This is Janet's baby. I'm just playing.
"Do they have anything in common?" I asked. Andy shrugged helplessly.
"Not that I could find. One was a crack head that was trying to get clean, another was a mother who was trying to get her son back. I had a guy in that was suing his "land lord". They were all different types of cases and people that weren't really connected. The only thing that they had in common was their living situation."
"Homeless."
"Exactly. The disappearances have been spread out over the last few weeks."
"What was the area?" Ranger asked.
"They were from all over the North side. Stark, Dotter, Nelson, South, Bender, Comstock. I can't figure it out."
The pizza arrived and our waitress nearly dumped it in my lap when she saw Ranger.
"Yo, Angie."
"Oh, hey. Sorry 'bout that, Steph." She was turning beet red. I grinned, I was pretty used to that reaction. "Uh, three beers?"
"Sure." I answered, looking across the table at Andy. We could have been invisible when Ranger was around.
"How about I show you the areas after we eat?" Andy suggested.
"Good idea." I said around a mouthful of hot pizza and my silent partner nodded. The three of us ate in silence. I smiled at Mia when she walked toward us before leaving with Joe.
"Hey, girl."
"Hello, everyone." She nodded to Andy and Ranger. She didn't always play well with others and she usually thinks that Ranger is bad for my health, but she keeps it to herself now. They had talked last Halloween. Neither would tell me what was said, but what ever it was, it gave Mia some weird respect for the man in black. "Steph, I was wondering if we could do lunch or something tomorrow. I have some things I need to talk to you about." She said this in her usual stiff way. She could relax, but I think it would probably take a few drinks.
"Sure. You have a place in mind?" I looked down at the pizza. I had a crazy feeling that that wasn't what she had on her mind.
"How about Panda Express? It's close to the precinct."
I raised an eyebrow at the choice. There's always something healthy when it comes to Chinese food, but Panda Express wasn't on her usual list of health nut flavor-free places.
"Uh, sure. Sounds good."
"See you then." She turned on her heel. I shook my head. For a detective in Trenton, she had some things to learn about being Jersey. I looked at the guys. Ranger wasn't revealing anything, but I think I saw the traces of a smile. He can read me. Andy looked at me curiously. I shrugged. I didn't understand her, how was I supposed to know what she wanted?
We finished up and I followed the guys out the door. As we loaded up into Andy's SUV, I asked from the back seat how Marcus, Andy's boyfriend, was.
"In Staten Island. Close family and all." Andy was kind of uncomfortable with the whole close family thing since his family left a lot to be desired in that category. "It's crazy. They adore him no matter what he does. They are dying to meet me." Andy shook his head and turned the heat on full blast so I could get some in the back.
"Andy, that's a good sign." I teased him.
"Oh, c'mon, what if they hate me?"
"How can they hate you?"
"Speaking of meeting the family, does Sir Galahad here ever plan to take you home to meet the Manoso's?" Ranger glared at the grinning Andy. It wasn't something we talked about. I sat back and looked out the window. See, I didn't know Ranger's family. I had met Tank's family and his adopted sister was pretty open about "Carlos" but I hadn't had a chance in the last few months to catch up with her. She was busy and I was…well, I was busy, too. It wasn't just that, though. I was kind of afraid of finding out just how little I knew about the man I was in love with. Hey, I was having meet the family jitters, too.
Andy was a lovable, intelligent and self-sacrificing kind of guy. That was the kind of person parents dream about for their son, even if it's a guy. The Wrights in Staten Island would love Andy like he was their own. They would be fools to do anything but. Me, though? I was a thirty year old bounty hunter who had no plans to make their little boy an honest man or to pop out grand kids. Excuse me, but I know Ranger could do better. Wouldn't they see that too?
As I looked out the window, I watched as the streets went from the 'burg's neat houses and small yards to apartment buildings to tenements to the slums. The East Ward faded into the North side.
"Right up here is where Gloria Denney usually called her home." It was one of the first old storefronts that we had come to. "But she moved around a lot. If the weather was bearable, this was hers but she would go the shelter if the weather dropped below freezing." He drove along, pointing out haunts and giving us a background on each of the missing people. Former solders, lawyers, plumbers, strippers. Some sold their body, some sold drugs, some were addicted, some were clean. There was a pretty equal number of men and women and they had been all sorts of races. White, black, Latino, Asian. One of Andy's missing clients was Indian. The victims were as widespread as the homeless themselves.
"The streets are never quiet here. They move constantly and sleep isn't something easily found on the pavement or in the abandoned buildings. They constantly have to fight for their territory, because sometimes that little spot in the alley is all they have. The harshness of the streets usually wreaks their minds. Some worse than others. It's awful to see, but they have an amazing resilience. They are constantly seeking for more, constantly moving. Some give up. Without hope, they don't last long."
I watched the streets with a new perspective. I knew what Andy did and I knew that people didn't live pleasant lives in this part of town, but I had never heard it this way. The 'burg mentality was really that these people just needed to get a job. They just needed to try to get off the streets. If they worked hard, like the 'burghers, then they wouldn't be on the streets. While I listened to Andy, I realized that there was a whole lot more to it than that. Some were battling addiction, some mental illness and there was a lot of generational poverty. It was hard to fight something when it was all you knew and it was everywhere around you. I reached up and squeezed Ranger's shoulder to communicate the emotions I was feeling. He took my hand and squeezed back.
"It's a culture shock, huh?" Andy asked quietly.
"I had no idea."
"Most don't, sis." He took us home. The three of us walked in together with me in the middle. I gave Andy a hug at the elevator and whispered that we would help. I took Ranger's hand and headed for our door.
"What do you think?" I asked Ranger after he came back from looking at my dust bunnies.
"I think those things are going to kill you one of these days." He responded and dropped onto the couch. I laid down beside him and rested my legs in his lap.
"I mean about the case."
"There isn't much to know, is there? People with nothing in common, besides what they all lack. Nothing."
"You think Andy is wrong?"
"He isn't wrong about much."
"No, he isn't."
"We will check it out, babe. Together."
I snuggled back on couch and he turned on the news. I smiled, partners again. Like that always went smoothly for him. Something was going to blow, no doubt.