Chapter 22

I woke cocooned and warm in Ranger's bed, but I had one hell of a headache, ached all over and to be honest felt like shit. Not just physically but in my head as well. Memories came back to me of being at Joe's grave and how seeing those photos of him among the wreaths surrounding me jolted the visions from my dreams. Only they weren't just dreams, they were images that my mind had hidden away from me, images of what had actually happened. Being shot at was something that I could probably cope with better, that was how screwed up I felt. Adding to that was Ranger. I had no idea where I stood with him, no that was wrong. He had been the best friend that I had needed and had done everything to support me and had never intimated anything different.

Maybe that was just adding to how I felt. I'd made a total fool out of myself last night. I knew that what Ranger had said was the right thing to do but I just felt as though he was taking charge and dictating to me what I should do. I suppose it was the final straw that broke me, which was why I felt so helpless.

I knew without having to look in a mirror that I would look a mess. Thank God I hadn't worn any makeup because the way my eyes felt I was sure they were red and puffy, along with my nose. My hair, well, going to sleep with it wet was a recipe for disaster, for my curls to have exploded into a life of their own. I hated to think what Ranger would think when he looked at me. Maybe he saw me as this scruffy mongrel that he needed to take care of? Thinking of Ranger, I felt as his hand was slowly running down from my head to my arm and back again. Why was it that he put up with me and everything that I brought with me? How on earth could a man like him need someone like me or was I back to being that scruffy mongrel? Someone who he had developed a very strong need to protect.

"How about I run you a bath and then I'll make us some breakfast?"

I sighed knowing that he was aware that I was awake, there was no use in pretending to be asleep because somehow, he always knew when I woke up.

"Sounds good. Thank you"

A thank you for thinking of the bath and breakfast but also a thank you for putting up with my outburst and falling apart.

"No price"

Came back to me as he carefully removed his arm and body from under me. As I heard the rush of water filling up the tub I sat up and rubbed my face and tried to flatten down my hair. That I was wearing one of Ranger's T-shirts didn't surprise me, I must have been totally out of it after my melt down in the conference room. I wandered into the bathroom inhaling the smell of vanilla and watching as the bubbles formed on the top of the water before stopping the water before it filled up too much. Undressing I stepped into the hot soapy water and had to admit that the feel of the hot water around me did help me to relax.

When the water began to go cold, I moved to the shower and rinsed my hair before daring to look in the mirror. Okay my reflection looked better than I thought it would, so back in the bedroom I found a Rangeman uniform to dress in, after all I wouldn't be going anywhere today. Once in the kitchen I found that I wasn't overly hungry and only took one slice of toast. The bath had relaxed me physically but mentally I still felt as though I was in the middle of a storm. There was so much going on in my head that I had no idea where to start.

"Babe"

Brought me out of my thoughts, though I wasn't sure what he was expecting from me. Oh yeah, maybe to remind me not to leave the building. I didn't even want to look at him because I wasn't too sure how close to losing it I was.

"I'm sorry, Babe. After what happened at the cemetery all I could think about was keeping you safe. I wasn't a very good friend to you because I ignored what you'd said to me and didn't see how upset you were"

After a quick look at Ranger and seeing how serious he was I wasn't sure what to say. He'd surprised me with what he'd said so I said nothing, looking down at my plate and the uneaten toast.

"Babe. I was hearing what you said after we left the graveside, but I need for you to talk me through what it was that got you so upset. Help me to understand"

As he said that I felt him take my hand in both of his. I knew that I was close to tears because it seemed that he genuinely wanted to hear what it was that had me breaking down as I left Joe's grave. Hell, what a pair we made. He was trying to cope with the repercussions of there being gunfire close to me and the inevitable stress that had caused him personally and I was trying to cope with the revelations that had hit me.

"I'm not sure where to start"

"The beginning Babe"

I brought my other hand to hold onto his, feeling that I needed to hold onto him while I tried to recount what I now knew happened to me.

"The bank, I went to the bank to move some money into a savings account. I thought that I was being sensible, you know have something for when times were hard. Who but me would end up in the middle of a robbery"

I tried to make light of it but it seemed that Ranger wasn't going to let me get away with that.

"You had a good idea, and it wasn't your fault that someone decided to rob the place"

"I know. Anyway, Mandy was busy with another customer when the men came in. They were wearing balaclavas and black coveralls and threatened us with shotguns. I was hoping that as soon as they had their money that they'd just leave"

Now that I thought about it that had never been their intention. They had always planned to take us with them otherwise they wouldn't have been so prepared with the vests and cars.

"Babe, I know that they made you wear explosives, so I think they intended to take hostages with them. What I don't understand is why they kept you"

"I couldn't remember anything after being in that car but seeing Joe's face on all of those pictures just looking at me, it bombarded me. The dreams, they were memories that I'd locked away. I can remember waking up in a damp, smelly room with just a mattress on the floor. I was so scared"

At that point Ranger stood up with me and held me as he walked over to the couch. I was shaking seeing that place in my mind, so was thankful of being held. I needed to talk through my experience so was going to do just that.

"Two men would come into the room. At first, they wanted to know everything that I could remember about being in the bank. I thought that maybe they were worried that I'd recognized them, but I hadn't. Then they wanted to know what the old man had said to me. Just questions at first that I answered truthfully. He was an old man who seemed to be ill, so I'd tried to help him to calm down. They didn't like my answers so when they came back, that was when they started to, started to hit me"

I felt Ranger's arm come around me, but it was as though I could still feel and hear what happened.

"Tell me what you know, was what they said, and they'd stop hurting me, but I didn't know what they wanted"

"Oh Babe, I'm so sorry that no one could find you. Was it them who caused the injuries?"

I nodded my head because I knew that they'd repeatedly punched me in the ribs and twisted my arm behind my back. I seem to remember one punch being so hard that I was knocked over and banged my head on the wall.

"I just assumed that Joe took advantage of me being injured and him taking me to his house was a ploy to get me back. I was so pissed at him for doing that. Then last night, seeing those photos of him just looking at me had me remembering some of the things that he'd said to me when I was feeling so ill. He called me a good girl and asked me to tell him what he needed to know"

I felt Ranger tense next to me so knew that he was now understanding why I'd been so hysterical at the cemetery.

"Are you thinking that he was after the same information as the robbers?"

I nodded my head, but I was still unsure why Joe would go to such extreme lengths.

"You know what bothered me, he had my bag at his house. I never gave it a second thought. But why would he have my bag when it had been left in the bank along with my jacket"

Had Joe removed my apartment keys? Shit, that was why I was so confused. That he was dead was actually annoying because I wanted to scream and shout at him and get some answers.

"Babe. Did Morelli hurt you?"

Did he? I didn't think so. I was aware that he groped me when he'd kissed me but was that part of his ploy, to make me feel safe and let down my defenses.

"No, not like that. I can remember him kissing me and groping me"

I said with a sigh hoping like hell that Ranger would remain calm about it. The stupid thing was that Joe was already dead so Ranger wouldn't be able to vent any anger toward him.

"So the package. Do you think that was what they were after?"

It made sense. It also had me wondering why those men had let Sullivan go. Or had they? Had he actually died on them, and they'd moved his body to make it look as it was, an accident. Though come to think of it that news report never did say how he'd died.

"Yes. I also think that the man was Silas Sullivan, but I can't find out anything about him or anything in that damn package. I think that I just want to forget that it happened"

Yeah, denial was definitely the way to go. I relished the feel of Ranger holding me and strange as it sounded, I actually felt better for having told Ranger. I was sure that he was probably annoyed for what had happened to me, especially as he hadn't been around, but it was over now. It was time to get the rest of my life sorted out.

True to his word Ranger didn't leave the building either, spending his time doing paperwork in his office. Me, I needed to get my mind off what I'd spoken to Ranger about. It didn't quite work out that way though because Sullivan and what he supposedly had, was still bugging me. So I spent time going through the search on Sullivan and re reading that book. Not that it did me any good because I still couldn't work out what the book was saying or what Sullivan had been up to for the last 20 years. I even went back to the newspaper article and on a whim made a note of the journalist who had written the article. Why would they have thought to have written about him and how had he actually died? Had he been released before me by those men, but why didn't anyone know? Could the journalist have known him?

I was interrupted when Les walked in with a list of my past FTAs that spanned over the last five years. I was thankful that next to the list he'd added their current whereabouts so at least that information reduced the possible number who might be annoyed with me. Some were in prison; odd ones had died and others had moved away from Trenton but it left me with enough that needed looking at. I just couldn't see it being one of them. Normally if a skip was annoyed with me, they'd try something when I was looking for them. That was what I was doing when my stomach began to rumble meaning that it was time to take a break.

Lunch, well I was surprised when Ranger appeared at my door just before midday.

"I've asked Ella to set up some lunch for us, Hector's joining us because I think that he picked up something off the streets last night"

That had my attention, and it also fed my curiosity as to where Hector had disappeared to the evening before. Hector must have been watching for us to go up in the elevator because as the doors slid open, he was coming out of the stairwell door. Ella had left three bowls of nachos for us, which looked delicious and tasted even better. There wasn't a shred of meat in sight, but the mix of the guacamole, salsa, sour cream, olives and onions in a hot sauce made up for that. We sat at the dining table with water and food in front of us, all of us wanting to start on our meal before any talking. After Hector had devoured over half of his nachos, I think he appreciated the change in menu, that was when he started to give us an update of what he'd come across.

"I spoke to some of my snitches around town and a couple of them remember being approached by an older man who was asking questions about Estefania"

That had me focusing on Hector instead of my food because the idea of an older man asking about me was confusing. Did I know any older men? Maybe. I suppose some of my past FTAs had been elderly, but I was pretty sure that none of them would be holding a grudge, would they?

"What information were they after?"

Yeah, I was interested in that but also what else these informants knew.

"Where she was. They thought that he was dressed in expensive clothes, long rain jacket and hat. What's interesting was that they both said that he spoke with a foreign accent"

That bore absolutely no resemblance to any of the old men that I'd taken in. Any that I could remember were Trenton born and bred and certainly didn't dress in expensive clothes, hell, most of them didn't dress in any clothes at all. I looked at Ranger wondering if this person had something to do with him, though from his expression he seemed as surprised as I was. I was thankful for that because I really didn't want that man to be after me because of Ranger. Wasn't that one of the reasons that he'd used as to why a relationship between us could never happen? Though to be honest just about everyone in Trenton would associate me with Ranger. On Stark Street he'd put the word out that I was his woman to deter anyone from causing me any trouble and Scrogg obviously got the memo from somewhere.

I shrugged my shoulders to convey to both men that I had no idea who it could be and went back to finishing my nachos.

"My contacts will keep an eye out for him and let me know if they see him again"

That seemed to appease Ranger and no more was said as we each cleared our empty bowls to the kitchen. Hector disappeared leaving Ranger and I to clear away. I felt a bit tense, what with our conversation this morning and then Hector's news, but it was as I was returning the washed items to the cupboard that Ranger suggested something for us to do.

"How about I do some work with you in the gym?"

I looked at Ranger and am sure that I frowned because he was quick to qualify what wouldn't be happening.

"No running, I promise"

I knew that my arm was getting stronger because I'd been doing the exercises that Bobby had shown me. Yeah me, come on squeezing a soft ball or rotating and lifting my arm I could do in my sleep now. I nodded my head and disappeared to get changed surprised that Ranger was still in his Rangeman uniform.

"I have some gear downstairs in the locker room"

Maybe he was receiving my ESP and knew how I was feeling. While he changed, I went through my warmup schedule, including the rope and ball. To me it was just as good as running or being on the treadmill. When he eventually came out of the locker room I was surprised when he led me over to the punching bag and then pushed a leather glove onto my right hand and fastened the laces.

"Just use your right hand to punch with because that's what you'll do instinctively, with your left arm being used for balance"

I let Ranger position me in front of the bag and then waited for his instructions. I had some idea of what to do because at the gym sessions that I'd been to we'd been shown some basic hits. That was where I'd learnt the punch that I'd taken Rourke down with.

"Show me what you can do"

I stood how I'd been taught, with my feet shoulder-width apart, and my front foot facing the punching bag. As I used my right arm, my left arm was held high, at chin height. I delivered a couple of powerful, well powerful for me, snappy punches straightening my arm as I made contact with the bag. Then I stood back and looked at Ranger waiting for him to say something.

"A good start Babe, make your fist tight enough that it won't give when it hits the target, but not so tight that your arm shakes and you cut off blood flow to your hand"

I repeated punching the bag a few more times, allowing Ranger to move the position of my feet or how I straightened my arm just before contact but then was surprised when he started to unlace the gloves. I was ready to do far more punching.

"You won't be wearing gloves out on the street so let's see how you manage without. Remember the gloves protect your hand so don't hit the bag as hard or you'll have very sore knuckles. When you hit your target, you want to strike with the first two knuckles, not that flat front part of your fist or the smaller knuckles on your ring or pinky fingers. You should also try to keep all the bones in your forearm, down to your knuckles, in alignment"

Ranger held my arm and hand against the bag to demonstrate how to actually make contact and then I was going through the whole move in slow motion. Well, that was how it started. After, I'm not sure how many punches I threw, I was so lost in the sensation of hitting the bag that it took Ranger actually wrapping his arms around me, locking my arms to my side, to make me stop. Me being me, I thought his move was all part of my training and I instinctively dropped my weight. That had the effect of him letting me go so I stepped forward and moved out of his way.

"Did Brown teach you that?"

I nodded my head not sure if him holding me had been to test how well I could get out of hold. Of course, that had him holding me from behind in different holds and expecting me to free myself. I knew that he wasn't holding me with a super strong grip, but I still felt elated when I used the techniques that Bobby had taught me and managed to escape. I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to escape from someone with Ranger's strength and skills so hoped that I would never find myself in that position. What he did show me were some dirty tricks that might help. Like using my head to hit their nose or face, my elbows in the gut and my feet to stomp on theirs.

It was when I noticed some of the men coming into the gym that I looked at the clock and realized that we'd been at it for two hours. I was hot and sweaty but had to admit that I felt good with myself, not as down as I had been.

"You've learnt a lot, Babe. Maybe next time we can move onto kicks"

I took the towel that Ranger handed to me and together we walked toward the door. To be honest I was glad that we'd finished the session because I didn't like the idea of the men watching.

"I want to spar with some of the guys, so I'll see you on five"

As Ranger turned toward Binkie I stopped at the door because I was both interested in how they would fight but at the same time I was concerned about Ranger's recent injury. Ranger removing his shirt emphasized the wound so I was hopeful that Binkie would avoid hitting him there. I don't know why I was so worried. The way that Ranger moved, dodged and turned, didn't give Binkie an opportunity of hitting him there. I was transfixed with just watching them, the way their movement was like a dance, when I heard someone say my name from behind me.

"Steph"

Turning I saw Bobby stood a few feet away from me but when he knew that I'd seen him he moved to my side.

"The skill is in the movement of the body. You'll be doing that soon enough"

Yeah right. I didn't say that to Bobby but instead walked to the door. I needed a shower and then should check to see if there were any files for me. I'd missed going to the bonds office yesterday but maybe Cal had been there and picked them up. Once showered and changed and back in my office I noticed one new file that had been left on my desk. I spent the next couple of hours doing research on that, finding it pretty straight forward at identifying where the man might be and when.

Leroy had been arrested yet again for possession with the intent to sell, only the stuff that he was selling had been cut with some pretty nasty stuff. Leroy wasn't very smart, and I'd had the pleasure of bringing him in a few years ago when his bond was pretty low. Leroy always tried to sell his drugs to teenagers and as he'd been caught by the police outside the high school then I knew that he'd revert to the café where the older kids hung out. I wrote down the two cafes where he was likely to be and the time, then with the folder went from my office to Les's. The door was open and when I looked inside Les was just taking his vest and jacket off.

"Beautiful. Just got back from taking our gang member into the station. He had no idea that he'd been made so that capture went down without incident"

I was pleased about that but the way that Les said it had me worrying. He was also looking for Gosblock and I'd suggested the old park as a possible location so had something happened there?

"Gosblock?"

I tentatively asked, dreading what Les might say.

"Brought him in this morning. That was a good call Beautiful, but he was like a rat in a maze. He knew the area really well, so it was difficult keeping track of him. He ended up at the top of an old Ferris wheel which he refused to move from. No way were we climbing up, so we made out that we were leaving the area but had eyes on him for when he came down. Stupid bugger slipped and fell so he's at the hospital with a broken leg. Once he's released, we'll book him in at the station"

I could cope with Gosblock getting hurt because he was a nasty piece of work, and I was sure that his behavior was escalating. I extended my hand with the file on Leroy in it for Les to take and was surprised when he looked from the file to me then back to the file.

"Beautiful, you're finding them faster than we can bring them in"

I shrugged my shoulders and then placed the file on his desk.

"Beautiful, you've already helped with finding that sniper for the FBI, so how do you fancy taking a look at their most wanted. It's an open contract with no fixed dates. To be honest some of the people on that list have been on it for years so there's no pressure to find them quickly. When we find them, we contact the FBI to get the authorization to bring them in. The rewards are really big"

I opened my mouth to say that I wouldn't be able to find them but then rethought what I was going to say. I'd always been able to track down my skips and seemed to have done okay so far with the higher bonds for Rangeman so what harm could it do?

"Okay. I can have a look and see who I think might be doable. I can pick it up and put it down when Rangeman bonds come in"

It was an interesting idea to think about. I was pretty sure that these people must be quite dangerous if they were on the most wanted list and that there were probably a lot of other companies looking for them as well. In some ways there was less pressure to find someone, but they wouldn't be easy to track down and could literally be anywhere.

Yeah, I quite liked the challenge that doing that would bring. I watched as Les read through the notes that I'd made on Leroy and as he smiled, no doubt surprised that I would know where the man would be. I'd brought in a lot of skips over the years which made me wonder how many of those had moved from being a low bond up to a higher bond. Maybe I should have been more organized and kept notes or files on each of those skips.

I'd left Les's office as those things went through my mind and I realized that even though I'd been inside the building all day I'd kept myself busy and actually felt okay about it. How long that would last for I wasn't sure.