I snagged the stone out of my boot on the way out of the bedroom. I studied the rock closely, finding it hard to believe such a small, inconspicuous item was worthy of the price Ranger had set. It looked perfectly ordinary to me, but what did I know?
Diesel was on his feet when Ranger and I entered the living room. Lizzie was sprawled out on the couch, looking like she didn't care how this went down. She seemed like a pretty laid-back person, and this wasn't going to ruffle her feathers. Finding the stones was Diesel's cross to bear, she was just along for the ride.
"Lizzie, check the stone," Diesel said, his voice angry.
Lizzie gave him a dirty look, clearly not one to be bossed around.
"Excuse me?"
Diesel sighed. "Please?" he asked, his tone more pleasant than before.
A satisfied look crossed Lizzie's face, and she crossed the room to me.
"Do you mind?" she asked, extending an open palm to me.
"Have at it," I said, placing the rock in her hand. "Not my gig."
"It's the stone alright," she said, her eyes growing wide. "I can feel the energy."
The line of Diesel's mouth grew grimmer. He turned to Ranger.
"You know I can't do this. I don't have the authority. You're going to have to go above my head," he said, his voice betraying his frustration.
I realized that Lizzie had grown agitated, a look of chaos on her face.
"All shall be mine!" she hissed, the stone held in front of her face. "Those who shall stand in my way shall perish!"
I held my breath and glanced to Diesel.
Diesel sighed.
"It's the power of the stone. It's affecting her. It affected Wulf too. Luckily Lizzie's abilities don't include shooting fire from her extremities or burning handprints into people's flesh. It would make this situation a whole lot messier."
"Why didn't the stone affect me?" I asked, confused.
"Don't know," Diesel said. "Want to do her a favor and take it off her hands for a minute?"
I tried to take the stone from Lizzie, but her eyes grew even crazier.
"No!" she shrieked, and I backed away.
"I'd be happy to have this conversation with your cousin instead," Ranger said. "I'm doing you a favor."
"Some favor!" Diesel exclaimed, color rising in my cheeks. "I'll lose my job!"
"Not if you don't have a choice," Ranger said, tilting his head ever so slightly.
A look of confusion crossed Diesel's face, then it relaxed.
"Alright. Where do you want to do it?" Diesel asked.
It took me a minute to catch on, but I realized Ranger was using his abilities to get Diesel to do his bidding. Two points for Batman.
I stood frozen in place, landing somewhere between horror and awe at this strange, twisted turn of events. Even I hadn't seen this coming, but clearly Ranger had thought this through. Wulf was truly a last resort—one that would be rendered unnecessary.
Whenever Diesel realized what had happened here today, he was going to be seriously pissed.
I felt a brief pang of guilt. Diesel was my friend, and as his friend, I felt an obligation to protect him. He had done as much for me on lots of occasions. However, Ranger was my... what? Boyfriend? That sounded too casual for the bond we shared. Mentor? Friend? Significant other? Partner? No matter, I told myself, Ranger's needs had to come first. I'd apologize to Diesel later, meanwhile hoping our friendship wouldn't be damaged beyond repair after this encounter.
"We'll do it here," Ranger responded to Diesel. He turned his attention to Lizzie and me. "Ladies, Maria has refreshments in the break room on the third floor. Please help yourself. Diesel and I will be with your shortly."
Lizzie grew agitated, concern blooming across her face. She seemed to regain a bit of sanity.
"Wait, what are you doing to him?" she asked Ranger. "He wasn't going to agree to this. What have you done?"
"It's no problem, Lizzie," Diesel responded, his face serene. "Let's make this exchange. We'll take the stone home. Glo and Clara will be glad to have you back."
When Ranger didn't respond, she took another step in his direction. Her eyes grew wide, and her face grew red with anger.
"You insolent…"
He held up a finger to silence her.
"We're doing this my way," Ranger said, the line of his mouth firm.
Lizzie didn't look like she was buying it. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. She dropped the stone onto the floor and quietly shuffled back to her place on the couch as if spellbound. Her facial expression relaxed.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked Ranger, my voice barely above a whisper.
He responded with a single nod.
"Will you please escort Ms. Tucker to the break room? We'll join you momentarily."
I willed my feet to move from their spot, but I was planted in place. My face must have registered concern, because Ranger crossed to stand by me. He placed his hand on the small of my back and kissed my temple.
"I'll see you in a few minutes," he said, his eyes conveying the finality of his decision.
"Will it hurt?" I asked, afraid he may experience physical pain as a result of this choice.
"It might tickle a little," Diesel said ambling over. He bent, picked up the stone, and pocketed it. "It will just take a minute. We'll be right down."
Lizzie and I ate oatmeal raisin cookies and drank coffee in the breakroom. The floor was quiet, business as usual at Rangeman Atlanta.
I tried to focus on anything but what was happening upstairs. I had no idea what stripping someone of unmentionable abilities looked like, but it didn't sound pleasant. The visions I'd conjured made me sick to my stomach. I tried to distract myself by chatting with Lizzie. To pass the time, I told her about my family and my work as a bounty hunter.
"So spill the beans. How'd you wind up with the hottie?" she asked, her brown eyes sparkling.
I couldn't help but smile at her question. How did I end up with the hottie?
I considered, unsure how much I wanted to share with this woman I'd only just met.
"He trained me when I started working as a bounty hunter. He taught me how to shoot a gun and how to trace a skip. We became fast friends, and he saved my life too many times to count. It eventually grew into something more."
"How long have you been together?" she asked through a mouthful of cookie.
"About twenty-four hours," I said, trying not to sound like a smart ass.
Lizzie choked on her cookie, but I smiled.
"What?" she asked incredulously.
"We've only recently formalized our relationship," I explained, fiddling with my coffee stir. "Labels are… complicated."
"How long have you been in love with him?"
I could pinpoint with certainty when I finally admitted to myself I was in love with Ranger. A life-altering encounter years ago with Edward Scrog had finally forced me to admit to myself that I was in love with two men. But if I was being honest, when did I actually fall in love with the man in black?
I wracked my brain, trying to pinpoint the exact moment our love story began.
"I guess it's hard to say with certainty. It sort of snuck up on me."
"Fair enough," she said, refilling her coffee cup.
"What about you and Diesel?" I asked Lizzie.
"Nothing to tell," Lizzie said. "I'm just his partner for work. He's a heartbreaker."
"Uh huh," I said, a knowing smirk on my face.
Lizzie blushed.
I knew Diesel wanted Lizzie to be more than his partner, but they had physical limitations because of their unmentionable abilities. He'd have to be the one to tell her he wanted more. Not my place.
Lizzie quickly changed the subject.
"So what's the plan when you go home tonight?"
"Get back to my life, I guess," I said, shrugging. "I'll head to the bonds office in the morning to pick up the giant pile of skip files that have piled up and play catch-up for a month. Maybe two."
Diesel ambled in looking pissed.
"What's up?"
He glared at me.
"Oh. That. How long did it take for you to figure it out?"
"Just until the deed was done. Then the power of suggestion was broken, and I realized what I'd done." He sighed.
"I'm sorry," I said.
Diesel pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"This damn thing hasn't stopped ringing. I'm screwed." He turned to Lizzie. "Let's get out of here before I hurt that prick."
"It was nice to meet you," I said to Lizzie. "I hope we cross paths again sometime."
"I'll bring the cupcakes," she said, giving me a warm smile.
Diesel took two cookies from the tray and gave me a bear hug.
"If he breaks your heart, I'll break his face," he whispered in my ear.
I laughed, giving him a finger wave as they left the breakroom. I'd miss him until he wandered into my life again.
I scampered into Ranger's sixth floor apartment. He was setting our bags by the door, looking cool as a cucumber.
"Are you alright?" I asked, the worry palpable in my voice.
"Better than ever," he said, grabbing me by the front of my shirt, dragging me to him, and kissing me. Ranger's eyes looked more playful than they had earlier that day, his worry lines seemingly erased from his handsome face.
"Do you have any regrets?"
"Only about not making you mine sooner," he said, his hand sneaking under the hem of my shirt. "I intend to spend a lot of time making up for my stupidity."
He unclasped my bra and pushed me up against the wall in the small foyer.
"We've got some time to kill before we catch our flight," he said, tugging my shirt over my head.
Oh boy.
Lester, Ximena, Ranger, and I landed in Newark just after 11:00 PM. Tank picked us up from the airport in a large black SUV. Ranger rode shotgun, with Ximena and I in the second row and Lester in back. Lester was asleep in minutes, snoring loudly in the back seat.
"My family wonders why I don't move to Trenton to be closer to them and Lester," Ximena said. "I had to move to Boston to get away from his snoring."
We laughed together and carried on light conversation the rest of the way to Trenton. Tank spent the ride filling Ranger in on Rangeman Trenton business he'd missed while off duty in Atlanta. I thought it seemed a little early for Ranger to be getting back to work, but I knew it would be hard to hold him back.
As we pulled onto Route 1, Tank turned his attention to me.
"Where do you want me to drop you?"
I considered my options. Staying in Ranger's apartment sounded incredibly tempting, but I had Mooner dog-sitting Bob at my apartment and my parents hamster-sitting Rex at their house. It seemed irresponsible to abandon the pets for a steamy night with Ranger.
"Can you drop me by my parents' house so I can pick up Big Blue?" I asked.
"Big Blue?" Ximena asked.
Big Blue is a powder blue and white 1957 Buick Roadmaster that my great uncle Sandor left my Grandma Mazur when he went to heaven's all you can eat shrimp-and-prime rib buffet. The car drives like a beluga whale and sucks gas like a shop vac. Since my grandma drives like Tony Stewart, the state of New Jersey won't give her a license, rendering the car unnecessary for her use. My parents keep Big Blue n their garage in case of automotive emergency. Hypothetically speaking, if I wasn't their child, they'd probably never need it. Since they were strapped with a child with bad car karma, it was used more frequently than I'd like to admit. The good news was the car seemed to be indestructible.
"You don't want to know," I sighed to Ximena, mourning my Corolla. I hoped an insurance check would be waiting in my mailbox once I got back to my apartment.
I texted my grandma to let her know I was coming for the car. I knew she'd be awake watching late night TV, and she was glad to oblige.
Tank let me out in the driveway after midnight, and I thanked him. Ranger gave me a chaste kiss and told me he'd see me in the morning. I gave Ximena a goodbye hug and woke Lester up with a parting smack to the head.
Grandma let me into the dark, quiet house. The living room was dark except light from the television. We wandered into the kitchen, where she had set out milk and cookies on the table.
"How was Atlanta?" she asked, wanting to know all the details.
"It was a crappy assignment," I said. "I don't think security is my cup of tea at Rangeman. I think I'll stick with bond enforcement and distractions on the side."
"How's Ranger doing?"
"Healing. Except for a limp, you'd never know he was hurt. I imagine even that will eventually go away. What have I missed while I was gone?"
"Mildred Fasano was laid out at the funeral parlor last night after she croaked from a heart attack doing the deed with her husband's best friend, Larry Barker. Larry and Frank, her husband, got into a huge fist fight during the viewing and knocked the flowers over, spilling water into Mildred's casket. They had to call the cops to break it up. Mildred was left to fend for her poor, dead self in a wet dress after they hauled her husband and boyfriend off to the clink."
"Wow," I said through a mouthful of cookie. "I'm actually sort of disappointed I missed that."
"It was a pip," said grandma. "I wish I'd had my iPhone, I'd have captured the entire thing on video."
I'm not sure that's something the deceased's family and friends would want to remember forever, but to each his own, right?
"My social security check came in, so I went shopping with Lula and got my nails did."
She extended her hands to me so I could examine her lavender fingernails with white orchids painted on them. Each ring finger had a small cubic zirconia embedded in it.
"Pretty." I sucked in a breath, then asked the question I'd been dreading. "How's Joe?"
Grandma brushed come crumbs off the table into the palm of her hand, depositing them onto her plate.
"He might be released tomorrow if everything checks out okay," she said. "He's got a lot of therapy ahead. Rumor has it his days as a cop are over."
"What?" I choked out through a mouth full of cookie.
"Yeah, he's got a long road ahead," she said. "His speech is pretty rough, and his coordination is messed up. His lungs are weak after all that damage too."
This was news to me. Morelli not a cop? My brain couldn't digest this new piece of information. I could feel my heart breaking again.
"Who the hell shot him? I never heard."
"Hank Harmon."
I gasped.
"As in Carol Cantell's soon-to-be ex-husband?"
"Not anymore," grandma said. "She's dead as a doornail now. He shot her dead the same night he shot Morelli. Domestic dispute. She died married to that asshole."
It was almost 2:00 AM by the time I parked Big Blue and stumbled into my apartment with Rex in tow. I dropped my bags in the foyer and put Rex in his rightful place on my counter. Bob bounded out to see me, doing his happy dog dance at my feet. I rubbed his ear and told him he was a good boy. I was dead on my feet, so I collapsed into the couch and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
I woke up screaming when the first hints of morning light were peeking through my living room curtains.
"Babe," I heard a voice say, thick with sleep.
I sat up blinking my eyes to clear the tears. My throat felt raw, and my heart was racing out of my chest.
Ranger was sitting in the armchair in my living room, looking rumpled from sleep.
"Are you okay?" he asked, rising to his feet, crossing the room, and kneeling at my side.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself into him. I let wild sobs escape my chest. Ranger held me in his strong arms, shushing me and rubbing my back. Bob climbed onto the end of the couch, snuggling into my feet.
Once I finally quieted, he spoke again.
"Nightmare?"
I sniffed back the snot that had accumulated during my meltdown.
"You were dead," I choked. "I couldn't save you."
The sobs escaped from my chest once more. Ranger held me until I quieted, relaxing into him. The clock read 5:38 AM.
"When did you get here?" I asked.
"Around three," Ranger replied.
"Why?"
"Couldn't sleep."
Mooner stumbled out of my bedroom a few minutes later.
"Dudette! I thought I heard someone out here."
He noticed Ranger and took a step back.
"Whoa, I see you brought Batman home with you."
I gave Ranger a small smile.
"Batman is my newest accessory. How was Bob? Was he good?"
"Yeah dude, he was like, chill. We had a great time pickin' up ladies at the park."
"I'm sorry we woke you," I said apologetically. "You can go back to sleep and catch a few more hours. I don't expect you to leave yet."
"No problem-o. Things to do, people to see."
Mooner headed back into the bedroom, and Ranger walked into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. Mooner emerged a few minutes later with a backpack.
I stumbled to my feet to grab my wallet from my messenger bag, but Ranger got to Mooner first. He removed four crisp $100 bills from his wallet and handed them to Mooner.
"Will this cover the fee for services?" Ranger asked.
"Whoa man," Mooner said, looking a little shell shocked. "That's too much." He tried to hand Ranger two of the bills, but Ranger shook his head.
"Thank you for helping Stephanie in a pinch," Ranger said, pouring two cups of coffee.
Mooner thanked Ranger, pocketed the money, and left.
Ranger passed me a cup of coffee, which I gratefully accepted.
"You shouldn't have paid for my dog-sitting," I said.
"I wanted to," Ranger said, studying me. "I want you to let me take care of you."
My stomach turned at his words, and my expression turned grim.
"Ranger, no. I—"
He cut me off.
"I know you're an independent woman, Steph. I'm not trying to take that away from you. Keep working. Keep skip tracing. Keep your apartment and buy your cars. I don't care if you want those things. But when I want to help you, please let me. Don't question my motives."
I considered his words. I didn't like receiving help, and I certainly wasn't one to ask for it. I was brought up in the Burg, and Burg women don't ask for help. The only Burg women who receive help are those tied down in marriages with 2.5 children and a house.
"I don't want to be your charity case," I said flatly.
"You're not, Stephanie. You're my companion."
I swallowed back the nausea this conversation was causing.
"Please. I don't want to argue about this," Ranger said with finality.
"Okay," I said with resignation. "But only because you said please."