Eliza Higgins and Henry Doolittle
What if fate had dealt the cards just a little bit differently?
O-O-O
Steph leaned close to her and whispered. "Is God really a woman?"
Stella grinned from ear to ear. "I have no idea. But, if she is, it would stand to reason she hates assholes, right?"
O-O-O
Chapter 10
Stephanie laughed and nodded her head in agreement. Giving Stella's arm a gentle squeeze, she excused herself to go in search of her purse. Fortunately, someone had picked it up off the floor and put it on the table where she and Stella sat to have their talk earlier.
She draped the strap over her shoulder and looked around the crowded basement for the lead detective. It looked like half the cops in Trenton were in attendance along with some plainclothes people she wasn't familiar with. She wanted to know if it was okay for her to leave. It was after four o'clock and she needed to head home so she could get ready for her date with Ranger. She was also curious about the fact Morelli hadn't shown up yet and wanted to get out of there before he did. He was one of two homicide detectives on the Trenton force, but since there was no homicide here, maybe he just decided to keep his nose out of her business for once. The more likely scenario was Morelli was out of town on another assignment.
Finally, she caught the eye of the Trenton vice detective who questioned her earlier. Good enough, she thought, making her way over to the tall blonde headed detective. "Excuse me, Detective Henderson, I was wondering if I'm free to leave? I have another appointment I need to get ready for."
The blue-eyed man gave her a cheesy smile. "You can go as long as you're done taking down criminals for the day, Ms. Plum," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "You're single-handedly making the department look bad."
Stephanie might have been charmed if he were being sincere, but she could tell he was only flirting. All she cared about was leaving, so she played along. "Detective Henderson, you flatter me, but I promise I'm done collaring bad guys for the day. I actually gave up bounty hunting over a year ago. Today was pretty much an accident."
"Some accident," he said. "You nabbed a local skip and two fugitives wanted in New York in connection with a series of bank robberies and the hijacking and robbery of a postal delivery truck. I imagine you'll be hearing from the F.B.I. soon."
"Great. Why can't anything be simple?" Stephanie wondered aloud. Before he could answer, she asked, "I'm not going to have to go to New York to testify, am I?"
Detective Henderson shoved his hands in the pockets of his gray dress pants. "Not that I know of. You have no direct knowledge of the crimes they committed there. The Fibbies will want information about their capture, though, and will want to question you to see if they shared any information with you."
Stephanie relaxed a bit. "Well thank goodness I don't know anything about their past crimes," she said truthfully. "I'll see you around, detective."
"Hope so," he said with a smile and a wink.
Steph made sure she did a complete one-eighty before rolling her eyes. She wanted to make a comment about his wedding band, but decided to just keep her mouth shut and walk away.
Scanning the room once again, she noticed Stella had disappeared and she wanted to say goodbye to her. Stephanie looked upstairs and down, but couldn't find her anywhere. When she crossed paths with Eddie, she asked if he'd seen her.
"Yeah," Eddie said. "I saw her a few minutes ago. She said she had to leave and we should make sure the door was locked when we left." He held out a small manila envelope. "She asked me to give this to you."
Stephanie took the envelope and thanked him as she gave him a quick goodbye hug.
She tucked the envelope into her handbag and pulled out her keys as she made her way to her car. Part of her wanted to look in the envelope right away, but another part of her wanted to save it until she got home. She had a feeling Stella wasn't just off on some errand. She was gone and not coming back and that made Stephanie feel grumpy and sad.
There were many more things she wanted to ask her about the lifetime when Stella was her mother and Stephanie had married the 16th century version of Ranger.
As she drove, she shifted her mind to Ranger and their date to keep her mind off Stella. She spent some time running through her wardrobe in her mind trying to figure out what to wear. She thought Randy's Waterfront Inn was on the casual side, but not blue jeans casual. She finally decided on her pastel peach slacks and a white sleeveless shell. She had peach sandals and earrings that perfectly matched the slacks, but she'd need to take the rose color polish off her toenails.
By the time she pulled into her driveway, she had one hour to get ready. Not a problem, she said to herself as she walked through the front door and headed for the bathroom.
r/s/r/s
Ranger and Lester had spent the afternoon playing golf and as they sat in the clubhouse afterward, Ranger finally put in the call to Tank that he'd been meaning to make.
"Ranger, how the hell are you?"
"I'm good, old man, how's it going with you?"
"Great. Bobby and I are about fifteen or twenty minutes out."
"Fifteen or twenty minutes out of what?" Ranger asked, frowning on his end of the phone call.
Tank chuckled, his voice deep and rich. "Fifteen or twenty minutes out of Trenton, man."
Ranger let out a small laugh and shook his head. "Doesn't anyone call first any more? Lester showed up here today without calling."
"I know, dude. That's why we're on our way. He called us and said he felt the urge to check up on you and since Bobby and I are still on vacation, we decided to join him. You okay, man?"
"Yeah, I'm great, but I'm not home at the moment. You have my address?"
"Yep. Got it from Les."
"Well Les and I are at a golf course, so we'll head to my place now and meet you there."
"We could meet you at the golf course if you give me the address," Tank said.
"Nah, I've got to get ready for a date. I can't really cancel it so you and Bobby and Lester are going to have to keep yourselves entertained while I'm out."
"A date?" Tank echoed. "The Cuban one night stand aficionado has a date? I've gotta meet this chick."
"You won't be meeting her tonight, Dawg. Make other plans. I mean it." Ranger's tone was threatening.
"Sheesh! You got a date with royalty or something?"
"Better."
Tank was intrigued, but decided to drop the subject for the time being. "You got your game console set up?"
"Of course. I've got some new games too. You guys can try them out or play the old standbys and either battle each other all night or make your fingers bleed with Guitar Hero. See you in a few minutes."
"In a few," Tank repeated before disconnecting.
Ranger and Lester left the clubhouse and hustled out to Ranger's SUV. As Ranger opened the driver side door, his eye caught a glint of sunlight reflecting off something on the seat. He picked it up with a frown, having no idea where it came from. It appeared to be half of a pendant or medallion with words inscribed on it. He flipped it over in his hand a couple times, then stuck it in his pocket, and climbed behind the wheel. Maybe it was a good luck charm of some sort, he thought as he sped toward his apartment.
He certainly felt lucky lately. He'd found a job right away after leaving the Rangers. The FTA bond money was good and he'd met his past and future all rolled up into one smart, beautiful bundle of woman.
As soon as they got back to his apartment, he went to his bedroom to get ready to shower. He emptied his pockets of his change, wallet, keys and cell phone and dumped it all on his dresser.
When he dressed again after his shower he left the change on the dresser, but picked up his phone, wallet and keys and started out of the room. Stopping at the doorway, he turned around and retrieved the medallion piece, dropping it in the front right pocket of his black dress pants.
He heard Tank's booming voice before he actually saw the man and grimaced when he realized Tank was pumping Lester for information about Stephanie.
"I have no idea, man," Lester told Tank. "I swear I haven't met her yet. I think we should check her out though. Ranger seems to have fallen hard and fast for her."
"You two need to chill," Bobby told them. "Ranger's not stupid when it comes to women. He can look out for himself."
Ranger cleared his throat behind them causing Tank and Lester to jump a bit. "At least one of you is thinking clearly," Ranger said nodding toward Bobby.
"Hey man," Tank said, turning to greet his friend. "Good to see you."
"You too," Ranger said, exchanging a familiar, slightly complicated handshake with Tank and then Bobby. "What the hell are the three of you doing in my living room discussing my love life like a group of gossipy old women?"
Tank threw his head back and laughed. "Busted," he said, exchanging quick glances with Lester and Bobby. "We're just looking out for you, man. You never actually date women."
"I do now, and I don't need any comments from the peanut gallery," Ranger said, his voice leaving no room for argument. Glancing at his watch he said, "I've got to get going. I ordered a couple of pizzas for you heathens and they should be here in about five minutes." He tossed some money down on the coffee table. "There's beer in the fridge."
"You're alright for a sissy," Lester said, his green eyes dancing with mischief.
"Fuck you, Santos," Ranger said as he walked out the door. He smiled to himself as the sound of their raucous laughter carried through the door. He was glad he didn't have any neighbors. When they all got together they were loud and boisterous and laughed a lot. He almost wished he'd be joining them tonight. Almost.
r/s/r/s
Stephanie checked her hair, makeup and outfit one last time in the full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door. Not bad, she thought to herself, pleased with the results.
In the kitchen, she looked at the clock and saw she still had five or six minutes until Ranger was scheduled to arrived. She grabbed a piece of note paper and pen and started a list for him. She only had time to write down four items when she heard his truck in the driveway.
Stephanie opened the door and smiled up at his handsome face then swept her eyes downward. He was wearing black dress pants and a polo golf shirt with the Lacoste crocodile logo. The shirt was a medium gray with a charcoal gray collar. Shiny black dress shoes adorned his feet. He'd only been discharged from the service for two and a half weeks, so his Army crew cut was still growing out and it appeared he'd used some gel to give it a messy spiked look. His brown eyes were soft and warm and his smile made her feel tingly from head to toe. "Hey there, come on in," she said, finally finding her voice.
Ranger stepped inside and bent to give her a quick soft kiss. "You look very pretty, Babe. Are you ready to go?"
"Sure, just let me grab my purse and the list I was making for you and we can go."
Before she could walk away, she heard another car in the driveway and looked outside. It was her cousin, Eddie.
"Eddie," she said as he approached the front door. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything is great," he said with a smile. He gave Ranger a curious look.
"Oh, Eddie, this is my friend Carlos Manoso. He goes by the nickname Ranger. Ranger, this is my cousin's husband Eddie Gazzara."
"We've met," Eddie told her. "Good to see you, Ranger," he said, holding out his hand.
Ranger shook his hand. "Good to see you too, Eddie."
Stephanie looked from one to the other. "You two know each other?"
Ranger spoke first. "Eddie was at the TDP when I turned in my first skip and collected the body receipt. He introduced himself and then introduced me to a few of the other officers."
"Oh, right. The police station. That makes sense. What can I do for you Eddie? Would you like to come in?"
"Nah, it looks like you two were just leaving. I stopped by because I have some exciting news for you."
Stephanie gave a small laugh. "Yeah, like I haven't had enough excitement for one day."
Eddie grinned at her. "True, but this is good excitement. The two guys you zapped that were doing Pete's dirty work both had a reward on their head. Sid Hartman, $125,000 and Jimmy Robinson, $100,000. Add that to the ten percent from Pete's bond and you're sitting pretty, Steph."
Stephanie was shocked into silence for a long enough moment to notice the confused look on Ranger's face.
Eddie looked from Stephanie to Ranger and back again. "Is there a problem? Did I say something wrong?"
Stephanie was quick to reassure him. "No, no, you didn't say anything wrong. I just haven't had a chance to tell Ranger what happened today. Oh, and the money goes to him. Pete was his skip."
"Wait a second," Ranger said. The look on his face was somewhere between amazed and scared shitless. "You went and picked up Pete on your own?"
"No! Well, not intentionally. It was an accident."
"An accident?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes, I'll tell you the details later," she said with pleading eyes, cutting her eyes to Eddie for a split second.
Eddie had no idea what was going on or how the two of them even knew each other, but he could take a hint. "Listen, I've gotta go. Shirley's probably getting ready to put dinner on the table."
"Thanks for stopping by, Eddie. "And for the good news."
"Good seeing you, Eddie," Ranger told him. "The reward and bond money go to Stephanie."
Eddie wasn't about to get in the middle of this. "I'm sure you'll work it out," he told them as he spun around and walked quickly to his car.
Stephanie and Ranger stood very still and stared at one another for a long moment. Finally, Ranger blew out a shaky breath and walked past her, through the living room and into the kitchen.
Stephanie silently followed him, biting her bottom lip. She didn't know him well enough to know if he was shocked or angry.
He stopped when he got to counter and leaned against it. Still, neither of them had spoken. He glanced down and saw the list she'd written. Pepper spray, stun gun, extra pair of handcuffs, lock picking kit.
He picked up the note. "This is for me?"
Stephanie was surprised but thankful for the change of subject. "Yes. I noticed you didn't have those things in your utility belt and you'll likely need them. Obviously, it's much better to stun or pepper spray a skip than to shoot them to bring them in."
Ranger gave a tiny nod. Thank you. I'll pick these things up tomorrow. And did you have all these things with you when you went after Pete this afternoon?"
Stephanie rolled her eyes. She couldn't help it. "I didn't go after Pete this afternoon. I told you, it was an accident."
Ranger crossed his arms over his chest. "You accidentally got in your car and drove down to Stark Street after telling me this morning I should never go down there by myself?"
"Ugh! I didn't say that. I told you to never go down there by yourself when you're going after a violent skip!"
"If you weren't going after Pete, what were you doing down there?"
Stephanie planted her hands on her hips. "Not that it's any of your business, but I went back down there to talk to Stella. I had some questions for her. And, even though I wasn't going after a skip, I did take my gun and my stun gun and that's how I was able to take down Pete and those two goons at Stella's house."
Ranger's eyebrows shot up. "They showed up at Stella's house?"
"Yes. Actually, Sid and Jimmy were there when I got there, I just didn't know it. They had Stella tied up in the basement. I was able to stun them both and get Stella untied. She and I were able to talk for a little while, then Pete showed up, shooting blindly."
Steph paused for a moment, her throat dry from nerves and talking. She walked over to the sink and filled a small glass with water. Drinking it down quickly, she continued. "I had no choice. To keep Stella and I from being hit by a flying bullet, I had to shoot him. I got him once in each shoulder. The police came and took our statements and hauled Sid and Jimmy away. An ambulance took Pete away. That's about it except for the reward money we just heard about from Eddie."
"God Almighty," Ranger said, closing the short gap between them. He gently grabbed her arms and pulled her to him, holding her against his chest. "You could have been killed, Steph," he whispered into her hair.
"But I wasn't and I'm fine, Ranger." She closed her eyes and snuggled against him. His chest was hard as a rock, yet it felt warm and soothing to be in close contact with him, not to mention how delicious he smelled. She wrapped her arms around his waist and allowed him to hold her for a while.
After a few minutes, he shifted one hand and slid his fingers through her hair. Then his had cupped the back of her head and she let out a small yelp.
Ranger quickly released her. "What the heck?" He turned her around and carefully separated her hair, gently checking out the goose egg on the back of her head. "What happened? Did Pete do this?" he asked, turning her back around.
Stephanie avoided his eyes. "No, either Sid or Jimmy did it. I'm not sure which because my back was to them and they knocked me out for a few seconds."
She saw Ranger's hands clench into tight fists. "I'll kill them! Babe, did you go to the hospital to get checked out.?"
"No, I'm fine," Stephanie said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Ranger scrubbed his hands over his face. None of the crazy, scary, dangerous things he'd seen or experienced as an Army Ranger compared to the fear of thinking something bad could happen to the woman in front of him. "Babe," he said gently. "You could have a concussion."
"Yeah, I know, but if I had a concussion they'd just send me home anyway, right?"
Ranger gave a resigned shake of his head. "I'm torn between being so proud of you I could burst and being so frightened for you, I want to lock you in a safe house where no one can hurt you."
Stephanie barked out a laugh. "You just hang on to the proud feeling because locking women up without their permission is illegal in all fifty states."
He gave her his blank look and she sighed. "Look, you should be happy. With all that reward money, you'll be able to open your security business sooner."
Ranger reached out and tucked a stray strand of curls behind her ear. "Steph, you captured them, the money belongs to you."
"Yeah, but Pete was your skip. Your skip, your payday."
Ranger crossed his arms across his chest again. "No way, Babe. Your capture, your reward. I'm not taking the money."
Steph narrowed her eyes at him. "Well I'm not taking it. You would have captured all of them when you went after Pete. I actually interfered and cost you a big payoff."
"Be that as it may, Steph, you did the take downs, you risked your life, you got hurt in the process, you saved Stella, you're getting the bond and reward money, end of story."
Holding back her Hungarian temper was causing Stephanie's eye to twitch. She pressed two fingers to the corner of her eye and glared at Ranger. "End of story? End of story? Why? Because you say so? I don't need another macho man in my life so why don't you just take your bossy ass home before it meets the end of my stun gun!"
The corner of Ranger's mouth twitched as he fought off a smile. She was so sexy and feisty! "Fine," he said.
He headed for the door and Stephanie followed him, surprised he was giving up so easily. She didn't really want him to leave, but she couldn't say that now.
Ranger put his hand on the door knob, but his eyes locked on to Stephanie's. "I'll be calling you every two hours to check on you because of the concussion."
Stephanie put her hands on her hips. "We don't even know that I have a concussion."
"We'd know if you'd gone to the hospital to get checked out. Now we'll just have to assume to be on the safe side."
"I'm not going to wake up every two hours all night to answer my phone," she said defiantly.
"No problem, I'll come over here every two hours and wake you up. It's not that far. Or, I could sleep in my truck. Yeah, that'll work."
"You're impossible!" Stephanie said, her voice rising. "You can't sleep in your truck all night. That's ridiculous. I'll answer the stupid phone."
Ranger gave her a tender smile. "That's great, Babe." He opened the door and stepped outside, then looked back over his shoulder. "Talk to you in a couple of hours. Oh, and I'll see you in the morning."
"There's no need to come check on me in the morning, Ranger."
"Not to check on you," he said, looking away to hide his grin. "We're office mates, remember. I have a key."
With that, he strode to his truck, climbed in and drove away. Two minutes later, his cell phone rang. He looked at the Caller I.D. and smiled. "Hello?"
"How could you just drive away and leave me here with a concussion?"
Ranger chuckled. "Stella said you'd be like this for a while."
There was a pause.
"Be like what?" Stephanie demanded.
"Liking me one minute, sending me away the next."
"Oh god," Stephanie whispered. "What the hell is wrong with me? Did she say how long it would last?"
"She didn't use these exact words," Ranger said, "but she implied it would be until you experienced your first Ranger induced orgasm."
"What!"
"Babe, I'm kidding. I was just trying to make you laugh."
"You don't value your life much, do you Mr. Funny Guy?"
"You're gonna kill me, Babe?"
"Not until I experience a Ranger induced orgasm," she said softly.
"Babe, you do realize I'm still on the line, don't you?"
"Oh shit!" she said, quickly disconnecting her phone.
O-O-O
A/N - Thanks for reading. I'm sorry it's been a few days since my last chapter. Hope this longer than usual one makes up for it a bit. Warning: This chapter has not been edited. I only did a quick skim though. Hopefully, it's not too bad. If you see something awful, PM me or let me know in your review and I'll fix it a.s.a.p. Thank you for the reviews for the previous chapters. I love them!