'We have a name,' Ranger said. 'Norman Carver.'
'Norman's not going to be at the mall. And excuse me, you're blocking the door.'
'Give it a rest,' Ranger said.
'Give it a rest, yourself,' I said, giving him a shot to the shoulder.
'Get out of my way.'
All day long the car keys had been sitting in the dish. And truth is, I didn't actually believe Ranger told his guys to stun-gun me. I'd stayed in the apartment because I didn't want to die. And I still didn't want to die, but I was resenting the passive role I was forced to play. I was antsy, and I was unhappy. I wanted my life to be different. I wanted to be Ranger. He was good at being a tough guy.
I was crappy at it. I was also finding it ironic that I'd walked out on
Morelli only to find myself in the same position with Ranger.
I gave Ranger another shove, and he shoved back, pinning me to the wall with his body.
`I'we had a long, unsatisfying day,' Ranger said.`I'm low on patience. Don't push me.'
He was effortlessly leaning into me, holding me there with his weight, and I was immobilized. Not only was I immobilized, I was starting to get turned on.
'This really pisses me off,' I said.
He'd been out all day, and he still smelled wonderful. His warmth was oozing into me, his cheek was resting against the side of my head, his hands were flat against the wall, framing my shoulders. Without thinking, I snuggled into him and brushed my lips across his neck in a light kiss.
'No fair,' he said.
I shifted under him and felt him stir against me.
'I've got the weight and the muscle,' he said. 'But I'm starting to think you've got the power.'
'Do I have enough power to persuade you to take me shopping?'
'God doesn't have that much power. Did Ella bring dinner up?'
'About ten minutes ago. It's in the kitchen.'
He pushed away from me, ruffled my hair, and went to the kitchen in search of food. The door was left unattended. The car keys were in the dish.
'Arrogant bastard,' I yelled after him.
He turned and flashed me the full-on smile.
I was still at the breakfast table when Ranger came out of the bedroom wearing a fully loaded utility belt and an unzipped flak jacket. 'Try not to get too crazy today,' he said, heading for the door.
'Yeah,' I said. 'And you should try not to get shot.'
It was a disturbing goodbye because we both meant what we said.
At five o'clock Lula called on my cell phone. 'They got him,' she said. 'Connie and me have been listening to the police channel, and we just heard that they got Junkman.'
'Any details?'
'Not much. It sounded to us like he got stopped for running a red, and when they checked him out they got lucky.'
'No one was hurt?'
'No call went out.'