Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing.
This chapter has a very mild smut warning.
Trial no.6
"She got him!" Stephanie burst into Ranger's office, stopping when she found it silent and empty. "Ranger?"
She turned around and went into the neighboring office instead. "Tank, have you seen Ranger?"
"In the wind."
"How long for?" she asked.
"Maybe a week. Problem?"
"No. It's just that he didn't… never mind. I'm going out to meet the girls. Call me if you need me."
"Sure thing."
o0o0o0o0o
Stephanie walked into the bonds office an hour later carrying a large box wrapped with a wide yellow ribbon, a couple of bottles of wine and a stack of paper cups.
Lula looked up from where she was lounging on the couch reading a copy of Cosmopolitan. Connie was probably the source of the noises coming from the store-room.
"I bring cake," Stephanie announced, brandishing the box.
Lula threw down her magazine and joined Stephanie at the desk, where she opened the box to reveal a large sheet cake covered with roses and frosting.
"Happy Birthday," Lula read out loud. "Why exactly are we eating birthday cake?"
"Because 'Well Done' wouldn't have been ready till Wednesday and Connie should have her 'well done' today," Stephanie replied. "Connie, get out here, I brought you cake!"
Connie popped her head out of the store-room. "Why?"
"Because you're halfway through! Five down, five to go. I say we eat cake, drink wine and go shopping."
"I'm in," Lula said immediately.
Connie looked dubious. "I shouldn't really go out shopping. What about the office? I was already out most of yesterday finding Picket."
"Is Vinnie in?" Stephanie asked.
"Yeah."
"So the office is covered. Just take your cell with you. We need to celebrate."
Connie shrugged. "What the hell. I'll get a knife."
She disappeared into the storeroom and came back with an antique samurai sword, which she used to carefully cut the cake into slices. She looked up to find Stephanie and Lula staring at her. "What? I'll clean it afterwards."
Stephanie just shrugged and poured wine into three paper cups then handed them out. She raised her cup in Connie's direction. "To Connie. Great job." Lula followed suit and they each drank a large slug of wine and took a slice of cake.
"Good cake," Lula mumbled through a large mouthful of sponge.
"Beauty of birthday cake. It tastes good whatever the occasion. More wine?" Stephanie held the bottle out in her direction.
Lula nodded and held her cup out.
o0o0o0o0o
When the cake and the wine were all finished they got up to go shopping. Lula hauled herself up from the couch and wobbled sideways, banging her hip on the desk and knocking the filing trays to the floor with a clatter. They realized that they were in no fit state to drive to the mall.
"Shouldn't drive, not really," Stephanie said.
"But I wanna go shopping," Lula objected. "it's part of my human rights. I have a right to shop."
"Taxi!" Connie announced, and waved the phone book around in unsteady circles. She called a local taxi firm and ordered the taxi, trying not to slur, then came round to the couch and flopped down on it. "On their way. Problem solved."
Lula's copy of Cosmo was still open on the seat next to her, and her eye was drawn to the article on the open page. "Good God! Is that even possible?"
Lula and Stephanie both looked at the page in question.
Lula snorted. "Possible, yes. Comfortable, no. All the blood runs to your head and you get a headache for a couple of hours. And your neck hurts after a while too. Women ain't built to put all their weight on their neck for so long. I still get a crick in my neck in cold weather after having to do that once too often."
"Oh, I don't know, depends on if the guy's strong enough to hold you up properly, then it's good," Stephanie said with the lack of guile that comes with several glasses of wine.
"You done that? Damn, girl! Officer Hottie's more creative than I gave him credit for. Stronger, too."
Stephanie looked furtive for a moment, then fixed on Connie. "Connie, I can't believe you're shocked by something in Cosmo. You've seriously never done anything like that?"
"Is there anything that I can say that would stop you asking?"
"Nope. Spill it," Stephanie said firmly, and Lula nodded behind her.
"Okay, fine. No. Never. I'm a sheltered princess. My family would be happier if I didn't work at all; it took them years to settle down to the idea of me working for Vinnie. As far as this goes?" Connie waved the magazine, "No man I've ever dated would have dared even suggest something like that."
"Damn. You been missin' out," Lula commented.
"Yeah, but at least my neck still works. Now can we move on?"
Stephanie shrugged. "Okay, new subject. Hal."
"No! No no, no no no! Different subject."
Stephanie grinned and raised a hand for Lula to high-five. "We're ready to talk about it whenever you are."
A car horn honked outside the bonds office and Connie breathed a sigh of relief. "Taxi's here. Let's go."
She grabbed her jacket and purse and headed for the door as fast as she could before they could continue the interrogation.
o0o0o0o0o
As soon as the taxi was underway, Stephanie and Lula started planning their shopping trip like a military campaign.
Connie was starting to quail at the thought trying more clothes on. "Maybe this is a bad idea. I should go back."
"No excuses, girl, you're going. It's time we found you another dress anyway," Lula said.
"No more spandex! I might not have to do any more distractions anyway."
"How about a date dress?" Stephanie asked.
"But I don't have a date."
"You might soon, though."
Connie gave her a sharp look, and Stephanie schooled her face to RangeMan blankness. "Just buy a dress to celebrate, then. Something to make you feel good."
"All right, I'll look."
o0o0o0o0o
Connie was standing behind Lula and Stephanie, watching them rifle through a rail of dresses with practiced speed, when the hairs at the back of her neck prickled. She felt as if someone was watching her. She looked around the store curiously, not quite sure if she was imagining it.
It was the middle of the week, so the store wasn't particularly crowded. There were two middle aged women quietly debating the merits of a navy pantsuit in the next aisle. Near the entrance a young mother was trying to break her toddler's death grip on the hem of a floral dress that he had grabbed on the way past and was determined to keep. A bored looking husband sat on a chair in a corner waiting for his wife to hold out her next choice for his opinion. A few other customers of various descriptions were scattered around, all engaged in the business of looking, touching, choosing. A bored store clerk stood behind the counter, chewing gum and examining her manicure. No-one was paying any attention to her.
She turned away from Stephanie and Lula to take a better look around the store, taking in the entrance and the wide walkway that led to menswear. There she caught sight of a large red-headed figure with his back to her, sauntering away. She felt a flare of alarm but tamped it down quickly. It could have been anyone; she was just jumping at shadows.
She shook her head and turned back to Stephanie and Lula.
Lula had found another one of her scraps of spandex, this time in a lime green color that would trigger a migraine in anyone within three feet of it.
Stephanie was shaking her head vehemently. "Lula, lime just doesn't work with my coloring, it washes me out. You know you can carry off the strong colors so much better than me."
Connie smothered a grin. Effective use of tact and compliment, maybe 5.8 for style, 5.6 for execution.
Lula turned to her instead.
Connie held her hands up and shook her head violently in turn. "No. Remember, we agreed no more spandex."
Lula sighed. "I'm wastin' my time. You two are just never gonna have my sense of style, are you?"
o0o0o0o0o
Stephanie and Lula finally managed to tag-team Connie into another purchase. This time she did a better job of sticking to her guns and ended up with a dark green, bias-cut dress that skimmed over her curves and a cream cardigan to cover her shoulders.
"I like the green," Stephanie said. "It suits you." Then she continued in a stage whisper to Lula, "Hal likes green too."
Connie glared at her. "Do I have to shoot you to make you drop this?"
"I was just saying. Jeez, no need to get cranky." This time Stephanie held her hand out behind her back for a low-five from Lula.
Connie ground her teeth together. "Where next?"
"Shoes!" Lula announced. "You need shoes."
"But I have shoes."
"Bite your tongue, girlfriend. You can never have enough shoes," Lula said. "Now let's see what we can find you."
Stephanie and Lula dragged her to the nearest shoe store and the process started all over again.
o0o0o0o0o
While waiting for a pair of beaded sandals to be brought out to her, Connie got the prickling feeling again and craned her neck to look around the shoe store. This time Stephanie and Lula noticed her reaction.
"What gives, girl?" asked Lula.
"Don't know, probably nothing. I've just got this feeling like we're being watched. Oh hell, ignore me, I'm being stupid."
"Forget it? No chance. If something feels wrong, it probably is. This kind of thing has happened enough times to me that I always listen to my intuition," Stephanie said. "Lula, Ranger's in the wind. You want to do the honors?"
"On it." Lula was already dialing. "Tank, baby, what you doin'?.. I'm shopping with the girls… You know it… Course I will. Listen, serious question, you got anyone on Steph today?.. Connie got the creeps like we're being watched at the mall… No, we ain't seen nothin'... Of course I do, never leave home without it… Will do. Love you, baby… Bye."
She put her cell away. "He says if there is someone, it ain't RangeMan and to keep our eyes peeled and weapons handy. We should call him if we see anything suspicious and he'll send someone. One of the guys from RangeMan will come get us when we're ready to go anyway."
"He's not sending anyone now?" Stephanie asked.
"Nah. He says as long as we're armed he'd bet on the three of us against anyone he could think of, just be careful."
"I think I love your man."
"Back off, sister. He's all mine," Lula said good-naturedly.
o0o0o0o0o
After shoes, the girls were determined that there should be lingerie, and they hustled Connie into Victoria's Secret and started rifling through the racks again.
Lula took a set down and waved the hanger in her face. "How 'bout this? Leopard print. You can't go wrong with animal print, plus it's easy care nylon, and check out the black frills. Take it from me, this is cool lingerie. You should buy this."
Connie opened her mouth and tried to speak several times. It made her look like a goldfish.
Finally Stephanie took pity on her. She gently took the set out of Lula's hands and hung it back on the rack. "I think maybe she needs time to work up to animal print. Why don't we look for something that will work with the green dress instead?"
Lula looked disappointed. "But animal print works with everything. That's the whole point."
"Yeah, but you've had time to develop your sense of style. Think baby steps."
"Huh, guess she'll be too chicken for the peephole stuff too, then."
Stephanie's hand shot out and snagged the neck of Connie's jacket on the way past as she tried to bolt for the exit. "I think that probably counts as a yes."
Once she was sure that Connie's fight or flight instincts were back under control, Stephanie suggested a black lace set. Connie looked at it doubtfully. "I think that that might be the wrong size."
"What?"
"Well look at it. Where's the rest of it?"
"Boy, when you said that you were sheltered you weren't kidding, were you?"
"Hey! I haven't been living in a cave and I've bought underwear before. It's just that there isn't enough material there for my size. Check the label."
"Connie, trust me, it is your size, and this is what it is supposed to look like."
"But there's no support! I'll fall out of that bra. You're shopping for you, and you're a different shape to me. People like you can wear underwear just for decoration. I defy you to find a fuller figured woman who would actually wear that."
Stephanie looked meaningfully over her shoulder to where Lula was holding a raspberry colored lace thong up against the front of her clothes.
"Apart from her," Connie added quickly.
Stephanie looked at her and started to giggle. Connie struggled to maintain a straight face for a few moments then her shoulders started to shake. Eventually she lost control and started to laugh too. "Stop it. I really mean it. Even if you are making me laugh, this dental floss is not going to work for me. Buy it for Ranger and let me choose something else."
Stephanie's face shut down and the mood changed immediately.
Connie winced. "Oh, God, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply… Look, I'm sorry. Whatever is between the two of you is way beyond me. Can we go back to where we were ten seconds ago?"
"Sure."
But they didn't, not really.
o0o0o0o0o
Finally they found some lingerie that the three of them could agree on. It was a simple green satin set in the same shade as the dress, and the bra straps could be removed to avoid showing under the spaghetti straps. Stephanie and Lula escorted her to the fitting rooms to try it, where the next problem became apparent.
"Aaah, guys?" Connie's voice came through the cubicle door. "Now might be the time to confess that I've never had a bikini wax."
"Big problem?" Stephanie asked.
"Depends on your definition of big."
"Just open the door," Lula said.
Connie opened the door slowly.
"Damn. Maybe we should just buy a hedge-ooof," Lula said as Stephanie's elbow connected with her ribs.
"It's not a problem. There's a beautician down the end on the top floor. The set is gorgeous. Let's pay for it and get out of here."
o0o0o0o0o
The beautician was able to fit in a bikini wax in the next fifteen minutes and Stephanie and Lula concentrated on book ending Connie so that she couldn't change her mind.
She held a magazine open in shaking hands without reading a word of it. "If I'd known that this would be my reward for catching Picket I'd have let him go. This isn't an all the way thing, is it? 'Cause I don't want to be bald. What do you say so they know you don't mean bald? And do I have to take my panties off? Because I'm really not sure about taking my panties off in front of a stranger. In fact, I'm not sure about this at all. I don't even have a date or a reason to wear the underwear. I could just take it back, and no-one would know any different. I think I've changed my mind."
"We would know," Lula said. "Now stop being such a chicken-shit. Women do this all the time. Look, she's ready for you. Get your hairy Italian ass in there, and we'll be waiting for you out here when you're done."
She gave Connie a little shove towards the beautician and Connie started taking slow, condemned woman style steps towards her appointment with the waxer.
Stephanie and Lula picked up some more magazines and settled down to wait. A couple of minutes later they heard a shriek of "Jesus CHRIST!" from the back room.
"Do you think maybe we should have taken her gun from her first?" Stephanie asked Lula.
"Too late now."
o0o0o0o0o
After the beautician they made their way to a café for cappuccinos while they waited for their ride. Stephanie and Lula were steadfastly ignoring the glares that Connie was shooting in their direction.
Lula eased her shoes off and wiggled her toes under the table. "Good trip, I'm beat. You got any more hinky feelings, Connie?"
"No. I was probably imagining it all anyway. The only feeling I have now is the one that I've been sandpapered between my legs, for which I hold you two personally responsible."
Their waitress arrived and Lula and Connie gaped as Stephanie ordered whole wheat toast to go with her coffee.
"What?" she asked.
"I just don't believe what I'm hearin'," Lula said.
"It's just toast. Get over it."
"No, it's healthy toast. I ain't never seen you eat healthy food since we met, so yeah, shoot me, I wanna know what's goin' on."
"Ranger makes me eat it for breakfast, and I've kind of gotten used to it, that's all."
"Hold it. Back up. Ranger sees you at breakfast? You been holdin' out on us," accused Lula.
"Get your mind out of the gutter. He visits in the mornings and we eat breakfast. We're friends. At least I thought we were until he took off like a bat out of hell without saying anything to me."
"Yeah, well, that's the wizard for you. He'll be back. Always does."
"And at least I get a few days to relax," Connie added.
"Yeah. It's just…" Stephanie trailed off.
"Just what?" Connie prompted.
"It feels like he bailed."
"Bailed out of what? Were you together?"
"No, and I never said it made sense. That's just how it feels. Something's changed and I don't know what."
o0o0o0o0o
Connie tried to settle back into her usual routine back at the bonds office while Ranger was away, but she still started every time the bell over the door went, and she spent a lot of time looking out of the window waiting for something to happen. Waiting for anything to happen. The boredom and the unfulfilled anticipation gradually closed in on her until she felt like she was trying to breathe through shrink wrap.
Stephanie came in most days to pick up the RangeMan files, but she hadn't heard anything either, and Tank was a master at evading questions from Lula. They all just waited in their holding pattern, and Connie seemed to live the same day over and over again until she wanted to scream.
"I've tried!" Lula protested when Connie grilled her for the fifth time. "I've tried everything I know. I've even waited until he's about to come and threatened to stop, but nothin' worked. Either he don't know or he just plain ain't tellin'. You're just gonna have to wait."
So Connie waited and watched helplessly as Stephanie grew quieter and quieter with each day that crawled past until she was like a curly haired shadow in the bonds office that only spoke when she had to.
On the sixth day after the shopping trip, Tank caught Stephanie at RangeMan as she was about to leave for the bonds office. "Steph, bring Connie back with you when you pick up the files."
She looked up at him hopefully. "Is Ranger back?"
"He wants to see both of you in his office at 11."
"We'll be there."
o0o0o0o0o
Connie followed Stephanie and Tank into Ranger's fifth floor office at 11 o'clock with her heart knocking and her hands shaking. Ranger wasn't there yet. Stephanie threw herself onto the couch under the window without being asked, so Connie assumed that it would be okay to join her. She perched on the edge, though, and was ready to jump up if she had to. For that matter, she was ready to bolt if she had to. Tank leaned against the opposite wall with his arms folded.
Five minutes later Ranger walked in. He headed straight to his desk without acknowledging the other occupants of the room and took two envelopes from the top. He handed them to the two women then sat down behind his desk and faced them.
"You're both needed for the next job." His tone was businesslike. "We need to get a team into a club in Newark called Babylon this Saturday night. Details are in the envelope. The management isn't friendly to RangeMan and we won't be able to pre-arrange entry the way we normally would. We'll need to move under the radar and the team is less likely to arouse suspicion if they have women with them. Your job is simply to accompany the team into the premises, and once they are in, to help them look like normal customers. You probably won't be able to get weapons past their doormen so don't bother carrying them. Do not get involved in the operation. You keep the keys to one of the vehicles and if the operation goes bad you two just leave like ordinary customers and make your way back here. Any questions?"
"Who are the rest of the team?" Stephanie asked.
"Lester, Bobby, Manny and Zero."
"You're not coming with us?"
"I'm too well known to the management, and so is Tank. You need to be below radar on this one."
"What about Hal?"
"Wouldn't blend as well as the team members that I've selected."
"That's all I had." Stephanie turned to Connie. "You got any questions?"
Connie shook her head mutely.
"Then we're done," Ranger said.
Stephanie and Connie both got up, and Tank accompanied them to the door. When they got there, Stephanie exchanged a speaking glance with Tank and he nodded fractionally then put a hand to Connie's back and escorted her out to the control room.
Stephanie lingered in the doorway of Ranger's office.
"Did you need something else, Babe?" he asked.
"Maybe. I thought…" She shrugged. "I don't know. Forget it, it's not important." She left and closed the door behind her.
o0o0o0o0o
Connie and Stephanie met up at Connie's house on the night of the Babylon job to get ready together.
"It makes me feel about eighteen, getting ready with a girlfriend before going out," Connie said. "Now help me choose what to wear, because it's been a while since I've been to a nightclub and I have no idea what people wear in these places any more."
Stephanie looked through her closet. "Generally not much, but since we don't have to lure anyone out, the pressure's off a little."
She picked out a pair of black palazzo pants in a soft fabric which rippled with movement and a sleeveless silver top with a plunging neckline. "Show me these on."
She nodded approvingly when Connie emerged from the bathroom. "That works."
Connie looked enviously at Stephanie's halter top and short skirt. "I wish I could wear things like that, but I'd just give myself two black eyes and want to hide in a corner all night."
"Hey, I spent the whole of my twenties wishing for bigger boobs. There has to be some compensation."
o0o0o0o0o
They arrived at RangeMan in plenty of time for their scheduled departure, and there was a ripple of applause and a wolf whistle in the control room when they walked in.
"Bombshell! Gorgeous as always," Lester called. "Let's see you properly." He caught her hand and spun her around in a graceful twirl.
"Hey guys." Stephanie answered. "Bobby, Manny, I don't think you've met Connie yet, have you."
"Nope, but I've been waiting to," Manny said cheerfully. "Connie, Hector told me all about you. It is a pleasure to be working with you. Just promise you'll warn me if I'm pissing you off, before you think about the shoes, okay?"
"Promise," she smiled. "Anyway, no toe-killers on tonight."
Bobby extended a hand to her to shake. "Bobby. Good to meet you."
"Likewise." She shook it.
Zero gave her a grin and a wave from behind Bobby. "Hey. Good to see you again."
"Right, shall we get this show on the road?" Lester asked.
"Hang on," Stephanie said. "I want to check in with Ranger before we head out."
Lester looked slightly uncomfortable. "He's not here, sweetheart. He gave us our final orders this afternoon and told us to get on with it."
He didn't miss her quickly hidden look of disappointment and grabbed her by the waist to lift her up and swing her around. "Just come with us and have fun, huh? No hard work tonight, you just get to have fun and look as beautiful as always."
Stephanie summoned a smile. "How could I not when I'm surrounded by my favorite guys? Let's go."
o0o0o0o0o
As they got near the front of the line to enter the club Lester put his arm around Stephanie and pulled her into him and Manny grabbed Connie's hand and held on to it. The doormen barely looked at them, seeing a mixed group of party goers, and waved the group through the doors after a cursory pat-down of the men.
They walked up the stairs in a group and stopped in the lobby at the top, before going through the doors to the main part of the club. Lester quietly outlined the plan of events for the benefit of the two women. "Bombshell, I want you to come with me for a quick walk around to see what we can see. Manny, you and Connie do the same. If we attract any attention we act like we're looking for a private spot to make out. We meet back at the bar afterwards. When we know the lie of the land, you girls are off the hook, just enjoy the rest of your evening. We do what we have to do, then we'll find you when we're ready to leave. You have the keys to one of the cars, right?"
Stephanie pulled out the keys from her pocket to show him.
"Good. If you see any sign of disturbance, or if we haven't found you by one, you two get out of here without attracting attention and make your way back to RangeMan. You both got phones?"
They nodded.
"If you have an emergency, call the control room, they can reach us silently without attracting unwanted attention. Now, let's make a start."
He took Stephanie's hand and opened the doors to the club. A wall of sound enveloped them and they moved into the hot, sweaty atmosphere of the club.
o0o0o0o0o
Manny and Connie made their way around the club together, holding hands the whole time in case they needed a reason why they were skulking around the private areas. They noted the position of the exits, the staff only areas and the location of the security staff.
They only got noticed once by the staff, when a bouncer spotted them in a private corridor leading to the kitchens. Manny pulled Connie to him and pressed her into the wall, nuzzling her neck as he whispered, "Show time." She wrapped her free arm around the back of his neck and made a show of closing her eyes and running her fingers up through his hair.
"Hey. You two. Take it outside," the bouncer said.
"Sorry man, we're leaving," Manny answered, and they went back out to the main room of the club.
Once they were back in the anonymous surroundings of the crowd he leaned over and said over the pounding music, "Good job. We got enough, I think. Let's get back and meet the others."
They met Bobby and Zero at the bar, where they were joined by Lester and Stephanie five minutes later. The men conferred briefly, and Lester let the women go.
"That was good work. We have enough to do the next phase of the job, so you two are off the hook as of now. Have a good time, stay aware of what's going on and head out if we don't find you or call you by one o'clock."
They gradually drifted off one by one until Stephanie and Connie were alone five minutes later.
Stephanie shrugged. "I guess we may as well dance."
"Another thing I haven't done in a very long time."
"Just relax, it's easy."
They made their way out to the middle of the dance floor where they would be well clear of whatever the guys were up to. As far as Connie was concerned, the fact that no-one to the sides would be able to see her inept dancing was a huge side-benefit. She tried to relax and pick up the pounding beat, and not worry too much about losing her hearing.
o0o0o0o0o
About ten minutes later she was starting to relax and worry less about what she looked like. She could feel the bass thump in her chest, which she suspected might not be a good thing for her health in the long run, but it made it easy to feel the music and keep the rhythm. The dance floor was crowded, and she felt safely anonymous in the middle of it.
She noticed that Stephanie was constantly shifting and moving as she danced to face various parts of the club, staying aware of her surroundings and watching discreetly for any activity from the Rangemen. She was clearly more than just a mascot for RangeMan, even if she did seem to spend a lot of time being picked up and swung around by various members of Ranger's private army.
Suddenly Stephanie moved in close and put her hands on Connie's hips, moving them both to the outskirts of the dance floor while continuing to dance. She pushed her hips up close and started to bump and grind, pressing her breasts in close to Connie's own. At the same time she pressed her lips close to Connie's ear.
"It's on," she murmured. "We're going to help them. No time to explain, just keep dancing and don't panic about anything I do."
"What?"
But Stephanie had already turned and was shimmying for all that she was worth, grinding her ass against Connie and sliding down her body until her knees were wide apart and her ass almost brushed the floor. Then she reversed direction and slowly slid back up in the opposite direction until she was upright again. Still moving sinuously to the beat of the music, she spun around and slung her hand over Connie's shoulder then pressed their breasts and their lips together, grinding their hips in full view of the crowded dance floor and the people standing around it.
When Stephanie broke the kiss and Connie could see her surroundings again, she thought she might pass out faced with the hungry expressions on the faces of the men around them. A few women were looking at them with curiosity. More were trying not to see them and were conspicuously facing in the other direction.
She looked out and away from the crowd around her, desperate for somewhere to look where she couldn't see anyone staring at them. Then she noticed Bobby easing out of a door marked 'private' in the corner of the room. Stephanie spun around again to do one of her slow hip glides to the floor and saw him too, and Connie felt her relax as she made her descent. This time when she came up again and turned, Stephanie didn't press in close. Instead she moved away slightly and started to dance normally again. When the track ended she stopped altogether.
"I need a drink. Let's get back to where we were earlier with the boys."
"What the hell was that?" asked Connie.
"That was distracting every security guard in the room from what the boys were up to. Think it worked?"
Stephanie led the way from the dance floor and made her way through the crowd towards the bar, leaving Connie standing open-mouthed behind her on the dance floor.
Stephanie was almost out of sight before Connie gathered her wits together and started to follow her. She kept her eyes firmly fixed on Stephanie's departing back when something large interposed itself between them.
She looked up and her heart jumped into her mouth as she recognized the red-headed man from the Ship. He gave her a lascivious grin and dropped an enormous paw onto her shoulder, digging his fingers painfully into her flesh.
"Nice show, little one. I told you I'd find you, but I didn't think I'd find you doing something so interesting. It's a shame your little friend is off limits. What the three of us could do together. Still, never mind, you and I, we'll have fun on our own, yes?"
She looked around frantically for Stephanie or one of the Rangemen, but she couldn't see anyone she knew. The people around her were moving away, sliding their eyes over her and away, not wanting to see her, not wanting to be involved.
The red-haired giant squeezed his fingers tighter until she felt the bones in her shoulder grind together. He moved her in front of him and pressed the fingers of his other hand around the side of her neck, then he started to propel her towards one the private areas of the club. The pain was overwhelming, and her vision was starting to blur around the edges.
Suddenly there was a flurry of activity around the edges of her vision. She couldn't move her head at all, so she couldn't see clearly what was going on, but the punishing grip was released and then Stephanie was in front of her taking her hand and walking her quickly towards the exit. She was saying something, but it sounded like it was coming through a long tunnel, and Connie couldn't quite make sense of it. She stumbled down the stairs on rubber legs, then they were in the fresh air and Stephanie was trying to make her run. She tried but her legs wouldn't carry her properly.
She almost screamed as strong hands took both her arms, but then her weight was lifted on each side until her feet barely touched the ground and they were moving at an accelerated walk towards the cars. When she was thrown into the back seat of one of the cars she recognized Manny and Zero. They slammed the door as Stephanie jumped into the driver's seat and pulled the car out with a screech of tires.
After a few minutes of hard driving, Stephanie slowed down to a more sedate pace. Without taking her eyes off the road she spoke to Connie in the back seat. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. What happened?"
"When I saw that you weren't behind me any more I started looking for you and saw that gorilla dragging you away. The boys were coming to get us and joined me. They took him out and told me to get you the hell out of there and they'd catch up. They're behind us in the other cars now."
"Who was he?" Connie asked.
"I don't know, but I think they do. I guess we'll find out when we get back to base."
o0o0o0o0o
Back at RangeMan, Bobby checked out Connie's shoulder and pronounced it 'just bruised'.
"Who was that?" Stephanie asked Lester.
"His name is Gerard, and he's nobody you want to run into. He's the brother of a local drug runner and he's a real sick fuck. Ranger's gonna need to know about this in the morning. Manny will take her home tonight and make sure she's okay, then we'll debrief first thing tomorrow."
"Did the job go okay?"
"Without a hitch, thanks to you. If you ever decide to take that on stage you could make a lot of money. Just warn me next time. It's real hard trying to make your escape with a hard-on so big it's blocking your view."
o0o0o0o0o
Manny took Connie home and checked her house out before leaving. He left her a priority number for the control room. "There's someone there twenty four seven. Call if you need anything, okay?"
After the door had closed she went upstairs and showered some of the tension out of her muscles Putting on her robe, she went downstairs to sit numbly in her living room.
She noticed a silver car parked across the street with someone sitting in the driver's seat. She fished her gun out of her purse and stood to the side of the window for a few minutes, watching the car and wondering what to do next.
In this neighborhood most people knew each other's cars and she didn't know this one. For all she knew it could be someone waiting for a friend to come home, but she didn't know for sure, and after the night's events she was nervous. She tried to keep calm and waited for a chance to see inside the car, fingering the safety of the gun the whole time.
Finally the lights from a passing car illuminated the face inside the car.
She shook her head and pocketed her gun. Wrapping her robe tightly around herself against the cold night air, she walked out to the car. She pulled the driver's door open and looked in at Hal with a soft smile.
"Idiot. My next door neighbor would have called the cops in another couple of minutes."
He looked sheepish. "I just wanted to be sure you were okay."
"I am now." She took his hand and pulled him out of the car, taking the keys out of the ignition with the other hand. She led him into the house, pointing the remote behind her to lock the car without looking back. Once inside she walked straight through the house without stopping or letting go of his hand and started to climb the stairs.
Hal suddenly looked desperately torn. "Connie, this isn't right. You've had a rough night. I just came by in case you needed help."
She kept climbing the stairs. "So help."
"I'd be taking advantage of you."
She kept climbing a step or two ahead of him until she reached the top of the stairs, then she stopped on the landing and turned to face him. "No, you wouldn't. If Ranger's deal is the cloud, you're the silver lining, and you make me glad that I made it. Please. Stay?"
He sighed and looked up at her. "Have I managed to say no to you about anything yet?"
"Never. It's one of your best qualities." She ran her fingers over his buzz cut hair and smiled. "I wanted to do that while I could reach. Wanted to know what it felt like."
"So what does it feel like?"
"Soft. And nappy, like velvet. I want to do this while I can reach, too." She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
He caught the back of her head gently and pulled her to him, lengthening and deepening the kiss. When they finally broke apart to breathe he pressed his forehead to hers. "You sure about this?"
"Positive," she whispered, and took his hand to continue leading him to her bedroom.
She let go of his hand once they were in the bedroom and turned away to switch her bedside light on. A soft amber light flooded the room. She turned back to face him, stood on tiptoe and grabbed a fistful of his tee-shirt to pull him down for another kiss. He wrapped his enormous arms around her and pulled her into his embrace.
She hissed with pain and flinched a little.
He let her go immediately. "What's the matter? What did I do?"
"Nothing, it's fine."
He touched the belt of her robe. "May I?"
She nodded silently.
Hal open the tie of her robe and gently eased it off her shoulders to reveal a set of livid finger marks on one of her shoulders. There were more on her neck. He traced them gently with a finger. "Anyone looked at these?"
"Bobby. He said it's just bruised."
He nodded. "You got anything for it?"
"Arnica cream. Steph gave me some. It's in the bathroom cabinet."
He went out to the bathroom and came back a couple of minutes later uncapping the tube. "Sit down on the bed."
He sat on the bed next to her and started smoothing the herbal cream over the angry marks. It was a gentle touch, seemingly out of place in a man his size, and it was meant to soothe and heal. Instead it sent little trails of fire across her skin, and she caught her breath and shivered.
"All done," he murmured after a while.
"Don't stop."
"Never, if you don't want me to."
"I don't."
He leaned forward and kissed her, then slipped the robe the rest of the way off her shoulders and lowered her down gently to lie on the bed. He continued to softly stroke her shoulders and neck, expanding the movement to take in her throat and collarbones. After a while he nudged the robe out of the way and added in gentle circles around the fullness of her breasts, then her belly.
He looked down at her with an expression of wonder as he traced elaborate circular patterns over her torso, occasionally moving out to run his fingers down her arms before moving back to her breasts and belly. "You're so soft."
"That's because I'm fat."
"You're not fat. You're perfect." He hesitated. "Connie, I don't… I'm not very…"
She reached up and pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh. Me neither. It'll be fine. Now come here," and she sat up and tugged the hem of his tee-shirt upwards, helping him to pull it over his head before tugging at the waist of his pants in the same way. Between them they stripped off his clothes and he lay on his side facing her.
She reached out shyly and started her own series of strokes across his broad chest, exploring his pectoral muscles and moving out to trace sweeping circles across the width of his shoulders and press gently against his bicep.
She chuckled softly under her breath.
"What?" he asked.
"I remember when I was a teenager, the boys would make a big deal out of the muscles in their arms. They'd curl their arms like Popeye and tell you to feel how hard their biceps were, only if you did the muscles were always soft under your fingers. You're just lying here, and look." She pressed down again. "Doesn't move. It's like you have rocks under there, or iron."
"Don't mock too much, woman. I was one of those boys once."
She turned on to her side to face him with her head propped up on one hand, and smiled. "You? Oh, come on. I can't believe you were ever skinny."
"Well maybe not skinny, but I remember flexing in front of the mirror, wondering if I'd ever have enough muscles to impress the girls at school."
She reached out again to start tracing soft patterns over his torso with one finger, outlining the ridges of his abdomen. "So when did these arrive?"
"Army."
She moved her fingers across to trace a lumpy scar along his side. "Is that where you got this?"
He snorted. "Training accident trying to get under some barbed wire. I never was the best at the commando stuff. Got out as soon as I could. I'm better at security."
"Keeping us all safe."
"Especially you."
"You always make me feel safe."
"Good." And he reached out and pulled her to him, more carefully this time.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, threw her leg over his hip and kissed him deeply.
He started the gentle, hypnotic stroking motions again, this time tracing circles and spirals across her back and gradually moving down to her hips and ass. When he traced the crease of her ass she sighed and her hips started to undulate of their own accord. He took that as a good sign and tentatively slipped a finger to her center. She whimpered.
His body tensed and he stopped. "You okay?"
"Oh yeah."
He relaxed and continued, starting to move more confidently as she responded with gentle sighs and soft moans.
Finally she rolled on to her back and tugged on his shoulder to bring him over on top of her.
"I don't want to hurt your shoulder," he murmured.
"It'll be fine. I trust you."
He nodded and closed his eyes as he gently eased into her, taking care to keep his weight off her injured shoulder.
It had been a long time, and Connie gasped with shock at the sensation of being filled.
"I'm hurting you. We should stop," he said reluctantly.
"Stop now and I swear to God I'll shoot you," she groaned.
His shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. "Whatever my lady wishes," and he started to move against her.
She pressed her head back into the pillows and closed her eyes, letting the sensations wash over her. Before long, his movements grew stronger and more forceful and she took his left hand in her right and pressed their fingers together at her center. Heat shot through her pelvis with the added sensation and then she was there ahead of him and falling over the edge. She writhed and cried out as she climaxed underneath him and he followed her over, hard.
They lay together for a moment just breathing as they slowly came down from their release. Finally Hal rolled away on to his back and Connie snuggled into his side. They fell asleep in a tangle of sheets and limbs, the amber light still on, casting a soft glow over the room.
o0o0o0o0o
After calling Hal to let him know about Connie, Stephanie sat silently in the RangeMan control room for a while, just watching the team on the monitors work while she fidgeted with her car keys. The building was silent. The only sound in the control room was the soft whirr of the computers and a distant hum from the refrigerator in the break room.
Finally she got to her feet and kicked her shoes off under the desk where she sometimes sat to do searches. She padded over to the stairs barefoot and made her way up to the seventh floor apartment.
She let herself into the apartment to find it silent and empty. Somehow she wasn't surprised. She went back out and walked quietly down the stairs back to the fifth floor. The two men on monitor duty nodded to her but didn't speak.
She found Ranger asleep slumped on the couch in his office. His head was leaning back, his eyes were closed and he had one arm draped along the back of the couch. He didn't wake as she came in.
She crept across the room and lay down on the couch with her head in his lap. He didn't open his eyes, but a slight tension in his leg muscles told her that he was awake.
"Don't hide from me," she whispered. "I'll find you. We're bounty hunters; that's what we do."
A hand stroked through her curls and then dropped to her shoulder and rested there. She dozed off under the gentle weight and slept.
When she woke in the morning he was gone and a fleece blanket had been tucked around her where she lay on the couch.