Disclaimer: I don't own them and I'm not making any money.
Chapter 6
I stood for a moment, staring at the scorch marks on my door.
I debated calling the cops. Ranger had just rescued me from the hospital yesterday and spent the night babysitting me. And when I was leaving Rangeman he had mentioned needing to prepare for a meeting with the feds today. I hated taking up all of his time, especially when I knew he was busy, but I had a feeling he would want to know about this.
Lifting my phone, I snapped a picture and decided to send a text. He could take a look and if he was tied up, he could send one of the guys. Or maybe he would tell me it wasn't a big deal. Denial, here I come.
After sending my text, I ducked back into my apartment and resecured my door. I took a peek out my window, since I was sure I'd be asked if I noticed anything suspicious. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary and couldn't decide if that was a relief or not.
I was just about to head for my bedroom, intending to get a bit more sleep and deal with my door issues at a more civilized hour when my phone started to ring. A quick glance at the caller ID showed it was Ranger.
"Good morning," I answered.
"Babe."
'Babe' can mean a lot of things. This morning I was pretty sure it meant 'what did you get yourself into this time?' with a side of 'you really sent me a text about your door being vandalized?'
"I think it just happened. I woke up to the sound of scraping and a torch. I didn't see anyone. I don't think it's an urgent issue if you're busy today."
"I was actually going to see if you could stop by Rangeman this morning. It looks like your skip may be tied up in the stuff the feds wanted to talk about. I had some more questions about what you know about him."
"My skip? You mean Benny Wright?" The little weasel was turning out to be a pain in the ass. If what Joe said was true and he was involved in Ranger's new investigation, catching him was going to be a headache.
"Yeah. He's not the main player they're interested in, but I saw the name and wanted to see if you had any input."
That's one of the things I love about Ranger. Despite my questionable bounty hunting skills and semi-regular disasters, he still valued my opinions. He always made sure I felt like a member of the team even if I wasn't bringing the same bad-ass skill set as the rest of his guys.
"I can do that," I said, and then remembered I never told Ranger about my other attempt to bring in Benny that had resulted in me being chased and shot at. I gave him a brief overview and he said the feds would definitely be interested in that info.
"Thanks, Babe. I'm going to stop by with a few guys to see if we can find evidence of who left the threat on your door. Then do you mind coming back to Rangeman? I know it's early, but I'm sure Ella will feed you breakfast."
"Sure, you know I'll do anything for Ella food."
"You're giving information to the enemy," he said with a light chuckle and hung up before I could respond.
I rolled my eyes at my phone and decided to get cleaned up if I was going to be invaded by Rangemen shortly. I debated showering but was still a bit freaked out. It was still early enough that I could take care of that in Ranger's super secure apartment before breakfast.
Once I was dressed, I skipped the makeup and pulled my curls into a messy ponytail. Unless Ranger brought a rookie, he and all of his Merry Men had seen me looking worse without being scared off by my Medusa impression.
I hadn't been ready long when I heard a chirp from my phone. I picked it up and quickly read the text that Ranger and the guys were here, but they were going to take a look at my door. I was glad they let me know because I was still a bit on edge.
Sure enough, a few moments later I could hear movement and the murmur of voices but couldn't make out what they were saying. Luckily for me and my ingrained nosiness, they didn't take long before there was a light knock.
I quickly undid the locks and saw a whole battalion of Rangemen.
"Is there anyone left at Haywood?" I asked.
"Woody and Zero have CSI backgrounds, they're going to see if they can get anything from your door. Les and Manny are going to look around the building and parking lot. And Hector used to be a Boitata."
That didn't mean anything to me, and my confusion must have shown on my face because he nodded Hector over and said something in Spanish that caused Hector to strip his shirt.
Hector didn't have the bulk that most of the other Rangemen shared, but he was still impressively built. He was all lean muscle covered in intricate tattoos.
"Babe," Ranger growled, pulling me from my thoughts while Hector laughed.
I blushed and tried to focus on whatever it was he wanted me to see but I was still a bit lost.
"Hector was a Boitata," Ranger said again, pointing to a huge dragon tattoo wrapping up Hector's torso ending in the flames that I knew licked at the collar of his shirt. He said something else to Hector in Spanish and Hector put his shirt back on before Ranger turned back to me. "They're a gang, named for a South American dragon that's both venomous and fire breathing."
While the bulk of my dragon knowledge centered around being able to tell if a dragon scale bag or pair of shoes was a knock off, even I knew that it was rare for a dragon to both breathe fire and have venom. Most species only do one or the other and many venomous dragons weren't large or too dangerous. These Boitatas sounded pretty nasty.
"Yeah, they are," Ranger said, letting me know that I must have spoken out loud. "And so is the gang that's named after them. The gang deals mostly in the drug trade. They're currently specializing in Dragon Bites, a hallucinogenic made from Botiata venom. I thought I recognized the marks on your door and brought Hector along to confirm. That's their mark and it's not good news to be seeing it here. Especially with some of the info I was just reading from the investigation the feds want help on."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"It means that you've once again landed yourself on the radar of some seriously bad guys, Babe. Would you consider staying at Rangeman? At least until we know what we're dealing with?"
"Do I have time to pack a bag?" It was a sign of how freaked out I was that I only felt relief at his offer. The Slayers had been bad enough. I didn't want to tangle with a gang again. And I didn't like lizards, even the small, 'normal' ones. I wanted nothing to do with big lizards that could breathe fire.
At Ranger's nod - because why use words when you can get away with head movements? - I scurried back to my room, wanting to be done before the guys were ready to go.
I was glad I had been to Rangeman yesterday and checked out what all I had in Ranger's closet. I wouldn't need to pack much work gear, so I threw a few casual outfits, a nice dress, and some shoes in my bag. I'd steal Ranger's shirts for pajamas. Ella kept toiletries under the sink in Ranger's bathroom for me, so all I needed to do in my bathroom was swipe my makeup into a cosmetic bag and I was good to go.
Back out in my living room, I found Ranger talking to Woody and Zero. The other guys were nowhere to be seen, so I assumed they were off doing their clue gathering thing.
With nods that carried the vibe of a salute, Woody and Zero headed out and I was alone with Ranger.
"The guys didn't find anything on your door. They're taking the note back to Rangeman to see if they can get anything from it, but I'm not optimistic from what Hector told me." I could hear the frustration in his tone and promised myself I'd behave until we knew more.
"Well, thanks for coming and checking it out," I said, moving into his personal space and reaching up on my tiptoes to brush a kiss across his jaw. Testing my theory from yesterday that Ranger was thrown off by me taking charge.
And sure enough, he looked a bit dazed. Not quite as much as before, but he had a tiny smile curving up the very corners of his lips. I saw him give himself a miniscule shake that you would never notice if you didn't study Batman as a hobby.
"You ready to go?" he asked.
"Yep, just need to grab Rex."
"You get your bag, I'll carry the rat."
"Hamster," I said, trying not to let on that I liked playing this game with him.
We made our way out to the car and the rest of the way back to Rangeman in silence. We took the elevator, but Ranger just dropped Rex off on the counter before going back down to the fifth floor, leaving me to settle in on my own.
I raided Ranger's fridge for a few raw veggies. He and Rex had the same eating habits, and I had my suspicions that Rex liked it better at Rangeman than at home. Once my furry child was taken care of, I quickly stowed my clothes in the closet and hopped in the shower. Ranger's shower was one of my favorite places to be. It was large and roomy with seemingly unlimited hot water that could be adjusted to come from a variety of shower heads and sprayers. Add in the ever-present bottle of Bulgari and the only thing that could make it better would be having Ranger himself in here with me.
I quickly cut off that train of thought. If I let it get too far along, I would be tempted into self- combustion. While there was nothing wrong with that in theory, I wasn't entirely convinced that Ranger couldn't read my thoughts. I was sure that he would know. And there's no way I would be able to focus on whatever important stuff he had on the agenda for today. Better make sure Good Stephanie stays in control. At least for the morning.
Out of the shower, but not as relaxed as I could be, I found that Ella had been by the apartment and left breakfast. I peeked under the dome sitting on the kitchen bar and almost squealed with joy when I found stuffed waffles. I was sure they were whole grain with all sorts of other sneaky nutritional value, but they looked and smelled amazing. As far as I was concerned, Ella was magic and I was sure they were going to be delicious.
That was confirmed when the first bite hit my tongue, sweet from the fruit with a little bit of tartness from cream cheese. The perfect cure for a stressful morning.
When the waffles were gone, I popped my dishes in the dishwasher. I saw it was quarter of nine and picked up some speed. I wasn't sure what time Ranger's meeting was or if he wanted to go over anything with me beforehand.
When the elevator doors opened on five and I was surprised to find Ranger on the other side of them.
"There you are," he said with a slight smile. "I was just about to come find you."
"Sorry if you were waiting."
"No problem. The feds will be here in about fifteen minutes, and I wanted to give you an overview first."
"You want me to be in the meeting?" I was momentarily shocked, unused to being included on the front end of these discussions.
Ranger's eyes softened a bit as he stepped closer and tucked a rogue curl behind my ear. "Of course. What did you think I wanted?"
"I thought you wanted me to look over the info. Maybe run some searches."
"You're involved, Babe. And you have great instincts. I do want you to look over everything, but I also want you to have a first-hand account."
"Oh."
That got a chuckle from him, and he placed his hand on the small of my back and gently led me to his office.
"This is going to be the Cliff Notes version of things because I don't think I have the whole picture yet. Like I said, the feds just asked for this party on Friday."
I nodded that I understood, and he went on.
"The agents who will be meeting with us today are from the ATF and DEA. TPD will also be here since the feds were already working with them when they identified that they needed more resources. From what I understand, the investigation has been going on for a few months. Rangeman will be brought on as a contractor."
"What exactly is the investigation and how does it tie in with my skip?"
"Smuggling and drug trafficking mostly which is why the ATF and DEA are involved. From what I was able to gather, it started with an uptick in Dragon Bite deaths on the east coast. The drugs were tracked back to the mid-Atlantic region. The current theory is that they're being smuggled in through smaller ports."
Puzzle pieces were already beginning to fall together in my mind. The new information lining up with what I'd experienced the last few days.
"Like the port down by the warehouse district here in Trenton?" I asked, needing to confirm my guess.
"Got it in one, Babe. They've also noted an increase in other dragon-derived controlled substances, such as explosives and the toxin you got on your leg Saturday. So, all dangerous, all illegal, and all bad news if the Boitatas are involved."
"How do I end up involved in this shit?" I asked, mostly to myself as I dropped my elbows to my knees and cradled my head in my hands.
"You do have the damndest luck," Ranger said just as his phone dinged. "Looks like our friends are here."
He helped me stand and led me back to the elevator which we took to the second floor.
As we walked into the conference room, we found Tank, Lester, and Ram as well as five agents from the two agencies Ranger had said would be there. We were just trading introductions when the members of the TPD showed up. I wasn't entirely surprised to see Detective Garcia who had questioned me at the hospital, but it was a bit of a shock to see Joe walking in behind him.
"Cupcake," he said as his brow furrowed, and his complexion darkened a shade. "What are you doing here?"
"Steph's had a few run-ins with one of the people of interest listed for this investigation. She also received a threat that appears to be tied to the Boitatas and a result of those run-ins. So, I would like her input."
"Yeah, I'm sure that's what you'd like from her," Joe muttered at Ranger, earning him a dark look that would make most men piss their pants. Joe had turned his irritation my way though. "And I thought I told you to stay away from Wright?"
A burst of frustration washed over me. I was so tired of having this same conversation. Joe and I were like Rex on his wheel - expending energy on one another, but going nowhere.
"You did, but you didn't give me any good reason not to do my job."
"I told you he was bad news." His face had darkened and it was evident I wasn't the only one frustrated.
"You say that about half of my skips," I said, taking a deep breath in through my nose before turning to Ranger. "Do you mind if Joe and I step into the other conference room for a moment?"
I had a sneaking suspicion that our conversation was about to get unprofessional.
"Sure, Babe," Ranger said with a little smirk. He took entirely too much enjoyment out of Joe being pissed off.
I walked out of the conference room with the Rangemen, feds and Detective Garcia and just assumed Joe would follow. I knew there was more he wanted to say, too.
I shut the door to the conference room I'd led him to and turned, holding up a hand as I saw him taking a breath to start in on one of his tantrums.
"The conference rooms are soundproof, but we're on camera. The guys in the control room can see and hear us, so don't say anything you don't want witnessed."
He turned a few shades darker, and I was momentarily concerned he was going to have an aneurysm before he seemed to get himself back under control.
"When did these threats happen? Before or after you got doused in an illegal controlled substance?"
"After," I said, giving him my best Burg girl eye roll. "Early this morning actually."
"And you didn't call the cops because?"
"I let Ranger know. He had already told me he was going to be involved in whatever this is."
"Of course he did," Joe said, running a hand through his hair and turning his back to me. I knew he was working to get himself back under control, but I had questions of my own.
"How long have you been involved? Did you know this was the sort of stuff Benny Wright was involved in?"
"Of course I did! Why the hell do you think I told you to stay away from him?"
"Hell, if I know," I said, my volume rising to match his. So much for behaving while we were on camera. "All you said was he's bad news. I chase criminals. They're generally bad news by definition."
"And I've told you time and again that you don't need to chase criminals. I can support both of us and you can stay out of all of this crap."
I took my own turn getting back under control. "And you know that's not what I want. I think this off phase should be permanent. Not only do you not support me, you hide things from me that could make me safer while complaining about how dangerous my job is."
With that, I turned and walked out. Leaving a sputtering Joe behind me.
oOo
A/N: While doing research on types of dragons, I was really interested to find out that there are legends of dragon-like creatures all over the world. The Boitata is a part Brazillian folklore - they are said to be fire breathing serpents who are protectors of the forest.