Better than myself Part 12
(Sequel to As a Man)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm not making any money, and all the wonderful characters belong to the lovely JE.
Disclaimer: for language and subject matter
Tank's POV
The call comes right when I expected, of course he gives us only a few hours warning, just a quick call to pick him up from the airport. He doesn't ask, Ranger just gives orders. I do wonder why he is asking me and not Steph. However, he isn't on the phone long enough for me to ask him.
As I am headed to pick him up, I think about all of the changes that have happened since he left. I wonder if the short drive from the airport will be enough to fill him in. Some things are not my story to tell, I know Steph will have a lot of her own stories for him. I hope she decides to come clean with her tale; it will only bring them closer.
I question if I will be able to tell if there is something different about him on sight. I hope so, because he needed this, I was not going to bury my best friend. And that was the only way I was envisioning the path he was on ending.
There he is, he looks like he lost a little muscle mass. But that is good; he is back to this normal size, not that crazy size he got to in the past few months. He gets in the truck; I am not sure what to say.
"Hey, Tank. Report." But he says it with a small smile. Okay, I can handle this- I begin to tell him about Lula, our break up and the bonds office.
"Sorry man, I thought she was a good one. I am glad to hear that Steph stuck up for herself. How did we handle Vinnie?"
I explain that we haven't really. I didn't want to get out of the contract without talking to him. I didn't want to lose that much revenue without another plan.
"True, but we got to get out of there, if he can't be loyal to his own family, then he can't be loyal to us. We don't owe him anything. I know you have a plan, but we can get into it later."
The next part has him sitting up a little straighter. Joe Morelli is in jail. I knew Ranger was aware of all the dirt that Morelli was doing, I thought that Trenton's favorite son would never be caught. I explain that Joe plans to plead guilty and hasn't asked for a lawyer. But he has asked to speak to him. I don't tell him that Stephanie helped put him there, that part is hers to tell.
Ranger actually looks shocked, or as shocked as Ranger can look. He wants to go to the jail first, figures that is a good place to start as any. Take your sour before your sweet. Speaking of sweet, he hasn't asked about Stephanie, I think he is afraid that Steph changed her mind about where she would be staying.
We ride in silence until we reach the police station. Morelli is still being held in lock up; no one wants to put him in the general population. Cops don't fare wall in general population, especially in the same city where they worked. He probably will have to leave New Jersey after sentencing.
We walk in and I ask for Eddie, I know Ranger will stay quiet because he is unsure of the entire story. Eddie comes out slowly and says that he will take us to an interrogation room without cameras. They don't need any more information from Morelli because he is going to plead guilty. And whatever he wants to talk about is personal. Eddie looks at us and says, "Don't make me regret this, no beating him, no killing him." I just nod, I am not sure I want to make that promise. But killing him in the station would be a lot of paperwork. He leads us to a room in the back. It takes a few minutes for a shackled Morelli to be brought to us.
We all sit down and no one speaks for a bit. Ranger and I are perfectly prepared to wait this out, but we don't have to wait long. Morelli leans forwards and starts to speak.
"Manoso, I guess you won. You got the girl and I am in jail. Not the way I envisioned this. I can't even fight for her from here. I don't think the best man won, but you got her. Remember, that she will always be mine. I was there first. She will always belong to me. I hope you can live with winning by default. She would have eventually forgiven me for all of my indiscretions, she always did. But this is not why I called you here.
I have been trying to dig up any information on you for a long time. It was hard finding your family; I couldn't find anything until I found your name in your mother's obituary. You don't share the name with anyone that is "related" to you. "
Ranger takes a deep breath when Morelli mentions his mother's death, but I know he will wait to react.
"I finally got a hold of your brother, who refused to talk to me. Then I got in contact with your step-father."
I wonder what that bastard told Morelli. This could be bad, Morelli wouldn't hesitate to tell as many people as he can any lowdown he could find on Ranger.
Ranger just nods at Morelli to continue.
"He had quite the tale to tell about your childhood and how you were an unwanted bastard child, who ran away from home when you were 16. After that he went on and on about so many horrible things that he did to you.
I can't stand you Manoso, I think you are a thug, a mercenary not fit to share the same space with Stephanie or really anyone. But I want you to know that I am not going to repeat what I was told. I know all about having an asshole for a father. The things he told me, if they were true, made me sick. He is more dangerous than you could ever be. I just wanted you to know that he has loose lips. I am surprised that he has not been handled already."
Ranger finally speaks, "I think I finally will be able to handle him. Thanks Morelli, I don't like you either, but thanks for staying quiet."
They actually shake hands and we leave the cop shop. We make it to the truck and Ranger looks at me and says,
"That was decent of Morelli – but we have to handle Thomas soon, he is still unclear who he is dealing with."
He sounds low and dangerous, I agree, Thomas' luck may have just ran out.
As soon as I open the door, I hear Lula, "Tank, Tank."
Fucking great. I turn to look at her. "You have been hiding from me, but I knew you couldn't hide forever. We gots things to talk about.." She puts her hand on my arm and I shrug it away.
"Lula, I told you we were through, what else is left to say?"
"Pierre, it was a misunderstanding, I love you, we are good together."
She is going to make me do this here. I was trying not to have to do this again.
"Lula, we were good together, until I found out you only care about Lula. You had a better time spreading lies about my family, then you ever did with me. I cannot be with anyone who has no loyalty and no respect."
I turn to get into the truck, when she screams –
"YOU ARE PICKING RANGER AND THAT WHITE BITCH OVER ME!"
If she was a man, I would deck her for her disrespect, but she is not, so I can't. So, I respond.
"Yup, right now I would pick Joyce over you. At least with Joyce, you know where you stand. I would rather deal with an honest 'ho than a lying one. "
She looks shocked, but we get into the car and drive off.
Ranger says, "I know that was hard for you, if you still love her, I will stand by your choice."
"Nope, it was hard at first, but I don't trust her and love without trust is nothing." He nods, because he has been there.
We don't talk until we arrive at Haywood. He jumps out of the truck and says he is tired and wants to get some rest before seeing the rest of the guys. We get into the elevator and I hit the button for seven. I tell him that rest is good, but we will be up for dinner at 6:30, we wouldn't want to change our routine.
"Our?"
Then the elevator opens and Steph is standing in front of the apartment. I always knew Ranger moved fast, but he is kissing her before I can blink. I just let the elevator doors close and scramble the cameras. The kiss he is giving her could melt the paint off a house, I hope they make it inside the apartment.
A/N: This is where we are, I am glad Ranger is home, I like writing him best.
Thank everyone for their reviews and suggestions about Ranger's well being. We will get more into that in the next couple chapters.
Reviews are like candy... I love them.
