Chapter 10

I stood next to the SUV while Ranger took the backpack from me and tossed it into the back seat. I looked at the vehicles parked in the garage. There was Ella and Louis' sedan and Ranger's new grey Macan. Everything else was a RangeMan fleet vehicle.

"Hey! Where's my car?" I asked.

"In your apartment parking lot," he said. "I've got cameras in it trained on the door to your building, and you have a new video doorbell. If Acosta comes looking for you, we'll know it."

"How is this possible?" I asked. "I was only in your apartment for a couple of hours."

"Babe." It was his only response, and it was enough. I knew better than to question the efficiency of the RangeMan team.

"What exactly are we doing tonight, Ranger?"

"Get in," he said as he opened my door. "We'll talk on the way."

I did as he said and tried to hide my nervousness. I wasn't typically nervous when I partnered with Ranger because I had confidence he'd keep me safe. This time I couldn't shake the feelings of anxiety curling up inside me, making it difficult for me to breathe. Ranger noticed.

Instead of driving out of the garage he turned to me. "You asked me to help you, and I think I can. Acosta is occupied tonight. I know where he is and who he's spending time with. If he leaves for home early, we'll be notified. I had someone from RangeMan in his apartment today under the guise of repairing a faulty alarm system. There won't be any issue with us being there."

"What do you mean you know who he's spending time with?" I asked.

Ranger gave me a smile that could only be described as sly. "He's entertaining a potential new client this evening. Jeanne Ellen Burrows."

"Jeanne Ellen!" I exclaimed. "What did you tell her? She doesn't know?" My voice was getting squeakier with each question.

"Stephanie," Ranger said. He reached across the SUV and took hold of my hand. "She knew that I needed to be in Acosta's home for a short time tonight. Your name was never mentioned."

Instantly, I was ashamed. I knew Ranger would keep my confidence. I attempted to pull my hand out of his, but he tightened his grip.

"You're trembling," he said. "Don't be frightened. I can't promise anything, but I think I may be able to help you recover your videotape this evening. Manny timed his arrival today shortly before Acosta had to leave for court. Acosta had no choice but to leave him alone in the house and Manny took advantage of the situation. He discovered the video recording setup in the bedroom but found no other hidden cameras. Did you ever see the video?"

I shook my head. "I never actually saw the recording, only the VCR cassette. He held it up in front of my face and told me what it was. Then he told me to be a good girl, and my ex-husband and my father wouldn't have to see and hear me begging…uh…" I couldn't finish. I couldn't explain that I'd thought Rafael had been a considerate and skilled lover. I remembered begging him not to stop and…he hadn't. It had all just been a big seduction to get me to a place where he could control me, and I had played right into it. The skilled and considerate lover had recorded it and saved it for all posterity.

I jerked my hand out of Ranger's and unbuckled the seat belt in one smooth motion. The door was open, and I was out and running before I had time to realize we were still in the RangeMan garage. It had been building for a while and without warning it broke loose. I wasn't thinking or even reacting. I was just moving, expending energy, trying to alleviate the fear. Ranger was quickly after me and caught me before I exited the garage.

I was gasping for breath and my heart was pounding so hard I could hear it. Ranger held me firmly and slowly turned me into him.

I didn't speak. I didn't have the breath to form words. I knew I was close to hyperventilating, but I didn't know what to do so I stayed still, tight against his chest. I'm not sure how long we stood, unmoving. Ranger's arms remained a solid support, keeping me on my feet instead of letting my unsteady legs drop me to the garage floor. Eventually my heart rate slowed, the trembling stopped, and I was able to draw in a deep breath.

"How ironic," I whispered into Ranger's chest. "The thought of what I'd done, my idiotic behavior recorded on video, spurred me to jump and run from your car and now I'm once again making a fool of myself on video. The guys in the control room must be enjoying this."

"I scrambled the feed as I got out of the SUV, but I should probably put the garage back online before we have visitors from upstairs. Let's get back in the SUV. We'll continue the conversation where we aren't such a target for the security cameras."

When we were back inside the SUV we sat in silence for a moment. I thought I should explain that I'd had a panic attack, but I also thought he'd probably figured it out.

"I don't like the fear this man evokes in you," Ranger said. "I wanted to empower you and I thought that if you were the one who recovered the video tapes it might give you that sense of empowerment. I was wrong. I'll take you back to seven and then I'll go."

"You said videotapes. Do you think there is more than one? Do you know where they are?" I asked.

"I think I know where they are," Ranger said. "When Manny was there, he discovered an unusual collection of movies. Rafael owns the entire Disney Princess movie collection, but no other titles. It seemed odd to Manny. He knew the possibility of sex tapes existed, although he has no idea you have any connection to Acosta. Everyone at RangeMan knows of my interest in him because of Ella and Louis, but your privacy has been maintained, and it will stay that way, if possible."

There'd been only a slight hesitation before he uttered his last two words, but it was enough to cause another spike in my heart rate.

He shifted in his seat and made eye contact with me for the first time since we'd reentered the SUV. "Manny pulled out a couple of the movies and opened the cases to find plain black VCR tapes inside with dates scribbled on the labels. He didn't look at all of them, but the ones he saw weren't otherwise identified. You said you were with him twice in his home?"

"Yes" I said. "After that he made sure we met at his office where he had a private room set up."

"Then I think, Babe, that you weren't his only victim. I'll take you back upstairs now and then I'll go after the tapes."

Despite my present state of anxiety, I knew Ranger's original idea had been a good one.

"No." I made the decision quickly but firmly. "You're right. This is something I need to do. I'll go."

He didn't argue, but instead pushed the start button and pulled from the garage. We were quiet for most of the trip but as we neared the neighborhood where Rafael lived Ranger detailed the plan to me.

"Manny said the recording system is old technology. It was out of date, even when Acosta was using it, but as far as Manny could tell, it's still functional. A VCR recorder is mounted above the ceiling tiles and aimed directly at the bed, which is central in the room. We're bringing the blank VCR tapes so you can exchange them with Acosta's tapes. As long as he doesn't get a sudden yen to watch a princess movie, he won't know we've been there, but if he does look at the tapes, he'll realize at once and you could be in danger. That's why I want you to stay at RangeMan for a while."

My nightmare could soon be over. If Rafael had no video, then I had nothing to fear. I would never be as stupid, as naïve as I once was. Ranger was right. This would empower me.

"Okay," I said. "I'll get in and get the tapes. Then what?"

"I'm going to do a quick search of the place. I've been there before and I doubt there is anything linking him to David, but who knows what he's brought back with him from Mexico. We should be in and out in under 15 minutes and if any of the neighbors feel so inclined to report us, we have authority and, conveniently, we have an incident report from RangeMan of an alarm going off. We're covered. Jeanne Ellen will alert me when she parts company with Acosta."

As usual, there was no problem accessing the house. Ranger was efficient and businesslike, and his calm matter-of-fact air enabled me to approach my task with functionality and calmness, although to a much lesser degree than him.

I didn't remember much about the house so I couldn't tell if there had been many changes in décor. It wasn't surprising that I had only a dim recollection of it. I had been focused on Rafael. In contrast, I could describe the suite he had off his office in detail. I remembered way more than I wanted to about that place.

Ranger pointed me in the direction of the bookcase that held the movie cassettes, and he left me to my job of pulling out the used cassettes and putting blank ones back in the boxes. By the time I was finished and had stuffed the recorded tapes into the backpack, he was standing by my side.

"I got eleven videos," I said. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Nothing useful," he said. "I wasn't expecting to find anything though. Are we done here?"

Surprised, I nodded my head. He was letting me take the lead despite my earlier meltdown. We left as uneventfully as we'd entered. As I got back into the passenger seat of the SUV I glanced at my watch. We were inside for less than five minutes. Five minutes that potentially solved my problem. I should feel like celebrating, but instead I was numb. The whole event seemed strangely anti-climactic. I'd had no upsurge of joy as Ranger relocked the door to Rafael's house, and the anxiety was still there, only buried a little deeper than before I had the tapes.

"What comes next won't be easy," Ranger said. "You'll have to look at the tapes and see if you've got yours."

"I don't know if I can," I said weakly. I barely recognized my own voice.

"Do you want me to find it?" he asked.

"No!"

"Then you're going to have to do it. I'll give you a space in my office on seven. You'll have privacy."

"Can I do it tomorrow?" I asked.

"You don't want to look tonight?"

"I'll do whatever I have to, but I…" I hesitated, looking for words. Right now, I felt safe in the knowledge that I'd taken away Rafael's bargaining tool. If I was to look and not find my tape, the disappointment might drive me over the edge. I wanted just a few hours of peace.

"Tomorrow is soon enough," Ranger said. I knew I hadn't spoken aloud, so here was proof. He could read my mind.

"Do you think these tapes are of women like me that he threatened?" I asked.

Ranger hesitated before he answered. I didn't like that hesitation.

"I do," he finally responded. "I think Acosta was probably using them to blackmail his victims. I'm hoping maybe we can identify some of the others, but I'll respect your privacy by letting you find your own tape first. I wouldn't be surprised to find out some of his partners are either women he took money from or are important to the men he cheated. It would be another way of keeping them quiet. It would be the reason no one stepped forward, even after his disappearance, and charged him with financial fraud."

"You think you'll recognize the others?"

"I'm thinking that the women weren't picked at random. As I said they might be women who were in a position of power and whose influence would have been useful to him, or who were connected to someone he could use. And I have copies of the information David had collected. He gave his father instructions on how to access the information and, unfortunately, Louis had to follow those instructions."

"Why did Rafael include me with the other women? I had no power or influence of any kind."

"You had a husband, soon to be ex-husband, who was with the DA's office. Maybe he thought he could use that connection. You told me it started because you were using him to get back at Dickie. Maybe he was using you for a similar reason."

I thought about that for the rest of the trip back to RangeMan. Ranger might be right. Maybe it was twofold. Rafael liked terrorizing women, and the tapes would have helped him in that regard…I mean it worked with me. And then maybe when he needed some political clout, he could threaten the women again, or show the tapes to their husbands and threaten them. My feeling of déjà vu was back. There was another potential reason he might have chosen me, but the thought of it was so scary I couldn't wrap my mind around it, let alone verbalize it.

When we entered his apartment Ranger took the backpack from me and went into his small office off his bedroom. I stood in the living room awkwardly feeling like a party crasher. I had been invited, or maybe commanded, to come and be prepared to stay, but I wasn't sure what Ranger was expecting from me.

Time to put on my big girl panties and ask Ranger what I was doing in his space. The thought of big girl panties made me remember the pile of clothes Ranger had dumped from the backpack onto his bed earlier. I went into the bedroom looking for my clothes and at the same time looking for the courage to ask Ranger what game he was playing.

My clothes were gone.

"Your clothes are in the dressing room. Ella must have seen them when she came up to clear away our dinner dishes."

I went into the dressing room and saw for myself. My clothes were hanging near the door and my lingerie was folded neatly and stacked on a nearby shelf. It looked as if my shirts had been pressed.

"This is crazy," I said. "Does she work around the clock? How did she manage to get all this done in the short time we were gone?"

"I spoke with Louis earlier today and he said since Acosta has come back to town she's been on edge and not sleeping well," Ranger said. "She's been working late into the night. Tank caught her cleaning the break room at midnight yesterday."

"Is it worse because he's come back?" I asked.

"Yes. When he was in Mexico there was nothing that could be done. Now that he's back she feels urgently the need to find proof that he killed David. Her urgency translates to me. They want him formally charged with the murder of their son and I want to be able to have that happen for them."

Suddenly it was the elephant in the room. Ranger wanted me to help him. I wanted to forget I ever knew Rafael and I didn't see how I could help him. Now I had to wonder if he was being kind in helping me get the videotapes, or if it was just another part of a plan to make me feel indebted to him so that I would help.

"What am I doing here, Ranger? You said you wanted me to spend a few days here. I came because I needed your help to accomplish what I thought would be an impossible task. But you made it very possible and now I probably have the tape. Or at least one copy of it."

"I doubt more than one copy exists. His recording system is archaic. I didn't see any of the equipment it would take to convert them to digital files. I think if you have your tape, you are safe on that score."

"If I'm safe, why am I here?" I asked again.

He came to me and pulled me against him. I felt his lips graze the hair at my temple. "You're here because I think you may be the only one who can connect Acosta to the murder of David Guzman. If Acosta figures that out before you do, he'll come after you."

He was saying I was here for my safety. He was protecting me. I remembered his coldness in the early morning after we'd been together. He had been in a hurry to get me out of his place. I thought he'd used me. But last night he'd held me and tenderly let me pour out my story of Rafael's abuse to him. Had that just been another aspect of his trying to get me to help him? I didn't believe that. I couldn't believe that. I knew he cared for me, but I had to ask.

"Would it be better if I stayed in an apartment on four? I wouldn't be in your way."

He pulled away from me and stared so intently at me I dropped my gaze to the floor. "Do you want to stay on four?" he asked.

"No," I whispered.

"Then stay here. You are free to use my apartment, but…" Ranger had hesitated several times tonight like he was looking for just the right words. This hesitation was the longest. "I won't be making love with you."

My mouth dropped open in dismayed surprise. After I'd been with Rafael, I'd felt dirty and used. I knew my telling Ranger would have consequences. Was I seeing them now?

"Be-because after I told you about Rafael and what he did to me you don't want me anymore?"

Ranger stared at me for a moment before he reached out and buried his hands in my hair. Pulling me forward he tilted my head and leaned in close. His mouth covered mine and he thrust his tongue into my mouth. This was no sweet kiss that started out gentle and warmed up. This was a full-fledged attack. His tongue explored every surface of my mouth and tongue, and I tried to reciprocate. The kiss went on and on and on. My hands slid around his head, and I laced my fingers through his hair pulling him even closer into me. Our noses rubbed as we repositioned trying to get deeper access to one another's mouths. It was a kiss like none other we'd shared. The urgency, the need, the longing was palpable.

Finally, when we broke apart for air, he took my hand and ran it down the length of his abdomen and settled it low between his legs. I could feel every inch of his arousal, and he shuddered as I closed my hand over him. Abruptly, he took my hand and pulled it away, holding it firmly at his waist.

"Don't tell me I don't want you," he said. His pupils were dilated and his voice low and gravelly.

"I could have you naked and under me in seconds, Babe, and we both know it. But I won't do it. I've told you I'm an opportunist and to some degree that's true, but I won't take advantage of you when you are reeling with the trauma inflicted on you by that murdering son of a bitch."

I opened my mouth to protest but before I could he put a finger against my lips, silencing me.

"You had a panic attack tonight. I've never seen you so out of control and I've seen you in a lot of bad situations. You need to take some time to process this. When we next come together it will be because you want me and not because you need comfort from your fear."

He stepped away from me and ran his hands through his hair the way I'd seen Morelli do many times. I'd never seen Ranger do it.

"I want to kill him," he said softly, "but I'm completely powerless in this situation because of the promise I made to David's parents to see Acosta arrested for their son's murder. Stay here, Babe, with me. I won't make love to you, but don't ever tell me I don't want you."

He left the room and in a very un-Ranger fashion I heard the door to the apartment slam. Ranger had just lost his famous control. I was stunned at his words but found slight consolation in them as well, because he'd called the thing that happened between us making love.