Disclaimer: See ch. 1
Spoilers: Through 14
A/N: Thank you so so so much for all the wonderful reviews. And thanks to everyone who's still reading, you guys rock! I'm glad you're all into the piggy psycho stalker, and trying to guess who's seeing the other woman. Hope I can keep you speculating for awhile longer. Oh, yes, and some more Ghetto!Ranger in this chapter. Enjoy!
I was awake at some god-awful hour of the morning and for once I knew exactly what had woken me. My arms tingled in a way caused only by one thing in the world.
"Ranger?" I called softly.
"I'm here, babe." He was sitting in the chair that I kept in my bedroom. I could just make him out in the scant light filtering through my window from the parking lot. He was dressed in black jeans and a loose-fitting black t-shirt…well, loose compared to his usual painted on ones. Rambo Ranger had taken a day off. He rose fluidly and walked over to my bed. I shifted to a sitting position as he sat on the edge of it.
"Why are you here?"
His face was blank. He reached over to tuck a curl behind my ear but I moved out of his reach.
"Ranger?"
"Tank told me what happened today. The foot and the note." He watched me for a moment. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. You okay?"
I nodded. If I opened my mouth to speak right now I was pretty sure I'd end up sobbing. And I didn't want to do that, not in front of Ranger.
"Why didn't you let Tank take you somewhere safe?" If that didn't get rid of the urge to sob…
"I told you, Ranger, I'm not going to a safe house."
"You could have stayed in my apartment."
I closed my eyes. Like I wanted to stay there. What if his girlfriend showed up? But, no, he was with her, remember? I hadn't stayed there in awhile, what if I went to take a shower and there was her shampoo? That made me wonder what he'd done with the bottle I'd left there. Had she found it? No, she probably stayed with him in the Batcave. No impersonal office apartments for her. The thought made me unreasonably bitter. I flinched when Ranger touched my cheek gently.
"Babe, what's wrong?"
I opened my eyes. I was shocked at the amount of concern staring back at me from the depths of his dark eyes. It undid me.
"Did you listen to the tape?" I asked in a low whisper.
He shook his head. "I just got in. I came straight here."
I blinked rapidly while my heart thumped wildly in my chest. He'd come straight here? Well, then surely…
"Where were you, Ranger?" I knew that there was very a good chance he wouldn't answer me.
"Babe," he said. It was almost a question. 'Why are you asking?' or something like that. Then he surprised me. "I was with my family. My mother invited us all for the day. I couldn't get out of it."
I let out a breath I hadn't been aware of holding. But that didn't really prove anything. I took a deep breath. "Were you there with a date?"
"Babe?" It really was a question now. He scooted closer to me on the bed, but I scooted back, away from him. I couldn't stand to be that close to him when he told me…when he told me… "Tell me what's going on, Stephanie."
"He called," I began. "The psycho stalker." Ranger nodded for me to continue. "He…he said something like 'He's not there when you need him because he's with her.'" I took a big gulp of air. "It's…it's none of my business if you were…if you were with…"
He placed a finger under my chin and tipped my face up to his. "Babe." His voice and his face were deadly serious and I wanted to run, to hide, to be anywhere but here, with him, with what he was about to tell me.
He gritted his teeth, his voice coming out like a deadly whisper. "Maybe this guy's lying. Maybe he's making it up. I'm sure Morelli's not…I'm sure he wouldn't cheat on you."
Morelli? Morelli wasn't cheating on me? Did that mean…He hadn't answered my question. More than anything, I needed him to answer my question. It wasn't my business, I knew that. If he had been with a woman, I'd have to suck it up and pretend like I was happy for him. I'd have to hold the tears back until he walked out of my apartment…out of my life. Because I couldn't screw up Ranger's life like I'd screwed up my own. If he was with someone…if he was happy, I wasn't going to interfere. I would step back. I could do this…
"You need to talk to him, I'm sure you can work this out." He stood from the edge of the bed and stooped to pick up his gun belt. "I'll make sure there's a man on you at all times."
No! No, he was leaving and I couldn't make my voice work to ask him to just answer my question. I was panicking now, shaking with the fear that Ranger was walking out of my life for good.
"Bobby's on Steph-watch. He's in the parking lot," he said, and then he walked to the door.
I ran after him, unable to make my voice work around the lump in my throat. His ESP was clearly taking a day off also because he misread the panic in my eyes.
"It'll be fine, Steph. Morelli's a smart guy, he knows what he'd be losing. You'll work it out." Then he opened the door, took one last, long look at my face and left.
I stood there staring after him, my heart breaking into tiny little pieces. 'I don't want to work it out,' I wanted to scream after him, 'I just want you.' But he was already gone. I ran back to my bedroom, fell onto the bed and cried myself to sleep.
I woke the next morning with a terrible headache. It was like a hangover, only worse because I could remember the previous night with startling clarity. I was fairly certain both of the men in my life were seeing other women. Damn, Stephanie, you sure know how to pick 'em.
After my coffee and strawberry poptart, I decided that it was time to call Morelli. Denial could only take me so far. He answered his cell phone on the third ring.
"Morelli."
"Hi, Joe."
He took a deep breath. "Listen, cupcake, I'm really busy here at the office…"
"We need to talk."
"Sure, sure, we'll talk later." Then he hung up.
I stared down at the phone in my hand. What was it with the men in my life hanging up on me?
I sludged through the day, trying to pretend like everything was okay. I was pretty sure I was doing an okay job until I got to the bonds office and Connie gave me the once over.
"You and Morelli have a fight?" She asked. Connie could be far too intuitive at times.
"No, I'm fine." I pleaded with my eyes for her to just shut up. I couldn't deal with this right now.
She nodded slowly, then looked back at her desk.
"Nothing new, but Vinnie wants Donna Dernon." She looked up at me. "Today."
I groaned and turned to Lula.
"Hell no, girl. I ain't got no death wish. No way you're gettin' me within a mile of that apartment building."
I closed my eyes. Guess I'd just have to go after her myself. I had been going to ask Ranger to help me but…
The tingling started before I'd even reopened my eyes. I groaned inwardly and turned to face the door. Ranger strode in a moment later. His eyes found mine and softened perceptively.
"Babe."
Well, he was still calling me 'babe', at least. That had to mean something.
He looked at Connie, who nodded, then headed into Vinnie's office. I gritted my teeth and turned to the girls.
"I'll see you guys later."
Then I walked out to the Turbo and waited. Ranger came out ten minutes later and stopped in his tracks when he saw me.
"Babe."
I took a deep breath. "I could use your help with a skip."
He watched me for a moment, his blank face falling into place. "Who's the skip?"
"Donna Dernon," I told him.
His lips tipped up in his almost-smile. "Babe, Donna Dernon was arrested for robbery. She wasn't even armed. She's five foot nothing. You telling me you can't handle her?"
I wanted to hit him. Badly. I was fairly certain, however, that it'd hurt me more than it'd hurt him. Besides, I needed him on my side.
"Her I could handle, her six foot boyfriend and his .45, not so much."
His eyes narrowed and a muscle ticked in his jaw. "Boyfriend's interfering?"
I nodded.
"Good. Let's go. I'm going to show him what interference is."
Ranger parked the Turbo behind Dernon's apartment building and reached into the back seat. He pulled out two Kevlar vests and handed one to me.
"I don't think we'll need them, but it's better to be safe," he told me.
When we were both strapped in, he turned to me. "I don't suppose you have your gun."
I tipped my nose up. "Don't suppose I do."
He shook his head, a smile flirting with the edges of his lips. Then he reached into the glove compartment, pulled out a .38 and handed it to me.
"Is this mine?" I asked, looking back up at him.
He shook his head. "I keep hoping you'll bring it on your own." He laughed softly to himself. "Wishful thinking, I guess. I picked this one up for emergencies."
"This is an emergency?"
"You're my backup, babe. And my backup carries a gun."
I wanted to laugh. Batman doesn't need backup.
Ranger smiled gently. "I'm not Batman," he said. "And besides, Batman had Robin."
I followed Ranger up the stairs to the second floor. He stopped me with a raised hand just as we exited the stairwell.
"Stay behind me," he said quietly. "And follow my lead."
I nodded. Normally I'd argue, but things were weird with Ranger right now. I was lucky he'd agreed to help at all.
He stood just to the side of the door when we reached 208 and reached up a hand to knock.
"Who's there?" A gruff voice asked through the closed door.
"Me," Ranger said.
The door sung open and there was Chuck, gun in hand. "Who the fuck's me?"
Ranger reached out and did some cool martial arts move and grabbed Chuck's gun right out of his hand. There was a scuffle and some grunting and a few curses from Chuck and by the time I stepped into the apartment, Ranger had Chuck pinned to the wall beside the door.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Chuck yelled.
"I'm evening the odds," Ranger said in his deadly calm voice. "I like a fair fight. This two on one shit don't sit right with me."
"Now, this is between Stephanie and Donna. You gonna step in on your woman's behalf," he said with a shrug, "I'm gonna step in for mine."
There it was again, suddenly I was Ranger's woman. That reminded me; I had to ask him about that hands-off notice thing.
"This is bullsh…"
Ranger's grip must have tightened because poor Chuck winced and shut the hell up.
"Now here's how this is gonna go," Ranger said. "We're gonna stand here like calm, cool gentlemen and let the women sort this out. ¿Comprende?"
Ranger shoved the guy hard against the wall.
"Yeah, yeah, fuckin' comprende."
Ranger stepped back, keeping his eyes on the other man.
"Where's Donna?"
Chuck hesitated a moment. Ranger raised one eyebrow and Chuck caved. Fucking Batman.
"Okay, okay. Donna, come on out, baby."
There was nothing for a minute, then little Donna Dernon peeked her head out of the bedroom.
"Charlie?"
"C'mon Donna, we ain't got all day."
"But Charlie, you said…"
"Forget what I said. Fuckin' look at this guy." He nodded to Ranger. "You want this guy to fuckin' kill me?"
Donna shook her head, mouse brown hair swinging about her thin shoulders. "No, Charlie, no of course not."
"Then do what they say, damnit."
Donna's eyes moved slowly from her lowlife boyfriend to me.
"I'm Stephanie Plum," I said. "I work for Plum Bail Bonds. You missed your court date and I need to take you in to reschedule."
Her eyes sought Chuck's. He nodded vigorously.
"O…okay," she stuttered.
She walked towards me, her eyes never leaving Chuck. I almost felt bad cuffing her.
"Stephanie's gonna take Donna down to the car now. You're gonna stay here." Ranger tilted his head towards the door and I gently shoved Donna through it.
"Oh," Ranger said, holding up Chuck's .45, "and I'm taking this." He tucked the gun into his waistband and backed towards me.
"Go on, babe."
I walked Donna out the door, and down the stairs to the Turbo. Ranger joined us a minute later.
I looked over at him once we were all in the car. "Nice Ghetto Ranger."
His lips tipped up at the corners. "Babe." Then he revved the engine and pulled out of the lot.
I turned to Donna as we drove down Emery Road.
"Why don't you turn him in?" I asked.
She stared at me, eyes wide, mouth agape. "I didn't…he didn't…we…we…"
"Everyone knows," I told her.
"There's no…no proof," she gasped out.
I shook my head. They'd only found one set of prints, Donna's. I had been pretty sure before, but now that I'd met Donna I was certain. Donna Dernon could not have robbed that place on her own. She would have gotten to the locked door, said 'Oh, I guess it must be closed,' and gone home.
"He wore gloves, didn't he?"
Donna blinked back a few tears.
"Why didn't he tell you to wear gloves?"
"Som…someone had to take the fall," she whispered. "With his record…"
I rolled my eyes. "Why would you cover for him?"
She gasped like I'd said something crazy. "I love him."
I sighed. People did stupid things for love. I, for one, had spent three years in an unhealthy relationship.
"He let you take the fall," I told Donna quietly. "You don't do that to someone you love."
I turned back to look out the front window. Why did love have to be so complicated? Donna's life was shit, but my own wasn't much better. I was about to dump the only man I'd ever thought about marrying. I glanced over at Ranger. And the man I loved more than anything else was seeing another woman. I closed my eyes and settled back against the seat.
"I should turn him in," I heard Donna whisper a few minutes later.
We were all silent. Ranger was still in his zone. I had no idea what to say; of course she should turn him in.
"How do I turn him in?"
I turned in my seat. "You get a lawyer. If you're lucky, they'll be able to get you a deal; a shorter sentence in exchange for your testimony against Chuck."
"Charlie," she corrected me automatically.
"Whatever."
"I can't afford a lawyer," Donna said a few moments later.
And I knew how much those court appointed attorneys cared about what happened to their clients. I took a deep breath.
"Let me make a call."
Valerie answered on the second ring. "Kloughn, attorney at law."
"Val, I've got a client for you."
"Oh, Steph!" Valerie cried. "It's so good to hear from you. I heard about your car. How are you?"
"I'm fine," I assured her. "But listen, I was hoping you could give this client the family and friends discount."
"Umm, well, I mean business has been slow, so I guess discounted business is better than no business, but…"
"Can you ask Albert?" I said, trying to make my voice low so that Donna wouldn't hear me begging.
"Yeah, sure, Steph." She pulled the phone away from her mouth and I heard some Snookie Wookums going on. I tried hard not to vomit. "Snookums says he'll do it," Val told me a moment later.
"Oh, that's great Val, thank you so much."
"No problem, Steph."
"Could he meet us at the police station?" I asked. The sooner we got this show on the road, the less time Donna had to change her mind.
"Yeah, sure, he'll be there."
"Great, Val, I'll talk to you later." I hung up and turned back to Donna. "Good news, I got you Albert Kloughn."
Donna stared at me. "You got me a clown for a lawyer?"
I swear I saw Ranger smile before his 'zone face' slipped back into place.
I had Ranger park in the lot at the station so we could wait for Albert and Connie. Connie pulled in five minutes later and Albert was three minutes behind her. I climbed out of the car and opened the back door for Donna. I peeked in at Ranger.
"You gonna be here when I get out?" I asked with a grin.
His blank face didn't change. "Well, I don't know, I got this allergy…"
I slammed the door in his face. I could hear him laughing as I led Donna over to Albert and Connie.
I sat Albert next to Donna on the bench while Connie and I took care of getting her re-bonded. They seemed to hit it off immediately. Great, now just so long as Albert could keep his dick in his pants…I shelved that thought. Not all men were pigs, just the ones I was involved with.
"You can't go back to your apartment," I told Donna as we were headed back out to the lot. "You can't be involved with Chuck anymore."
She nodded and didn't even correct me on Chuck's name. Progress.
"Do you have somewhere else to stay?"
"I can stay with my mom," she said with a grimace. "She lives in the 'Burg."
Ouch. I feel you there, girl.
Albert promised to make sure Donna made it to her mom's after they stopped at his office. I smiled and waved goodbye and went to find Ranger.
He was leaning against the Turbo, a bemused look on his face.
"What?" I asked him.
He looked down at me. "I just had the weirdest conversation with Morelli."
"Joe?" I asked. "He was here?"
Some of the humor slipped off his face. "Yeah. He went around to the front door."
"He's avoiding me," I mused aloud.
Ranger just shrugged.
"What did he say?"
Ranger's eyes danced with a strange kind of mirth. "He offered a trade."
"What?"
Ranger shook his head. "He said 'I'm willing to make a trade. Let me know.' Then he walked off. Any idea what he's talking about?"
I shook my head.
Ranger shrugged once more, then ushered me around the car to my door. He slipped back into his zone as soon as we were moving, but my brain was stuck on Morelli's 'trade'. What the hell was that all about?
"Steph," Ranger said once we were halfway to the bonds office. I looked over at him. Must be serious, I thought. Ranger doesn't break his zone for just anything. "I put surveillance on Morelli."
Okay. Definitely not what I was expecting. Ranger was going to help me catch Morelli in the act? If I wasn't so horribly sure that he was seeing someone, I might think he was trying to get back in my bed.
"I thought you'd want to know, one way or the other."
I guess I did, now that I thought about it, but it wouldn't change anything. Morelli and I were over, he just didn't know it yet.
"Thanks, Ranger, but…"
"If you want to pretend like nothing happened and go back to your little 'Burg world, that's fine by me," Ranger gritted out. I could see the muscle tick in his jaw.
"Ranger, I…"
"It's none of my fucking business if he's stepping out on you and you want to ignore it. Denial always was your favorite kind of reaction."
"I'm not…"
"I'll just call the guys off."
"Godamnit, Ranger," I yelled. "Will you just shut up for one minute?" Ironic that the grand master of one word replies wasn't letting me get a word in edgewise.
His eyes flicked to mine. They were hard, black steel. He slid into a spot in front of the office, shut off the car and nodded once.
I took off my seatbelt so I'd have more room for Italian hand gestures. Batman was getting on my last nerve.
"You're right," I began, "it is none of your fucking business. My love life is none of your business. Not after…" I let the sentence die, not able to make myself admit out loud that he was seeing someone. He said nothing, so I went on.
"That point aside, it doesn't matter whether or not Joe is cheating." I watched Ranger's eyes narrow. His hand gripping the steering wheel tightened until the knuckles turned white.
"Because we're through. One way or the other, Joe and I are over."
Ranger blinked twice and his grip loosened.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm going over there tonight to break it off."
Ranger stared at me, his eyes so intense that it was making me nervous.
"What?" He finally muttered.
I glared. Batman wasn't usually this dense. "You heard me."
He shook his head infinitesimally. "Why?"
"What do you care?"
His eyes softened slowly as he continued to watch me.
"Why, babe?"
I looked down at my lap. It was shameful the way he could get to me. One whispered 'babe' and I was putty in his hands.
"I can't do it anymore, not to either of us. We don't love each other, not the right way." I glanced up at him and smiled wryly. "All kinds of love, remember?"
He said nothing.
"Well, this kind of love doesn't come with a ring, or a friendship, or happiness even. This kind of love comes with sex and beer and a whole lot of fighting, and I can't do it anymore."
I glanced back down at my lap so that I wouldn't have to see the pity on Ranger's face.
"You decide all this right now?" He asked.
I shook my head,
"When?"
I shrugged. "I guess it all started with Scrog. It kind of solidified a few days ago, though."
We were quiet for several moments and I contemplated getting out of the car.
Then Ranger spoke, "Why were you so upset, then? Last night, when you thought he was cheating on you?"
I raised my eyes slowly to his. Oh, God. Here it comes, the final blow to shatter my heart.
"I didn't," I said softly.
Ranger's eyes widened.
"Steph…"
"The stalker never said who he was," I whispered.
I'm pretty sure Ranger stopped breathing.
"Steph," he murmured. "You know I…"
"I know, okay? Believe me, I know. Just…don't."
I opened the car door.
"Steph, I…"
"Don't, Ranger. Just don't." I looked back at him once, then stepped out of the car. "I've got to go."
I ran to Big Blue and started the engine frantically. I made it halfway home before I had to pull over, my eyes so full of tears, I couldn't see.
A/N: No offense meant to any public defenders out there. I've never had any experience in the court system, so I just kind of made that part up to suit my purposes.
Oh, and sorry for the sorta cliffie...
Don't forget to let me know what you thought!
