Disclaimer: The characters belonging to Janet Evanovich are used strictly for entertainment purposes.
A/N: I don't speak Spanish, I only know a few words. To make life easier for everyone, and to save any embarrassment, I will denote the sections spoken in Spanish with italics within the quotes. As always, thanks to M, May and Alf for their helpful comments and for adjusting my thoughts.
Lester was bone weary. It was nearly five thirty in the morning and he'd spent the night on an intense search for Stephanie, which included most of Trenton and her favorite haunts in Point Pleasant. He'd come up with nada. To make matters worse, he'd promised Tank he would be on time for his shift.
Before he returned to Rangeman, he'd gone to the police department and had a covert conversation with Eddie Gazzara. As soon as he saw Lester, Eddie pulled him outside and said, "Morelli came in a little while ago angry as a bull. Had nothing good to say about your boss." Lester furnished a crooked smile at the comment. "He's out with Robin Russell searching all over town for Stephanie. No one's seen her car and we've issued a BOLO for it. Personally, I think she's left town. Maybe went somewhere to clear her head." Eddie ran a hand through his hair. "You know what's going on?"
Lester gave a slight shake of his head. "Not entirely. We know something happened with Morelli, and also Ranger, but nothing definite."
"Something happened with Ranger?"
"It's not important right now." Lester said impatiently. "I think you're right about her leaving town. I've looked in all her usual places, both here and in Point Pleasant, and no sign of her. Short of a full-scale search by Rangeman, there's nothing else I can do. Thanks, man." They shook hands and Lester walked back to his car.
"Keep me posted if you find anything useful, will ya?" Eddie called out when Lester opened the door of his car.
"Sure thing, same to you." Lester ducked inside his car, and settled behind the wheel.
On the drive to the office, he'd called Connie to check and see what files Stephanie had open. Connie's response chilled him. "None. She turned in her last body receipt two days ago and said she needed some rest for a couple of days. Vinnie was pissed, but like his usual wimpy self, he didn't argue once she'd put her foot down."
"Thanks." Lester snapped his phone closed to end the call. He was stumped and fresh out of ideas, wondering what he should do next. When his phone rang, he glanced at the display and saw it was Hector. He flipped open his phone, answering in Spanish, "Hector, what's happening?"
"Hey, I thought about this earlier. Estefanía had that old tracker in her car last week that stopped working. Carlos had me put in two new ones." Lester's ears perked up while Hector spoke and nodded out of habit before he realized his actions. Lack of sleep was most likely to blame.
He gave his head a quick shake and said, "Okay, what about them? She took the trackers off her car."
"But you only found two. I didn't take the old one off. It was the one she always missed in the past when she pulled them off. I think I can get a signal if I work at it." Hector sounded excited. Then again, Hector was an excitable guy.
"Okay, I'm on my way to the office now. You can update me when I get there." Lester hoped Hector could get a signal from the faulty tracker Stephanie had missed. Right now, it was their only lead.
*\/*\/*\/*\/*
Tank tossed his cell phone onto his cluttered desktop. At the moment, he wanted to forget the useless communication device existed. No matter how many calls he made, he still hadn't made any progress. His one consolation in the empty search was that Ranger wasn't around. Life would be intense with him barking orders, kicking and punching anything in his way, and causing general mayhem.
Tank still believed Stephanie just needed time, but the small worry that something was wrong with the picture wouldn't rest. She'd been way too calm when she left Ranger's apartment. Stephanie Plum was anything but calm. Determined, yes; calm, no. In the past when she was upset, she would either try to hide her tears, or she would be mad as a hornet and make everyone pay for it.
The massive man sat down in his desk chair and leaned his head back against the headrest. His cell chirped and he stared at it a second before he picked it up with a huge sigh. He was tired of pointless talk. He took a second look at the readout and groaned. Ranger. The man always had a sixth sense about Stephanie and his current mission didn't detract from his intuition.
"Yo," he answered with an attempt at a normal tone of voice. "Kinda early to call, isn't it?"
"Did anyone check on her after she left?"
How to answer? If he told Ranger they'd lost her, it would mess him up and Tank, while he was pissed at Ranger, didn't want to see him get hurt or killed because his head was occupied with Stephanie. "Lester went over to her apartment."
"How is she?"
"This is pretty messed up, man. First, you leave her broken and now you call to ask about her mental state. How do you think she is?" He refused to lie to Ranger, so redirection became his strategy. Ranger wouldn't see it that way when he got home, but at least he wouldn't know Stephanie's current status.
A heavy silence followed his question and Tank began to think Ranger wouldn't answer. After a few beats, Tank heard Ranger's quiet response, "I fucked it up."
"Yep." He didn't offer his friend any comfort. The man had been a total bastard. He'd been cruel and heartless, hurting the woman he loved and doing it on purpose. Tank wasn't dense. He understood why Ranger felt the need to push her away, but his friend needed to work on his communication skills where his emotional side was concerned. Tank snorted at the absurd idea that Ranger would get in touch with his emotions. Still, Stephanie would have understood why he couldn't start a relationship with her just yet, even if the truth bothered her.
"Just keep an eye on her," Ranger said in a hushed tone. "I need to know she's safe."
"I'll do all I can. You know how she is when she doesn't want to be found." Tank chose his words with care to avoid an outright lie, but felt a shower of sweat form on his brow. Sure, it was a lie by omission, but at least he hadn't actually had to fib, yet. Any more questions, though, and he would have a tough decision to make.
He heard the smile in Ranger's voice when he answered. "Yeah, I know. Just keep her safe. I'll add that to the list of apologies I need to make when I get back."
"You do that. Godspeed, Ranger."
Tank shook his head after he closed his phone and dropped it onto his desk. I'm getting too old for this shit. He punched the intercom button and Woody answered from the control room. "I'm going to forward my calls to the control room and bunk down for the night. Tell Lester to leave me alone until 0800 unless he has Stephanie cuffed to his wrist. If she calls, keep her on the line until I get there and that's a standing order until the boss gets back."
"You got it."
"When he gets in, tell Lester to get some sleep and call Ram to take his shift." Lester had done right by Stephanie last night and Tank felt he deserved the sleep. On the way to his apartment, Tank programmed his cell and then shut it down, hopefully guaranteeing a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. He uttered a silent plea for Stephanie's safety, then he fell into bed and drifted off to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
*\/*\/*\/*\/*
Ranger started to hand his personal phone over to the duty officer in exchange for his mission phone and then pulled it back. "One more call, please."
The young duty officer, First Lieutenant Griggs, hesitated at the senior officer's request to bend the rules.
"I'll make it quick," Ranger offered as he opened his phone and pressed one button. He continued to keep eye contact with the young man while he waited. When the call connected, he lifted it to his ear and heard the voicemail message begin immediately. He cleared his throat and sucked up his courage. "Babe, I love you. I'll explain when I get back. Please, forgive me."
Ranger pressed 'end' and handed his phone back to Griggs. "Told you it would be quick."
*\/*\/*\/*\/*
Stephanie woke with a start and groaned from the pain that emanated from the gargantuan headache ricocheting around inside her head and behind her eyes. She struggled to sit up and look around, expecting to see the truck's interior, but what she saw surprised her. She was in a bed with a carved wooden canopy secured atop four carved posts. Cream sheers were hung inside the frame's interior and obscured her view of the room. How could I not have noticed this last night? Did I really fall asleep that fast?
All she remembered about last night was the meal, the company … getting into the truck with two men she had just met. Now she was in a huge room decorated for royalty. Yikes! Her eyes traveled down to her body, and she saw she wore only a man's large t-shirt and a pair of boxers. Her cheeks flushed with anger and her hands shoved down the heavy comforter. She launched herself between the bed sheers and looked around. There were two thick wooden doors. One was open and obviously a bathroom. The other was closed and most likely the way out.
She scanned the luxurious bedroom, barely noting the expensive furnishings, while she stormed out through the heavy wooden door. Looking around the new room, she saw that it was a multipurpose room comprised of a seating area and kitchenette. The 'table' was a large island with four tall barstools lined up along one side. The seating area had four modern burgundy and chrome arm chairs and a large chrome and taupe couch. Seated on the couch in front of an enormous plasma television with video game controllers in their hands were Merc and Geo.
They looked up when she approached, tossed their controllers down onto a large, uncluttered chrome and glass coffee table, and stood in tandem. "Hey, Belle!" Merc greeted and his huge grin faded when he took in her expression. "Uh, everything okay?"
"What's going on? I don't remember anything after we left the restaurant last night. Then I wake up this morning in clothes that aren't mine and my bra and underwear are gone!" Her eyes flashed blue fire at the two men in front of her, whom she'd just realized had shaved. She was dumbstruck, staring at the incredibly handsome twins. Geo and Merc unconsciously took a step back.
"Calm down, Belle. You got undressed by yourself. I swear I just gave you the clothes to wear." Geo had his hands up as if she had him at gunpoint. "You fell asleep in the truck and I carried you up. You woke when we got back and muttered something about 'damned wine' and asked for the bathroom."
Memories started to weave their way through the tangled web of her brain and she felt like a fool. "When you came out, we all played Guitar Hero and drank tequila until about three when you said you had to go to bed. You left and this is the first we've seen you since then, promise."
She flicked her eyes from one pair of amber eyes to the other and wondered why she'd thought their eyes were brown. Not brown, but golden brown with a hint of sunshine that spread warmth into her. She felt her shoulders sag with embarrassment. "Okay, that explains my massive headache. Sorry, guys. I didn't remember."
Merc released a resounding belly laugh and Stephanie winced at the loud noise. "You think? You were so drunk, I think you crawled to your room."
"My room?"
"Yeah, Geo gave you his room last night. We're going to bunk together while you're here." Merc slipped his hands into his pocket in a casual stance and Stephanie had to look away from the well-defined chest beneath the tight gray t-shirt he wore.
Stephanie looked around at the expensive furniture and pristine apartment. "Um, where are we?"
Geo's grin reappeared and Stephanie was struck by how toothpaste commercial worthy they were; bright white teeth, gorgeous smiles, sexy bodies, and they loved to smile … a lot. "You really don't remember last night, do you?"
"Oh no. What else did I do?"
"For starters, you won $800 on roulette last night and got us into trouble." Merc looked quite solemn when he said this, but Stephanie caught a flash of humor in his eyes.
She narrowed her eyes. "Oh? How did I do that?"
"By winning! We're not allowed to be anywhere in the vicinity of the tables," Geo said around a chuckle. Stephanie's eyes grew large and she crossed her arms over her middle. "Belle, I didn't mean because of any crimes or anything. No worries. It's just because, you know, of who we are and all."
"Who you are? You're not in the mob, are you?!" She couldn't believe it. Of all the people to pick her up, she'd found two family members.
"Not directly." Merc grinned and turned to Geo. "Wow, we're going to have to remember this tequila trick. It's better than tranquilizers!"
"Don't scare her. I like both of my balls where they are, Merc." Geo's voice drew Stephanie's enraged stare away from his brother. "We have never, nor would we ever, drug a woman or any other living creature … intentionally, that is."
"One of you has thirty seconds to give me a straight story or I will go apeshit on both of you!" She sent narrowed eyes to both of them and Merc sighed dramatically.
"Sorry, Belle. Let's have a seat and we'll re-explain everything to you." He displayed the taupe leather couch with his hands, Vanna White style, and Stephanie stomped past him to flop onto one of the softest cushions she'd ever encountered.
"Okay. We are Thaddeus and Geoffrey Mercer, like we said when we met. I take it you remember that part because you didn't ask our names." At Stephanie's nod, he moved on. "This hotel we're in–"
"Hotel?" Stephanie looked around, incredulous. It looked more like a palace.
"Yes. Please, don't interrupt or we'll be here all day and I'm starving." The mere mention of food caused Stephanie's stomach to perform its horrendous growly, snarling noise and both men stared at her in awe.
"What? I told you not to stand between me and food." She brought her hands up to rub her temples. "Okay, change of plans. If you want my focus, I need 'The Cure' or all bets are off!"
Merc and Geo stared at her, then blinked and looked at each other as if to ask, 'Did you get that?'
"My hangover cure," she explained. She moved hands to her eyes to keep the room from spinning and to hold the nausea at bay. "Large fries and a Coke from McDonalds. It's the perfect mix of sugar, caffeine, and fat to cure what ails me."
"Ah! Okay, I'll go grab some. Would a shower help while you wait?" Merc rose and pulled his truck keys out of his jeans pocket.
"Mmm, shower sounds good."
"I'll get some towels for her, bro. She's gonna need some serious mojo today." Geo pulled out the worst 'surfer dude' imitation Stephanie had ever heard and couldn't hold her bubbling laugh at bay. A groan quickly followed and she bent forward to hold her nausea in check.
"Ugh! No more, not until this headache goes away."
"I'll get you something for that, too. Let's go, Belle." She felt Geo's gentle hand on her upper arm and heard the front door close as Merc exited the suite. Geo led her back into her room and walked into the bathroom. He opened a cupboard to extract a large, white folded stack of terry cloth items, one larger and one smaller. "Here's a robe and a towel for your hair. There's a bath sheet on the rack, as well." He placed them in her hands and then surprised her with a warm, spontaneous hug before retreating to the living room.
Five minutes later, the hot, steamy spray beat onto her flesh as she stepped into the shower. It was the first silent moment she'd had since the fiasco in Ranger's apartment last night. She'd been too distracted and worried watching her rearview mirror as she left Trenton to relax during her short drive. The memory of his rejection haunted her thoughts and she fought the tears of sorrow and pain she'd evaded for nearly twelve hours. Merc and Geo were a godsend; funny and witty, nice and – wait, what would their girlfriends think of her presence? They were seriously hot, and sweet, and ... she raised her face up into the spray of the water. Don't go there, Stephanie.
She opened the black-capped bottle of shower gel and her eyes popped open when the scent hit her nostrils. What is this stuff? She looked at the bottle and read the label. "Sonic Death Monkey shower gel. Who comes up with these names?" She forgot the name and took another sniff. It smelled wonderful. Coffee? Chocolate? Orangey citrus? She couldn't nail down the scents.
Next, she grabbed the bottle labeled shampoo. She looked at the name. Rehab. "It's a Rock Star shower," she murmured and opened the bottle to squeeze some of the thick gel into her palm. Wow! This stuff was like a swift kick in the ass. Fruity, tingly, and spicy all at once. Her scalp would moan if it had a mouth and, surprisingly, her headache started to subside … just a little.
She gritted her teeth through the shower; the foody smells of the bath products had her stomach churning out 'I'm empty' sounds. She was ravenous by the time she wrapped her hair in the smaller towel, dried off, and engulfed herself in the huge, fluffy white robe. The smell of the deep fried sticks of heaven hit her senses when she stepped out into the common area. Merc and Geo waited at the table for her.
Matching smiles and golden eyes crinkled with mirth greeted her when she approached. She sent the brothers a half-scowl and plopped into a chair at the table. Her hand jammed into the carton of fries and shoveled a colossal amount into her mouth. They were hot, greasy, salty, and exactly what she needed. "That shower made me so hungry!" She grinned and grabbed another handful of fries. "I decided it must be a rock star's shower with names like Sonic Death Monkey and Rehab!"
"It was all that Guitar Hero last night. Conjured up those strange, but wonderful bath products." Merc laughed and sipped his coffee. "Now that you're eating and you smell better, maybe we should fill you in on us."
She crammed the fries into her mouth and flipped him off. Both men responded with barks of laughter. "You're priceless, Belle."
"Fanks," came her muffled response. Two orange Advil tablets sat on the tabletop beside her large beverage. She grabbed them and tossed them back with a swig from her straw.
"No problem." Geo said and then began the story. "Okay, our uncle is Larry Strattora. He's part-owner of the Strata Casino and Hotels – where we live." Geo paused to let that sink in and continued when the wide-eyed look Stephanie gave him started to fade. "He has no children and has never married. When our parents died, he took us in. I guess you could say we're the sons he never had." Stephanie nodded and took another huge gulp of her Coke.
Merc cut in. "We both went to Stony Brook University and studied instrumental music; guitar, bass violin, bass guitar, piano … and flute." Stephanie blinked in surprise. Flute just didn't seem like a masculine instrument. Well, at least he didn't look like the sort of guy that played the flute.
"I can see she doesn't believe me, G. Gonna have to demonstrate my mad flautist skills for her." Stephanie laughed and thought it was a joke, but he held up a finger and left the room. He returned a few moments later with a shiny silver flute in his hands. "Ever hear of beat boxing flute?"
"You mean like that guy in the NYC Subway that plays the flute and also does that rap beat with his tongue?" Stephanie scrunched up her forehead.
"Yes, like that. Here, listen." He put the flute to his mouth and played the hip hop rendition of 'Hard Knock Life' made popular on YouTube by Greg Patillo. When he finished, Stephanie stared at him, jaw open in utter amazement.
"Wow! That was incredible!" Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Merc grinned. "Thanks."
"I've always wanted to play an instrument, but never had the patience to practice." She gave him a wistful smile and realized deep down how much she wished she'd had more discipline for piano practice as a girl. Love for music was never a problem and, as an adult, it was still one of her best stress outlets.
"Maybe you never had music fun enough to practice. Sometimes it's more important to gain interest and work on perfection later. What music do you like?" Geo asked.
"I have a wide range I enjoy, depends on my mood. Right now, I feel like something chaotic and loud, like metal." Stephanie looked at Geo and shrugged. "Okay, I like the hard stuff better most of the time."
"My kind of lady," Merc said with a laugh.
Stephanie poured the leftover bits of fries at the bottom of the carton into her mouth and studied the two men. Her eyes moved from one to the other and she tried to spot the differences between them. She was amazed by their carbon copy looks. If they hadn't worn different outfits, she would have easily confused them. The last of her 'cure' was gone with a slurp of her straw and she collected the trash from her feast off the tabletop. "Okay, now I'm ready to hear the rest of your story."
A/N: The bath products Stephanie used can be found at www(dot)lushusa(dot)com / shop (Replace (dot) with a "." and remove the spaces around "/".)