EYES WIDE OPEN

Ranger POV

Chapter 1

oOoOo

I didn't know how to explain it. All morning this unfamiliar sensation dogged me since the 0800 meeting. It was an uncanny feeling. Was there a lot of static in the air? Even the hairs on my arms were standing on end. I couldn't shake it. It was there and I couldn't ascertain why. It was an uneasy feeling. Not a nauseous feeling. No. Different. Yes, definitely something hinkey. I chuckled to myself. Stephanie would liken it to her spidey sense. Or my ESP. Her spidey senses would be pinging. I smiled.

Uh oh.

Red flags.

Spidey sense?

Do I have that too?

Why?

Stephanie.

No.

Couldn't be.

Could it?

I could feel Tank's eyes tracking my movement across the fifth floor to the monitors.

"Pull up Steph's trackers."

"Sure. There she is. Leaving Trenton heading for the Delaware Lower Bridge crossing," Hal remarked. Yes, I saw that.

"Uh oh."

Uh oh? I suddenly felt a tight knot in my stomach.

"Gone."

The whole room seemed to freeze, hanging off that one word. All heads were up.

Now you see it. Now you don't.

Gone!

Fuck!

Before I had finished processing it, I was in the stairwell, with Tank and Lester hot on my heels. My mind was racing with all sorts of scenarios. So many possibilities.

"Breathe, Ranger," I told myself, trying to centre myself. I'm no good to her if I crash the car on the way to her. Batman to the rescue. That was her quirky perspective. I have to confess, I did like her making light of these situations, just not the remarkable situations she seems to get herself into. Yeah. Uncanny.

I was on automatic pilot. Beeping my Porsche 911 unlocked, I was already racing up the ramp and out onto Haywood. Tank and Lester, were following in one of the SUVs. I assumed Bobby was with them in the back. It only took minutes to get there, but I couldn't get any closer since there was a hold up. Lots of traffic held up. My gut twisted. Bumper to bumper traffic jam. Shit!

I said a little prayer. Madre Dios. Please, let me be on time. Please be alright, Babe. Okay, more than one prayer. It was necessary. She meant so much to me. I couldn't fathom the depth of my own feelings. Somehow, somewhere along the way, she had wormed her way into my heart, in a subtle almost sneaky way. But not by a deliberate ploy, certainly not by any devious means. It was just her way. Her manner. So natural and genuine. Her light that shone. Her acceptance of me as a man. Acceptance of all the men at Rangeman.

I know she calls me Batman, but I am just a man, not a super hero. I was drawn to her. Yeah, like a moth to a flame. It was the light. It was her light that I craved. Her unconditional support. Her generous spirit. Unlike other women I have encountered over the years, she didn't throw herself at my feet, nor did she stalk me. She was just Stephanie. What you see is what you get. No pretence. No bullshit.

All these thoughts flashed through my mind in a matter of seconds. That smile of hers. Those beautiful blue eyes. Stunning blue eyes. Chewing her lip, worrying it as she was trying to get a read on my thoughts. Those kissable lips.

Come on! I banged the steering wheel. I know the traffic usually slows down before this bridge with its single lane crossing and 25 mph speed limit.

That's it. I had to get to her. Quickly. Fuck this! Sitting in this queue waiting was not good enough. My heart was in my throat. I pulled over to the shoulder of the road, locked my car and ran like my life depended on it. I could hear sirens as the first responders were trying to get to the scene. The cars were pulling to the right to give the police access. No ambulance. That gave me hope. Well, not yet.

Again, with the prayer of hope. I sprinted down the middle of the two lanes, just off the median strip, while dodging doors opening from curious drivers. I could hear Tank and Lester behind me but I was pulling away. I had to get there.

These bystanders and gawkers were getting in my way.

Okay. No smoke.

That's a good sign. Isn't it?

Oops. Spoke to soon. Shit.

There is smoke, that nasty acrid smell of burning rubber and metal wrapped around my nostrils as I got closer. Focus Manoso.

Uh oh. Here comes the fire truck.

I slowed to a jog as I approached the smoky scene. My heart was pounding. Not from the run.

And damnit! An ambulance, but I was already there, clearing past the people crowding the scene.

What's wrong with these people? What the fuck?! Motherfucking idiots! Always with the phone cameras. Fucking assholes!

There's her car, rammed up against the first of the trusses of the bridge, hazard lights still flashing. It was a crumpled smouldering mess. Madre Dios! The firemen had doused the fire.

Stephanie?

Where the hell is she? I was trying to suppress that frantic feeling. I don't do anxious. I don't do panic. But, with Stephanie, she made me feel. Lots of new feels. Good feels. And then there are these … scary feels.

Scanning, my internal radar led me to her. There she was. Calmly sitting on one of the safety barriers. I sighed. Such an overwhelming relief. I quickly documented her appearance as I neared her. She had a gash on her forehead and had obviously hit her head on the steering wheel. Her latest POS junker probably didn't have airbags. She's likely going to have a shiner, or two. Her nose looked a bit swollen. But those blue eyes sparkled. She was relieved to see me. Beautiful and alive.

Someone at least had the decency and common sense to offer her a blanket. One of the paramedics was treating her, initially blocking my view. As he moved away I was relieved that she seemed to be alright given her body language. Steri strips now sealed the cut on her forehead together. She looked alert and unaffected by the drama around her. Not in a daze. Alert is a good sign. She was aware of her surroundings. That's my Babe.

She sighed as a certain idiot was pacing up and down in front of her, arms waving wildly in the usual manner. Crap! What the fuck is he doing there? I looked around and spotted his car on the other side of the road, parked on the road shoulder, heading back into Trenton. Beside his vehicle were two police cruisers, Morrisville police. Oh yes. Morrisville PD from Pennsylvania just across the bridge. They must have been closest to the scene when the 911 call was made.

She looked bored as she watched him with just a brief glance of disgust. Bored is good. Bored is not in pain. She looked gorgeous even with the sooty smudges on her face, her hair singed in places. I smiled as I was about to approach her, to get her away from that ranting Italian idiot. Who does that at the scene of an accident? I did not see any concern on his face at all. For a moment I thought he might be on his phone. No. Of course not. He's not even looking at her. This asshole is angry. What the hell for? Another Cupcake rant. I rolled my eyes and she chuckled at my reaction.

The police already had the area cordoned off, secured with crime scene tape while they investigated. Did someone die? Maybe it was to keep all the bystanders at bay and enable easy access for the first responders. I respected the boundaries but watched her closely. Two officers were trying to get people back to their vehicles while asking for witnesses, reliable witnesses who were close to the incident. Someone said they had dashcam. Great. I'd like to see that too.

I watched Stephanie intently, her beautiful blue eyes captured mine and her demeanour visibly changed, lifting her shoulders. She gave me a wink with a tiny nod, indicating the pacing moron, before she put her finger to her lips. A mini eye roll made me chuckle. Her hand popped out from under the blanket with the universal stop sign. I nodded. I mouthed "R U OK?" to which she responded with a firm nod. I relaxed and smiled with her confident response, letting her know I was here, here for her.

In the meantime, Tank, Lester and Bobby had joined me. They too were relieved to see her looking like she was alright. Bobby was assessing her with his keen medic eyes. Tank and Lester were glaring at the pacing idiot.

I watched as the paramedics were carrying the driver on a stretcher, I presume, from the other vehicle. The dazed passenger was walked to the ambulance, her arm in a sling, a soft collar around her neck. Two other police officers approached Stephanie, giving Morelli a weird look and shaking their heads. Obviously, he was told to move out of the way so they could get her statement. Thankfully the sirens faded away as the ambulance was headed for the hospital. The other police had stopped traffic so the ambulance could get easy access and to slow traffic down. The biggest issue was the rubber-necking as people tried to see what was happening. They directed the flow to keep it moving smoothly.

As they were thanking her for calling in the emergency, Morelli was still going on his pacing rant. One of the officers firmly told him to move aside so they could do their job pointing to the cordoned off area, telling him to get over there.

"You're in the way! We need to get her statement. Just wait over there, behind the barriers, with all the other bystanders."

Morelli didn't like being told to move away. Taking his frustration out on her, he started yelling at Stephanie taking an intimidating step towards her. She was not threatened by his aggressive manner.

"You really did it this time. Unbelievable! You crash your car and set another on fire. Chaos! You're absolutely hopeless! A disaster magnet. You need to settle down. You can't keep going like this. What will people say? My reputation is at stake. That job of yours is too dangerous. You need to quit your job and marry me."

He swallowed a couple of antacid tablets. Hm. Not a Maalox day. I rolled my eyes at that last demand and Stephanie had to cover her mouth from laughing at me. I nodded and smiled. She had rolled her eyes at Morelli's idiotic demand, blowing a stray wispy curl of her forehead. The two police officers stared at him in disbelief.

Lester was capturing all this on his camera. The script hasn't changed but I sensed that something with Stephanie had, significantly. It still annoyed the hell out of me with that disparaging bullying habit that is his Cupcake rant.

"Hey!" One of the officers bluntly interrupted before Morelli could continue blustering along. "I told you to stand aside. Now move it! I don't like your tone. You have no idea what's happened here. Now get your ass over there and shut the fuck up! You are interfering in police business."

With that he turned his back on Morelli. But the idiot was not done yet. Stupid fucker. He's making an ass of himself, again. In the meantime, the other officer was checking on her and must have asked if she was alright. Then he signalled for the second ambulance to move on. At least he asked her. They were talking to her in an appreciative manner.

"Is the driver alright? Did he have a heart attack? He had passed out. I checked his pulse and it was quite strong." Stephanie asked concerned.

"Thanks to you he is. That was very brave what you did. Despite your own dilemma, you pulled them out of their car before it erupted fully into flames. Fortunately, his passenger had been asleep and because of that she survived. You being there acting like a trained first responder was amazing, especially how you got them safely away from the burning wreckage. His fuel tank leaking and the sparks seem to have started the fire which then caused yours to catch fire. I understand you were driving behind them. One of the witnesses said some deer had leapt in front of his vehicle and yours."

She nodded. Stephanie was looking tired now as she couldn't stifle a yawn. Adrenaline has peaked and is now falling.

"How about you come in to the station tomorrow sometime to give your statement. You need to rest. Morrisville PD. Here's my card. Do you need assistance getting transport? I still think you should have gone in the ambulance for a hospital check-up."

"Thank you for your concern. I have my support team right there, and a personal medic as well. If I need to, he will make sure," she smiled, looking at me.

She stood up, a bit unsteadily at first. Before the police officer could steady her, Morelli suddenly grabbed her by the arm which made her wince and cry out in pain, causing the blanket to fall off her shoulders, revealing her left shoulder in a sling and a bandaged wrist. Oh, hell no! I stepped forward, but Tank held me back. Someone growled and it wasn't just me. This was going too far. I have had enough of his pathetic rantings and abuse. She doesn't deserve that. What the fuck was that all about? The other officer steadied her while firmly removing Morelli's grip.

What surprised me was how quickly the other officer was arresting Morelli for assaulting Stephanie and interfering with their investigations, after repeated warnings, while he was reading him the Miranda Rights. Morelli was in plain clothes but despite his objections, another officer needed to assist while ignoring his angry outbursts. Resisting arrest. Ha! Fuckwit.

"I am the police!"

oOoOo

TBC