Chapter Three
"You can't be serious." Helen Plum stopped what she was doing, stirring the small pot of potatoes boiling on the stove, and struck her daughter with a puzzled look. "You called off your wedding! You can't go on your honeymoon!"
"Why not?"
"That's not how it works." Mrs. Plum moved the pot of potatoes over to the sink to drain. "First you get married, then you go on your honeymoon…with your husband. You don't go alone after walking out on your wedding." As if a terrible thought had just occurred to her, Mrs. Plum turned suddenly to Stephanie. "You're not going with someone else, are you?"
"Of course not," Stephanie said, barely stifling a sigh. "Who would I go with?"
Mrs. Plum looked as if she was about to say something, but resigned her attention again to the potatoes.
"I'll only be gone for two weeks," Stephanie said. "Lula's taking care of my apartment and Rex while I'm gone. If you and Valerie could help sort the wedding gifts…"
Mrs. Plum sighed and gave a reluctant nod. "Bring them over and I'll store them in the garage," she said. "Are you staying for dinner?"
"Actually I was hoping I could stay here tonight. There was a fire at my apartment building and Tank thinks I should stay away for a while. That's the reason I'm taking a vacation in the first place."
Well, that and because I don't want to run into Joe anytime soon, Stephanie thought miserably to herself. She knew running into Joe would happen sooner or later, but it gave her comfort that she could avoid him for at least the next two weeks.
"Yes, of course you can stay here," Mrs. Plum said, shaking her head. She made a sign of the cross and Stephanie involuntarily cringed. Had she always been such a disappointment to her family? "Sometimes I don't know what on earth I'm going to do with you."
Stephanie awoke with a renewed fervor for life despite the rain pouring down outside her bedroom window. She had packed her bags the night before and set her bags beside her bedroom door. If she was lucky, she could make it out of the house without waking anyone up. Dinner the night before had been full of questions from her sister, mother, and Grandma Mazur. It was enough to send her to bed early with a headache. She wasn't looking forward to an early morning repeat of their interrogation.
Stephanie was so focused on the silence of early morning she nearly jumped out of her skin when her cell phone rang.
"Are you ready to go?" Lula voice asked over the line.
"Just about," Stephanie replied in a whisper. "Thanks for driving me to the airport. I owe you one."
"Save it for later. There's been a change of plans," Lula said. "Tank didn't think it was a good idea for you and me to be in a car together after what happened at your apartment, yesterday. He said if anything happens to you he'll be up shit creek without a paddle."
"Uh oh. Rangeman escort?"
"Yep," Lula said. "The man himself is on his way to get you right now. You better not blow him up, either. I'll be pissed off if you blow him up."
Stephanie laughed. She had never seen Lula so happy as she was with Tank; and though she didn't know Tank very well, she suspected he was happy, too.
Tank was waiting for Stephanie at the curb when she let herself out of her parent's house. She dragged her suitcase to the SUV he was driving and loaded it into the back seat. They had been driving in absolute silence for half an hour before Stephanie decided to say something.
"Ranger's okay with me taking a vacation?"
Tank didn't say anything, but Stephanie persisted.
"Hello? I asked you a question."
"Ranger doesn't know," Tank said finally.
"You didn't tell him?" Stephanie said after she'd picked her jaw up off the floor.
"I can't reach him. No one can."
A sudden surge of panic ripped through Stephanie quicker than a double shot of caffeine. "What is that supposed to mean? Is he okay? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Ranger dropped off the grid two days ago. No one knows where he went or why."
Stephanie could tell by the tone of Tank's voice that he knew just as she did that the reason why was because of her wedding.
The wedding that had never happened.
"Oh my god! He doesn't know I'm not married to Morelli!"
Tank shook his head.
"You don't think he went out and got himself killed do you?"
"Do you think Ranger would get himself killed?"
"No..." Stephanie admitted. "...but I've been wrong before."
Tank pulled into the departures lane when they reached the airport. He stopped the SUV and helped Stephanie inside with her bags. Her ticket was first class to Miami. She had a two hour layover there and then she would take a connecting flight to Paradise Island.
"I can't go past the security checkpoint," Tank said. "There's a GPS locator in your purse I want to keep with you at all times. Don't lose it. A man named Wes will meet you at your gate in Miami. Don't lose him either." Noticing the look on her face, Tank put a reassuring hand on Stephanie's shoulder. "Don't worry about Ranger. I'm sure he's fine."
Stephanie nodded. She knew Tank meant for the best, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong where Ranger was concerned.
"You don't think Ranger would do anything stupid do you?"
Tank measured his words carefully.
"No, I don't," he said. "But when it comes to you, Miss Plum, anything is possible."
A/N: Thanks to everyone for the kind reviews! Sorry about the long delay and the short chapter. RL is kicking my butt this month and I haven't had as much time to write as I would like.