A/N: All recognizable characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I use them for fun and not profit.
Chapter 16
I turned to Ranger as we stood in the lobby of Baldicott, Inc. "I think I should go in and see Anthony alone," I said. "He'll be more comfortable talking to me if you're not looming over us."
"I don't loom, Babe, and you're not going in there alone."
"Ranger, this could be awkward. I was on a date with this man less than twenty-four hours ago."
"If you're uncomfortable, Stephanie, stay here in the lobby and I'll talk to him without you."
"No way." I walked to the receptionist and asked to speak to Anthony.
"Do you have an appointment?" she asked.
"No, but if you say it's Stephanie Plum he'll see me."
She made a call and then looked up at me. "I'm sorry, Ms. Plum, but he's out of the office. He's due back shortly if you'd like to wait."
"Thanks," I said and we settled ourselves into a loveseat, sitting close and enjoying the contact. I looked up to see a woman walk past an open doorway and continue down an internal hall. I jumped from the sofa and crossed the room.
"Shirley!" I called. The woman halted and spun around. The startled look on her face was masked quickly by a smile. She came into the lobby and gave me a hug.
"Stephanie, it's been years!" She stepped away quickly and looked at Ranger giving him a brief nod. "I heard you came to visit Anthony the other day. I was sorry to have missed you. What brings you back?"
"Shirley, let me introduce you to my, uh…partner, Carlos Mañoso. Carlos is the CEO of RangeMan Security. Carlos, this is Shirley Blanco. We worked together at E.E. Martin. She moved to Baldicott with Anthony when they bought us out."
Ranger stood and they shook hands, Shirley pulling hers away as soon as socially acceptable. She seemed nervous, but sometimes Ranger had that effect on people. "We're here to talk to Anthony," I told her.
"He stepped out momentarily. He should be back soon," she said echoing the words of the receptionist. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I'm just here to see Anthony," I said. "It's kind of personal. The receptionist said he won't be long so we'll just wait."
"You said you're in security," she said. "Are you trying to sell Anthony a security system?"
"No," I said. "Actually I'm here to see him about lingerie." Shirley Blanco took a sudden step backwards and her hand flew to her throat in a nervous gesture. The expression on her face showed a brief moment of alarm before she regained her composure. She ran her fingers through her short dark hair and took a deep breath to compose herself. Physically she looked much the same as when we were co-workers. She wore a simple black suit with moderately heeled black pumps. Her jewelry consisted of a plain gold chain and gold hoops. Shirley was a model of the well dressed business woman.
It had been several years since we'd seen each other, but we'd parted as friends, or at least on friendly terms. This woman was acting anything but pleased to see me. I was confused. Emotionally, she was a wreck. Her hands were twisting around a fountain pen and there was the beginning of a small eye twitch. Something was seriously wrong with her.
"I'm sure Anthony will be back soon," Shirley said. "Why don't I take you into his office. You'll be more comfortable there." Ranger had been silently watching the exchange between Shirley and me. He followed me as Shirley led us out of the lobby toward Anthony's office.
As we entered Anthony's office Shirley's eyes fell to the manila envelope in Ranger's hand. Her eyes widened and the Mont Blanc pen she'd been rolling through her nervous fingers dropped onto Anthony's desk. "I'll make sure Anthony knows you're here." She practically ran from the office.
I turned to Ranger. "What in the world was wrong with her?" I asked. "She was off her rocker. She used to be the picture of a calm and efficient buyer. Anthony told me he'd made her his chief assistant because she was so quietly competent."
"I don't know for sure," Ranger said, "but I'm betting we'll have a better idea after we talk to Fenoglio."
We didn't have to wait long. Anthony came into his office a short five minutes later. He seemed surprised to see Ranger, but shook his hand politely and then turned to me. "Are you here to talk about the position I offered you, Stephanie?" He had a hopeful look on his face. I felt bad because even though it was very likely he was my stalker, I knew the information we were going to share with him would be painful for him.
"Anthony, Carlos and I have something to discuss with you. I have a stalker. Someone has been sending me lingerie, beautiful lingerie, and they've been sending it anonymously."
Anthony's face flushed as Ranger pulled copies of the photo-shopped pictures from the envelope and laid them on the desk.
"I'm embarrassed you found out. I'd hardly call it stalking though. I just, well it was just a silly way of flirting. I thought, eventually, if we got together I'd confess it was me and, oh my…" His face paled and his voice trailed off as he picked up the photo of my face pasted onto a body of stab wounds. His hand trembled as he looked at the page. "I don't understand," he said. "What is this?"
"Are you saying you're not responsible for this?" I asked him.
"No!" He shook his head unbelievably. "I sent you some gifts, but not this." His hands sorted through the photos, separating the earlier lingerie shots from the last ones I'd received. "Who did this?" he asked.
"We think you might be able to help us find out," Ranger said. "We've done a little investigating on our own and we know of your involvement with Terry Gilman. Do you think she's responsible?"
Anthony sunk into his desk chair resting his head in his hands. I thought he was on the verge of tears.
"No, I can't think Terry would do this. Terry agreed to help me with this because she's an old family friend. I'm not sure she thought it was the best idea. She's a straightforward person and she didn't understand my lack of confidence after my wife left me. I felt I needed a device to reestablish my friendship with you, Stephanie, and she helped me."
"Is there anyone else," Ranger asked, "who might have been party to what was going on?" Anthony looked up, awareness in his eyes.
"Yes. Several months ago when I first started working on an idea for a premium lingerie boutique I confided to Shirley, my assistant, that I had a desire to see you socially, Stephanie. I didn't have any reason to contact you so I decided to play what I thought was a silly game. I photo-shopped the pictures from lingerie catalogs and then sent you the gifts. Shirley said she had a picture of you and put your head over the model's. It started out as a onetime gift. Just a silly romantic little prank and then I sent several more."
There were beads of sweat on Anthony's forehead and in spite of myself I felt sorry for him. Ranger had amazingly become a quiet, non-threatening part of the conversation. I knew he thought Anthony was a fool, but it didn't show in his demeanor.
"I didn't want you to make a connection to me until I was ready to approach you," Anthony continued. "I thought when you found out you'd be pleased and it would give us something to talk about. I knew you'd love the lingerie. You always had an eye for quality. That's what was so frustrating about E.E. Martin. We didn't exactly deal in quality."
"Anyway," he continued, staring at a spot above my head, "I hit upon the idea of using Terry as a delivery girl since she knew you. She was willing to go along with the idea because she thought it would be good for you and me to be together, but she didn't want her involvement to be known so to make it more of a secret I went to Shirley for help. I told her I was sending you gifts as a secret admirer. She agreed to address envelopes for me, both the letter envelopes and the packages, and she volunteered to deliver them to Terry. So I let her."
"What about the La Perla gift?" I asked. "Terry brought it into my apartment. Why did you quit using the padded envelopes?"
Anthony glanced at Ranger as if wondering for the first time what his role was. "The La Perla gift was not from the boutique collection. I purchased it myself. I was starting to have second thoughts about the secret admirer aspect. It seemed somehow kind of juvenile. I didn't have an envelope from Shirley to put it in and Terry took it without one. I didn't know how she got it to you. I was going to contact you and confess everything, but then you called me. "
Anthony's gaze fell to his desk. His hands ran over the photocopies of the women in the stabbed underwear as well as the picture of the naked corpse. He read the warning scrawled on the picture, 'Stay away from him. He isn't the one for you.' He looked briefly at me and then Ranger. "I didn't do this. Is it talking about me? Is it saying I'm not the one for you?"
"I don't know," I said. "The reason I called you the other day," I told him, "is because there was an old business card of mine from E.E. Martin included with this picture. I didn't save any of my cards and I was trying to find out where it might have come from."
"Shirley and I were the last two left in the office at E.E. Martin," Anthony said. "It had to be her. But I don't understand why she would do this."
"I think she feels more for you than you might realize," I said. "Maybe she wasn't as happy about helping you with your plan as you thought."
"We need to talk to Shirley," Ranger said. "Can you get her in here?"
Anthony picked up his phone and placed a call. A frown marred his forehead and he hung up. "She didn't answer. Let me go get her."
He got up from his chair and left the office to return a few minutes later with bad news. "My receptionist said Shirley ran out of the office shortly after she seated the two of you in here."
Ranger stood. "I need Shirley's address and home contact as well as a cell number and any other personal information you can give us."
Anthony stood and seemed to find his dignity. He wouldn't look me in the eye, but he faced Ranger and said, "I've known Shirley a long time and I don't think she's capable of doing any actual violence, but I'll cooperate fully with you."
A few minutes later we were sitting in the Porsche. The engine was running and the heat was on high. It was sunny, but the wind was blowing and the winter day had turned bitterly cold. Ranger's hand was caressing the back of my neck as I sat quietly assimilating everything I'd learned. Shirley Blanco had been making threats to me. I thought I might know why but we couldn't be sure until we talked to her. I didn't know if she would confess to being in love with Anthony or not. Ranger pulled out his phone and called Tank.
"I want this woman found and found quickly," he said. He gave the information to Tank and then continued, "Send Lester and Hal, and if they can't find her put two more men on it. I want this woman soon. She might run; she was on edge earlier today." He listened again and then disconnected.
"Tank said Lula is going crazy trying to get a hold of you," he told me. He handed me his phone and I dialed her number.
"Am I talking to Batman?" Lula demanded
"No. It's me. What's up?"
"What you doin' with Batman? We need you down here. You won't believe what me and Connie seen this afternoon. We seen Terry Gilman and Mooch and they was having a huge fight. And you gotta come down here 'cause Vinnie is making noise about rebonding Joyce and you gotta talk him outta that."
"I don't think I'm going to make it in today," I said. "There's been a development with my stalker. Ranger and Morelli are sort of working together on this. What's the deal with Vinnie? Joyce isn't going to be able to post bond if she's charged with attempted murder."
"They dropped the attempted murder charge and now her bond is doable," she told me. "He's going to take her to the dentist and get her teeth fixed. I think she might be lookin' at Vinnie as her next ex-husband."
"Well, if Lucille finds out, Joyce'll have more than missing teeth to worry about." I looked over to see Ranger pull a tissue wrapped package out of his jacket pocket. "Lula, I've got to go. I'll be in first thing in the morning. I have some stuff to tell you and Connie."
"I'll say you do," Lula agreed. "We're still waiting to hear about your three dates."
"Well, you're in luck. I'm in the mood to talk about all three and I'll bring donuts." I disconnected and turned to see what Ranger was holding.
He carefully pulled the tissue layers away to reveal the Mont Blanc pen Shirley had dropped in Anthony's office. "I'm thinking we may have identified the partial fingerprint on your business card and I'm betting the pen is a match to the ink on the envelopes." He carefully rewrapped the pen and put it back in his pocket. "I'll have Howdy meet us at your apartment. You can pack a bag for tonight and then tomorrow, Babe, you're moving to seven, permanently. I'll take this pen to Morelli and then meet you at the apartment. I'll call Ella and have her bring up dinner and then we'll have an early evening."
His eyes dropped to my lips and I felt my nipples stand at attention. Ranger had only to look and my body responded. I was all for an early night.
Howdy met us at my apartment and I packed in record time. I was in a hurry to get to seven. When I did walk through the door to Ranger's…our apartment, I was disappointed. I was alone. I dumped my quickly packed possessions on the floor of the bedroom and made a snap decision. Unpacking could wait until later. The shower was calling.
Two minutes later I was standing under a stream of deliciously warm water, inhaling Bulgari scented foam as I slowly washed the day's cares from my body. Being married to Ranger would mean lots of changes and his shower was one I'd adjust to quickly. I felt a cool draft of air. Ranger stepped in behind me and wrapped his arms around me. There was the skittering of electricity that always accompanied his presence, and there was more. There was the tiniest seed of burgeoning joy. I turned around and pressed my wet soapy body against his slowly walking him against the wall of the shower. I was going to welcome my husband home.