New Mexico was clear across the United States from Trenton, New Jersey. Rangeman leased a private jet. Five of us; not including the pilot and copilot, boarded the plane. The Challenger Eight-Fifty was mid size. Because of this, we needed to use the same runway as large commercial jets. Ranger's company leased the plane for employees to travel quickly across state lines. Not only was it convenient, but it was the most comfortable airplane I had ever been on. Plus, no security checks to go through meant a lot less hassle for everyone. With a serious threat on my life, I believed using a private plane decreased the chance of a shooter getting to collect on my bounty.
Ramon drew the short straw and had to stay back at the cabins to wait for the cleaning service and lock up. He would also see to it that my Jeep was on a transport back to Jersey. He'd take a commercial flight home. Ramon had put it all out there for me at the Dojo. He was right, too. I was a pain in the butt to hold on to. I did have to admit it felt pretty good to know I could out maneuver every one of Ranger's guys. If they were going to have my back, I needed to have some respect for them. What they brought to the table as far as family and friendship,strength and skill was worth me giving them the respect they truly deserved.
We waited to takeoff, as a plane taxied down the runway. I sat in the seat closest to the window in the middle of the plane. The inside was plush. It had beige carpet and large comfortable leather seats. They were color coordinated to match perfectly. At every chair they had ports for plugging in any electronic device you preferred to use, and plenty of room to recline and sleep. The bar was stocked and the bathroom was larger than one on a commercial jet. It was very strange being on a plane this size without other passengers. You didn't have to worry about who would sit next to you, or if the guy behind you would kick your chair, or sneeze in your hair. This time I was not holding on tight to a parachute, that had to count for something. Although I did sit close to the emergency exit.
I wore my black suit. I wanted to look professional, and I wanted to feel ready to face my home town, and my problems. I had a pretty decent tan from being in the sun every day, and I thought I looked pretty good. I was scared, but I was ready. I had Ranger's team, I knew they were here for me. I also had on my bulletproof vest. I would have worn a helmet, but It would have messed up my hair. The Sig Sauer is a decent size gun and I would be wearing it in a shoulder holster over my Kevlar vest. Kyle had given me basic lessons on firing this type of weapon, along with cleaning and maintaining it. Ranger told me that learning about your weapon makes it an important tool that can save your life. Not knowing anything about it, could get you killed. I never liked guns, but having trained with it, I felt safer having this one with me.
The plane took off quietly. I adjusted my seat for the ride home, and closed my eyes for a moment. I hardly felt the plane move, much less leave the ground. I looked out over the mountains of New Mexico. It felt good to be safe inside Ranger's world. Of course it didn't stop me from believing that what happened at the cabin, stayed at the cabin. Ranger was Ranger. I was still the same girl, and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle a casual relationship, as much fun as it might be. I needed more than that.
I sat back in the chair and enjoyed the comforts of the luxury jet. On one side of the aisle there were five large single seats. Each one facing each other. On the other side, double seats. These had a small table in-between each set. Ranger and Tank sat on one side of the aisle in the double seats. Lester and Hal reclined in the seats in the front of the plane; Eyes closed, arms crossed. Casual relaxed. I watched Ranger as he cleared off the table and rolled out a large map, with schematics of what looked like a building. Rangeman, from what I knew about it, provided and monitored security systems for businesses and residences all over North America. When I left for Scottsdale, Rangeman was expanding. It kept his team pretty busy. They were handling clients and setting up new security systems. Keeping up with new technology and methods to keep businesses secure in a changing environment. After 911, people are more afraid of terrorist actions. More fear, more security. Market concerns on Wall Street put another notch in Rangeman's belt, and they started a security guard section of the company. It was a changing field, and they were at the top of the list for reputable companies. I knew they wanted to expand to other parts of the world, but for now, it was an American company. Rangeman had offices in Trenton, Atlanta and Florida that I knew about. It was likely that had grown in the year I was away. Ranger motioned for me to come over and join them.
"This is the schematics of the Glaskil building." Ranger said tucking the corners of the map under small clips.
I looked at a drawing of the front of a very large building. Almost square, eight or nine floors with a parking garage below ground level. There was a photograph of the actual building pinned to the front of the drawing. The building was dark gray or black. Tall and ominous in the picture, with storm clouds behind it.
"Eight floors, plus a parking garage below. There is a security guard shack that checks ID's as each car goes through a gate. They have three armed security guards that walk the interior and exterior of the building twenty four hours a day. They have normal shift changes every eight hours, cameras on each of the doors into the building."Ranger said to me, as he pointed everything out. "In the last nine months, they have had five break-ins. The thieves take computers, software, client's personal information and original works of art that were placed on the eighth floor. There was also a safe that was taken in the last heist." Ranger looked from Tank to me as we listened. "The owner of the building is losing leases. Clients are finding safer, better places to do business. Right now, the offices are being leased to small law firms and there is one floor that holds government offices for FEMA. Glaskil has other offices in the states of Rhode Island, New York, and one in Moscow. So far, New Jersey is the only place this is happening. Glaskil Incorporated has hired Rangeman to fix the problem, whatever it might be. We would be setting up new security systems throughout the building, running thorough checks on employees, and rechecking the footage from cameras the nights they were robbed. This would be one of Rangeman's biggest clients so far. If we can have this building secure, it would put us close to the top of the best security firms in the nation. It would bring in big business, and that is what we have wanted from the beginning. Until I can assemble a team for this, we have to rely on schematics to do the groundwork. This is a new project. I want to go into the building with ideas already set in motion." Ranger said. "This is a new field for us. What we do is usually provide the security and install smaller systems in residential areas, and empty buildings. We have a few clients that have businesses, but this one will be a huge accomplishment for this company. It could launch us into a bigger playing field. I need to hire a crew just for working these types of scenarios. This is a project we would like to discuss with you."
"With me?" I pointed to myself, not at all forgetting about the bullet that just traveled through my leg or falling down the stairs, or disobeying just about any order Ranger had ever given to me, and now they were going to offer me a job?
I looked up from the map, surprised. I had helped Rangeman in the past. Usually doing research, but sometimes I would help by going into houses and figuring out what was wrong with home security systems. Rangeman had some break-ins and it was making the entire company look bad. The company finally figured out it was a bunch of teenagers who were angry Ranger wouldn't hire them. Since then, there have been some changes, mostly getting his employers up to speed with the new high tech underworld that is slowly brewing up from younger generations of people knowing more about computers than the people who created them. I had no real experience with high tech computers or security systems.
They were now both looking at me. Ranger smiled. "Don't look so surprised. You have worked with us before. You were key to keeping us from losing most of our clients from the break-ins that happened last year. You think on your feet, you are good at determining locations and distances for security systems and since you seem to excel at getting into places you don't belong, you may be able to help customers deter that from happening to them."
Tank sat back in his chair. He folded his big arms in front of him and reclined. "Before we can be serious about any of this, we need to get your head off the platter."
"If.. I can get my head off the platter." I said. Right now, I wasn't feeling to confident about that.
I took a deep breath and I leaned back in the comfortable seat and looked out the window as we traveled over huge plates of land and water. It almost sounded like this was a real job. It was nice to know that I had some talent at something that did not include getting blown up.
Ranger slid the Gaskil file over to me. "Think about it."
I opened up the file on the table and began looking through it. There were files that included the initial police reports for the five break-ins. Soon, I was engrossed in the layout of the building. We argued about what should be changed and updated about the systems that were already in place to make it more secure, and at the same time, easy to navigate and enter and exit for employees. You don't want to have a bunch of people confused about how to get into the building without setting off alarms.
Time went by quickly. All of us deep in thought. After seeing the file, I wanted to do this. I was interested. I wanted a chance to walk through the building, see where the access points and cameras were located. How the security system they were going to install would benefit the one they already had. Soon I felt the plane descend, we were already almost home. My heart skipped a beat as I finished reading and put everything away.
When we landed at a small airport in the outskirts of Trenton, I was anxious. It had been a year since I had left. Would people be trying to kill me the moment I stepped off the plane? Or was I being irrational. Maybe I wasn't that important. Maybe it has all blown over and everyone went home,defeated. Maybe another contract came up and people were busy looking for Joe Schmoo instead of Stephanie Plum.
Two Black Expeditions waited for us as we exited the plane. I secured my vest. My gun was strapped to my side. I had a tracking device in my pocketbook, along with my four ounce industrial strength pepper spray and my stun gun tucked inside my bag. The team walked me quickly to the trucks. Hal, Lester and Tank climbed in one, and Ranger and I in the other. My brain was back on overload. The team was on high alert. Tension held on the faces of the men that not twenty-four hours ago were playful and relaxed. This was no game. I had to be careful, or I would lose my life.
It was already 10 pm when we got moving back to Trenton. It had been a long flight. We were all tired. I had so many things I needed to do. I had doubts I would be able to get my apartment back, and as of right now, I was out of a job. The Rangeman thing was the future, I still needed to worry about the present. In the present, I needed work. Connie and Lula were my best option for full time employment, but they may have real bounty hunters working for them. Right now, just a place to sleep would be great. I wanted to close my eyes and breathe Jersey air. I was home, and it felt wonderful.
We drove through the city. The lights were familiar, and I absorbed myself into watching the buildings and people as the trucks glided along the streets of my home town. I think Ranger was as tired as I was. It had been a long few days. I leaned back in the seat, closing my eyes.
"Stay with me tonight." Ranger said. "You need to keep a low profile until we can figure out what the next move is going to be." I opened my eyes, remembering the problems that would come with staying here. He touched my hand, and watched me for a moment. His dark eyes shined with the lights of Trenton. "You okay with that?"
I was tired. I had hoped for an invitation. I had no intention of running off. Rangeman sounded good to me.
"Yeah, I was hoping I could stay."
"Good. I am getting use to sleeping next to you." He smiled and turned back to the road.
"That's bold statement from a man who can't handle commitment. You better watch out Ranger," I teased. "I think your falling for me."
"You have no idea."
"Really?"
He didn't say anymore. He just concentrated on the road. But I thought I saw a tiny smile peek out. We turned the corner, and drove into the underground parking lot at Rangeman. His phone chirped as we parked. He checked the screen, and sent a message back, then put it back in his pocket.
"Eventually," Ranger said. "We are going to have to discuss our relationship. I know it seems bizarre, but we need to establish boundaries."
"Boundaries?" I raised my eyebrows. What the hell was he talking about?
His phone vibrated once more. I watched as he checked the message and did some more finger texting, and put it back in his pocket. Ranger looked down again at the phone as another message came in. He looked irritated.
"Apparently, people know we are back in town. There are some things that I need to take care of. I was trying to postpone them till tomorrow, but it seems that there is some urgency in fixing the problem now."
I knew I should be curious as to what the hell Ranger was talking about, but I was tired. My brain was mush. I am not sure if I was even awake. I could even be dreaming right now. I pinched myself. It really hurt. I looked around. Yep, still in Rangers truck. Still parked at Rangeman. All I could think about was food and sleep. I didn't care if Ranger flew off into the sunset at this point. Give me the sheets on his bed and Ella's food. I would be just fine, thank you. We got out of the truck and looked around. Rangeman was a very secure building, and I felt safe. Even out in the open. We were in an underground parking lot, with monitored security. Ranger walked me to the building's elevator, handed me my duffel bag and pulled me in close, kissing me softly. I knew at that moment, sleep could wait. He hit the button, the doors opened. He pushed me in. I watched as he got into the Porsche and drove out. I took the elevator up to seven.
Ranger's apartment was cool and quiet when I walked in. Ella had put out fresh flowers. I dropped the keys into the silver bowl, listening to the silence. It had changed very little since I had been here last. I walked through each room remembering last words, ghost sounds of the past. I had loved living here. It was impersonal, but it felt safe. Ranger had not been here for months. The scent of him lingered, but only faintly. The apartment looked unused. It was sparse compared to the cabin in New Mexico. I knew Ranger liked to keep his personal life separate from his work. I couldn't find a lot of flaws in that thinking. It might not be how I would want to live, but didn't mean it was wrong. I opened window blinds and looked out over the city. I had missed this place. It was my home.
I found plastic wrap in the kitchen, and covered my leg with it. I took a long invigorating shower with Ranger's shower gel. I had all the kinks worked out of my back, and my leg was feeling better. I decided on a turkey club and a bottle of beer from his fridge. Thank you, Ella! I plopped down on the couch, and turned on the T.V, Flipped through the channels. Nothing caught my attention. I took the remote and turned it back off. I picked up the folder of information Rangeman had put together about the possible connections between things that had happened to me, and what had been happening in Trenton. I read the updates and all the descriptions three times over. I rubbed my eyes. I couldn't hold them open anymore. I retreated to Ranger's bed and fell asleep on his two zillion count sheets. Whatever Ranger needed to do tonight was his own business. I had everything I needed right here. Ella was going to go on my Christmas list.
It was close to dawn when I woke up; Ranger's arm was wrapped around me, holding me close. He was still sleeping. I could feel his body move with each breath he took. Then it abruptly changed, as if he knew the moment my brain took over the involuntary breathing patterns of my body. He kissed my neck, and snuggled closer. I turned towards him. I let go of my inhibitions when we were at the cabin, I wasn't afraid of him anymore. I reached over and kissed him. Soon our bodies found a slow and lazy rhythm of the morning. Being this close to Ranger, this time in his apartment was pure magic. He had me; I never wanted to let him go. What he had told me had come true, He had ruined me for other men. It seemed like decades ago when he had uttered those words. Another lifetime. Of course he also said he would break my heart. I pushed that part away.
The morning was in full swing. Neither of us wanted to start the day. My fingers slid down Ranger's spine as he moved over me. The small of his back was slick with sweat. His mouth was on my neck, his lips grazing my jawbone. He grasped my hand as he came.
Moments later we were still entwined together. Ranger sat up on his elbows. "This is going to become a habit, if you're not careful, Babe."
"If I'm not careful?" I whispered. "What about you?"
"I was talking about me." He said. "Maybe we should talk about it."
The talk. Great. Not that I didn't realize that it was coming. He is not exactly relationship hungry. I sat up, gathering the sheets around me. Suddenly I felt vulnerable.
He rested his back against the black oak headboard. This was not a conversation I wanted to have with him. I didn't want to talk about it. I was afraid of what I was feeling. He was always in control of his feelings, and I was never in control of mine. The thing about Ranger is, you never knew what would come out of his mouth. He had a tendency to be brutally honest. Sometimes the things he said were hard to take. He didn't hold any regard for feelings, and if you didn't like what he had to say, tough. I expected Ranger to kick me out of his bed eventually. I should never believe he wouldn't.
He looked intently at me. His face held serious. I could tell he was working through what he wanted to say in his head before he spoke. My heart was fluttering. I didn't want things to change. To end. I liked what was happening. I was afraid I was falling in love with him.
"Stephanie, I have relationships that you are unaware of."
He had my attention.
He paused, gathering his thoughts. I took a deep breath, waiting to hear what he had to say, terrified about what it could be.
"It was irrelevant before, but now I am not so sure. My feelings are changing for you; I don't want you to have questions about where things are leading."
Oh shit. I thought. Here it comes.
There are four women I see." He continued. His eyes held mine as he spoke. "I keep them private. They keep me private. I see them occasionally, when it is convenient. I have to make a decision about how to handle them. I think we need to figure out where things are going between us."
He cleared his throat and continued. He was nervous! I thought. I had never seen him nervous before. I relaxed a little, as I watched him struggle with what he wanted to say.
"In the last week, we have jumped from casual sex, to something much more serious. I called off a relationship last night that I have had with someone for a very long time. I have no idea how that is going to pan out. There may be some throwback. She was not happy, but it was time I ended it. The other three, I will deal with later. I need to know if this is something that you want. If we decide to step up, and actually see each other, I really need to believe Morelli is not going to be a problem. He always has been there, and it kept me from getting too close. I liked that. But if the tables turn, then we need some boundaries between him and me. I don't want to think about what would happen if we went toe to toe over you."
To say that this put things in a completely "Um.." category, was putting it lightly. Wait, did he just say that? I couldn't believe he just said that. And what other women? I was curious. I had no idea Ranger had a harem of women that he called. Holy crap. And what about the person he had been seeing for a long time. Who the hell was that? How did these things just slip by me? Who were the other three women who shared his bed? These questions were going to mess with me, but I needed to answer his question. I didn't know about Joe. Joe was an open wound. I decided to tell the truth. Ranger had always been upfront with me; I needed to give him the same respect.
"Joe and I ended our relationship over eleven months ago." I said. "He wants someone who makes his life less complicated. I was apparently the complication. I let him go, Ranger. I did it for him. I am not going to tell you that I am completely over him, because that would be a lie, but something is happening between you and I. I am not afraid of it. I don't think you should be either."
Ranger's mouth tweaked a little into a tiny smile, and he grabbed me and sat me on his lap. His arms were around me, and he kissed me. "Who said I was afraid?"
The day started without us. Rangers phone went off for the fifth time, and we were still making out in the shower. He was ignoring it. When we finally emerged, there was no more hot water in the building. He checked his phone; texted something back and got dressed.
"Tank thinks I went AWOL, I've got get down there. He had to reschedule one meeting today, already."
He threw on his clothes. Black on Black. Picked up his gun belt, and laced up his boots. I followed him to the door with my towel wrapped around me. I grabbed an apple from the food Ella had left for us. Bless her. I was starving. Ranger turned to kiss me, but instead, he pulled my towel off and picked me up. In one fluid moment, his gunbelt was on the floor and he had me pinned to the wall.
"I have to get downstairs. I have a meeting." His eyes were trained on me. His lips were so close to mine that they touched. His fingers slid up and down my body. I could tell he was fighting to keep himself from losing control and I wasn't about to help him decide to walk out the door. I didn't really want him to leave.
"I know." I said. I couldn't get any other words to come out! His fingers were making things more complicated. They had reached my rib cage and traveled down towards my hip. I was starting to get goosebumps. I took a bite of the apple, trying to stop my hormones from jumping to conclusions.
"I'm going to miss the meeting if I don't leave right now." He said in a low voice.
"So, leave." I whispered. Secretly hoping that he wouldn't. My heart was beating fast. His hand had reached my left cheek and it was moving towards the inside of my thigh. "Oh!" I said. Letting out a small gasp as his fingers traveled further. I swallowed the piece of apple that was in my mouth before I choked.
Ranger's mouth twitched ever so slightly. "You want me to leave?"
Two could play this game, I thought,sliding my hand over the waist band of his black cargo pants, slipping the button out of the hole and bringing down his zipper. My hand moved closer, and I felt him stir. His breath was heavy on my neck as he leaned into me. "No fair." he said. His lips skimmed the side of my neck, the blood pulsed under his touch. Ranger's phone started to ring, and he threw it across the room.
It was noon before Ranger made it down stairs. I stood in the bathroom with a towel around my head. I looked into the mirror, pulled the towel off and decided that a pony tail would be the best bet since my hair had dried wet.
I got dressed. I made Ranger's bed so Ella wouldn't come into a disaster area, and cleaned up the kitchen. I was not that happy with someone else cleaning up after me. I wanted to make it as easy as possible. I dressed for Rangeman today. If I was going to be here, I wanted to fit in. Ella had left the clothes from the other times I had been here, and they were still in Ranger's closet, next to his. I realized when I saw this, that he had kept me close to him, even if it was just clothing. It was a statement. I had put on a black short skirt and black t-shirt, all with Rangeman logos. I did my make-up, and looked at myself in the mirror. "Welcome back, Stephanie." I said to myself. I got into the elevator and went down to the 3rd floor. Before I could step out, Lester stepped in.
"You need to come with me, now." He said. He pushed me back into the elevator and he hit "Basement 4" on the keypad. I didn't even know this building had a basement 3, much less a basement 4. He had to use a special keypad, and key. I opened my mouth to ask what was happening and he nodded his head.
"nu uh..shhhh."
He stood at attention, waiting for the elevator to travel down into the bowels and below the RangeMan building.
When the doors finally did open, we were in some kind of underground bunker. I had no idea that you could get permits to do this in New Jersey. I guess you learn something new every day.
"We bought this building from a very eccentric millionaire's family. He started building the underground sections in the early 1900's. He used it for numerous activities. Not all were legal. Since then, it has been a lots of different things, even a speakeasy. Below us is a tunnel that was used to smuggle illegal alcohol into the building. They had underground bunkers built down here as bomb shelters during the 1940's and 50's. He was terrified Nazi's would win the war, and that he and his family would be killed. He was a little over the top. He passed away safe and happy that he never had to use his security rooms. Ranger found this building almost by mistake. We had chased someone into one of the top floors. It was in disrepair, and the city had it up for auction. After running through the damn thing, looking for the guy, we we decided this might be an excellent place for our business. We bought the building as soon as it went on the block. We use "Basement One" for the gym, "Basement 2" is the gun range, and "Basement 3" is the first safe room. He had permits for the first two. This one is not on any building schematics. No one knows about it. If you are really paranoid, which he was. There is "basement 4." It's a bomb shelter and also has a "get away" Takes you to a tunnel that leads to the sewer. We use 3 & 4 for "just in case" scenarios and training. Mostly, we store stuff down here. We have actually never used it for anything else. This is the first time. We've never used the tunnel, either. I am hoping we will never need to, I don't like rats."
"Ok," I said. Nice to have a history lesson once in a while about unusual New Jersey architecture. "But, what am I doing down here? What the hell is happening?"
"The FBI came to our door this morning. They are looking for you. Ranger doesn't think that it is a good idea for them to find you. They came back with a search warrant. So,here we are."
"The FBI? Why can't I just talk to them? I did nothing wrong, Lester. Maybe they just want an interview."
"Maybe, But we don't think you would be safe with them."
This was getting out of hand. "Les, do you have a phone I can use? I don't want to use mine."
He gave me his phone, and I called Connie.
I filled her in a little about what was happening, I needed her to do me a huge favor, and I hoped it was not asking too much.
It had been two hours since I called Connie. Lester got a text. The FBI had left the building. Everything was secure. I called up and talked to Ranger. I told him about the call I had made. He told me he would be ready. Connie called an hour later. I was pacing the floor as I talked to her. She said that she had what I needed, and to expect them at four. She also said I would owe her big time for this.
I was nervous. I felt like I was going to throw up. The room in basement four was closing in on me. I never thought I was claustrophobic, but it was getting to me fast. I sat on the floor and put my head down.
It was 3:45. I was waiting with Ranger in a large conference room. At 4:05, The elevator doors opened. Connie stepped out with five men. They were all in suits, and they all looked serious. Tall Italian men with black hair, not far from what you would expect from a movie about "the family", but a little more casual, than scary.
Ranger was sitting with me at a table. No guns. The rule stated that all weapons were to be confiscated. We were meeting with New York's right hand man, and Connie's father. Her father was responsible for most of what happened in the underground of New York and Jersey.
Connie looked good, and she looked confident, like this was going to work. They introduced themselves, then Connie's father looked at me. None of the other men spoke. I tried hard not to bite my lip
"So this little girl is Stephanie Plum?" He was surprised. I don't know if that made me feel good, or really insulted.
Ranger leaned on to the table.
"Gentlemen, we have a problem." They turned their attention from me thankfully, to him. "You have had a good standing relationship with us. Now, it is teetering on being dissolved. I don't want that to happen. I don't feel it would be in our best interest, or yours. What we would like is for you to tell us why Miss Plum has a contract out on her."
Connie stopped chewing her gum. "There is a contact out on Stephanie? Are you shitting me?"
The man sitting next to Connie's father, opened a briefcase and slid a single 8x10 photograph onto the table toward me. I took it. It was a picture of a flash-drive no bigger than my pinky finger.
"Paul Banter, AKA "the Weasel" left the Bandini Corporation with information that could be very bad for a lot of people." The man said. He had a heavy accent, probably from Queens. "He had this information on this flash drive." He leaned back as he told the story. "He kept this fricken' flash drive with him at all times. Had it when he went into a witness protection program. The FBI didn't know about it. It was his safety net. It was on a key chain he kept with him. Looked like just a normal key chain, kept his car and house key on the same one. We wanted it back, but as you know, he disappeared into the program. Nothing had ever come out about it. We assumed he lost it, or he was keeping it to screw us later. He had it up until Miss Plum picked him up. We know this because he told us after much time interviewing him."
I thought back. I remembered a key chain. I had locked Paul's door with it. Where was it now? My mouth had dropped and I was thinking hard, trying to remember what had happened over a year ago. The men in the room looked at me funny.
"What is she doing, is she okay?" Connie's father looked concerned, and paranoid.
"I saw that key chain," I said out loud. "I locked his apartment with that key chain!" I looked around. "My bag! It might still be in there!"
I grabbed my purse, and dumped it out all over the table.
I had not cleaned my bag out in a long time. Some people do. I had better things to do. Lately, I hadn't needed to clean out my bag, mostly because I have had so many of them destroyed; I barely had enough time to break them in. But since being in Scottsdale, nothing had happened to it. On the table tumbled out empty chewing gum wrappers, old Kleenex, a piece of an old stale doughnut, a frosted flake, eyeliner that had crusted over, tampons, pads, perfume samples, receipts by the dozen, mace, pepper spray, a stun gun, handcuffs, a tracker from Ranger, and another from, I am not sure. My wallet, a lost credit card, a key for a Volkswagen Scirocco, and a set of keys that did not belong to me.
I picked them up and looked at them. These were not mine. There was toothpaste stuck to them. I I picked them up by the memory stick that was in the 8x10 glossy they had given to me. There was melted lipstick inside the memory stick, and it looked like it had gotten toasted in the sun from being in the car a few times to many. I looked at the older man.
"Are these the keys?"
He looked at me with disbelief; then he looked at the pile of garbage and refuse on the table.
"You mean to tell me, you have had those keys in that purse since you arrested Paul Banter, and you never knew it?"
Connie blew a bubble."Yep. That is what she is telling ya Uncle Phil."
I handed him the keys. I didn't want them anyway. They probably made my bag heavy. He looked at the keys in his hand; the flash-drive was burned and a little mangled. He laughed. He got up, with the rest of the men, and started to leave.
"The hits will be canceled out. I will put the word out ladies and gentlemen, and Stephanie, clean out your purse more than once a year. That is disgusting."
Tank walked them back to the elevator. Uncle Phil turned to Ranger. "You know, I knew Salvatore. He may have been insane and eccentric, but having this building saved his ass and mine many times. I am glad that it has been restored." The elevator door closed and they were gone.
I looked at Ranger. He started to laugh. Connie was sitting next to him, and she started to laugh, too. They both had their heads in their hands. I have never seen either of them loose it before. I looked at the mess on the table. Geez. I really did need to clean out my bag. I was hoping that the memo about the cancellation would hit the street and make everyone go home. I didn't think it was funny, I almost pee'd my pants when those men were at the table. I started picking up the mess in front of me.
"Geez, Stephanie." Connie said collecting herself. " I had no idea they had a hit out on you! That could have gone south in a hurry if you didn't have anything for them." I hadn't thought about that. Suddenly, I was grateful that my bag had been untouched.
I owed Connie big. There is no doubt about it. She asked me on the ride back up to the surface, if I could show her Rangers apartment. I knew she was curious to see what it looked like, just as I had been. Ranger was standing right there. She didn't even care. I looked at Ranger, and he just shrugged.
"Go. Why not. I owe you, Connie. Take your time, but no peaking in the secret drawer under my underwear."
He got off at three, and we continued up.
"He has a secret drawer?" She said looking at me with her eyes wide open.
I was almost positive he had been joking. Plus, I bet he was watching us to see if we would look.
We got up to the 7th floor, and keyed into the apartment. Ella had been here again. It was all clean and nice. No signs of this morning's activities, thankfully.
Connie gasped. "Wow. Stephanie! This is really sumthin'. Holy Cow!"
She wandered through the rooms, checking out each one. She sat on his couch and looked in his refrigerator. "You know, about that secret drawer. Do you think it is real? What would he have in there? Kinky stuff I bet." She said, looking at me excited. "I think all men have secret drawers. It's where they put all the porno and stuff they don't want anyone to find." We both thought about that for a moment.
"He was pulling our chains, right?" She said.
I thought so, since he didn't wear underwear, but I didn't say that. It was too fun to wonder if there was a secret drawer.
She went into the bedroom. "Holy Crap. Look at this bed! The room smells like Ranger! Wow. I want to live here. This is fantastic!"
I went to the kitchen and got a plate with some cheese, crackers and fruit and sat down on the bed with her and looked around. I had to say, it was pretty fricken cool.
I took a bite of a cracker. "Thanks for getting me out of trouble, Connie. I can't believe it actually worked." I said.
"Damn straight it worked. I told Uncle Phil if he didn't fix whatever was wrong, I wouldn't name my first born son after him. They had to cooperate. I had no idea it was a hit. Jesus, Stephanie. That's pretty nuts."
"There's actually two hits out on me." I said. "The Weasel's hit never got called off either."
"Oh, don't you worry about that one; they will take care of that." She said, eating a piece of cheese. "That's easy. No one liked that guy, and now that he is dead, no one would get paid. Not to worry. I will put the word out, too."
"So," she said. "Tell me about Scottsdale. You didn't keep in touch like you said. Little e-mails saying "I miss you guys" is not keeping in touch!"
I ran through the eleven months of living with Vinnie. Then I told her about Joyce, and how Vinnie and Joyce had started the website about me. I told her about the break in, how I got shot and shot, plus the punch I got to give Joyce, the plane rides and how Rangers men had give me an ultimatum, the cabin and the whole shebang.
She was sitting with me, and suddenly looked around. "Omigod. We are eating cheese and crackers on Rangers bed. That has to be a sin in his book or something. He is going to kill us!"
I shrugged. I was having fun. I would clean it up later.
I asked her about the office. What had happened, were they still going strong? And what was the plan now that I was back?
She said that not only was the bonds office thriving, but she had an excellent record for picking the criminals that were easy to catch or hardly a threat. There were lots of high bonds, but before she bonded any of them out, she always reminded them of who she was, and amazingly enough, they had had very little skips.
She said once in a while, Ranger's men would pick something up, and they had hired a couple competent skip-chasers to help out. I was kind of floored.
"Wow, Connie. Seems like the office runs itself."
"Yeah," she said. "But it is not the same without you there. Lula is still Lula, but she will be away a lot more since Tank is around again. I guess they are getting serious. She is less bling, and has been power walking with me. She gets about half way around the block now!"
I was happy that things were doing well.
"You know." She said. "We miss you. You can always come back. We still want you to partner with us, ya know."
I hugged her.
She was a good friend. She looked at me as she put more cheese on her cracker.
"So. You seen Joe?"
There it was. I took a drink of ice water and grabbed a piece of cheese before answering her.
"No,You?"
She took another bite of her cracker. "Have you seen your parents yet? Talked to Grandma Mazur?"
Why was I getting the feeling that there was all kinds of information that I needed to know.
"Not yet, Why?" I asked.
"Hum." She ate more crackers.
We sat there in silence. Her not knowing what she should divulge, and me pretending not to be that interested.
Whatever was happening, I wasn't all that ready to hear just yet, especially anything about Joe.
"Connie, I really appreciate what you did for me today. That was really something I will never forget."
She was down for some girl talk, I know she was. She was eating another cracker, scooping up more cheese and looking around. Deciding what to say.
"So, uh Stephanie. What is going on here? We are eating crackers on Rangers bed, and you seem completely at ease with it. You knew what his maids name is, first name even! You knew where his underwear drawer was. You even have a key to his apartment. So Give. You owe me, I wanna know."
Just then, Ranger walked in the room. Neither of us had heard him come in. He leaned on the door jam and raised his eyebrows,arms crossed his chest.
"What are you two doing? Are those crackers on my bed?"
We both stopped chewing and stared. My heart was racing. I was relieved I didn't have to say anything.
"Um. Yeah, Stephanie." Connie said, standing up. "I'll talk to you later, okay? I gotta go home."
She grabbed her bag, and walked fast out of the apartment.
"Good seeing you Ranger". She left, closing the door behind her.
I got up and took the crackers in the kitchen. That was close. I almost had to spill about our. Our what? I had no idea. And I had no idea what he had heard!
He walked up to me in the kitchen. "You and Connie were having a "Girl" conversation on my bed. That has not happened since I lived at home."
He grabbed the cheese that I had just put back in the kitchen and the crackers, and took it back into the bedroom and set it on the computer desk. He sat in the chair, eating some apples and cheese. He had a quizzical look on his face.
"You didn't look in the secret compartment, did you?"
He took a bite of cheese and apple.
"There is no secret compartment. We looked."
He smiled. "There is.. You just didn't find it."
I sat there and stared at him for a moment.
"No. No there isn't."
"Wanna Bet?"
He was having fun at my expense. He knew I was curious.
"What are we betting?" I was thinking money. He wasn't.
"If I am not lying, you have to stay with me tonight. I get to do whatever I want to you, and you can't object. No matter how over the top kinky that it might be."
My mouth dropped.
"And If I am right?" And the likelihood of that, would be nadda.
"If there is no secret drawer, then.." he paused and put his legs up on the table, and smiled.
"Then. I think I would ask you to marry me."
He kept eating the apple slice. Then he took a piece of cheese and put it in his mouth, waiting for me to call his bluff. I just sat there, trying to read his mind, and of course, having no luck whatsoever.
I kept thinking, this is a trick. He wants me to bet him. He would win the bet, and I would have to do all the kinky stuff, And he would know I was marriage hungry. Was I? I don't know, but he would THINK I was.
My eyes got really small and I looked at him suspiciously.
"What? You think that I am marriage hungry. if I BET you, then you would get your way with me, and you would have your answer, that I was marriage hungry. Then, you would get scared off. Even though I don't even know If I am marriage hungry." I stuttered.
"Its your call, Stephanie. You decide."
I wonder how kinky he could get. It couldn't be all that bad, I was again, a mouse in a trap.
"No. I am not falling for that one. You are not going do your wizard thing and make me feel like I am a marriage hound. No. No Bet, no deal."
"Suit yourself." He said, walking into the kitchen. He poured both of us a glass of wine. He knew he had me. He knew this was eating me up inside. I looked at the drawers again. Debating. He looked over at me.
"I know you want to bet me, Stephanie. I can see it in your eyes. You think about it. I've got get back down stairs. If you're not ready to do this, I have to get out on the floor."
"I guess you better just get back to work."
"Okay." He moved up next to me. Pulled me close to him, and looked into my eyes. "I know it's killing you. This is kind fun." He smiled, and wrapped his arms around me. Ranger picked me up a little bit so we were face to face, and kissed me. Then put me down, grabbed an apple from the kitchen, and took a sip of his wine.
"You should come down stairs with me. Maybe we could go look at the Glaskil building tonight."