Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing.
Trial no.7
When she woke in the morning he was gone and a fleece blanket had been tucked in around her where she lay on the couch.
Felton Ramsay was sitting alone at his breakfast table when Ranger walked silently through the patio doors from the grounds. Ranger was wearing street thug attire of a sleeveless black tee-shirt and black jeans and he radiated menace.
Ramsay peered out into the early morning mist hanging over the ground outside. "Did you even see any of my guards on your way in?"
Ranger just looked at him.
"Of course, ever the man of mystery. Well, since you are here, can I offer you something to eat? I believe the cook even has some green eggs set aside for special occasions."
The temperature in the room suddenly plummeted and Ramsay didn't think that it had anything to do with the doors to the grounds having been opened.
"You need to deal with your animal. Gerard showed an unhealthy interest in one of my people last tonight. If he continues it will be very bad for his health. Put him back on his leash. Now."
Ramsay raised his eyebrows. "I think you've been misinformed. As far as I know my brother's tastes run strictly to the female persuasion, and he knows better than to take an interest in the charming Miss Plum."
"I'm referring to Miss Rosolli."
"Rosolli?" He laughed. "Your little biographer. What's your interest in her, other than the obvious? Everyone knows that she's paying for her mistake. And once she's finished paying, well why would you care?"
"She's mine."
"She's a very minor Rosolli. Leave her to her family. You don't want to be involved in this."
"You hurt her and when her family comes looking for you, all they'll find is the damp smear on the ground that I left behind."
"So, are you adopting every little girl who comes looking for a few thrills these days, 'Hot Cuban Man'? Maybe she's back up for when Miss Plum is unavailable, or is sucking your cock part of her payback."
Before he realized what had happened, Ranger had him flattened face against the wall with an arm twisted painfully behind his back. He could feel the point of a knife grazing the skin above his left kidney.
"Perhaps you missed what I just said," Ranger murmured in his ear. "She's mine, and that means you respect her like you respect me, if you want to keep your fucking head on your shoulders. You don't need to know anything about her, except that she's mine. And you can spread the word. No-one touches Connie Rosolli. Ever."
o0o0o0o0o
Stephanie got up from Ranger's office couch and went out into the control room, dragging her fingers through her hair as she walked and trying to reduce the evidence that she had slept in her clothes last night. She could feel her hair springing in all directions, and the chances were good that she had a bad case of panda eyes to go with it. She retrieved her shoes from under the desk then slunk towards the elevator carrying them in her hand, hoping that she could make her getaway without being noticed.
As she neared the elevator Tank stepped out of his office.
"Where you going, Steph?"
She pointed ruefully to her hair. "Home, before I start scaring small children."
"Use the apartment. You have stuff here."
"I'd rather go home."
"Orders are that you stay in the building."
She bridled. "You don't get to keep me here against my will just because of my job. I'm out of here."
"You need to stay, Bombshell. It's important."
"So tell me why, and I'll think about it."
"Just wait here until Ranger can explain."
"No. I'm done waiting for Ranger. I'm gone." She tried to shove past him to get to the elevator, but he folded his arms and didn't move, brushing her efforts off like they weren't there.
She turned away and marched towards the stairs instead. She barreled through the fire door to the stairwell without looking and bounced off of a solid black object that blocked her path.
A familiar hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her progress before she could recover her wits sufficiently to get around him.
"Damn it, Ranger, let me go!"
"No." He dragged her back through the fire door and over to the elevator, which took them up to the seventh floor. When they were both inside the apartment he closed the door and leaned back against it with his arms folded.
Stephanie paced angrily in front of him. "You'd better have a good explanation for this."
"The best."
"Which is?"
"Something kicked off on the job last night. You and Connie drew some unwanted attention. Until I know whether I've managed to shut the situation down, the two of you stay close to home."
"So I'm under house arrest until Wacko of the Week makes a decision?"
"If you knew him you wouldn't be arguing with me."
"It's the red haired guy, isn't it?" she asked.
He nodded once. "Lester called me first thing this morning. My name protects you from a lot of things, but I'm not willing to gamble your life on this one. He's too unpredictable."
"So suddenly I'm important to you again?"
"You're always important."
"Yeah? Well sometimes you have a strange way of showing it."
"Don't ever doubt it."
Stephanie visibly sagged and walked round to the living room to slump onto the couch. "If I have to stay in this building I'm going to go crazy."
Ranger followed her round and sat next to her. "You can go out. Just not without a guard."
"Again." Her voice was bitter.
"It can't be helped if this is the life you choose. I can only protect you so far. You could just marry some boy from the Burg and pop out kids for the next ten years if you prefer. Then you won't need me or a guard."
She didn't respond to that comment. "What do we do about Connie? She was the one that got grabbed."
"Same thing. She gets a guard, she just won't know about hers. If I can manipulate her deal to bring her into the building I'll do that too."
"Even with a crazy on the loose you're keeping her to the deal?"
"It's the best way I have to control her actions while she's at risk."
"Don't you ever get tired of controlling everything?" she asked.
It was his turn not to answer.
o0o0o0o0o
The shrill sound of a cell-phone ringing and Hal uncurling from around her woke Connie from a long, contented sleep. The bed shifted with his weight as he got up and searched for his pants on the floor. Finally he got to the ringing phone in one of the pockets and answered it, pinning the phone the phone between his shoulder and his ear so that he could pull his pants on at the same time. "Yeah?"
She drowsed comfortably, listening to his voice moving away as he walked out into the hall speaking to whoever was on the other end of the phone.
His voice faded down the stairs until she couldn't hear it any more, and she rolled onto her back in the middle of the bed and stretched luxuriously. She felt a painful twinge in her shoulder and cursed under her breath; it was stiffening up and as sore as hell. Other parts of her were more pleasantly sore, and she smiled to herself at the memory of the night before.
She rolled out of bed and wandered into the bathroom. Showering quickly and efficiently, she pulled on her robe and picked up Hal's discarded tee-shirt before following him downstairs. The smell of fresh coffee drew her into the kitchen, where she found him just ending his call.
"Hey." She padded over to him and handed him his tee-shirt, leaning in for a kiss at the same time. He pulled her into a comfortable hug before letting go to pull the tee-shirt over his head.
"Everything okay?" she asked.
"Not even remotely. That call was about you." He got up and pulled two cups out of the cabinet, filling them with coffee and milk. He passed one to her. "Lester told Ranger about the guy from last night and the shit's hit the fan. You're out of the bonds office until further notice."
"What? That's my job! He can't do that to me!"
"He just did. Vinnie rolled straight over and agreed that you're RangeMan's problem until further notice. Ranger will supply cover for the bonds office while you take a vacation unless he needs you for something."
"That fucking weasel. After everything I've done for him, how dare he! No! Absolutely not. Not acceptable."
"Not negotiable if you still want to work for Vinnie after this is all over. And there's more."
"Go on. It can't get much worse."
"You're under guard as well."
"Oh no! That's so far across the line it's in the next State!"
Hal pulled her back into his front and wrapped his arms around her. "Can I be honest with you?"
"Go on."
"It's not a bad idea. Lester and Bobby know this guy and he's as bad as they come. You won't even see us most of the time; Ranger's instructions are to stay below radar. You aren't supposed to know about it."
"Can you be my protection?"
"Some of the time. Tank set the roster so that I'm first on it. He figured it was the best way to keep you covered without giving me away."
"You guys are the sneakiest bunch I have seen in my life."
"Hey, we learned at the feet of the master."
"Ranger?"
"Who else?"
Since neither of them now had anywhere to go they ate a leisurely breakfast then went back to bed for the rest of the morning.
"After all," Connie said as they climbed the stairs, "I'd be a fool to ignore the side benefits of my body being your official concern right now."
Hal just concentrated on making sure that she didn't bang her head from her position slung over his shoulder as they turned the corner at the top of the stairs.
o0o0o0o0o
Three days later, Connie was dying from boredom. Life as a lady of leisure didn't suit her; that was why she had fought so hard to keep her job at the bonds office in the first place. True to Hal's word, the Rangemen had stayed out of sight for the most part, so in theory she was just on vacation. Unless Hal's shift brought the bodyguard experience up close and personal, she would have missed them if she hadn't known they were there. In practice, she was looking around for them constantly, and she felt like she was living in a goldfish bowl.
o0o0o0o0o
On Saturday afternoon she rang Lula and Stephanie and arranged to go for coffee. They met in a local café and discussed the situation over cakes and cappuccinos while their assigned guards watched from a discreet distance.
"This is driving me absolutely nuts," Connie grumbled to Stephanie. "I thought I was bored at the bonds office; this is worse. This is torture. I am going slowly out of my mind just sitting around doing nothing. How about you?"
"I'm skip tracing like normal, only I have to have someone with me all the time instead of just for the bad ones. Ranger comes with me when he can and Tank comes the rest of the time."
"That's all? So business as usual except for some company while you work?"
"Hey!" interjected Lula. "What was I, chopped liver? She had a partner before, too, you know. Just 'cause I ain't got a dick don't mean I wasn't there doing the job."
"Sorry. That's not what I meant."
"S'all right. I'm just bored too. Your replacement don't like to talk too much and she don't like donuts, I don't get to ride shotgun with Steph any more and my man's busy all the time watching the two of you. This sucks."
"Steph," Connie asked, "do you think I could at least do some proper work for RangeMan. Much as I could strangle Ranger for doing this to me, I'm going to go out of my mind if I don't do something soon."
"I'll ask. I mean, you'll still have protection if you're working, right?"
Something seriously bothered Connie about that statement, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Lula noticed. "You okay, girl?"
"Yeah. I just feel like I've forgotten something."
"Important?"
"Don't know until I think of it."
Lula shrugged. "It'll come back. I could eat more cake. Could anyone else eat more cake? Connie? What's up?"
Connie had just dropped her forehead to the table with a loud thud and was banging it repeatedly, moaning, "Stupid, stupid, stupid."
Stephanie reached out and put a hand on Connie's shoulder. "Connie? What's wrong?"
Connie mumbled something unintelligible from her face-down position.
"What did she say?" Stephanie asked Lula.
"Sounded like protection to me."
"Connie? What protection? Is there a problem with the guys?"
Connie looked up with a woebegone expression. "I'll find out in a few days."
"What?"
"I have suddenly never wanted to get my period so much in my life."
Sudden comprehension arrived on Stephanie's and Lula's faces.
"I think we need more cake while you tell us all about it," Lula said. "Starting with who the other dumbass is."
o0o0o0o0o
Stephanie tackled Ranger at dinner in the seventh floor apartment about Connie doing some more work. "She's going nuts, and it's been nearly a week now. Can't we cut the security back a bit?"
He looked up from his plate with a thoughtful expression.
"No," she said firmly.
"What?"
"I know that look. That's your 'let's make a deal' look."
"Sleep in my bed, with me, tonight."
A look of pain crossed her face. "We've been here before. Has anything changed?"
He didn't answer.
"I didn't think so." Stephanie threw down her fork and got up to leave. "I'll be on the fourth floor if you need me."
Ranger's voice reached her as she opened the front door to the apartment.
"I'll team her up with Manny on surveillance from tomorrow."
"I'm not dealing for it."
"No deal. Just don't leave."
She closed the door again and walked slowly back to the table. He held out a hand to her. She hesitated then placed her own in his and allowed him to guide her back to her seat. They carried on eating in silence.
o0o0o0o0o
After dinner Stephanie called Connie to tell her that she would be doing some surveillance work starting tomorrow.
Connie was delighted to hear the news. "Yes! Finally."
"It's just surveillance," Stephanie warned. "It's going to be just as boring as hanging around the house."
"It couldn't be. Nothing is as boring as hanging around the house. At least this way I get to talk to the person that's watching over me."
"Yeah, and on the subject of talking to people, have you yet?"
"Nope. Not going there until I know how bad it is. I'm due in a couple of days anyway, so I might be worrying over nothing. What time do I need to come in?"
"Ranger says to ring Tank in the morning. He manages the roster."
Stephanie hung up and put her phone away then walked round to the living room where Ranger was sitting on the couch in front of the TV. He pulled her down next to him and she curled up into his arms.
o0o0o0o0o
Three days later Connie was sitting in a nondescript sedan with Manny, watching a duplex a few doors down. There had been a few activities to note; people coming and going, cars pulling up. She was fairly certain that whoever they were watching was selling something from the property. "So why are doing this?" she asked Manny.
"He's employed by one of RangeMan's clients. We think he's the reason why they have some unexplained stock losses, so we want to know what's coming and going at his house. Sorry you signed up now?"
"God, no! At least I'm bored for a purpose now."
"Keeping you under Gerard's radar was a purpose."
"Yeah, but it's been over a week now, and he hasn't been near me or Steph. How long till I can go back to my job?"
"The boss will say when he thinks it's time. No point in second guessing him."
"Easy for you to say. This is your regular job. This is normal for you."
"Nah, this is better than normal. You don't scratch your nuts every thirty seconds on surveillance like Zero does. And you brought cookies."
"Nice to see you've got your priorities straight."
o0o0o0o0o
The days settled into an easy rhythm of car journeys and fake couple charades. Manny was good company, and while they watched whatever they were supposed to be watching they chatted comfortably about his fiancée and the little house that they were fixing up. He told her about some of the more exciting work that RangeMan did and that they all looked forward to, and the purgatory of monitor duty. They all took regular turns on the monitors but if someone let Ranger down they could look forward to a week or more of solid monitor duty. They feared that more than any other punishment.
Given the trouble that her boredom had brought down on her, Connie heartily agreed with the sentiment.
o0o0o0o0o
She got her period a couple of days later, heaved a huge sigh of relief and promptly made an appointment to see her doctor about birth control. She couldn't believe that she hadn't even thought about it at the time. Lula was right; she was a dumbass, but it seemed that even dumbasses were allowed a reprieve. Possibly being a dumbass on the wrong side of the thirty helped, but she was grateful nonetheless.
o0o0o0o0o
On the fifth day of surveillance duty, things changed. She and Manny were sitting in a gray car eating potato chips and discussing movies while they watched a house when the radio link flared into life.
"Manny, are you guys free to check out Carnegie's? Their alarm's sounding. It's not one we have on monitor and it needs to be checked out in person."
"Sure, nothing doing here right now anyway," Manny responded. "ETA ten minutes."
He started the engine and pulled the car out into the traffic.
"What's Carnegie's?" Connie asked.
"Jewelry store. They have a contract with us. It's probably nothing, alarms misfire sometimes, but we always check them out."
Manny parked the car a few doors down from the store and they watched the front for a few moments. It looked quiet. They got out and Manny opened the trunk of the car. He pulled out two bullet-proof vests and handed one to Connie. "Put it on, just in case, but stay in the car. I'll check this out and be right back."
Connie watched as Manny walked cautiously over to the front of the store and looked through the security grille covering the window.
He returned to the car quickly and threw her the radio. "Call the control room now. Tell them that there are at least four armed intruders in the store and they're holding the manager in there. I'm going to watch the back until we get back-up, you watch the front. Do not leave the car, you hear me?"
She nodded, and he disappeared into the alleyway beside the store. She raised the radio to speak to the control room. "Hello? It's Connie Rosolli."
"Hey, Connie. Everything okay at Carnegie's?
"No, we need back-up. There are intruders inside. Manny counted at least four, they're armed and they have the manager in there. He's covering the back until you get here."
"Where are you?"
"In the car out the front, parked on the street four doors down."
"Stand by, we're sending back-up. Stay by the radio and report any changes in the situation."
Connie waited in the car for ten nail-biting minutes. They checked in with her once a minute, confirming the current situation and asking questions about what she could see.
Finally headlights lit the street as four black SUVs pulled around the corner. Two turned into the parking lot at the rear of the store and the others pulled up right outside the store. The doors opened to discharge four heavily armed men in RangeMan black who took up positions covering the front of the store.
Suddenly there was a flurry of shouts inside the store and the sound of a single shot. The front door opened and a skinny man with wild eyes appeared in the doorway holding the frightened manager in front of him and pressing a gun up under his chin. He moved out slowly, keeping his back pressed to the wall behind him.
"Back off! I will shoot him!"
Connie sucked in a horrified breath.
The Rangemen held their positions, but no-one could get to him without endangering the manager while the armed man had his back to the wall and the manager in front of him.
Manny and another unfamiliar Rangeman emerged from the store slowly to join the men already at the front. They had him pinned down, but as long as he had the manager they were at a stalemate.
The manager was a slight man with graying hair. His eyes flicked from side to side in panic watching the grim faced, armed men surrounding them.
"I mean it! Back up!" the robber yelled again.
"Not a chance, man," Manny said grimly.
A set of headlights illuminated the stalemate as another car turned on to the street. Connie prayed that it was the police and not another civilian to throw into the mix.
It was neither. Ranger's black Porsche pulled in behind the car Connie was sitting in and he got out, gun already in hand.
"Oh fuck, no!" The robber looked like he might vomit when he saw Ranger.
Ranger's voice was icy. "I'm only going to say this once. Put down the gun and step away."
And that was all it took. The robber nodded shakily and lowered the gun from his hostage's chin and put the weapon on the ground. As he stepped away he disappeared under black clad figures.
Ranger put a hand to the shaking manager's back and escorted him back into the store. "Let's get this place secured then we'll take you to the station to make your report. My men will bring him and the rest in separately."
The manager nodded silently and went with him. Ranger caught Connie's eye and indicated with his head for her to join them.
She emerged from the car and, squeezing past the Rangemen that were dragging the unconscious bodies of the other robbers out onto the street, she followed Ranger into the store. Looking back at the aftermath, she could see that one was lying very still and there was blood pooled beneath him.
"Keys." Ranger held his hand out to the manager, who dropped them into it with visibly shaking hands. "Help him call his family and keep him calm while I check the place," he instructed Connie. "You're in street clothes and you won't intimidate him so much. A team will bring someone to the station for him and make sure that the house is secure."
She nodded and helped the shocked manager to a chair. She crouched down next to him. "Tell me your number and I'll call home. You married?"
He nodded.
"You want us to bring your wife out to meet you at the station?"
"Please."
She rang his wife and instructed her to wait for the RangeMan team that would collect her and bring her to the station. While Ranger secured the premises, she helped the manager out to the SUV that was waiting to take him.
When the SUV had left, Ranger turned to her. "Forget the surveillance for the night. Take the car back with Manny then call it a night. You can pick up again tomorrow."
She nodded and walked towards the surveillance car, where Manny was sitting on the bonnet waiting. As she opened the door, Ranger called over to her, "You did well tonight."
She looked up in surprise, but he was already getting into the Porsche and closing the door behind him.