Stephanie finished week four of healing. She had a few more weeks before getting cleared for sex. Sleeping with Carlos, feeling his warm skin pressed against hers, was slowly killing her. It wasn't much easier for Carlos. He loved holding Stephanie while she slept. Most mornings, he found her lying on top of him with her perfectly lined up. It was a shame they had to wait a few more weeks for sex.
Carlos had Stephanie sit at a desk tucked into the corner of his office. He wanted to keep an eye on her during the day. Whenever she appeared too uncomfortable, Carlos helped her walk to the couch and got her situated with a pillow and blanket. "Do you take many naps during the day?" Stephanie teased.
"Ella thought you'd appreciate a more comfortable place to sit when you got tired," Carlos replied. Stephanie narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Carlos raised an eyebrow. "Ella ordered the couch when I married you."
"That sounds more likely," Stephanie teased. "It's perfect."
"Do you need anything?" Carlos asked. "Tylenol?" Stephanie shrugged. Carlos contacted Bobby to bring the medication to Stephanie. "You're trying to do too much, Babe."
"I'm not doing enough. When does Valerie get back?" Stephanie asked. Valerie and Stephanie worked together at Rangeman. They shared Stephanie's job until she could handle working a full day.
"She had to extend her trip by another week," Carlos replied. "Helen is at her house with the girls." Stephanie was surprised by the change in her mother. Helen didn't tell Mary Alice to behave like a young lady. She smiled at her granddaughter, then encouraged her to burn off the energy by running in the backyard. It was a complete one eighty from the last time Mary Alice was in Trenton.
Ram was working at Rangeman during the day, leaving Helen to babysit. He stayed at Valerie's house with the girls at night. Helen would drop them off at three when she had to get home to prepare dinner. It was the perfect arrangement.
"Is she visiting Marty?" Stephanie asked, wondering why Valerie talked to Carlos and not her.
"She mentioned a date," Carlos replied. "Marty had a day off work." Stephanie shook her head. Valerie was going to end up pregnant if she wasn't careful.
Stephanie heard that Valerie's divorce hearing got fast-tracked to make it easier for her and the girls. Roger King stressed the difficulty it would cause to keep Valerie's accounts frozen while the courts decided on their divorce and custody. He claimed it caused undue financial hardship for Valerie and her family. The court decided to settle the divorce and assets and scheduled the hearing.
"Did the judge settle the assets?" Stephanie asked.
"Not yet. Valerie has to appear in court next Tuesday for the decision," Carlos replied. He brushed a loose curl off Stephanie's cheek, then leaned to kiss her. Carlos got carried away, letting Stephanie pull him onto the couch. She hooked a leg around his waist. "Babe, we have to wait a few more weeks."
"I don't want to. The doctor said everything's healed," Stephanie argued.
"They have a six-week timeframe for a reason, Stephanie," Carlos warned. "I need you completely healed before we make love." Carlos had plans for their first time having sex.
"Mmm," Stephanie moaned when Carlos pressed his impressive length against her thigh. "She better clear me in two weeks." Stephanie was thankful they could do other sexual things besides penetration.
A throat clearing in the direction of the doorway made Carlos growl. "You know she has two more weeks before you can do that, Carlos," Jeanne Ellen said despite her amusement at finding her brother in a compromising position in his office.
Stephanie released Carlos from her grip. He kissed her chastely before sitting up. "How was your appointment?" Stephanie asked. She sat up, making room for Jeanne Ellen to sit beside her.
"Good," Jeanne Ellen replied. "Can we talk?" Carlos nodded. Jeanne Ellen and her husband, Jordan, entered the office, closing the door behind them. Jordan flicked the lock to keep people from walking inside. Jeanne Ellen sat beside Stephanie while Jordan grabbed a chair.
"Oh. It's that conversation," Stephanie replied. She was still on the fence about having children. But it was now or never. Jeanne Ellen and Jordan wanted to have children. The doctor harvested five eggs from Jeanne Ellen, and Ram's sperm got used to fertilize them. An embryologist would watch the embryos for a few days before they got frozen and placed in storage.
"Babe, we should accept their offer," Carlos said. Stephanie looked into his eyes. Carlos cupped her cheek. "I want those children we have in your dreams." He never thought he'd want more children besides Julie. But Carlos wanted them with his beautiful wife.
"You do?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes."
"So you're saying yes?" Jeanne Ellen asked. "We have a month before we can implant."
"Yes, Jeanne Ellen. I'm saying yes. Bobby has the injections in the infirmary. I'll have to start it today," Stephanie said.
Jeanne Ellen removed a contract from her purse. She gave it to her brother to review. Carlos went to his desk and grabbed a pen. He signed the document, then brought the items to Stephanie. She read the papers, then glared at Jeanne Ellen. "You know I won't take your babies, Stephanie. But I'm trying to protect everyone here," Jeanne Ellen kindly said. Stephanie reluctantly signed the surrogacy contract.
Jordan and Jeanne Ellen added their signatures, then called Tank into the room. He verified the signatures were legitimate before signing the contract. "When?" Tank asked.
"Hopefully, next month," Jeanne Ellen replied. "Once I receive confirmation of implantation, I'll have to go on desk duty with Stephanie."
"I'll send Bobby up," Tank said. He left the room, grinning. Tank could hardly wait to see the babies. Bobby was smiling when he arrived on the fifth floor. He knocked on Ranger's door and waited for him to permit entry.
"Enter," Ranger barked. Bobby prepared the syringe and got Stephanie to lower her pants enough to inject the hormone into her asscheek.
"I'll be back later this evening to administer the second dose," Bobby said.
"Watch out, Carlos. You're about to experience inflated demon week craziness," Stephanie warned. "How many of those injections do I need? I'm almost mid-cycle."
"That makes it easier," Bobby said. "We may only need a few days. When is your appointment with the general practitioner?" Stephanie's hormones were all over the place. It would be a small miracle if everything worked out.
Carlos checked the calendar. He planned to attend the appointment with Stephanie. "In three days," he replied. Bobby nodded, thinking the timing may work.
"I'll monitor the hormone levels according to the fertility specialist's specifications. I'm afraid it means daily blood labs," Bobby warned. Stephanie shrugged. She agreed to the process. It felt like everything was moving at warp speed.
"Steph, maybe I should continue the hormone injections. If you're ready that soon, I could start growing your baby in a week," Jeanne Ellen offered. Stephanie wasn't sure if everything would happen that fast. She chewed her bottom lip.
"What if it doesn't work?" Stephanie asked.
"Hopefully, we have enough embryos to freeze, and we can try again during my next cycle," Jeanne Ellen replied. She held Stephanie's hand. "We are in this together, Steph. It's going to work."
"Okay. I'm excited yet scared to become a mother," Stephanie confessed. She knew everyone at Rangeman would help with the babies. Jeanne Ellen could be carrying Stephanie's babies with Carlos before they consummated their vows. Stephanie giggled, then explained what she found humorous.
"Only you, Babe," Carlos replied.
"So… what happened with Morelli?" Stephanie asked. She didn't have time to catch up with Jeanne Ellen between the court hearing the previous day and the egg harvesting process that morning.
"Morelli has to pay the black book value for my vehicle and the repairs to others damaged by his drinking and driving. We're trying to figure out how he got a key for my car. I never left mine with Morelli. His lawyer argued that my key was in the car. Hector provided a dated time-stamped video proving my keys were in my hands when I entered Vinnie's office. The judge ordered Morelli to rehab. Morelli has sixty days to clean up, or he loses his job with Les Sebring." Jeanne Ellen was surprised the judge dismissed Morelli's suit against her to pay half the expenses.
Stephanie thought about what Jeanne Ellen had mentioned about her car keys. Something niggled in her brain, and she tried to think about what bothered her about the situation. She wasn't paying attention to Jeanne Ellen as she continued to update Carlos on the court ruling with Joseph Morelli. "Who was that person?" Stephanie thought aloud. "It wasn't Mooch. Hmm. Was it a contact on Stark Street? Is that what we're missing? I wonder if Bobby still has my notes on Morelli when he was FTA. Hopefully, it triggers my memory."
"Babe?" Carlos asked. He kissed Stephanie's lips to stop her rant.
"What?" Stephanie asked.
"Tank is grabbing your notes on Morelli," Carlos replied. "Are you looking for something in particular?"
"I'll know when I see it," Stephanie replied. Tank entered the office and gave the papers to Stephanie. She flipped through the documents, furrowing her brow when the page she wanted was missing. Stephanie organized them and read them. "Hmm. Okay, I see the notes on Sal and the flat-nosed man. Carlos, you told me about the Stark Street gym. Can someone pull up google maps?" Stephanie knew she didn't make any sense with her ramblings, but she desperately wanted to recall the facts.
Carlos grabbed his laptop and typed the gym's address in the browser. He grabbed the yellow man at the bottom right and dropped him on the pin, providing a street view of the area. Stephanie moved along the road to find the A & K Auto Body Shop. She found the alley and the street leading to the other garage. "Babe?"
"Ah. Here it is. There isn't a name on the garage. But when I searched for Morelli a few times, I saw him talking to someone at this location. Morelli would take off whenever I got close. There's a camera across the street. Is there a way to get the footage for the first day Jeanne Ellen drove with Morelli?" Stephanie asked.
"Boss, it's one of our first accounts. They were concerned about the activity in the abandoned garage," Tank announced. Carlos and Stephanie grinned. Tank asked Hector to pull up the footage showing activity with Morelli and that garage.
An hour later, Hector brought the information to Ranger's office. Everyone watched Morelli pass someone a key belonging to a Ford Explorer. Morelli walked toward Stark Street. He returned several hours later to meet with the man, who passed Morelli two keys with fobs. Morelli must have grabbed the VIN from Jeanne Ellen's SUV. It would have been easy to photograph the vehicle registration papers.
"Did Morelli lose his license?" Stephanie asked, returning to the ruling on Morelli's trial.
"No. The police installed one of those breathalyzer operating things on Morelli's car. He has to blow a zero before the car would start," Jeanne Ellen said. "It only works for the driver of the vehicle. I'm sure there's a way to get around the system."
Hector slipped out of the office. He returned nearly an hour later, carrying the key he grabbed from Morelli's house. "Does this match?" Hector asked, speaking Spanish.
Jeanne Ellen pulled the keys from her bag and gave him the one for her Ford. Hector scanned both keys using an app on his phone. They were a perfect match. "That son of a bitch," Jeanne Ellen snapped. "I have both of my keys." She removed the spare key from her purse. The SUV was a write-off, but she held onto the fobs for Morelli's trial.
"Will you let Rangeman secure your home?" Carlos asked his sister.
"Yes," Jordan replied. "Who knows if he made a key to our house."
"We can change the locks and scan for bugs and cameras," Jeanne Ellen suggested. She didn't believe Morelli had access to her house keys.
"Ranger, do you mind if we borrow Hector and Peter for a few hours? I want to install cameras as well," Jordan asked. Ranger issued the order to Hector, who grinned. He waited outside the office door for the others to finish their meeting.
~~~~~
Angie Morelli heard the front door open, then slammed shut. She wiped her hands on the towel and went to investigate. Joseph dropped his luggage inside the door. He walked back outside to grab the rest from Mooch's truck bed.
"Joey, what's going on?" Angie asked when Mooch and Joe carried a sofa into the house. They walked past Angie without talking, then took the sofa to the basement.
"I'm moving in," Joe replied, meeting Angie at the top of the basement stairs. Angie pursed her lips. She didn't want the hassle of Joe living at home. Joe would take over the television, watching boring hockey or baseball games during her shows.
"I can see that, but why are you moving in?" Angie asked, walking into the kitchen to prepare the lasagna. She stirred the sauce on the stove. Joe grabbed a spoon to have a taste. After complimenting his mom, Joe dropped the spoon into the sink.
He rubbed the back of his neck. A nervous habit Angie hadn't seen from her youngest child since he left for the Navy. Joe lowered his chin, then touched the eagle tattooed on his chest. Angie covered her mouth. She knew Joe got sentenced to rehab. He hadn't spent time in the clinic since he got discharged from the Navy.
"The judge sent me to rehab for three weeks. With the fines and other payments for damages, I don't have money to cover rent during my confinement," Joe confessed.
"Oh, Joey," Angie cried, pulling him into her arms. Joe let his mother hug him tightly. He returned the embrace when Angie started crying. Angie released her grip on Joe and grabbed the tea towel to dry her face. She tossed it down the basement stairs to wash. "Do you know what you need?" Angie asked.
"Lasagna?"
Angie gently smacked Joe's shoulder. "You need a nice Burg woman to marry. When you return from rehab, I'll set up a dinner with Stephanie Plum."
"Mom, Stephanie's married," Joe said. Angie grimaced. Helen explained Stephanie got married after the attack. Angie didn't believe her precious Joey had anything to do with the assault. Someone likely framed him. Probably one of those thugs at Rangeman. Maybe it was the man Helen claimed Stephanie had married. She didn't have medical insurance to pay her hospital bills. Stephanie might have married the Rangeman thug to pay her medical expenses. "Mom!" Joe yelled.
"You don't need to shout!" Angie snapped.
"I was talking to you, but you got lost in your thoughts," Joe accused. He shook his head when Angie shared her assumptions.
There were plenty of eligible women in the Burg. Terry's husband passed away the previous year. She was available to date. Joe knew the woman was a wildcat in bed. He would contact Terry once he completed his time in rehab.
"Why can't you take Stephanie away from that thug?" Angie asked. "Even if they married after she got attacked, the injuries sustained would prevent her from consummating their vows. You could swoop in and take her from under that man's nose."
Joe didn't have a death wish. He wanted to stay far away from Stephanie Plum. "Terry Gilman is single," Joe said.
Angie scoffed but kept her opinion to herself. Her precious Joey marrying a mob princess was not in the plans.