Disclaimer: See ch. 1
Spoilers: Through 14
A/N: I want to thank you all, once again, for reading and reviewing. You guys are awesome! Sorry there's been a bit of a wait, real life has been busy. Here's the next chapter for your viewing pleasure!
It started to rain as I drove across town to my apartment. It was poetic, really, how the weather was mimicking my mood. Not only was I sad because I missed Ranger, but I was now afraid. It was a dark and stormy…afternoon…A clap of thunder illustrated my point nicely and brought me back to the present.
I thought of Mortars' note. I hoped it wasn't 'later' yet. I really didn't want to be caught at least until Ranger was home. Who was going to sweep in a save me?
I ran across the parking lot to the doors, but I was still drenched by the time I got up to my apartment. I unlocked the door and stuck my head in.
"Hello?" I called. "Anybody home?"
Nobody answered. I'm not sure if a psychotic, murderous stalker would have anyway. I walked into my kitchen and froze. I knew I'd seen that pink paper somewhere.
On my counter was a notepad full of bright pink paper. The top page contained one word in thick, black writing. I took a step closer.
Gotcha
I swung around and sprinted for the door. I think I was halfway to Rangeman before my brain started working again.
Shit. Mortars had been in my apartment, could still be there now. He was going to 'catch' me later. I wasn't sure I wanted to stick around for that. I wanted to be someplace safe and comfortable, somewhere with really great sheets. I wanted to be at Ranger's. I just wished Ranger would be there, too. I stopped that thought in its tracks.
I sped the rest of the way to Haywood, not knowing if Mortars had actually still been in my apartment, not knowing if he would follow me if he had been.
I parked in the garage and double timed it to the seventh floor. I didn't stop until I was standing in Ranger's entryway, the door locked firmly behind me.
My phone rang.
"Yo."
"Stephanie?" Tank asked.
"Yeah."
"Where are you? You took off so fast that Ram lost you."
Hm. Good to know I could lose a tail if I wanted to. I just hoped Ranger didn't decide to send Ram off to Tanzania.
"I'm on 7. You need to check out my apartment."
"Seven?"
I sighed. The big guy could be so slow. "The seventh floor," I told him.
"At Rangeman?" He sounded perplexed.
"Yes. Mortars left a note in my apartment, so I came here."
There was a long silence.
"Let me get this straight, you're putting yourself on lockdown?"
I looked around. Ranger's apartment, locked door. I guess I was.
"Yep."
Tank was quiet again, then, "I've got to write this down or something. No one's ever going to believe this."
I sighed. "Shut up, Tank. Oh, and don't tell Ranger I'm here, okay?"
Tank was laughing softly. "Wh…why not, bomber?" He managed to get out around the chuckles.
"Because he'd just get all smug and bigheaded." And because I wanted to tell him myself…that is, if he called again. Maybe I'd just be here when he got home. Bet he'd get a real kick out of that.
"Sure, bombshell," Tank said. Then he disconnected.
I put my phone and keys in the dish by the door and set my purse down next to it. Then I headed into Ranger's bathroom and stripped my wet clothes off.
The dilemma began as soon as I'd stepped into the shower. There was my old shower gel, right next to his bottle of Bulgari. I contemplated the meaning of this. Unless Ranger's new woman used the same shower gel as me, she had either never been in here, or she didn't exist. I kept my mind firmly planted on the second option. I was finally starting to realize that there wasn't much of a chance that Ranger would have a girlfriend and me not know about it.
I lathered up with Bulgari for comfort, and washed my hair with the lemony shampoo left over from the last time I'd stayed here.
I tried my hardest not to let the smell of Bulgari get me overheated, but it was no use. My mind had linked the smell indisputably with Ranger. I closed my eyes and let the warm, tingly feeling creep over me for a moment. Then I shook my head, stepped under the spray and rinsed off. The scent still permeated everything as I stepped out of the shower and dried off, but I tried to keep my feelings firmly planted in comfort and far, far away from doomsday orgasms. It just wouldn't do to be self-combusting in Ranger's bathroom.
I dressed in a pair of Ranger's sweatpants – rolled up about four times – and one of his hoodies. Some of my clothes were still in his closet, I'd noticed with a bit of a shock, but I really needed the Ranger-comfort at the moment.
I curled up on the sofa, flicked on the TV, and promptly fell asleep.
I came awake to the sound of the door opening and closing. I jumped up with a gasp just as Ella came around the corner.
"Oh, dear, I'm sorry, did I startle you?" She walked to the counter in the kitchen and set down a covered tray. "Pierre called and told me that you'd be staying here for awhile. I brought up some dinner."
It took me a moment to realize that Pierre was Tank. Ella smiled warmly at me and I couldn't help but smile back.
"Thank you, Ella. You really didn't need to."
"Oh, nonsense," she said with a slight wave of the hand. "I'm more than happy to do it. You're much more fun to cook for than Carlos." She grinned mischievously, then turned and walked to the door. "Call six if you need anything." She was gone.
I went over and uncovered the tray. Homemade macaroni and cheese. Yum. And chocolate cake. Double yum. Maybe I should have taken Ranger up on his offer to stay here in the first place.
After dinner I settled back down on the couch. I was watching 'Scrubs' and laughing my ass off when Tank called.
"We didn't find anything at your apartment, Bomber, just the note. Are you staying here tonight?"
"Yeah," I sighed.
"How long you gonna stay here?" He asked.
That was the question, really. Truthfully, I didn't have much intention of leaving until Ranger got home or they caught Mortars, whichever came first. Why would you want to leave when Ranger got home? One of the Stephanie's asked. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't really sure I was ready for the emotional rollercoaster which would inevitably accompany Ranger's return. Best if I deal with it on my home turf. Right.
"Steph?"
"I don't know," I told Tank.
Tank was quiet for a short moment. "Okay," he said.
I hung up with Tank and settled back in for another episode of 'Scrubs'.
It was starting to get dark inside the apartment when I finally snapped out of my TV-coma. I switched on a few lights and grabbed a bottle of water. I glanced at the clock. A little after nine. It was still a little early to be thinking about going to bed, but really, what else was I going to do?
I went through my bedtime routine; face washing, teeth brushing, hair combing. I exchanged my sweats and hoodie for one of Ranger's t-shirts, and climbed into bed.
I picked up my cell phone from where I'd put it on the nightstand and stared at it. Would he call again tonight? Or would he be too busy? I didn't get much farther into my musings before I was out like a light.
Stop that, I thought. Shut up, I'm sleeping. I rolled over and the sound got louder. My eyes slitted open and I stared around at the clock beside the bed. 11:30. The Batman theme song finally permeated my sleep-fogged brain and I reached down to retrieve my cell phone from under my hip.
"Yo," I mumbled into the mouthpiece.
"Babe, are you okay?"
"Mmmm," I hummed. "Mortars was in my apartment, but I'm good. I had chocolate cake."
"Babe," Ranger said, sounding distinctly frantic. "Babe, where are you? Can you talk to me, babe?"
"Sure, Ranger." I snuggled deeper into his heavenly sheets and let out a long sigh.
"Babe, you need to talk to me. Where is Mortars? You need to go somewhere safe. Babe, where are you at? I'll call Tank to come get you."
"Shhh," I told Ranger. "Everything's fine." I stuck my face in his pillow and inhaled deeply. "I was just sleeping."
I heard him take a deep breath and let it out. He sounded distinctly calmer when he spoke again. "Is Lester with you?"
I giggled softly. "No."
"Babe, who are you with?" His voice was low and even. He was probably picturing me with Morelli. It was laughable that he would even contemplate that. "Where are you?"
I sighed deeply. "I'm in your bed."
There was a long silence.
"Babe."
I grinned at the smug smile in his voice. "Don't get too self-righteous, Ranger. I didn't do it because you told me to. I came here because I was scared out of my mind."
"Babe," he murmured. "I have no illusions that what I say holds much sway over what you do. I just love the thought of you in my bed, in my clothes, using my shower."
I shivered. Damn, pretty sure my panties are ruined.
"How come you can call so much on this mission thingy? You never have before."
I heard Ranger laugh softly over the line. "Babe, usually I'm out in the middle of God-knows-where, with no electricity, never mind a cell phone. I'm staying in a hotel here, so I've got time at night to make calls."
"What do you do during the day?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Paperwork mostly. Some meetings. They've been trying to get me to reconsider my decision."
My heart stopped. "Are you?"
There was no hesitation. "No, babe."
We were silent for awhile and I wondered if we were done talking, but he hadn't hung up yet, so I took a deep breath and plunged in.
"Ranger."
"Babe."
Now or never, I told myself. If this went downhill, I could just claim not to remember the conversation. Exhaustion did funny things to people.
"Are…are you seeing anyone?"
The silence was palpable. I wanted to take back my question. I wanted to laugh and tell him that I'd been kidding, but there was no going back now, I'd have the truth. Whether I would like it or not was a whole other issue.
"Babe? Wha…why…"
Batman was at a loss for words. I would have laughed at the absurdity, but I was too afraid of what he would say when he found his tongue.
"Babe, what's going on?"
I closed my eyes. "Please answer the question, Ranger."
"No, Stephanie, I'm not seeing anyone. What gave you that idea?"
"I…I don't…I don't know," I admitted meekly.
Ranger's voice was soft when it came over the line a few moments later. "Babe, Stephanie, there's no one. There hasn't been anyone in a very long time. No one worth mentioning anyway."
I kept my mouth shut. For once, my curiosity could not beat out my common sense. I didn't want to hear about the ones 'not worth mentioning'. It hurt a little to even contemplate them. But then I'd been sleeping with Morelli for the past year while being in love with Ranger, so I had no right to talk.
"Okay," I whispered.
We were both silent for awhile, listening to each other breath.
"Babe," Ranger said softly. "I'll be home in a few days. Will you still be at my place?"
I didn't even really have to think about it. "Yes," I whispered.
"We'll talk then. I want to be able to see you, to touch you, when we talk, okay?"
I shivered. "Okay."
"Babe, I..." He sucked in a slow breath. "I've got to go."
I got the feeling that he'd changed what he'd been about to say.
"Okay."
"Sleep tight, mi corazón."
I snuggled back into the bed and closed my eyes. "Goodnight, Ranger."
I woke the next morning to the smell of bacon. I rolled over and opened my eyes. Ranger's room. Ranger's bed. No Ranger. Bacon?
I climbed out of bed and retrieved Ranger's fluffy black robe from the closet. I was pretty sure he'd never worn it; I just couldn't see Batman lounging around his apartment in a fluffy robe. Definitely Ella indulging herself, just like the Bulgari. Ranger just didn't have any taste when it came to the finer pleasures in life. Pleasures…hmmm…maybe he had a tiny bit of taste. Taste… I shook my head and walked out to the kitchen.
Ella was there, setting the table for one. She looked up as I shuffled in.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear, did I wake you?"
I stifled a yawn. "It's okay, Ella."
She smiled. "I brought breakfast."
"Bacon?" I asked hopefully.
She pulled the cover off the dish on the table. "And eggs," she said. "And toast. I made the bread myself."
"Ella," I sighed. "You're a saint."
She giggled like a school girl and showed me the butter and jam for the toast.
"Should I bring lunch a bit later, dear?"
"Oh, no, Ella, you don't have to. I don't think I'll be here," I said quickly. Well, I hoped I wouldn't be here; I had places to be, things to do. It really all depended on whether or not I could sneak out without Tank catching on. I was sure now that I was here, he had orders to keep me here.
She smiled kindly and patted my shoulder.
"Dinner, then. Any special requests?"
I grinned. "Dessert."
I ate quickly after Ella left. It felt strange to eat alone. I ate alone all the time at home, but for some reason it was weird eating in Ranger's apartment without Ranger. Which was odd, since the only other time I'd stayed here, it had been without him.
I dressed in one of the Rangeman uniforms that I'd left in his closet from when I worked here. I groaned as I pulled on the matching bra and panties. Ella was so obsessed with that embroidering machine, I was surprised the toilet paper didn't say Rangeman. If Ranger called, I decided, it was probably best not to tell him that I had his name stamped onto my most private parts. He'd probably make some suggestive comment and my hormones would be thrown into overdrive. I moaned. Too bad I'd worked myself up just thinking about it.
Once I'd managed to cool my thoughts, I gathered my purse, keys, and cell phone, and headed out the door. And promptly tripped over something large and solid blocking the hallway.
"Hey, watch it," the large lump groaned.
I looked up from where I'd landed on the floor and saw Lester hauling himself up.
He reached down and pulled me to my feet.
"Were you…were you…" I spluttered, indignation making my head spin. "How long have you been there?"
He glanced down at his watch. "Oh, only about two hours. Bobby's shift ended at 0700."
I stared at him. "You…"
His hands went up in the universal signal for surrender. "Woah, woah, woah, bomber. I just do what the boss-man tells me. Take it up with him."
"Tank," I muttered. "He thinks I need a guard dog? Well, I'll show him."
Lester was shaking his head. "Not Tank, beautiful. Ranger."
I blinked up at him. "Ranger?"
He nodded.
My heart kicked up a beat and my eyes widened. "Ranger's home?"
Les took a quick step towards me. "Oh, no, bombshell. I'm sorry. No, Ranger called last night and ordered a watch on his door. Said we were to keep you in sight as soon as you left the apartment. I guess he was afraid you'd make a break for it."
My heart pitter-patted back down to normal. After our little talk last night, I was torn over whether or not I wanted Ranger to be home. I missed him like crazy, but if he was home I'd have to deal with my feelings and the fact that he didn't have a girlfriend…and his life might now lend itself to relationships. I wasn't sure I was ready for that.
Lester was watching me with something akin to apprehension on his face. It's the look people get when they know my car is about to explode. "Make a break for it?" I gasped in outrage. "I put myself on lockdown."
"Yeah." Les shrugged. "I think Tank tried to explain that to him."
I huffed out a breath and walked to the elevator.
"You're not going to try to escape, are you, bombshell?"
I turned and glared at him.
"Right." He nodded and followed me to the elevator.
We took the elevator to five and Lester followed me past Vince, Hal, and Woody at the monitors, through the maze of cubicles, and down the hall to Tank's office.
I opened the door without knocking.
Tank looked up from his paperwork. "Why, come in, Stephanie, please make yourself at home." I didn't appreciate the sarcasm, but I let it go. There were bigger fish to fry.
"Guard dogs outside the door, Tank?"
"It was the boss's idea."
"And you couldn't talk him out of it?"
He sighed. "You know the boss, Steph. Once he gets an idea into his head, its damn near impossible to convince him otherwise."
Not impossible, I thought with an internal grin. I bet with the right kind of motivation…
I shook my head and focused back on Tank.
Les had folded himself into one of the chairs on the other side of the room and was watching us with a bemused expression.
"Anything new on Mortars?" I asked. Clearly the guard dog discussion wasn't going anywhere.
Tank watched me for a moment, clearly put off by the abrupt change in subject. Then he nodded. "His prints were on both notes; the one from your apartment and the one from your car. So we know it's him."
"We already knew that," I said with a groan, sinking into a chair.
"Now we know it for sure, bomber."
I nodded reluctantly. "What else?"
Tank looked down at the papers in front of him, clearly avoiding my eyes. "Not much." He glanced quickly up at me. "But we will find him, bomber. I promise you that."
"I want to help," I told him.
"Now, Steph, I…"
"I'm not going to just hide out here and do nothing. Mortars has just as much reason to want you and Bobby and Lester dead, not to mention Ranger. None of you are hiding out. Let me help, Tank. I've got good instincts." I remembered Ranger telling me that. He'd been proud of me. No one was ever proud of me. I felt a warm hand squeeze my heart.
"Can't argue that," Lester piped up.
Tank glanced between the two of us. Finally, his eyes fell on me.
"Fine."
I smiled and jumped up.
"But only searches for now," he said quickly. "Until we know more, I think you should stay in the building."
"Thank you, Tank. Thank you, thank you, thank you." I bounced around the desk and wrapped him in a hug. He returned it after an awkward moment.
"Now, where do I start?" I asked, pulling back to grin up at him.
He groaned.
Ten minutes later we were standing in front of the door to Ranger's office.
"Your old cubicle has been reassigned. We don't have any empty at the moment. You'll have to use Ranger's office."
My eyes widened and I swallowed hard. My gaze tracked to the small silver plaque on Ranger's door.
Ricardo Carlos Manoso, CEO
"Ranger's office? Oh, I couldn't…" Probably he'd find out and ship me right off to Tanzania with Ram.
"Forget it, bomber," Lester said from behind me. "It's exactly what Ranger would want. This way the man knows exactly where to find you. Hell, he probably has some kind of panic button so he can lock the room down if he thinks you're in trouble." He laughed softly.
I turned back to Tank, but he just shook his head.
"No arguments, bomber," he said. "And probably there's no panic button. You want to help, you're using the boss's office."
I bit my lip and nodded slowly. Tank was right, probably there was no panic button. "Alright."
An hour and a half later, I'd turned up nothing useful.
I had an address which didn't exist, a phone number which was out of service, and an emergency contact from Alabama with an Indian accent and no idea who Edwin Mortars was. Crap.
I slumped back in Ranger's oversized computer chair and tapped my fingers on the armrest.
My next step would normally have been to talk to the guy's known associates. But I was stuck inside the building until further notice, and Mortars' known associates were drug dealers; not exactly the 'Burg soccer moms I was used to.
Maybe I should just leave this up to the guys.
No. I'd never given up on a skip. And this might not be a skip, but there was no way I was going to hide out and let the Rangemen take care of it.
I took a deep breath and ran a search on Gene Trotter, the lead cocaine dealer.
Jeez, this guy was a real nasty piece of work. Three murder accusations, none of which stuck; embezzlement charges, which he'd gotten off on; six counts of assault; one rape accusation; three counts of possession with intent to distribute. I wondered how this guy was still allowed to roam the streets. If I was Mortars, I wouldn't want him after me either.
There was a list of Trotter's known associates and enemies – the wonders of Rangeman technology. The only name I recognized on the associates list was Mortars, but I had heard of a few on the enemies list. They were all known drug dealers. All related to what I knew to be the biggest drug cartel active in Trenton. At least now I knew why Rangeman wanted Trotter out. I remembered Ranger telling me that there was a system in Trenton. One group took care of gun-running, another handled money laundering. The cartel made their business in drugs. They didn't like interlopers. If Trotter thought he was getting in on the drug business in Trenton without the cartel's approval, he had another thing coming. Like a street war. Like Ranger had said, Trotter was about to start some 'real bad shit'. Shit.
But that part wasn't my problem. I wasn't stupid enough to step between a drug dealer and a cartel. Let the Rangemen handle that. Mortars was my only concern.
If Mortars was still after us, that meant that Trotter hadn't found out about his ratting yet. If he had, Mortars would either be on the run, or learning to swim with a bullet in his brain.
That meant that if I could find Trotter, I'd find Mortars.
I shivered. I wasn't real fond of the idea of looking for a drug dealer, especially one with Trotter's background. But, hey, a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do, right?
A/N: Thanks for reading! Gotta love Frantic!Ranger and Jealous!Ranger asking her who she was with.
Don't forget to let me know what you thought!
mi corazón – my heart
