Janet owns them all. I just play. No cash for me, just good readers and hopefully... good reviews.
Author Note: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews for the first chapter. It has eased the mind of this first time writer.
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Scent of a Woman
Chapter 2
Ranger took Stephanie to a wonderful little restaurant downtown called the Blue Mountain Café. Ranger had the grilled mahi-mahi with wild rice and asparagus. Stephanie had the Chicken Cordon Bleu with garlic potatoes and green beans. But the best part was the extensive dessert menu.
"Okay, Ranger, if you were trying to seduce me into signing on to this new job with you, by tempting me with this sinfully rich Chocolate Silk Paradise Pie…. it worked. I'm all yours. This officially gives my mom's Pineapple Upside Down Cake a run for its money. I could deny you nothing if you dangled this in front of me."
"Babe, you're giving information to the enemy."
"Maybe, but I wouldn't consider anyone an enemy if they were offering me a piece of this. If it were a woman, she would be my new best friend for life. If it were a man…" Stephanie almost purred that last line out and just left that little piece of information hanging out there to be interpreted any way he chose to. Ranger smirked and then just as quickly slammed his blank face back on. She was pretty sure she had just won round two. This was shaping up to be a good day.
"Babe, if you take this job, I will need to put you back on the RangeMan payroll as a full-time employee with benefits and salary. This is not just a one-night deal. It will require extensive preparation and possibly a week or so away on assignment."
"Would I be leaving the country?"
"Probably not, but that could change as the job develops. Right now my guess is that the majority of your time will be spent near Trenton, Philadelphia, or possibly New York."
"What about my work at the bonds office. I can't leave Vinnie short-handed for more than a couple of days."
"I would make arrangements for RangeMan to cover all your FTA's. Vinnie won't have a problem with that."
"This sounds like a big deal, Ranger. Why me? Why not Jeanne Ellen? She has a lot more training and much better skills than I do."
"This particular job requires skills that you have and she doesn't. Jeanne Ellen couldn't pull this off on her best day."
Stephanie looked very confused. "I'm sorry, Ranger, I must be experiencing a sugar rush or something and I didn't hear you correctly. Jeanne Ellen can kick my butt from here to next Sunday. I couldn't touch Jeanne Ellen if she was blindfolded, had both hands tied behind her back, and was wearing a cast on her left leg."
Ranger smiled. "That's very true, Babe, and if I needed butt kicking, I would call on Jeanne Ellen. But I need something different for this job. I need you to work your magic just like you did this morning with Daniel Patrick. I need your people skills. I'm going to warn you, Babe, this job will be a lot tougher, but I have no doubt that you are the right person."
"Why don't you give me the details, and I'll let you know if I agree with you."
"Why don't we go back to Haywood, and I can brief you on this in a more secure location."
Stephanie gave a Ranger a sly grin. "Is that one of your better pick up lines, Batman?"
"Would it work on you, Babe?"
Stephanie leaned forward slightly and whispered suggestively. "Only if you could convince me that it was of the upmost importance to national security, and you promised the debriefing would be very gentle."
Ranger's eyes darkened and his reply was voiced in a low seductive tone. He reached for her face and gently tucked a curl behind her ear. "Believe me, Babe, if I'm the one debriefing you, gentle would not be the best way to describe my tactics."
Stephanie blushed. Ranger just won this round.
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They returned to Haywood and Ranger called in the members of his core team to meet with Stephanie in the conference room on the 5th floor. Ranger stood at the head of the table, with Stephanie seated to his left, Tank on his right. Bobby and Lester were seated across the table. Each of them had a file. Ranger handed a similar one to Stephanie as the meeting started.
Ranger cleared his throat and began. "Victor Giordano is the owner of a large import company based out of New York City. On the surface, his business looks, and for the most part is, legit. But Mr. Giordano has close ties to a prominent east coast crime family. It's likely that this relationship includes illegal business transactions as well, but nothing has ever been proven. Last month Victor made a big mistake and was pulled over by the Jersey State Police for speeding. He was clocked going 102 mph on I95 in his Lamborghini. He failed a sobriety test, and a search of the car found an unlicensed handgun and a decent quantity of narcotics."
"Did Vinnie post bond?" Stephanie asked.
"No, Les Sebring did. Sebring hired RangeMan to monitor Giordano's every move from the moment bond was posted. He was protecting his rather sizeable investment. His court date was this morning. Obviously he didn't show. He's now, officially, our FTA"
"What was his bond set at?"
"Two million dollars."
"Why so high?" Stephanie questioned. "I mean, isn't that a bit steep for the charges, Ranger?"
"The prosecution made a good case against him as being a flight risk; and they had a very cooperative judge that day, who agreed. They couldn't really hold him in jail with those charges, but they got the high bond as compensation."
"So what's the plan?"
"Giordano is a very difficult man to get alone. He has at least one bodyguard with him at all times. His house is like a fortress, and he has even more protection when he is out doing business. Les and Hector have been doing some surveillance, and Ram and Bobby have done the research you have in your files. Les, why don't you summarize the important findings from the surveillance and research for us?"
"Sure thing, Boss! As Ranger said, Giordano is very well protected. Since his arrest, he is very rarely seen in public and spends most of his time hidden away at his estate or office. The most useful piece of information we have acquired is that once each month he meets with his private investment analyst, Andrew Sullivan. These monthly meetings are always held down the road from here in Philadelphia, where Sullivan lives.
Our research on Sullivan indicates that he is a legitimate, law abiding businessman. He's never had so much as a traffic ticket. Giordano trusts him implicitly. They went to school together and have known each other for years. When they get together, they have dinner and meet for several hours afterward. Giordano stays in Philadelphia overnight, always at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and returns to New York the next day. We believe our best opportunity to apprehend Giordano is during his next stay in Philadelphia. His personal security is relatively minimal during his visits."
"So you scope out his routine, and I act as a distraction and lure Giordano out of some bar or restaurant while he's in town?" This was standard operating procedure for Stephanie.
"That's the problem." Ranger answered. "We don't know when the next meeting will be. The logistics of their meetings have been impossible for us to predict. We need someone on the inside to get the time and location of their next meeting enough in advance to give us time to set up a take down."
"And that someone will be me?" Stephanie guessed, and Ranger nodded. "You want me to 'get friendly' with Giordano?"
"No, Giordano is too dangerous. I want you to get friendly with Sullivan." Ranger replied flatly. "Sullivan appears to be the one making all the arrangements for Giordano when he's in town. If you can develop a relationship with Sullivan and spend some time with him, we're hoping that you can discover the details of the next meeting."
"A relationship?" Stephanie turned in her seat to face Ranger directly. "Is this guy married? What are we talking about here? Becoming a mistress or girlfriend?"
"Sullivan's wife and daughter were killed in a car accident four months ago. He's a grieving father and widower. Your most likely success in getting close to him would be to become a comforting, consoling…acquaintance." Ranger put some stress on the word 'acquaintance' leaving Stephanie to believe that the term was loosely defined. "Babe, we'll worry about Giordano. We want you to focus on Sullivan and getting us the information. Why don't you take the file on Sullivan and look it over. Santos did most of the surveillance on this guy along with Hector, and they might be able to give you more detail on anything that jumps out at you. You decide from the information how you want to approach this. It's your choice. We want you to be comfortable with the job."
"What kind of time crunch are we looking at for this?"
"We have to have Giordano back in jail in two weeks. We're pretty sure the next meeting will be held sometime before that if they are sticking to a once a month schedule."
"Two weeks!" Stephanie looked shocked. "Yeesh, you guys must be looking for a miracle. Two weeks?"
"Don't worry, Babe, you won't disappoint." Ranger gave her one of his almost smiles. "That's all for now. Everyone is dismissed. We'll meet back here tomorrow morning at 0700…" Ranger looked at Stephanie who was shooting daggers at him for what he presumed to be the early time. "Okay… let's make that 0800 hours." Stephanie sighed in resignation and nodded her head.
Tank, Lester and Bobby left the room shaking their heads in silent laughter. Ranger took Stephanie's hand, lifted her out of her seat and held her chin in his hand so their eyes met.
"Babe, if you don't want to do this, I'll understand. This is very different from anything you have done for us before. Just tell me."
Stephanie stared into Rangers eyes for several moments. She would do anything for him. He had so much confidence in her and she didn't want to disappoint him. "Give me some time with the file, Batman. If I can find a way to make this work for you, I'll do it. But if I do, and we take this guy down, you are going to owe me an entire Chocolate Silk Paradise Pie! Deal?"
Ranger growled and leaned in for a brief kiss to seal the deal.
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Stephanie spent the remainder of the afternoon going over the file on Sullivan. On a couple of occasions she called Lester or Hector in to ask more details about certain things they had observed during their surveillance. She also did some additional searches using the extensive RangeMan computer programs. Bobby and Ram had been pretty thorough, but Stephanie needed information that a man wouldn't necessarily think was useful or important. During the course of the day she had managed to spread out papers and files all over the conference table. Finally, she made a few phone calls. She was just finishing up her investigation and was starting to tidy her mess when Ranger walked into the conference room.
"Babe, you've been at this for hours. Time to call it a night."
"I agree, if I look at one more report or make one more note tonight, I am going to go crazy. I have so much information running through my head that I need to process. Ranger, do you think I could leave all this here for tomorrow? Does anyone need this room before then?"
"Leave it, Babe. Come up to seven with me. I've asked Ella to send up dinner. Can you stay?"
"That sounds wonderful, I'm starving, and I love Ella's cooking. It's been a while since I've had it."
They closed the conference room door, walked down the hall and took the elevator up to Ranger's apartment on the top floor. It was exactly the way Stephanie remembered from the last time she was there. Just walking in was calming and relaxing. It struck her that she only had good memories of this place. Unlike at her own apartment, no harm ever came to her here. She never had to worry that someone may be lurking about in a closet, or that the room may suddenly erupt into flames (that is, as long as she never attempted to cook in Ranger's kitchen). She felt safe, and she liked it.
"It smells absolutely heavenly in here. Whatever Ella cooked must be delicious."
"Babe, why don't you go freshen up, and I'll set dinner out for us."
"Okay."
Stephanie and Ranger enjoyed Ella's meal of braised steak medallions, steamed vegetables, rice pilaf, warm homemade bread and a wonderful red wine that made Stephanie's toes (and other parts of her body) tingle. Ella even had supplied a frozen raspberry sorbet trifle for dessert.
"A girl could get spoiled eating meals with you. I only eat this well when I make it to my parent's house for dinner." She stood up and started collecting their dishes from the table. Ranger joined her, and they worked in tandem to clean and tidy the dining room and kitchen while they continued their conversation.
"I'm glad you stayed, Babe. Tell me what you discovered today."
"Well…I've gone over everything, and I have an idea that just might work, but I am waiting for a phone call to confirm a major detail. When I have that information, I will present it to you and the rest of the guys at 0800 tomorrow morning…and not a minute before." Stephanie kept her tone teasing and mysterious.
Ranger took her hand and led her to the living room. He sat down on the couch and pulled her down into his lap. "Babe, is this going to cause trouble with Morelli?"
"Do you mean the job, or the fact that I'm sitting on your lap while in your apartment and being a little tipsy from the wine?" Stephanie couldn't believe that just came out of her mouth.
"Both." His eyes were dark again.
My God, she thought 'Flirt Shamelessly' is going to get me into trouble tonight. "Joe doesn't rule my business decisions. He never has. And as for my personal ones, he no longer has a say. I will always love Joe, and I think he will always love me, but there are too many conditions and restrictions on his kind of love. It's no secret that he doesn't support my work as a bounty hunter, but what's worse is that he doesn't respect it, and that means he doesn't respect me. It's the reason why we aren't together anymore. I didn't truly understand that until you and I spoke earlier today; and suddenly it was all so crystal clear."
Stephanie had to turn away from Ranger to finish what she was about to say. She stood up from his lap and walked towards the large living room window to stare out at the evening sky.
"The way I feel when you express so much faith in me makes me believe I can move mountains; like I could fly, if I wanted to. No one has ever had that kind of confidence in me before, certainly not Joe...or even my own mother. No one has ever treated me with respect the way you and your men do. I can't even begin to explain what it means to me. Hell, I don't think I knew those feelings could ever exist before I met you. I was always disappointing people; not living up to their standards and expectations. You've shown me how important it is to do things that are good for me. Things that make me happy."
Ranger rose from the couch, walked over to Stephanie, and put his arms around her from behind. He nuzzled close to her ear. "I see you move mountains and fly everyday, Babe, and it never ceases to amaze me. You are capable of so much more than you realize, and I want you to be happy."
Stephanie took a deep breath and turned to look up directly into his eyes. "You make me happy, Carlos. I…I don't want to keep you at arms length anymore." There it is. She put it out on the table. Stephanie could barely breathe. Ranger's embrace stiffened. Her heart broke.
"Babe." Ranger sighed. Ranger never sighed. "I would love nothing better than to be the one who makes you happy everyday. I live a life that makes that impossible for now. I can't ask you to give me your heart when I can't guarantee that I can protect it the way it deserves to be. I am here today, and maybe tomorrow, but I don't have control over the day after that, or next month, or even next year. Right now my life is not my own. It still belongs to a damn government contract."
"Ranger…I don't care about…" Stephanie was already building tears.
"I won't do that to you. I care about you too much to let that happen. You need someone you can depend on to be with you everyday. Someone without the potential to cause you so much pain."
"And just who would that be, Ranger!" She was angry and stiff. "You think I should go back to Joe! Again! Because I can't…I won't…I've told you that will never happen." Stephanie pulled away from Ranger feeling exposed and hurt. She yanked a tissue from the box on the coffee table and dried her eyes. She felt the need to back peddle from her confession but just didn't have the energy.
He followed her and pulled her close again. "Dios, Babe, esto lastima tanto. No grite por favor." (God, Babe, this hurts so much. Don't cry please.)
"Carlos, I am not asking for forever right now. I know you can't give me that. What I am asking for…no…what I need is…tonight. Just tonight." She was shamelessly begging.
Ranger held her tighter and gave a slight chuckle. "Babe, you're asking me for a one night stand? You don't do one-night stands."
"And you don't do relationships. So where does that leave us?" She sighed wearily.
The question was never answered because at that moment Stephanie's cell phone rang.
"I need to answer that, it's probably the call I was expecting." She pulled away from Ranger and dug her phone from her purse. "Hello, Sally?" Stephanie walked off toward the bedroom to take the call. When she finished, she returned to the living room and Ranger was gone. There was a note by her purse.
Babe, needed to deal with a problem down on five.
I'll be late, get some sleep.
R.
Get some sleep? Huh! Stephanie thought. She wondered if he really expected her to sleep here. Her dignity was lost, she was embarrassed, and she wasn't really sure she had the ability right now to maintain her composure long enough to continue the interrupted conversation if he came back. It would be best to leave…now. In a fit of panic she grabbed her purse and took off down the elevator to the garage. She knew that the someone in the control room would see her leave and tell Ranger, but that just meant she didn't have to see him again tonight. She got to the garage and dug for her car keys. She pulled them out only to realize that her car wasn't here. It was back at her apartment. Ranger had driven her here after lunch.
"Damn! Damn! Damn!" Stephanie couldn't believe she was so stupid. She was so angry with herself and her predicament that she didn't hear the stairwell door open behind her.
"What's the matter, Beautiful?" Stephanie jumped in surprise.
"Lester, oh my God! You scared the daylights out of me!" Stephanie slapped his arm, then hugged him and started crying in relief.
"It's okay, Bombshell, it's just me. You look so upset. What's going on?" Lester hugged her back.
"I'm sorry, Lester, I'm just a mess right now. I really need to go home, and I forgot I didn't have my car here, and I don't know how I'm going to get home, and I can't ask Ranger, and I don't want to bother anyone and…"
Lester pulled Stephanie away from his chest and looked her straight in the eyes to interrupt her sobbing rant.
"Sh, sh, sh, Beautiful, settle down. I'll take you home."
Lester was very aware that the security cameras were picking up everything, and he didn't want Stephanie to be embarrassed, so without further conversation, he walked her to where his car was parked, opened the passenger side door, and slid her into the seat. He reached over her and secured her seatbelt before closing the door and entering on the driver's side. He started the car and left the garage.
Once Stephanie was able to calm down, the silence in the car was unbearable. She could sense Lester frequently sneaking nervous glances at her. She figured he wanted some answers but was afraid to ask, so she broke the silence with an attempt at casual conversation.
"Lester, what were you doing at RangeMan so late? Your shift ended four hours ago, and you live off site, right?"
"Oh, when our shift ended, Bobby and I went out to grab a bite to eat and then came back to Bobby's apartment on four to play some video games. I was just heading back to my place when I saw you in the garage." He paused. "Steph, I know it's probably none of my business, but what's going on? Did Ranger upset you?"
Stephanie didn't really know how to answer that question. Had Ranger upset her? Did she have the right to be upset when he was only being truthful, and trying to protect her?
"I am upset, but it's not Ranger's fault, Les. I'm upset because…. because …Oh my God, it's so complicated." Stephanie realized, at that point, that she was totally unaware of what the Merry Men might perceive her relationship with Ranger to be. "Lester, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, Beautiful, ask away."
"What kind of a relationship do you think Ranger and I have?"
"I don't know, Steph. Isn't that kind of personal?"
"I don't mean it like that. I mean when you look at Ranger and I together what do you see? Do you see two co-workers, or two friends, or something else?"
"Well, you are co-workers, and you are friends, but I have to say that I have seen something more there for a long time now. I've known Ranger for almost ten years, and I have never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you, Sweetheart. You stole that man's heart the first day he met you."
"Hunh. Is that what the other guys think, too?"
"Steph, we don't really talk about Ranger's business all that much, but I'm pretty sure that the rest of the guys have the same idea. You gotta understand, Honey, that, even though Ranger may not give much away, your face tells us everything you feel, and it's damn obvious that Ranger is much more to you than a friend."
"He is, Les. I just don't think it's enough." She groaned in frustration. "Arghh… It's so frustrating to have these feelings and to know he has them too, but he just won't give into them. He's holding back, and I don't know how to change that. I was such a fool tonight. I practically threw myself at him, and he turned me away." She buried her head in her hands. "God, I'm such a slut."
By this time Lester had reached Stephanie's apartment, pulled into a parking spot, and turned off the car.
"Beautiful, you are not a slut! Listen, I don't know the personal details of your relationship with Ranger, but I do know what it did to him every time you went back to Morelli after a breakup. He was miserable. Hell, he made us miserable."
"Joe and I are over, for good, Les. There is no going back anymore."
"I'm really glad about that, Sweetie, but maybe you just need to give Ranger some time to figure things out. I'm sure he loves you. Do you think you can wait for him?"
Stephanie thought about it for a minute. Lester was right. She hadn't given Ranger any reason to really trust that she and Joe were done for good. Her history had proven that she was fickle when it came to that relationship. Ranger had spent the last couple of years showing her that he could be trusted. It was her turn to earn his trust. "Yes, Lester, I can. I really can do that. I will have to have a little patience, but I won't give up. He means too much to me." She looked at him. "But what about the government contract, Lester? How do I compete with that? He says the reason he won't commit to a relationship is because his life is too uncertain."
"Beautiful, you know that Bobby, Tank and I have the same contract, and I have to admit that it would be a real challenge to carry on a serious relationship with that hanging over my head. We've all discussed it, and we don't plan to re-sign the contracts when they expire next May. So who knows, maybe Ranger will reevaluate his commitment to you then as well." Stephanie leaned over and hugged Lester, and he kissed the top of her head. "Come on, Honey, you look pretty tired; let me walk you upstairs so you can get some sleep. We have a big meeting tomorrow morning."
"Yeah." She smiled. "Lester, you've been such a good friend to me. I don't deserve it. I'm sorry to have been such a bother this evening."
"Steph, you are one of us. We take care of each other. I have your back. Anytime you need to talk you call me, okay?"
"Okay."
Lester walked Stephanie to her apartment (and yes he also checked to make sure she was safe from the boogieman), kissed her on the cheek goodnight and drove home. Stephanie was exhausted, and tomorrow was going to be a busy day. She changed into a tank top and yoga pants, washed her face, dropped a grape and some leftover pizza crust into the cage for Rex, and went to bed. As she lay in her favorite thinking position, Stephanie realized that she needed to listen to her own words to Lula this morning. She needed to redefine her life…post-Joe, before she could ask another man into her life. This new job with Ranger would be awkward, but it was just what she needed to gain some confidence and skill to help her discover a new and improved Stephanie Plum. Sleep overtook her, and dreams revealed fantasy images of her saving the world in a Wonder Woman costume.
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