Chapter 11

I sat on Ranger's bed rethinking everything that had happened that evening. Over and over, I tried to figure out why Ranger thought I might be in danger from Rafael. I knew why I thought I was in danger, but hopefully I'd eliminated that threat earlier in the evening. Ranger thought there was something more, some other information that I knew that would put me in danger. Ranger was wrong. He wasn't usually wrong, but he was way off base this time. I had no knowledge that would convict Rafael Acosta of David Guzman's murder.

I looked at my backpack resting against the door into Ranger's den. It wasn't really a den, just a small room with a desk, computer and printer. There was an easy chair in the corner, but it looked as though it had never been sat in. A movement on the other side of the room caught my eye. Ranger was back. He was standing in the doorway to his bedroom with a small black box in his hand.

I put my hand to my heart. "You startled me," I said. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I stood and watched you for a few seconds," he said. "You seemed miles away."

"Not miles," I said. "Maybe years away. Rethinking things I don't like to think about. Ranger, I know nothing that could help with your investigation."

"You can connect David's missing briefcase to Acosta," Ranger said. "I showed you the video footage and you said you recognized the briefcase. You'd seen it in Acosta's office. The briefcase was David's and Acosta had it in his possession two days after David's death."

Here we were, me sitting on his bed and Ranger standing in the doorway having a mostly normal conversation as though the earlier kissing kerfuffle had never happened.

"Rafael has no idea I've seen that video," I said. "He has no idea I know you. He doesn't know you and he has no idea you're investigating him. I can't see why I'd be in danger, unless…"

"At some point I will put pressure on him. I'll tell him the surveillance videotape exists and I'll tell him I have a witness who can place the briefcase in his possession. I won't tell him it was you, but he'll figure it out. I want you to be unavailable to him when that happens."

"You're going to come face to face with him and tell him?"

"Unless we come up with a better plan, yes. I want him to know he's not gotten away free and clear. I want to pressure him to see what he does. He'll make a mistake at some point and maybe we can get enough evidence to turn over to the police."

Ranger was right after all. I could make a connection between Rafael and the briefcase. It was the last time I had been with Rafael. He'd been in a foul mood, and I was frightened. Being humiliated, being coerced to perform sexual acts that were abhorrent to me and letting him have his way when I longed to scream "No!" had changed me. Even after he left the room to deal with his unexpected visitor, I cowered in the corner waiting for him to come back and finish what he'd started.

I was in full-blown victim mode. The briefcase had been left in the room with me. It hadn't occurred to me to look through it. I was eavesdropping on the bits of conversation I could hear from the office wondering how long it would be until Rafael returned. It was when the conversation turned argumentative, I realized I should leave. Rafael hadn't been in a good mood before, and I was terrified of what would happen if he got in a fight with the man in the office and then came back to me.

I pulled my clothes back on and made my way out the side door into the hall and straight to the stairwell. I never once considered taking time to investigate the contents of Rafael's briefcase. Why would I?

When I made it down the stairs to the lobby, I found the door locked. I ran back up one flight of stairs and found that door to be locked as well. Panic bloomed. I was sure Rafael would find me and there'd be hell to pay. I went up another flight of stairs, and another. Finally, on the fifth floor I'd been able to exit the stairwell and find the elevator. When the elevator door opened to an empty car, my knees buckled with relief. I had been afraid Rafael would be there waiting on me. It was illogical, but my fear of him had robbed me of logical thought. I quickly got in and made my way to the ground floor and out the door.

Rafael caught up with me as I exited the building. He must have taken the other elevator car to catch me so quickly. The incident outside the building had been recorded on the security videotape. He was angry but didn't try to pull me back inside. He kissed me so hard I was left with blood on my bottom lip. He told me to enjoy my moment of freedom and that he would call me back soon. I left feeling lucky to be going and filled with dread because there would be a next time.

Had it been David Guzman Rafael was arguing with? How long had I been out of the office until Rafael caught up with me? Could he have killed David in that length of time? I tried to remember the details of David Guzman's murder. I hadn't paid that much attention at the time, even when it was rumored Rafael was somehow involved. Not only had I been in full victim mode, but I was also in full-denial mode.

"Babe." Ranger's softly uttered endearment pulled me back to the present. I looked up at him wondering if he had an idea where my mind had gone. Apparently he did, and his next words confirmed it.

"There was another videotape, prior to the part you saw. It's unclear but it looks as though David entered the building about fifteen minutes before you exited. Did you see him?"

"No," I said. "I didn't see anyone. I've never seen David Guzman that I know of. There…" I hesitated, "there was someone who entered Rafael's office that night. Rafael left me to go and speak with him. It sounded as though they were arguing, but I couldn't hear any detail, and then it occurred to me that I could make an escape."

Ranger's brows drew together at my choice of words. "I meant, I could leave without, uh, finishing what we had started," I said.

"You couldn't leave of your own free will?" Ranger asked. "You needed to escape?"

I whispered my answer. "No. I told you how it was. I had to endure what he did." The tears came unexpectedly coursing down my cheeks and Ranger slid the black box onto the nightstand and sat next to me on the bed. He pulled me into a tight embrace and I buried my face in his chest as I kept talking.

"I got dressed and ran from the room through the side door to the stairwell and eventually out of the building."

"You said he called you Stephanie Plum when you bumped into him at the courthouse," Ranger said. "I think it's possible Acosta has been keeping tabs on you. You had opportunity to search his briefcase and, even if you didn't, you did know that he was arguing with someone. You can make a link between Acosta and David. Yes, Stephanie. I think Rafael Acosta could pose a threat to you, even now that you've taken back the videotape. He killed to protect himself from being caught embezzling. He'll kill again to remove the threat of being indicted for murder."

All this time I had been worried about my x-rated videotape going public. The real threat was not to my reputation or the reputation of my family, but to my life. I'd thought I would die of shame and humiliation, but the truth is I might actually die.

"I sent Vince to Connie to free up some of your time," Ranger said. "I've told Tank that you will be here working with me to gather information on Acosta. He has no real idea of your involvement. No one has, except me."

"So, you've sent Vince to take over my job, and you plan on keeping me here until Rafael can be arrested, but you can't arrest him without proof which I might or might not have. Is that accurate? I feel like a prisoner." I sounded like a petulant child, but I couldn't help myself.

"You're not in prison." Ranger's tone was even. If I was testing his patience it wasn't showing. "You can come and go as you please. I don't want him coming to see you at your apartment. He's methodical and logical and I don't think he will act precipitously, but I want to limit his opportunity to act."

He leaned in and kissed the tears from my cheeks. He kissed my mouth softly, and I could taste the salt of my tears on his mouth. With his arms around me, he lowered us to lie on the bed side-by-side. He continued to trail kisses along my face, down my neck and once again centering them on my mouth. These weren't sexy, lovemaking kisses. He'd made it clear there would be none of that. They were comfort kisses and somehow, he'd melted the tension coiled so tightly inside me.

"Tomorrow," he said softly. "We will revisit all this tomorrow. I have work to do downstairs. Go to sleep and we'll start fresh in the morning."

He was off the bed and out of the room in one smooth motion. This time there was a soft click of the door to his apartment. He was giving me a reprieve. There was nothing he had to do on five that he couldn't have done in the office off his bedroom.

I did as he said. I availed myself of his shower, his shower gel and a fresh RangeMan t-shirt and snuggled myself between his 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, which I was sure had been pressed by Ella, and went to sleep.

I slept deeply and dreamlessly. When I awoke in the morning, I was alone in bed. There was a dent in Ranger's pillow, so I thought I probably hadn't spent the night alone. The clock at the bedside read 6:00 a.m. Too early for me. I grabbed Ranger's pillow and inhaled the faint scent of Bulgari. And I went back to sleep.

I came awake suddenly as the covers were ripped off me. Ranger was standing at the end of the bed.

"Wh-what?" I asked, confused at the sudden intrusion.

"Time to rise and shine," he said. "Ella came to find me because she thought you might be ill."

"Ella?" I wasn't completely awake yet and I was having trouble following the conversation.

"It's past ten. She knocked on the door and when there was no answer she came in to clean. She found you sleeping and was concerned you might be ill."

"Oh," I said. "No, I'm not ill."

"You have ten minutes until she's back up here," Ranger said. "After she's finished, call me and I'll come back up. I have a video player in my office which is connected to the computer if you want to digitize the tapes. I'll give you a brief tutorial."

"I, uh, I wasn't planning on watching them right away. I need to run, and I was going to go by the bonds office."

"You can run on the treadmill in the gym while Ella is cleaning."

I sat up in bed and realized the t-shirt had ridden up during the night. I looked at Ranger to see he had realized it, too. I tugged at the shirt and covered myself a little better, but still felt a blush creeping up my cheeks.

"You're in my bed, in my shirt, where you slept next to me all night, without underwear. It's a little late for modesty." His lips curled into an almost smile. "Get up. Don't keep Ella waiting any longer."

"I want to go by the bonds office and check on things, and then I want to run in the park, not on a treadmill. And I can help Ella clean." It was an easy offer to make since his apartment before cleaning was way better than mine after cleaning.

"There is no need to help Ella," Ranger said. "It's her job and she needs to be busy. Go take care of your business. Run where you please, but be aware of your surroundings. You can take the Macan. When you come back, come to my office and I'll come back up here and show you the video setup. You can't procrastinate too long. We need to know if we actually have your tape. If not, we'll have to revert to plan B."

"What's plan B?" I asked.

"We don't have one." He turned and left the bedroom and a few seconds later the electric charge left the air and all my goose-pimply flesh smoothed out. Ranger had left the apartment.

I hopped from bed and went to the dressing room where I put on a soft blue t-shirt and pair of jeans. I looked down and, yep, the shirt was wrinkle free and the jeans had a crease. Ella had not only sorted the messy pile of clothes from the bed last night, but she had also ironed them.

At once I thought of my mother who ironed her stresses away. Ranger had said Ella was going through a rough spot and I wondered if my pristine clothing was a sign of that. I got my answer a few minutes later when I answered the knock on the door.

I remembered the day I first met Ella. I'd noticed immediately her bright friendly eyes and her air of barely contained energy and her curiosity at Ranger's having an overnight female guest. Today, it was a different Ella who came into Ranger's apartment.

Her smile was sincere, but her eyes were sad. Or maybe I just thought they were sad because I knew what she'd been through. She moved with a slowness that made me wonder if she was ill, if it was something other than Rafael's return that was affecting her. I couldn't ask her, but I was concerned.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you earlier," she said to me. "I thought when I saw you so deeply asleep that you must be ill."

"No," I said. "I'm not sick and you didn't bother me. I didn't even know you were here." I shot her a grin and was rewarded with a smile from her. "I was procrastinating. Or at least that's what Ranger thinks. I have an unpleasant task to do, and he's right. I was putting it off and I'm going to put it off for a little longer. Can I help you do what needs to be done in this apartment?" I asked despite Ranger's warning.

She shook her head. "Oh, no, dear. I'm just going to change the sheets and do a quick dusting and kitchen clean today. I have a schedule I like to keep."

"You said you thought I might be ill, but I'm wondering if you are feeling okay. You seem to be moving a little slow."

Her eyes filled with tears. Crappity, crap, crap, crap. Way to go Stephanie. "I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to offend."

"Oh Stephanie, dear, you didn't. I am feeling a little under the weather today. Have you ever had one bad day after another until you forget things will get better?"

"Yes, ma'am, I have. But they do get better."

"That's what my husband tells me. It's just that I'm not sleeping well these days."

"Then let me take care of what needs to be done here," I said. "You can take a break."

"Nonsense. This is my job and work takes my mind off my worries. You go on and do whatever you have planned. I'll make short work of this place. And I brought a special treat for Rex. I have some organic carrots for him."

I laughed. "You take care of everything, Ella. Rex will get spoiled staying here."

I left her to her cleaning and slipped into Ranger's den. I saw the black box that I now recognized as a VCR player next to his laptop. I couldn't control the full body shudder at the thought I was going to have to watch myself have sex with Rafael, that is if we were lucky enough to get the right tape. Then there was another shudder when I thought what it would mean if we didn't have it. My backpack containing the contraband video tapes had been shoved under the desk, waiting for me to begin. It would have to wait a little longer. No way could I watch the videos with Ella in the apartment.

I'd told Ranger I was going running and that's what I decided to do. I went into the dressing room and changed my jeans for sweatpants, put on my running shoes and went to find Ella to tell her goodbye.