Chapter Five

End of November 2005

"Wow. It's coming along great. I can't believe a few weeks ago, none of this was here," Steph commented as we toured the newly completed sixth floor.

"Yeah, the contractor has been great," I said. "I've heard horror stories about contractors taking too long or spending way more money than was originally estimated, but we've had none of those issues."

"So, this apartment will eventually be your younger brother's?"

I nodded. "Lester. He's finishing his tour in the Army Rangers, and then he'll join us."

"What's he like?" she asked as she sat on a bar stool at the end of the kitchen peninsula.

I smiled. How to describe Les? "He just turned twenty-two. He's a couple of inches taller than Hector and me, and his hair is bleached blond. He's much more outgoing and friendly than I am—"

Steph scoffed. "You're not unfriendly. You're just…quiet."

"I am quiet, but most people would disagree with you about the friendliness, Babe."

"Most people are idiots. We've only known each other a couple of months, and you're like one of my closest friends now."

"That's another thing. There are very few people I'd consider friends."

"But you consider me a friend, right?" Steph looked a little apprehensive.

"Yeah, Babe. We're friends," I said softly. Because we can't be anything more than that.

She smiled happily. "Tell me more about Les. If he's coming to work here, you obviously must get along?"

"We do, for the most part. Sometimes he's a pain in the ass, but I think that's because he's my baby brother. He's the youngest in the family, and our mama babied him a little."

"Is he nice?"

I nodded. "I think you'll like him."

"What was it like growing up in such a large family? It was only Val and me in mine, and I sometimes wish there would have been more of us to take the heat off me," she admitted.

"What do you mean, Babe?"

She frowned. "Valerie was always the perfect daughter. She never put a toe out of line. She loved to cook and bake. She wore dresses and never got dirty. She was like a saint or something. And then there was me. I ran around with the boys, playing superheroes and tying capes to my neck so I could pretend to fly. It drove my mother crazy that I didn't like to do any of those quiet, indoor things that Val or the other girls in the 'Burg did. I was always getting in trouble."

"I'm sorry, Babe. What about your dad?"

"He was there, but he was always sort of quiet. He didn't say much to us. We were children, so he left our raising up to our mother." A note of bitterness crept into her voice near the end of her statement.

"How do your folks feel about your being a bounty hunter?"

She laughed. "My mom is scandalized and takes every opportunity to tell me how embarrassing my job is and how the neighbours don't have daughters who hang out with rapists and drug dealers. I go for dinner at their house once a week, and more often than not, there's some hapless loser there she wants me to date so I don't end up an old spinster with twelve cats."

"That part sounds a little like my mom. She doesn't get much of a chance to try and set me up, though, because I only go home for major holidays."

"How come? You seem close with your siblings, at least close to those I've met so far."

"We are, and I love my family. But I live a dangerous life and don't want to bring that danger to their doorstep. Les and Hector understand me, and their lives are similar to mine in many ways. I don't see my sisters or parents as often. They love me, but they don't always understand my life."

"You were in the Army too, right?" she asked.

"Still am. But now it's more of a contract basis."

"What does that mean?"

I smiled slowly.

"Ah-ha. One of those things he won't answer," she observed when the silence stretched too long. "Was Hector in the Army, too? I can't imagine that with the tattoo, but I guess stranger things have happened."

"No, he was never in the military. He works with computers. How did you become a bounty hunter, Babe? Was it because Vinnie's your cousin?"

She shuddered. "Jeepers, no. My ex-boyfriend was a bounty hunter, and it seemed like fun, kind of like being a superhero charged with keeping the city safe. I lost my job, and I was totally desperate for work. Joe—he's my ex—did the high bonds for Vinnie, and his other bonds guy quit. So I blackmailed Vinnie into hiring me and that was that."

"What happened to Joe?" This was the first time she'd ever mentioned anyone's name in a romantic sense.

"He didn't like me being a bounty hunter, and we started fighting all the time," she said quietly. "He moved to Washington about six months ago and joined the Washington State Patrol."

I frowned. "He didn't like your doing the same job as him and just left you?"

"It wasn't quite that simple. He broke his leg, and while he was healing, he realized he didn't want to be a bounty hunter anymore. He decided to join the police force and wanted a fresh start. He asked me to come with him, get married, and start a family, but I didn't want to do any of those things. So, we broke up, and he left."

"How long had you been together?"

"About three years, off and on. We broke up a lot over stupid shit. He's Italian, and I'm half-Italian, so we both have pretty good tempers."

We left Lester's apartment and I showed Steph around the rest of the building, excluding the seventh floor. The command center on the fifth floor was also done, with built-in desks spanning two walls, but we had yet to get the equipment we'd need before we started monitoring security accounts. Since we planned to hold off on that for a little while while we built up more company funds, Hector was taking his time and ensuring we only bought the best of everything.

"So this entire room will be filled with monitors, and there will be people here who do nothing but stare at them? Talk about butt-numbing work," Steph remarked as I explained the purpose of the large, open space.

"We'll also have patrols running through neighbourhoods around our accounts, just in case," I said. "That way, they'll be close if anything happens and someone on the monitors picks it up."

"Then what do they do? Do they arrest the perp?"

I smirked. "Perp, Babe? Where did you get that?"

"On TV! Do they not really say that?"

"I'm pretty sure they don't." Damn, Steph was too cute.

"What do they say, then?"

"I'm not sure, Babe, but it might be something like the suspect."

"But what if they know the suspect did it? He's not just suspected anymore, right? He's the doer."

I couldn't help myself. I laughed. "I guess that's right. I don't know what they call him in that instance."

"I'll have to ask Uncle Joe."

"Who's Uncle Joe, Babe?"

"Joe Juniak, the mayor. Oh, he's not really my uncle. He's more like a longtime family friend. One of those honourary uncles, you know?" At my nod, she continued. "He's the mayor now, but he used to be the police chief. Anyway, I feel like I'm going to be calling him up soon to ask him this question."

"Let me know what he says."

Later, after Stephanie had gone to have lunch with Juan to catch up, Tank approached me at the gun range. "Yo, Bossman," he said when I stopped shooting and faced him.

"What's up?"

"Connie called. We got two skips down at the office. I'm gonna go pick up the files." I nodded my acquiescence, and he left.

I continued shooting after he left, smiling with satisfaction when I pressed the button to pull the targets closer and noted the tight grouping in the center of the target.

My cell phone rang, and I groaned. This was a restricted number, and only a few people had it. "Yo," I said, then fell silent as the caller started talking.

Two hours later, I met with Tank and Hector on the fifth floor in my new office.

"I have to report tomorrow morning at 0600 hours," I told them. "It's expected to take a couple of weeks, but it'll be a good chunk of change to add to RangeMan."

"Bad timing, Mano," Hector replied.

"I know, but you know I don't have a say. Tank, I want you to keep up with the contractors. You know what I want and don't want. If something comes up that we haven't discussed, make the call."

He nodded.

"And, can you do me a favour?" I began. "Can you watch over Steph?"

"Sure."

"I'm gonna see her and tell her I'm leaving town. I'll let her know she can contact you if she needs help."

I'd never been to Steph's apartment before, but I knew where it was. I drove there and parked in the lot near the rear entrance. I knocked on her door and waited a moment. She flung open the door and said, "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

Surprised that she immediately thought something was wrong, I assured her, "Everything's okay, Babe. May I come in?"

She moved aside to let me enter, then closed the door. "What's going on, Ranger? Because I don't believe nothing's wrong."

I turned to look at her, plastered against her front door. "Nothing's wrong, but I'm going out of town for a while."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

I smiled. "Can't tell you, Babe. But it should only be for a couple of weeks. I just wanted to let you know and tell you to contact Tank if you need any help with anything."

"Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"This is one of those contract things, right?" She paused. "Of course, you can't tell me."

"I'm good at my job. Don't worry about me. And I'll be back before you know it."

I approached the door, and she stopped me when I got near enough. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "Don't get shot, okay?" she said.

"Don't go crazy." I squeezed her hand and left.

I thought about that kiss for the rest of the evening. No matter how much I wanted to keep her in that strictly-friends zone, I wasn't sure if I could after this.