Every Girl Should Have a Tank

#3 in the Rangeman Series
(2/11/06)

 

Prologue	Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3	Chapter 4	Chapter 5
Chapter 6	Chapter 7	Chapter 8	Chapter 9	Chapter 10	Chapter 11
Chapter 12	Epilogue

 

 

 

Prologue:

 

Stephanie tossed the Brashier file into her Outbox.  She made some notes on a post-it and stuck it to the edge of her monitor.  She still couldn’t get over just how much information was accessible to anyone with the right software program and boundless curiosity.  She leaned back in the chair and thought about the last 3 weeks.  She’d been hired by Ranger to work office phones and do computer research, given a sweet motorcycle, was kidnapped and threatened with death by a homicidal undertaker with more than one screw loose, smashed a car into scrap with Big Blue, who escaped without so much as a scratch, Ranger had given her 5 days enforced, paid “stress leave” to recover from the ordeal, and she had returned to work to find her Inbox filled to capacity by Rodriguez.  She’d been working all morning and most of the afternoon completing the research he requested and now that the Brashier file was done, she could relax for a minute.

 

Her desktop phone beeped and Ranger’s voice came over the intercom. “Stephanie, could you step into my office for a minute?”  Uh-oh.  That didn’t sound good.  Stephanie did a mental inventory of the last few days trying to remember if she screwed up anything that would get her called on the carpet in front of Ranger.   She’d been glued to the computer since she returned from leave and couldn’t think of a single reason why she’d be in trouble.

 

“Uh, sure,” she said.  Then, quickly realizing, “Where is it?”  She hadn’t been anywhere in the building except the parking garage, the gun range, Ranger’s apartment and the 5^th floor. 

 

She could hear Ranger’s smile over the line.  “Sixth floor, northeast corner.  I’ll see you in 3, Babe.”

 

Well, he didn’t sound angry.  Of course, with Ranger it wasn’t easy to tell.  Three minutes.  Oh boy.  She flipped out her compact mirror and made sure her mascara hadn’t smudged.  Steph ran a light coat of lip gloss on and tossed everything into her desk drawer, kicking it closed with her foot.  She slipped on her mules and dashed for the door.  She made her way to the elevator and in no time she was standing in front of a pair of mahogany doors.  A gold plate engraved with “R. Carlos Manoso” was on one door at eye level.

 

Stephanie knocked lightly and opened the door when she heard him say, “it’s open, Babe.”   She never really thought of Ranger as a business man, but he looked like one today sitting behind an ornate desk made from heavy, dark wood.  He had on a navy suit, so dark it looked black until he moved and the light played across it.  The shirt was a cream colored band collar, buttoned all the way up with an onyx button at the throat.  He had on highly polished black dress shoes.  His hair was still medium cut and fell across his forehead in a way that brought attention to his eyes.  His skin reminded her of the caramel macchiato she’d had at Starbucks that morning, warm and smooth.  He smiled when he saw her, it wasn’t the 1000-watter but it was pretty bright just the same. 

 

“Come in and take a seat.  I’ve got some things I want to talk to you about.”  Stephanie quickly sat down and took in her surroundings.  The walls of the office were a golden brown color with navy accents in the curtains and carpeting.  Along one wall was a huge bookcase made from the same dark wood as the desk and filled with books, photos and assorted pieces of art.  Behind his desk, a wall of windows looked out over Trenton and a matching credenza sat under the windows with multiple photos of a darling little girl with mocha-latte skin and big brown eyes.  The pictures were of various stages chronicling her growth from about age 3 months to age 9.  She had a sparkling smile and eye lashes that any Burg girl would kill for.  In one corner of the credenza was a fairly large photo of four women who looked to be in their early-to-mid twenties surrounding a middle-aged woman holding the same little girl in her lap. 

 

Still worried that something had happened, she asked “Is everything alright?”

 

Ranger smiled and put her at ease, “Everything’s fine, Babe.  I’ve just been busy with finalizing the Atlanta sale and haven’t had time to check in and see how you’ve been.  Feeling OK?”

 

Stephanie smiled back, “Sure.”  She held up her wrists for his inspection, “Almost completely healed.  See?”

 

“That’s good.  So, do you think you’re ready to take on the rest of your job?” he asked.

 

“Huh?”  Rest of the job?   “There’s more than just doing the researching?”

 

Ranger stood up and walked around to the front of the desk.  He leaned against it and studied Stephanie for a moment, measuring how he was going to break this to her.  “Babe, do you remember your first day here when I said that you were required to carry a gun?”

 

She nodded, turning slightly so he could see the Sig Sauer in it’s holster on her belt.  He smiled again, leaning forward a little to look her in the eyes, “Office workers don’t need guns, Steph.  The research job is only half of your duties, your other half is field work.”

 

Her eyes widened in surprise and Ranger thought he saw a flash of excitement.  It was gone quickly and a little frown furrowed her brow. “Field work?  But Ranger, I quit Vinnie’s because I didn’t want to do field work anymore.  I mean, I help out Lula occasionally…” At his raised eyebrow, she added, “Ok, a lot, but I’m helping – I’m not a bounty hunter anymore.”

 

“I know, Babe, and I’m not asking you to be a bounty hunter again.  I’m telling you that you will be doing some field work, helping with redecorating jobs, doing surveillance, whatever comes up.” 

 

Damn, this was not good.  She really didn’t want to piss him off, but better him than Joe.  Ranger got quiet when he got angry, Joe got loud.  And Joe’s volume increased every time he heard the words Stephanie, field work and gun in the same sentence.  Neither man would ever hurt her, but she really hated being yelled at.  “I can’t Ranger, I’m sorry.  Joe will blow a gasket if he finds out I’m back on the street.”

 

“Even if it’s part of your job?” he asked.

 

“Especially if it’s part of my job,” Stephanie replied.

 

“What if you wouldn’t be on your own?  What if you had a partner?  Would he still be pissed?”

 

She chewed on her bottom lip, “I don’t know.  Maybe?   Probably.”

 

She could tell by the look on his face that Ranger wasn’t happy.  He didn’t look angry so much as disappointed.  She really hated to disappoint him, but her relationship with Joe was balancing precariously on the fence.  He didn’t like her working for Rangeman (or more specifically, Ranger), he didn’t want her to carry a gun, he wasn’t crazy about the motorcycle and he got cranky when she’d get wrapped up in a search and forget to go home until late. 

 

Ranger crossed his arms across his chest and studied her for a long moment.  Stephanie tried not to fidget and made a concerted effort to meet his eyes.  Finally, Ranger said, “You’ll have two-week rotations with each member of the A-crew.  I’m partnering you up with Tank first.  You’ll work mornings doing research and once you’re done with your searches or it’s Noon, whichever comes first, you will meet up with Tank for the remainder of the day.”

 

“Ranger, I…”

 

“I’m not going to force you, Stephanie.  I like having you here, your presence brightens up the place.  But this is part of the job.  I can’t let you slide by when the rest of the crew is required to balance their desk duties with their street time.  So, you have to decide – either step up, or step out.”

 

Great, another ultimatum.  Blowing out a sigh, and imagining the earful she was going to hear from Morelli, she looked up at Ranger.  “Ok, I’ll step up.”

 

Ranger was relieved.  He had been a little worried that she would walk away in an attempt to pacify Morelli.  It pissed him off that Stephanie was suppressing her wants and aspects of her personality just to keep the peace between herself and Joe.  He smiled at Stephanie and reached out and took her hand, “If Joe flips out, have him call me.  Maybe we’ll go down to the gym and I’ll let him get out some of his frustrations.”

 

“You’re going to let him hit you?” she asked in awe.

 

“Hell no.  He can hit the punching bag…he hits me and it’s on,” he said with a wicked grin.  Stephanie wasn’t sure if he was kidding.  “Seriously, Babe.  It’s not going to be the way it was at Vinnie’s.  You won’t be the lead, you’ll be the backup.  And besides, Tank is a lot scarier than Lula – skips, dealers, and others think long and hard before going up against him.”

 

Stephanie still didn’t think this was a great idea.  Joe notwithstanding, she really was a magnet for disaster.  She’d nearly dismantled Ranger’s crew single-handedly.  She chipped off some of her nail polish and avoided looking at Ranger.  He dropped down to a crouch in front of her, running his finger across her hairline and tucking back a stray curl.  “What’s up, Babe?  Second thoughts?”

 

“No, I said I’d do it.  But, what if he gets hurt again?”

 

Ranger shook his head slightly, “They are all big boys; they can handle themselves.  And, if it makes you feel any better, they’ll be getting hazard pay during their rotation with you.”

 

She gave him a half-hearted glare, “That sucks, Ranger.”

 

He laughed, “I know, Babe, but you have to admit that things don’t always follow a plan when you’re around.  I need to have contingencies.”  Ranger stood and tugged her to her feet.  He wrapped his arms around Stephanie’s waist and snuggled her in close.  “I’m glad you decided to stay.  I’d miss you.”

 

“I’d miss you, too,” she replied.  She nuzzled his jaw, basking in the scent of Bulgari and warm Ranger.  He tapped a light kiss to the bend of her neck and pulled away. 

 

Stephanie held his hand as she walked toward the door.  “I should get back to work.  When does this partnership with Tank start?”

 

“He’ll be ready to start on Monday.”  He pulled her to him suddenly, “Try not to hurt him, Babe,” he said with a chuckle, “I really need his help around here.”

 

She swatted him lightly in the chest, “Shut up, Ranger.” Then they smiled at each other. 

 

He leaned over and brushed a light kiss on her lips.  Reaching down, he turned the doorknob and gently pushed Stephanie through the open door.  “I’ll see you later.” 

 

She turned to walk away, but looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a smile and a little finger wave.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Stephanie pulled the Ducati into the shed behind Joe’s house and walked in through the back door.  She could hear the television going and it sounded like Morelli & Bob were watching a game.  Following the sound, she found Joe lying on the couch and Bob lying on the floor next to him.

 

“Hey,” she said as she walked in and flopped in a chair.

 

“Hey Cupcake.  How was your day at Psychos R Us?” he asked with a grin.

 

“Not funny, Morelli.”  She figured it was best to just drop the bomb and deal with the fallout while it was still early.  She might be able to move back to her apartment before it got dark.  “Look, I need to talk to you about something.  Can you turn that off for a minute?”

 

Joe pulled himself up to a sitting position.  “Well, I’ve got $50 riding on this game, so how about if I just turn the sound down for a little bit?”

 

Stephanie sighed, “I guess, but I’m not sure you’ll have time to watch the game after I tell you this.  Probably you’ll be too busy yelling at me.”

 

“Yelling?  What, did you blow up another car?”

 

“No. I, um, had a meeting today…with, uh, Ranger.” 

 

Joe looked her over and noticed that she didn’t want to meet his eyes, she kept picking at her fingernails.  She was nervous about his reaction to whatever she planned to say.  “OK.  I’m guessing it wasn’t a good meeting?”

 

“Depends on your perspective, I guess.  He told me that he wants me to take on the rest of my job responsibilities.”

 

Joe narrowed his eyes, “Uh-huh.  And do these responsibilities involve you getting naked with Ranger?”

 

Stephanie’s head shot up, “What?!  No!  It’s just that he wants me to start helping out with field work.”  She watched him closely and knew exactly when his temper flared.  Two and a half seconds…a Morelli record.

 

“Field work?!  I thought you were an office worker.  What the hell does an office worker do in the field?”  He stood up and paced around the room.  He spun around and glared at her, “Did you know about this when you took the job?  Waiting to spring it on me, just for giggles?”

 

Stephanie jumped to her feet. “No, I didn’t know about it!” she yelled.  “It was a surprise to me too!  He wants to partner me up with Tank for two weeks.  Tank will be the lead and I’ll be his backup.  We’ll be doing surveillance and maybe some building clean-up.”  She didn’t think Morelli needed to know the details involved in cleaning up the building.

 

“Damnit Cupcake!  Tank doesn’t need a backup.  The guy’s freakin’ Godzilla!  This is about Ranger getting you to do what he wants, knowing it will cause a problem between us.”

 

“It’s not like that, Joe.  Everyone at Rangeman has to divide their time between the office and the street.  It’s not fair if I get to skip out when no one else does.  And Ranger wouldn’t deliberately cause problems for us.”

 

Joe blew out a breath and tried to calm down.  “Steph, I know you think he’s this great guy, but I’m telling you, Manoso is not who you think he is.  The guy is certifiable, Cupcake.  And if that isn’t bad enough, he wants you; he’s wanted you for a long time.”

 

Stephanie closed her eyes against Morelli’s accusations.  Oh yeah, she knew Ranger wanted her.  Hell, she wanted him too – the guy was a walking wet dream.  “There’s nothing going on between me and Ranger.  You know that.”  Well, almost nothing.

 

Morelli did know it.  Stephanie would never cheat on him – not after what had happened with The Dick.  “Yeah, I know it.  But I also know that Ranger doesn’t give up until he gets what he wants.  The guy’s not above playing head games with you until he’s got you doing what he wants and making you think it was your own idea.”

 

“How do you think you know so much about Ranger?”

 

“Because not that long ago I was Ranger.   You didn’t like me back then, but you wanted me because you like to walk on the wild side.  And that’s where Ranger lives.”  He pulled her into his arms.  “I love you, Steph and this whole Rangeman job bothers me…a lot.”

 

Stephanie gave him a hug.  “You don’t have to worry.  Ranger wouldn’t hurt me and he won’t let me get hurt, and nothing is going to happen between us.  This field work stuff is just his way of getting the Rangeman crew to accept me.  Probably I’ll be sitting in a car doing the not-talking thing with Tank for two weeks.  I’ll be bored out of my mind.”

 

Joe kissed her forehead, “OK, I’ll back off for now.  But one blown-up car, one call about shots fired in your direction and we’re going to go into Round 2 on this one.”

 

“I know.”

 

After a minute, he gave her a sly look, “So, how does the bike handle?”

 

She smiled at him mischievously, “Like a wet dream.”

 

Joe smiled back, “Yeah?”  He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I’ve got something you can ride that’s even better.”

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Chapter 1:

 

Stephanie glanced at her watch, 11:40am.  She had 20 minutes before her first day as Tank’s “back-up”.  She quickly straightened her desk, laying out her workload for the next day.  She saw a shadow fall over her desk and she turned around to find Hal standing in the doorway to her cubby.

 

“Hey, Hal,” she said, smiling, “What’s up?”

 

He smiled back at her, and it was a genuine smile which was new to the Rangeman crew.  She couldn’t remember any of them smiling except for Ranger and on a rare day, Tank.  “Hi Stephanie, Tank asked me to bring this over to you,” he said and handed her a small black duffel bag.  “He would like for you to meet him in the gym.”

 

The gym?  “Um, OK.  Where is the gym?” she asked. 

 

“Just go out the side door and take the hall all the way to the end.  Can’t miss it.”

 

Hal left and Stephanie opened the duffel to find a pair of baby blue workout pants and a white cotton tank top along with a pair of short socks.  Guessing that Tank was expecting her to arrive in these clothes she grabbed her key fob and headed for Ranger’s apartment to change. 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

She knocked once and waited for a few moments to see if it was answered.  Nope, no Ranger.  She hit the button on the key fob and let herself into the apartment.  Even though she had spent several days here and had been back a few times since with Ranger’s invitation, she was a little apprehensive about invading his personal space. 

 

The apartment was quiet, cool and peaceful.  It felt like a sanctuary, and it literally had been while she had been targeted by the Slayers.  She always felt like nothing could hurt her within these walls.  Not only was the building guarded like Fort Knox with cameras, motion detectors and a battalion of ex-military men each of which could make Rambo look wussy in comparison, but she knew with certainty that Ranger would not allow anything to happen to her.  It was never spoken, but she knew that as long as she was in the building she was under Ranger’s personal protection.

 

Stephanie made her way to his bathroom and set the duffel on the closed toilet seat.  She slipped off her shoes, and peeled off her clothes.  The exercise pants and tank top fit her perfectly and were very comfortable.  She slipped on the short socks, stuffed her clothes into the duffel and opened the bathroom door to come face-to-face with Ranger.

 

“Omigod, Ranger you scared the crap out of me!”

 

He smiled and looked her over, “Nice. Where you headed, Babe?”

 

“I’m supposed to meet Tank in the gym at Noon,” she said.  Reaching down, she grabbed his wrist and checked the time on his watch.  “Oops, I’ve got to scoot.”  Using his wrist for balance, she pulled herself up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.  “See ya’!”  He reached out to grab her but she slipped away.  “Uh-uh-uh, wouldn’t want to make me late for my first day as back-up.” She gave him a grin and hurried out the door. 

 

Ranger smiled as he watched her go. He liked seeing her in his apartment.  Before she found her way there, it had just been a place to sleep and eat.  Her presence had changed things – not only in the atmosphere of the apartment, but in him as well.  He felt closer to her, more at ease.  And, even though she had called him a few times on his “poaching”, he had felt the physical boundary that she had put up after their night together start to weaken.  If her actions of a few moments before were an indication, she was no longer intimidated by him.  She hadn’t stuttered or backpedaled when she opened the door to see him standing there. And, she had initiated the physical contact this time, rather than him backing her into a corner. 

 

Having Stephanie know where he lived had worried him at first.  She was a product of the Burg which meant that gossiping was part of her genetic make-up.  And, although he knew that she rejected a lot of the Burg mentality, he had been concerned that she might not keep his secret.  He had half expected to come home some night to find Lula waiting for him. 

 

It turns out that Stephanie hadn’t told anyone where she stayed while in hiding, not even Morelli.  She had kept her whereabouts a secret.  Though the building was known as Rangeman headquarters by some, such as Connie, it wasn’t listed anywhere as his residence.  The vacant lot on 3rd and Mercer served that purpose.  It was minor as far as secrets went, but the fact that she had kept silent told him that he could trust her with other information.  She also knew about his daughter, Julie, and understood that it was privileged information. 

 

He had recently heard that she had defended him to Morelli.  It was no secret that Joe was not happy about her working at Rangeman.  He was even less happy that she seemed to like her job.  Word had worked it’s way through the grapevine that more than one argument between Morelli and Steph had had Ranger’s name in it, and that Stephanie gave as good as she got.  It appeared that in her own way, Stephanie was as protective of him as he was of her.  

 

He locked up his apartment and headed back to his office.  Maybe in a while, he’d call up the video feed for the gym and see how things were going.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Stephanie stepped into the gym at 11:55am to find Tank at the speed bag.  His fists were flying, the bag a blur of motion.  Apparently, he’d been at this a while as sweat dripped slowly down his head and into the towel around his neck.  She dropped her duffel near the door and walked over toward him.

 

Tank caught the bag when he felt Stephanie close in on him.  He turned to her with a smile. “Hey, ready to get to work?”

 

She smiled back, “Sure, but what are we doing here?  I thought we were supposed to be in the field.” 

 

Tank reached down into a small ice chest and pulled out two water bottles.  He slung a heavy arm across her shoulders and guided her over to the middle of the room.  He motioned for her to sit on the mat and then dropped down next to her and handed her a bottle.  “Our actual assignment doesn’t start until next week.  So, I thought we would spend this week working on a few survival skills.”

 

“Survival skills?”  She looked at Tank and then got an awful idea, “Oh God, don’t tell me our surveillance job is in some third world country.”

 

Tank laughed, “No, not that extreme.  And I don’t mean survival like shelter building and bonfires; I mean survival like defending yourself without a weapon – since you tend to leave yours behind whenever possible.”

 

Stephanie shrugged, “I hate guns.  The only reason why I carry my Sig around here is that Ranger threatened to fire me if he found out I left it in my desk.”  She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, “Tank, are you really serious? You’re going to teach me how to hurt someone?”

 

“I think you’ve got that one down – I’ve heard about that knee of yours.  No, I’m going to teach you how to defend yourself from attack; how to get out of situations that you seem to find yourself in more than most.”

 

With a smile, Stephanie bounced up to her feet.  “OK, where do we start?”  She couldn’t believe Tank was willing to do this.  Joe and Ranger had always come to her rescue, being the big, strong heroes.  Joe didn’t want her in danger and neither did Ranger.  They just handled things differently:  Joe by demanding she stay out of things and Ranger by insisting she carry her gun.  Neither man had ever shown an interest in helping her learn to protect herself without a weapon.  She was excited and looked forward to finally learning something that could really help her.

 

Tank looked up at her, “Well, first we stretch.  You always want to stretch and flex your muscles before you do anything strenuous.  A pulled groin is nobody’s friend.”  He grabbed her hand and pulled her back down to the mat.  Stephanie moved to sit across from him leaving several feet of space between them so she could mirror Tank’s movements.   

 

Tank went through a series of stretch exercises and Stephanie followed him, careful to do exactly as he instructed.  After about a half hour, Tank got up and pulled her to her feet.  “OK, how you doing?”

 

“I’m good,” she said.  She felt relaxed and was eager to get on with the rest of the lesson. 

 

Tank moved to stand across from her.  “There are two basic stances in martial arts:  the front stance, where your weight is resting on the lead foot and the rear stance, where your weight rests primarily on your back foot.”  Tank stood sideways with his legs out a little farther than shoulder width to demonstrate.  “In the front stance, your left leg is out, knee slightly bent and body facing forward.  This allows a high range of movement.”  He demonstrated blocking and moving from different angles, never moving his feet.  Stephanie watched him carefully, and tried to imitate what he was doing. 

 

Tank continued, “In the rear stance, the left leg out, knee slightly bent and toes forward, the right leg is turned at an angle, to allow for better balance and weight distribution.  This stance allows you more range of movement for kicks.”  He demonstrated several different kicks with his left leg, leaving his right in the same position.  Stephanie studied the way he moved, but she couldn’t quite follow along. 

 

“That looks way easier than it actually is,” she said.

 

“By the end of the week, you’ll be able to do it with no problems,” he said.  “But first, we are going to start with blocking.  In order to avoid getting hurt, you have to avoid getting hit.”

 

They spent the next hour and a half practicing the different types of blocks.  Tank stood across from her and walked her through how to block punches to her head and chest.  “So, wax on; wax off, huh?” she joked.

 

Tank gave her an amused look. “Well, I’m no short Japanese guy, but if it helps you remember then go with it.”

 

Next on the list of activities was punching.  “I can throw a punch, Tank.  In fact, I punched a guy out last month,” she said proudly.  She wouldn’t mention that she’d been horrified by the damage she’d done to Barroni’s nose.  It had been purely a gut reaction on her part.

 

“Yeah, I heard about that one, but a sucker punch only works when the other guy isn’t paying attention.  If someone is trying to hurt you, trust me that all their attention is gonna be on you.”  He stood next to her and picked up her right hand.  “When you hit someone, you want to make sure to hit them with the part of your hand that can take the shock.  That would be these first two knuckles.  Not only are the bones thicker and can withstand more pressure, but when your arm is in motion and moving correctly, they are directly in line with your wrist so the impact is harder.”  He tapped on her ring and pinky knuckles, “You knock these into someone’s jaw and you’re going to feel it all the way up your arm – not good.” 

 

He brought her over to the big, black punching bag.  Grabbing the black gym gloves from the top of the bag, Tank pulled them on her hands and fastened them.  “They’re a little big for me,” she said wiggling her fingers in the large holes.

 

“They’ll do for now and I’ll pick you up a smaller pair for tomorrow.  Now, I want you to practice punching the bag like I showed you, coming straight out from your body and rotating your fist out and into the bag.  Remember to breathe – in when you pull your fist back and out when you hit the bag.” 

 

Stephanie did as he instructed, putting some power into her punches.  She imagined the bag was Joyce Barnhardt with her bleached hair and whore-red lips.  “That’s good, Steph.  Again, remember to breathe and don’t clench your jaw – you’re gonna give yourself a headache.”  Stephanie relaxed and spent another 10 minutes hitting the bag. 

 

Tank looked at his watch, “OK Stephanie, we’re good for today.  What do you think so far?”

 

She smiled up at him, “It’s fun, and I feel stronger somehow.”

 

He ruffled her hair affectionately, “You did great for a beginner.  And the farther we get into it, the more confident you’ll feel.”  He walked her over to the door, “Tomorrow, same time.  We’ll work on some release moves.”

 

Stephanie picked up the duffel, “OK, thanks Tank.  See you then.”  She headed out the door and took the elevator to the basement. 

 

When she had gone, Tank turned toward the video camera in the far corner of the gym.  He’d seen the red light go on about 15 minutes into his training session with Stephanie.  If she noticed, she didn’t say anything.  Hal was usually watching the Rangeman building, but he knew that it hadn’t been Hal behind that camera.  He pulled out his cell phone and hit #1.

 

“Yo”

 

“Enjoy the view?” Tank asked with a grin.

 

“Yes, very much.  She’s a quick study.”

 

Tank agreed, “She’s definitely got an aptitude for it.  Good balance and she was focused on every move I made.  I think she’s wanted to learn this stuff for a while, but didn’t have an opportunity.”  He wondered how Ranger would react to that.  The man had many opportunities to teach Stephanie how to defend herself, instead he kept his distance and put bullets in her gun when she wasn’t looking.

 

“Leave it alone.  You know why I didn’t go there,” Ranger said.

 

And Tank did know.  Ranger didn’t trust himself to be that physically close to Stephanie; touching her, adjusting her stance, or shadowing her on a block would have been more than he could handle.  And considering Ranger’s training, that was saying a lot.  He knew that Ranger had kissed her; he’d seen them in the alley next to Vinnie’s before the Slayer incident.  But he also knew that Ranger didn’t want to put Stephanie in a situation where she didn’t have an out, an escape, and pinned underneath him on the wrestling mat would be one of those situations.  Steph was attracted to Ranger – that much was obvious to everyone who saw them together – but she was still with the cop and Ranger didn’t want to rock that boat for her.  If ever she decided she wanted to be with him, Ranger wanted her to come to that decision without any influence from him.

 

“You gonna come down tomorrow and play attacker?” Tank asked.

 

“No.  She needs to be comfortable and not feel like she’s under watch.  Get Bobby or someone to help.  I’ll check in with you later.”

 

“Yessir!” and Tank snapped a salute to the video camera with a playful grin.

 

“Smartass.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Stephanie walked into the gym the following day to find Tank sparring on the mat with one of the Redecorators.  She remembered that his name was Bobby.  Though Tank had the obvious advantage of size and weight, Bobby was faster and seemed to be making better hits without getting hit in return.  She stood in the doorway and watched while they playfully pummeled each other.

 

Bobby caught Tank in the ribs with a snap kick then dived into a roll when Tank reached around to snatch him by the neck.  “Whatsup, Big Man?” Bobby taunted, “Getting slow in your old age?”

 

“Yeah, keep talking trash, you’re just runnin scared.  I’m gonna stomp you like a cockroach when I catch you.” Tank replied, facing off against Bobby.  He dropped his massive body down to the mat and swept Bobby’s legs out from under him.  The smaller man fell flat on his back and Tank flopped down across him, pinning him to the floor. 

 

“Ugh, get your mutant ass off of me!” Bobby grunted.

 

Tank just laughed, “What was that?  Did I hear something?”  He reached down grabbed an arm and flipped Bobby over onto his stomach, wrenching the arm behind his back. Bobby grunted and mumbled something.  Tank looked over at Stephanie, “Steph, did you hear begging?  I could have swore I heard some little wussy-boy begging.” 

 

Stephanie winced as she watched Tank, but realized that it probably looked worse than it was.  Bobby didn’t seem to be in any pain.  In fact, he was grinning.

 

“Ain’t no begging come from me.  And you think this is over don’t you?”  Bobby reached out with his free hand and grabbed Tank by his left knee.  He yanked as hard as he could, throwing Tank off balance enough to shift his weight around and catching Tank in the shoulder with an elbow, knocking the bigger man off his back.  Tank let go of Bobby’s arm to prevent an injury and Bobby jumped to his feet.  He smiled down at Tank, “Need help getting up, gramps?”

 

Tank gave him a glare, but Stephanie could see there was a glint of mischief in his eyes.  He reached out for Bobby’s hand and then put his boot at Bobby’s stomach and pulled hard while rolling backwards.  Bobby flew over Tank’s head and landed flat on his back several feet away.

 

Stephanie gasped, “Holy crap, are you OK?”

 

Bobby stared up at the white ceiling getting his breath back and reading the sign that Ranger had stuck up there when they opened the gym.  It read:  If you’re seeing this, your ass is lame.  Get up and do it again.  Taking a deep breath, Bobby sat up and smiled over at Stephanie.  “Sure, I’m fine.  No worries.”

 

Tank walked over to her, “Stephanie, you remember Bobby, right?”  She nodded.  “Today, we’re going to focus on release moves.  You’ve had your fair share of situations when you’ve been grabbed by someone and not been able to get free.  That stops today.”  He gestured to the other man, “Bobby is going to play attacker and you are going to get the opportunity to kick his ass,” he said with a grin.

 

“I’m not so sure about this, Tank,” Stephanie said.  Bobby was a big guy – all the Rangemen were big guys.  If one of them grabbed her, she knew that she didn’t have a hope in Hell of getting free if they didn’t want her to. 

 

“It’ll be fine, Steph.  Let’s go through some stretching and then we’ll get to it.”

 

The three of them went through the stretching exercises of the previous day.  A half hour later, she was facing off against Bobby on the mat.

 

“Ma’am,” said Bobby with a nod.  “I promise that I won’t hurt you, but I’m not going to make this easy on you either.”

 

Stephanie gulped and tried to focus on what Tank was saying. “We’re going to start with a frontal assault.”  Bobby drew his weapon, popped out the clip and cleared the chamber.  Then he pointed it at Stephanie.  Even though she knew it was empty, her heart still started thumping harder.  Tank continued, “I want you to grab the gun with your right hand, pull the arm past you and then push against the elbow with your left.  Normally, you would use a lot of force against the joint to pop the arm, but your going to pull it back because, even though he annoys me, I don’t want Bobby losing his gun arm for 8 weeks.”  Bobby gave Tank a grin and a universal hand signal that Stephanie knew well. 

 

“That will break his arm if I did it full force?” Stephanie asked.

 

Bobby nodded, “Yes ma’am.  When you do it right, there will be a wet popping sound and that is the elbow joint splintering.  The arm will be useless after that and chances are your perp will be doing a lot of creative swearing.”  Stephanie’s eyes widened in horror.  Bobby and Tank laughed.  “If your threatened, it’s better his arm, than your life.”

 

Tank continued with the lesson, “There are three areas of a man’s body that are target zones in a frontal assault.”  He pointed them out on Bobby, “The eyes, the throat and the groin.  Hit any one of these correctly and your attacker is going down no matter how big he is.  Hit them incorrectly and he’s going to be pissed off enough to do you some damage.”

 

They spent the next hour teaching Stephanie how to gouge eyes quickly, where to punch in the throat to cut off the attacker’s air supply and they all figured she had the groin crunching down so they skipped that part. 

 

Tank walked up to Stephanie and wrapped both his hands around her throat, squeezing slightly.  “Got your attention?” Stephanie nodded with wide eyes. “OK.  Now I want you to bring your arms around and down over mine.  Don’t hit the elbow bends, that’s just going to bring you in closer to me.  You want to hit about three inches above the wrist as hard as you can to break my hold.”  Stephanie tried to do as he said, but it felt like his arms were made of iron.  Bobby stepped up behind her and shadowed her movements, showing her exactly where to hit to break the hold.  “Once the hold is broken, you want one quick, hard shot to give you time to get away.  Take whichever one is open – throat or groin.  Once you’re free, don’t waste time chatting – run.  If he grabs after you, don’t do the girly slapping thing.  You either punch him in the throat as hard as you can or you kick him in the balls.  Either one and he’ll be on the ground gasping for air.  And then, you RUN.” 

 

Tank and Bobby showed Stephanie several more frontal assault scenarios.  After 2 hours and a brief break, they started in on rear assault.  “In a rear assault there are two target zones:  the foot and the groin.  You like those nice spiky shoes, right?”

 

Stephanie rolled her eyes a little, “Hello, Jersey Girl.”

 

“They make a great weapon.  Stomp that spike right between his toes or on the top of the foot right before the toes and he’s going to be in a world of pain,” Tank said.  “I know you can kick a man in the balls hard enough to make him puke – that’s how you took out Eugene Brown right?”

 

“Yeah,” Stephanie said.

 

“Well, if a guy is coming up behind you, you aren’t going to have the opportunity to kick him, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do a grab and twist,” said Bobby.

 

Stephanie grimaced, “Eeewww.  I’m not going to grab some guy’s dick.”

 

“If it means the difference between living and dying, you’ll do that and more,” said Tank.  “You can effectively castrate a man by grabbing his balls, twisting hard and yanking.  If they don’t come off in your hand, he’s going to be unconscious from the pain.”

 

Tank continued, “You can also throw an assailant over, which is what we’re going to do next.”  Bobby stepped up in front of Stephanie and grabbed a handful of her shirt, lifting her up on her toes.  His face was totally blank, and a little bolt of fear shot through Stephanie.  “Because you’re a woman, and physically smaller, the best way for you to throw an attacker is with a rear-fall throw.  It’s similar to what I did to Bobby earlier.”  Tank walked Stephanie through the steps to tossing Bobby onto the mat.  It took about 45 minutes for her to successfully throw him.  Once she did she flopped out on the mat in exhaustion. 

 

She looked up at the ceiling and saw the sign.  “Ranger?” she asked.  Bobby nodded.  “Boy, he’s just inspirational, isn’t he?” she added with a hint of sarcasm. 

 

Bobby laughed and pulled her to her feet.  “Yes, Ma’am.”

 

“Please call me Stephanie, OK?”

 

“Yes, Ma’am.” he said with a grin. 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

 

Chapter 2:

 

Stephanie grabbed the leftover pizza box off of the counter, knowing that Bob was watching her every move; willing her to drop pepperoni or sausage crumbs on the floor.  When she tossed it into the trash, she could almost see his doggy face cloud with disappointment.  She had come by to watch the game with Morelli and ended up sleeping over.  She was due in to Rangeman in a half hour.  After her workout the previous day with Tank and Bobby, she had come back to Morelli’s with some sore muscles, but happy.  She’d learned so much already and she had been able to toss Bobby.  She never thought she’d be able to do that!

 

Stephanie made herself an English muffin and poured a cup of coffee. She sat down at the table and looked over the headlines on the front page of the newspaper.  Bob, seeing that no pepperoni was forthcoming, curled up at her feet with a big sigh. 

 

Morelli walked down the stairs and strode into the kitchen.  He scooped a few helpings of dog crunchies out for Bob and then helped himself to some coffee.  He leaned against the counter and studied Stephanie.  “Morning, Cupcake.”

 

“Good morning.”

 

“How’s the field work going?” he asked, trying hard to keep his attitude in the neutral position. 

 

“Haven’t gotten there yet,” she replied, “Turns out our surveillance job doesn’t start until next week, so Tank has been teaching me some martial arts in the meantime.”

 

Morelli laughed, “Seriously?  You?”

 

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him, and crossed her arms in front of her, “Yes, me.  And what does that mean?”

 

“C’mon Cupcake!” Joe said, still chuckling, “You might get the occasional lucky punch, but martial arts?  Sweetheart, I’m positive that Tank is just humoring you – trying to make you think you’re actually doing something.  He’s stuck babysitting you for the next week and a half. Probably he’s just trying to pass the time in an environment where you can’t blow something up.”

 

Stephanie clenched her fists so hard she felt her nails break skin.  “So you don’t think I can learn to defend myself, is that it?”

 

Morelli grinned, “Not unless you load your purse with bricks.”

 

“You’re scum, Morelli,” she said, stomping over to the sink and rinsing her cup.  She didn’t want to look at him; couldn’t look at him right now without wanting to smash his movie-star-handsome face in.  He couldn’t even have just a little faith in her.  He thought she was a joke.  It made her even more determined to learn as much from Tank as possible. 

 

He sidled up behind her and put his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder.  “So, I’ve been demoted back to scum, huh?”

 

Stephanie stood rigid in his embrace.  “Yes.  Slimey pond scum.”

 

“I suppose this is war, too?”

 

“Yep”

 

He kissed her on the nape of the neck, “OK, Cupcake.  Try not to hurt anybody today,” he said on a chuckle.  He grabbed his keys from the counter and walked out. 

 

She mumbled after him, “I’d say the same for you, but you already have.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Tank leaned against the wall, watching Stephanie and Bobby review the things she had learned so far.  She remembered everything well, but something was off.  He didn’t know her very well, but it didn’t seem like her heart was in it.  A big difference in her demeanor from the previous day.  He glanced up at the camera in the corner and saw that the red light was on again. 

 

Pushing himself off the wall, Tank strolled over to the pair.  “That’s good enough for now.  I want to start you on some takedown skills.”  At her wide-eyed look, he gave her an affectionate lean that nearly knocked her over.  He reached out to steady her. “Sorry, Steph.  What I mean is, I know what your apprehension rate was at Vinnie’s, but you spent a lot of time and energy just trying to subdue your skip.”  He saw the acknowledgement of that in her eyes although she said nothing. 

 

Tank continued, “I have an advantage, due to my size, that most skips think twice before taking me on.  You have a disadvantage, because you’re a woman and skips think that you’re weak.  It’s not true, but it’s the perception.  Up until now, you’ve had a hard time taking them down without help.  We’re gonna fix that.”

 

“What would you say is the hardest part of the takedown for you?” asked Bobby.

 

Stephanie thought about it, “Wrestling them into cuffs.”  Tank and Bobby both nodded.  “Usually, Lula ends up sitting on them so I can put the cuffs on.”  Tank tried hard not to laugh – he’d seen Lula in action.  He pulled out a pair of handcuffs from behind his back. 

 

Tank handed her the cuffs.  “Maybe if you show me your usual approach, I can help you find some easier methods.  Bobby’s going to put up a fight and I want you to cuff him.” 

 

Stephanie gave him an incredulous look, “What, you need some entertainment?  Want to watch me chase him around?” She was trying for playful, but couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of her voice. 

 

“No, ---,” Tank started.  Just then, his cell rang.  He pulled it off his hip and looked at the number.  “Grab some water and take a break while I get this.”  He walked out the gym doors before answering his phone in the hall. “Tank.”

 

“She’s different today,” Ranger said.

 

It didn’t go unnoticed by Tank that Ranger skipped the greeting and went right to the subject. “Yeah, and I can’t figure out what happened.  She did really well yesterday and was pretty pumped up about tossing Bobby,” Tank replied.  “You know her better than I do, what do you think is going on?” 

 

“I’d say that someone’s undermined her confidence.  Did anyone here say something to her about the training?” Ranger asked.  Tank knew that Ranger had been keeping an ear out in the control room, trying to determine how the men were accepting Stephanie.  Half of them had a crush on her, most of the other half didn’t know what to make of her and he suspected one or two of them might have a chauvinistic attitude that was going to need an adjustment.

 

“No, I don’t think so.  Most of the men know about it, but they’ve kept quiet.  Bobby’s been really helpful.  He and Stephanie seem to be getting along well,” Tank said. 

 

Ranger watched Stephanie in the monitor while he ran through his list of possible suspects.  Her mother was an obvious choice – the woman never missed an opportunity to put down her daughter about her career choices.  Maybe the sister; Valerie was settling into her Susie Homemaker role and may have been rubbing it in Steph’s nose.  He looked at the log, and noted that her GPS signal wasn’t at her parent’s house last night.  Ranger’s jaw clenched as it became clear to him who Stephanie had come into contact with that might have a strong opinion about her learning self-defense. “Fucking Morelli,” he muttered. 

 

“What?” asked Tank.

 

“She most likely told Morelli that you were teaching her some defense skills and he probably made some wiseass cracks about it.”  Ranger said.  “From her comments, I’d say he probably told her that you were doing this for your own amusement or some such shit.” 

 

“He’d do that?” Tank asked.  Morelli always seemed like a cool guy.  He couldn’t imagine that the cop would humiliate his girlfriend that way.

 

“I doubt if he’d go out of his way to hurt her feelings, but he might have just made an off-hand comment.”  Ranger leaned back in his chair, “Steph’s not normally the hyper-sensitive type, but she’s just insecure enough to take to heart negative remarks from someone she cares about.” 

 

“I’ll talk to her after we’re done here,” said Tank.

 

“Good.”

 

Curious, Tank asked, “You gonna say anything to the cop?”

 

“That would probably lead to a bad place for Stephanie.  I’d rather not put her in the middle any more than she already is,” said Ranger.  “But if he keeps it up, I might not have much choice.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tank returned to see Bobby picking up his duffel bag.  “You out, Bob?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, I’m on deck tonight ‘til 0200 and I need to get cleaned up.”  He turned to Stephanie, “Ma’am.”

 

“Stephanie,” she reminded him.

 

“Stephanie.  It was a pleasure working with you today.  I look forward to getting my ass kicked repeatedly by you again tomorrow,” said Bobby grinning. 

 

“It’s a date,” she replied.  She smiled at him and watched as he motioned Tank outside. 

 

Stephanie knew that it hadn’t escaped either of them that she wasn’t as engaged in things today.  She was having a hard time shaking off Morelli’s comments.  She knew that he didn’t realize how he sounded; probably he didn’t even think twice about it.  But true feelings had a way of coming out, eventually. 

 

“Uh-oh. Did I just say something stupid?”

“Yes. You said I was just here for the sex”

“I didn’t mean that”

“Yes you did!  It’s all you think about with me.”

 

Morelli thought she was a joke for Ranger and his men.  He thought she was so incompetent that she couldn’t even learn how to defend herself.  It was doubly disappointing because she actually thought Morelli would be happy (and maybe even proud) that she was trying to better herself and learn some skills that would help her if some psycho tried to kidnap her again.  Instead, he’d said that Tank was babysitting her to keep her out of trouble and that the only way she could take someone down was if she put bricks in her purse. 

 

Stephanie walked over to the speed bag and took a few half-hearted swipes at it.  She’d never be able to make the bag a blur of motion, like Tank, and she wondered if maybe she was just wasting his time even attempting to learn self defense.  Maybe Morelli was right.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bobby leaned against the wall and dropped his duffel on the floor beside him.  “So, what’s going on with her?”

 

Tank mirrored his position on the opposite wall and crossed his arms.  “Ranger seems to think that Morelli screwed with her confidence.”

 

Bobby frowned, “Why would he do that?  You’d think he’d be glad she’s finally learning how to protect herself.”

 

Tank shrugged, “I don’t know.  I’m gonna talk to her and maybe I can find out what she’s thinking.  But, regardless, we’ll be here tomorrow and we’ll be reviewing and then starting submission holds.  You available?”

 

“Sure.  I like getting my ass kicked by a hot woman,” Bobby said with a grin.  “I’ve got the next rotation.  Think she’d go out with me?”

 

Tank shook his head and turned to go back in the gym.  “I doubt it.  And, don’t let Ranger hear you say stuff like that,” he called back. “He doesn’t have much of a sense of humor where Stephanie is concerned.”

 

Bobby laughed, “Ranger has a sense of humor?”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Tank walked in to find Stephanie weakly punching at the speed bag.  From his vantage point, it appeared that she was just going through the motions; her mind far away.  He walked over to her and put a heavy hand on her shoulder.  “Hey, you have to put a little more into it if you want it to work.”

 

Stephanie smiled and patted his hand.  She stepped away from the bag and walked into the middle of the room, flopping down on the mat.  She looked at herself in the wall of mirrors, taking in the black exercise pants and gray tank top.  She felt like she was pretending to be someone she wasn’t.  She was a girl from the Burg, not GI Jane.  She should be doing what all the other Burg girls do, shopping, cooking, having little rugrats.  Instead she was carrying a gun, rolling in garbage chasing after bad guys and pity back-up for a guy who could probably smash the Hulk into itty bitty green pieces. 

 

She turned to look at Tank.  “Why are we really here?”

 

“Why are any of us here?”

 

Stephanie rolled her eyes, “Don’t go Zen Master on me, Tank.  I’m serious.  Ranger said I’m supposed to be your back-up when we both know you don’t really need back-up, especially from me.”

 

“Everyone needs back-up, Steph,” Tank said quietly. He strolled over and sat down next to her. “Want to explain why you’re so down on yourself today?”  Stephanie just shrugged.  “Have anything to do with the cop?  He giving you a hard time about learning defense skills?” 

 

Stephanie looked at him in surprise.  “What, is ESP a requirement to work here?  Cause if so, I’m screwed.”

 

Tank laughed. “No ESP here, sorry, just observant and noticed that you seem a little withdrawn and not as excited about the training as before.  I’m having a hard time understanding why Morelli wouldn’t want you to learn to defend yourself.  For as much trouble as you find, I’m surprised he hasn’t encouraged it before now.”

 

Stephanie didn’t really want to dwell on Joe, she wanted to know from Tank exactly why he was spending his time helping her.  She was sure he could find more productive things to do.  “Tank, really, why are you wasting your time teaching me this stuff?”  She studied him for a moment trying to see some flicker of condescension in his eyes, but instead saw warmth and honesty.  “Ranger said that each of you would get extra pay for being my partners.  He called it “hazard pay” but it’s more like babysitting, right?  There’s probably a pool going about which one of you gets hurt first while working with me. Maybe I am just here for the entertainment value.”

 

“Morelli said that?” he asked

 

“Pretty much, except the entertainment comment actually came from Ranger,” she said. 

 

Tank sighed.  “Look Steph, this whole defense skill training is selfishness on my part.”  At her look of confusion, he continued, “I want a partner who can handle herself, who can not only watch my back but protect it if necessary.  The job that we’re doing is surveillance, but it’s also apprehension if the opportunity presents.  I don’t want to get in a hot situation only to have you freeze up.”

 

She started to protest, but Tank kept going. “I know that you’ve been on quite a few takedowns by now, but you’ve been on the fringe, not in the middle.  You and I are it – we’re the only team on this one.  My training you on defense is just my way of making sure my back is covered.”  He studied her for a moment, “So, you see?  I’m not babysitting you and you’re not entertainment for me or anyone else on the crew.”

 

Stephanie could see that Tank was being honest with her.  The Rangemen were masters at hiding their emotions so when they did let their guards down, you couldn’t help but see it in their faces. 

 

Tank tugged on her hair playfully, “Everyone here likes you.  And yeah, we get a kick out of watching you work, sometimes.  Your methods are not regulation, but they are effective – you always get your man.  We may joke around and all, but underneath that we respect you for your determination and guts.  Very, very few women attempt to work in this business – it’s a man’s world.  And yet, here you are doing your thing.

 

“To give you an idea of how the crew views you,” he continued, “I will tell you that there is never a shortage of volunteers when you need a security detail.  Ranger doesn’t force people to guard you – no matter what he might say.  Hell, we get guys arm wrestling over the privilege.  Most of our jobs are surveillance which is about as fun as watching grass grow.  Working with you is always fun – and you never disappoint.”  Stephanie frowned and Tank threw his arm across her shoulders and pulled her into a casual hug.  “No one who works here wants anything bad to happen to you.”  He smiled down at her, “You’re our girl, Steph.  Car explosions, gun fights, and general mayhem remind us of all the fun we had in the Rangers.  You’re like the little sister we always wanted.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

 

Chapter 3:

 

She could no longer feel her ass.  If she hadn’t landed on it so much in the past hour she might have done a check just to make sure it was still there.  Stephanie flopped backwards on the mat and stared at the sign on the ceiling.  “If you can see this, your ass is lame.  Get up and do it again.”  She blew out a big gust of air and struggled to her feet.  She moved her head from side to side, cracking the bones in her neck and trying to loosen her muscles before she faced the big man across from her. 

 

“Ready?” Bobby asked.  She nodded and braced herself for his attack, not having a lot of confidence that the outcome was going to be any different from the other 15 times he’d done this.  Bobby lunged for her and she stepped to the side and delivered a well-formed snap kick to his stomach.  He grunted and bent over from the impact.  She reached down to grab his wrist.  She had to use two hands while she swung under his arm and twisted it behind his back.  Just as she was going for the cuffs, Bobby reached around with his free hand and grabbed a handful of her t-shirt.  She tightened her grip on his wrist and jerked the arm up tighter behind him hearing him grunt in response to the pressure.  Stephanie tried to twist out of his grasp and still not lose her hold on him but his arm reach was a lot longer than hers.  Bobby tightened his grip on her shirt and pulled with all of his considerable strength, twisting once her feet left the floor.  He tossed her over his shoulder, relieved that she let go of his arm when she went.  She groaned when her body hit the mat and she laid there and stared up at the ceiling. 

 

Tears of frustration threatened to fall, but she could hear Ranger’s voice in her head saying the words on the sign so she took a deep breath and pushed the tears away.  She would not cry; she would get up and do it again until she got the cuffs on him.  She closed her eyes tightly and took a moment to compose herself.  When she opened them, she was surprised to find herself looking up at Ranger.  His eyes were warm and a small smile threatened at the corners of his mouth. 

 

“Yo,” he said, extending his hand to help her off the floor.  Stephanie reached out to take the offer and sprung to her feet with a tug from Ranger. 

 

“Yo, yourself,” she replied smiling at him.  She looked over to find Tank leaning against the wall, evidently taking a break and allowing Ranger to intercede as trainer.  Bobby stood off to one side, waiting to see what Ranger had in mind. 

 

“You know, Babe, the definition of crazy is doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

 

She looked up at him sweetly, “Bite me.”  The dark look that came to his eyes made her blush.  She decided a change of subject was in order, “What are you doing here?”

 

“Thought I’d come in and give you a few helpful hints.” 

 

Stephanie looked over at Tank.  “I’m not sure Tank is finished evaluating my spectacular failures.”  Tank smiled at her and nodded his head slightly.  “Guess that’s a yes.”

 

Ranger took her hand and led her over to the other side of the room.  He turned her around so that her back was toward him and put his hands on her shoulders.  He kneaded gently while he spoke. “The snap kick is good.  Nice form and enough power behind it to get the job done.  The wrist hold needs a little work, Babe.  You don’t have enough muscle behind you yet to hold someone his size if he doesn’t want to cooperate.” 

 

Stephanie was listening to him intently, but those magic fingers working out the tension in her shoulders were threatening to turn her into a puddle of drooling mush at his feet.  Ranger leaned into her a little and she felt his lips brush the shell of her ear.  She shivered at the caress of his breath.  His voice was a low rumble as he continued, “Next time out, don’t go for the wrist.  Grab the thumb with your left hand and pull it back until it almost touches his arm, then twist the arm up and behind him.  It will hurt like Hell and it will add extra pressure to the hold.  Also, it has the added benefit of allowing you to keep your gun hand free.” 

 

Stephanie nearly moaned as his strong fingers moved up her neck and into her hairline.  Ranger massaged her neck and kept talking.  “Once the arm is secure, use your right hand to pull out the cuffs and snap one on the secured arm.  If he gives you any shit, and he will, you take him down to the ground.” 

 

Stephanie turned her head and looked up at him in disbelief. “Uh, I haven’t had a lot of success at that.”

 

Ranger smiled down at her, “It’s not going to be a problem, Babe.”  His hands started to wander from her neck down her spine slowly.  She tried not to squirm as his hands skimmed her hips.  She turned to look down at him in surprise as he kneeled behind her; his hands traveled down her thighs and stopped at the backs of her knees.  “A nice hard kick right here,” he said while tapping the bend of her knee, “will buckle the knee and send him to the ground.  As he’s going over, you put your knee right here,” he skimmed his fingers under her shirt and caressed the small of her back “and put your free hand to the back of his neck.  Then you push his face into the ground, grab the other arm and cuff him.”

 

Stephanie didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when he stood up.  It was a little embarrassing to have Ranger fondling her in front of Tank and Bobby.  She spared a glance at the pair and they seemed oblivious to anything that may have been going on in her corner of the room.  She knew better; Rangemen rarely missed a thing, but they were trying to give her the semblance of privacy. 

 

Ranger stepped up close to her and snaked an arm around her waist.  He leaned in and kissed her below the ear and whispered, “Go get ‘em, Tiger.” He gave her a little shove toward where Bobby stood on the mat. 

 

“Ready?” Bobby asked as he stepped up to her.  Stephanie looked to Ranger and Tank as they stood side-by-side against the far wall.  Ranger winked at her and she almost laughed.  The winking thing was cute, and Ranger was a lot of things but cute wasn’t usually one of them.  She focused back on Bobby and nodded, running Ranger’s instructions in her head as she prepared for Bobby’s attack. 

 

Bobby lunged for her and she stepped to the side and delivered a well-formed snap kick to his stomach.  He grunted and bent over from the impact.  She reached down and grabbed the thumb on his left hand.  She pulled it back towards his arm and then twisted that arm up behind him.  Bobby let out a low curse as he tried to pull his arm free.  So far, so good.  She was going for the cuffs, when she felt Bobby try to throw his weight back on her.  She took a step back to brace his weight and then went to kick him behind the knee.  He moved his leg in time for her kick to just graze him.  He bent over and reached back for her leg.  Stephanie tried to kick his hand away while still holding his left arm but he had a lot of pounds on her and she was losing control of her hold.  Bobby pulled her knee out from under her and threw himself backward.  They fell to the mat and Stephanie grunted as 205 pounds of Rangeman landed on her. 

 

“Shit!” she said as Bobby rolled off of her with a chuckle.  She turned her head to see Tank and Ranger leaning against the wall with arms crossed, full-on grins adorned their faces. 

 

“C’mon Babe, get up.”

 

“Try again, Steph.  You nearly had him that time,” said Tank.

 

Stephanie got to her feet and faced off against Bobby again.  “You OK?” he asked.  She nodded.  “Ready?”

 

“Yeah,” she replied.

 

They did the maneuver twice more and Stephanie got a little farther each time although at the end, she ended up flat on her back staring up at the ceiling.  “I’m beginning to hate that fucking sign,” she muttered as she got to her feet again. 

 

Tank strolled over to give her a little pep talk. “Take it easy, Steph.  You’re doing really well here even though I know you probably don’t think so.”  She rolled her neck and took a few deep breaths, then nodded.  “Remember, you’re not facing some skip with no training; you’re facing off against a former Airborne Ranger fully trained in two martial arts disciplines.” 

 

Stephanie somehow didn’t feel comforted by that and the look she gave Tank must have reflected her thoughts.  “Your holding the arm and Bobby isn’t getting out of that, right?”  Steph nodded.  “The only reason he’s winning is because he’s finding another way to get around the hold.  Don’t give him the opportunity.  Once the arm is secure, forget the cuffs and go straight for the knee.  When he’s face down on the ground and you’ve got him pinned, then pull out the cuffs.  Give it another try.  If you still can’t take him down, we can call it for today and try again tomorrow.  Don’t worry, it’ll come together for you eventually.”  He gave her a friendly pat on the back and then returned to stand next to Ranger. 

 

She stepped up to face off against Bobby again.  He gave her an encouraging smile.  “Ready?” he asked again.  She nodded and braced herself.  Again Bobby lunged for her and she completed the kick to his stomach.  She grabbed the thumb, twisted the arm and then put her foot to the back of his knee.  Bobby started to fall forward and Steph put her knee to his lower back and rode him down to the mat.  He struggled trying to throw her off of him but she just wrenched the arm tighter behind him and smiled as he let out a muffled curse.  She slapped the cuffs on his left wrist and reached to pull over the right when he tried to roll her off.  Stephanie dug her knee into his back and leaned on his neck, pushing his face into the mat.  She grabbed the other arm and almost giggled with glee as the bracelet clicked on to his right wrist. 

 

“Yes!” she said and gave a little air punch.  “That was righteous!”

 

Ranger walked up and pulled her to her feet.  He gave her a hug and kissed her temple.  “Nice work, Babe.  I’m proud of you for toughing it out.” 

 

Tank slung an arm across her shoulders and gave her a brotherly squeeze.  “You did good.  Really good.” 

 

“Uh, a little help down here, please?” said Bobby.  “I’d like to congratulate her too but it’s kind of hard when I’m kissing vinyl here.”  Tank reached down and hauled him to his feet.  He unlocked the cuffs and put them in his back pocket.  Bobby pulled Stephanie into a friendly hug.  “Nice work, Bombshell.”

 

Stephanie groaned at the use of her notorious nickname.  “Can we just stick with Steph?” she asked.

 

Bobby smiled at her, turned and went for his duffel bag.  “OK, Steph.  Same time and place tomorrow, right Tank?”

 

“Yeah.  Thanks for helping out today, Bob.”  Bobby waved to them all and headed out.

 

Tank followed shortly after and Ranger tugged Stephanie toward the door.  “C’mon Babe.  Ella’s bringing up some dinner.  Want to stay?” He gave her a teasing smile, “I’ll even ask for dessert to celebrate your ‘righteous’ takedown.”

 

Stephanie gave him a little eye roll but couldn’t contain her smile.  “Sounds great.  Thanks.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

 

Chapter 4:

The key clicked in the lock and Ranger held the door open for Stephanie.  He dropped his keys in the silver tray on the foyer table and Stephanie set her backpack on the floor beside it.  They walked into the apartment to find dinner waiting for them.

Stephanie frowned a little as she saw the table. “Did you ask for this?”

Ranger smiled.  “No, I think Ella’s trying to give us a hint.”  He walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for Stephanie. “Go ahead and have a seat.”

Steph sat down and Ranger nudged her chair closer to the table.  She took the linen napkin off of the plate in front of her and set it across her lap.  The warm gold cloth stood out against the black of her sweat pants.  The table was set for an elegant dinner: fine china, wine glasses, candlelight and a red rose in a bud vase.  The soothing sounds of Kenny G on the saxophone filtered through the apartment. Apparently, Ella wasn’t shy with her hints.

Ranger sat across from her and poured wine for them both.  He seemed relaxed and also amused by the atmosphere Ella had created.  Stephanie felt restless, and severely underdressed.  She studied Ranger in the candlelight, watching the way the shadows fell across his eyes.    

Stephanie sampled the vegetable medley, wondering what to say to Ranger.  Their silences usually weren’t this uncomfortable.  Although, looking at Ranger he didn’t seem in the least uncomfortable.  But then, he never did.  No matter what they were doing, Ranger always looked like he was in his comfort zone.  

Evidently, his ESP was kicking in as he looked at her and said, “What’s wrong, Babe?  You look like you’ve got some pretty serious thoughts.”

She looked down at her plate, then up at him again and shrugged. “I don’t know, this just seems weird.  The candlelight, the flowers – it doesn’t feel right.”   It feels like a date.

“Just window dressing.  I’m me and you’re you, same as we were an hour ago.  Would you feel better if we ate at the counter?”

Maybe.  “No, that’s OK.”  Ranger didn’t usually suffer small talk, but they made conversation as they finished their roast chicken, red potatoes and vegetables. 

She shifted in her seat once her meal was finished, stretching her aching her muscles.  Seeing the raised eyebrow and the beginnings of a smile from Ranger she explained, “I guess I’m a little sore.  Bobby tossed me around quite a bit before you arrived.”

The smile took on a wolfish quality and Ranger reached out to smooth back a stray curl from her face. “I could kiss those sore spots for you and make them all better.”

Stephanie could feel her face getting hot along with a few other strategic places.  “I’m sure you could, and they definitely would, but it’s probably not a good idea.”

Ranger got up from the table and returned with a dessert dish of fudge brownie ala mode.  He sat the dish in front of Stephanie with a grin and a florish.  “Ella wasn’t sure what you’d like since she doesn’t get much practice with dessert around here.”  She smiled and dug into her brownie savoring the decadent chocolate.  Ranger sat back in his seat and took a sip of his wine, studying her.  “Still have a lot of things going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

Stephanie smiled at the compliment and his reference to their conversation of a few weeks prior. “Yes, and believe it or not, things are even more confusing now than they were then.”  She had been going round and round in circles for months, trying to sort out her feelings for Ranger and Joe.  She wasn’t any closer to a solution, although some things were becoming clear and some were even murkier than before.  Maybe if she had a little help clarifying things, it would give her some direction to go in toward making the decisions she knew she should make.  Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she asked the question she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer to.  “Ranger, what would you say our relationship is based on?”

The apartment was so quiet, even the cd had stopped playing.  If she hadn’t felt his presence in the room, she would have thought she was alone.  He didn’t answer, and after a minute she slowly opened her eyes half afraid of what she would see.  Ranger was staring at her, his fingers steepled in front of him.  She gathered her courage and looked him in the eyes, willing him to say something that wouldn’t break her heart. 

“A shared love of adventure, a mutual streak of fierce independence, a world view that is not the norm, a healthy respect for each other’s abilities, a genuine friendship and a shitload of sexual attraction.”

Stephanie couldn’t help it; she laughed.  “Yeah, we have that last one in spades.” 

Ranger smiled at her, he stood up and pulled her from her seat.  They walked into the living room and Ranger ushered her over to the leather couch.  Stephanie kicked off her shoes and curled up in the corner of the couch.  Ranger reached out and wrapped his hands around her ankles, pulling her legs out straight and setting her feet across his thigh.  He started kneading the arch of her left foot as he talked.  “Tell me about Morelli.  Where do the two of you stand?”

Stephanie bit her lip, not exactly sure what to say.  Where did she and Joe stand?  It kind of depended on what day of the week it was and how the planets were aligned.  She wasn’t sure how to say what she was thinking without sounding like an idiot.  Finally, she opted for an evasive maneuver.  “It’s not really kosher for a woman to talk about Boyfriend A to Boyfriend B.”

“In other words, you don’t know.”

She sighed in defeat, “Yeah.”

“Don’t you think that would help you clear things up, Babe?”

“Probably, but Joe and I can’t seem to have a discussion about our relationship without it escalating into a battle of Italian hand gestures.”  She looked at Ranger and saw in his eyes what she was hearing in her own head.  That doesn’t bode well for future bliss.

Ranger switched to massaging her other foot, working his way from her arch, to her ankle and up her calf.  They were quiet for awhile, just listening to the silence and watching each other.  Stephanie lay her head back on the arm of the couch and closed her eyes.  She could feel Ranger’s strong hands working out the knots in her calf muscles.  She’d really gotten wound up tight trying to spar with Bobby that afternoon.  She felt Ranger lean over for a moment to get something off of the table.  Once again the soothing sounds of a tenor saxophone wafted through the room.  Ranger must have hit the remote for the cd player. 

Ranger’s hands, along with the wine, good food and physical exhaustion from the afternoon were taking a toll on her.  Stephanie was drifting, her body totally relaxed.  She felt Ranger’s hand travel the length of her leg and then slide under her t-shirt to trace little patterns on her belly.  She couldn’t keep the smile off of her face as she said, “Hey, that’s pretty far north of where you’re supposed to be, Mister.”

“Oh?” he asked, and she could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek.  Ranger laughed softly and slid his hand down her belly and over the front of her pants.  “Is that better?” he whispered.

Stephanie opened her eyes and turned her head to see Ranger leaning over her with their faces just inches apart.  The brown eyes that could be cold and empty when he was on the job, were now filled with a warmth she’d seen directed at her often in recent weeks.  She closed the distance between them and kissed him lightly.  Putting her hand on top of his, she gave it a little squeeze and pulled it back up toward her stomach. 

Ranger moved his hand back under her shirt and smoothed it over her rib cage as he bent to kiss her again.  Stephanie knew that she had to put an end to this evening; it was way past time for her to leave.  But as Ranger deepened the kiss, she couldn’t pull herself away.  She felt his hand slide up to her breast and his fingers caressed the outside curve as his tongue rubbed and twisted with hers.  She pulled the tie out of his hair and buried her fingers in the silky black strands.  A low rumble came from him as his other hand slid down her back and across her ass, fitting her groin tightly against his.  She could feel him through his cargo pants, the hard length pressed against her own heat.  She was thisclose to a Ranger-induced orgasm.  She slid her hands under his shirt and across the solid muscles of his back.  She loved his shoulders, so broad and strong.  Her hands slid around to the front and she traced the 8-pack of small abdominal muscles with her fingertips.  Ranger groaned again and kissed her more aggressively. 


The snap of her front bra clasp being released jolted her out of her Ranger-induced haze.  His fingers were gentle as they rolled her nipple, but he had picked up on her sudden awareness.  He kissed her lightly on the lips and moved slowly over her jaw to right behind her ear. “You want me too, Babe,” he said.

“God help me, I do,” she said.  “Bad. But I know what it’s like to be cheated on, Ranger.  Things may be difficult with Joe, but that doesn’t make this right.” She pushed his hair from his face and looked into his dark eyes hoping to see that he wasn’t angry with her.  What she saw calmed her somewhat; Ranger understood.  

He backed off a little and kissed her forehead.  With his lips still brushing her skin he said, “Yeah, I know.  Moral dilemmas suck.”  He gave her nipple a final tweak and rehooked her bra with a sigh. 

“Yes.  Yes they do,” she replied.  They sat up and straightened their clothes.  “I should go before it gets much later.” And also before I say “fuck it” and rip all your clothes off.  Ranger stood up and pulled her to her feet.  Stephanie slipped her shoes on and they walked to the foyer.  She picked up her backpack and slung it over one shoulder.  “Thanks for dinner, and dessert.”

“You’re welcome.”  He leaned down and kissed her again.  Then he opened the door to let her out.  “Be careful going home.”

She reached up and caressed his cheek.  “I will.  Goodnight.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When she opened the door to Morelli’s house, Bob greeted her with the usual happy barking and tail wagging.  The lights were off and the message machine was blinking.  She flipped on the lights, poured out a bowl of food for Bob, popped a few raisins in Rex’s cage and hit the button to listen to the messages.

Stephanie?  Stephanie, are you there?  It’s your mother.  I’m making lasagna tomorrow night with a nice salad and fresh bread from Peoples.  Why don’t you and Joseph come over for dinner. 

She made a mental note to remind Morelli about dinner.

Joseph Anthony Morelli what are you doing?  Why is this stupid machine answering your phone?  You have a broken leg and you’re gallivanting around town?  What is this?  You need to rest.  I’ll bring you a nice manicotti tomorrow.

Oops, looks like Joe’s not going to make it to dinner after all.

Cupcake?  A bust went bad tonight and we’ve got some cleaning up to do down here at the station.  I’ll be late getting in.  Don’t wait up. 

She turned to Bob who was happily chewing on Morelli’s basketball sneaker.  “Looks like it’s just you and me tonight, big guy.”  Bob stopped his chewing and tilted his head to look at her.  Evidently deciding that no other response was necessary, he went back to ripping a two inch hole in the toe of the shoe.  Stephanie looked at the shoe and figured since it was the shoe for the broken leg, and Morelli wasn’t going to be able to wear it for another 6 weeks, it wasn’t important enough to worry about. 

She trudged up the stairs and turned on the hot water for a bath.  She poured in a few capfuls of vanilla-scented bubble bath and stripped off her clothes.  She was still achy from her sparring session that afternoon.  Although Ranger’s kisses had taken her mind off of it for awhile, she was not going to be in any shape to spar again tomorrow without a hot soaking.  She sunk down in the tub until the bubbles covered her shoulders and leaned her head against the inflatable bath pillow she had brought from her apartment.

Stephanie stayed in the tub until the water cooled and then wrapped herself in Joe’s red bathrobe that had been hanging on the back of the bathroom door.  He never wore it, but his mother had insisted he needed one.  She curled up on the living room couch to watch television but started nodding off at midnight.  She decided to go to bed. She didn’t want Morelli to find her sacked out on the couch.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Stephanie woke slowly to a warm hand stroking her breast.  “Mmm. Cupcake, you smell like a candy store,” Joe whispered in her ear.  She struggled up from slumber as his hand travel down her belly and slid down her thigh.  This was one of his favorite ways to wake her up.  Since she was assured of at least two Morelli-induced orgasms, she had no plans to resist.

He gently pulled her leg back and over his hip as his fingers played in her warm folds.  He circled her clitoris with his finger, paying close attention to her reactions.  Stephanie sighed and wiggled back into him, urging him on.  He entered her from behind, sliding to the hilt in one sure stroke, while his fingers picked up the pace dancing across her sensitive flesh.  “Feel good, Steph?” he murmured. 

“Oh yeah,” she whispered.  And it did feel good.  Morelli wasn’t a legend in the Burg just because of his ass.  He had the best hands in Jersey as well.  His steady thrusts combined with his talented fingers had her falling into orgasm in a little under four minutes.  Joe held off his own release, kissing her neck and shoulders while her body contracted around his. She knew he wasn’t nearly ready to finish and braced herself for what she knew was coming.  Joe didn’t disappoint.  He shifted their positions until he was kneeling behind her, his casted leg supported by pillows, and pulled her up on her knees.  He entered easily and the thrusts started slowly, but Stephanie knew he was building up to it.  He ran his hands along her back, up to her neck and then down to her ass, while he stroked in a smooth, even rhythm.  She knew when he was close because he pushed her legs farther apart, disrupting her balance and sending her head and shoulders to the mattress.  His fingers dug into her hips pulling her back to him as he pushed into her.  He reached around and rubbed her clitoris between his thumb and index finger and she felt the climax building.  She worked hard at trying to hold it off just a little longer.

“Aw Christ, Steph, your pussy feels so good,” he groaned and she let herself go as she felt the throbbing of him inside her. 

Spent, Joe followed her down to the mattress, resting his weight on her back and propping himself up with an elbow next to her head.  He pushed her hair aside, and nibbled on her neck, pressing soothing kisses and little licks to her nape.  Stephanie lay under him, too exhausted to move.  Morelli rolled off of her and pulled her back to spoon with him. 

They lay in silence for awhile, just dozing in the early light of dawn.  Figuring she wasn’t going to find Morelli any more relaxed than he was at that moment, she worked up her courage and decided to ask him the same question she had posed to Ranger the night before.  “Joe?”

“Hm?”

“What would you say our relationship is based on?”

Joe propped himself up on his arm and looked over her shoulder at her face.  “Is this an issue discussion?  I’ve had a pretty rough night, Cupcake.  I’m not really in the right frame of mind for one of those.”

“No, not issues, but I’m curious.  Could you please try to answer?” she asked.

He was quiet for a long time, and Stephanie wondered if his temper might be smoldering, but finally he answered with a grin.  “A long and storied history, a sincere and loving friendship, a shared love of good food, familial expectations and rockin’ sex.”

Stephanie giggled at that.  “Yeah, we have no problems in that area.”  In other areas, yes, but sex has never been one of our problems.

Joe gave her a squeeze.  “What brought this on, Cupcake? That’s a fairly serious question for this early in the morning.”

Stephanie sighed and snuggled into his embrace.  She really needed arms around her if she was going to risk shaking things up.  “I’ve just been trying to figure things out, that’s all.  We’ve done the on-again, off-again so much that I’ve decided to try and get myself straightened out once and for all.”  There, that was sufficiently vague, without fudging the truth.

“Well, that’s a promising declaration.  This self-improvement thing wouldn’t happen to include a new job, would it?” he asked.

“I like my job, Joe.  With Tank training me on self-defense I’m feeling better about bond apprehension.  Oh!  Guess what I did yesterday!” She said with excitement, “I took on Bobby and cuffed him without help.  It was so cool.”

“Was he asleep?” asked Joe, jokingly.

“No, he was fighting back.”

“OK.  Honey, how many times did he dump you on your sweet ass before you cuffed him?”

Stephanie grimaced, “About 15.”

Joe chuckled, “Steph, I’ve seen Brown in action.  Probably he let you win so your confidence wouldn’t be shot completely to hell.”

Stephanie sat up and looked at him.  “No, Joe.  Seriously, Ranger and Tank gave me some pointers and I really did take him down.”

Joe sat up with her and planted a kiss on her shoulder.  “OK, if you say so.”  He glanced at the clock, “I’ve got to get ready for work.  Any other heavy discussions you want to have?”

Stephanie shook her head, “No, I think I’ve had enough answers for one day.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“That’s good Steph, nice and solid.  Try not to telegraph that right so much.”  Tank said as he held the heavy punching bag for Stephanie later that day.

The guys had taped a photo of Joyce Barnhardt to the punching bag to inspire her to want to pound the crap out of it.  It seemed to be working pretty well.  So far, she had imagined breaking Joyce’s nose, blacking out both her eyes and shoving her front teeth down her throat.  Throw in some virtual hair-pulling and she’d really feel like she whupped some ass. 

“Switch to kicks now,” said Tank.  “We want solid, snap kicks.  No wobbling, OK?”  Stephanie changed her stance like Tank had shown her and began to kick the bag.

“Where’s Bobby today,” Stephanie asked. 

“He pulled first shift today, and since it’s our last day in the gym I figured we’d just work on some fundamentals.  We have tomorrow off, and then our surveillance gig will start on Monday afternoon.”

“So, who is it we’re watching?” she asked, her foot making a solid THWAK against the leather of the bag.

“Marcus Barnett.  He’s a low-life little back door gun runner, but he’s supposed to be meeting with a bigger fish this week.  Our job is to watch him and if the opportunity arises, coordinate a takedown of him and his pal.”

“This guy wouldn’t be related to any member of the Ramos family, would he?  Guns R Us pretty much owns Trenton so how does this guy figure in?” Stephanie asked.

“No, as far as we know, he’s an independent operator.  Somehow he got his hands on a shipment of M16s and some small arms, and he’s underselling Ramos to get them off his hands.” Tank said.

“Well, hell.  He’s cutting Ramos?” Stephanie asked in disbelief.  “Give it a week and he’ll be floating in the Delaware.  What’s our goal here – keep him alive?”

Tank laughed. “Actually, that’s not too far off.  We need to try to apprehend him before Ramos’ goon squad pays him a visit.  We’ll take down Barnett and the other guy and give Ramos a wide berth.  That’s not a place we want to go without serious backup.”

Just then, Stephanie’s cell phone rang.  She pulled off her gym gloves and answered.  “Hello?”

“Hey white girl!  What’s shakin?”

“Hey Lula, not a lot, just working out some with Tank.  How’s things going at Vinnie’s?”

“Well, now that you ask I could use a little help over here,” Lula replied.  “I got me a skip who’s holed himself up in a house and is threatening to shoot my ass.”

“Let me talk to Tank for a minute,” Stephanie said.  She turned to Tank, “Lula needs some help with an FTA.  Is this something we can do?”  Tank smiled and gave a nod.  Stephanie got back on the phone.  “OK, looks like you get both me and Tank as back-up.  Where should we meet up with you?”

“That fine black man is coming to help me?!  Girl, I’m gonna owe you one.  Meet me out in front of the bonds office and we can get our plan there.”

“Will do.  We’ll see you there in 15 minutes.”  She hung up the phone.  Looking over at Tank she noticed that he had a little grin on his face.  “Looking forward to a field trip, Tank?”

He looked a little embarrassed.  “Always willing to help a lady in need,” he said. 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Chapter 5:

 

Stephanie and Tank pulled up to the bonds office to see Lula waiting for them at the curb.  Stephanie jumped out of the SUV and called to Lula, “Hey Lula.”

 

Tank had stepped out of the vehicle and stood next to Stephanie.  “Miss Lula,” he said politely, slightly nodding his head in greeting. 

 

Lula gave Tank a thorough once-over then turned to Stephanie.  “Girl, check you out!  Not only do you look like Rangeman Barbie, but Ken got a serious upgrade!”  She pulled out the file on her skip and handed it to Stephanie. 

 

“Jackson Turner, age 27,” Stephanie read aloud.  “Charges include carrying concealed without a permit, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, domestic abuse, and…..animal cruelty?”

 

“He stapled his girlfriend’s puppy to the wall,” Lula said.

 

“What?!”

 

“Yep.  It was one of those wrinkle-dogs, you know, Shar-pei?  He took one of those industrial staplers and hung it up on the wall by it’s skin.”

 

“Christ,” muttered Tank.  “Why are you doing this and not Ranger or one of us?”

 

“He got a sympathetic judge, if you can believe that shit.  Let him out on a low bond,” replied Lula.  “So, let’s go pick his sick ass up and haul him off to the pokey.  It’s nearly lunch time and I’m starved.”

 

Stephanie didn’t know how Lula could think of food after that.  The poor puppy!  She, Tank and Lula piled into the SUV and headed for 521 Wilmington Blvd.  They pulled up at the dilapidated row house that looked like it hadn’t seen paint in, well, ever.  The lawn was bordered by a chain link fence with a broken gate.  They walked up to the dead front lawn and Lula turned to talk to them.

 

“OK, you two just stand here and look badass.”  She turned to Stephanie, “Well, try girlfriend, OK?  Mr. Tank, he ain’t gonna have no kind of problem with that.”  She walked to the front door and pounded on it with her fist.  “Bond Enforcement!  Jackson Turner, open up you sorry ass motherfucker!”

 

“Piss off, bitch!” Jackson yelled from the second floor.  “I’ve got a fuckin’ shotgun here.  You come in this house and I’m shooting your fat ass!”

 

“Listen here, you piece of dog shit.  Look out the fucking window!” Lula yelled back.  Jackson peeked out the window to see Lula on the front lawn. Stephanie and Tank, both dressed completely in black, standing behind her with their arms crossed in front of them.  “You don’t come out of this house, unarmed, right-the-fuck-now and my friend Mr. Tank here is gonna put his—“ She stopped and turned to Tank, “What size shoe you wearin’ there, baby?”

 

The corners of Tank’s mouth twitched slightly as he replied, “Size 20”.

 

“Really?!” Lula asked, her eyes huge.  “Daaamn!  I was guessin’ you had a big gun, but whoo, I think I’m getting a hot flash!”  She fanned herself with the bond file.  Stephanie rolled her eyes and turned bright red.  Tank just grinned. 

 

Lula turned back to Jackson, “Listen up!  Come out of that house right this fucking minute without that stupid ass shotgun or my buddy, Mr. Tank, is gonna put his size 20 boots up your scrawny ass!”

 

They could see Jackson studying Tank, weighing his options.  Finally, he yelled “No fucking way!” 

 

Lula shook her head and muttered, “Damn.”  She turned to Tank and Stephanie.  “Ok, so now what?  We goin’ in?”

 

Stephanie looked up at Tank and grimaced.  “Um, last time we went in to a house after an FTA with a gun, you got your leg broken.  Maybe I should go in, and you stay out here in case he gets past me.” 

 

Tank shook his head, “No.  We’ll both go in this time and Miss Lula can stay on the lawn if he comes out.  I’m not letting you walk into an unknown situation.  We’re partners, and besides Ranger would kick my ass.”  At their surprised looks he clarified, “and yes, he can.”

 

Tank walked back to the SUV and pulled out two Kevlar vests.  He handed the small one to Stephanie and strapped the larger one on to himself.  They both drew their guns and headed for the front door.  Tank motioned Stephanie to stand off to the right while he took point.  He took a step forward and then put his boot to the door.  Either Tank had superhuman strength or the door was just barely hanging on because it flew off the hinges and into the house about 8 feet.  Stephanie spared Lula a glance and had to smile at the bugged out eyes of her friend. 

 

Tank had his gun at the ready as he stepped into the house.  Stephanie followed, keeping herself to the right of Tank, watching for any hint that Jackson was trying to get the drop on them.  They searched through the bottom floor, Tank opening up doors and Stephanie guarding his back.  Jackson was still upstairs.  Tank motioned Stephanie to back up to the wall on the right of the stair well.  He stood on the left.  “Stay out of sight,” he said softly.

 

“Jackson Turner, I’m coming up the stairs.” Tank yelled.  “When I get there, I want to see you face down on the floor with the weapon out of your reach.  If I see anything else, I’m going to shoot you.” He put his foot on the first stair and the ratchet of a shotgun was clearly heard from the floor above.  He stepped back and against the wall just in time to miss getting blasted.  The shotgun blast blew an eight-inch hole in the wall across from them.  Before Turner could ratchet in another shot, Tank stepped into the stair entry and fired once. 

 

“Shit!” Jackson screamed as he tumbled down the stairs.  He landed in a heap on the floor, and Tank grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and picked him up.  He slammed him face-first against the wall and cuffed his hands behind his back.  Then he let him fall on the floor to writhe in pain. 

 

Stephanie stood there wide-eyed, looking at the blood smears on the wall, the sobbing man on the floor with a bloody leg, and then at her partner. “Uh, Tank shouldn’t we call for an ambulance?”

 

Tank stepped over Jackson and looked down at her.  He smiled and slung an arm across her shoulders as he steered her toward the door.  “Nah, the bullet barely grazed him. A band-aid ought to do it.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“What the fucking hell were you doing?!” yelled Morelli.  “You told me you were working out at the gym in the afternoons this week, and I get five calls to tell me that my girlfriend was in a fucking gunfight.” 

 

Stephanie sat on a tree stump in front of Turner’s house while Morelli paced in front of her, reading her the riot act.  She, Tank, and Lula had all given their statements to the officers who were first on the scene.  As soon as Lula said her piece she left, saying something about cops giving her the runs.  Morelli had shown up about 15 minutes later.  He’d looked her over to make sure she wasn’t injured, then he’d muttered a string of Italian curse words and hauled her off to the side for a “talk”. 

 

“I told you, I was helping Lula.  Tank is my partner so he came to help, too.” Stephanie said quietly.  “I understand you’re upset, but do we really need to do this here?”

 

“Fuckin’ A we’re going to do this here!  If we have this talk at home I’m liable to strangle you,” said Morelli.  He raised the timber of his voice in a mock of her own, “Oh no, Joe…I’m just sitting at a computer all day doing boring searches.  Oh no, Joe, I’m just working out with Tank at the gym.  Nothing dangerous.”  He put his hand to his stomach and grimaced.  “Fuck, I need some Maalox.  I’ve got a fucking ulcer dealing with your shit.”

 

Stephanie bit her lip to help staunch the tears that were brimming up.  She knew he was going to blow a gasket about the shooting, but she was expecting it to be at the house, not in front of God and everybody. 

 

A deep voice came from behind them, “Excuse me, Detective Morelli.”  Morelli turned to find Tank standing behind him, his hands clasped in front of him, his holster empty.  Stephanie was surprised that he approached them.  Most people gave Morelli a wide berth when he was angry. 

 

“What do you want?” Morelli snarled.

 

“I came to get my partner, detective,” Tank stated calmly.  “She’s given her statement and we’re due back at headquarters for a meeting at 16:00.”  

 

“Tell your boss that she’s going to miss it,” said Morelli.  “We’re having a private discussion here, and you’re free to leave.”

 

“With all due respect, detective, your ‘discussion’ is hardly private with 50 people watching.  Also, I don’t go anywhere without my partner while we’re on duty.”  He stepped up closer to Morelli and gave him a tight smile, “So, since we have someplace to be, I’m sure you’ll understand that any further ‘discussion’ you wish to have will have to take place at a later time.” 

 

Morelli didn’t back up as most people would when faced with Tank.  He looked down at Stephanie and then up at Tank.  “Fine.  Steph we’ll finish this at home later.”  He brushed his shoulder against Tank as he passed and headed for his car.

 

Stephanie snapped her gaping mouth shut.  Tank just bailed her out of an irate-Morelli lecture?   He was the best partner ever!  She gave him a grateful smile and took the hand he offered to pull her up from her seat.  They loaded up into the SUV and headed back to the Rangeman building.

 

“Tank?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“We have a meeting at 4:00?”

 

“Sure.  You, me, and Jose Cuervo.  Didn’t you get the memo?” he asked, a small smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

 

This got a burst of laughter from Stephanie.  Well, she was going to have to face Joe later after he’d had all day to stew in his anger, so a few shots of tequila and probably she wouldn’t care how much he yelled. 

 

 

Chapter 6: 

Tank poured Stephanie her third shot of tequila.  They’d gone back to Rangeman and finished some paperwork then headed for Shorty’s for some pizza and drinks.  They talked about movies, music, cars, guns, and then Tank turned the subject to what happened earlier in the day.

 

“OK, Steph.  Be honest with me, now.  Is Morelli always like that?”

 

“Hot headed?” she asked.

 

“Verbally abusive.”

 

Stephanie shrugged, “No, sometimes he can be really funny and loving and sweet.  Anyway, I don’t know if you could call it abuse, Tank.  He’s full-blooded Italian and was raised by a man who beat the hell out of his wife and kids six days out of seven.”  At Tank’s raised eyebrow, she hastily added, “Not that Morelli has EVER hit me.  He wouldn’t, not ever.  He gets loud and sometimes things fly across the room, but never, ever violent towards me.”  

 

Tank studied her for a moment, then said, “He could lose his badge over something like that.  Knowing that, would you tell somebody if he ever did get physical?” 

 

Stephanie thought for a minute about how to answer.  Finally, she asked, “You’re not a Trenton native, are you?”

 

Tank looked puzzled at her quick subject change and shook his head, “No, Detroit.  Why?”

 

“Once upon a time I was married to an up-and-coming lawyer named Dickie Orr.” 

 

“You’re kidding?”

 

Stephanie looked at him with mock indignance.  “What? You don’t think someone would want to marry me?”

 

“No.  I can’t believe someone would go by the name of Dickie,” Tank said.

 

She laughed.  “Trust me, it fit.  Anyway, about 24 hours into our marriage, Dickie decided that the whole “forsaking all others” vow didn’t apply to him and started screwing anything in a skirt.  I had no clue.”

 

Tank frowned, but remained silent.  Steph continued, “So, one day I came home from work to find my husband on the dining room table, his pants around his ankles being ridden like a rodeo horse by Joyce Barnhardt.”

 

“The bleach blond with the big rack who works for Vinnie?”

 

“Yep, that would be the one.”

 

“What happened?” Tank asked.

 

“I don’t remember a lot about the first 10 minutes, although I’ve been told my head spun around like that kid in The Exorcist.”  Tank chuckled.  “But once the shock wore off, and I found out that Joyce was just the last in a long, long line, I went ballistic.  I practically screamed the Burg to the ground, and effectively ruined any political aspirations my husband might have had.  I took all of his favorite things, from his socks to his golf clubs and drug them out of the house and onto the front lawn.  A gallon of gasoline and a match later, and I had a really good bonfire going.  I invited my girlfriends over and we had a nice wienie roast and got shit-faced on rum and Coke.  A few days later when Dickie tried to persuade me to drop the divorce proceedings and just file a “trial separation” I beat the living hell out of him with his tennis racquet.”

 

“So, the point of this story is that you won’t take shit from Morelli?” Tank asked.

 

“Yep,” she said with a grin and knocked back the shot of tequila.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Stephanie swayed a little as she stood up.  What was it about tequila that made you feel great when you were sitting but shitty once you stood up?  The room tilted crazily and Tank wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her.  “Whoa there, Steph.  You OK?”

 

She looked up to see Tank’s concerned expression.  Punching him lightly in the shoulder she said, “Don’t worry, big guy.  I’m fine.  It’s like being on one of those loopy rollercoasters at Coney Island:  a little scary but a lot of fun.”  .

 

“Let me get you home, Steph.”  Tank guided her out the door and to the SUV.  He made sure she was buckled in and then angled in behind the wheel.  He turned the ignition over and pulled out of the lot and headed toward Morelli’s. 

 

Stephanie reclined her seat and closed her eyes.  Considering where he grew up, Stephanie was unsurprised to find that Tank was a big fan of 60’s Motown.  The smooth sounds of the Temptations filtered through the SUV’s speakers.  She couldn’t help tapping her toes along with the music.  She must have dozed off at some point though, because Martha and the Vandellas were singing about dancing in the streets when the SUV stopped in front of Morelli’s house.  There were no lights on at all, the house looked empty.  Stephanie checked the clock on the dashboard and it said 10:00pm.  Not exactly early but not very late either.  She couldn’t imagine Joe sulking in the dark so he must not be home yet.  That worked out well for her. 

 

She turned to Tank and reached out to squeeze his hand.  “Thanks for rescuing me today.  Morelli probably would have kept on for a while if you hadn’t interrupted.”

 

Tank gave her hand a light squeeze in return.  “He’s lucky it was me.  Carlos would not have just stood there and watched Morelli berate you like that.  It would have been ugly in the extreme.” 

 

Stephanie chuckled and joked, “What, Ranger would have shipped him off to some third world country?”

 

“If he was lucky,” Tank said, completely serious.

 

Tank got out of the SUV and came around to help Stephanie out.  She wobbled a little but just laughed it off.  They walked to the front door and Stephanie found the key and opened it.  She could hear Bob thundering down the stairs and he skid to a stop when he saw Tank.  Man and dog studied each other and then Bob whined and flopped over on his back, begging for a belly rub.  Stephanie gave Tank a strange look, “I have never seen him do that before.  Usually he jumps around and barks a lot.”

 

He reached down and gave Bob a pat on his stomach.  “OK boy, that’s enough.”  Bob got to his feet and jumped up on the couch.  He spun a few circles and settled down to watch TV.  Tank looked and saw a Pistons vs. Knicks basketball game in the 4^th quarter.  “Well, at least he’s got good taste.  Can he change the channels?”

 

Stephanie looked over at Bob.  “I don’t know.  But the other day, I came home to find him watching the Food network and drooling all over the couch.  Anything’s possible, I guess.”

 

Tank asked, “You going to sit down and talk to Morelli about what happened today?”

 

“Hell no!  I’m going to pack everything I own and run as fast as I can back to my apartment.  I’m not in any mood for another of Morelli’s lectures.”

 

“You gonna need some help or a ride?”

 

Stephanie smiled but shook her head.  She had a feeling it wasn’t going to be a clean escape.  Morelli was usually home by 11:30 on nights he worked late and it wouldn’t be a good thing to have Tank here if that happened.  She had a feeling it was going to be bad.  “Nah, I’m good.  I’ll be OK.”

 

She walked Tank to the door and locked up after he left.  Steph wandered into the kitchen and watched Rex on his wheel.  Hamsters fascinated her which is why she bought one instead of a goldfish or a cat.  Why did they run?  Did they imagine themselves running through fields or up mountains?  In their little hamster brains did they fantasize about being a ferocious panther chasing down prey?  They ran but they never went anywhere.  Just like her.  She ran away from Joe and then she ran back again, but she never really went anywhere. 

 

Steph trudged up the stairs and pulled out her laundry basket. She started filling it with socks, underwear and t-shirts.  Dropping to the floor, she pulled out a large duffel bag from under the bed and unzipped it.  She started loading shoes and boots into the bag.  She’d done this so often it was almost automatic.  A place for everything and everything in it’s place.  God, tequila was evil.  Now she was starting to sound like freaking Mary Poppins.

 

She grabbed the duffel and basket and headed down the stairs.  She set them by the front door and went into the kitchen to get some plastic trash bags to hold her dirty laundry.  She pulled out two bags and turned to go back upstairs when she spotted Morelli leaning in the doorway. 

 

“You’re a little behind schedule, Cupcake.  I thought you’d be gone by now.”

 

Duke it out, or walk away?  Might as well go out with a bang.  “Well, I didn’t want to deprive you of humiliating me further.  I know how you love that.”  Three….two…..one….

 

“Humiliating you?  What about me?  Don’t you think it’s humiliating to me to have every cop in the station placing bets on the next car you blow up or the next dead body you find?  Don’t you think it’s embarrassing to have my co-workers and family members calling me to say my girlfriend’s gotten herself in trouble again?  Christ, you’ve gotten so much attention from blowing up cars and shit that I’m surprised strangers on the street aren’t flagging me down to tell me when you’ve screwed up again.”

 

“You know it’s not usually my fault.  Today Lula needed some help.  Tank and I were in the gym and she called and requested some back-up.”

 

Joe crossed his arms and rolled his eyes in disgust.  “Yet another woman who is in way over her head.  And so you and Mt. Everest hopped in the truck and came to her rescue.  So if it was her takedown, how did you end up in the gunfight?  Oh, wait…I know this one.  You thought it would go down better if she waited outside while you and Tank went through the house.”

 

Actually, that wasn’t too far off from the truth.  “Not exactly.  Lula and I were going to go through and leave Tank outside.”

 

Morelli snorted, “Oh, because that makes even more sense.  Leave the big, armed mercenary outside while Lucy and Ethel go in to catch the maniac.  No wonder I’m the fucking joke of the TPD.  My girlfriend thinks she’s Wonder Woman, but in reality she’s more like Elmer Fudd.”

 

“Gee, Joe.  I’m sorry,” Steph said, a steadily rising edge to her voice. “Of course, this is all about you!  How silly of me.  What you want, what everyone thinks about you, it’s all about YOU!  Forgive me, O Mighty Morelli!  I forgot that the entire fucking universe revolves around you!”  She turned around and marched up the stairs to get her dirty clothes.  Morelli was right on her ass.

 

“Don’t walk away from me.  This isn’t even over.”  He grabbed her arm above the elbow and spun her around to face him.  They stopped at the top of the stairs and stood toe to toe. 

 

Joe closed the space between them and she gave him a hard shove back.  “Get fucked, Morelli!  I’m tired of listening to your bitching.  All you do is bitch, bitch, bitch.  And then you wonder why I won’t marry you?  If I wanted to listen to constant bitching, I’d move back in with my mother!” 

 

She walked into the bedroom ahead of him and grabbed the door, slamming it back into him.  He caught it and pushed it back so hard the doorknob stuck in the wall.  “This whole situation is bullshit, Stephanie.  You quit Vinnie’s to get a normal job and you end up in exactly the same place.  Chasing down lunatics and getting shot at.  Except now you don’t work with Ranger, you work for Ranger.”

 

“Leave him out of this.  He wasn’t involved in anything that happened today.”

 

“Bullshit.  He’s involved in everything that concerns you.  He tracks your cars, he buys you work clothes, he gives you cars and motorcycles, he puts bullets in your gun, and let’s not forget how he watches your ass.”  Stephanie narrowed her eyes as she continued to stuff clothes into the bag.  “Yeah, I see that look.  I can’t even mention him without you getting all defensive.  You know, you never did tell me about your benefits package at work.  What is it, about 6 inches?” Joe sneered. 

 

“No, actually it’s more like 10,” she muttered. 

 

“What?”

 

She gave a heavy sigh and picked up the last of the clothes stuffing them into the bag.  “Nothing.”

 

“You slept with Manoso?” Joe gritted out between clenched teeth.

 

“No,” she said.  Technically, not a lie.  Sleeping was not a part of the evening’s activities.

 

“Then how do you know his dick size?”

 

Stephanie gave him a wicked smile, “God-given talent.”  She didn’t feel bad about not giving Morelli full disclosure.  She was pretty sure that he hadn’t been celibate during their off-again period.  His sex drive could barely go 3 hours in between let alone three weeks.  When they got back together they had a tacit agreement of don’t ask, don’t tell.

 

Morelli paced around the room, circling her like a wild animal.  “I’ve seen the way he looks at you and don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about.  The sonofabitch doesn’t even have the grace to hide it.  He’s so fucking arrogant that he practically strips you with his eyes right in front of me.   But you know what pisses me off the most, Steph?”  He stepped up close to her and hissed, “I think you get off on it.  I think you like the attention.”

 

“Piss off, Morelli.  You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Don’t I?  I thought it was bad before, but since you started working for him it’s gotten worse.  If I thought I wouldn’t lose my badge, I’d off the bastard.  That would solve a lot of our problems.”

 

Stephanie had been tying the bag of clothes shut.  For the first time in a long while she wished she had her gun.  She wanted to hurt him.  So, she grabbed the nearest thing she had.  She picked up the bag and threw it at him.  It bounced off his chest causing him to step back from the impact.  She stepped up and got right into his face.  “That was fucking uncalled for Morelli.  You can be pissed off at me, that’s fine it’s not exactly new, but don’t drag him into this just because you’re in the mood to be an asshole.  Ranger has been a good friend to me, better than some people I could name.”  She bent down, snatched the bag off the floor and walked to the edge of the stairs.  She threw it down the stair well and stomped back into the bedroom to fill the other bag. 

 

He walked to the farthest corner of the room and leaned his head against the wall.  “Fuck, I’m so tired of this shit,” he muttered. 

 

Stephanie stood in the middle of the room and stared at him, “Yeah, same here.”  It appeared that Morelli had decided to tone it down a notch or two and she was relieved.  Arguing with an egotistical Italian male was exhausting.

 

“So, you’re just going to run away again, huh?”

 

“No, actually, I’m going to drive away.  I’ve felt for awhile that I’ve overstayed my welcome.  Initially, I stayed here because of your leg, but you’re back to work and all so you certainly don’t need me around anymore.  I told you before the accident that I wanted a little break.  I think we’ll just call this an extended break for right now.”  She shouldered past him and walked down the stairs.  Morelli followed her. 

 

“What the hell do you want from me?  You get in a gunfight when you’re supposed to be working in an office.  I come home tonight and you smell like alcohol.  Did you go out drinking with your new buddies?”

 

“No actually, I went out with Tank.”  Morelli raised an eyebrow and started to say something but she shut him down. “Shut up.  If you say what I think you’re planning to say I will beat you with a frying pan.”  My mother would be so proud, I finally found a use for cookware.

 

Joe shook his head and laughed. “Assaulting a police officer is a felony.”

 

“Yeah, and it says a lot that I’m willing to risk it,” she said.

 

Joe blew out a breath and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.  “Shit, Cupcake.  Why do we keep putting ourselves through this?”

 

“I’m beginning to wonder,” she said.  He walked up behind her and held her around the waist, leaning his forehead between her shoulder blades. 

 

“Can’t you understand that I don’t want you in the line of fire anymore?”

 

“Yes.  But you also don’t want me to work with Ranger anymore.”

 

Morelli sighed, “Yeah, that too.”

 

“I like my job, Joe.  And I’m learning some new skills – I think the martial arts stuff will really help me.  Why can’t you just be happy I’m trying to learn to protect myself?  Every time I tell you that I’ve done something positive toward that, you cut it down.”

 

“I don’t mean to,” he said.

 

“I know, and that’s what makes it hard to deal with.  You aren’t trying to hurt me, but you are and you don’t even realize it.”

 

She turned in his embrace and looked into his eyes.  “I’m outta here.  I’ll stop back by for Rex and the rest of my stuff tomorrow.”  Steph leaned her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him a little squeeze.  “You want your key?”

 

Morelli shook his head and squeezed her back.  “No, and I’m not giving you yours back either.  This isn’t over yet, Cupcake.  Not by a long shot.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” she said as she headed for the door.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

 

Chapter 7:

 

Stephanie walked into her apartment around midnight, more tired than she could remember being in a long while.  She kicked off her shoes in the foyer, and stripped off the rest of her clothes as she made her way into the bedroom.  She flopped down across her bed’s comforter face-first in just a pair of peach colored string bikini panties.  The workout at the gym, the shootout with Turner, the shots of tequila and then the melt-down with Joe had wiped her out.  She fell into a deep sleep.

 

Her alarm woke her at 7:00am.  She lay there and stared at the ceiling trying to recall just when she had woken up, set the alarm, slipped on a shirt and got under the covers.  It wasn’t coming to her, so she had to chalk it up to too much tequila.  She got out of bed and stumbled into the shower, letting the hot water pound her head and shoulders.  Her eyes throbbed and her mouth felt like she had cotton stuffed in her cheeks.  Luckily, she had the day off because she didn’t think she could face sparring or working out at the gym today. 

 

Stephanie brushed her teeth, pulled her hair up into a half-assed pony tail and slipped on a pair of cut-off sweats and a too-large t-shirt.  She walked out to the kitchen and stopped.  On her dining table were a large Coke and an order of fries and on her kitchen counter sat Rex.  Frowning slightly, she went to Rex’s cage and saw that he had fresh water and was busily munching on a raisin.  She slumped into a chair and stuffed a few still-warm fries in her mouth.  There was a small notecard propped up against the McDonald’s bag.  She picked it up and read it. 

 

Yo, Babe

 

Ranger.  She cringed in embarrassment that he had walked in and saw her practically naked.  But it was sweet of him to cover her and bring her the cure.  She briefly wondered how he had known she would be back at her apartment, but then remembered telling Tank she was coming back.  Dialing quickly, she was both a little disappointed and also a little relieved to get his voice-mail.  “Hey, thanks for taking care of me last night…or this morning, I guess.  Does Morelli know you liberated Rex from his house?  Have a good day, don’t get shot.”  She hung up and finished up her fries and Coke. 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Seattle.”

 

“You’re kidding?  It rains 9 months out of the year in Seattle.  It’s only summer for about 30 seconds.”

 

He nodded his head, “Yep, Seattle.”  Tank turned to Steph, “Your turn.”

 

Stephanie thought about it for a few minutes.  They had been playing a game from her high school days called “Anywhere but Here”, and watching the building across the street from where they were parked.  Their surveillance job had begun at 6:00 a.m. that morning and so far they had zip on their target, Marcus Barnett.  After they’d split a dozen doughnuts, drank two cups of coffee each and gave each other their life histories they’d only managed to kill an hour and a half.  And so, they were playing the game to pass time.  Finally, she said, “Disneyland.”

 

“That’s a Mickey-Mouse operation,” Tank said.

 

Stephanie snorted, “Cute.”  She turned and smiled at him, “Ever been to Disneyland?”

 

Tank shook his head.  “Nope, went to Disney World with Carlos and Julie once.  She was little then, and freaked out when she saw Captain Hook.  I had to beat him up to make her feel better.”

 

“You beat the crap out of Captain Hook?!”  Stephanie was flabbergasted.  Captain Hook was the shit.

 

Tank smiled at her, “Nah, just pretended to.  He was a good sport about it and Carlos slipped him a C-note for letting me rough him up a bit.”  He got a fond look in his eye when he added, “Julie thinks I’m a superhero.”

 

“Makes sense, her dad is Batman after all, but I just can’t picture you in tights and a cape.  That Robin costume must really chafe.” 

 

She giggled as he reached over to ruffle her hair playfully.  “Smartass,” he said with a smile.  He got serious after a minute and asked, “You all settled back in at your place?”

 

She nodded, “Yeah, it’s nice to be home.  Last night, Rex and I ate a carton of rocky road ice cream and watched “Ghostbusters” twice.  I turned the volume down on the answering machine and the ringer off on my phone.  Very peaceful.”

 

“Morelli giving you space?” he asked.  

 

“We are officially on an extended break.”

 

“Is that break as in break-up?”

 

Stephanie gave him a questioning look.  “You wouldn’t be fishing, would you?”

 

Tank shook his head, “Nah, just curious.  If Carlos wants to know your relationship status, he’ll ask you himself.  Nothin’ shy about that boy.”

 

Stephanie laughed.  “Amen to that.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

At 5:55pm, Tank’s phone rang.  “Talk,” he said. He was quiet for a few moments and then he said, “See you in 5.”  He turned to Stephanie.  “Lester and Woody will be here to take over in 5 minutes.”

 

“Great.  My ass is asleep and I have to pee,” she said.  Tank laughed.  “What?”

 

“That’s more information than I needed, thanks.”  He gave her a smile.  “You think you’ll be able to deal with a week of this?”

 

“I’ll be fine.  But I’m bringing a deck of cards tomorrow.”

 

“Poker?”

 

“War.”

 

Tank laughed again, “OK, War it is.”  He looked into his rearview mirror to see a black SUV pull in behind him.  Lester got out of the truck and headed over to Stephanie’s side of the vehicle.  Tank rolled down the passenger side window and Lester leaned in to talk. 

 

“Hello, Ms. Plum,” he said with a predatory smile.

 

“It’s Lester, right?” she asked.  He nodded and she said, “Still doing redecorating?”

 

He chuckled, “My specialty.”  He glanced at Tank, “Yo, big man.  Any excitement?”

 

Tank shook his head, “No and I doubt you’ll see any.”

 

Lester looked Stephanie over thoroughly, “You’re probably right, things only get exciting when Ms. Plum is around.”

 

Stephanie wasn’t crazy about his perusal, but she didn’t say anything.  Tank wasn’t so generous.  “Excuse us for a second, Stephanie.  I need to make a few adjustments to this setup.”  He motioned for Lester to step away and he exited the vehicle. 

 

The two men walked back to the rear of the vehicle and Tank wasted no time in making those ‘adjustments’.  “Don’t do that again.”

 

Lester gave him a big grin, “What?”

 

“You know what.  Stephanie is not a piece of meat and you will not look at her like she is.”

 

“Just checking her out, man.  Don’t get your panties in a twist.”  He leaned back a little to see Stephanie’s reflection in the side mirror.  “She’s sweet and sexy though, no wonder Ranger’s got such a hard-on for her.”

 

“That’s enough.”  Tank leaned toward Lester and said quietly, “Don’t forget, Santos.  I make the schedule.  You don’t adjust your attitude where Stephanie is concerned, and you’ll be down in the basement on weapon detail indefinitely.”

 

Lester raised both his hands and stepped back a little. “It’s cool, Tank.  I’ll be the perfect gentleman from here out.”  He smiled at him and said, “So when do I get my rotation with the beautiful Ms. Plum?”

 

Tank was not amused, but replied, “You’re up after Bobby, so long as you keep your interest in Stephanie purely professional.  Ranger gets wind of you flirting or hitting on her and the basement is going to be the least of your problems.  It’ll be Miami revisited.”

 

Lester shivered involuntarily. “No thanks.  I won’t flirt or anything else when he’s around.  But, I can’t promise when I have her alone that I won’t make a move, man.  A woman that fine is too much temptation, and they aren’t a couple yet.”

 

“He nearly killed you when you made a move on Esperanza.  He ain’t married to Steph, but he’s laid a claim.”  Tank shook his head in disgust.  “Better keep your dick in check, Santos.  You’ve been warned, and that’s all I’m gonna say on it.  What plays out from here is on you.” Tank turned and walked away. 

 

Stephanie turned when Tank angled in behind the wheel.  “Everything OK?”

 

“Yeah, it’s fine.  You want me to drive you home?”

 

Steph shook her head, “No, my bike is at Rangeman.”

 

“That works.”  Tank said and pulled from the curb heading toward Haywood Street.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~

 

They pulled into the garage just as Ranger was getting out of the Turbo.  He leaned against the car and watched while they parked.  As they approached, he said, “How was surveillance?”

 

Tank replied, “Typical.  Whole lot of nothing.”  He slung an arm across Stephanie’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze.  “I’m headed home, girl.  We got the night shift tomorrow, so we’ll do some gym work in the afternoon before we leave.”

 

“OK,” she said.  “See you then.  Oh hey, remember tomorrow it’s War.” 

 

“You got it,” Tank said.  She and Ranger watched while he got into his maroon Hummer.  He gave them a wave as he drove off. 

 

They turned and headed toward the Ducati.  Ranger hooked an arm around her neck and pulled her closer to him.  “How was your day, babe?”

 

“Long, but I got to know Tank a little better so it wasn’t a complete loss.”  She stepped away from him and leaned against the bike.  “I was going to pick up Rex this morning, but he got a ride home.  Please tell me you didn’t break into Morelli’s house.”

 

“I didn’t break into Morelli’s house.”

 

She studied him for a minute but gave up.  The man was unreadable. “Seriously, how did you get him?”

 

“I stopped by this morning before Morelli left for work and picked him up along with a few of your other things.”

 

Stephanie grimaced, “Oh jeez, I bet that went well.”

 

The corners of Ranger’s mouth twitched, “I had an interesting morning.”

 

“Thanks for trying to help me out, but you should have let me handle it.  Did Morelli get irate?”

 

“Irate is a word.  He said he would talk to you later.”

 

“Great,” she sighed.

 

Ranger leaned in and pinned her between him and the bike, “Don’t worry, babe.  He’ll cool off.”  He bent down and nuzzled her behind the ear and moved down her neck.  He laid a light kiss on her shoulder. 

 

Stephanie felt like all the air in the world got sucked out.  She was surrounded by warm Ranger and Bulgari and she couldn’t breathe.  She laid her hand on his chest, feeling the hard muscle underneath his shirt.  She just left Joe, she reminded herself, she couldn’t rebound into Ranger.  He was not a rebound kinda guy. She gave him a gentle push and stood up. 

 

He watched her with a smoldering look as she straddled the bike and reached for her helmet.  “I never get tired of watching you do that, babe. Someday, I’m going to get a personal demonstration.”

 

She gave him a small smile.  “You’re probably right.”

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Chapter 8:

 

Stephanie rolled over and smacked her hand across the SNOOZE button of her clock again for seven more minutes of blissful silence.  She opened one eye to check out the clock.  8:25 a.m.  Too freaking early for a day when she didn’t have anything to do before lunch.  She flopped over on her stomach and pulled the pillow over her head.  Six minutes later the high-pitched beeping sounded again.  She reached out a hand and smacked the OFF button forcing herself to get up. 

 

She stumbled out of her room and gave silent thanks that she had remembered to put on a t-shirt when she found Joe Morelli sitting at her table, drinking coffee and reading the paper.  “Joe?”

 

“Morning, cupcake,” he said without looking up from the sports page.

 

She was a little confused but walked over and sat across from him.  “What are you doing here?”

 

He looked up from the paper and the look in his eyes made her wish she had stayed in bed.  She held up her hands in surrender. “Before you start yelling, I didn’t ask Ranger to go to your house.  That was totally his idea.”

 

“Uh-huh,” Joe said.  “So it was his idea to inform me that he was there to pick up, and I quote ‘the rat, and anything else she might have left behind – particularly if it’s black and sexy.’”

 

Christ. “Welcome to Ranger humor,” she said with a grimace.  She shook her head slightly and sighed, “He was just yanking your chain, Joe.”

 

“You think that was just him being funny? No way.  He stood on my porch with the most shit-eating grin you’ve ever seen in your life and I just wanted to punch him out.”

 

“Oh crap, you didn’t hit him did you?” 

 

“No, but I thought about it.  We had some words and he got your things, picked up Rex and left.”

 

“What did you say?”  She couldn’t imagine what “some words” might entail.  Anything from arguing over Mets vs. Yankees to dueling at dawn with pistols at 30 paces. 

 

“We talked about what you want, what you need and what each of us has to offer.  He seems to think we’ve split for good.  Doesn’t think you’ll be back with me again.”

 

She asked cautiously, “You two just talked, like friends?” 

 

“Sure.”  At her skeptical look, he amended, “Well, like friends who wouldn’t mind ripping the spleen out of each other.”

 

“Jesus,” she sighed. 

 

 He took a sip of coffee and then said, “I thought we were just on a break, Steph.”

 

“We are.  An extended break.”

 

“So where did he get the idea that we were finished?”

 

She gave him an incredulous look, “What?  You think I know what’s going through Ranger’s head?  No one knows what Ranger thinks about, Joe.  No one.  But he and I haven’t discussed you and we won’t.  Ranger’s my friend, my very good friend, but he’s not my sounding board.  OK?”

 

Joe sighed and folded up the newspaper.  “OK.”  He gave her a sad look, “I just…I miss you.”

 

She reached out and held his hand.  “I miss you too, Joe.  But I really think we need a break; we’re driving each other crazy.”

 

He leaned back in the chair and his features softened as he looked at her.  She’d seen that look many times and it had its usual affect on her.  She started getting warm in private places.  He gave her a sly grin, “So, we take a break from living together, but is every aspect of our relationship on a break?”

 

She narrowed her eyes at him and asked warily, “Just what aspect were you thinking of reinstating?” 

 

Joe reached over and fingered one of her curls, “Well, we’re still friends, right?”  She nodded.  “So, maybe we could still be friends - but with benefits.”

 

Her mouth fell open in shock.  “Like, fuck buddies?”  He nodded.  “Uh, I think that kind of defeats the purpose of a break, Joe.  And, although I’m missing that aspect quite a bit right now, it’s probably not a great idea.”

 

He smiled at her, stood and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. “Thought you might say something like that.  But if you change your mind, cupcake, call me.”  He walked to the door and turned around. “Talk to you soon, OK?”

 

“Sure.  Talk to you soon.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

When Tank found Stephanie that afternoon she was in the gym working with the heavy punching bag.  She was sweaty, but focused on beating up her imaginary Joyce Barnhardt.  Tank leaned against the wall and watched her for a few minutes.  Her hair was up in a messy ponytail and little damp curls had fallen free and framed her face.  Her light gray t-shirt was slightly darker between the shoulder blades.  Slowly, he made his way toward her.  She pulled back and went to hit the bag hard, but the bag was moving and she hit it with the ring and pinkie finger of her hand.  The shock of it went up her arm and her wrist buckled.

 

“Ow, damn!”

 

Tank stepped up to her and picked up her wrist, she whimpered.  “Shh, let’s take a look.”  He pulled off the glove and felt to see if her fingers were broken.  She bit her lip as he moved them, and grimaced as he made her curl them around his finger.  He moved up to her wrist and began to rotate it counter-clockwise.

 

“Owww,” she whined.  “Is it broken?”

 

He looked at the rapidly swelling fingers and shook his head.  “No, but it looks like you’ve got a mild sprain.”  He gave her a reproachful look, “What did I tell you about punching?”

 

She gave him a glare, “It’s not my fault!  The stupid bag moved.  If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Joyce’s.”

 

Tank smiled at her.  “Is that Imaginary Joyce or Real Joyce?”

 

“Probably both,” she pouted.  They walked across the gym and into a small room that looked like a doctor’s office.  Tank motioned her to sit on the exam table while he hunted up a stabilizing bandage.  “I swear, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to find out that Joyce has a Voodoo doll of me that she sticks pins in every day.  I bet she sits around her house conjuring up all kinds of evil things, she is a witch after all.  And Connie did say that there have been weird happenings in the neighborhood lately.”  She gave him an expectant look, as if her point was made. 

 

Chuckling, Tank pulled over a rolling stool and sat down in front of her.  He popped the tab on an emergency ice pack and laid it across her wrist.  “Well, that would explain a lot, now wouldn’t it?  Homicidal stalkers, cars blown to smithereens, burning funeral homes…all Joyce’s fault.”

 

“Damn skippy.”  She winced as Tank took the ice pack and laid it on the counter.  He rolled it around for a few seconds with his hand to loosen up the gel beads so that it was more flexible, then he laid it back across her wrist and started wrapping the bandage around her iced hand.  Stephanie watched as he quickly and efficiently wrapped her hand and wrist, immobilizing her fingers.  He secured the end of the bandage and then reached into a cabinet for a bottle of Motrin. 

 

“Can you take these?”  She nodded and he shook out one and poured her a glass of water.  She downed the pill easily and handed him back the cup.  “You need to eat something now, Motrin’s not good on an empty stomach.”  He helped her off the table and they walked out into the main gym.  Tank picked up her bag and they headed out to the elevator.  He pushed a button on his key fob and the elevator rose to the seventh floor. 

 

“We’re going to eat at Ranger’s?” she asked.

 

“You’re going to eat at Ranger’s.  I don’t eat that rabbit food he likes.”

 

She put her good hand on her hip and gave him a look.  “And I do?  No way.  If you’re getting real food, so am I.  You can just take this elevator back to the basement and hook us up with a meatball sub or something.”

 

The door slid open and Tank smiled.  “Too late.”  He guided her out of the elevator and pushed the button on the key fob to deactivate the security.  He unlocked the door and ushered her in.  “Eat and rest and don’t do anything with that hand.  Our surveillance shift doesn’t start until 7:00.  I’ll take the bandage off then and check it out.”  He turned and headed for the door.  “Have a nice lunch,” he said with a grin.

 

She gave him an Italian hand gesture and he laughed as he shut the door behind him. 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Stephanie walked into the kitchen and opened Ranger’s refrigerator.  “OK, what have we got?  Six pack of Corona, fat-free milk, extra-lean turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms…tofu?”  She shut the refrigerator door.  “I draw the line at tofu.”  She opened his pantry cabinet and took stock of what he had:  raisin oat bran, whole wheat bread, crackers, chicken broth.  She closed the cabinet in despair.  No chips, no peanut butter, no Tastycakes…Ranger was hot but he didn’t know Jack about eating.  

 

She wandered into the living room and flopped down on the sofa, careful to keep her arm tucked close to her chest to avoid bumping it.  She reached out with her good hand and picked up the remote.  It looked like something from Mars.  There were buttons for television, then a separate set of buttons for DVD and surround sound, another group for his stereo equipment, and yet another set at the bottom.  Stephanie had tried all of the audio and video equipment previously when she stayed here but she’d never pressed the bottom buttons.  She tried them now and discovered that they controlled the room lighting.  Ranger had the room set up for seduction with the touch of a button!  She thought of him here, putting the moves on some girl.  She frowned, that wasn’t right.  Wait…putting the moves on her.  That was much better, and now that she thought of that she felt herself getting warm in private places. 

 

OK then, moving on.  

 

She had just turned on the television and was surfing for something to watch when she heard a key in the lock.  She turned just in time to see Ella come into the apartment.  Smiling, she said “Hi, Ella.”

 

The older woman smiled back, “Stephanie, how wonderful to see you again.”  She walked into the living room and frowned as she saw Stephanie’s bandaged hand.  “Did you hurt yourself?”

 

Stephanie sighed, “Yeah, I jammed my wrist working out in the gym earlier.  Tank bandaged it up for me and sent me up here for something to eat.”

 

Ella said, “And have you eaten?”

 

Stephanie shook her head, “No, Ranger’s and my eating styles are far, far apart.”

 

Ella laughed. “No Tastycakes?” 

 

“Sadly no.  Also, no cupcakes, no peanut butter…if Ranger didn’t have you to cook for him, he’d probably wither away.”

 

Ella motioned for Stephanie to follow her into the kitchen.  “How about a BLT?”

 

Stephanie’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Ranger allows bacon to enter his domain?” 

 

Ella chuckled as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out lettuce, tomato and a zip-lock bag with strips of cooked bacon.  “It’s turkey bacon.  I cook it downstairs, fold it up in a paper towel overnight to remove the grease and then bring it up for him.  He doesn’t eat it often, but he likes it on sandwiches occasionally.”

 

Stephanie watched as Ella laid out 5 pieces of bacon on a small plate and popped it into the microwave.  She pulled out two slices of the whole-wheat bread, cut a few slices of tomato and peeled off and washed a crisp leaf of lettuce.  When the bacon was heated, she laid it on the bread and assembled the sandwich for Stephanie.  She put it on a plate and set it on the counter in front of Stephanie.  “There you go.  Anything to drink?”

 

“Um, just ice water, please.  I have surveillance later with Tank, so probably it wouldn’t be good to have a beer.”  She smiled at Ella as the older woman set a glass of ice water next to her. 

 

Ella reached over and patted her good hand.  “I have to go, dear.  Louis is waiting for me downstairs.  I’ll be out for about an hour to the market, but if you need anything call the control room and they can page me.”  The two women said their good-byes and Ella left. 

 

Stephanie finished her sandwich and drink then picked up her dishes and headed to the sink.  Just as she was finished with her dishes, she heard the lock on the front door tumble.  She walked into the living room and came face to face with Ranger.

 

“Babe,” he said, seeming surprised to find her there.

 

“Ranger.”  She smiled at him; it was a rare thing to catch Ranger off guard. 

 

He gave her a thorough once-over, his eyes lingering on her bandaged wrist.  “You OK?”

 

She nodded and held up her hand.  “Yeah, I think so.  I tweaked my wrist in the gym earlier.  Tank wrapped it up for me.”  She dropped her hand back to her side and watched as he tossed his keys in the silver tray on the sideboard table and followed him as he walked into the kitchen.

 

He reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water then turned and stared at her for a full minute.  Stephanie fidgeted a little under the scrutiny.  Not for the first time, she wished she had the power to read minds. She was willing to bet that Ranger’s thoughts were fascinating.  She watched him nervously as he set the bottle of water on the counter and walked up to her.  When he was so close a deep breath would have put them in contact, he reached down and picked up her hand.

 

“How long has the ice been on?” he asked. 

 

“About two hours, give or take a few minutes.”

 

He let go of her hand and settled both of his at her waist.  Before Stephanie knew what was happening, he lifted her up and set her on the counter.  She laid her good hand on his shoulder to steady herself and looked at him in surprise.  He smiled at her and nudged her knees apart so that he could step in between.  He never took his eyes from hers as he reached down for her hand. 

 

Stephanie gaped at him like a landed fish as he started unwrapping the bandage from her hand.  “Ranger?”

 

“Hm,” he said as he continued to unwrap the bandage.

 

“Tank said he was going to take that off before our shift tonight.  That’s still another hour.”

 

“Hm.”  He finished unwrapping her hand and removed the ice pack. 

 

She hissed in pain as he moved her fingers back and forth. “Shh, Babe.  Just checking it out,” he murmured.  He gave her a smoldering look as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the bruised knuckles. 

 

Steph watched him with wide eyes and forgot to breathe.  Ranger turned her hand over and kissed the center of her palm.  She winced as he moved her hand back and forth, checking the range of motion of her wrist.  He brought it to his mouth and kissed her pulse point gently, not unlike he did when he found her at Spiro’s place.

 

“Think you got a mild sprain, Babe.”

 

She swallowed hard and tried to get her voice working again. “Uh, yeah that’s what Tank said.  He thought it might be better by 7:00 when we go on our shift.”

 

“Not you.”  She gave him a surprised look.  “You’re not going to be able to shoot with that hand.”

 

“Shoot? What shoot?  I sit in a car with Tank all night eating junk food and playing stupid travel games.  No shooting required.”

 

“Not the point.  Just because you’re on surveillance, doesn’t mean you might not have to shoot someone.  You’re sitting out until your wrist is better.”

 

Sitting out?!  Oh, no way!  She gave him a huffy look, “I’m Tank’s partner.  I am not leaving him over some jammed up wrist, Ranger.”

 

“Yes, you are,” he said with finality.

 

She sighed.  “It’s not a big deal, OK?  Just put the ice and bandage back on and it’ll be fine later.”

 

“No.”

 

“No?!”

 

“You could hurt it further,” he said.

 

“What are you, a doctor with a macho complex?”

 

Faster than she could blink, Ranger was pressed up against her with his mouth just below her ear.  She felt the wetness of his tongue as he lightly flicked her earlobe.  “Why, you wanna play doctor with me, Babe?  I’d love to give you an exam,” he sucked her earlobe into his mouth, “a very thorough exam.”

 

Stephanie gave a little squeak as she felt Ranger’s hands slide down to cradle her hips and pull her close to him.  She could feel the hardness of him pressed against her and knew that only two layers of denim and a thin piece of cotton was all that separated them.  His mouth traveled from her earlobe to her jaw and slowly slid down her neck.  It took her three tries to answer his question. “I'm gonna want to kick myself for this later, but it’s probably not a good idea.”  She ran her hand down his chest and gave him a little nudge to back off. 

 

Ranger pulled away just a fraction of an inch.  “Morelli?”

 

“Me.  I’m not playing doctor or anything else with anyone for awhile.”

 

He nodded and leaned down to brush his lips against hers. “Fair enough.”  He lifted her off the counter and set her on her feet.  He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.  “Yo, Steph’s out tonight,” he paused, “Yeah, still swollen and painful.  Call in Hal to cover.”  He closed the phone and wrapped an arm around her waist.  He guided her into the living room and over to the sofa.  “I’ve got some calls to make and I need to shower.  Make yourself comfortable and when I’m done I’ll drive you home.”

 

She smiled up at him, “OK.  No hurry.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Chapter 9:

 

She was having an out-of-body experience. Her mind was fogged in absolute bliss and her whole body felt like a low-level current was running through it.  Every touch of his tongue sent little sparks of pleasure zinging up her spine.  When he’d said that he didn’t need handcuffs to enslave a woman, he wasn’t kidding.  She was ready to wrap her body in a big black bow and offer herself up as his ever-willing sex slave. 

 

He sucked her clit into his mouth and flicked his tongue against it while curling his finger inside of her.  Her orgasm hit so hard she couldn’t hear or see anything for several seconds.  Her body bucked and thrashed as waves of pleasure crashed over her and still he didn’t stop.  She felt his finger slide out of her and heard him groan as his tongue wormed into her passage; his grip on her hips tightened.  He continued his gentle assault on her, pushing her to another screaming orgasm hot on the heels of the one before.  When the earth stopped moving and her vision cleared, she looked down to find his head resting on her hip and his fingertips tracing little patterns on her lower belly. 

 

“Good?” he asked.

 

“Gah,” was all she could manage to say.  He chuckled and crawled up her body, laying little kisses to her belly button, her ribs and the underside of her breasts along the way.  He wrapped his tongue around her left nipple and locked eyes with her.  She threaded her fingers through his silky black hair, pushing it back from his face so that she could see him better.  Her brain functions had returned to normal, so she said “Never let it be said that you don’t pay attention to details.”

 

His chuckle was a warm rumble against her body as he nibbled his way over her collarbone and up to her ear.  “Oh, I’m very detail-oriented, Babe.”  Ranger brushed his lips against hers lightly, then coaxed her to open her mouth so that he could kiss her more deeply.  Stephanie twined her fingers in his hair and kissed him back, her tongue rubbing along his.  When they broke apart, he glanced over to her nightstand and then said, “Come on, it’s getting late.”

 

She looked at the clock, it said 2:15am, which was pretty late but she didn’t think that’s what he meant.  “Late?  For what?”

 

“I’m going to need a few hours of sleep sometime tonight, but we’re not quite finished yet.  So get up.”  He stood up and reached out a hand to pull her from the bed. 

 

“Ranger, what—“  He hoisted her up over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.  “Hey!  What the heck are you doing?” 

 

He ran his hand over her bottom and gave it a pat as he headed for the bathroom.  “I’ve still got 6 hours left on my 12 hour clock.  I figure another three to ensure your complete ruination, and that’ll leave me about three hours to cuddle up with you and sleep.”

 

She laughed and pinched his butt, “Well, it’s nice to know you have a plan.”

 

He set her down on her feet and grinned at her as he leaned in to turn on the shower faucet.  “Babe, I’ve always got plans.”

 

While they waited for the water to heat up, Stephanie took a minute to study him in the brighter light.  He was really well-built, and not just that he had big shoulders and rock-hard muscles but that he was in perfect proportion.  A lot of guys who had big muscles looked big through the shoulders and chest but the rest of them didn’t match up. Not to mention that if they used steroids to bulk up, their doodles shriveled up like prunes. Ranger didn’t have that problem; he was perfect everywhere.  His body was balanced; his lower body was equally as toned as his upper body.  And he could have been the poster boy for Buns of Steel.  She ran her hands along his back; his skin was flawless.  Just a smooth, firm expanse of mocha latte goodness.  She nuzzled his shoulder blade and ran her hands down his sides. Ranger shifted his body as her hands moved over him, rubbing his lower back and butt against her.  He reminded her of a cat that was enjoying getting its back scratched. 

 

He tested the water again and must have decided it was the right temperature because he stepped into the tub and crooked a finger at her, giving her the universal “come here” gesture.  She didn’t move, just watched as the water flowed over his skin, her eyes following a particular drop of water down the middle of his chest, past the 8-pack abs and into the Promised Land.  She was so engrossed in watching the way the water slid over him that she must have lost a few seconds, because the next thing she knew she was yanked into the stall and pushed under the shower spray with 208 lbs of firm muscle up against her.  Ranger pushed her hair back from her face as water poured over her. She looked up into his eyes and froze. She’d never seen that look on him before.  Oh, he’d looked at her like he wanted to have her for lunch lots of times, but the look he was laying on her now said that he was interested in dinner and dessert too – for at least a few years.  He pulled her against him and leaned down to kiss her deeply.  Stephanie could barely stand, her legs felt like rubber bands.  Luckily, he didn’t mind supporting her weight.  When he released her, she took a shuddering deep breath; wondering just when all the air had gotten sucked out of the universe. 

 

Ranger smiled at her and reached for the soap and wash cloth.  His eyes wandered over her slowly as he lathered the cloth, almost as if he was trying to figure out where to start. He tilted her face up with his index finger and said, “Close your eyes, babe.”   She did and felt the wash cloth gently glide over her face, down her throat and behind her ears and neck.  The water sprayed over her face, rinsing the soap away and she felt him rubbing the cloth across her shoulders and down her arms.  She decided this would be better if she kept her eyes closed; afraid if she watched him she’d want to handcuff him to the curtain rod and keep him there forever. 

 

His firm hand ran the soapy cloth over her shoulders and down to her breasts.  He cupped each one in his cloth-covered hand, kneading it gently.  Steph kept her eyes closed as the cloth moved lower over her stomach.  He wriggled his finger in her belly button and she couldn’t stifle the giggle.  There was an answering chuckle from him and a murmured, “Ticklish?  I’ll have to remember that.”  The magic cloth slipped down her belly and the length of her legs, circling around to wash her butt and lower back. She tilted her head back into the spray, giving herself over to his strong hands massaging her.   She let out a gasp and her eyes flew open when she felt a tug on her nipple.  She looked down to see Ranger suckling her breast. He drew back and grinned at her.  “Just wanted to make sure you were still with me.”

 

She smiled back, “Oh yeah, just enjoying the attention.  Usually it’s just me and the shower massage.”  At his wicked grin, she realized exactly what she had given away and blushed in embarrassment.  He nudged her legs apart and ran the wash cloth up the insides of her thighs to her sex.  He washed her tenderly but thoroughly and then pushed her back under the water to rinse. 

 

He motioned for her to turn around.  “Got to wash your back still.”  He lathered up the cloth again and ran it over her shoulders and down her back in firm strokes.  She braced a hand against the tile wall and leaned against it to counter the pressure he was using on her back.  It felt good to have someone scrub her back for her; she had a loofah back brush but it didn’t work as well.  He sluiced the water down her back to rinse away the soap and then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him.

 

Stephanie tilted her head to the side as he slid her hair out of the way and nuzzled her ear.  “It’s time again, babe.”  He pressed up against her and she could feel the large erection nestled against her butt cheeks.  He put a leg between hers, shifting it slightly to make her spread her legs wider. 

 

Realizing what he had planned, Stephanie started to babble.  “Um, Ranger…wait a sec, OK?  I haven’t had a chance to wash you yet.”

 

“Later,” he said as he cupped her breasts in his hands, lightly tweaking her nipples.

 

She felt his erection slide between her legs and she shifted away and turned to look up at him.  “Why wait?  Let me wash you, and then we can go back to bed.”

 

He gave her a puzzled look.  “What’s the matter, babe?”

 

“Nothing.”  He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.  She sighed.  “OK, it’s just that I don’t like to do it that way.”

 

“Standing up?”

 

“No. With you behind me.  It’s….impersonal,” He raised both eyebrows at that. “and it makes me feel like I’m not a, um, participant.”

 

“Not a participant?” She nodded.  He cuddled her close to him and pushed away her hair to kiss her forehead.  “Do you trust me, Steph?”  She nodded against his chest.  “Good.  I’m not here to do anything to you; I’m here to do it with you.”  He slid his hands from her breasts to her belly and gave her a little squeeze.  He nuzzled her ear and whispered, “You’re not the only one who has shower fantasies, you know.  If you can trust me for a little while longer, I promise to give you something to think about when I’m not here and its just you and the shower massager.”

 

Oh, boy!  She looked up into his chocolate brown eyes and knew that she was safe with him. Ranger would never hurt her. “Um, OK then.”

 

He leaned down to kiss her then turned her around to face away from him.  Ranger ran his hand down to her right leg and lifted it, setting her foot on the edge of the tub.  He kissed along the back of her neck to her shoulder, “Alright, babe?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

He had her brace herself against the wall with her left hand, then took her right in his and slid both of their hands down her stomach.  He slid their joined fingers into her curls, using her fingers to separate the folds while his caressed her nub.  She moaned when his finger slid back to tease her opening, then returned to her clit.  “Ready?” he whispered.

 

Oh yeah, she was more than ready.  He slid his erection between her legs, then moved her hand away from herself.  She caressed the wide head of his cock, then nudged it into her opening.  Ranger wrapped his hands around her hips and eased into her.  He felt a lot bigger in this position, and Steph gasped as he entered her completely. 

 

He set up an easy rhythm, thrusting into her as he licked her ear and neck. “God, Steph.  You feel just as good as I always thought you would.”

 

He felt as good as she had always imagined too.  He made her feel so full inside, and his hands kept running over her, massaging her breasts, rolling her nipples and sliding across her belly.  Her eyes got wide when he reached up and took the shower massager off the wall hook.  “Uh, Ranger?” she asked, warily, “What are you doing?”

 

He used his thumb to rotate the wheel of the massager until it was set on PULSE.  Thousands of little water jets pulsed from the shower head as he ran the water over her legs.  “Making fantasies, babe.”

 

She gasped as his free hand slid into her curls, separating the soft folds.  He continued to thrust into her as he moved the jets of water to where his hand caressed her.  Her clit throbbed as the water battered against it.  She let her head fall back against his shoulder as he continued to push into her, his strokes becoming harder and a little erratic. 

 

She reached up with her free hand and grabbed a handful of his hair, turning her head she pulled him down to her and kissed him for all she was worth.  He kissed her back, his tongue sliding in to twist and play with hers.  He moved the shower massager just a fraction of an inch and then back again and she whimpered as she felt her legs start to go numb and her body heat up. 

 

Ranger shifted his hips against her, changing the angle of his thrusts.  He was pounding her hard, the sounds of their wet bodies meeting echoed in the small enclosure. He rested his forehead against her shoulder as he drove into her.  Stephanie couldn’t contain the grunts and whimpers that escaped her.  She’d never felt anything like this; it was beyond good.  It was mind-bending.  Ruin her for all other men?  Damn straight.  After this, no man alive could compare. 

 

She heard Ranger groan and mutter something in Spanish.  He quickened his strokes and zeroed in the pulsing spray on her swollen clit.  “Come for me,” he breathed. 

 

That was all it took to send her flying over the edge.  She arched her back and cried out as the orgasm crashed over her.  Ranger kept thrusting into her, riding out her orgasm, then cursed softly as his own release took him over. 

 

He hooked the shower wand back on the wall and cuddled her close to him as little aftershocks reverberated through them.  He slipped from her body and turned her around to face him. 

 

“You OK?” he asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.  .

 

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him, then smiled. “Yeah,” she said.  She gave him a thorough once-over then ran her hands up his chest and over his shoulders.  “It’s time, Ranger.”

 

He grinned and raised an eyebrow, “Yeah?  Time for what?”

 

“My turn.”

 

Stephanie’s eyes snapped open and she sat up quickly.  The butter-soft leather she was lying on told her that she had fallen asleep at Ranger’s place.  Her wrist throbbed as she went to push herself off of the sofa.  She turned toward the kitchen to find Ranger leaning against the counter drinking a bottle of water.  He was dressed in black jeans and a maroon Henley.  His hair was wet from his shower and hung down to just above his shoulders.  She was over-stimulated from her naked wet-Ranger memory and it took everything she had not to push him to the floor and have her wicked way with him. 

 

His eyes sparkled with amusement and he gave her a sexy smile, “Hungry, Babe?”

 

“Huh?” she said, her eyes fixated on the way his shoulders filled out the shirt.

 

“Well, you’re looking me over like I was a lunch buffet.  Sure you don’t want to take a bite?” he teased. 

 

She ran her hands over her face to try and gain some control.  “God, I need a doughnut.”  She looked over at him again and sighed, “I really need a doughnut.”

 

He laughed.  “Those jelly doughnut hormones acting up again?”

 

She rolled her eyes at him, “Shut up, Ranger.” 

 

He walked over to her and hooked an arm around her neck, pulling her to him to kiss her forehead.  “Let’s get you home and ice down that wrist again.  We’ll hit the drive through at Krispy Kreme so you can get your fix.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Come on, Steph.  Open the door.”

 

She struggled into a pair of sweat pants and stumbled through the living room.  It was 7:00am.  If he didn’t have coffee and doughnuts, she was going to hurt him.

 

She threw open the door just as he was about to knock again.  “Do you have any clue what time it is?” she asked.

 

Tank grinned. “Late night?”

 

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him.  “Not too late.  And what do you know about it?”

 

He didn’t answer, but leaned down to kiss her on the top of her head. “Let’s sit down.  Maybe some caffeine and sugar will improve your mood.”  He stepped into the apartment and set two large cups of coffee and a bakery bag on the table. 

 

Stephanie followed him and sat down, reaching into the bag to pull out a Boston Crème.  “So anything happen last night?  Was Hal able to cover for me?”

 

“Nothing happened.  Nothing ever happens.”  He took a sip of his coffee, “Although our source says that Marcus Barnett is getting antsy.  His gun shipment is behind schedule and he’s starting to sweat that old Vito is gonna punch his timecard.”

 

“So maybe he’ll make a move tonight?” she asked hopefully.

 

“It’s possible,” he said.  Tank lifted her wrist and examined her fingers.  “How is this?”

 

“Better.  I took some more Motrin before I went to bed last night and iced it down for a few hours.  I can wiggle my fingers without it hurting now.  So I should be good to go for today’s shift.”

 

Tank gave her a skeptical look.  He took his phone out and flipped it open, dialing #1.  “Hey.  Is Steph clear to work today?  Oh?  She says it doesn’t hurt to move her fingers anymore.  Yeah, OK.  Later.”  He smiled at her, “Boss says to take you to the range and if you can hit a target without whimpering, you can work tonight.”

 

“Peachy.”  She drank down the last of her coffee.  She watched Tank quietly.  She was starting to get to know him over the last 10 days, and he looked pretty smug about something.  Tank didn’t say much, although compared to Ranger he was Chatty Cathy, but his actions spoke volumes.  “Hey Tank?”

 

He smiled, “Yes.”

 

“Yesterday, when you took me up to Ranger’s place.  Did you know when he was going to be home?”

 

“I had an approximate ETA.”

 

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “You didn’t just happen to take me up there so he would see I was injured and we would have to spend some time together?”

 

The corners of Tank’s mouth twitched as he tried to suppress a smile.  “Hmmm….Would I do that?”

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Chapter 10:

 

“Ok, here we go. I say a word and you tell me the first thing that pops into your head. This is a test that they gave me in the Army during the psych evaluation. It’s designed to tell the questioner about your personal truths.”  Tank smiled at her raised eyebrows. “Not that it works, but it’ll kill a few more minutes.”

 

They both watched the building across the street for a while.  As had been the case for the last 4 days, no activity was seen.  Stephanie sighed, “OK, hit me.”

 

“Remember,” he said, “The very first word that comes to mind.”

 

“Yeah, I know.”

 

“OK, Black,” he said.

 

She gave a small eye roll.  “Ranger.”   The corners of Tank’s mouth twitched briefly, but he kept on.

 

“White”

 

“Frosting.”  Tank gave her a strange look.  “What?  Frosting is white.  Especially wedding cake frosting.”  She gave him a little hand wave, “Keep going.”

 

“Sweet.”

 

“Doughnuts”

 

“Scary”

 

“Grandma Bella.”  Tank swallowed down his laughter.  He half expected her to answer Ranger again.  Guess she wasn’t afraid of him anymore.  Interesting.

 

“Tight”

 

 A little smile crept over her face as she answered saucily, “Ass.”   

 

Tank cleared his throat to keep from laughing.  He said the next word, “Big”

 

Steph’s eyes got a far away look to them for a moment. She hesitated, then started to say something, closed her mouth, sighed softly and then said somewhat defeatedly, “Shoulders.”  Tank got the impression that wasn’t her first choice, but probably her safest.

 

“Shower”

 

Stephanie blushed slightly, “Hot”. 

 

Tank smirked at her unusual answer, but kept going.  “Right”

 

“Wrong,” she answered quickly.

 

“Color”

 

Stephanie hesitated for a second, then said, “Mocha.”

 

“Happy”

 

“Angry”

 

“Loud”

 

Tank watched as a little frown fell over her face.  A few seconds later she said, “Yelling.”

 

“Brown”

 

“Eyes”

 

“Trust” 

 

“Friend.”

 

“Safety,” Tank craned his neck down so he could see her face better and waited for her answer. 

 

“Arms,” she said, and snuggled down into her seat. 

 

“Love”

 

She sighed, “Complicated.”  Steph turned to look at Tank, “So, Professor.  What are my personal truths?”

 

Tank gave her a mischievous grin, “What? I look like a shrink to you?”  He laughed when she swatted him across the arm, then reached over and ruffled her hair.  After a few seconds, Tank suddenly stopped laughing. “About fucking time!” he said as he reached behind the seat for his binoculars. 

 

“What?!”

 

He pointed to the side alley of the building they were watching.  A black Mercedes sedan had driven up and parked in the alley.  It looked like two men were sitting inside, one talking on his phone.  Tank focused the binoculars on the car and studied the occupants.

 

“What are they doing?” Steph whispered.

 

“Looks like they’re locking and loading to me,” he said as he hunkered down in the seat.  It wasn’t going to help conceal him much, but he didn’t want to spook the only lead they’d had so far.  “But, you’ll be happy to know that the passenger is our boy.  And Steph, you don’t have to whisper, sweetie.”

 

“Great.  So, now what?”

 

“Now, we call Lester & Junior to come watch this building while you and I stick to Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum. If they get out, we investigate the building.  If they don’t, we follow them to wherever they go next.”  He grabbed his Nextel off of his belt and sent an alert to Lester.

 

“Yo, Big man.” Lester’s voice was crackling over the handset.

 

“Where you at?” asked Tank.

 

“55^th and Lexington.  Got action?”

 

“Affirmative.  Black Benz sedan, late model.  Looks like our target with a spare.  What’s your ETA?”

 

“Five.”

 

“Make it sooner.”  He clipped the Nextel back to his hip and pulled his gun from his holster.  “Saddle up, sweetheart,” he said to Steph with a grin, “it’s finally showtime.”  Tank checked the clip on his Glock and made sure that Steph had her weapon loaded.  “Lester’s gonna come in behind us.  When Barnett makes his move, we tail him.  We want him, no doubt, but if we can get the bigger fish, we take it.  As long as it isn’t Vito or Ramos we’re good.  That’s a line we don’t want to cross.”

 

Steph nodded. “No, absolutely don’t want to cross a Ramos.  Been there, done that, got the scar to prove it.”

 

He smiled at her, “We’re gonna be fine.”  The black sedan’s doors opened and both men got out.  Barnett on the passenger side, stood at about 6’3” and was built like a line backer.  His hair was salt and pepper, cut short and he had a graying goatee.  The sun glinted off the gold ring and chain he wore.  Steph figured his suit alone was probably worth the cost of her last car.  The other guy who exited on the driver’s side was much shorter, about 5”9” but what he lacked in height he made up for in width.  Stephanie estimated he was probably four foot across the middle and at least 300 pounds.  He had dark hair, with a bad comb-over that looked like he took a 2ft. long section of hair and just twirled it around his head like a plate of spaghetti.  He had about 3 chins, beady eyes and was sweating profusely through his bad suit. 

 

Stephanie and Tank watched as the mis-matched duo made their way into the building.  Tank looked up in the rearview mirror to see Lester and Junior pull up several cars behind him.  He motioned for Stephanie to step out of the vehicle and he exited and scanned the street.  They cautiously walked across the street and stood in the shadow of the building next door where they could see the entrance that Barnett had entered. 

 

“Here’s the plan:  We go in carefully and assess the situation.  If Barnett is meeting with his distributor, we do a head count.  Just the two of them with a few bodyguards and we can call in Lester and Junior and take them down.  If there’s more, we back out of here slowly and call it in.  Ranger will decide if he wants to pursue it or wait for another time.”

 

Stephanie nodded and followed Tank’s lead as he unholstered his weapon.  Tank pulled open the door and stepped through motioning her to stay behind him. They slowly went through the bottom floor, checking each room for occupants and finding no one.  As they approached the stairwell, Tank gave her a little shove to stand against the wall.  “Wait until I’m on the landing before you start up the stairs in case there’s a sentry,” he whispered. 

 

Tank stepped on the first stair and it gave a little squeak under his weight.  He stopped and locked eyes with Stephanie.  Cautiously, he took another step and when there was no noise, he continued up to the first landing.  Not hearing any gunfire, Stephanie followed up behind him. 

 

At the second floor, Tank opened the stairwell door and stepped into the hall.  He motioned for Stephanie to follow as he headed toward the Northwest corner of the building.  They checked each room as they went; all were empty.  Stephanie tugged on the back of Tank’s shirt, “Where are they?” she whispered.

 

Tank just shook his head and kept walking.  At the end of the hall there was a large wooden door with a small window in the center.  Tank flattened up against the wall as he looked through the glass.  “It’s clear,” he said and reached for the knob. 

 

They entered the empty room and crossed over to the opposite wall where another door with a window stood.  They crouched down under the window and Tank holstered his gun while he looked in cautiously and studied the occupants.  Barnett was standing in front of a table where a Latino man was seated counting out stacks of what looked to be $100 bills.  Tank counted 4 goons on his left, and another 3 on the right.  He looked up at the catwalk that stretched across the room and saw two more armed men standing there watching the scene below. 

 

“There’s nine potential shooters, plus Barnett and his distributor.  Too many.”

 

Steph nodded, “Now what?”

 

“Now we leave and call it in.”  He motioned her back the way they came but something in the room with Barnett caught his attention.  Tank turned back to check it out when he heard Stephanie whisper to him.

 

“Tank,” she hissed. 

 

“Hang on a sec, Steph.  Something’s off here.”

 

“Uh, yeah,” she said softly.  “Tank,” she whispered again.  When he didn’t look at her, she snapped it out through clenched teeth, “TANK!”

 

“What?” he said, turning to see her.  He was on his feet and up to his full height immediately, reaching for the gun in his holster.

 

“Uh-uh, boy.  Make the wrong move, and this pretty lady is going to be very dead.”  The man with the very large gun pointed at Stephanie’s head smiled wickedly, “and wouldn’t that just be a shame?”

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*