I wanted to be angry, but I was too thankful Ranger had the proof to protect me from anything Morelli could do. "Did you send my mom the email with photos?" I asked.
"No. It was Hector," Ranger replied.
"What should I do about this potential situation?" I asked.
"One second," Ranger said. I heard the door of his office snick close and the lock tumbling. "I'm putting you on speakerphone. I have Hunter in my office. Are you secure?"
"I'm at my parents' house in my old bedroom," I replied. "Is that secure enough?"
"Do you still have your fob for Rangeman?"
"I have the new one Hector gave me," I replied. "Why do I have a new fob?"
"You can scramble security cameras and listening devices. Press the red button and hold it for two seconds," Ranger ordered. I rolled my eyes and followed his instructions. "Do not put the phone on speaker. Play music by the door." I rolled my eyes at the music comment but did as he asked. The radio was too loud for anyone to hear my conversation. It was not loud enough to drown out Ranger and Hunter's voices.
"Okay. I'm ready to hear your sage advice, oh powerful Batman, the wizard of Rangeman," I teased. Hunter laughed. Ranger cleared his throat. "Sorry, Ranger. Please, continue."
Hunter spoke, "I'm preparing documentation with affidavits for the Rangeman security detail. Since you worked distractions to capture criminals for Rangeman, your agreement indicated around-the-clock protection whenever the courts released one of those scofflaws on bail. Whenever you rekindled your relationship with Detective Morelli, it coincided with such occurrences. Rangeman has everything documented and stored chronologically. We also have evidence of Morelli receiving intel from Connie Rosolli regarding the skips she assigned for you to capture. Lester recently learned Connie specifically gave you files to assist Detective Morelli in his investigations."
I was seeing red. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that I was helping Joe solve his cases. "You have got to be joking. All those times when he publicly berated me for being lousy at my job, and you're saying he was using it to move up the ranks?" I coldly asked.
"Yes," Hunter replied. "He manipulated you into helping him do his job. Connie doesn't know that Rangeman recorded everything in Vincent Plum Bail Bonding Company. We have every exchange on video with time and date stamps."
"I want to kill him," I growled.
"He will get everything he deserves," Hunter promised.
"Are we filing a complaint with the TPD's internal affairs about Morelli's misconduct?" I questioned.
"That and impeding official government work between Rangeman and the FBI," Ranger replied. "A few of your skips were on the FBI's watch list. Morelli warned a few that you had them on your radar."
"For fuck's sake," I grumbled. "So every time I shared details of my discovery with Joe, he used it to fuck with my livelihood and put me in danger?"
"Yes," Hunter replied. "We scoured our footage to find the results. Hector had multiple copies stored."
"Why didn't you tell me, Ranger?" I demanded.
"Morelli was supposed to tell you. I thought you didn't want to drag his name through the mud," Ranger replied.
"He never said a word. If he had, I never would have continued dating him," I snapped. "Let's nail that fucker!"
"You've got it," Hunter promised. "I'll need your signature before I file the complaint in the morning."
"Meet me at the house at seven. Ranger, I need you and the core team there as well. I have a feeling my life is about to get more complicated," I said. We ended the call. It was time to deal with the people roaming around my parents' house.
I silenced the radio, then opened the door to find Hal and Ram standing guard. Hal raised a brow. "I'm fine. Thank you for returning. I need your strength to get me through the shit happening downstairs." Hal and Ram hugged me. I felt like a Merry Men sandwich. Ram chuckled, indicating I said that line out loud. "Oops."
Hal led the way to the main floor, leaving Ram behind me. The men were my assigned Rangeman guards to protect me from anything Joe, Joyce, or Terry could think of doing. Filing a formal complaint about Morelli may blow up in my face or put me in grave danger.
So many women from the neighbourhood brought us casserole dishes of food. Valerie arrived, thankfully without the children, to accept condolences from everyone and collect the various lasagnas and pasta casseroles. I had enough prepared meals in my house that I didn't need to add more.
Bella and Angie arrived. I accepted the casserole from Bella but planned to trash it once she said, "It's my famous casserole I make for hockey games." Cow tongue casserole does not sound appealing.
"Thank you," Valerie said. She took the dish and promised to return the glass Pyrex baking dish. I had no intention of eating that vile food. It smelled when Joe had it for the playoffs last year. His family ate every bite. I smiled, remembering that it gave Morelli and the others the shits. Poor Bob. The poor dog wouldn't leave his corner in the kitchen.
"Mom, call an ambulance," I yelled. Bella Morelli swayed on her feet. Her face turned ashen as though she saw a ghost. A small whimper crossed her lips. I moved into position to grab her. Joe entered the house as Bella Morelli collapsed. I caught her before she hit her head on the table.
"I've got her," Joe hollered. He strained under Bella's weight as he carried her to his car. Ram rushed to assist when Joe's knees buckled. I shook my head. Hal wrapped a protective arm around me. Angie pushed past us to get to her car. Ram placed Bella in Morelli's backseat and shut the door. He tapped the hood, signalling for Joe to leave. Angie was racing down the road behind Joe, taking advantage of the Kojak light he used to get through traffic.
I swore I heard Grandma laughing once the excitement died. Mom and I shooed everyone from the house. Dad had moved Valerie to the couch, where he awkwardly tried to console her. Mom took his position. I left Mom and Valerie in the living room. Dad and I looked at the casseroles, deciding what to keep or send home with Valerie. When we looked at the one from Bella Morelli, I went to the trash and emptied the dish. Dad chuckled and took out the garbage. "I bet the raccoons are too smart to avoid that putrid food," he joked. "Do you want any?"
"No, thank you. Most of the dishes are in the toss-away aluminum ones. We can donate those to the soup kitchen. I'm sure they can dole out the servings to the homeless," I replied. "We should let Valerie choose the ones she wants before donating anything."
"I could live with that," Dad said. Dad was a meat-and-potatoes kind of man. He rarely ate casseroles unless it was lasagna. We washed the dish from the Morellis. I planned to leave it at Joe's house before going home since it was on my way.
Valerie and Mom entered the kitchen as Dad and I sorted the food into two piles. "Why did you split everything in two? Are you taking any home, Steph?" Valerie asked.
"No. I put the cabbage rolls and lasagna in the refrigerator for Mom and Dad. This stack," I said, touching the one to my right, "are the foods your children would appreciate. The other stacks are casseroles or foods your family won't touch."
I wasn't offended when Valerie double-checked the ten containers of food. "What the heck is that?" Valerie asked, pointing to the one resembling sauerkraut with chopped beef.
"Clara Meyer made it," Mom said. "It's sauerkraut and venison."
"Pass," Valerie said. "I can't eat Bambi." I don't mind venison, but I loathe sauerkraut.
"That's why I had it in the donate pile," I laughed.
"What do you think happened to Bella Morelli?" Valerie asked.
"Who knows?" I secretly hoped she died. That way, she can't dance on Grandma's grave.
"When is Grandma's funeral?" Valerie queried. Mom and I never discussed a funeral, a church service or anything of that nature.
"We haven't arranged anything yet. Grandma wants to be cremated, so I had to arrange that in the morning. I'll let you know once I figure everything out," I explained.
"What about a Celebration of Life?" Mom suggested. "It seems silly to have a formal funeral to bury an urn."
"Can you see if the VA Hall has an opening for a Celebration of Life in three days?"
"Carol Sumner is holding it for us," Mom said, surprising me with the news. "You'll need to send a deposit today."
"Thanks." I used my phone to forward the deposit. Carol quickly replied that she had received the funds and could cater the event, or I had to arrange it. I told her to take care of everything. It was one less thing for me to manage. "Grandma's estate would pay for the repast at the VA Hall."
"What's a repast?" Valerie asked.
"A funeral reception," I patiently explained. Valerie whined that I should have said that in the first place. Wasn't she a part of the conversation? She heard the discussion about renting the hall. Or was Valerie living in Denial Land for a few minutes?
"Father Michael said to contact him when we have the cremation time," Mom said. I nodded and wrote a reminder to ask Dave at Stiva's Funeral Home on my phone.
"I'll update you tomorrow. Do you need me to drop off the donations?" I asked.
"Hal and Ram promised to drop them into the Saint Vincent de Paul donation box near the church." Mom turned to Dad and Valerie. "Frank, help Valerie carry the casseroles to her car. I need a few minutes with Stephanie."
I thought Mom would give me crap about the letter, which she knew contained the key to Grandpa's safety deposit box. "It wasn't my fault," I automatically replied when we sat on the couch. I noticed Dad's chair was missing.
"Stephanie, I know you inherited my father's estate. I'm not asking you to give your sister, cousins or me money," Mom said. I furrowed my brows. What does she want? Mom touched my hand. "Help Albert find a lucrative job. He isn't able to support the family on his current salary. Your father and I have supplemented his income for the past few years. I know you've contributed, too. Otherwise, you would've rented a nice apartment in a secured building."
"Mom, get to the point. Do you want me to help Valerie?" I asked.
"Indirectly. Would you be willing to purchase a house with your father and me for Valerie to rent?"
Grinning, I replied, "I've already done it. I received a windfall and decided to use it to buy a house. Nobody will know I own it, and I'm only asking for 500 per month. It should be enough to cover property taxes and maintenance."
"Thank you," Mom cried. She hugged me tightly. It was one less thing for her to worry about. "Once everything settles, maybe your father and I can take a proper vacation."
I stared at Mom in shock. She never asked where I got the money. My curiosity got the best of me, so I asked, "Aren't you curious about where I got the cash to buy a house?"
"Where you get your money is none of my business." It was entirely out of character for her not to stick her nose into my life. "While you were on vacation, some of those women," Mom said, pointing outside, "Called about why you weren't with Joseph Morelli. They made it sound like you were cheating on him by wanting time to yourself. Of course, I set them straight and shared those photographs with everyone. It took until last Saturday for them to stop wagging their tongues about you. Stephanie, my job as your mother is to stand up for you. I'm sorry for making you feel you couldn't meet my expectations."
"Does that mean you'll stop pushing me to get married and have children?" I asked.
Mom giggled, "I doubt it would work. You have always had a strong will. I never want that to change. It's part of the wonderful package that makes you unique."
"Where did this change of attitude come from?" I asked.
"You sacrificed part of your vacation to give me a break from caring for my mother. Valerie was always too busy to run an errand for me. She could have left the children with Albert or her mother-in-law, but she couldn't be bothered to make the arrangements. The last time I asked her to pick up toilet paper from the grocery store, she claimed to suffer from a headache. I got Mrs. Markowitz to sit with Mother while I went shopping. I found Valerie buying her groceries. She was in the store when I called. Had I asked you, I know you would have done it without question, even if it meant spending the money you saved to pay your phone bill," Mom explained.
"Did you call her out on the lie?" I asked.
"No. I went down a different aisle and avoided her. She never saw me leave the store," Mom answered. I shook my head. It wasn't the first time Valerie was selfish and refused to help Mom or Grandma. She always helped whenever I asked because I let her live in my apartment for a few months, and she wanted to repay me.
"I'm sorry you had to find out your perfect daughter is far from perfect," I deadpanned, not feeling the least bit sorry for Valerie being a bitch to Mom.
"Stephanie, nobody is perfect. I thought Valerie had everything until Steve left her for the babysitter. My reaction was the opposite of how I treated you after Dickie cheated on you. I can only say it was that way because of Angie and Mary Alice. I'm sorry if you felt it was a double standard. After you pointed it out, I realized you were correct. Mother got me to see it from your perspective. I only wanted you to be happy, and I thought Joseph Morelli could do that for you," Mom confessed.
"Grandpa's letter told me to avoid the Morelli men. He claimed they married widows to steal their money and divorced them once the cash was gone. I thought Morelli was different than his family until he nearly hit me the last time my car caught on fire."
It was nice having an honest conversation with Mom. She showed more compassion and understanding than she ever had in the past. "Taking care of Mother was an eye-opening experience. I got to see that not everything is as it seems. It was a drastic way to learn that lesson, but I understand. I'm sorry it took so long," Mom said.
"Mom, life is too short to hang onto past wrongs. I want us to have a better relationship."
Smiling mischievously, Mom asked, "Does that mean you and Hal would get married and have children?"
"Mom!" I said before laughing.
Dad entered the living room to see why Mom and I were laughing. It must have confused him. "Well?" Mom demanded.
"Marrying Hal and having children is on the table. We will decide when and if either will happen. According to Grandma, I will have twins," I replied. Dad passed me another letter. It was thick and felt heavy, taking up little space in the manilla envelope with my name written in Grandma's neat handwriting. "What's this, and where did it come from?"
"I found it in Big Blue," Dad replied.
It was another letter addressed to me from Grandma. "I'll read it when I get home. I'm supposed to meet Ranger and the others," I explained.
Mom and Dad walked me to the door. They hugged and kissed my cheek before I left, carrying my letter from Grandma. I wondered what words of wisdom she wanted to pass on.