Chapter Twelve

Jeanne Ellen POV

After Steph went to bed, Tank and I had our usual cup of cocoa together while we ran over our day. This was a nice tradition we used as a way to wind down from our busy, and sometimes difficult, days and spend some time together.

"I can check with Sebring in the morning to see if I have any new files, but if not, I am free to help with the investigation into The Dick," I said as he slid my cup of cocoa in front of me.

"That'd be a big help, Baby. I don't want to pull too many Rangeman resources if I can help it, that's why I told Steph I'd do it myself," he replied.

"Okay. Well, I'll let you know if I get any FTAs, otherwise I'm at your disposal."

He shot me a wolfish grin. "At my disposal, are you? I like the sound of that."

I rolled my eyes. "You're a horndog."

He let out one of his big, booming laughs. "Yes, but I'm your horndog, Baby."

"Besides, I'd like it if tonight, you were at my disposal," I said with a wink at my husband.

"You know my policy."

"Yes, yes. I can drive in your bed, not your car. Even though my car is nicer than your car. And your bed is also my bed."

He finished his cocoa. "Speaking of bed, are you about done, there?"

I brought the cup to my lips slowly and batted my eyelashes over the rim. I let out a low humming noise while I took a tiny sip. "Not quite, Lover." I took another tiny sip. "This is just such a big cup, it might be ages before I finish."

He growled at me and I laughed. I tilted the cup further and downed it all, then set it down on the counter. He watched my every move, and when my hand had cleared the cup's handle, he pounced. Pulling me flush with one arm snaking around my back, he tilted my head up with his other hand and kissed me, immediately deepening the kiss until I moaned a little in his mouth. He broke off the kiss, panting, and picked me up bridal-style and hurried me out of the kitchen, flicking all the lights off as we passed each switch on our way to our bedroom.

We only got a few hours sleep that night, and the next morning when I stretched lazily in bed, I smiled as I felt the slight achiness from my well-used muscles. I got up and ready, dressed in my standard workout clothes. I made my way to the basement where we had a treadmill, a rack with free weights and a couple of other pieces of gym equipment. Tank mostly preferred to work out at Rangeman, but the home gym had come in handy for him a few times. I used the room at least four times a week, whenever I needed to move my body and keep fit.

After about ninety minutes of working out, I had a long shower before calling the Sebring bond office. They had no new files for me, so I decided to dress in 'suburban soccer mom,' which should be a good disguise if I was headed to Greenwich to stake out Mrs. Orr, the sequel.

I called Tank at Rangeman, since he had gone in early due to a breach at a client's office and let him know I was free today. I suggested that I head to Greenwich, Connecticut, to do some digging into Debra Orr, and he agreed. I checked my watch and determined I'd probably see Steph and the Squirt appear in the kitchen about fifteen minutes, so I went to the kitchen to make Squirt some oatmeal and slice some oranges.

Over our breakfast, Steph and I worked out a plan for the day. I was going to go to Greenwich this morning to do some reconnaissance on Debra Orr, and then I'd meet her at Rangeman at one o'clock to have lunch with her and Tank, give them any information I'd managed to get, and then I'd take the Squirt home with me. Steph would work until the evening, and then she'd be home before Zoë's bedtime.

With our plans made, I set out for the day. Two hours later, I was coming to a stop a couple of doors down from the address Tank gave me. Steph and I had looked it up online, but the pictures didn't do it justice. It was a large Colonial Revival that looked a lot like the house from that movie Father of the Bride. I watched the house and found my thoughts drifting to the lady of the manor. Did she know she was the second Mrs. Orr, and that the first Mrs. Orr was still in the picture? The Dick lived with Steph in New York, so where does she think The Dick is every night? When does she ever even get to see him?

There's a lot I don't know about Steph's and his marriage, I guess. He has never made a secret of his dislike of spending any time with Steph's family or friends, and I know that if I only ever got to see her a handful of times a year, then she may not have spent any time at all with any of her old friends, like Mary Lou. She never indicated any unhappiness with her life though, and so, despite how unhappy it made me not to see her more frequently, I let it go, because in the end, I just want her to be happy. Thinking about it now, though, I think the only people she ever really spends time with is Zoë, and to a lesser extent, The Dick.

My heart aches for my sister. I would give any amount of money to spare her from the pain this whole situation is causing. She's a strong woman in some ways, but fragile in others.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sight of a slim redheaded woman coming out of the front door of the house I'm watching. She looks like the woman we saw in the Facebook profile we found, but the pictures were not good ones and I am not positive. I zoomed in with my iPhone's camera and took a few photos, but then I noticed the two little boys toddling out the door right behind her. They were redheaded like she was but I couldn't see any further details from this distance. She got them buckled into car seats in the back of the Range Rover in the driveway, then slid in behind the steering wheel and backed up into the street. She got about 200 feet down the street before I pulled out into traffic and followed her, maintaining the distance. This was a quiet street and there was no other traffic around, so I'd have to be careful to make sure I wasn't spotted. I followed her to the Costco and parked at the end of the row she parked in. I grabbed a cart, thankful I had a membership myself, and followed her and the kids into the store. I tossed random shit in the cart that I had no intention of buying, keeping her in my sights. She seemed to be a normal suburban mom, and nothing other than her hair colour distinguished her from the other suburban moms I had seen.

An hour later, after having followed her through her mundane shopping trip, I didn't feel like I had gained much knowledge on her. She seemed to have money, judging by the house and her SUV, but I didn't know yet how she acquired that money, or even if it was all a house of cards of appearances and secret debt out the wazoo. That would require some research, and I knew just where to find the programs capable of that type of invasive background checking.

Tank POV

I finally got back to my office and sat down, running my hands over my head. I hate dealing with the clients when they're all pissy, but sometimes I have to take one for the team as a member of management. Didn't mean I won't bitch about it later, though. With Ranger's looks and quiet air of authority and Santos' charm, we try to send one of them to deal with clients when they have a problem. But Ranger and Santos were on an out-of-state apprehension and wouldn't be back until tomorrow, so that left me. I tried to calm down Mrs. Biedermeyer and I think I succeeded. It appeared to be a random act of vandalism, based on the evidence we gathered from the scene and from the security cameras.

I pulled up the search programs on my laptop and plugged in The Dick's info again. This time, I tweaked the parameters to show his Connecticut address, hoping I'd get some different dirt. I left the program running and walked out to the control room, noting the men on duty and making sure nothing was amiss. Just as I was stopping in the middle of the room, Cal came out of the break room holding a bottle of water. I lifted one eyebrow at him; he knows damn well we don't allow any food or drink near the equipment, not even with a lid on it. His face turned slightly pink and he spun around without breaking stride to head back to the break room. When he re-entered a moment later, sans any food or drink, I said quietly, "mats tomorrow, 0600."

He groaned but nodded. Cal was a big man; he wasn't as filled out as I am, but he was as tall as me. He offered a good match when we were sparring, but I easily best him when it was a disciplinary measure.

Satisfied that everything else was running along smoothly, I headed back into my office to check on the search programs. One program had finished, and it looked the other one was winding down. I hit the print button to check over what had been discovered, hoping I'd find something new.

I grabbed the small sheaf of papers from the printer and started to read through it. I hadn't put in his social this time. I grabbed my copy of the first search we did, and when I checked it, I noted that he had two different socials listed. Interesting. I read through all the new data, noting some of it was the same as what I'd found before, but there were a few new things too.

I laid both reports down on my desk and sat back in my chair, thinking. After a moment, I leaned forward and plugged in his wife's name into the search engine, both her maiden name and married name. As I waited for the results, I meandered into the break room to grab something to eat.

Vince and Manny were watching something on Manny's phone when I walked in, and I paused to look at them when I heard a woman's moaning coming through the tinny speakers. I narrowed my eyes at them and asked quietly, "what is that?"

Manny paled and moved to turn off his phone, but I held out my hand for the device. "Give me that," I ordered. He handed it over reluctantly and I checked the screen. "Porn at work? Really?" I asked them sternly.

"Boss, man, I came across that last night and I just wanted to show Vince. It's an amateur couple, but the woman is so fuckin' hot and the guy is just a sad, pathetic little dud root. I couldn't figure out why she's with him," Manny explained.

I snorted. It might be pro actors who want their video to look amateur, but these idiots would believe anything. I took a look at the screen and pressed play. I watched for a few seconds. Holy shitballs! It's Steph and The Dick!

I airdropped the video to my own phone, ignoring the incredulous looks from Vince and Manny. They haven't met Steph yet; they have no idea who these people are. "Don't ever watch this video again if you don't want to be dropped off in a 'Stan." I closed the browser window and went back to my office to figure out some things.

Did Steph know about this video? Were there more? I felt like I know what kind of person Steph is, but who knows what people are like behind closed doors, especially in their bedroom. What's that saying, "lady in the streets, freak in the sheets"? Fuck. I have no idea how to deal with this.