The characters belong to JE. I receive nothing from this, but it sure is fun.
A/N: There's mention of a unusually law in this chapter. I looked it up on the internet and it really does exist.
Chapter 12
Stephanie's POV
Joe has a lot of nerve to call me 'Babe'. He knows that Ranger's nickname for me. Did he think that if he called me 'Babe' that it would make me want to go running back to him? He should know that changing his behavior wouldn't change anything between us. Just like changing me wouldn't change anything. All it would do is make us both miserable. Joe and I just don't belong together.
At least I have my talk with Joe over with. Now all I have to do is work up the nerve to talk to Ranger about his behavior. I'm afraid that conservations may not go any better that the one I just had with Joe.
I'll have to worry about this later. I need to go by the Bond's office to see if Connie has any files for me. My rent is due next week and if I don't bring in some FTAs my rent check will bounce. Of course if I buy Dillon a six pack I bribe him into a few more days without him adding a late fee.
I had just grabbed my purse and keys off of the kitchen counter when I heard a knock of the door of my apartment. I put my purse and keys back on the counter and went to open the door.
"Bomber, you should know by now to open the door without checking the peephole first." Bobby, the Rangeman medic, said.
"Yeah, Beautiful." Lester agreed. "You shouldn't answer your door without your gun in your hand, either. You never know what kind of crazy person could be on the other side."
"In my experience the crazy ones don't knock. They just walk on in whenever they feel like it. I can even give you two perfect examples, Ranger and Joe." I rolled my eyes. "Come on in."
Lester and Bobby walked into my living room. Lester plopped down on my couch while Bobby leaned against the wall.
"We brought presents!" Lester announced, waving an ink pen in the air.
"Let me guess. You brought me a new tracker." I dead panned. "No thank you."
"Bomber, this tracker only sends a signal the core team, with the exception of Ranger. We assumed that after last week that you would probably want to avoid Ranger for a few days." Bobby explained. "If you click the end of the pen, it activates a panic button hidden inside the pen."
"Or I could not carry any trackers and actually have privacy for once." I countered.
"Yes, but if you carry out tracker, we can call and warn you if Ranger heads your way." Lester grinned.
"Ranger hasn't been acting like himself the last couple of days. He was called to the mats over the weekend and he could barely hold his own. His strength was fine, but he didn't have his usually mental control and his reflexes were slow." Bobby explained. "Normally Ranger can anticipate every move that his opponents. It's rare that any of us can get a good hit in, but Ranger spent more time laying on the mat than fighting on it."
"You should have seen it, Beautiful." Lester grinned. "He's currently suffering with a black eye and couple of bruise ribs."
"Oh my God! Why would anyone call Ranger to the mats?" I asked. There must be something in the water. First Joe acts weird and now Lester and Booby tell me that Ranger's acting weird, too.
"Everybody at Rangeman is on your side, Bomber. Ranger and Morelli need to stop this nonsense and man up, especially Ranger. He should know better than to treat someone he cares about like he's been treating you." Bobby said.
"It's not entirely their fault. I'm the one that has spent the last few years running back and forth between them. Joe wants a commitment, and Ranger wants anything but a commitment. They would have never started acting like this if I could have made myself marry Joe."
"Don't you think it says a lot that you've never been able to commit enough to marry Joe?" Lester asked.
"Yeah, I realize that now. It won't be a problem anymore. I told Joe to move on with his life, because I would never marry him." I explained.
"How did he take that news?" Lester asked.
"He told me that he was proud of me and then he called me 'Babe'." I told them.
"Morelli called you 'Babe'? Bobby asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Which led to me yelling at Joe and kicking him out of my apartment."
"Will I get kicked out if I tell you that I'm proud of you for standing up to Morelli?" Lester grinned.
"No, I think I only got mad because Joe kind on sounded like Ranger when he said it. I think that he thought he was being funny."
"So, will you carry the tracker?" Lester asked.
"As long as you promise to warn me if you see Ranger headed my direction. I'm not ready to face him yet." I agreed, taking the tracker pen from Lester and putting it in the back pocket of my jeans.
"We better get going. I need to get back to Rangeman and start doing inventory in the clinic. If you decided that you need something to do, I could sneak you into Rangeman so you could help me." Bobby offered.
"And risk running into Ranger? I don't think so." I replied.
Bobby laughed. "That's what I figured you would say."
Lester and Bobby walked me down to Big Blue. I decided that I better run by the Tasty Pastry for donuts. After the morning I had, I needed sugar to calm my nerves.
It was mid morning by the time I made it to the Bond's office.
"It's about time you got here, White Girl!" Lula exclaimed, as she grabbed the box of donuts out of my hand as I walked into the Bond's office.
"Good to see you too, Lula." I said, rolling my eyes. Lula was dressed in typical Lula fashion. Today she was wearing a bright pink spandex skirt with a bright yellow feathered top. She was wearing bright yellow 5 inch FMPs and bright pink hair that matched her skirt perfectly. I have to give Lula some credit. I would be afraid to wear feathers around Vinnie. I would hate for him to confuse me with a duck.
"Connie, do you have any more files for me?" I asked. Connie was sitting behind her desk painting her nails blood red to match the dress she was wearing. Connie paints her nails every day. I'm afraid to ask how many coats of nail polish are on her nails. It would probably take a gallon of nail polish remover to get all of the layers off.
"Just one new file, it's Darla Perry. She didn't show up for court Friday afternoon. She probably just forgot. It should be easy money." She told me, using her elbow to slide the file towards me.
"Where have you been? No one has seen you since last week. It's all over the 'Burg that Supercop and Batman have been looking for you." Lula asked as she shoved a jelly filled donut into her mouth.
"Ranger and Joe were acting like children after Tony Biancho blew up my car last week. Then they showed up at my apartment and proceeded to continue to act like children fighting over the last piece of candy in their grandmother's purse. They were so focused on each other that they didn't notice me sneaking out of my apartment. I ended up hiding out at a friend's house over the weekend." Lula explained.
I chose to ignore her question, hoping that she would let it drop. Instead I asked, "Connie, what did Darla Perry do?"
I've known Darla since we were in high school. I couldn't imagine what she could be involved in. Darla was not the type of person that you expect to go FTA. She was the reserved, quiet type in school. She always made good grades. She excelled in home economics classes. I remember because she was always taking Joe whatever she cooked in class. She was just one of the many girls in high school with a crush on Joe.
"The fact that she was arrested was absolutely ridiculous. Gaspick used some unreasonable old law to arrest her. When Vinnie told me why she was arrested I didn't believe him, so I looked it up online. Apparently, New Jersey has a law that makes it illegal to frown at a police officer. Can you believe that? I think that Gaspick just wanted to get back at Darla."
"Why would Picky want to get back at Darla?" Lula asked.
Connie leaned forward. "Well, I heard it from Jennifer Ramone, who heard it from Cynthia D'Angelo, who heard it from Darla's sister, Karen, that Gaspick has asked Darla out to dinner three times and she turned him down each time. Knowing Gaspick he spent hours looking up that stupid law so he could have something to use against her."
"Why didn't the judge dismiss the charges?" I asked.
"The judge assigned to the case is married Picky's cousin, Betty. I always knew that he had to be related to someone important. He should have been fired from the department a long time ago." Connie said, rolling her eyes.
I didn't need have to open Darla's file to know where to find her. Darla has worked as a bank teller for the Bank of America since we graduated high school.
"Connie, let me use your phone." I said picking up the phone. When someone finally answered I asked to speak to Darla.
"Thank you for calling Bank of America in Trenton. This is Darla. How may I help you?" She answered.
"Darla, this is Stephanie Plum. I heard that Gaspick has been giving you trouble." I replied.
"That little worm! He arrested me because I didn't smile at him. Can you believe that? He's just mad because I'm interested in someone instead of him." Darla grumbled.
"When is your lunch break? I can run by and we can go by the station. Connie can meet us there and repost your bond. While we're there we can talk to the Police Chief and see about getting the charges dropped." I offered. I looked offer at Connie, who nodded that she would meet us at the police station.
"Really? You could do that? Thanks." Darla squealed. "Do you think that Joe might be working? I mean, the two of you haven't got back together, have you? I made cinnamon rolls before work this morning. I could take him some."
I think I know who she's interested in instead of Picky. I smiled, "Joe and I won't be getting back together. I bet he would love your cinnamon rolls. He always loved the food you made him in high school." I told her.
"Great! I get my lunch break at 11 a.m. Can you be here by then?" She asked.
"I need to make one more phone call, and then I'll be there. See you in a few." I promised, hanging up and immediately dialing Sandy Biancho.
"It's your dime." Sandy answered.
"Hey Sandy, it's Steph." I told her.
"Oh, Stephanie! I'm so sorry about what Tony did to your car. He promised to go FTA so that you can get his capture fee. He promised to go with you willing and not cause any trouble."
"Thanks…I think." I said. "Would you be able to meet me at the police station in about a hour. Connie will already be there so she can repost your bond."
"Yeah, I can be there. See you there!" She said hanging up. Click. Great! Another person that doesn't say good-bye before they hang up. Doesn't anyone have manners anymore?
"White Girl, you still haven't told us whose house you were at over the weekend. I know it wasn't Mary Lou's or your parent's because Batman and Supercop would have found you there." Lula reminded me. So much for hoping that she would forget.
"I can't right now. Darla's expecting me at the Bank. I'd ask you to go with me but I may be at the police station for a while and I know how that bothers your stomach." I said quickly, as I rushed out of the office and jumped into Big Blue.
It only took me a few minutes to get to the bank. I knew I was a little early, but I didn't want to wait in the Bond's office and be questioned by Lula. When I walked into the bank, I waved at Darla and motioned over the waiting area where they kept cookies and coffee for customers waiting to speak to the loan officers. I never did get a chance to eat a donut, and at this point I was in desperate need of sugar.
I had just taken a bite of a chocolate chip cookie when gunfire erupted inside of the bank, followed by screams.
"Everybody get down!" A deep male voice yelled. I immediately hit the floor as I reached into my back jeans pocket and grabbed the pen that Lester and Bobby had dropped off this morning. I had just enough time to activate it when I heard, "Look what we have here! We have a real celebrity in the bank today." He said as he grabbed me by my hair and pulled me to my feet. "It's that Bombshell Bounty Hunter. You might come in real handy if the cops show up before we have a chance to get out of here."
Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?