AN: Still just more polishing! All mistakes are mine, and everything cool belongs to J/E. All First person perspective is Stephanie's.
"Babe," Ranger said when he walked in and sat on the floor beside me. I leaned against his shoulder and he gathered me into his arms.
"I told you not to stay," I sniffed.
"I was on the phone and I saw him leave; he didn't look happy," Ranger said.
"I'm such an idiot. What did I expect? Him to say, 'Oh well done for bagging Batman; go with my blessing!'"
"He cares about you."
"Sure but he doesn't love me. Not really. Well not like you do, anyway," I said. I wasn't sobbing anymore which was a good sign. The tears hadn't stopped yet unfortunately, "I'm sorry; you shouldn't have to see this. I mean how fun is it to sit and watch your new wife cry over her ex?"
I made a futile attempt to stop my tears by taking several deep breaths. He looked at me tenderly and wiped my eyes.
"You've loved him in some way for most of your life; I'm not expecting you to stop having feelings for him." He tilted my chin up so that I was looking at him. He smiled, "I won't tolerate poaching though."
I snorted out a bit of a laugh at his hypocrisy. One of the reasons I let Ranger poach was that nobody in the world was better at kissing than he was. And the arrogant bastard knew it too. I gave him a shove and he pulled me onto his lap. We sat like that for a while, Ranger holding me while I gathered myself. He was better than a Boston Cream for making me feel better.
"We have to go Babe," he finally said after what could have been days, but was probably only minutes.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I want to get you home and out of these wet clothes," he said with a predatory grin.
"Is that all you think about?" I laughed.
"No," he said, "But you are soaked and as appealing as the wet t-shirt is, you are shivering, and that's not a good thing. You need to change and you needed to do laundry before we left. Fortunately you have clean dry things at my place." He said most of this to my chest, I looked down and saw that I was at high beam and the shirt was clinging. I could see how that could be distracting.
"My nipples always look like this when you walk into the room," I admitted, and then my teeth started to chatter.
"Good to know." he laughed, "Change of plans. I don't think you are going to make it. Go shower and get warm. I'll see if I can find you something to wear home."
I stripped in the bathroom and stepped under the spray. I stayed there until the hot water was gone and my skin was a nice rosy colour from the heat. I stepped out into the steamy bathroom and found one of Ranger's black sweaters, (I think the one he had been wearing) and a pair of yoga pants on the toilet seat. I dressed quickly, taking comfort from his sweater, imagining that he was holding me in his arms and then my eyes flew open in the realization that I didn't have to deny myself the pleasure anymore. I could go to him completely guilt free. I walked out of the bathroom to find him in the kitchen emailing on his phone. I ducked under his arm, so I was in his, wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. He put his phone down, and returned the embrace.
"Your hair is still wet," he said and brushed my wet curls off of my face, "you'll get cold again."
"You'll think of something to warm me up. Maybe another shower? You did say that you are good in the shower. It'll have to be your shower though; I'm out of hot water."
He gathered my wet hair into a ponytail and pulled it through the back of his Navy SEALS hat.
Then he tugged my ponytail so that it tilted my head back and he kissed me stupid. The spell was broken by the sound of my phone ringing and the answering machine picking up. My mother's voice came through the speakers.
"Dinner. Tonight. Be here or you are never eating pineapple upside down cake ever again," she snapped into the phone. The machine clicked off.
I looked at the watch on Ranger's wrist, "Connie and Lula held out longer than I thought they would by almost an hour," I said. Ranger laughed and kissed me again.
"Come on Babe, we should leave if we are going to make dinner. I'd hate for you to miss out on pineapple upside down cake."
RSRSRSRSRSRSRS
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I got to my parents house. Grandma wasn't home, there was no Valerie and crew; it was just mom and dad. I'm used to a parent being at the front door when I pulled up, and this time was no different, Dad was waiting at the door. I nearly fell out of the Cayenne when I saw him there. My father didn't answer the door; that wasn't part of the division of labour in my parents' house. Yet there he stood on the front step. When we got to the porch he took my hand and inspected the ring and turned to Ranger, "This the one you bought a few months ago?"
What?!
Ranger nodded.
"Denny find the stone for you?" Another nod. "You have good taste."
"Thank you."
My dad finally looked at me, "Your mother is pissed at me for not telling her that Ranger approached me before he went away. He said that when he asked, you'd probably elope and I didn't want you to have to worry about a big wedding if you didn't want it."
"Wha-?" I managed to get out stupidly. He didn't buy the rings in Vegas?
"I'll give you two a minute," my dad said with a smile and walked back inside.
"You've had this for months?!"
"Only a few days but I bought it months ago. The ring had to be made, and I picked it up before I came to pick you up the other day."
"But-"
"They were in my bag in the hotel room," He explained.
"That explains why they fit so perfectly. I just thought it was your usual Batman luck. I didn't realize it was the result of careful planning." I thought the wedding was spur of the moment, and I'd loved that. Knowing that he'd been thinking about it for a while made my heart do a couple of summersaults, as I gaped at him, processing it.
He chuckled.
"I wasn't planning to elope in Vegas, Babe. I was actually thinking Fiji and a priest on the beach but the moment felt right."
I smiled so hard it hurt. I knew things were different when he left last time. I knew it wasn't just me. Ranger likes to make love, when he left last time he'd woken me up to say goodbye and it had been sweet and wonderful and earth shattering. I felt like he was telling me that I was his. It's why I avoided Joe; I didn't want Ranger to come back and hear rumours that we were together again.
"Can we still go to Fiji?" I asked. He chuckled again and kissed me. Curtains all along the street twitched as people watched him practically kiss the pants off me. Phones would be in hands and all of Trenton would know that I was making out with Ranger on my parents' front step.
My mother banged sharply on the door once, "We'd better go in before the pot roast dries out," Ranger said as he pulled away reluctantly.
We walked into the house and my mother said, "I unplugged the phone after the first call. People really need to mind their own business."
My mouth fell open. She was one of the biggest gossips in the Burg. I couldn't believe she'd just said that. She handed me a bowl of mashed potatoes and shooed me towards the table but I didn't know if I should leave her alone with Ranger while she was acting so strangely. She looked at Ranger, "I don't know what to call you Mr. Manoso would you prefer Carlos or Ranger?"
"Either one is fine Mrs. Plum."
"It's Helen," she corrected, "Now Carlos, I know you don't eat the way we do so I have made you a salad with grilled chicken and a balsamic dressing on the side. That being said, I do hope you will at least try some dessert. It is a special occasion, and it is Stephanie's favourite and my little girl knows her desserts."
I stood there holding the potatoes with my jaw still hanging open. Ranger took the serving dish from me kissed my forehead and took it out to the table.
My mother looked at me and made a tsk-ing sound, "I am only upset that you told Lula and Connie before me."
"So you don't have a problem with Ranger?" I asked, bemused. She'd been so set on me marrying Joe that I was expecting fireworks when I got here. Instead she looked at me like I had just suggested that she should buy a pet unicorn and ride it naked down Stark Street.
"Of course not! Whatever gave you that idea? He loves you, he's polite, good looking, successful and he takes good care of you without trying to change you. Why would I have a problem with him?" She seemed truly offended that I had even asked the question.
"But- all this time-Joe?" She rolled her eyes at me and put Ranger's salad in my hands.
"I only pushed you towards Joe because I knew you wouldn't marry him if it was my idea. I saw how close you were getting and I didn't want you to make the mistake of marrying another man who would make you unhappy in the long run. If I had said 'Stephanie Michelle you are in love with Ranger. You can't marry Joseph. He'll just make you miserable.' You would have run down the aisle faster than I could blink."
She turned me around and shoved me into the dining room where Ranger and my father were discussing baseball.
Wait what?! In my life, my sister and I had each brought several men home to dinner, either that or there was one sitting here for us as a set up, when we arrived. My father kept his head down, and spoke in monosyllables, and only when he had to. Hell he'd had three previous sons in law, and never once engaged any of them in conversation. I was in the Twilight Zone; I was sure of it. For the first time since I divorced Dickie, the conversation around the table was relaxed. Ranger seemed pretty comfortable around my parents and I was eating potroast, looking forward to dessert and not looking for an escape hatch. It turns out I like the Twilight Zone. I like it a lot.
RSRSRSRSRSRSRS
"So she married him huh?" Eddie Gazzara asked as he handed Joe a coffee. They were standing in the break room at TPD. "Can't say I saw that one coming. Personally I always thought it would be you. Her mom is probably ironing the paper towels at this point."
"News travels fast in the Burg. I swear CNN has nothing on Trenton," Joe said with a wry laugh, and paused, "I knew she would eventually pick him; I hoped she wouldn't but I knew she would."
Eddie gave his shoulder a sympathetic squeeze, "You wanna get a drink? I'm off duty in an hour."
"Nope. Just try not to call me next time she blows something up; I need a little space."
"Gotcha. By the way, you have a guest; someone from the FBI? Said you called them in?"
"I guess I don't get that space yet," Joe said and started to leave the break room.
"She in trouble?" Gazzara asked. His concern was only natural. Stephanie was family after all and he loved her. Fuck, it was either straight up love or homicidal hatred around her; she certainly inspired strong emotions.
"Looks like it. Ranger's got an eye on her; several sets in fact, but do me a favour? Watch her back; I don't entirely trust him."
Gazzara nodded though he thought Joe was an idiot if he thought Ranger wouldn't do everything in his power to protect her. Stephanie was more likely to get herself into trouble without any help from her new husband. At least now that she was living with Ranger people would stop breaking in to her apartment.
Joe tapped on the door frame with his hand, taking a second to gather energy he didn't really have before he walked back out to the bullpen to meet with the FBI agent, assigned to this case. He'd been promised someone with deep, former gang affiliations, and contacts that would expedite the information gathering process. Considering the misoginistic nature of most street gangs, he somewhat unprepared for, the petite woman with thick, waist length, wavy blonde hair, sky high black heels and a nicely tailored grey suit that ended several inches above the knee. She was bent over his desk reading a file while holding a purple travel cup with a hung over Tinker Bell on it. Half of the men in the room, and a few women too he noted with interest, were looking at her ass and she was either completely oblivious or didn't give a shit. Likely the latter, as the skirt hugged her curves too perfectly for it to be anything but deliberate.
She was fully engrossed in the file she was reading; a cold case that had stumped the boys in blue for 15 years. It was a prank, the statute of limitations long gone, it was now the principle of the thing. She was chuckling to herself as she read the details of it. It had been a pretty fucking brilliant prank, involving a break in at a bank, and there was absolutely zero evidence of any kind, and nobody had a fucking clue how it had been done. The file was thick, with various theories, and possible evidence. Each one disproved, at one point. To read the file, you had to put a twenty in a jar, and if you could solve it, you'd get the whole pot. The pot had reached close to $10,000. She looked mostly amused by it. Big Dog walked by and she held up a twenty, which he took to the nearly full jar. Someone was going to have to do a bank run with that thing soon.
He, like a lot of men in the room, was enjoying the view, when he looked down her perfect legs and realized that she was in trouble and she just didn't know it yet. Her left heel was bent towards the toe of her shoe. The minute she put weight on it it was going to snap. The thought had barely had a chance to cross his mind when she stood up. Joe lunged towards her as her heel broke and steadied her before she even had a chance to stumble. He knelt down and slipped her shoe off for her while she balanced herself on his shoulder.
"My hero," she laughed, "They are my favourite pair too. Damn."
"I'm sure there is somewhere you can go to get them fixed," he said as he examined the broken shoe. The shoe was black, Italian patent leather, and they were clearly expensive. He took off the other shoe, for her as she continued to steady herself on his shoulder."
"No, they're done; I've had them fixed like six times in the last three months. Damn I really hate shoe shopping, but I guess I don't have a choice anymore." She took her shoes from him and tossed them unceremoniously into the trash. She was completely unconcerned about standing on the floor of the police station barefoot, personally he would have been a little worried about what she might catch doing so. She had a nice pedicure with dark purple, almost black nails.
"I'm sorry, a woman in Trenton who doesn't like shoe shopping?" Joe laughed, "You can't be from around here." She grinned.
"Like my lack of accent didn't give that away? I don't exactly sound like a girl from Jersey. And for the record, I didn't say I didn't love shoes. The reason I hate shoe shopping is because my feet are so small hardly anyone stocks my size, and shopping for shoes is usually just an exercise in crushing disappointment."
No she didn't sound Jersey, her voice was melodic, slightly husky like she could do jazz music some serious justice. She looked down on him while he still knelt on the floor. Her eyes were large and startling, her irises black, not dark brown, but deep pools of black, darker than her pupils, and stood in sharp contrast against her fair skin and fair hair. The blonde wasn't golden, it wasn't bottle platinum either, it was almost white. She was obviously used to staring because she gave him a minute to gather himself before she said, "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Meagan Harris from the FBI. I'm guessing you are Detective Joe Morelli?"
"What gave it away?" he asked and shook the hand she had extended before returning to his feet. She was young to be an SSA. She must be a hotshot.
"The picture of you and your girlfriend on your desk," she said. Joe winced.
"Ex-girlfriend as of yesterday it would seem," He said. He took the picture of him and Stephanie at the beach and shoved it into his drawer. "We had a weird on again off again love triangle thing going on. She married the other guy in Vegas last night. Or the night before, I'm not sure."
"Ouch."
"You could say that again."
She tilted her head considering him. He knew she was checking him out and that she liked what she saw. He returned the favour. Up close, with no shoes on she was tiny. Maybe 5' and at most 115 lbs of mostly lean muscle. The assessing gaze and posture reminded him of someone. He just couldn't put his finger on who. She was very feminine, delicate, bordering on dainty. She couldn't be more woman but she was obviously athletic and graceful. Dancer maybe?
She finished deciding how to handle him and said, "Come on; let's get out of here. I need a meatball sub, a giant beer and a hockey game. Find me a bar and we can either work, or you can talk about this to a supportive stranger."
"What about your feet?" He asked.
"I've walked through a lot worse in bare feet. I'll just rub them down with hand sanitizer and go for a pedicure tomorrow. In the meantime, I have socks and sneakers in my car. I'll change when I get there. Let's go, I'm driving."
"As long as your car is not black we are fine," Joe said yet somehow not quite able to summon up the bitterness he had been feeling five minutes earlier. She radiated a calm energy and it was hard to be tense around her.
He followed her out to the parking lot and she was about to step out onto the macadam when he stopped her, "I'm sorry Princess but I just can't let you walk around Trenton barefoot. You'll grow extra toes. I'll get your shoes for you."
She grinned and aimed a key fob in the parking lot and a pair of lights flashed, underneath one of the lights in the lot. "You have to be kidding me," Joe said with a groan.
"You said you'd ride with me, if my car wasn't black. Well, it's not black," She laughed. Her laugh was infectious and as musical as her voice. He found himself staring at her lips, he tore his eyes away from her mouth and back to the car.
"You're right. It's not black. Who, and I mean this seriously, who was horrible enough to think of doing that to a Shelby cobra? It's pink!"
"Actually the colour is called metallic orchid. It's somewhere between hot pink and purple. And it's not all pink, it has black on it!" She wasn't joking, the the black was in the form of two thick stripes up the centre of the car.
"I'm not riding in that; I'll have my nuts repossessed."
"You are riding in it. I am going to get you hammered and I'm not going to drive some giant SUV around a city that I don't know, and I wouldn't feel right putting you into a cab. Besides it's supercharged and it sounds like a badass muscle car, because it is, and it's dark out. Nobody will notice."
"You can see that car from the space; people will notice."
"You'll survive. Now either let me walk to get my shoes or get them for me, would you? My feet, are freezing." Joe looked at Meagan. Her eyes were dancing with mirth and he gave in to an impulse. He scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder, in a fireman hold, and jogged her out to the parking lot in the rain. After an initial squeal of surprise, she laughed as he made for the car. He wrenched opened her car door and deposited her inside and went around to the passenger side. She reached in to the back seat and pulled out a pair of green and silver sneakers, that he knew he'd seen on one of his nieces.
"First the mug, and now the shoes, do you have a bit of a Tinker Bell fixation?"
"I admire her pluck," Meagan said with a grin. He laughed.
"Have you been to Pinos?" He asked.
"Nope," she said, "I should warn you, I can get a bit testy in traffic, and it makes me a bit aggressive behind the wheel. Don't worry, I'm an excellent driver, and I'm mostly harmless."
RSRSRSRSRSRSRS
She ordered half a sub and a Guinness. He raised an eyebrow at her, "Why only half a sub?" Stephanie would have had the sub, the fries and possibly cake too. He was worried that she was one of those girls who refused to eat. Then he watched her pound back half a pint of Guinness.
"Leaves more room for beer. Have you taken a good look at me, as much as it pisses me off, there's not a lot of room in this gut. This shit is basically a meal replacement," She said.
Not starving herself, the woman just had her priorities straight. She finished the beer and singled for another one, "Start talking," she said.
"About what?" He asked while wondering how she didn't need to burp after downing that much beer that fast.
"The ex-girlfriend or the girl who is in trouble or yourself. The choice is yours," she said, and waved her hand in a get on with it motion.
"Well the ex and the girl in trouble are one and the same and she is a magnet for this shit. I haven't had enough beer to talk about it yet. Myself, well I'm not in a good place right now so I don't really want to talk about me either." She gave him another assessing look and the corners of her mouth tipped up in an almost smile.
"Fine I'll start; you drink. I'm 29, I have a PHd in Social Psychology, I work with the FBI specializing in crowd behaviour and group dynamics. I am NOT a profiler though I have the training. I also have a PhD in clinical psychology so I can probably figure out how you tick if I could be bothered, and I am a good listener. I was sent to you because you have a gang problem. I have a great deal of experience with street gangs so I hope I can help. Oh and I fully intend on taking a cab home this evening. I just wanted to see if I could get the Italian Stallion into a pink muscle car. Someone named Carl owes me $50. He and Big Dog are picking up my car later."
Joe burst out laughing. "Good start. Do you get out into the field much?"
"I used to be but I burnt out a little, so now I'm purely behind. When you catch someone I can tell you what questions to ask, give an educated guess as to whether or not they are lying and tell you which buttons to push to get a confession, but I rarely go into the room. It's harder to observe and remain objective when I'm in the room. Also I am a strategist, I'm good at planning. If I step back I can see the big picture and direct traffic better. Throw in a little hostage negotiations here and there and that's me."
"Husband? Boyfriend? Kids?" There was a flicker of emotion so fast he couldn't catch it and if he hadn't been paying attention he might have missed the hesitation.
"None of the above; anything else?" She asked brightly. Her smile had slipped a little, she was probably nursing a broken heart as well. Time for a subject change.
"Where are you from?" Usually a safe question. Her voice was refined and educated, he was going to go with somewhere in New England.
"Nashua," she said. She was nearly impossible to read and it was unnerving. He thought he detected anger in her voice when she spoke, but it was gone too fast to be sure of anything.
"Do you like dogs?" he asked. Her face fell further.
"Love em. Had a great dane named Duke until three years ago. He was 12. I was very sad to see him go." That's not where he wanted this to go. Shit. He wasn't going to make two beautiful women cry in one day.
"New subject. Why did you paint your car pink?"
"Because." she grinned. This one was genuine and he couldn't help smiling back.
"That's it? Because?"
"Yup, and now that you know everything there is to know about me, it's your turn."
They were in a booth she leaned up against the window, kicked off her sneakers and put her feet up on the bench beside her, crossing her legs. "Speak."
So he did. They talked until closing. She managed the conversation. She steered it towards Stephanie but he found he could talk about her with a sense of humour, and when the conversation got difficult, she steered it away again. He was able to be honest about how he felt about Stephanie, how he felt about the danger she was in yet again. How when they were together every time she had a high bond skip he would chug antacids by the case. When they were finally chucked out after last call he realized that they really hadn't had that much to drink. Neither of them were in any shape to drive, she was maybe five foot and 115lbs and she had had three pints of Guinness. She was going to feel it later he was sure but neither of them were falling down drunk, both of them were in the realm of buzzed and happy.
They shared a cab and he walked her to her hotel room door. It had felt more like a date than a meeting of colleagues. He found himself staring at her lips again as she was fumbling for her room card. She was chattering about buying herself and updating the Shelby for her 21st birthday when he kissed her. She didn't push him away but she didn't respond. He could tell that she wanted to. The little sigh when their lips met told him that. But she'd caught herself. He lingered for a moment and she put her hand on his chest.
"No." She said, breaking the kiss.
"I'm sorry," he chuckled ruefully, "I knew it was a mistake as soon as I did it."
"It's trite, but it's not you, it's me. I like you, you are fucking hot, you're funny, and I would love to drag you in here with me. I really would. Lord knows it's been a while and I think we'd have fun, but trust me. I'm really really not the woman for you. I'm not cut out to be a housewife anymore than Stephanie was and I am not a rebound girl either." She said with real regret.
"I understand completely. If you tell anyone this I'll deny it but I don't think I'm ready for anything myself. I honestly don't know what I was thinking." It was a nice lie so she let him get away with it. He wanted her badly. She decided to give him a break and shifted the blame to herself.
"I do. I'm hot and I made you laugh when you needed it, and it's been a long time since I've had so much fun that I didn't exactly discourage you."
"That sounds about right," he said, "Friends?"
"Friends," she said. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. She went into her room and closed the door. She waited for the sound of his retiring footsteps to dissipate, before she pulled out a set of keys, and pressed a button on her key fob. She waited for the light on the fob to turn green, before she let the veneer crack, and she pressed her back up against the door, as she slid down it, and let the tears fall.
That had been close, three years was a long time and he was hot, and nice, and she was only human. She wanted to give in, if for no other reason than to remember what the comfort of sleeping in a man's arms felt like. She hated sleeping alone, and she never slept well when she did. It had been three years since the last time, there'd been a warm body next to her, and she was tired. So tired.
Only 6 more weeks and this would be over; in 6 weeks she would know if things were the same. If he'd got her message; if he'd waited. The information she had, told her where he lived but nothing about his personal life. What if he'd found someone? She couldn't blame him if he did. He deserved happiness, and if he'd found it with someone else, she'd not interfere. She didn't know how she'd move on, if she could move on, but she wouldn't cause him anymore pain than she already had. The thought of it, made it hard to breathe, made it hard to even think straight and she could feel the crushing weight of a panic attack. The room started to feel smaller, the air too hot, her clothes too tight. She forced herself to breathe normally, to recognize that the airconditioning was functioning perfectly in the room, forced herself to feel it's coolness on her skin. You can't think like that Meagan; you'll never make it through the next six weeks if you do. Keep your head down; keep the faith and do your job like you have for three years. Then you can start thinking about the future.
She collected herself, and got to her feet. She ran her fingers through her hair, rolled her shoulders, and resumed the confident pose that was her armour against the world. She pressed the button again, waited for the light to turn red, and went to the bathroom. She turned the hot water on for the bath, completely ignoring the cold faucet, and stripped. Catching her reflection in the mirror, she stared at it for a long time, as she waited for the bath to fill.
Her body was toned, she had c cup breasts and hips that were proportional to her hips. She had no spare fat and her waist was tiny. Hours of obsessive training, as she tried to run her way into an exhausted sleep, kept her like this. She barely gave her figure a second glance, usually. Genetics had been good to her, and a need to keep fit for her job, were the reason she looked as she did. It had nothing vanity. Vanity wasn't productive, and it was something that could be used against you. She took time with her appearance, because she knew it threw people off balance, it was a useful tool that gave her an upper hand in her line of work, but she did so with little enthusiasm.
That hadn't always been the case. She had liked to look good for him. She liked that the right perfume, the right eye makeup, the right heels, could render him completely brain dead. She liked knowing that when he came to watch her dance, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her, and it always inspired their love making and afterwards, she'd lie in his arms her head on his chest, listening to him talk about whatever the hell was on his mind, their conversation light, as she allowed the deep timbre of his voice, lull her to sleep. She forced her mind away from those memories; they were as bad as the what ifs.
She returned to contemplating her reflection, and turned, so she could look over her shoulder at her back, and grimaced at the ugly scar that took up most of it. It ran across her lower back up to just underneath her shoulder blade. It was wide and angry, jagged and bright red. It was accompanied but several smaller but equally nasty looking scars, like she'd been mauled by some horrific creature. The colour glaring against her pale skin. A portion the large scar was a little redder than the rest; irritated from the lace of her bra strap. No amount of contortion would make it so she could put the cream she had to sooth it, in that particular location, so she suppressed the discomfort.
"Fieldwork?" she said out loud, with a snort, "That's a good word for it."
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"Hal?" I asked.
"Bomber?" Hal replied. He'd been texting and wasn't really paying attention to me; he was clearly bored.
"Can you give me a boost please?" I asked.
"Uhhh sure?" I knew Hal wasn't worried about lifting me. He was built like a stegosaurus and I'd been working out and eating with Ranger every day since we got married. It had been a little over a month and I could not only button the top button of my jeans but I had even had to go down a size.
Hal wasn't worried about my weight. He was uncomfortable touching Ranger's woman, he was afraid of mat time later. I faced the direction I wanted to look and Hal lifted me easily up to the level of the camera. I followed the direction of the camera with my eye and said, "Okay you can put me down now."
I pulled out my phone and dialled Ranger. "Yo," he said when he answered. I'd like to think it was an affectionate yo.
"Yo yourself," I replied, "Camera three is jammed and it looks like something is stuck in the mechanism."
"Unstick it."
I rolled my eyes. We were married, we spent every night together. He had started to tell me more about himself and he was a surprisingly good story teller when we were alone. Especially in bed after we had made love, but he was still the master of the two words or less sentence when we were in public.
"It's jammed so that it points directly at the neighbours' teenaged daughter's bedroom window. Whew. That was a mouthful."
"Babe."
"I think someone has hacked into the feed to do some peeping. There are some cables here that don't need to be."
I heard him mumble something to someone.
"I've got someone coming out," he said, "Pop a cap on it and come back in; I've got some research I want you to do."
"I know it's a pain in the ass but I don't think shooting the camera is the answer," I teased, deliberately misunderstanding him.
"I didn't say pop a cap in it. Pop a lens cap on the camera Steph." He was smiling; I could hear it. I did what I was told.
"OOooooooh," I said.
"Smartass; get back to work."
I was sort of Random Task at Rangeman. I did a little bit of everything. Hector had taught me technical stuff for service calls so sometimes I went when they wanted a softer face for the clients. Sometimes I did research, sometimes I traced skips, sometimes surveillance, sometimes I watched monitors. I was an extra body when needed. I was more or less volunteering at this point. It was just weird for Ranger to pay me. I more or less worked to stop myself from going crazy. I felt like he needed reminding of this from time to time.
"Oooooooooh." I said.
"Smartass. Get back to work."
"Thank you Stephanie, you are beautiful and a genius for figuring out that someone was using our cameras for peeping. I don't know what we would do without you here at Rangeman. Good work!" I said in a voice as deep as I could make it.
"Babe," he said and disconnected.
My pet dinosaur, Hal, and I walked back to the Rangeman SUV and I climbed into the back behind Tank. Tank had come along for shits and giggles I guess. I never went anywhere without two burly guys following me. I was used to it now. I could have told Ranger to stop it but that would be like shouting into the wind. A complete waste of time and energy. We were married and he said that it would be something his enemies found interesting, so now I moved with a bodyguard. If Julie could live with it, I guess I could too. And if I said no, he'd just ignore me and they'd follow me anyway. I figured this way was better for the environment since we weren't driving around in two gas guzzling SUVs.
Mack the Knife started blaring out of my bag and I fished out my phone.
"Hey, you ever coming to visit us or what?" Connie asked.
"I was planning on dropping by this afternoon with a bucket of chicken," I said. "Ranger wants me to do some research for him, but I haven't had any real food in two weeks now; I'm going crazy."
"Lula wants you to be her sidekick. She says to bring your gun," Connie said.
I rolled my eyes again. Here's the thing, I like skip tracing; I really do. I like investigating, I like bringing in the bad guys, and I am not even against ripping out the knees of my jeans to do it. My problem is that Lula and I don't have the best track record. If it were just getting a lot dirty or even getting shot at by some crazy I wouldn't mind it. Seriously. Okay so getting shot at is scary and it sucks, but it's also a bit of a rush. It's the time we let loose the alligator, or the herd of cows, or the chickens, or the time I was humped by a million dogs or...No not going there, those were the times I minded. Those times made me feel incompetent.
"Fine," I said.
I hung up with Connie and called Ranger and told him I was going to the Bonds office to give Lula a hand.
"Keep Hal; send Tank back," he said after a beat.
"Why can't I keep Tank?"
"I need Tank and Hal's cell phone has a better video camera." He said and hung up.
"No I love you. No be careful." I muttered and stuck my tongue out at my phone, "I know you find me entertaining but a little romance wouldn't kill you." That might have been a lot unfair. He was very romantic. He was just more a man of action than words, but sometimes a girl just needs to hear the words you know?
A Rangeman SUV was waiting to collect Tank when we pulled up in front of the Bonds office with two buckets of chicken and a dozen doughnuts. I opened the car door and was yanked onto my feet and pushed up against the car. Then Ranger kissed me until my knees buckled. "I love you. Be careful," he said in a low voice. He tugged a curl playfully and then jogged back to the SUV to join Tank and they drove off. Cal had taken Tanks place in the drivers seat.
"You texted him didn't you?" I asked jabbing a finger into Hal's chest. He blushed and shrugged.
"You're just a big softie Hal, a big, stuffed, Stegosaurs," I said.
I strolled into the Bonds office with the chicken and was nearly knocked over by Lula as she ripped a bucket from my hands.
"That kiss was..." Connie said, "I'm having a hot flash."
"What's up with you?" I asked Lula. She flopped down on the sofa and ripped the lid off of the bucket and inhaled deeply.
"I just had a traumatic experience and I have to tell you something. I just, I just needa minute." I watched Lula wolf down half a bucket of chicken. Her hair was hot pink today and she was wearing yoga pants that were stretched to the limit and a very tiny pink workout top. Lula recently started going to the gym. Well that's an overstatement; she signed up for a 30 day free trial and bought the clothes. It was a step in the right direction. Sort of.
"I just saw Super cop," she said when the grease finally hit her system, "He's on a date, with some blonde, that looks like someone shrunk a Barbie. I saw them come out of a hotel and he had his arm around her and I saw him kiss her temple the way Ranger does to you all the time."
"Yeah. She's his new partner on loan from the FBI. She's here as part of some task force and she's living in the hotel. He was probably picking her up," I said. "I've met her. She drives a pink Mustang."
Their eyes went wide as I said this. I did appreciate the heads up; I was probably going to feel a twinge of jealousy when Joe started dating again, and a little preparation for it would make it easier.
"Details," Connie said, "All of them; the Burg is pretty quiet on this one. Seriously. I had no idea that he was seeing anyone until Lula came in here."
"They aren't seeing each other; they are just friends, and she's his partner. I forget her name because he calls her Princess," Silence. "It's a reference to Cinderella, apparently she broke her heel while waiting for him, when she first got here. He caught her before she fell and made an ass of herself in front of the Trenton Police force."
"Hunh," Lula said.
"How long is she around for?" Connie asked.
"No idea."
"And you like her?" Lula asked.
"I do." I said honestly. Okay so she was basically a fairy princess but I couldn't really hold it against her because she had a, well, there's only on word for it, naughty side. I don't mean like naughty nurse naughty, more like she wasn't against bending the rules for a laugh. I actually got the impression she was a bit of a prankster.
I met her while she was having lunch with Eddie and Joe. She was bubbly, and she kept the conversation light (mostly she was critiquing girls at the bar as suitable candidates for Joe as either one night stress relievers or as serious girlfriend material. Her commentary had us all in stitches) but there was something about her that reminded me so much of someone, and I couldn't think who. I said as much to Joe and he had agreed, we figured we must be thinking of someone we knew in high school. Frankly it was driving us both a little crazy.
Like a lot of people in law enforcement she sat with her back to the wall so she could survey the room and she missed nothing. She spoke softly and people listened to what she said and did what she said without question. She was also armed to the teeth. I caught a glimpse of a shoulder holster, a telltale bulge by her ankle that was her backup piece and from the way she was sitting I was pretty sure she had another gun in the waistband of her slacks. But then again she was FBI so she probably had to be armed. What I loved was that she almost never had shoes on unless her feet were on the ground. When she did wear shoes, they were ridiculously high heels. She said it was so she didn't get stepped on while working in a male dominated profession.
"I told Ranger about her and he said that if she went around that heavily armed she probably knew how to use the weapons."
"I think I wanna meet her. I mean sure she's a cop but Morelli ain't so bad and I guess Eddie and Carl and Big Dog are okay, so maybe she's fine," Lula said.
RSRSRSRS
"I thought they were going to do some bounty huntin'" Cal grouched behind the wheel. "At least that's fun. Looks to me like they are just gossiping."
"They will. They gotta eat the food first," Hal said. He secretly loved Bombshell Duty; it was always tinged with a bit of chaos, and it broke up the monotony of daily life. He knew her routine pretty well by now, too. In about 15 minutes they would get into Lula's Firebird and head out.
A movement caught his attention and he leaned forward, suddenly alert "Who is this asshole?"
A kid in an oversized grey hoodie and a pair of baggy track pants jogged into the parking lot of the bonds office. His hood was pulled up against the early November chill. They were on the look out for Slayer wannabe's and this one fit the description.
"Looks like he's got a piece. Shit he's so small he can't be more than 12."
RSRSRS
"Boss, something's about to happen at the Bonds Office," Vince called from the control room. Ranger jogged out of his office to come check the monitors, "Someone's approaching the building with a piece."
"Hal and Cal?" Ranger asked.
"Already out of the car."
Ranger looked closely at the screen and said, "I think you are going to want to save this."
He had a partial smile on his lips, he was betting this was Joe's new friend from the Bureau. He saw the FBI lettering on the track pants and he was almost sure that the jog belonged to a woman. Hard to say now that the figure was stopped and the clothes were baggy "Tank go get the car ready."
"What's up?"
They both looked at the screen as Stephanie walked out to the parking lot. The figure approached her and reached towards his or her back where it looked like they were carrying. He or she was, Ranger could see the holster, but there was something else under the baggy sweatshirt. Probably a cell phone. The sweater rode up, and he could see the feminine curve of her waist. It was definitely a woman. His men saw the reach, Hal got there first and grabbed her wrist. He saw Stephanie's eyes go wide. Then there was about thirty seconds of mayhem and Hal and Cal were disarmed and on their backs. That's when Morelli pulled up and got out of his jeep.
"What the hell was that?!" Vince asked.
"Krav Maga," Tank said.
"Looks like it," Ranger said grinning, "Let's go."
"Bombshell and Morelli look like they are laughing," Vince said.
"They are," Ranger and Tank said.
"Never underestimate a woman," Ranger said.
"Don't need to tell me twice. I know Bombshell," Vince said, and took a clip of the video, which he then sent as an email attachment to everyone in the office.
RSRSRSRSRSRS
Ten minutes after Morelli and Meagan showed up we had Hal and Cal in the office on the sofa. Connie had given us icepacks and we were putting them on shoulders and noses. Lula had seen Meagan and Morelli just before Meagan went for a run. She was meeting Joe here at the Bond's office so she could introduce herself, figuring it would be good if we recognized her on the street as one of the good guys. She'd been pleasantly surprised to see me here.
I felt the tingle on my neck and knew that Ranger had seen the commotion on the camera and was checking on his men. And me too probably.
"Babe," Ranger said as he strolled into the office.
He put his hand on the back of my neck, and I felt him stiffen, his guard suddenly up. He was staring at Meagan his blank face firmly in place.
"That was the coolest shit I have ever seen!" Lula squeaked, totally missing that Ranger was on full alert. "She's like a Disney Princess or something but she kicked their asses. She totally owned them!"
Connie had taken her shoes off and was standing behind Meagan who had taken off the hoodie and was wearing a white tank top with her track pants and was showing Connie, in slow motion, the take down she had used on Hal. Lula was putting ointment on Cal's skinned elbow while she pressed an icepack to his nose and Vinnie was staring at Meagan like he was in love. Meagan glanced over and froze, staring at Ranger, her skin paled, and she swallowed hard.
"Sorry boss; we didn't see the FBI on her pant leg. I just saw the hoodie and the piece," Hal said.
"Nice to know that you are looking out for me anyways Halosaurus," I teased, half heartedly, waiting for one of them to do something, other than stare at each other.
Ranger acknowledged Meagan with a small smile and she gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. She had a look of complete disbelief on her face. Tank came in the door and took one look at Meagan and stopped dead. There was complete silence in the Bonds office as everyone realized something was up. Hal looked like he might be thinking about going for his gun again when finally Tink spoke, her usually smooth voice breaking with emotion.
"Thanks for the applause boys," she said.
Tank and Ranger burst into massive smiles. Tank roared out a laugh of pure joy and crossed the room in two strides. He had her off of her feet and in a hug so big I thought he was going to crush her. Then he handed her to Ranger who enveloped her so completely she almost disappeared. Ranger whispered something to her and she kept her arms tight around his neck, nodding, and now openly crying. He put her on her feet and Tank took her off of them again.
Tank's voice was rough and muffled by her hair when he said, "We thought you were dead Tink."