I use them for fun and not for profit.

Chapter 9

The bucket of chicken was almost empty when Rock Madrid walked into the office. "Hi ya, Rock." Stephanie said.

"You heard."

"I did. I heard you acquitted yourself well, that you've got quite an arm."

"I got lucky," Rock said. "I think I was being tested."

"You were and you passed."

"I figured that out when Tank told me he was giving me the papers on a high bond FTA." Connie looked up from where she and Lula were finishing their last pieces of chicken.

"Tank came in here this morning and told me to give you Tinley Hicks. I've got the paperwork all ready for you."

"Thanks," he told Connie, offering her a wide smile. She fanned herself. He looked back at Stephanie. "Are you going to ride with me to check out some of his hangouts?"

"Yes," Stephanie said, "but I can't get away today. I've got one important thing hanging and then I'm clear, but that won't be until tomorrow."

"Huhn," Lula said. "You gonna be his wheelman, just like I used to be yours?"

"Yes," Stephanie said. "I think I am. If Tinley Hicks is hiding in the Burg, we'll find him."

"Meet me at my office tomorrow morning about nine," she told Rock. "I'll call my mom and my grandma and that might give us a place to start."

"Will do," he said and walked out of the office.

"Holy Moly!" Connie said. She tugged on Julie's long hair. "That guy looks enough like your daddy he could be your uncle."

"He's younger than my father," Julie commented. "There is a resemblance, though."

"He looks like Ranger," Lula said, "but he ain't wound like Ranger. Rock is looser. Maybe a little easier going, and I have to say I wouldn't mind going around with him. He's fine. Did you see the muscles in those arms?" Now it was Lula's turn to fan herself.

Julie was smiling broadly at Lula's reaction. "He is nice looking," Julie agreed. Stephanie didn't add anything to the conversation. She was busy thinking. If the file from Silvio showed up soon she could get the report to Ranger and maybe do a little Burg reconnaissance on her own.

Stephanie left the bonds office and took the elevator back to five. She headed straight for her office and rebooted her computer. The new icon was centered on her desktop and she double clicked, entered her password and did a fist pump. Silvio had come through for her.

An hour later, Stephanie pulled the flash drive containing her report from the port and closed her fingers around it. She picked up her phone to call Ranger and it rang before she could place her call. It was her grandma and she had news. She disconnected from her grandma and called Ranger.

"Yo."

"I've completed my search. You're going to want to see it, probably before tonight. My grandma called and I might have a lead on Tinley Hicks. Rock and I are going to start looking for him tomorrow.

"Rock?"

"That's R.C.'s new nickname. The guys gave it to him last night."

"I heard. I didn't know you had. I'll be back in the building within the hour. I'll come by."

Stephanie looked at her watch and frowned. "That won't work for me," she said. "I need to run by St. Michael's because I told Grandma I would. Can I leave the flash drive somewhere?"

"Yes, my apartment. I should have time to review it. Any big surprises?"

"Maybe one. It will be interesting reading." The sound of silence told her he'd disconnected. She grabbed her purse and thought about taking the stairs. Instead she pushed the up button on the elevator control panel; she'd only had one piece of chicken. When she walked into Ranger's apartment a minute later, she felt a little skittering of unease. It was the first time she'd been alone in the apartment in many years. She had to walk through the living room and into his bedroom to access the office space that was part of the bedroom suite. No use feeling weird about it. She had his permission to be here.

She walked directly into his bedroom and came to an abrupt stop. It was different. The other rooms in the apartment looked very much the same. But the bedroom had changed. It still bore the stamp of a professional designer and it still looked unlived in. No personal memorabilia. No pictures or magazines. No stack of paperbacks on a bedside table. The room was painted a midnight blue with a large bed occupying the center space. It was a four poster bed with dark tapestry-like curtains gathered at each corner. It was tailored and masculine and sexy, and she could imagine Ranger in that bed.

She could imagine herself in that bed, with Ranger. They'd pull the curtains closed and block out the rest of the world and what they did behind the curtains would be private, for them only to know. A sound from the other room had her spinning around, a guilty stain creeping up her neck. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was only an appliance noise from the kitchen.

Enough, she told herself. Put the drive down and get out of here. She walked into the office and set the drive on the keyboard and turning she walked toward the door. She couldn't explain why, when she had every intention of leaving, she was standing in the doorway to his bathroom. It was faint, but it was there, the scent of Bulgari. The shower was the same and she felt reassured by that, somehow. She turned and fled the apartment, still feeling a little like an interloper. And then she laughed at herself.

She remembered the first time she'd been in Ranger's apartment. She had been the epitome of an interloper. Uninvited, but much later she found out, not entirely unwanted. The problem was they'd wanted different things.

She was divorced from Joe and unattached now, and she needed to get back in the swing of things. Lula had been warning her for months that her lady parts would shrivel if they weren't properly used. Getting back out there wouldn't be easy. She was in her forties, and way past the bar scene. She wouldn't allow her mother's matchmaking efforts to blossom again, and she would hold firm on her personal rule not to date co-workers. The men were her friends and it was best it stayed that way.

She took the stairs down, running all the way into the garage. Her Miata was parked against the wall opposite the stairwell door, and she knew it wasn't her imagination. It sparkled way more than it had earlier in the day. She looked into the small office and saw Hal stocking a shelf with automotive supplies.

"Hey!" she called. He turned around and acknowledged her with a hand raised to his black RangeMan cap. Not quite a tip of the hat, but close. "Thanks for detailing my car."

Hal smiled at her. "Anytime. We heard you're gonna do some bounty hunting. I wanted your car to look good when it blows up." She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed as she slid into the car and buckled herself in. No, she didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize her status with these men. She loved them, and she wouldn't single one out for her reemergence into the world of the sexually active, although she was sure they were all up to the job of reinitiating her.

She had to find someone, though. It was all she thought about on her way to the rehab facility. Since Joe had told her about Maria, Stephanie found her thoughts turning more and more often toward Ranger, and that was not going to happen. She'd fallen off the horse once and hadn't gotten back on. She thought if she tried now, the horse would trample her. Nope, Ranger and his non-relationship were off limits.

She walked down the hall of St. Michael's and was surprised to see her grandma walking toward her, using only a cane. "Hey, you're looking good!" Stephanie said.

"Darn tootin' I am," Edna Mazur replied. "This is my second lap around these halls. Tomorrow I get dismissed. Your mom is going to pick me up in Big Blue because it's got the most leg room and sometimes my leg don't bend too well."

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asked. "How will you be able to walk upstairs?"

"Stairs are a little slow, but I can do it. You mom is putting a TV in my bedroom and she's gonna bring food up on a tray so I don't have to go up and down so much. I'll be good as new in a month."

"That's great," Stephanie said. She knew her father would be thrilled about her grandma's semi-confinement to her room, but she hoped the extra trips up and down the stairs wouldn't be too much for her mother. They were all getting older.

"Come back to my room and we can talk," Grandma told her. She followed her grandmother down the hall and was truly pleased to see how easily she moved with just the cane in her hand. Grandma was full of Burg information, quite a bit of it about her and Joe. Then she got to the information Stephanie had been waiting for. "I heard Tommy Hicks has someone staying with him. Melba Fridley's daughter lives in his building and she says Tommy is always fighting with his guest. It's a man, but Melba's daughter don't know who it is. I'm thinking it might be Tinley."

"That's good information, Grandma," Stephanie said. "We'll check it out."

"Who's 'we'?" Grandma asked. "You and Ranger?"

"No. RangeMan has a new employee, Rock. Rock Madrid."

"Rock Madrid. He sounds hot, like a wrestler." It was reassuring after her recent injury to see Grandma returning to her normal interests.

"He's no wrestler," Stephanie said. "He looks a little like Ranger, come to think of it. He's really very handsome. He's the one with the paperwork to capture Tinley. He doesn't know about Tommy, but I tell him later, tomorrow."

"If he looks like Ranger, I imagine he's got a good package then?"

Stephanie laughed out loud at the sly look she was getting from her grandma. "I don't know, Grandma, but I'll try to check him out." That seemed to satisfy her grandma for the time being and they went on to talk more about life in the Burg. Stephanie had to call an end to the conversation before she wanted to.

"I have to leave, Grandma. I need to get back to RangeMan. I still haven't unpacked."

Stephanie once again took the stairs to her apartment on six. She met Ella in the hallway who gave her a funny little half-smile before walking past her. What was up with that? She unlocked her door, walked into the small living room, and drew up short. Ranger was sitting in her only arm chair. His elbows rested casually on the arms and his fingers were steepled together. His legs were thrust out in a relaxed fashion. It was a position she was familiar with, as she'd seen it before. The obvious casualness of the pose could be, and had been in times past, misleading. She looked closely at him and decided he hadn't adopted the pose as a means of hiding his anger, he was just relaxed. And now she understood Ella's look.

"Did Ella see you come in here?" she asked him.

"Yes, she was just coming out of her apartment as I entered. Why?"

"Why? Because you can't just pop in here. You are compromising my reputation."

Ranger smiled. It was a rare thing to see. His eyes crinkled and he let his head loll back, exposing the long brown column of throat. "Babe, Ella is the soul of discretion."

"Ella is a matchmaker, Ranger. She believes in happily-ever-after, and I think Julie is hoping for something between us as well. If she sees you come in to this apartment, we'll both regret it. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I came to wait for you. Your cell phone must not be on, because every time I called it went straight to voice mail." She pulled her phone from the inside pocket of her purse and looked at the dark display.

"Crap." She looked at the stack of boxes she'd pushed against the wall and tried to remember which one contained her charger.

"Better get a handle on this, Babe. You should have Ella help you. Give me your phone. It'll be in your office, charged, in an hour." She handed him the phone.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again, but she thought she knew. "Did you read the report?"

"I did." He motioned for her to sit and she perched on the edge of the sofa and waited for his reaction to what she'd given him. He remained laid back in her chair. "Stephanie, you don't have to help with this op. You do know the Burg and its residents, but I can give this to one of the men."

"Do you think I'm not capable of being in the field? Is that why you're asking?"

"It has nothing to do with capabilities, and everything to do with the fact that this isn't at all what we were led to believe. Madrid told me he was DEA and that was true. He said the primary focus was to use Tinley Hicks to get Naldo Montara. Nothing he said was a lie, but he left out quite a bit. What you have given me is thorough, but the possibility exists there is even more we don't know. Do you want to put yourself on the line when you don't know exactly what you are getting into?"

"Ranger, listen to what you just asked me. When I was working for Vinnie, I never knew what I was getting into, but I usually figured it out pretty fast. With your permission I'll tell Rock that we've investigated his story. I'll get the truth out of him."

"Working with him might not be without consequences. You should reconsider before you make a final decision."

"No."

"No?"

"No. Rock is…"

"Stop calling him that. His name is R.C.," Ranger said, aggravation graveling his voice.

"His name is Ricardo Carlos Madrid," Stephanie said. "I'm going to ask him about that."

"It's not against the law to go by your initials," Ranger said.

"It's odd, though," she said. "He shares your name and he looks like you."

"We resemble. That's not odd. We are both of Cuban ancestry. Our coloring is the same and both of us have features that are benign. My name is not uncommon."

"He's Jewish, but his half-brother Naldo Montara is not."

"Also not uncommon, Stephanie. There are Jews in Cuba. It was a place of refuge for them when they were driven out of European countries. Many Jews came to Cuba from Spain and many of them adopted the name of the area they left. His ancestors probably came from Madrid."

"Why are you sticking up for him?" Stephanie asked. "He lied to us, well to you. And how come his brother's name isn't Madrid?"

"I'm not sticking up for him. I am merely pointing out that it is unlikely we are related, that he has the right to use initials instead of a name. I'm not happy that he didn't tell us the entire story. Maybe he and his half-brother share the same mother, but different fathers. What did you find on that?"

"Nothing. I found plenty of information on Naldo, but it was mostly linked to his practice of Santeria. I looked for images, but there were none."

"Madrid does want Montara, but he implied that Montara's connection to Hicks was one of purchasing drugs," Ranger said. "The truth, as you've discovered, is Montara is up to his neck in the importation and sales, and Tinley Hicks works for him. This would be a big collar for the DEA, which is probably why they are willing to overlook the possible use of human sacrifices in Montara's rituals. Getting him off the street is the primary objective."

"I'm going to ask him about that as well," Stephanie said. "When we find Tinley Hicks, Rock won't apprehend him. He is going to use him to lead us to Montara. If you want to put someone more experienced in my place you can, but I really want to do this."

"You will have your weapon, it will be loaded, and you will carry a tracker on your person and in your purse." It wasn't negotiable.

"Yes, I will."

"Then work with Madrid. We promised him a cover and I intend to keep the promise. I don't want the DEA down on RangeMan for lack of cooperation, no matter how underhanded they were when they approached us." There was silence in the room for a full minute. Ranger made no effort to move.

"Uhm," Stephanie said. "I don't mean to appear inhospitable, but I'm a little tired. I worked most of the night last night and I still have quite a bit of unpacking to do."

He stood suddenly and walked toward her. "Why will we regret it?" he asked. Stephanie shot him a puzzled look. "You said we would regret it if Julie or Ella saw us together. Why?"

"Because," Stephanie said. "You've made your life choice clear. You said you could never offer me a relationship and a ring. I understand that. I accept that. I never wanted the damned ring in any case, but others still hope for something between you and me. And it won't happen."

He turned and walked the short distance to the door. Her phone was in his hand and she watched him shove it in his pocket. It was only a second, no longer, but he didn't move and she waited for his hand to close around the door. He turned abruptly and took the steps back to her. She really didn't know it was coming.

His arms came around her and she looked up to protest. It was a fatal mistake and any resistance she could find died. His lips crushed hers and she responded. His tongue was in her mouth and dueling with hers. She didn't know if he was pulling her closer or if she was straining to get closer. He turned her and walked her back against the door. He lifted her off the floor and held her in place with his lower body. His erection nested at the juncture of her thighs, and still his mouth didn't leave hers. When they broke for breath she heard a moan filled with want and realized it came from her. He heard it too and pulled back a little. He held her immobile while his breathing slowed and came under control and then he backed away, little by little, until she slid to the point she could stand. She moved from the door and put distance between them and he watched her every move.

She was ready to scream, or cry. He didn't move, but just stared. Finally, he ran a hand through his hair and Stephanie was startled to see it tremble.

"I don't want to do anything we'd regret," he said. He opened the door and walked through, closing it softly behind him. Stephanie was left standing alone.