I use them for fun and not for profit.

Chapter 7

Eddie closed the passenger door and Stephanie busied herself for a moment by fastening her seatbelt. She was trying to collect her thoughts. She couldn't wrap her mind around Ranger being a restaurateur. As they pulled out of the circular drive and into traffic she swiveled in her seat.

"You're the owner of Jerome's?" she asked.

"I'm an investor," he replied.

"Shorty. You invested money in Shorty?" Why she was so surprised was in itself a surprise.

"Yes, I invested money in Shorty. Why not? He makes the best pizza in the tri-state area. When he told me of his long-time plan to open an upscale restaurant it seemed like it would be the right thing to do. Lend him money, I mean."

"Pizza is a long way from the cuisine at Jerome's."

"It is," Ranger said. "Shorty is a Cordon Blue trained chef."

"Shorty? He trained in Paris?" Stephanie remembered her first glance at Shorty, the proprietor of what was, including Pino's, the best pizza joint around. He was short, round, hairy and tattooed. She also remembered that he wore a white chef's shirt and his kitchen was pristine.

"Chicago."

"What?" Stephanie said.

"Chicago. He trained in Chicago. He planned to use Shorty's to finance the restaurant he dreamed of owning. I just helped to expedite his plan. So far, Jerome's is operating in the black. I'm a minor partner, but Eddie, for some reason, calls me boss."

"I don't know why I'm so surprised. How'd he pick the name Jerome?"

"It's his middle name."

"Well, I figured Shorty was just a nickname."

"Shorty is his first name, Babe. Shorty Jerome Smith."

She shot Ranger a look. There was no hint of a smile on his face.

"You're making this up," she said.

"You're in research. Look it up." She would. She decided. She would look it up and find out if he was playing with her.

"What I've said is fact," he told her. "You can't judge a book by its cover." Again she shot Ranger a look.

"Is that true?" she asked him, "because I think your cover is designed specifically so people will judge you."

"You're right of course," he said. "I used to wear my hair long and wear my weapons openly. I wanted people to look at me and think 'badass'. It was my cover. Now I want them to look at me and judge me as a successful business man."

That put an end to her conversation. She was a little disappointed he'd capitulated so quickly. She had no idea where to go next. Should she ask him if she should judge him by his recent actions? Because the way he'd treated her when she'd helped Julie would certainly shade her judgment of him, but then he'd apologized for that.

"I have something specific I want to discuss with you, Stephanie. I want to make sure you are comfortable working with Madrid. You don't have to do this. It's outside the scope of the position you were hired for."

"I want to do it."

"Then there is something I want you to do first," Ranger said.

"Okay."

"Research him."

"R.C. Madrid?"

"Yes. You're good at making connections in ways that other people don't. You have a unique gift for it. Spend a couple of days, if necessary, and delve into every aspect of his life. If you need to get into databases you don't have access to, talk to Silvio."

"Silvio!" Stephanie's surprise showed. When Ranger had closed down the Miami office and moved operations into Trenton, Silvio and Ranger had come to a peaceful parting of the ways. Silvio hadn't wanted to leave Miami and Ranger hadn't pushed the issue.

"Silvio still works for me on an as needed basis. I'll give you a login and password that will enable you to communicate with him. I don't expect you to find anything earth-shattering, but Madrid isn't being totally straight with us. He is withholding information, and I want to find out why."

"How do you know?" Stephanie asked.

"I know. Naldo Montara, the man he is trying to get, is everything Madrid said he is. What Madrid didn't say is Montara is his half-brother. I want to know why he's hiding that fact and I want to know what else he is hiding."

"I'm supposed to start tomorrow," Stephanie said.

"Take tomorrow off and use it to move. Settle anything you need to personally. Start your research whenever you're ready. I'll hold him off for a couple of days. I'll have Connie partner him with Lester or Tank. I'll tell him it's part of his cover, then I'll send you to him when we have the information we need."

Ranger slowed down and turned into the underground garage at RangeMan. Her little red car was in its allotted space, and the newlyweds were, apparently, hiding behind fogged windows. "Shit," Ranger said. He sounded weary, as if this entire thing was a little more than he could handle. "There's more I need to say. They will probably want to stay long enough to have cake and champagne and then they'll leave. Scott's leaving tomorrow, early. I imagine they'll want some alone time. Stay after for a few minutes so we can finish up."

"Okay." Stephanie's head was spinning. Ranger had complimented her skills. For six years she had worked at RangeMan with little acknowledgement from him that she did anything right. Now, he was entrusting her with a confidential search like no other she'd done. Yeah, she'd stay and hear the rest of the story. It was a pretty good story, so far.

The wedding cake was centered on Ranger's kitchen bar. There was a sterling silver bucket with a bottle of champagne chilling. Crystal cake plates were set out around the cake and there was a silver knife and cake server decorated with white bows. Champagne glasses were lined up next to the bucket. Four, Stephanie noted. Someone had been expecting her. Ella, or Ranger? Probably Ella, but Ella mostly worked on Ranger's orders. Something to think about later. The lights in the kitchen had been dimmed. All in all, it was a very nice setting.

Stephanie looked over as Julie saw the cake and uttered a soft "Oh!" There were tears in the young bride's eyes and Stephanie felt a suspicious moistness in hers as well. The couple had made the decision to elope and then had come to a man the bride barely knew. He hadn't turned her away, but he hadn't exactly welcomed her with open arms. The wedding cake represented a giant step forward in the relationship she had with her father. Julie was quite obviously touched. Stephanie found the irritation she'd had with Ranger the day before to be diminished.

"Thank you, Ranger, uhm, Dad," Her uncertainty about what to call him caused a small blush to rise in her cheeks.

"You're welcome. Do you want to call me Ranger?"

"I'd like to call you Dad, but..."

"Then call me Dad," he said. Julie walked to him and threw her arms around his neck. She had a deep affection for Ranger, Stephanie knew that. It was almost a case of hero-worship, because when Julie was kidnapped by Scrog, her father saved her, in a larger than life way. It warmed her heart immensely to see Julie's arms around Ranger's neck and to see Ranger's arms come up to hug his daughter, even if his normal blank expression was temporarily replaced by one of unease. Stephanie glanced at Scott to see a small smile on his face and she realized it was important for him to know Julie would be safe when he was gone.

"I can't take all the credit for this," Ranger told his daughter. "I told Ella to get a cake. She did the rest, and she left this note on the counter." Ranger picked up a paper napkin with a hand scrawled message. Call me before you cut the cake, Ella.

Ranger made the call and disconnected. "She'll be right up. She wants to be here when you cut the cake."

While they waited, Stephanie inspected the cake. It was small, just two layers and covered in a fluffy white frosting. On the top layer there was a bouquet of beautiful lavender sugar roses. It was simple, yet elegant. It was perfect. Seconds later, they heard the click of the entry door lock and Ella came bustling in to the kitchen.

"I thought there should be pictures," she said. With typically Ella efficiency she organized the event. There were pictures of Julie cutting the cake and pictures of Scott feeding cake to Julie. There was a picture of Ranger lifting his glass in a toast to the new couple and a picture of Julie and Scott, arms intertwined, drinking a toast to one another.

"I think I have enough," Ella said when she'd taken several pictures. "I'll post these on Facebook and tag you, Julie."

"Facebook?" Ranger's expression turned grim.

"Yes, Ranger," Ella said. "Julie and I are friends on Facebook."

"Don't put any photo that has me in it on the internet," Ranger said. "I pay people large amounts of money to keep me offline."

"I understand," Ella said. "I'd never put you on the internet, but this is Facebook. It's private." She turned and was gone as quickly as she'd come." Ranger's groan was still echoing through the apartment as the door shut behind her.

"Don't worry, Dad," Julie said. "I'll take care of it." The conversation waned as they ate their cake. It was wonderful and Stephanie watched with no small amount of amazement as Ranger carefully ate his cake. He left the frosting on the plate. Stephanie noticed the lingering looks that were occurring more and more frequently between Scott and Julie. Ranger noticed as well. He picked up the champagne bucket and handed it to Scott. He handed two glasses to Julie. "Go," he said, and they did.

He turned to Stephanie. "Would you like another piece of cake?"

"Oh, no, but thank you." He walked to the counter and picked up the knife. The slice was large and contained almost a full rose. He handed it to her wordlessly and indicated by a tilt of his head she should follow him.

They settled themselves in the living room, he in the big leather chair and she on the edge of the couch. She ate and he watched her and suddenly it seemed to Stephanie there was a comfort between them that had been missing for quite a long time.

"Tell me about Morelli, Babe."

"You know everything," she said. "I'm moving out and Maria is moving in. They're getting married."

"I know the facts, but I want to hear the story," he said. So she told him.

"You may not like what you hear," she warned him, "but I'll tell you the truth."

She started at the beginning. She told him of her hurt when he had shut her out after her confession of love. She told him about Joe's ultimatum, marriage or nothing, and how she was still reeling with hurt from the realization she meant nothing more to Ranger than a dalliance.

"I was afraid to lose Joe. I'd already lost you."

"You didn't lose me, Babe."

"No, I didn't," Stephanie said, "because I never really had you. I thought we were friends, but you just disappeared from my life."

"What else could I do?" Ranger asked. "Morelli allowed you to come to work for me. I needed to keep you safe and it was the only way I could think to do it. I cared, care, for you, but I'll never be relationship material. It just won't happen. I didn't want to put myself between you and your husband, so I backed way off."

"How did you know we divorced?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter how," he said. "I thought you might come and tell me, but you didn't and then you didn't move out. I knew Joe was seeing other women after the divorce, but you still stayed. Why?"

"Joe and I realized we'd made a big mistake, but he didn't cheat on me. He came to me and told me he wanted out. I wanted out, but when he said it to me first I didn't handle it very well. He felt bad. He said we could get divorced and I could live with him. We did it at first, because I didn't want my mother to know, and I didn't want anyone at RangeMan to know. My relationships with the guys are important to me and I was afraid if I was single, there would be…complications."

"What kind of complications?"

"I thought if Joe was out of the picture something might start between us."

"Would that be so bad?"

"I can't be just a fuck buddy, Ranger, and I don't think you can be anything else. And not just that anyway, there were other people I didn't want to know."

"Who?"

"Lester."

"Santos?" Ranger's voice was a growl. "Has he been giving you problems?"

"No, but he's attracted to me. I like the easy camaraderie we have between us now. I don't want it to change." Ranger was silent, thinking maybe about Lester, maybe about being fuck buddies. Stephanie couldn't tell and she didn't really want to know.

"Did you see the way they were hanging on to each other when they left?" Ranger asked, apropos of nothing.

"I did," Stephanie said softly. "They're young, but so much in love. It makes me feel happy and for some reason a little sad at the same time. Does it make you feel happy and sad?"

"It makes me feel sad and proud at the same time."

"If you are proud of Julie you picked a fine way to show it when you bit my head off for helping them."

"Babe."

"Don't Babe me, Ranger. I thought it was your plan to get her settled at RangeMan."

"It was my plan to get her settled away from RangeMan and be on her own. I thought she'd give it up and go back to her mother."

"Why don't you want her here?"

"I just told you I don't do relationships."

"She's your daughter. You've been doing a relationship with her since she was born. How you chose to interact with her has always been your business, but she has choices regarding your relationship as well.

"You think she came here to be close to me? I think she came here to get away from her mother. There is a difference."

Stephanie sensed uncertainty in Ranger and that was rare. Maybe the 'I can't do relationships' meant exactly that. Maybe he didn't know how, and maybe Julie was a good place to start. She knew better than to verbalize that thought, but it was something else to think about.

She looked at him in his big leather chair. His head was tilted back exposing a long line of throat. He stared off into the nothingness of the dark corner of the room. She noticed for the first time the little signs of age on his face. Her gaze lowered. His body showed no signs of age. She knew he worked out every day, as did most of his men. She wondered how he kept so fit now that his job was mostly behind a desk. It was a rare thing for him to go after a skip.

That thought led her to consider how she'd perform when she was back on the street. She loved the research she did for RangeMan and knew it was important. It was going to be more important when the private investigating division of RangeMan really took off. She might even get a PI license. She became aware of the silence in the room and aware that Ranger had turned his gaze to her. It still zinged between them, whatever it was.

The silence that had been companionable was becoming less comfortable. The pull between them was getting stronger and in a sudden burst of movement she stood and walked quickly back to the kitchen. She set the cake plate on the counter and swiped her finger along the edge of the plate. The last remaining part of the frosting rose balanced on her fingertip precariously, until she popped it into her mouth.

She closed her eyes momentarily savoring the sweetness on her tongue. When she opened them she was staring directly into Ranger's eyes. She recognized the signs. This wasn't a friendly look at all. It was feral and she was the prey. Her head moved slightly, just the barest of shake from side to side. This couldn't happen, but they both wanted it. She grabbed her purse from the table where she'd dropped it and stared him down.

"I'm leaving. I'll call you if I need to contact Silvio and I'll bring you my report as soon as I've completed it."

He nodded and stepped back to let her pass. "About your research on Madrid," he said. "I don't want anyone to know what you're looking at." She nodded and slipped by him and quickly made her way through the apartment and out the door. Her heart was pounding wildly when she fobbed open the lock of her Miata and it had nothing to do with the run she'd just made down seven flights of stairs.