Freedom

Chapter 5

SPOV

It's Saturday morning. Usually I'd be sleeping in right now, but noooo, we have to get up and go to the police station! Damn Joe Morelli. It had been such a fabulous and completely satisfying night. I feel like I'm emotionally being torn in half. I've never been happier and I've never been more sad (and angry!).

"Babe…" I was enjoying the warm water filled Jacuzzi bath tub when I heard Carlos calling for me. "Steph, we need to leave in 30 minutes." 30 minutes? Shit! I still had to get dressed, put on makeup, and eat breakfast. Shit, shit, shit! How long have I been in here? Carlos opened the door and looked at me with amusement, and asked "Do you need help drying off?" Oh, hell no! He touches me one more time and I think I'm just going to burst into a million pieces! Since he was still standing there, obviously awaiting an answer…

"We both know if you see me naked again, much less touch me, we won't be leaving this apartment any time soon. And I want to get this over with! Now, scat!" He raised his eyebrow at my tone. "Maybe later though, we can take a bath together…and you can dry me off then." I smiled, hoping he wouldn't take offense to my pissy tone. Convinced I would get up and get going without an audience, he turned and left. Oh, man of few words.

Twenty minutes later, my hair and make-up were done, and I was dressed. I called Carlos into our dressing room, unsure of what I had chosen to wear. When he came in, he stopped dead in his tracks and a huge grin slowly crept up on his face. "Babe." I couldn't help but smile back, god this man is sexy when he smiles.

"What? I'm channeling my inner Ranger! I need to feel strong today." I was wearing my Rangeman cargo pants and Rangeman polo shirt. What he didn't know was, I also had on my Rangeman panties and bra. I was tearing up, I was so nervous. I am not going to cry today! Sensing my mood change, Carlos came within a step of me and took my hands in his.

"I'll be by your side the entire time. I promise the guys and I will never leave you alone." He tipped my chin up to look him in the eyes. "I love you and will do everything in my power to protect you." I don't know why I'm feeling so weak all of a sudden.

"I know, I'm just…he… I… I need to feel safe." Great, I'm being reduced to a babbling idiot. How come in times of stress my words decide to tumble awkwardly out of my mouth instead of flow? My stomach decided to pick that moment to remind me I've neglected it.

"Let's get you a bagel, Babe. Unfortunately, we're late, so you're going to have to eat on the road. I already grabbed you a bottle of orange juice."

When the elevator descended to the garage, and the doors opened, I was surprised to see Tank, Hal, Bobby and Lester all waiting for us. "Hi guys, whatcha up to?"

"Babe, they're going with us. I told you, I would do everything in my power to keep you safe." The guys were all looking at me, waiting for my reaction. I can't say I mind the security. As much as he needed to keep me safe, I needed to feel safe.

"I'm glad. Who's driving?" They just stood there, opened mouthed. "Well…I thought we were running late! Let's get a move on." I walked over to the Escalade and hopped in to the back. Tank and Bobby got into the Cayenne, Ranger sat next to me in the back, Hal drove, and Lester rode shotgun. I leaned against Carlos. I have my guys with me, I'm such a lucky girl. I looked up and saw the men smiling. "Shit, I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Ya, Babe, you did. Don't worry, your guys think they're pretty lucky, too." I closed my eyes and soaked up the strength of the wonderful man next to me.

We had an appointment with the Chief Drake, the current Trenton chief of police. When our little entourage of five tall, buff men in black and little ol' me walked down the hallway to his office, he looked a bit startled. He seemed relieved however when only Carlos, Lester and myself went in. "Chief Drake, this is one of my employees, Lester Santos. He came in with us today since he was with Steph Friday night during the incident. And of course, you know Stephanie Plum." He nodded.

"Ms. Plum, it's good to see you again." I didn't feel the same, so I shook his hand but remained silent. He continued. "I see you're working at Rangeman now. And I hear you're dating Mr. Manoso."

What? That is none of his damn business! "Yes, I'm working at Rangeman. And as far as whom I'm dating, that is my own personal business." He didn't look too pleased with my response.

"Well, let's sit down and discuss the matter at hand, shall we?" He moved over a third chair and motioned for us to sit down.

"I've already met with Detective Morelli and didn't think it necessary to have him present at this meeting. If you'd like for me to call him in, I'd be happy to, he's in his office." He was looking at me as he said this, with a smirk. I didn't like the vibe I was getting from him.

Carlos spoke up. "No, that will not be necessary. Being in the presense of a man who assaulted Stephanie would only be more upsetting" He looked pissed, obviously picking up the same vibe and proceeded, "I'd like to discuss Friday night Chief, if you don't mind. I have video footage both from the company vehicle that Stephanie and Lester were driving as well as Lester's cell phone footage as documentation of the assault and abuse of authority to Ms. Plum by Detective Morelli."

The Chief took the CD, and put it in his computer, viewing the footage. He closed his laptop and looked at us thoughtfully before proceeding. "As I've already stated, Detective Morelli has been given disciplinary action. He has assured me he will not be a problem in the future."

Lester jumped up out of his chair. "That's bullshit! He sexually assaulted her and he's still working? You've got to be fucking kidding me! You didn't even see what he'd done before you dealt with him?" Carlos gave Les a death glare that signaled him to rein it in and sit down. He reluctantly complied.

"Mr. Santos, just as Ms. Plum's personal life is her business, so is Det. Morelli's professional life his own." Carlos, who was keeping his temper at a slow simmer spoke through clenched teeth. "Chief Drake, I believe we've always had a good working relationship. I can appreciate your privacy with one of your employees, but this is a situation with special circumstances." He stared him down, waiting for a response.

He obviously thought his words through before responding, looking directly at me. "I understand that your fiancé had a hard time seeing you intimately with another man and is waiting for you to get this out of your system before coming back to him like we've all seen you do, time and time again."

I jumped up. "WHAT? He's not my fiancé! He never was! And I will never go back to him, ever again!" I stood in front of his desk with my hands on my hips. "You probably didn't even reprimand him! All part of the good ol' boys club here at the police station, huh? Well he assaulted me and threatened to kill the only other person at the scene if I didn't take it! I thought you were sworn to protect and serve!" The door to his office had flown open at the beginning of my rant. Probably knowing I would just escalate, Bobby came over and led me out of the office. He and Hal stayed with me down the hall by the back door, waiting for the rest of the guys. Not paying attention to my surroundings, I was pacing up and down the hall when I was stopped by a figure suddenly in front of me. Joe Morelli.

"You son of a bitch!" I launched myself at Joe. I was trying to hit him, but he had his arms around me, my arms trapped to my sides. "Let go of me, asshole!" I can't believe I let him trap me like this.

He whispered in my ear, "can't stay away from me can you, Cupcake." I heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Joe's grip on me loosened. Looking behind me, a furious Hal had just knocked Joe out.

Through clenched teeth, Hal spoke. "We need to get out of here Steph before his cop buddies get here." Standing there, dazed, Hal picked me up and we were out of the station and into the truck before I knew what happened.

'This is so not happening, this is so not happening'. I was completely shocked by everything that just transpired. Finding it somehow comforting, I just kept saying this over and over, arms wrapped around me, rocking myself. I heard someone open the truck door, and Ranger lifted me out, carrying me over to the Cayenne, placing me in the passenger seat and taking off. He was silent, which was not unusual for him, but this was a different silence. Not to mention he was driving too fast and taking the corners practically on two wheels.

I didn't want to startle him, so I softly put my hand on his leg and quietly said "Carlos, you're scaring me." He pulled over into a parking lot and stopped the car. We sat in silence for what felt like hours but was probably only fifteen minutes. "Carlos…?" Still nothing. He was still holding the steering wheel and just staring straight ahead. "Ranger…?"

That snapped him out of it. He snapped his head in my direction and looked at me. "No! You will not go back to calling me Ranger!" He closed his eyes for a moment and when they opened again, they were much softer. "Babe, for the first time in a long time, I don't know what to do." I was looking out the window, still startled from his initial tone. He unbuckled me, pushed his seat back and pulled me over onto his lap, lifting my chin so I was looking in his eyes. "I'm used to protecting you from stalkers and FTA's, but not the fucking police department! I'm sorry if I scared you. I'm not mad at you. I love you…" His lips touched mine in such a soft, loving kiss and I needed more, deepening it into a passionate kiss that left us both coming up for air.

"How about we pick up some pizza at Shorty's and talk about the visit at the police station with the guys back at Rangeman while we eat?" He was trying to be approachable, and I so appreciated it.

"I would like that. Can we order a combo with extra cheese for me?" I tilted my eyebrow like he always does, but was most likely unsuccessful as he burst out laughing.

"Sure Babe, anything for you. Why don't you call the guys and find out what they want and I'll call it in to Shorty's?"

Forty minutes later, we were back at Rangeman with pizza and salad, of course, and were sitting down to eat and start the meeting. After eating a few bites of his salad, Carlos started.

"First of all, Hal, Steph filled me in on what happened in the hallway at the police station. Thank you for helping her. He was still out cold when we passed by a few minutes later." He was trying not to smile, but the corners of his mouth were twitching. He proceeded to fill Tank, Bobby and Hal in on what was said during the meeting. He paused and spoke seriously "What has me concerned is the Chief taking what happened with one of his police officers so nonchalantly. At first I thought he was protecting Morelli because he's one of his own, but coupled with his strange fixation with Steph & Morelli's relationship plus his behavior the few minutes we spoke after Steph left the room has me thinking there's more to it. We need to look deep into the Chief's personal and professional life. Most importantly, we need to see what the street's are saying. If he's into something illegal and is in cahoots with Morelli, we need to know."

Tank, who had been particularly quiet, said "if there's something shady going on here, we don't know how many are involved or how high up the chain this goes. We don't know who to rely on."

Lester was shaking his head as he finished his third piece of pepperoni and jalepeno pizza. "Shit, we're on our own with this for now, aren't we?" And of course, they all turn and look at me.

"WHAT? I'm sorry! I don't know what else to say!" I had pushed myself back from the table and was getting ready to stand up when Bobby spoke up.

"We're looking at you because we care about you, and that bastard hurt you and the fucking Chief of police won't do anything about it. We're scared of how far he'll go and if he'll ever be held accountable for his actions. We're not blaming you for any of this, and I speak for all of us when I say not only are we not mad at you, but we're proud of you for how well you're handling all of this. We just want you safe." I got up and went over to Bobby and gave him a big hug.

"Thanks Bobby! I just want to get on with my life…" An awkward silence fell over the room.

"Hey! Speaking of getting on with my life, I have a favor to ask." I looked at Carlos.

"You've got the floor, babe."

"Well, when Joe had me in that hold today, and I couldn't get free, it pissed me off! I don't ever want to be in a position again where someone has control over me. Do you think we could step up our training?" Looking around the room, I saw they all liked my idea.

Lester chose to speak for the group. "Beautiful, I knew you were more than just a pretty face…you're pretty smart too! We'll re-think your training a little, keeping in mind the kind of training Morelli would've had at the training academy. I know I have more skills I'd love to show you." He was wiggling his eyebrows and I couldn't help but throw a pizza crust at him.

Carlos broke the potential food fight up and said "Tank, add some additional skills to Steph's training. In addition to her Self-defense and Gun-range, add B&E including door locks, car trunks, handcuffs, the works. I'll personally take over her workouts."

Les just couldn't pass up that opportunity without saying, "Oh, I'm sure you will. And Beautiful, if he doesn't work you out enough, you just come see me…"

Carlos, not appreciating the innuendo, scolded him, "Santos, meet me in the gym, tomorrow 0500 hours. You can show me just what kind of work out you'd like to do with my woman." His woman. He's the only man who could turn me on with talking possessively about me.

"Would you mind terribly if I went upstairs and took a nap? This day has taken a lot out of me." Carlos gave me a hug and tender kiss. "Sleep well, babe. I love you."

"Love you too."

I was walking towards the elevator and saw one of Rangeman's newer employees, Vince coming in my direction. I stepped off to the side to pass him and he stepped in front of me. He gave me a head to toe once over, then smiled slyly and moved out of the way. Weird guy. I'll mention it to Carlos later.

RPOV

I was proud of Steph today. She stuck up for herself at the police station, she calmed me when I was losing control, and she asked for help training. Just when I think I couldn't love her more, she proves me wrong. I'm heading upstairs to spend some time with my woman. I'm looking forward to making that a permanent arrangement…all in due time.

When I walked into our bedroom, I couldn't help but melt at the vision Steph made. It looked like she hardly made it to the bed before passing out. Her legs were partly hanging off the edge, and she was fully clothed. Touching her gently, she didn't stir, so I removed her cargos and top and couldn't help but get turned on with the sight in front of me. She wore her Rangeman bra and panties. It hit me just then. I've heard her say it numerous times, but it floored me how much strength she got from me. I knew my presence made her feel stonger, I could feel it when we were together. But to think that wearing her Rangeman uniform, all the way down to her undergarments gave her the guts she needed to confront Morelli's boss, hell, even attacking Morelli himself, I was flattered. I hope I never let her down again.