Unapologize

By: PricklySare

A/N: As with everything else, she still owns them and I'm not making anything off of them. M&M, you guys are the greatest.

Sare

Chapter Twenty-eight: Steph Channels Ranger

I was in shock. Who the hell was Bonnie McMillan, and why would I want to kill her? I just stared at Agent Cassidy, hoping that he was joking. "Ms. Plum, if you want me to help you, I need you to answer my questions," he said.

"Who is Bonnie McMillan?" I asked him. I figured she must have been the body on the stretcher, but why did they assume I was the one who killed her? I didn't even know her. Obviously they felt I had, since they'd arrested me, but what I couldn't figure out is, why they thought I had.

"Ms. Plum, Bonnie McMillan was the woman brutally murdered today. In fact, she's the reason we're both here, so it would be helpful if you would just answer my questions." Agent Cassidy was a beautiful man, with jet black hair that looked like silk, and the most intense blue eyes I'd ever seen. Those eyes were currently boring into me, demanding that I spill all my secrets. Guess he didn't realize the type of men I spend my time with. I've gotten the stare down from the master. Regardless of how attractive he was, how intimidating others might find him; he didn't have anything on Ranger.

I did what I should have done when I first stepped foot into this asswipe excuse for a jail. "I want a lawyer," I said, looking him straight in the eye, my gaze unwavering. I was done playing games. I wanted out of here, and I was damn tired of having my rights violated just because I was a woman.

I watched as Agent Cassidy shook his head, "Well, Ms. Plum, thanks to the Patriot Act, I'm not required to allow you an attorney," he said with a sigh. I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the table in front of me.

"Excuse me?" I asked, my throat was suddenly as dry as the Sahara during a drought. "The Patriot Act is for terrorists. I'm not a terrorist. Just because things blow up around me, doesn't make me a terrorist," I said, trying to remain calm. "Is this about the cars? I swear they weren't my fault."

"Ms. Plum, this isn't about the cars. This is about the murder of Bonnie McMillan, please focus," he said.

"Agent Cassidy, I don't know anyone by the name of Bonnie McMillan; and what does a murder have to do with the Patriot Act?" I was frustrated and beyond confused. How did I manage it, I mean, really? I went to the beach, and I ended up arrested for the murder of someone I didn't even know, and I sure hadn't killed.

"If you didn't know her, then why did you kill her?" He asked, his eyes never leaving mine. I was really beginning to have a bad feeling about this, my spidey senses were going wild and I couldn't figure out why. Gee, perhaps because you're in a jail where a cop hit you when you wouldn't perform sexual acts with him; and you're now being held as a terrorist. Good point, but I still didn't think that was the reason.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but I'm not a terrorist; I'm an American citizen who has had her rights violated all day. If you want me to answer your questions, then you better let me speak to my lawyer," I told him. Take that, G-man.

Something flashed through his eyes, too fast for me to catch, before he said, "As you wish, Miss Plum. If you won't help me, there is no way I can help you."

"I can't help you with something I don't know anything about," I sighed and ran my hands over my face. How did I manage to get myself into these situations? "Get me my lawyer, Agent Cassidy. There's nothing else I can say."

I was still sitting in the interrogation room an hour later. Agent Cassidy had walked out with anger and annoyance radiating off him. Poor baby. He should sit in my seat and see how it felt. I wasn't exactly Stephanie Sunshine at the moment. In fact, I felt like there was a giant gray rain cloud hovering over my head, just waiting to unleash a torrential downpour. At least he'd left me uncuffed.

While I was left cooling my heels my brain continued to run a mile a minute, playing different scenarios, and discarding them just as quickly. I had a moment to wonder if this was the way Ranger felt while he was being held captive by the Colombians. Granted, he was being tortured, so it was in no way the same thing; however, at the rate I was going I wouldn't doubt that torture was in my future. Didn't the government torture terrorists?

A shudder ran through my body as visions of Deputy Dog touching me tore through my mind. Shit! Don't think about it. Focus on something else. I had every intention of causing him a world of pain, just as soon as I got out of here. No way was he going to get away with laying his hands on me. I didn't care who he was.

My neck started to prickle, not in the way it does when Ranger is near, but in the way it does when I'm being watched. I hated to admit it, but it was a feeling I was more than familiar with. There was no doubt in my mind that I was being watched by Deputy Dog, the vileness just rolled off him like an ocean wave. It left me cold, and nauseous. Okay, suck it up, Plum. What would Ranger do in this situation?

I let a small smile, a Ranger type smile, cross my lips as I leaned back in the rickety metal chair and placed my feet on the table in front of me, crossing my legs at the ankles. I was sure that my body betrayed none of the emotion I was feeling inside. I was channeling Ranger. God, I missed him. Crossing my arms across my chest I relaxed my muscles and willed my mind to calm. It was time to focus on what was going on.

So far, I knew that a woman had been murdered, and that the local police, led by their idiot leader, Deputy Dumbass, suspected I was involved. I hadn't been booked yet, which struck me as weird, but then again, so did the beat down I received after I declined Deputy Dipshit's sexual advances. Apparently things in this podunk little police station weren't done the way they were everywhere else. Obviously they subscribed to the Pirate code of law enforcement. They viewed laws, and civil rights as guidelines.

From what I was able to see of the body, I didn't recognize the dead woman, but that didn't mean anything. I'd never met "Carmen Manoso" before either, until she pulled a gun on me in front of the bonds office. Sometimes, my life was just a little too exciting. I knew I was missing something. Something that led them to believe I knew the victim; something that led them to arrest me on the spot. Closing my eyes I let my mind drift back to the scene at the beach.

My eyes flew open, but my body remained perfectly still when the interrogation room door smacked against the wall with a loud 'Bang!'. I knew without turning around who had entered. Have I mentioned how much my luck sucks? "Well, if it isn't Queen Bitch," the devil incarnate said as he strode toward me. Anger was mixing with the nausea in my stomach and I forced it down. Think like Ranger. Ranger...Ranger...Ranger.

I took a deep breath and kept my face as blank as possible. I gave a curt Ranger-like nod and said, "Deputy Dumbfuck." I saw him lunge at me, felt the sharp pain as my head smashed against the floor, and then blessed darkness.

Oh shit, shit, shit. My head was throbbing, it felt like the entire high school marching bad was practicing in my brain, and they were horribly off key. On top of that someone was yelling at me, or maybe around me? Owwww. It was hurting too much to even think and the voices were getting louder. I was afraid to open my eyes, I knew what was wrong, I'd been here more than my share of times. Concussions seem to be a frequent occurrence in my line of work, or at least with my line of stalkers and crazies.

Keeping my eyes closed I tried to focus in on the words that were flowing around me. A whimper was building in my throat and I forced it down, along with the bile that kept wanting to rise. I wasn't willing to throw up. That would just top my day. Mind over matter. Mind over matter. Ranger wouldn't throw up. Mind over matter. After a few moments of mentally chanting my mantra I was able to focus in on the voices, and my heart did a little lurch.

"What the Hell is wrong with her? Why is she unconscious?" Tank's deep baritone ran through my body and I wanted to jump for joy.

I felt a hand gently caress my face and I knew who it was, as much as I wanted it to be Ranger, I knew it wasn't possible, but Lester was a definitely runner up. I wanted to snuggle into his touch, but my head still hurt too much. "Beautiful, you've got to wake up. Please, Beautiful. Please," he whispered. There was so much pain in his voice that it made my heart ache.

I heard another voice speaking, Cassidy? I couldn't tell, but his words hurt my head. "I don't know what the hell happened. She's been out for two days. That's why I called you. Something is going on; someone is pulling strings that shouldn't be pulled."

Lester's hand was quivering against my cheek, I could feel the tension running through his body and I knew he was trying to remain calm, but was losing the battle. "Where the fuck did these bruises and marks come from?" he snarled from his place next to me. I was trying in vain to open my eyes, but my lids felt so heavy, like trying to live hundred pound dumbbells. Shit. Two days? Sonofabitch. What the hell happened to me?

"Man, I don't know. When I first met with her she had a split lip and a few bruises beginning to form on her face, but I didn't think anything about it. I figured they were from before she got arrested. These bruises are new, and I can only offer my suspicions. Nothing concrete," the voice I thought belonged to Cassidy said.

"Who?" That single word held a wealth of anger, intimidation, and promise in it. Lester was going to kill Deputy Dumbfuck. I couldn't work up any sympathy for the man. I wasn't even sure what all had happened to me in the last... shit, two days? Fuck. I had a really bad feeling about it though.

"Officer Wenderson Lempprik," he said.

"Who the fuck is Wendy Limpcock?" Lester asked. If I hadn't been in so much pain I would have laughed. The name fit Deputy Dumbfuck perfectly. It explained so much, really; and leave it to Lester to call it like it was.

"He was the arresting officer, and a completely tool on top of it. The law to him is a game, something he can pick and choose. I've worked with guys like him before, and I can't imagine that he took well to someone as steely and strong as your Miss Plum."

"Tank, isn't that who you dealt with the day Steph went missing?" Ah, Bobby was here too. That must be the second set of hands I felt poking and prodding me. I was a little concerned I hadn't noticed him before. I continued to lay there taking stock of my various pains while the conversation continued around me.

"Yes," was Tank's short, angry reply.

I felt the tension around me sky rocket, Lester's hand was still gentle on my face, but I could tell that he was far from calm. "Where. Is. He?" Lester asked, snapping each word off. My guess was that his jaw was latched tightly shut. This wasn't going to be good. I needed to open my eyes before Lester snapped. "I want him now. Look at what he did to her!"

Come on eyes, work with me. On the count of three. One. Two. Three. I felt my eyelids flutter and the dim light hit them making me slam them shut. Shit! That fuckin' hurt. I forced my eyes open again, this time straining to keep them open. I felt Lester's hand trace along my cheek again before he started to move away.

"Les..." I managed to get out. My throat was hurting. It felt like death valley after a heatwave. I would've given anything for a glass of ice water. I didn't have time to worry about that. I knew Lester well, he was going to do something dangerous, something rash. I couldn't let him do that, so I tried again, "Lester Santos... don't do it." This time the words were a little louder and a little clearer.

"Hey, Beautiful," he said, sinking down next to me. "We've missed you." He laid his lips on my forehead and asked, "You okay?"

I shook my head and immediately regretted it as the bile rushed back up my throat and I barely had time to roll over before I threw up. Luckily I didn't get any on Lester. That would have been mortifying. "No," I gasped out. "I feel like I got hit my a truck named Deputy Dumbfuck," I said.

"Do you know what happened, Steph?" Lester asked me in a soft voice that caressed my skin. His voice was really nice. Sexy even. I felt him chuckle and had a really bad feeling I'd just said that out loud. "Thanks, Beautiful. Yours isn't so bad either." Well, Shit.

"Yeah, I know everything that happened..." and then I realized that I was missing two days. Logically I knew I was because I'd heard them talking, but it hadn't hit me until then just how serious that really was. "Fuck me, no I don't know. I'm missing time."

"Calm down, Steph. We're here," Bobby's calm voice helped settle my nerves even while my thoughts flew to murder. I was going to tear that bastard apart.

"I'm calm. When I find that mother fucker I'm going to kill him. I have no idea what's happened since he knocked me out," I didn't think he'd done anything sexual to me, at least I really hoped he hadn't. Now was not a time for denial. "Bobby, I need to go to the hospital. I want a rape kit done, and I want to file a report. I'm pressing charges." The silence was deafening and I forced myself to look each of my guys in the face.

"Miss Plum, I'm afraid that isn't possible." My eyes swung to Agent Cassidy, and I tried to ignore the nausea rolling in my stomach.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked, anger and pain running through my voice. "Why the hell not?"

"Well, Miss Plum, you've been remanded to the custody of Homeland Security."

Three pairs of angry mercenary eyes locked on Agent Cassidy, I only knew this because I let my eyes wander to each man in turn to see their reactions. I didn't trust my own. "Agent Cassidy?" I waited for him to look at me again, taking the moment to gather Ranger close to my heart, closing my face off from emotion, and locking down the pain and anger, before I said, "I want my lawyer. Now."