Chapter 9

I left the rest of the day's bounty hunting in the capable hands of Vince and Lula. I knew I wasn't expected at RangeMan until the end of the day, but I was feeling unsettled, and I needed some alone time. In a fit of madness, I decided to run, for the second time that day. Once again, I returned home calmer and feeling better than when I'd left. It was spring in Trenton, but the humidity was at high summer level, so I went straight into the bathroom where I dropped my sweaty clothes on the floor and stepped into the tub for a long steamy shower.

I stood under the stream and realized my next shower would probably be at RangeMan. Even under the warm spray, goosebumps rose on my skin at the thought. Ranger said I needed to be kept off Rafael's radar and that was fine with me. I had no desire to run into him again, and yet at the same time I knew I would. His threat to me had to be neutralized and I had no clue how to do it, but I was betting Ranger did.

Later, I stood in my bedroom and looked from my suitcase to a laundry basket. I didn't want to look like a nerd rolling my overnight bag into Ranger's apartment, and I really didn't want to look like I was bringing my dirty laundry with me. I finally settled on an old backpack I found in my closet. Between my messenger bag and the backpack, I could bring enough clothing to last me for a few days and not advertise it to the world, or more specifically to the security cameras in the RangeMan building.

Before I left, I went to the kitchen to feed Rex. Rex wouldn't be making this trip with me as I'd recently upgraded his home to a high-rise hamster cage complete with stairs and a bigger wheel. I'd just have to stop by each day and feed him as there was no way I was lugging the big house with me.

I stood with my mouth agape as I looked at the empty spot on my counter. No big house! No Rex! Rex had been stolen! Or maybe not, I reasoned as my initial shock settled down. There was no evidence that anyone had been in my apartment, and that was a good sign that it had been Ranger or one of his henchmen. I called him.

"Rex is missing," I said as soon as I heard the phone connect.

"I'm looking at him right now," Ranger said.

"Why didn't you tell me you were taking him? I thought something terrible had happened to him."

"It almost did," Ranger said. "I sent Tank to get him and when Tank tried to feed him a grape, Rex bit him. I thought you'd want him to be with you, so I had him delivered to RangeMan."

"Uh, thanks," I said, "but you could have told me you were taking him."

"Babe, I just did. My day ended earlier that I expected. Come over now. We have lots to discuss, and I have plans for later tonight."

"The surveillance?" I asked.

"That too." He disconnected and I stood with my phone still to my ear, wondering if he meant what I thought he meant.

Ranger met me at the door of his apartment. He'd obviously been alerted to my presence, but I'd expected that. Nothing happens at RangeMan without his knowledge. I was sure all the guys on five had watched me enter. They probably thought Ranger was going to get lucky that evening. I wondered if he was, too. Even with the threat of Rafael hanging over me, and the knowledge that Ranger was going to grill me about anything else I hadn't told him last night, the thought of being with Ranger was exciting. I sighed. I had more trouble than Rafael.

Quick on the heels of that thought was my silent acknowledgement that it had been less than forty-eight hours ago when I was seething with the realization that I'd been played by Ranger. Even if I had forgotten about the morning after from hell, I'd have remembered when I looked at him. His expression was stern, his lips unnaturally flattened into a slash across his face. Frown lines wrinkled the normally smooth space between his eyebrows.

"It wasn't me," I said. "Was it?"

"Babe?"

"Something has you very upset, and I don't know what I could have done."

Ranger had told me once, after someone stole his identity, that there was only one of him and one was all I'd ever need. I suddenly wasn't so sure. This man was not the man who'd held me all night while I poured my dark secret out to him. This man was reminiscent of the Ranger who'd practically kicked me out of his apartment just the day before.

"Are you the evil twin?" I asked. "Or are you Ranger?" There were either two of him or I was getting mixed signals, because this wasn't the man who had flirted with me on the phone earlier.

I saw his features even out and I was rewarded with the blank expressionless face I knew could hide a myriad of emotions. He tilted his head toward the table. "Ella just brought dinner up. Let's eat and then we'll talk and make our plan."

I looked at the table and saw two place settings with silver cloches covering the plates.

"Fancy," I said.

"She knew you were coming and cooked to please you."

That took me back a little. Ella had always been so kind to me and now that I knew she'd experienced a tragedy in her life it made me appreciate her generous nature even more. I walked over and lifted the cloche. Grilled chicken breast with mushroom risotto. It looked delicious.

"There's salad in the refrigerator, and I think there's dessert hiding behind it," Ranger said. "And there is a good Pino Blanc chilling, but I'm limiting you to one glass. We have work to accomplish later, after we talk."

"Talk?" I asked. "I talked last night. I can't tell you again." I looked longingly toward the table trying to locate the bottle of wine Ranger said he had chilling.

"You won't need liquid courage tonight, Babe," he said. He stood in front of me and lifted my chin with his hand until our gazes met. "Tonight, I'm going to tell you what I know about Rafael Acosta, and then we're going to formulate a plan."

He was frowning and I could see a tiny pulse hammering at his temples. His expression was grim with no evidence of softness in his countenance. When he became aware of my steady gaze, I saw his features even out and amazingly the little flicker of his pulse disappeared. Ranger morphing into blank-face mode, right in front of me. I knew then he'd been thinking about Rafael earlier.

"Tonight, I'll do the talking. I don't want to hear again what he did to you, because if you tell me again, I'll kill him…and I need him alive."

His voice was soft and his eyes never wavered from mine, and I knew he was absolutely telling me the truth. Ranger protected his own and I was his. I just had to figure out what I was of his…an occasional employee, a friend, or maybe…oh yeah…I was the one he romanced two nights ago to get information from and now he had it. But maybe not.

Tonight, he was upset at the thought of what Rafael had done to me. I wondered briefly if his attitude the morning before was tied to Rafael as well. Maybe he hadn't been using me to gain information, but maybe he had. It was something to ponder.

It was my turn to listen to his story.

"Let's eat and let's talk," I said. We sat at the table and I waited until Ranger poured me my allotted glass of wine and until I'd had two bites, okay three, of the creamy risotto before I pressed the issue.

"Tell me what you know about Rafael," I said. "And tell me how we are going to eliminate the threat he poses to me."

"We aren't," Ranger said. "You are."

"You won't help me?"

"I will, but this is something you need to do, for you. We'll discuss that aspect of the situation later, but for now I'll tell you the story of my involvement with Acosta."

"Your part is to help Ella and Louis."

"It is," he agreed. "Louis came to me immediately after David's death and said he knew who was responsible. Acosta was a person of interest to the police, but there was no evidence. And he had an alibi for the night David was killed, but Louis was and is still convinced he was responsible for David's death. He asked me to find evidence so Acosta would be convicted. Both he and Ella wanted justice to be served.

"I agreed and I began trying to prove Acosta was guilty, but he bolted. It took a while to locate him. He went to Mexico City, and I've been watching him ever since."

"But you never knew I was involved with him?"

"Not until he reappeared in Trenton, and I reviewed the old videotapes."

We continued to eat as Ranger talked, but my stomach was roiling and I wasn't sure the food was going to stay down. One thing about Rafael Acosta, he was good for my diet because he took my appetite away.

Ranger didn't notice how upset the conversation was making me, or if he did, he ignored it. Clearly, he was intent on telling me what he thought I needed to know.

"Rafael was born in the United States to Mexican parents who were here doing medical fellowships. Soon after his birth they returned home, and he lived in Mexico City for the first part of his life. His parents divorced when he was fifteen and then he moved back to the states with his mother. His older sister stayed with their father.

"Acosta went to university in the states, got his JD from Seaton Hall, passed the bar to practice in New Jersey but before he could start his career in the States his father died unexpectedly. He went back to Mexico to settle his father's estate and stayed in the family home with his sister. He became an investment banker and was doing well. After a couple of years, he abruptly left Mexico and relocated in Trenton. He went to work for the DA's office and he made a name for himself."

"And that's when Dickie first knew him," I said.

"That's correct. He probably attached himself to the DA's office to provide a trusted background for himself and then he used his skills as an investment banker to start his real intended career which was to be a thief."

"The information David gave his father was true then?" I asked.

"It was. There was a falling out between the two men that led to David's death and then Acosta had to run. We're sure he killed David, but he was smart enough to cover his tracks. He was gone for seven years and now he's back. Do you understand the significance of that?"

I shook my head.

"The statute of limitations for all his financial misdealing has expired," Ranger continued. "He can no longer be prosecuted for any of those crimes, so any information David had on him is now useless. He feels safe and he's ready to start anew with his get rich quick schemes. He must feel confident that there is no clue left behind as to the murder of David Guzman, because there is no statute of limitations for murder."

"He thinks he got away with murder," I said.

Ranger nodded in agreement. "That's what he thinks."

It wasn't what he said, but how he said it. A shiver went down my spine.

"There's evidence," I said. "You have proof!"

"I don't," Ranger said, "but I have a lead that I feel is viable. I think evidence of his guilt exists. Acosta's sister, Paloma, moved to Trenton after he left. She managed his affairs and cleaned up the mess he left behind, including emptying out his office. We have no proof she was partnered with him, or if she was just his confidant, but she can't have taken care of his messes without knowing some of what was going on."

"And she's the one with the proof?" I asked.

"I don't know," Ranger said. "Maybe she's the one, but I think there is someone else who knows something that could be vital to proving Acosta's guilt. I think the person is unaware of what they know, and if Acosta comes to realize that, the person could be in danger."

He'd quit eating and was staring solemnly at me, and suddenly I knew. I stood so abruptly my chair pitched over backwards. "You think it's me," I exclaimed. "You think I know something. I don't, Ranger. I swear, I don't!"

He came around from his side of the table and righted my chair and motioned for me to sit back down. I didn't want to. I wanted to run, to get away. I knew he was going to ask something of me that I wouldn't want to do. I didn't run. I meekly sat back down.

I was wrong. All he asked is, "Why are you so afraid of him?" He bent and picked my dinner napkin from the floor and smoothed it back over my lap and then went and once again sat across from me.

"Are you joking?" I asked. "I told you last night. I told you what he had done to me."

"You told me what he did to Stephanie Orr. She was a lingerie buyer, inexperienced in the world you now live in. You've faced adversaries smarter and more dangerous than Acosta and you've done so fearlessly."

Was he kidding? "I've never been fearless," I said. "I've been in awful situations, and I've been terrified."

"You're smart, intuitive and, in the past, I've seen you react ferociously when your family was in danger. Acosta can hurt your family. Why are you backing away from him? You should go after him with everything you've got to protect your family from him."

"He's got the videotape. He told me he made the tape when we were at his home, so he could have two different tapes, because there were two different times we were together there. I hope, please God, that he didn't record anything at his office."

I stopped to consider the magnitude of a recording of what he'd done to me at his office and once again I was entering full-blown panic stage. He could already have video circulating on the internet.

"It's an impossible situation. If I refuse to see him, to be with him, he'll make good on his threat. I can feel it in my bones." I pushed my plate away. Dinner was over for me.

Ranger didn't answer. He stood and went to the refrigerator, returning with two dessert plates, each with a generous serving of tiramisu.

"Eat this," he said. "Ella made it for you." I was upset, but not so upset I would pass up dessert. I ate slowly savoring every bite, all the time watching surreptitiously as Ranger also ate dessert. I'd seen him dive into a salad with more enthusiasm. There was something wrong here.

I got up from the table and started to take my plate to the counter, but Ranger stopped me. "Leave it for Ella," he said. "We're on a schedule and we need to leave shortly." He glanced at my outfit. "Your pants will do," he said. "There's a RangeMan t-shirt for you in my closet. Go put it on."

"We're doing RangeMan work tonight?" I asked.

"Five years ago, Paloma Acosta called the new security company in town to put a system in her brother's home. We've been doing semi-annual checks on it every year since."

"I can't go to Rafael's house," I said.

"You can. He's out for the evening and we will be alerted in plenty of time to leave if he comes back early. He'll never know we were there and if somehow, he did find out we'll show him the record of a possible break-in that we were investigating. Now hurry and change."

I did what Ranger said, but I wasn't happy about it. As I came out of his dressing room, I saw him upend my backpack on his bed. Articles of my clothing fell into a messy pile.

"What are you doing?" I asked. I watched as he turned to his dresser and began shoving black VCR tapes into my bag.

"I'm helping you save your reputation," he said. "I'll explain on the way." He zipped my backpack and handed it to me. "Let's go."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door, and I went. I couldn't imagine what he had in mind, but he was Ranger. My mentor, my friend, my sometimes lover and an opportunist. I could add another descriptor to our relationship. Symbiosis. Ranger was helping me and that was good, but I was pretty sure I was helping him too, even if I didn't know how.