as he cupped my face, using his thumbs to wipe away my tears. "I thought that you could tell me anything."
Those words hurt more then the thought of disappointing him. I thought that I could tell him anything. But, I just couldn't bring myself to tell him how stupid I had been. I wrapped my arms around my chest and took a step back from him. The look on his face brought more tears to my eyes. He was already disappointed in me.
I turned around and ran for all that I was worth. I ran passed the Bronco, that was still idling next to Ranger's Porsche, without looking over. I jumped into my Tracker and was kicking up gravel in seconds as I peeled out of Simon's driveway. I had to get far way from there.
I switched myself onto autopilot as I drove back towards Trenton. I wasn't really sure where I was going, I just knew that anywhere was better then where I had just been. The look on Ranger's face was burned into my mind. I couldn't erase the look that he had given me. The look had been a mixture of disappointment and something that I had never seen before. I couldn't even figure out what it had been. It almost looked like he felt broken, or lost.
I looked out my window when I realized that I was no longer driving anywhere. I recognized the shabby row house and smiled. I should have known that I would end up here. This was the one place that I knew I could just be me and no one would ever judge me.
I got out of my Tracker and walked up to the front door. I walked right in, like I had so many times before. I plopped myself down on the couch in the living room and threw my feet up on the coffee table. The long, lean arm that came around my shoulders was comforting. I leaned into the warm chest that was next to me as I slipped my arm between the couch and his back.
"Bad day?" he asked after he dropped a kiss on my bald head.
"You have no clue, Dougie."
