TWENTY-SIX

I still felt pretty proud of my good deed until I realized where Ranger had driven me. We were a few blocks from Morelli's house. A knot instantly formed in my stomach, wiping away all traces of euphoria.

Ranger pulled to the curb behind Morelli's SUV.

"Maybe you should park a few houses away," I suggested. I didn't know how Morelli would take this. The slightest possibility existed he might try to shoot Ranger.

"He's not going to shoot me," Ranger replied, reading my mind.

"You don't know that for sure."

"Yes, I do. He knows I'll shoot back. It's kind of like America and the Soviet Union. Mutually assured destruction keeps us both well behaved."

"Morelli may look at this more like the Cuban Missile Crisis."

That earned me a smile from Ranger. He leaned over and kissed me, gently at first but then he slipped in some tongue. I felt slightly dazed as he pulled away.

"Reminding me why I'm doing this?"

"No, reminding myself how it felt to kiss you in this car, in case he convinces you to change your mind."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I got out and walked slowly up Morelli's walk and rang the bell. I heard Bob start barking.

"It's open," Morelli called and I stepped inside. Bob bounded over to me, nearly knocking me on my ass.

Morelli sat on the couch, his feet on his coffee table. He drank a beer, an already empty bottle rested on the table, next to his duty pistol. I really hoped Ranger was right about the no shooting thing.

"My lead panned out," I said, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. "George Fortecelli was working with his cousin, Frankie Rossi. Frankie is the Cookie half of Cookie and Crumbs. He baked all the edibles."

"Frankie told you this?"

"No, a few of the people he gave the edibles to told me this. And you should probably tell the DEA to check out his house as soon as possible."

"I don't want to ask, but I feel like I have to. Why?"

"Frankie's missing, he's got Fortecelli's car in his garage, and someone e-mailed him photos of Fortecelli with his brains blown out."

"Christ, Stephanie! Please tell me they aren't going to find your prints all over the place?"

"We wore gloves."

"We?" Morelli's mouth drew a grim line.

"Ranger and me."

I saw Morelli's eyes flit toward his gun. "Is he outside?"

"If I say yes, are you going to shoot him?"

"Maybe."

"He says he'll shoot back. Something about mutually assured destruction."

Morelli laughed, even though the situation seemed far from funny. "So, you filled me in about Fortecelli. I'll pass it on. Is that everything you wanted to talk about?"

"No," I breathed so lightly I didn't think Morelli even heard it until he moved closer to me on the couch. I looked down, unable to meet his gaze.

"You didn't marry him for real, did you?" Morelli asked.

I looked up in surprise. "No!" I paused, summoning the courage to continue. "But he and I are, for lack of a better term, dating. Exclusively."

"So that's it then, the end of us? You just stop trying?"

I looked at him in shock. "We've been trying for years, Joe. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, we're completely insane."

"Your life is what's insane," he shot back, standing. "For Christ's sake, you just broke into a guy's house, found photos of a dead guy on his computer, and calmly tell me I should inform the DEA."

"This is what I mean. It always comes back to the same argument between us every single time. You don't like my job. I'm not giving up my job. I'm not going to change, Joe. I deserve to be with someone who accepts me as I am. I'm sorry." I got up and headed for the door. Morelli beat me there.

It looked like he planned to argue more, but then his eyes fell on the car at his curb. "Don't tell me that's a fucking Ferrari?"

"It's a Ferrari. We haven't got to the fucking part yet." I knew I'd aimed a low blow, but I didn't care.

"Jesus, Steph. Don't you ever ask yourself where he gets the cars? Think about this, before he drags you down with him."

"I know where he gets the cars. I watched him buy the Ferrari. It's legal." I had questions about the cash used to purchase it, but the Ferrari itself was legal. "Now, let me leave."

Morelli moved away from the door. "He's going to break your heart, Stephanie. And don't think you're crawling back to me when he does."

I pulled the door open and marched out into the night. Morelli slammed it on my heels. By the time I reached the Ferrari, hot tears slid down my face. I angled into my seat, wiping the tears away with my sleeve.

Ranger reached over and cupped the side of my face, our eyes locking in the dim dashboard light. I could see the question in his eyes. Were the tears for Morelli or for him?

"I'm officially yours," I said softly, "and only yours."

He brushed away a few tears with his thumb then leaned over to brush his lips lightly against mine before sliding the car into gear and pulling into the road. I still struggled to control the water works when Ranger suddenly accelerated. I gripped the edge of my leather seat, shooting Ranger a worried glance.

"We have a tail," he told me.

I wiped my eyes, turning in my seat to look at the receding headlights. "Rossi?"

"Maybe. Either way, I'm going to lose him." Ranger took a hard left, then an immediate right, gunning the engine through several stop signs before careening through another left turn. He backed into a deserted alley and killed the lights.

We waited in the darkness for several minutes. Finally, Ranger crept back onto the street, driving back to Rangeman.

I went straight to the kitchen and found a bottle of Merlot. Popping the cork, I poured a large glass for myself, taking several gulps before refilling it immediately. Morelli's words bounced around the inside of my head. If things didn't work out with Ranger, would I really find myself alone?

Ranger crossed the kitchen and poured himself a much smaller glass of wine. He sipped it, watching me over the rim of the glass.

"I wish I knew what you are thinking," he finally commented. "You look miserable."

"I'm not miserable at you," I returned, giving him a small smile. "Morelli said…" I shook the memory of the fight away. "Well, he took it about as I expected. And he knows how to wound with just words." I drained the rest of my glass as Ranger sampled his slowly.

"Besides supplying the wine," Ranger said as he refilled my glass, "is there anything else I can do to make you feel better?"

"Just don't prove Morelli right and break my heart," I whispered, blinking back the new tears threatening to spill down my cheeks.

Glass clinked as Ranger set his wine glass down, then pulled me into him. "I don't plan to," he promised. "How can I prove that to you?"

"After our first time together, you told me you could make me forget Morelli if you put your mind to it." I locked my eyes with his. "Make me forget."

Ranger's eyes dilated black at my request. Carefully, he took the wine glass from my fingers and placed it on the counter. Tilting his head down, he captured my lips with his. He tasted of Merlot. His hands circled my back, pressing me against him. My hands slipped around his shoulders and into his silky hair.

We broke away just long enough to retreat to the bedroom. With an intentionally excruciating slowness, Ranger pulled my shirt over my head. The tips of his fingers left trails of fire along my skin. Tossing my shirt aside, he kissed the tops of my breasts softly before removing my bra. I moaned, fingers digging into his shoulder as his mouth returned to my now bare mounds of flesh. Electricity pulsed under my skin, a tremendous ache building between my legs.

Leaving me panting, Ranger stepped away to tug off his shirt. I immediately closed the gap, running my hands along his chiseled chest, tracing the valleys made by his muscles. He groaned softly, a deep sound in the back of his throat, as I carefully ran my fingers around to his back, avoiding his still-healing injuries. Trailing down to his waistband, I unbuttoned his pants and lowered his fly, pushing his black cargo pants and boxers to his ankles. He returned the favor, then pulled me against him as his lips crashed down on mine. I felt his erection pressing into my abdomen, further accelerating my heart rate.

He guided me onto the mattress, lips barely leaving mine on the way down. I lifted my hips, eagerly meeting him as he pressed between my legs. A deep sigh of relief escaped as he sank into me. Ranger rested his forehead against mine, locking our eyes as he began to slowly pump his hips. Caressing my shoulders, his hands trailed down my arms, gently lifting my wrists and raising my arms above my head. His fingers intertwined with mine, pressing the backs of my knuckles into the mattress. The action felt both romantic and possessive, sending a new thrill through my core.

Our bodies moved, building a rhythm together without either one of us needing to utter a word. A thin sheen of sweat covered us both, my breaths coming in pants as Ranger drove me into a state of complete nirvana. His name rang on my lips like a prayer as I shuddered beneath him. A few seconds letter, he found his own release.

"Stephanie!" The way he growled my name sent shivers skittering along my skin. "My Stephanie."

I gasped at the fervency in his voice, chasing the doubt from my mind. Just as I trusted Ranger with my life, I knew I could trust him with my heart.

No surprise, I found Ranger's side of the bed empty and cold by the time I woke up. I could hear him speaking on the phone from his office. I dragged myself into the bathroom for a shower, then made myself presentable for the day. Ranger waited for me in the kitchen by the time I emerged.

"I have info on GNRTech," he said, halting my search for something delicious and unhealthy for breakfast.

"I'm listening," I replied, straightening up from my inspection of his cereal selection. Nothing contained any artificial colors, dyes, or sugars and therefore looked to be more suitable to feed a pet rabbit than me.

"Greenridge is part owner of GNRTech."

I felt my mouth drop open. "Wait, isn't that like a huge conflict of interest? The city council approves which buildings the city will buy to demolish."

Ranger nodded. "Which is why it took extensive digging for my guy to even locate that information. Greenridge certainly doesn't want it to be public knowledge. Based on the sales records, he's voting for the city to purchase the buildings for considerably more than he's paying for them, earning himself a hefty profit."

"Greenridge's secretary told me that Fortecelli came with an entire envelope full of paperwork for his appointment with Greenridge. What if he managed to discover the same thing? He disappeared the next day. What if he tried to blackmail Greenridge into pulling strings to reduce his charges, and Greenridge simply had him killed?"

Ranger stayed silent, giving me a hard look.

"You think I'm crazy?" I offered, reading his silence.

"No," he replied. "I think Fortecelli might have inadvertently stumbled on a huge skeleton in Greenridge's closet. And now so have you. I'm worried you'll meet the same fate."

"Except I'm not stupid enough to try to blackmail Greenridge and show my hand."

"Someone followed us last night, Babe."

"You don't think it was Rossi?"

Ranger shrugged. "I don't know. That's the problem."

"You worry too much." He and Morelli had that in common. They just had polar opposite ways of dealing with it.

Ranger pulled me against him. "You don't worry enough," he replied, piercing me with his dark eyes. He leaned down to give me a smoldering kiss, sucking my bottom lip as he pulled back. "Please be careful today."

I shook my head slightly to restart my brain after the kiss. "I assume I still have a shadow?"

Ranger nodded, with just a hint of a smile. "Scott seems very eager to redeem himself."

Great. Just what I needed. A puppy looking for a "good boy" pat on his head at the end of the day.

"Here," Ranger added, dangling a Chevy key fob from his index finger.

"I can take my truck?" I asked excitedly. A second later, a tense knot in the pit of my stomach replaced the glee. "Wait, what about the condition you put on buying it?"

Ranger smiled slowly, reminding me suddenly of a cat playing with a mouse. "I expect payment in full within thirty days."

Swallowing the huge lump in my throat, I managed to squeak, "But there are cameras in your garage."

"I'm sure we can find a more private location," he replied, his voice low. "Keep your eyes peeled." With that, Ranger reached around me to grab an orange from the bowl on the counter and sauntered back to his office.

I stood in the kitchen for a few more seconds, trying to puzzle out if he meant I should keep my eyes peeled for danger or for a private boinking spot. Or both. Shaking the idea from my head, I decided to get breakfast from a drive through and made my way to the Rangeman garage.