Valentine's Day Chapter 5
Lester had that deer caught in the headlights look on his face. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Here I had been spending all night thinking maybe, just maybe, this was some random chick that Ranger had picked up, but oh, no, the guys KNEW her. They just hadn't known that Ranger had been with her. But they knew HER! And nobody had said a word! I was beyond pissed. I felt betrayed. First by Ranger. Then by my friends.
"Steph, listen to me," Lester pleaded. I tore myself away from my furious musings to look at him. He really did look upset. Well, alright, I'll listen for a minute. And then I'll yell.
"Deb, uh, Deborah Fairbanks, uh, Dr. Fairbanks works for the government. She's one of the team that checks us out after we return from a mission. You know, when we decompress. We've all known her for years. I didn't think there was anything between them anymore and…"
"ANYMORE?!?!?" I screamed. So much for listening quietly, Steph, I said to myself. "Are you telling me there used to be something between Ranger and her?" The only woman I had ever heard Ranger mention was Rachel, his ex-wife. This new bombshell left me reeling.
"Well, Steph," he began again "It was a long time ago. A couple years before he met you. Looking back, I don't think they were ever really that serious about each other, but yeah, they dated." His eyes pleaded with me to understand. "It went on for probably about a year, and then one day it was just over. I tried to ask Ranger about her, but you know how he is. He just shut me out. I never felt comfortable asking Deb, and from then on, we only saw her professionally. You know, it could have caused problems for her, with her being on the med team and all. I always wondered…" He stopped there, and I didn't want him to continue. I think I had heard all I could stand for the moment.
I looked at my friend. He looked so sad to be the one to tell me this that I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and guilty for my outburst. "It's ok, Les, really. I'm sorry I overreacted. I was just really hoping this was a one time thing. But like I said before, Ranger never promised me anything. All of this, tonight, has been my own doing. I'm the one who invested too much into this, and now I'm the one who's going to have to get over it. Nobody else did this to me. Nobody. Just me." The tears that I thought were over, were threatening again. I didn't want to put Les through that again.
After the night's events, I just wanted to go crawl in bed and stay there till about New Year's. I told Lester, again, that I was ok, thanked him for being there for me, gave him a peck on the cheek, and sent him on his way. He gave me a sad smile, a hug and a kiss on the head. "Call me," he said, and he was gone.
I crawled into bed, stuck my head under my pillow, and cried myself to sleep.
The next few days flew by in a blur. Between chasing down my skips, doing searches at Rangeman, and finishing up my Christmas preparations I stayed almost too busy to dwell on my depressing love life. Almost. Not quite, but almost.
I managed to avoid Ranger whenever I was at Haywood. By some unspoken agreement, the guys seemed to sense I needed a little space, and everyday someone would happen to call me, and then happen to mention that Ranger just happened to have left the building and wasn't due in until later. I was thankful to them for it. Nobody mentioned the night of the party, and nobody seemed any different around me when I was at work, either. I was also thankful for that.
I still wanted to talk to Ranger, I just wasn't sure if I was ready. I meant what I had told Lester. If we couldn't find a way to still be friends, I really would be devastated. I had come to the sad realization that whatever 'relationship' I thought Ranger and I had was all in my head. We were friends, sure, co-workers and sometimes partners, but that was all. Ranger had always been honest with me, and I was the one who had overblown it. I needed to tell him that, as well. But, it was a little hard to have a talk with the man when I was avoiding him like the plague!
Three days before Christmas, I stopped in the Bonds Office. Lula was out shopping for Tank, Vinnie was gone in search of a soul, and Connie was doing her nails when I walked in.
"Hey Connie, what's up?" I asked as I plopped down on the yucky vinyl couch. She looked up at me, her expression thoughtful. She regarded me for a minute, and then nodded, as if she had made up her mind about something.
"Ranger was here" she said. That was all. Just 'Ranger was here."
"And…" I tried prompting her.
"And he brought Her" she added.
"And…" I tried prompting again. This was going to take all day.
"And what's the deal with that?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" I really didn't want to go there today. Maybe never.
"What's going on with him, Stephanie. I've never seen him like this. It's scary."
Oh God! She'd noticed it too!
"What are you talking about, Connie?" I feigned innocence.
"Steph, have you seen him? Did you notice anything different about him? Did you notice his eyes?" she asked in a rush, almost like she was afraid to even being saying it.
I sunk down deeper in the couch. I thought about her question. "Yeah, Connie. I did notice. His eyes are empty, like they're dead. It was creepy. It was scary, almost." I had been trying not to think about the way his eyes had been so scary. It was easy not too, since I was so busy convincing myself that I wasn't heartbroken, that I knew we were only friends, and mostly, that damn it all, I. Was. Not. In. Love. With. Ricardo. Carlos. Manoso. Shit.
"So, do you know? What's going on? Lula said Tank won't tell her a thing, just that sometimes Ranger has a hard time letting go. What in God's name does that mean? And is she working for him now, too?" Connie had worked herself into a lather just thinking about it, I could tell.
"I don't know. How does he seem, otherwise?" I asked her.
"He's cold. That's the only way I can describe it. Cold, like a dead fish. With dead eyes. Steph, it scares me." She looked upset just remembering. This woman is connected to the mob, and she's afraid of Ranger's scary eyes. Creepy.
I hated to admit that I still hadn't spoken to Ranger in the week that he'd been back. I had only seen him, oh so briefly, at the party. I guess it was time I got to the bottom of this. Face it head on, and all that jazz. Go straight to the source. That's me, Stephanie Plum, Girl Detective.
I pulled out my phone and hit speed dial. It was answered on the first ring. I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and said, "Hi Tank, it's me, Steph."