A big thank you to those have favourited/followed/reviewed this story! I plan to post a chapter every second or third day, depending on what happens in RL.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the plot and Annie. Even the title is borrowed from Van Morrison.
Italics - Spanish
Some bad words, some violence, and fade into black sex-scenes, nothing too graphic
Chapter 2. IntroductionsA Thursday a couple of weeks after the incident at the mall Bobby was working the night shift when the phone rang. It was Vince, who was that night´s receptionist.
"Hi. I´ve got a woman on line four who asks for you. Says her name is Annie Morrison."
"Put her through."
A couple of seconds later he heard the call connect.
"Brown speaking."
"Hello. Sorry to disturb you, but I´ve got a bit of a problem with that police officer."
"Morelli. What's the problem?"
"Right now he´s sitting in the parking lot outside my apartment. And frankly, he´s creeping me out. I noticed someone in a car following me home after I´d been out for a run in the nearby park the other day. The windows were tinted, so I couldn't see the driver. I got home OK, but then I noticed different cars following me around sometimes. One at a time, so it could very well be the same driver in all of them. I´ve managed to get their license plates, but I´ve got a feeling I´ve not gotten the right owners when I searched, and I believe an undercover police car would have a different owner than the police in the documents."
"Do you have the numbers? I can try to do a quick search."
Annie gave him the numbers and then continued. "Yesterday I was walking home from the store, and I noticed a car following me again. I was getting freaked out, so I turned around a corner and hid, trying to get a look at the driver. And when I managed that it was Morelli."
"Have you talked to him since the mall?"
"No, he´s never tried to talk to me, just the cars following me around, which I suspect was him driving them. And he must have followed me home so now he knows where I live."
"I´ve done a quick search of the license plates and I believe you´re right, it seems like undercover police cars. They all come out as owned by the different leasing companies."
"What can I do? He hasn't really done anything except for that time at the mall, and he could probably claim that I assaulted him when I tried to get free."
"I wish he'd try. Cal recorded that on his phone, and anyone would see that as self-defense. I´m working inside tonight, and can't get out of the office, but if you give me your address and phone number I´ll send over a team."
After a moment's hesitation Annie agreed. Bobby got the feeling she really was freaked out, otherwise she reminded him of Steph, who usually had a hard time accepting help. She gave him her address and phone number.
"Ummm, will it be Cal, so it's someone I recognize?"
"I´m afraid not. He´s not working tonight. I´ll call you back in a few minutes, when I know who it´ll be, and approximately when they can be there."
Annie thanked him and said bye.
Bobby called down to Vince. "I´ve got a woman having trouble with Morelli. Is there anyone close to this address?"
"Tank and Hector. I´ll send them over while you brief them."
Bobby gave them a quick summary. He and Cal had already mentioned the mall and how Morelli had grabbed a woman that from behind looked like Steph. No one liked the behavior of the cop, they thought it bordered on obsessive.
"So you're telling me he has been stalking this woman and now sits in the parking lot outside her apartment?" Tank sounded pissed off.
"Yeah. I mean we can't prove the stalking, but Cal got the mall thing on his camera. And Annie seems like a reliable witness. I´m glad Steph and Ranger don´t live here anymore, God knows what Ranger´d do to him if he thought Morelli was a threat to Steph. Especially now with baby Stella."
Tank harrumphed. "Call this Annie back, so she knows who we are. ETA in four minutes."
Bobby called Steph back with the information. "Tank and Hector will be there in about four minutes. Tank is built like his name, African American and he shaves off all his hair."
"If that´s Tank, what does Hector look like?"
"Not too tall, Hispanic and not that good spoken English. Absolutely lethal in a fight though. And they will both be dressed in the same uniform Cal and I had when you saw us, and they have Rangeman ID`s with their names."
"OK, thanks a lot. I´m sorry to be a nuisance."
"You´re not the nuisance, that´s Morelli. And I gave you the card so that you could use it if you needed to. I later realized it´d been good to have your number as well, but I didn't want to spook you after Morelli grabbed you."
"I think you read me correctly, I wouldn't have been comfortable with giving you my number then. Now I see some car lights in the parking lot. I better check."
"Stay inside, and I´ll call you back later."
x x x
Annie peeked out from behind the curtain. The car that Morelli had been sitting in was still in the lot, but she couldn't see if he was in it. Suddenly she heard something at her door. Not knocking, but making a strange sound. She silently went towards the door, when it opened a little bit, before the chain stretched. Annie hid behind the door to the living room and waited. She heard the chain move, and then it was silent for a little while, and she heard shuffling steps, as though someone tried to be silent, but not really managed. She recognized Morelli when he passed the door, and she let him pass.
"Cupcake." It was just a whisper, and then he continued towards the open bedroom door.
"Cupcake." Now it was in a normal speaking voice. He went into the bedroom and Annie ran out of the living room, through the hallway and out through the door to the apartment. She didn't have any shoes on, but she just ran down the hallway and down the stairs.
"CUPCAKE!" she heard a bellow behind her and she ran as fast as she could towards the door. Outside she saw two black clad figures through the glass. Just as she was at the door and frantically tried to get it open she was grabbed from behind. She managed to get a grip on the arm and flipped the assailant over her shoulder, all the while screaming bloody murder. She got the flip just right, and her assailant sailed through the air and the glass of the door was shattered when he fell against it. One of the figures outside managed to get his hand inside and open the lock, and both men came inside.
The big one calmly approached her, as she stood there hyperventilating.
"Annie?"
"Yes. Tank?"
"Are you hurt?"
"I don't know, I´m…"
She would forever be embarrassed that she had such a girly moment that she passed out in the foyer. Tank had to catch her and stood awkwardly with her in his big arms, as if she was light as a feather. Bobby later explained that the adrenalin rush and, hopefully, feeling of being safe when she was able to try to calm down after she was not alone with Morelli triggered the fainting.
In the meantime Hector checked on Morelli, who lay unconscious on the floor.
"Son of a bitch. Stalking women and grabbing them again. Should we report him to the PD or take care of him ourselves? He stinks like a distillery as well, and drove here."
Tank looked up. "I think we should report him. I´m not sure our new acquaintance is comfortable with him just disappearing."
Both Annie and Morelli were regaining consciousness. Annie looked up at Tank, and it took her some seconds to register where she was.
"How are you feeling?"
"Embarrassed, and I think I did something to my back when I threw that scumbag. Will you please let me down?" she said with a pink tint to her cheeks.
Tank carefully let her down and steadied her until he was convinced she wouldn't fall or faint again.
Morelli began muttering when he regained consciousness.
"Cupcake."
And just like that Annie was as angry as she´d ever been. "What is your problem, creep! You don't even know my name, and you've stalked me for days. How did you know which apartment I was in? And what gave you the right to break in?!"
"He what?!" Tank growled. "I thought you opened the door thinking it was us outside."
"He both managed to open the door and the chain. I hid and waited until he had gone into the bedroom and then I ran as fast I could. And he kept on calling after Cupcake, as well."
Morelli gave her an unfocused stare. "Cupcake", he muttered again before he turned his head and threw up, luckily just missing Hector. The odds he would have survived puking on Hector weren't good.
Tank was talking in his phone. "I´ve a probably concussed Morelli, who was breaking and entering and assaulting, as well as Annie who fainted and did something to her back when she threw the bastard. Get someone else on your shift and get over here now, Brown."
He hung up, not bothering to the listen to the voice on the other end. Hector was muttering in Spanish and put Morelli in handcuffs.
Tank made another phone call to Trenton PD. "We have a person who has broken into an apartment, and when the woman living there made a break for it he followed and grabbed her. We also suspect him of DUI, he´s quite drunk and drove here." He followed up with the address.
Annie was still upset, and had begun to shake.
"Sorry. You must think I'm pathetic."
"Hardly. You assessed the threat, almost got away and finally incapacitated your assailant. That´s definitely not pathetic."
He took off his jacket and gave to her. It hang down almost to her knees.
"But you definitely have an adrenalin shock, and you better put this on. I think it´d be best if we don't go into your apartment until the police has arrived."
x x x
The police arrived just a few minutes later. Tank had gone out to get a blanket for Annie, and convinced her to sit down on the stairs, out of way of the glass shards and Morelli. His jacket and the blanket almost dwarfed her, but she was thankful for the warmth and to be able to sit down away from the door and Morelli. She carefully wrapped the blanket around her feet as well. Hector had stayed close to Morelli, and spent the time sharpening a knife and staring menacingly at Morelli.
The first officer through the door was a person Tank knew and liked, Steph´s cousin Shirley the Whiner´s husband, Eddie Gazarra.
"Gazarra." Tank gave him a nod.
"Tank. Hector"
When Eddie saw Morelli he made a face.
"What happened?"
"This is Annie Morrison. She can tell you herself."
Annie got up on her feet and shed the blanket. Eddie walked towards her and introduced himself and shook her hand.
"I´m Eddie Gazarra. This is my partner Robin Russell."
The female police came over and shook her hand, and then turned around towards Morelli.
"Are you OK with me taking your statement or would you prefer Russell?"
"I´m quite OK with you. And to give a quick summary…"
Annie began with the assault at the mall, and how she discovered that she had been followed by different cars. She then in greater detail told him about the breaking and entering, and how she had fled towards the door. While she was talking to Gazarra Bobby Brown came through the door with his medical bag.
"Are you hurt? We can take a break while Brown sees to you."
"Thanks, but I´d rather be done with the statement. My back is giving me some trouble, and I'd rather not have it looked at here anyway."
"OK, please continue."
In the background Morelli began to move restlessly.
"Get these cuffs off me. What the hell are you doing? I´m a police officer."
While he moved around he saw Annie from the back again.
"Cupcake, Steph. Get over here! It´s your fault I'm in cuffs! Get me out of them. Cupcake."
Hector looked at Morelli.
"It´s your own fault you're in cuffs. But you've never liked to admit that you're to blame."
"Is Cupcake back in Trenton to fuck all of you again?"
Tank got Hector just before he was about to hurl himself at Morelli.
"You´d better get him out of here, Russell. Hector doesn't like men who has trouble respecting women. I agree with him."
Robin Russell gave Tank a look, and then nodded and turned towards Morelli. She began to read him his rights, which made his temper flare.
Gazarra looked over at Russell. "We´d better take him in. But first we have to get a team over to look at the apartment."
"Are you finished with Annie, Eddie?" Bobby asked.
"Yes. Thank you Ms. Morrison. If you could just give us your contact information."
Annie gave him the information, and Bobby came over to her.
"Would it be OK to come with us to Rangeman, Annie? I can look at your back, and you can stay in a guest room tonight while the police process your apartment."
Annie looked at him.
"I'd really like a pair of shoes, otherwise it sounds perfect."
Gazarra and Russell had just gotten Morelli on his feet. He bent over and threw up again, this time barely missing Gazarra´s shoes. Gazarra swore, and asked Bobby if he could just take a quick look at Morelli and say whether he was concussed or just roaring drunk. Tank came over to Annie again.
"I´m not sure you should wait for shoes. It might take a while to get the police team here, and I suspect that they want to do a really thorough job, whether to be able to nail Morelli or to let him free is depending on the person, but I've heard he´s lost some cred since Steph moved away. Probably because he's not that good of a detective when she's not helping him. Not that he ever thanked her. I think I´ve heard some rumors of drinking as well…"
Annie looked at him and sighed.
"OK, I´m ready to get out of here."
"Hector. Get the car as close to the door as you can. We're leaving, and Annie doesn't have her shoes."
Bobby finished up his quick examination of Morelli.
"Definitely roaring drunk, maybe some other substance as well. Hard to tell if his pupils are unfocused because of drink, drugs or concussion. I think you´d better get him examined at the hospital. And make them take a blood test as well. And check his car. He drove here, and that definitely should be DUI. He hasn't been sitting in the lot long enough to get this drunk and/or high."
"Thanks, Brown. All right, we´d better take him to the hospital."
Hector had gotten the car just outside the door, and Annie began to walk towards it.
"Cupcake. Where´re you going?" Morelli slurred. "Get back here!"
Annie turned around and looked at him.
"I think you should get glasses, if you can't tell the difference between me and Stephanie Plum. As I´ve heard it we've both got brown curly hair, but I definitely don't have blue eyes."
Morelli tried to get closer to her, but Gazarra had him in a firm grip.
"And trying to get near a woman is better done without the creepy stalking, and definitely without physically forcing yourself on her. Goodbye, and I hope I´ll never see you again."
Annie took a couple of steps closer to the door and the glass.
"Would you prefer me or Brown helping you out to the car?" Tank asked.
Annie gave him a small smile. "Well at least I know you won't drop me, Tank."
"Hey. I wouldn't drop you!"
Tank laughed at Bobby, and carefully lifted Annie out the door and towards the car. "Just tell me if I hurt you. I hope your back is doing alright."
"It still hurts a bit, but it's not worse than before."
Tank helped her get seated, and Bobby and gave her the blanket back. The last they heard before the doors closed was Morelli shouting after Cupcake. Annie shivered.