This one shot came to be thanks to a bizarre encounter and rereading One for the Money. It really is weird to live in a big city, yet have a small section of town where you know everyone and everyone knows you (Yes, I have my own version of the Burg in my neck of the woods and get told 'oh, you're so and so's daughter/grandchild/etc'). I don't have very common last names, so any time I bump into someone who has the same last name (especially the paternal one) there's a big chance we're related. Met someone at work and we kept joking that we were probably long lost cousins (we bonded over our last name, haha). One day we had our parents meet, and sure enough it turned out that they were distant relatives, lol.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. The typos are my mistake. Oops!
Blinking, I snapped myself out of the trance I've been in for who knows how long. Looking around me, I finally realized I was inside a holding cell. I've never done anything bad in my life, ever, yet here I am behind bars.
Now what?
Thankfully, before I could go absolutely crazy, I was finally granted my one phone call.
"Thank you." I told the officer politely, not one to forget my Burg manners. Well, at least I didn't throw my manners out the window twice in one night.
After several moments of staring at the handset in my clasped left hand, it hit me that I didn't really know who to call. The one person I would call for everything, is the one person I can't and don't want to call: my husband.
Making up my mind, I started dialing the number that came to mind. I bit my bottom lip as I waited for the call to connect. It's a long shot calling her, but I didn't really know who else to call. She may be the one and only person in the Burg who will understand my actions and not automatically judge me.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
"Yo, what's with that confused look on your face, Beautiful?" Lester asked as soon as I disconnected the call.
"Yeah, you got a what the fuck expression as soon as you answered that call." Ram supplied, garnering our group the attention of the men in the control room.
I'd just returned with the two of them, plus Hal, from a successful double takedown. Literally, I planned on dropping off checks for the two high bonds we collected and calling it a day. I was looking forward to some much needed downtime.
"That was Mary Anne Molnar who just called me. Well, Potenza now." She hasn't been Molnar since she married Peter Potenza years ago.
"And that's significant because�" Lester asked, always one to add humor to any situation regardless of how serious something may be. "I mean, no offense Beautiful, but you're either related to or know everyone."
I glared at him even if he was kinda spot on. "I am not related to everyone." My huff had a few curls blowing away from my face. "And technically, I don't really know everyone in town."
"Uhm, you kinda do." Ram added, not one to miss an opening. "You really do be knowing everyone, especially in the Burg."
"What did Mrs. Potenza want?" Halosaurus asked, wanting to contain our convo before it completely derailed.
"She needs a favor." Flashing my best smile at the guys, I asked if any of them wanted to tag along. Technically, we're done for the night. I don't mind making the drive to Atlantic City at this time of night alone, yet I have a feeling that reinforcements may be needed.
"I'm down to go on a field trip with you, Beautiful." Lester winked my away, always a flirt.
"I'll come along." Hal volunteered at the same time as Lester.
"I'll have to pass." Ram said, a seductive smile spreading across his handsome face. Waving goodbye to us, his added swagger made it clear that he was on his way to get himself a hot and sweaty ending to his night.
"Let's go then." I waved to the guys on the night shift and told my two remaining partners that I'd fill them in on the way.
Ranger had just parked his truck in his reserved spot as we unloaded from the elevator.
"Babe." Arching an eyebrow in question, silently asking where I'm going minutes after returning to the building while his arms were quick to wrap around my waist as soon I met him by his back bumper.
"Hi." I greeted back, raising on the toes of my Doc Martens so I could kiss him. Once upon a time, Ranger and I skirted around each other. One day after a particularly risky distraction job, we both simply found ourselves on the same page. After baring our souls and bodies to each other that night, we've been inseparable since.
And, yes, it's been as good as I imaged it would be.
"Stephanie got a call for help so we're on our way to a little field trip to help save the night." Lester shared, his loud tone infiltrating my mind before my tongue could fully explore Ranger's mouth. A second or two later and Mary Anne Potenza would have likely needed to wait til morning.
"Mary Lou's cousin, Mary Anne, is in need of some help. We're on our way to Atlantic City to help her out." I breathed against Ranger's yummy lips. Regretfully, I used my hold on his killer abs to push my body away from his. If I keep up the near full frontal contact, Potenza will for sure have to wait a lot longer for me to come get her.
"I'll drive." Ranger cocked his head towards the loner SUV I'm driving while I get myself another car. My latest POS went to car heaven three days ago after the Jeep Cherokee's motor fully gave out. Knowing I'd reject a fancy Porsche, Ranger was willing to compromise with me.
"Think we'll need additional back up?" Hal asked, ready to follow behind us in his fleet SUV. Hal wanting to give Ranger and I some privacy for the over an hour drive to A.C. was a cute gesture.
"Uhm. No, I don't think so." I shook my head as I angled into the front passenger seat of my temporary wheels.
"Alright, so what's the tea?" Lester rubbed his hands together as he poked his head between us once Ranger turned on Haywood. Unlike Hal, Lester took the back seat.
"I don't know the full details." I cut Mary Anne before she could say anything incriminating over the record line. "All I know is that for some reason she chose to use her one phone call on me."
"Hmm." Lester pondered the tiny morsels of intel, trying to decipher what's going on. "She usually get into legal trouble?"
Shaking my head, I shared that Mary Anne's as straight and narrow as a good Burg housewife should be. Aside from whispers about her struggles with conceiving, she's not usually the subject of any Burg gossip.
"So, if you two aren't really friends, then why she call you?"
Ranger spared me a quick glance before he hooked a left turn onto the on-ramp. He too is curious to know why Mary Anne would call me.
"I don't know." Shrugging, I told them that growing up we had limited interaction. She's two years younger than me, so aside from some Molnar family gatherings I was invited to by my BFF Mary Lou while we were growing up and seeing Mary Anne in passing at school, we were never really friends.
"I'm betting this is going to be juicy." Lester clapped his hands enthusiastically, ready for whatever was headed our way.
"Can we drop him off on the side of the road before we get on I-295?" I asked my man in my most serious tone.
"Babe." The side of Ranger's talented mouth twitched, indicating that he found my suggestion amusing and that he was willing to kick Lester out if I wished.
"Oh, come on." Lester's voice dripped with his usual charm. "You love me." His cheeky tease nearly got him a one way ticket to a desert in the middle of nowhere.
I spotted Hal merging onto the interstate right behind Ranger. There was a bit of traffic, which wasn't surprising despite the time since it's the weekend.
"Got any photos of Mary Anne?" Lester asked after only a handful of moments of silence. "I want to test a theory." I could clearly detect the smile in his tone.
"Yeah." Mary Lou had sent me a photo of the Molnar annual family picnic. Scrolling through my messages, I found the photo and showed it to Lester. "Mary Anne is the one wearing the teal dress."
"Oh, she's cute." Lester, of course, found my BFF's cousin beautiful. I can't fault him, because Mary Anne is very pretty. She's also super nice and hands down makes the best homemade cakes. Mary Anne found out I nearly devoured Mary Lou's cakes every year and started baking me one for my birthday while we were still in school. "Her cakes are amazing. They're always nice and spongy and super moist..." Regret instantly settled low in the pit of my stomach. The moment I said moist in Lester's presence, I knew I'd fucked up.
Thankfully, Lester kept his mouth shut. His playful grin meant he'd bring up this little crumb of information, pun intended, whenever he needs it down the line. Or, simply he just didn't want to further annoy Ranger. It could be either or at this point.
"And she does share some features with your friend Mary Lou." Lester said, relinquishing my cell back to me.
"Duh." I said, reminding him that the two are cousins.
"They look a lot alike." I heard that smiley tone in his voice again, which gave me a minute heads up before he declared that one of my cousins and I share a close resemblance.
"What?!" I screeched in utter shock. "My cousin Vivien and I do not look anything alike." Is he serious? Vivien shares some key features with her sister, Shirley. Nuh uh. No way I look anything like the whiners. Noooooo!
"Yeah, ya do." Lester scrolled through his phone, searching for what I suspect is alleged irrefutable proof. "Poor Navarro was stressed when he said he was on your tail only for the control room to break it to him that you were actually at the Bonds office." Laughing, Lester recounted a mix up that happened not too long ago.
Jose 'Pepe' Navarro is a new hire. He served with some of the Merry Men, so as soon as his government contract was up Ranger offered Pepe a job. For training purposes, Pepe started at Rangemen Trenton before he was permanently placed at the Boston branch. Days into his training, he was out on patrol with his partner of the day. Pepe for some reason got confused. He sprung into action and called in his finding, only for the control room to be even more confused. I was at the Bonds office with Hal, so Binkie was quick to ask Pepe for a visual. It was quite the mix up, alright.
"I got a lecture from my mother because of that incident." Vivien's husband wasn't too thrilled to be informed by the Burg grapevine that his wife had two muscular Merry Men on her tail. Vivien on the other hand was very into the attention. "And I don't look anything like the mini whiner." Rolling my eyes, I shook my head as memories of my childhood flooded me. My mother gave me crap about my curly hair, yet didn't teach me how to properly care for my curls. I had to learn on my own. My mother loved boasting about my sister's perfect golden locks, as well as chastising me for not being able to tame my hair. My mother even went as far as to say that I couldn't blame my hair hell on my genes, since my cousin's Shirley and Vivien didn't struggle with having neat hairdos. It was a shit comparison since the whiners have wavy hair at best. Ugh.
"Hey!" Lester laughed. "I wasn't the one who confused your cousin with you." The guys found it amusing and to my horror, many of them said that Vivien does have a resemblance to me. Eww, no!
"Vivien is blonde." Like my sister and Shirley, not like me.
"I've seen your kid photos, Beautiful. You had blond hair too before it turned brown." Lester probably has a death wish, because my hair is brown! Always has been.
The rest of the drive was spent in comfortable silence. Ranger was in his driving zone. Lester must have found something else to occupy his mind with, because he was busy messaging back and forth with someone. I replied to a few messages after a hectic work day and then reclined for the remainder of the drive.
I was starting to nod off by the time Ranger found a parking spot near the ACPD entrance.
Letting Ranger take the lead ensured Mary Anne was released in the blink of an eye. Batman's influence is far and wide. Thankfully, I have Ranger on speed dial. Sometimes your girl needs certain connections to make things happen. Don't judge me.
"Thank you." Mary Anne said to me once we exited the station and the little incident was fully wiped, leaving no trace behind.
I did a palms up gesture. "This was all Ranger's influence." I confessed, not wanting to take credit for something that Ranger solely facilitated.
Mary Anne looked at Ranger, bowing her head in thanks, before voicing her gratitude. I didn't miss the way her eyes raked over Ranger, muttering under her breath that Ranger is way more beautiful up close. Same, girl. Ranger is gorgeous, especially up close.
"Want to talk about it?" I asked Mary Anne once we piled into the fleet SUV, gently prodding to find out what she wanted to do next. She nodded timidly, so to ease her nerves I suggested we go to a nearby twenty-four hour diner.
Once we were seated near the back, I asked Mary Anne if she wanted us to sit somewhere else. Perhaps she wants privacy to share what happened. The Merry Men and Ranger chose a round booth in the corner, with Ranger having his back to the wall. Mary Anne shook her head, saying that she knew the guys don't let me do much alone nowadays.
The waitress took our drink orders, with all of us opting for coffee. I had a feeling this was going to be a serious convo.
"Where do I even start?" She was looking down at her full coffee cup, avoiding all eye contact. I sat across from her so that she could focus on me if needed. It also doesn't hurt that I'm bookended by Ranger and Lester. Hal sat next to Mary Anne, right by the booth's edge.
"Take your time." I assured that we were in no rush. The guys can head back to Trenton, yet I know they won't. They'll stick around until Ranger and I are back at Rangeman. They have my back just as much as they have Ranger's and each other's. I'm extremely lucky to have them.
"Well, here goes." Mary Anne then proceeded to shared the most jaw dropping tale I've ever heard. It took me several beats to fully soak in what she was saying, because I refused to believe that something so perfectly aligned could happen in real life. My brain may have short-circuited a little bit.
"Oh shit." I heard Lester murmur beside me. If even Lester is shocked, then I have some validation that this story was WTF even for a partier's standards.
"I didn't know what to do." Mary Anne said her shock at finding her husband in their hotel room being serviced by an unknown woman was fleeting, quickly replaced by anger. That I can understand. Been there, done that. "All I could think about was how you reacted when you found your husband and Joyce that afternoon."
I nearly rolled my eyes. The Burg will never let me forget that spectacular scandal. You'd think I murdered someone with how outraged the Burg grapevine was with my reaction. Ugh.
"By the way, I never understood how Richard could cheat on you." Mary Anne muttered something under her breath, which sounded something along the lines of 'how could that big forehead ass fumble someone so gorgeous?'. Maybe she's talking about her husband, because I'm pretty average.
"Babe." Ranger's big body crowded my personal space so that I could look at him. When I did, his dark eyes told me that I was full of shit. In his eyes, I'm beautiful. I'll take it!
"He's right." Mary Anne said before she shared the rest of her story. She said she sorta blacked out, zeroing in on her husband. Their fight migrated out to the hallway, where someone called hotel security. Her sleazy husband wanted her arrested as a way to punish her probably, the jerk. "It's no destroying the dining room table, but I was close to destroying him." Mary Anne said sheepishly.
This time I did roll my eyes. You destroy one table and get a quickie divorce, so you get labeled for life. Blah.
"What do you want to do?" I asked after her detailed recount of events. I made sure to offer my support and give her the kind words not many people gave me when I too found my cheating, scummy husband going at it with my archnemesis on my dining table. Well, in Mary Anne's case it wasn't an archnemesis, but I digress.
"I want to go home." As soon as she said it, she grimaced. "At least, go back to Trenton." While we got ready to head out, Mary Anne realized that she didn't have anything with her. Even her cellphone is back in her hotel room. All she has is her keycard.
"Wanna retrieve your stuff?" Normally, I'd be very wary of attracting added disaster to a situation, but tonight we have three muscular back ups. Peter won't dare to be his usual asshole self if she has efficient support.
"God, they're all so hot." Mary Anne murmured in my ear as we both unloaded from the passenger side of the fleet SUV. "Wait, I'm not sure if I'm even supposed to be back at the hotel."
I waved Mary Anne's worry aside. "Leave it to him." Patting Ranger's big biceps, I urged her to lead the way. No one will dare to try and kick her out. Like I said, Ranger's got connections in many places. Luckily, the hotel Peter's job set him up for their annual company retreat is owned by someone that owes Ranger a favor. The only reason I know is because we did a distraction job here a few months ago.
Mary Anne froze as we crossed through the casino floor on our way to the elevators in the back of the first floor. I stopped short, scanning the noisy machines looking for whatever had Mary Anne's attention. I spotted Peter easily. He was very obviously, and openly, paying a tall blonde with a wad of hundreds.
Oh, boy.
"That her husband?" Lester whispered behind me, too low for Mary Anne to hear in front of us. I nodded so that they could be on alert. My main goal is to get Mary Anne back to the Burg without another police or hotel security encounter.
"That's not yours!" A waitress hissed when Mary Anne snatched a tall glass from her tray in passing. Mary Anne was dissociating fully, chugging the drink and continuing on her way without a second glance at her husband.
"Sorry." I grimaced, shoving the lone twenty dollar bill I had stuffed inside my phone case. I usually like to have some cash for emergencies, and this definitely counted as a potential emergency.
We gave Mary Anne some privacy, standing guard outside the room. With two of us standing with our back to the wall, guarding the open doorway, we easily saw Peter headed our way when he unloaded the elevator several minutes later.
"What are you doing here?" Peter hissed, his hazel eyes squinting into tiny slits as he seethed with anger.
"Stop." I ordered, using my best no-nonsense tone. Mary A should be done pretty soon and we can go. He can keep the room, enjoy his work thing and have some more extramarital fun in a weekend of debauchery for all I care.
"You little bit..." Whatever he was going to say next was cut short when Ranger slammed his whiney ass on the carpeted floor. Ranger bent low, saying something near Peter's ear that had the man's eyes bulging nearly out of his eye sockets.
"It's okay." Mary Anne called out to us, saying that she was nearly done.
"Think twice before you disrespect any woman ever again, especially mine." Ranger warned before he let Peter go. I should have found offense with his comment, but not when I understood where Ranger was coming from.
Peter hauled himself back on his feet, glaring at Ranger fleetingly before zeroing in on me again. Thinking twice, he bit his tongue before storming into the room. For safety measures, both Hal and Lester followed him inside.
Muffled sounds floated out of the room, but both Ranger and I stayed put.
"You'll regret this!" Peter hollered as he followed Mary A out into the hall. Wisely, he kept himself hovering in the open doorway while Lester took the suit case from his wife and Hal slung her purse over his massive shoulder.
"No." Mary A must have had enough of his brand of shit, because she whirled around to let him have it. She poured out everything that she's been keeping bottled up inside. Good thing there's no gossipy Burgers nearby, otherwise everyone and their momma would have a full transcript of this truth bomb before sunrise.
"I'll make sure you get nothing!" He spat, threatening her with a legal fight he thinks she'll lose. I was left with nothing but debt when I divorced Dickie, which was a price I was happy to pay to be able to cut all ties with the scumbag. I'm sure Ranger's got some connections that can help Mary A have a fair fight. Hector will get surveillance videos to back up her story. She won't have to go through it alone like I did.
"I don't care." Mary A matched his energy, which surprised him. Her usual submissiveness disguised as Burg manners flew out the window when she caught him in flagranti.
Peter opened his mouth to give another verbal blow, already having forgotten Ranger's warning, when Mary A cut him off at the knees. Or should I saw balls?
"Oh, and you best believe that I'll be setting the record straight on who really is the one with the fertility issues." Sliding an arm through the one both Lester and Hal offered, Mary A was on her way after delivering that mic drop. After years of getting heat for not popping out babies, a shitstorm that would revamp every time my BFF Mary Lou had another child, Mary A is done taking the heat for the blame he must have shifted on her.
"This is all your fault!" Peter hissed at me, quickly slamming the door shut before Ranger could punch him. He's lucky Batman is feeling mellow, because even a locked door isn't enough to protect you from my man.
"Sheesh." I blew out a breath as we made our way down the hall towards the elevator. "You get divorced once and you never live it down." I joked, leaning against his big body as memories of that low point in my life flashed in my mind.
Ranger, knowing me so well, kissed the top of my head as he held me closer in solidarity. Once we help Mary Anne get situated as she plans her next steps, Ranger will show me all the love I never thought I would ever experience.
