and Eating It Too!
Sixty minutes into her forced sit-in in Ranger’s kitchen, Stephanie heard the click of the front door. She was about to say something but then her mind started to race with ideas. Could it be Ranger? What if both Ranger and Joe got hurt and it’s the Slayers coming to get her? Maybe it’s Ella? Damn it. Reaching in front of her she grabbed the mace Ranger had given to her before he left. With a shaky hand she aimed toward the entrance to the kitchen.
Several seconds went by and she was about to call out when a bedpan came scooting at her across the floor. “What the fu…Hey! What the hell is this?”
A voice came from the other room. “I was told to check on you and see if you needed anything. I figured you could use, uh, a facilities break or somethin’.”
He had to be kidding. “Get your ass in here so I can see you. Why are you standing out there? I can’t use this. Take me to the bathroom.” There was a long silence and she was about to start swearing up a blue streak when the voice finally answered.
“It’s me, Miss Plum. Hal. I, uh, can’t take the cuffs off.”
Oh great. The one guy Ranger knew wouldn’t trust her because of that whole stunning incident. “Hal, I won’t hurt you. You can come in.” She tried to sound clam and sweet.
Another pause. Maybe he was considering it but then, “I know you have mace.”
Well, shit. “I won’t mace you. Just take me to the bathroom.” Suddenly she had another thought. “Did Ranger tell you to give me this?” She kicked the bedpan.
“Uh, well…no ma’am. He said to check and make sure you were comfortable.” He paused. “Well, as comfortable as you could be. He did say you had food readily available.”
Ok, this guy wasn’t the brightest bulb. Maybe she could talk him into something using logic…girl logic. “So, he never said don’t take the cuffs off or don’t take her to the bathroom.”
“No. He didn’t say that. I came up with the bedpan idea myself.” The idiot sounded proud.
“And what a thoughtful idea it is. But if he didn’t specifically say you can’t uncuff me to let me use the bathroom, what’s the harm?” There was no response and she realized she forgot to ask the most important question. “What exactly did Ranger tell you?”
Hal cleared this throat. “Well, he, uh, said that if you step one foot outside this apartment he’d hunt me down and kill me.”
“Oh.” Well, that covers a lot of ground. There was a fleeting idea to say something like ‘I promise not to try and escape’ but had the feeling he wouldn’t buy it, considering their past history. She had one last thing to try. “Well, come on, he wouldn’t hurt you guys and you know it. He was kidding.” Probably. “I’m sure you misunderstood.”
There was a deep chuckle. “Miss Plum, if there’s one thing I understand all too clearly is that when it comes to you, none of the normal rules apply.”
“Rules? I have rules? Listen, just let me use the john like a normal person. He’ll never know.” All she heard was laughter and footsteps. “Wait! Hal. Have you heard anything?”
The laughter stopped abruptly. “No ma’am, I haven’t.”
“Please Hal, unlock the cuff. I could help you hide.” she yelled and then immediately heard the click of the front door.
Several long hours later Stephanie sat on the floor with her head back against
the fridge, eyes closed, and seriously considered using the bedpan. She shifted
to get comfortable and her foot kicked the offending item. When she opened
her eyes she quickly realized it might be out of her reach. “Oh, this
is perfect.” Stretching out as long as her body could, she tried to
corral the bedpan closer to her. She had to strain and the cuff was biting
into her wrist but the tip of her shoe was…just…about….there….”Stupid,
stupid men. They all suck. Bastards, all of them,” she muttered as
she lay stretched out on the floor.
Which is exactly how Ranger found her. “Babe?”
She stilled, wondering if she had conjured up some sort of ghost with her muttered curse. Her eye slowly moved across the floor until two black boots came into view.
“Babe, yoga?”
Collapsing on a sigh, she took a millisecond to collect herself and then immediately stood up. “Is he ok? What happened? Is he here? Where is he? What happened? Take this off I have to use the bathroom.” She sounded a little panicked as she shook her cuffed hand at him but she didn’t really care at this point. All those questions, and more, needed immediate answers. As she finished her list of questions she finally took the time to look at him, really look at him. He looked tired, almost sad. He was also dirty and a little scuffed up. She gasped but a lump formed in her throat that cut it off making the gasp sound more like a gargle. Swallowing, she tried to spit out the words to ask one more question. “Ranger, is he…he…”
“Babe.” He stopped and ran a hand down his face. “Why are still locked up?”
“Damnit, Ranger! Tell me about…”
“There’s more tools to free yourself in this room then the garage.”
Ok, so maybe she didn’t really want to get free. Maybe she was too scared for herself and Joe. “Please, Ranger.”
Their eyes locked and he slowly made his way over to her, unlocked the cuff, and started to rub her wrist. “Babe, he…”
The phone rang, interrupting whatever he was going to say. Stephanie grabbed his arm and with deadly calm said, “Don’t even think about it. Tell me. Now.”
With an expressionless face he said, “He wasn’t there.”