Chapter 26

I stalled in the bathroom of the motel for a few minutes and then told Lou I was ready to leave. Since I'd been unable to see anything when we drove here, I was unsure where we were or even what type of car we'd been in. Lou led me to his rental car – it was clearly a rental because the rental agreement was lying on the front seat. The name on the rental agreement was 'Federico'. I was trying to decide whether Lou had rented the car under a false name or if the Federico family had discovered their rental car stolen. When Lou turned onto a main street, I could see the Bernadine Hotel in the distance ahead of us.

My stomach clenched when we pulled into the parking lot. I hate doing things like this. More than my safety was at stake. There was the baby to think about, and Joe and even Lou. I said, "Joe said for us to pull around to the back lot. That's closer to our friends' hotel room." Lou obediently pulled around to the back. I saw no police cars, but I did notice an unusual number of people sitting in their cars in the lot and presumed they were officers stationed here for the takedown.

Joe was leaned against a tree, hipshot with his long legs crossed at the ankle. I knew he had a gun under his jacket. His face looked hard and dark. "There's Joe!" I said with appropriate love and excitement in my voice. I looked at Lou. "I'm going to go tell him 'hi' and then he'll come meet you in the car. Um, it was nice to meet you." Thinking my mother would be proud of me for remembering my manners, I turned to leave. For the first time, I noticed there was no handle on the inside of my door. I couldn't get out.

When I turned back to look at Lou, his face was transformed. His features had sharpened and he had a handgun pointed at me. "I don't want to hurt you, so don't do anything stupid, Stephanie." Joe was watching the car cautiously and he knew something was wrong when I didn't get out. He reached up and dragged his fingers through his hair. I realized this was to cover up the fact that he was talking into the communication wire he must be wearing. I made eye contact with Debbie Morgan. She was standing in the window of their 4th floor room and watching the scene unfold. I'm sure the Morgan's room was the command center and she would have heard Joe's report. She had her hands folded in what I sincerely hoped was a prayerful stance. We needed all the help we could get.

"Lou? What are you doing? You pointing a gun at me isn't going to make Joe very happy. You need to be able to talk to him and he's not going to be very cooperative if he's mad, you know. He may not give you the information you want."

"Shut up, Stephanie. I'm going to tell you how this is going to go. I need to get Joe in the car - unarmed. When I have him, you can go. He's getting a little too close to some very sensitive information about me and I can't let him get the rest of the way there or it could be bad news. Besides, I won't ever get Terri back if he's still alive and kicking. She's in love with him, remember?"

"I thought you just wanted to know where she was. Were you trying to trick me?" Rage was boiling inside me. At the same time, I was terrified for Joe. I couldn't let Lou freakin' Gilman kill Joe. His ex-wife already shot him in the ass once, for goodness sakes. "If you think you are going to get away with this, Mister," I said, shaking my finger in his face and raising my trembling voice, "you are sadly mistaken." I realized just as the last words parted from my lips that I'd morphed into my mother. While I admire my mother for many things, I wish I could have morphed into Wonder Woman instead. I didn't think we needed a pineapple upside down cake at this moment, but I could have used the ability to deflect bullets and a bit of super-human strength.

During this exchange, I'd backed all the way against the passenger side door and had pulled my legs up between us – I guess it was my way of putting something between the baby and Lou for protection. I had started to sniffle and was fighting tears when I saw Morgan standing at the back corner of the parking lot. I couldn't see Joe from this position. I wasn't sure how Lou would react to tears, but I decided to just let hormonal rage work for me instead. Just when he started to open his mouth to give me instruction, I lost it.

My right foot made a hard direct score to his jaw. I felt more than heard his teeth snap together sharply. He was stunned enough that I then was able to just reach across and take the gun from his hand. I apparently had snapped his jaw shut on his tongue or his lip or something and he was briefly incapacitated and muttering indiscernible words. I couldn't exactly cover the baby's ears, but I think if Lou had been able to speak clearly, I would have needed to.

Seeing the exchange, Joe was at my door in a flash and Morgan was at Lou's. There were about 10 other guys encircling the vehicle, too. I had the gun, but still couldn't get out of the car. The doors were locked and I had no door handle. When Lou regained control of his senses, I saw his eyes widen as he noticed all the guns trained directly on him. "Open the door, Gilman," Morgan growled. Lou just sat in stunned silence. He didn't make a move. I wanted to turn around and look at Joe, but I could feel him silently willing me to pay attention and keep my eyes and the gun on Lou.

"What happened?" Lou asked, with a wide-eyed innocence, like he had worn earlier while convincing me he was the harmless kidnapper.

"Forget it, Bud. You lost your chance. Open the door and face the music." Maybe I am Wonder Woman after all. He clicked the locks open and I felt Joe open my door from the outside and then pull me backwards until I was out of the vehicle. As other officers moved into place to close the gap in the circle Joe's absence would create, he scooped me up in his arms and carried me deliberately toward the hotel with long strides. "You can put the gun down, Cupcake, I've got you." I held the gun steady, however, all the way inside. He took it from me gently after nestling me into a chair in the inside hallway. Debbie Morgan was there waiting as well.

Joe knelt in front of me and looked me in the face for the first time. "You okay?"

I don't know how long I'd been holding my breath, but it all came out in a big whoosh. A couple of deep breaths later, I managed, "Yeah. I'm fine. I can't believe I got the gun away from him like that. I didn't even plan it really. He just really pissed me off."

Joe smiled, "Remind me not to do that."

Debbie Morgan spoke for the first time. "Stephanie, there's an agent upstairs that needs to take a statement from you when you feel like you can."

"Go with Debbie, Cupcake. I'll be there as soon as I can. I need to try to get some answers from Gilman while he's in the mood to talk." Joe leaned in and pressed his forehead against mine for a minute or two. His hands were on my knees and I could feel him shaking all over. He gave me a quick kiss. I knew from experience that the adrenaline rush would wear off from both of us soon and we would probably collapse after that.

"Don't be gone long okay, Joe? I need you." I don't usually express feelings like that, but I had to tonight. I do need him. I need him bad.

He straightened, took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and walked back outside where I could see them loading Gilman in a squad car.

I let Debbie lead me to the elevator and then to her room where I gave a statement. I couldn't decide if Lou Gilman was crazy or calculating. Either way, I was exhausted. I resumed my position on the extra bed in the Morgan's room and Debbie thoughtfully covered me with a blanket. She continued to tell me how worried Joe had been and how she admired the way he handled himself when making plans for the take-down. She turned the TV on to a late-night talk show rerun and we both quieted down and dozed.

Joe and Morgan returned around 1:15 a.m. When he woke me, Joe looked tired but somehow relaxed. He helped me with my coat and told the Morgan's goodnight. We drove in silence to the Bed and Breakfast. "We're going to stay a couple more days, Cupcake. Your Mom says they'll take care of Rex and Bob. We'll change your flight tomorrow. "

I was so relieved. I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet, especially after tonight. Once safely inside our cottage, Joe helped me out of my clothes, with no apparent lascivious intent, and put me to bed nude. He took off his own clothes and climbed in next to me. It was dark and warm and we were skin to skin from head to toe. "Stephanie, I was terrified tonight. I can't tell you how scared I was when I realized you were gone." His voice was husky with fatigue. He was holding me tightly.

"I'm okay. I promise. Did you learn anything from Gilman?"

Joe sighed, he didn't want to talk about it tonight but he knew I probably wouldn't drop it until he did. "Yeah. He was happy to talk once he realized he was in custody and I wasn't going to take him out in the woods and beat him to death." I sort of giggled about that statement.

"What did he say about Jeri Stephenson's death?" I propped up on my elbow so I could see Joe's handsome features in the moonlight.

"He started with some line about how it was an accident, and then switched to saying he didn't know anything about it. Stupid. He finally confessed but indicated that Grizolli ordered the hit and he was just following orders. I know that isn't true. We've confirmed too many facts about the operation now. The Genieve family was in charge at that time. If anyone ordered a hit, it was them. Apparently, back then Grizolli was lending money and muscle to the joint venture but didn't have much pull in the overall scheme of things. We're going to give him overnight to think about it. Morgan told him to consider his options and tomorrow if he doesn't tell the truth he's going to give me an hour alone with him off premises. I think he knows that wouldn't be a pleasant experience." Joe looked me in the eyes at this point. He pulled my face down to his for a kiss and then said, "Cupcake, let's get some sleep. I'm dead." He didn't have to ask me twice.

I slept great until Joe Jr. started doing a tap dance on my bladder at dawn. I slipped quietly into the bathroom, hoping not to disturb Joe. I tried to convince myself that yesterday had all been a dream. I snuggled back into Joe's warm body and fell back into a sound sleep.

When I woke again, Joe had shifted his body and was lying on his back, with his head wedged between my breast and my baby bulge. He had his arm flung up over his head and curled around my tummy, protecting the baby, it seemed. He was whispering to the little guy. "I was so scared something was going to happen to you or your mom. Usually it is her job that gets her in these scrapes. I can't believe this happened. I'm telling you, it was really dumb of your old man to take on this assignment. I will never do something like this again. I promise. You and your mom are too important to me to do it. It's bad enough that I'm a cop and that means there's always a chance something could happen to me. Your mom's job is dangerous, too. Crap. What if something had happened to her?" Joe's voice was a little tremulous. He doesn't get emotional over much, but my safety, and now that of the baby could do it in a heartbeat.

"I was just six when my dad died. That's okay. He wasn't a very good guy. I want to be a good dad to you. I want to teach you stuff. You know, how to be a good person. My dad, well, he wasn't a good person, really, and he was a lousy dad and an even worse husband. I haven't been a great husband. I left your mom and you all alone after just two months. I'm going to be a better husband and I'm going to try to be a good dad, too."

I wanted to stop him from beating himself up, but I knew he needed to process – to just talk to Joe Jr., so I just stayed quiet.

"There's stuff you need to know to get by in life. Things like how to catch a fly ball and throw a football are important, but they don't make the man. You'll learn that stuff, too, but you need to know how to treat people with respect and dignity. Especially women. Your grandma, she is a tough old broad. She raised me on her own and she taught me a lot of stuff about how to read people. Women are different, Buddy. I mean it's like they are from a different universe. I don't mean just their bodies, but those are different, too, you know? Not bad different either. Good different. Girls have this hinge at their waist that guys don't have. That's why they can wiggle their butts like that and totally erase your brain. You have to learn look beyond that, though, once you can. I just want to be there for you to talk to when it's time.

"It's okay to have your brain erased once in a while when you are young, but you have to learn to control it. It's harder for some of us to learn it, but you'll get there. Your mom, she can still blank me right out with just a look. I don't understand it. I've known her all my life, but she's the only one who ever made that kind of an impression on me. Of course, I didn't know she was the only one because almost any girl can make a temporary impression. The time wasn't ever right, you know? We just weren't meant to be together until the last few years. You'll know when it's right. Everyone always told me that, but I'm telling you, that butt wiggle thing can really get you off course sometimes."

I was trying so hard not to giggle at some of these comments.

"Girls are tricky. They don't say what they mean. They tell you to go away when they mean 'follow me' and they say they don't want anything when they want it all. You'll have to learn this on your own. I can tell you lots of things but you will still have to learn it on your own, just like the rest of us knuckleheads. There are a lot of mysteries surrounding them. They can take their bras off without taking their shirt off. What's up with that? You'll see.

"It's okay to be a horndog for a while. Just breathing makes guys horny. You will never learn what does it for girls. Green M&M's don't make girls horny. But you'll try it anyway. Girls don't like loud cars and guys yelling nasty comments at them, but you'll still do it. I don't know why guys are so stupid, but we all are.

"Women are not just grown up girls, either. They get more complicated the older they get. And they carry scars. When you find the right one, you will pay for the sins of that every guy she was with before you. She won't mean to make you but it'll happen anyway. Your mom, that idiot Dickie cheated on her and demeaned her. She doesn't trust me now because of him. She can't help it. She knows in her heart that I'd never do that to her, but she was hurt before and it haunts her. She just can't give in. She's got to be independent because she is afraid she'll have to be on her own again sometime. I think that's why she gets all mad and freaked out when I try to get her to quit her job. I just want her to be safe. I don't care if she works – she can work – she's really smart – she could do anything she wants to do, but she doesn't want anybody telling her what she can and can't do. I get that. I just want her safe. Last night was the first time my job ever put her in danger. She can usually find the lunatics all on her own." Joe chuckled.

I put my hand on his chest, just to let him know I was awake. He turned his head and smiled at me. "Morning, Cupcake. Sleep okay? Joey and me were just having our first father / son talk. He doesn't have many opinions, yet, does he? Maybe he'll talk a little more in a few years."

I just smiled, not wanting to trust my voice yet.

The next two days were wonderful. We talked, walked, and made love. And of course, we ate. We both love food. We found some great places to eat and had a fun time joking and planning the future. I was getting homesick for Bob and Rex and Joe was ready to get back to work and wrap up the case. Lou had come clean with Morgan so Joe hadn't even had to put in an appearance at the Police Station.

With Jeri's murder solved, the only part of the operation left open was the criminal activity linking organized crime with imported vehicles. That means I will be going home for Christmas all alone, but Joe should definitely be home in time for the baby to come.