Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter Six

I have been going out on sales calls for several weeks and have listened to the different presentation styles of Ranger, Tank and Lester. Ranger's style is very smooth. He never misses a beat. Tank's style is very serious. He sounds like it is a life or death situation. Lester's style is very lighthearted. He makes jokes and smiles a lot. When I pointed out my observation to Ranger, he decided to put it to use. So now when we go to the first client meeting, I use my spidey sense to match the client with the man that has the style that would fit the personality of the client the best. Ranger is pleased because the percentage of jobs they lost after giving a presentation went way down. Yesterday we had met with Mr. and Mr. Edwards, who were expecting their first child and so wanted to put in a security system. Ranger called me into his office.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Babe, you haven't told me who should do the presentation for the Edwards system yet. You usually tell me as soon as we leave the meeting."

"The problem is the Edwards. They are such polar opposites. Mrs. Edwards would definitely respond better to Lester. But, Mr. Edwards would think he was too frivolous. Mr. Edwards would be much more responsive to Tank, but Mrs. Edwards would be put off by his serious demeanor. So I suppose it will have to be you by process of elimination."

"Or we could experiment and send them both. Along with you, of course."

"Welll," I drawled. "I suppose it could work. Or it could be a disaster of epic proportions."

"Babe."

Which I'm pretty sure meant, "But either way, it should be interesting."

A few days later, we were in the Edwards' living room and Tank started explaining the purpose of each layer of protection and it's importance in keeping out the criminal element. Mr. Edwards looked very satisfied at hearing how secure his family will be. But, Mrs. Edwards looked a little frightened after hearing so much about the "criminal element". So I caught Lester's eye and imperceptibly nodded to her.

He caught my drift and jumped in saying, "Of course, it will also help to keep your child in when he gets a little older and wants to sneak out of the house."

Mrs. Edwards laughed and relaxed as he intended and the rest of the presentation continued along the same lines. When they got to the end, both the Edwards were happy and both complimented the two Rangemen on their skill.

When we got back to the office, I went to report to Ranger. "As usual, Batman, you made the right call. Tank and Lester balanced each other perfectly and," I said as I made a big show out of presenting him with a file. "Here is the signed contract."

He gave me a smile and said, "Proud of you, Babe."

He stood up to kiss me and asked, "Are you still planning on going to the movies with Lula tonight?"

"Yes, unless you want to watch a chick flick with me."

"I'll pass, Babe. I just wanted to let you know I'll be taking a surveillance shift with Tank tonight so I won't be home till after ten."

"No problem. The movie isn't over till 9:15 so I won't be home much before you."

After Ranger left and I was getting ready to go out my cell phone rang. I answered my phone and Connie asked, "Steph, who is driving tonight?"

"Lula's driving. Are you able to go after all?"

"No, I promised my aunt I would run some errands for her and then go to her house and help her with some stuff. But, my brother borrowed my car this afternoon and still hasn't brought it back. Naturally, he isn't answering his phone. It's getting late and I was wondering if I could borrow your car. I'm going to kill my brother."

"Not a problem, Con," I said. "And, please don't kill your brother. I don't want to have to ask Ranger to bury the body." She laughed.. "I'll just have Lula meet me at the bond office and you can take my car. Lula can bring me home so keep the car all night and I'll pick it up tomorrow."

So Connie took my car and Lula and I went to the movie. We got settled into our seats with our popcorn, our sodas, our M&M's, Jujubes, Twizzlers and Junior Mints. It had been a long time since Lula and I went to a movie together so we were going to enjoy it.

It was a little before nine when Hal called Ranger. "Sorry to disturb you, sir," he said tentatively. "It's Stephanie's car."

"Good god, it hasn't gone off line has it?"

"No, no. sir. It's just where it went. I wasn't concerned when she went to the mall, then the drug store and the bakery. But, now she is at Morelli's house."

"How long?"

"About fifteen minutes, sir."

"And you are just now calling me?"

"I thought-"

"Never mind," Ranger interrupted. "Send Santos over here NOW."

He disconnected and called my cell phone. It went straight to voice mail. Ranger barely took a breath until Lester drove up. He told Tank to get out and took off, rubber burning. When he got to Morelli's house, he parked behind my car and tried my cell phone again. This time I answered.

"What the hell are you doing at Morelli's house?" he barked into the phone.

"Ranger, I don't know what you are talking about. Lula and I just got out of the movie and I just turned my phone back on."

"Then what is your car doing in front of Morelli's house," he said snidely.

"For you information, Connie borrowed my car. Her brother had hers and she had promised her aunt she would run some errands for her. Her aunt happens to live next door to Morelli." I said nastily. "I didn't think you'd mind if I loaned MY car to Connie."

"Of course, I don't mind. But, you should have let me know. You know we always track you. What do you think Hal felt when he had to call me and tell me where your car is? What do you think I felt when I heard it?"

"Oh, I am sorry, Ranger. I didn't think it was important enough to bother you when you were working. As far as the trackers, you know how much I don't like being tracked. But, I know I can't stop you so I just try to forget about it. I just didn't think about you tracking Connie and thinking it was me."

"Babe."

"Oh, no," I said raising my voice. "You sent someone to Morelli's house, didn't you?" My blood pressure was rising as my anger escalated.

"No," he replied. "I didn't send anyone."

I know Ranger too well and I know if he didn't send some one that meant he went himself. Bingo! I started laughing. Even though I was mad as hell, the thought of Ranger sitting in front of Morelli's house spying like a teenager made me crack up. Have you ever tried to be angry when you're laughing? Impossible.

"You are there, aren't you?"

"Not anymore."

Ranger pulled into the garage just as Lula was dropping me off. We rode the elevator in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. We entered the apartment and I decided to take the bull by the horns.

"Ranger, what happened to the trust you are supposed to have in me? I thought you trusted me as much as I trust you."

"I think I do, Babe. But sometimes emotions get in the way of reason."

"You have emotions?" I teased.

"I think we already established that. Think about how you would feel if you saw my car in front of a woman's house."

"Like Jeanne Ellen's?"

"Jeanne Ellen or anyone. What do you think you would do?" he asked seriously.

"I would probably barge into the house without thinking and find Lester in bed with her and completely embarrass myself."

We both laughed, thinking about that scenario. And the scary part is that it could come true. Lester often borrowed one of Ranger's cars when he wanted to impress a women. Hmm. Something to think about. Then I got thoughtful and said, "You are right, though. Even though I really didn't think of you tracking my car, I realize the consequences of it now. I promise if I ever loan my car to anyone again, I will let the control room know."

"And let them know when you get it back so they can start tracking you again."

"Oh, alright," I sighed.

The next morning Ranger was driving me to the bond office to get my car. I asked him to drop me at the Tasty Pastry so I could get some doughnuts for the girls.

"Those things will kill you, Babe."

"Oh, give me a break," I retorted. "I haven't been to office in weeks. And, besides, it's tradition."

He looked at me raising an eyebrow. "Tradition?"

"Yes, tradition."

He relented and dropped me at the bakery.

I bought my doughnuts and turned to leave. Morelli was blocking my way. I groaned.

"So, cupcake," he smirked. "I saw your car in front of my house last night, but I didn't see you . Then fifteen minutes later I looked to see if your car was still there and saw Manoso sitting in his car behind yours. What was going on?"

"Connie had borrowed my car and was visiting her aunt. There were other cars in front of her aunts house so she parked in front of yours."

Everyone knows that Rangeman tracks my car so he gave a shout of laughter. "So the mighty Manoso was spying to see why your car was parked in front of my house That's rich!"

"Joe, you can't tell anyone about this."

"Sorry, cupcake. This is too good to keep to myself. But why didn't he know you had loaned your car to Connie?"

"He was working when Connie asked to borrow it and I didn't want to bother him. I didn't think to let the control room know I wasn't driving it. Lula and I went to a movie so my phone was shut off when he called to ask me about it."

"I never thought I'd see some payback for all the times he made me jealous."

"Joe, please," I begged. "Don't say anything about this."

"Not a chance, cupcake."

I power walked the short block to the office, went in and dropped the doughnuts on Connie's desk. I grabbed my keys and yelled back as I ran to the door, "Can't stay. Emergency."

I zoomed back to Rangeman and rushed up to Ranger's office. "Ranger," I blurted out, breathing heavily.

He stood up quickly and asked, "What's wrong, Babe? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But, I do need to talk to you privately. Can we go upstairs?"

"Should I be worried?"

We rode the elevator silently. When we reached the living room, we sat on the couch and I told him about running into Morelli.

"All I told him was that I had loaned Connie my car and she was visiting her aunt. Since he had seen you sitting in your car behind mine, he put two and two together. He seemed really happy about getting payback."

Ranger grinned at that. "So you think he's going to spread it around Trenton?"

"I'm afraid so. I begged him not to, but he will."

"Babe."

"Doesn't it bother you? That people will be laughing at you behind your back? Aren't you worried about your reputation?"

"Do you think anyone will taunt me with it?"

"Of course not. No one who doesn't have a death wish would dare."

"Then I imagine it won't have any effect on my rep. But, I do appreciate you worrying about me. Why don't we take an early lunch and I'll show you how much?"