Chapter 9

         Lee sat at the bar of Pete’s watching the front door and nursing a bottle of Corona.  He would have preferred to have a glass of scotch in his hands, but he didn’t think that anyone would believe that a cowboy like Ricky Joe would ever drink hard liquor.  He was thankful that not only had Morelli agreed to bring him along to Pete’s, but that he had insisted they stop back at the station and grab a few props, making him look more like a Texan.  Glancing around the room he took in the very seedy décor, and all the extremely inscrutable characters nursing their drinks, he understood exactly why Morelli had been adamant that the women stay away.  This place could give his sometime informant Augie Swann’s business ventures a run for their money, at least the more tasteless ones. When one of the patrons winked at him as she passed, he tipped his Stetson politely and looked down at his watch, hoping to give the young lady the idea that he was waiting for someone. Noticing that he’d been sitting out here, alone for half an hour, he sighed and brought the bottle of beer that he really didn’t want to his lips, and continued waiting for either Veranos to arrive or for Morelli to reappear from one of the back rooms he’d disappeared into in order to maintain the loose cover he had made for himself. 

         Lee silently chuckled at that thought. Morelli had confided in him earlier that he wasn’t really undercover, he was merely playing a role he apparently took on quite a bit around Trenton; he was acting as a liaison between one of the head mob bosses and another faction.  It was the other faction that vice was really interested in, as was Lee, since it was that faction that was being headed up by Carlos Veranos.  Morelli was going to keep his ears open to find out if the guns going to El Salvador were among the merchandise being negotiated for behind closed doors.

         The fact that Morelli, a known cop, was welcome in these meetings was causing Lee a fair amount of concern. He had discreetly asked around about Morelli when they were at the station earlier, and from what everyone told him, Morelli was a good, clean cop.  The fact that the head of one of New Jersey’s big mob families trusted Morelli to act as a liaison worked in everyone’s favor, and was not seen as cause for alarm.  However, no matter how clean Morelli seemed, having any kind of mob connection was something Lee didn’t fully trust.  He’d been around enough organized crime in his years with the Agency to know that any link could turn into something ugly.  The connected family might decide that Morelli was a liability and have him killed, or they might ask him for a favor he would have no choice but to fulfill.  He had to concede, however, that for the purpose of this case, he needed to trust Morelli, but that didn’t mean he was going to let his guard down completely.

         The door to Pete’s opened interrupting Lee’s thoughts.  He was hoping that it would be Veranos, thereby making this whole excursion worthwhile; however it wasn’t a man who walked through the door, but a tall, blonde woman.  She was gorgeous and although she turned the head of every man in that bar, she didn’t seem to notice or care as she made a beeline for the back room where Morelli was.  He watched with extreme curiosity as the blonde entered the backroom, and was just about to turn his attention back to watching for Veranos, when the door reopened and the woman re-emerged with her arm possessively linked with Morelli’s. 

         Lee’s eyes followed the couple as they walked over to the other side of the bar and did his best to hide the shock from showing on his face when the blonde planted a very sultry kiss on Morelli’s lips.  He almost fell out of his chair when he saw Morelli’s arm wrap itself intimately around the blonde’s waist and he fought the urge to go over and punch Morelli’s lights out.  For some reason, now that he was married to Amanda, he found himself feeling very brotherly towards women he was close to, and although he hadn’t known Stephanie for very long, the fact that she was so similar to Amanda that she could easily be his wife’s long lost sister, made him feel almost as protective of her, as he did for Francine.  Therefore, he was not enjoying watching Morelli being so friendly with this other woman.

         Lee brought his bottle of beer up to his lips and began to watch the couple more closely.  As he did, he let his body relax ever so slightly.  The more closely he watched, the more he realized that everything was not as it appeared.  To the casual observer, Morelli and the blonde looked like lovers, but to someone with the trained eyes of an agent, the two people weren’t speaking words of love but were actually conducting business. He had to admit, however, that the blonde’s technique was a lot more pronounced than his wife’s more subtle overtures, which made the scene he was watching seem very convincing.  In fact, the way the blonde was running her finger tantalizingly up and down Morelli’s arm and across his cheek as they talked, reminded him of the way his wife acted in the privacy of their bedroom, and it was enough to cause his brotherly instincts to remain at the forefront of his thinking. 

         Although Lee was pretty sure the couple was simply talking shop, he had to admit to himself that either Morelli was a very good actor, or on some level he was enjoying the attentions of the blonde, almost as if the pair shared an intimate past.  He began scrutinizing the blonde's face and it was the glint in her eye that confirmed his suspicions.  He'd known enough women to recognize the look of the huntress in the blonde's gaze.  He hoped, for Stephanie's sake, that Morelli's feelings for the bounty hunter were strong enough to resist this seductress.

         Joe let out a slight gasp when the blonde wrapped in his arms moved her hand down and subtly squeezed his butt cheek. Then, as she whispered a goodbye and blew in his ear, his body involuntarily shivered, and he forced images of Stephanie into his mind.  Terry Gilman was a beautiful woman, one he shared a very heated past with, but he had no intention of jeopardizing his relationship, whatever it was, with Stephanie for anything Terry might really want to offer.  His body shivered again as she blew once more in his ear, then abruptly unwrapped herself from the embrace, turned, and headed straight for the front door. He took a deep breath to get his hormones back under control and then scanned the bar, wondering how many of the patrons had enjoyed the show.  He let out a long sigh when he caught sight of Lee.  The agent was avoiding looking directly at him; however Joe couldn’t ignore the tight, almost angry expression on the other man’s face. 

         Without another moment’s hesitation, Joe made his way over to the bar to do a little damage control. He sat down on the stool next to Lee and motioned for the bartender.  “Pint of whatever you have on tap.” He then drummed his fingers on the counter, and without looking at Lee, muttered in a barely audible voice. “Go ahead and say what’s on your mind, Stetson.”

         Lee brought his bottle of Corona closer to his lips and didn’t bother to hide the annoyance he felt when he spoke. “You sure looked like you were enjoying yourself.  I wonder what Stephanie would’ve thought if she’d been here.”

         Joe gave a quick glance in Lee’s direction, then quickly looked away when the bartender brought him is beer.  Mimicking Lee’s actions, he brought the glass to his lips to hide the movement of his lips. “It wasn’t what it looked like.  She’s a business associate of sorts and we were simply exchanging information. I’m sure you’re familiar with the method, especially someone in your line of work.  Therefore, Stephanie doesn’t need to know anything about it.” He then turned and gave Lee a hard stare as he stuck his hand out in way of a friendly greeting. “Joe Morelli.”

         Lee picked up on what Morelli was doing and took the cop’s hand. “Ricky Joe Jackson.” He said with his already established Texas drawl. 

         “You’re a long way from Texas, my friend.” Joe wanted to establish Lee’s cover more openly so that, if Veranos showed up, he could invite the agent into the back room, under the pretense of an interested party in what Veranos might be selling.

         “I just follow my nose and end up wherever the deals are.” Lee gave Morelli a friendly smile, “I could tell that you seemed to be making some sort of deal with that gorgeous beauty who just left.”  He then lowered his voice, but kept the accent. “Looked to me like the blonde really wanted to do more than just exchange information, either that or you two used to be more than just business associates.”

         Joe nodded. "Oh we definitely used to be more than just business associates. I've known Terry since high school.  We even went to the prom together, but it’s not like we dated seriously.  You see, I was quite the player in high school, hell even after high school. Burg mothers used to warn their daughters to stay a way from me.” He grinned smugly and then shrugged. “Then one day I decided I didn't want to be like every other male in my family, so I stopped fooling around and got serious about my job.”

         Lee glanced briefly at Morelli. “I don't suppose Stephanie was the reason for the abrupt change in lifestyle, was it?”

         Joe shook his head. “Steph didn't factor into it at all. I just decided I wanted to make something of myself.  Steph’s more like my reward for doing something positive with my life.”

         Lee glanced over in Morelli’s direction. Although he didn’t care too much for the cop’s off-handed remark regarding Stephanie, he did understand exactly what the other man was saying, even if Stephanie wasn’t the reason for Morelli’s change, Amanda had been the one to open his eyes and made him realize that it was time to grow up and stop being so reckless. “So how does Terry factor into all of this?”

         “Terry’s full name is Terry Gilman,” Joe chugged down some of his beer, “and she’s related to Vito Grizzolli.” He finished and wiped some froth that had settled on his mouth away with the back of his hand.

         Lee did his best to keep the shock out of his voice. “You mean the Vito Grizzolli who’s in there?” He asked as he gave a barely perceptible nod of his head towards the back room.

         Joe nodded. “She’s his niece.  Basically anytime Vito wants to negotiate something that is more on the up and up, he usually tells Terry and she comes to me. I then send the information back through her. Only people from the burg know Terry’s true connection to Vito.  She used to be a Grizzolli, but she got married and then divorced a week later.  She decided to keep Gilman as her last name.  It makes things a little easier for her to do certain things for her uncle, with no one knowing their familial connection.  Vito likes to play nice with the authorities, because as long as he does, it keeps him out of the slammer. However, for today’s meeting, Terry needed to be somewhere else, so she convinced her uncle to let me be in the room.”

         “And so you decided to make it look like you were hot and heavy for each other in order to fill her in on what she’d missed?” Lee’s tone held a slight note of skepticism. “I gotta be honest with you, Morelli. If you say you’ve cleaned up your act, and seem to be in some kind of relationship with Stephanie, then, if it were me, I think I would have found a different way to pass information along.”

         Joe’s expression turned serious. “You have to understand something about this area.  Its gossip central and everyone in the burg knows that Terry and I used to be an item, and that the men in my family have a reputation for infidelity.  So I use the gossip mill to my advantage.  If people see Terry and me together, they think that we’re having yet another fling; no one suspects that we’re actually conducting business.”

         “I guess I can see how that works to your advantage.” Lee took another swig of his Corona. “So, if you don’t mind me prying…what does Stephanie think of your not so casual meetings with Miss Gilman? I mean you don’t let her believe, like everyone else around here, that there’s something other than business going on, do you?”

         Joe shook his head. “I tell her the truth, that it’s just business, but Stephanie can be stubborn, and since she spends all her time in the burg, she can’t help but hear the rumors.” He saw the slightly confused look on Lee’s face and shrugged. “I think on some level she trusts me, but her jealousy sometimes won’t let her believe the truth right away, especially when the rumor mill is in overdrive.  And unfortunately her jealousy puts her into situations that she shouldn’t be anywhere near.”

         “Yeah, well if the display I witnessed earlier is anything someone in the gossip mill saw, I can see why Stephanie would get the wrong idea.” Lee twirled his bottle around in his hand. “It looked like Terry was doing her best to turn up the heat, not just pass along information.”

         Joe smiled nonchalantly and tilted his head slightly. “Terry gets a little carried away sometimes, and perhaps her motives aren’t all business.  But,” his expression turned serious, “I have no intention of jeopardizing my relationship with Stephanie for a one night stand with Terry.”

         “Just what exactly is your relationship with Stephanie?” Lee lowered his voice a little as the bartender walked past. “I mean, it seems to me that there’s a lot of sexual tension between the two of you, yet she was extremely eager to have Amanda and I stay with you, and Francine with her.”

         “It’s a little complicated.  We’re both very stubborn and neither one of us is truly ready to make a full blown commitment with rings, rice and vows.” Joe glanced around the room to make sure that no one was watching them too closely. Assured that everyone in the bar was minding their own business, he continued. “Steph can be extremely infuriating sometimes. One minute we’re dating, the next we’re not. Right now we’re in the on-again stage, but she’s doing her best to keep me out of her bed.”

         Joe let out a frustrated groan when he caught the almost disapproving look Lee was casting in his direction, it was the same look he’d seen on a dozen or so fathers in his day, Mr. Plum included. “Just ’cause I’m a one woman man, doesn’t mean I don’t have a healthy sex drive. Despite the little show you saw before, I’m fully committed to Steph and hell, we’ll probably even end up married someday.” He involuntarily shuddered at that thought. He wasn’t sure if it was from excitement, fear or the fact that he was suddenly realizing just how well-suited he and Stephanie were for each other. No matter what the reason, he did know one thing for sure, whether in the on-again or off-again stage of their relationship, he did not like Stephanie hanging around Ranger.  He could tell her and everyone else that it was because Ranger wasn’t someone to be trusted, but the truth was, he didn’t like the way the bounty hunter looked at Stephanie. He recognized the look in the other man’s eyes, it was a mixture of lust and something else, something deeper that made him feel threatened and very jealous.

         Lee had noticed the other man’s reaction to the idea of marriage. “So you don’t want to get married, and Stephanie does?”

          “I have absolutely nothing against marriage. I’m just not sure if Steph and I will ever make it down the aisle. Lord knows we’ve known each other long enough and have been attracted to each other for probably longer than that, and who knows, maybe marriage really is in the cards for us, just not anytime soon.” Glancing over at his bar mate, Joe noticed the interested look on Lee’s face and then, after downing the rest of his beer, he placed the empty glass on the counter. “A few months ago, she ended up moving in with me temporarily because of an FTA case she was working on and she needed a safe place to stay.  One thing led to another and well…” He smiled and shrugged. “Then, even though she was still living in my house she told me that she wanted more of a promise for the future before she let me enjoy the pleasure of her company, again, but I think it’s just an excuse.”

         Lee stared curiously at his companion. “Steph seems like someone who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to speak her mind.” 

         “Oh she definitely speaks her mind, and she knows what buttons to push too.  But I think she made up the whole promise for the future thing ’cause she’s really afraid to get married. I think living with me gave Steph a taste of what being married might be like, or at least living together,” Joe paused when the bartender came back with a newly topped off glass of beer.  He waited until the man was out of earshot before continuing, “The minute it was safe for her to go back to her apartment, she practically ran, eager for her independence again. She’s the most contrary woman I’ve ever met.  One minute she wants a marriage proposal, and the next she wants her freedom. I think the truth of the matter is that she’s not ready to give up her independence and here in the burg, a woman who gets married ends up staying home and raising the kids.”

         Lee let out a deep chuckle. “So Stephanie really did have an ulterior motive for having us stay with you?”

         Joe nodded and laughed. “I suppose she did.” He looked at Lee with a slightly curious expression. “What exactly were her reasons for having me play host?”

         Lee tapped his finger against the side of his beer bottle. “I believe she said something about you owing her a favor.”

         “Yeah that sounds like something she would say.” Joe shook his head slightly and smiled. “It’s kind of a running joke with us.  One of us always ends up owing the other some kind of payment or another.  I prefer to collect my payment in the bedroom.  Steph, on the other hand, finds more creative ways to collect, or get even, depending on how you look at it. I guess we’ve sort of been finding ways to do that for as long as we’ve known each other.”

         “You said that you and Stephanie have known each other a long time.  How long, exactly, is a long time?” Lee asked before swallowing the last bit of his beer.

         “Why do I suddenly feel like I’m meeting my prom date’s father for the first time?” Joe smiled jokingly.

         Lee shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I was just being curious.” He lowered his voice a little. “Comes with the job.”

         “I can appreciate that.” Joe laughed and nodded his head slightly. “I’ve known Stephanie since we were kids.”  He didn’t feel like telling Lee that in some respects, he and Stephanie knew each other a little more intimately than most normal kids.  Perhaps he knew back when he was eight that he and Stephanie were meant to be together; it was the explanation he could come up with to defend why he just had to lure her into his parents’ garage.  Stephanie wasn’t exactly innocent either, because she willingly let him play a little game of choo-choo, where he got to be the train and, even at six years old, you couldn’t make Stephanie Plum do something she didn’t want to do. 

         “Did you and Stephanie end up dating back in high school?” Lee nodded when the bartender came over and picked up his empty bottle of Corona.  He really didn’t want another beer, but he would look extremely out of place if he didn’t have something in his hand.

         Joe shook his head. “I didn’t date any one steadily back then.” He tilted his head and laughed a little ruefully. “I had a reputation for being with a different girl every week.  I won’t deny the fact that I definitely enjoyed chasing the girls back then, Stephanie included. And although Stephanie wasn’t hard to catch, I did wait until she was sixteen, and more than willing, before I finally caught her.” A gentle smile crossed his lips as he thought about that little rendezvous.  It was the same smile he always got whenever he went into the Tasty Pastry and had to get a box of éclair’s for his mother.  The memory of what had taken place behind that éclair case would live in his mind forever.  

         Lee could understand being the center of attention for a bunch of girls, but the one thing he would never have done, was take advantage of another girl’s feelings of attraction for him.  If he hadn’t been interested in pursuing even a casual date here and there, he wouldn’t have gone all the way with her.  He couldn’t deny that on some level Morelli was an okay guy, but his attitude towards women and sex was just a little more cavalier than he was comfortable with.   “I haven’t known Stephanie very long, but it seems to me that she probably didn’t enjoy being used and then tossed aside.” His tone was a little more brotherly and protective than he meant it to be.

         Joe had caught the edge in Lee’s voice and mentally laughed to himself.  What was it about Stephanie that caused other men to suddenly become protective of her? He didn’t mind the idea of Lee wanting to defend Stephanie so much, especially since the agent was already taken, but if it had been Ranger who had been sitting next to him and taken that tone with him, he’d probably have belted the man in the eye without blinking.  Then again, he wouldn’t be having this conversation with Ranger, even if they were the last two people on Earth with nothing to talk about. “You aren’t wrong about that.  Even though she agreed not too long ago to take partial blame for what happened, I don’t think that she’s ever really forgiven me, especially since I pretty much let everyone in town know about my ‘conquest’.”

         Joe shrugged apologetically when he saw Lee raise his eyebrows slightly in disbelief. “I was cocky, and I had a reputation to live up to.  I made the stupid mistake of writing a little poem about her on the bathroom wall of a local sub shop and on the wall of the high school football stadium.  She got even with me, though,” he laughed ruefully as he ran his hand unconsciously along his leg, “she ran over me with her Uncle's Buick.”

         Joe saw Lee’s eyes open wide in shock and shrugged. “She didn’t do any major damage, but she did end up breaking my leg in several places.  Of course it took her three years to do it, but it just goes to show you that you should never underestimate a woman scorned.  I was mad as hell at the time, but by the time I recovered, I didn’t have the stomach for revenge. It was probably a good ten years till we saw each other again, and we managed to pick up where we left off.  I’m still trying to figure out the best way to get even with her for locking me in the back of a freezer truck with three dead bodies.” He shrugged the incident aside. “What can I say, except that we bring out the best in each other.  Must be the Italian in our blood…and the fact that she has a lot of spunk.”

         “Spunky does seem to be a very good adjective to describe Stephanie,” Lee smiled and let out a small chuckle.

         Joe laughed. “You aren’t kidding.  Sometimes I think I might do better joining a monastery, at least if I was there, I’d know I wouldn’t be getting any.  If I were the playboy I was in my youth, I wouldn’t care, but damn it all to hell,” he ran his hand through his hair in frustration, “Steph stole my heart and now other women don’t catch my eye like they used to, or maybe it’s the fact that I don’t seem to look their way twice and they leave me alone.”

         “Except for Terry Gilman.” Lee shot Joe a smug grin.  He couldn’t help throwing the blonde back in Morelli’s face.

         Joe shrugged his shoulders in indifference. “Terry is Terry. She won’t ever change, nor will she believe that I have.  She has a hard time accepting the fact that Steph is the only woman I think about or want anymore.”

         Lee caught a note of irritation in Morelli’s voice that went deeper than someone who was sexually frustrated.  “You make it sound like that’s a bad thing, and I’m not referring to the fact that you and Stephanie aren’t sleeping together.”

         Joe let out a long sigh and downed half his glass of beer.  Wiping his lips, he looked over at Lee with a serious expression. “It’s her damn job.” He lowered his voice as a bar patron walked by. “I think I lose more sleep worrying about what crazy madman might be after her than I do about getting shot at when I’m on the job. I’ve even started worrying that the rapist, serial killer or whacked out gang member that I’m trying to track down might decide to target my girlfriend next. Would you believe that I actually jump at the long undercover assignments these days, just so I can keep my mind focused on work. If I’m pretending to be someone else, then I can pretend that I don’t have a girlfriend who attracts maniacs.”

         “I didn’t think bounty hunters made that many enemies.” Lee picked up a wedge of lime and squeezed it into the new Corona the bartender had just brought him.

         Joe shook his head. “Normal bounty hunters don’t.  But Steph’s not normal…she has a very scary knack for finding trouble.  She always manages to piss off the pyromaniacs, too. I wasn’t joking when I said that she has no luck with cars.  They all seem to catch fire or someone plants a bomb on them.  When I mentioned that she moved in with me a few months ago, it was because someone had firebombed her apartment.  She moved in with me till the renovations were done.  That apartment of hers isn’t safe either. I’ve never seen anything like it; there have been more reports of breaking and entering connected to her place than there were convenience store robberies in the last two years.  She's got a dead bolt on her door, and still everyone from a pickpocket to a crazed manager of a psychotic boxer breaks in.”

“Hell,” Joe grunted as he suddenly had an epiphany, “I think my fear of actually asking her to marry me is because she scares the crap out of me.  The situations she stumbles upon, it’s unnatural, and I really don’t think I’m ready to deal with the fact that one day she might be the mother of my children.” He sighed and took another chug on his beer. “It’s ironic really.  It’s because of her job that we’re together, and at the same time, it’s the main reason we keep breaking up.” He suddenly laughed out loud and then lowered his voice when he spoke. “I just realized all the frustration in my life is all Vincent Plum’s fault.  If he didn’t have such exotic…and disgusting sexual habits, she wouldn’t have had anything to blackmail him with, and she’d probably be working at the button factory now and my life would be a lot less stressful.”

         “And probably very dull,” Lee grinned and then tilted his head curiously at Morelli. “If the last time you saw each other was when she’d run you over with her car, how the devil did the two of you hook up with each other again?”

         “Ironically, I was her first FTA. So I guess I can blame Vinnie for bringing Steph back into my life, but at the same time, if he hadn’t we probably wouldn’t have gotten back together.” Joe grinned slightly as he remembered opening the door to his cousin’s apartment where he’d been hiding out, only to find Stephanie Plum standing in the hallway, wanting to bring him back in. “I’d been working on a case that went sour.  I was looking for my contact, and walked into a bad situation.  I ended up killing a guy, and his partner disappeared along with my contact, making it look like I’d killed the scum in cold blood.  Steph didn’t know the first thing about being a bounty hunter, but man she had luck on her side.  Every time I gave her the slip, she’d manage to find me again.” He let out a small grunt. “Then, to make matters worse, the suspect I was after decided to make Stephanie his next victim.  I was torn between trying to stay undercover, break my cover in order to keep her safe or just let the homicidal maniac get her.  Though I hate to admit it, if it wasn’t for her, I might still be hiding out somewhere.” He shook his head in mild amazement. “She has the craziest damn luck.  Turned out that the guy we thought was behind it all, was really a scapegoat for his manager.  Granted Benito Ramirez, was, and still is a psychopath, and thanks to Steph is currently behind bars, but I don’t know if we’d have caught the manager if it wasn’t for her.”

         Lee’s eyes grew slightly wide. “You don’t mean Benito Ramirez the boxer, do you?”

         Joe nodded. “One and the same.  Ramirez would rape and beat his women to a pulp, and then his manager would threaten the women into keeping their traps shut or he’d kill them.”

         Lee shuddered involuntarily. “It’s amazing the crap they let athlete’s get away with, just because they make their managers rich.” He tapped his fingers on the counter. “You know, the more I learn about her, the more I realize that Stephanie sounds exactly like Amanda.  My…fiancée has a knack for getting herself in over her head, but she’s also very good at getting herself out of almost any situation.  Most of it’s pure luck…at least it was when I first met her. Now that she’s had formal training, though, she’s one of the best agents I’ve ever worked with, and I’m not just saying that because we’re involved.”

         “How do you handle it, knowing that the woman you love is in a dangerous line of work?” Joe finished off his beer and put the glass back on the bar.

         “I won’t lie, it’s not easy, but the fact that we have the same job makes it a little hypocritical for me to tell her she shouldn’t be in this line of work.  And truthfully, I wouldn’t want anyone else watching my back.” Lee smiled wistfully as he thought about his wife, and then sighed. “However, I didn’t always feel that way.  I spent a lot of time trying to push her away, hoping that if she stopped associating with me, then she’d be safe. Especially since it was my fault she got involved with the Agency in the first place.”

         “Wrong place at the wrong time?” Joe grinned; Lee was right, Amanda and Stephanie were beginning to sound quite a bit alike.

         Lee nodded. “Or the right place at the right time, depending on how you look at it.  I was in trouble, and I needed to pass some classified information along, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to able to meet up with my contact.  So I grabbed the first trustworthy looking person I could find, and begged her to get on the train and pass the package along to my contact who was wearing a red hat.  Only she didn’t pass it on, because there was a Shriner’s convention on board the train, so instead of one man in a red hat, there were twenty.”

         Lee let out a rueful laugh. “Fate apparently had a reason for continually throwing Amanda in my path, because no matter how hard I pushed her away, she kept coming back.  She was persistent, over-eager perhaps, and definitely stubborn, and I finally realized that I’d be better off keeping her in my life so that I could keep an eye on her.  It took me a while, however, to admit that I needed her as a friend even more than I wanted to keep her around just to watch over her.   Eventually, we became partners.  I trust her like I’ve never trusted anyone, and not just to watch my back, but with my heart as well.  That in itself was a big deal for me,” he paused when he realized that he was sharing some deep thoughts with the man beside him.  Morelli was a basic stranger, and even if the other man was opening up to him, he wasn’t normally the type to willingly share his thoughts and feelings.  He chuckled as he realized that that was another thing that had changed about himself because of his wife.

         “I don’t know much about the rules of the FBI and CIA, but I’m pretty sure they frown on fraternization between partners,” Joe lowered his voice to just above a whisper, “so I’m surprised that you two are still partners.”

         Lee shrugged. “We have friends in very influential positions.” The more he thought about that statement, the more he realized just how lucky he and Amanda were.  Aside from having Billy on their side, he knew that Harry, a man who was probably the closest thing he had to a father figure, whole-heartedly approved of his relationship with Amanda.  Add to the list Francine, who apparently had something on Dr. Smyth, he didn’t see his partnership with Amanda ever being broken.  Of course he’d give almost anything to find out what Francine had on the Agency’s esteemed leader, but no matter what he or Amanda waived in front of her, she refused to tell them what dirty little secret she had on Dr. Smyth. 

         Joe looked at Lee with a slightly curious expression. “When you asked Amanda to marry you, did you hesitate because you were worried about what would happen to your partnership?”

         Lee had to admit to himself that he was almost enjoying this bit of male-bonding, especially since he didn’t have many male friends.  However, he wasn’t going to admit to a guy he’d only known for forty-eight hours that he was already married and that that marriage had been kept under wraps for exactly that reason, and a few others, for two years. He smiled at Morelli and shook his head. “I did a lot of skirt chasing of my own before I met Amanda, and even in the early years that I knew her.  I actually had four little black books, but once I realized that I loved Amanda, I didn’t want to wait.  I was ready to focus on one woman.  She changed my life the minute she entered it, whether I was ready to admit it or not. I won’t lie to you, marriage scared the hell out of me, but not spending the rest of my life with Amanda, scared me even more.”

         “So, you went from being a bachelor with four books, which by the way is damn impressive,” Joe smiled as he toasted him with his empty beer glass, “to a man who didn’t hesitate to ask the woman he loved to marry him?  Forgive me for being presumptuous, but I am a cop after all and I’m trained to read people, and I get the feeling that maybe you were burned more than once before Amanda came into the picture.” When Lee gave him a very non-committal shrug, he knew that he’s suspicions were right on the money and he let out a low whistle. “Man, Amanda must be one special woman.” 

         “Special doesn’t even come close to describing Amanda; she’s the best thing that every happened to me.” Lee smiled wistfully. “Don’t get the wrong idea, though, I didn’t just decide one day to ‘pop the question’. We’d actually been friends for about two and half years before I realized that I wanted more than just friendship, but I didn’t want to treat Amanda like all those other women in my black books.  I wanted to prove to her that I was in this for the long haul. We actually dated for about four months before we said ‘I love you’ to each other.”

         Lee sighed as he thought back to that time. It hadn’t been easy, he knew that Amanda knew about his past, and he had done his best to keep the ghosts of his old flames away.  The hardest one had been Leslie O’Connor, since Amanda pointed out to him that she and Leslie could almost have been sisters.   The fact that he’d let Amanda’s name slip out the last time he’d been having a romantic evening with Leslie, only confirmed her later observations.  In truth, that slip of the tongue had opened his eyes to the truth about his feelings for Amanda.  It had also made him realize that he wasn’t being fair to Leslie, Amanda or himself.  Once he admitted that to himself, he stopped dating altogether, although he and Amanda had gone out on a few dinner dates, they hadn’t really begun to truly date until after they had stopped the detonators from leaving California.

         “It was a about month after we’d admitted we loved each other, however, that I became very anxious to prove to Amanda, and myself, that my bachelor days were over, so I proposed.” Lee decided not to go any further into the details.  Morelli didn’t need to know that although he’d been planning to propose to Amanda in a more romantic setting, that being put in a life and death situation had caused him to seize the moment just in case he never got another chance.  And even if his spontaneous proposal while they were being held captive by Addi Birol hadn’t been the most romantic, he did have to admit that he’d more than made up for that when he re-proposed at the Inaugural Ball.

         Joe turned his beer glass upside down, letting the bartender know that he didn’t want a refill and then turned towards Lee. “You never considered just living together instead of getting married? You know, see if you two were really meant to be together.”

         Lee shook his head adamantly. “Never. First that idea never even crossed my mind, and even if it had, it wouldn’t work because she has two teenage boys and becoming a live-in boyfriend would not have set a good example for them.” Then there was the fact that Joe King would probably have sued for custody of the boys if they’d even considered that, especially since Amanda’s ex wasn’t exactly thrilled with their line of work.  “And to be honest, I wanted to be a permanent fixture in their lives, not just be considered their mother’s live-in boyfriend.  They deserve more stability than that.”

         “I guess with kids to consider in the equation, marriage was your only option.” Joe nodded sympathetically. “It’s commendable that you wanted to be such a huge part of their lives, but I’m sure you realize that with two curious teenage boys around, having spontaneous sex is pretty much going to be damn near impossible.”

         Lee grinned. “Oh, I can tell you with certainty that it won’t be impossible at all.  But,” his expression turned serious, “let’s get one thing straight, I never once considered marriage an option, it was a choice I willingly made.  I’d already experienced the lack of commitment-type relationships, not having to be tied down to one woman, being able to go where I wanted, whenever I wanted, without answering to anybody, but I never felt truly fulfilled and whole.  All the other women in my life were like expensive exotic cars, you know like a Ferrari or Lamborghini.  They’re fun to test drive, but you know in the end that you can’t afford to keep them.  Then all of a sudden this station wagon comes along and suddenly I didn’t care about taking those other cars out for a test drive… I wanted the family car.”

         Joe nodded in understanding. “And family cars aren’t something you want to test drive, they’re the type of car you want to buy.”

         “Exactly.  I was ready to settle down.” Lee smiled as he thought about how much being a part of Amanda’s family had made him complete. “And I wanted the car that had enough room not only for my baggage, but for Amanda’s two boys, her live-in mother and the white picket fence, too.”

         Joe sighed a bit longingly. “I think on some level, I want that too, but I think it helps if the car you’re ready to buy has enough faith in you to love and care for it forever.”

         Lee nodded his head understandingly. “Well given your sordid dealings with Ms. Gilman, I think I can understand why Stephanie doesn’t have a lot of faith in you. Do you ever do anything to help curb her fears…give her a reason to trust you?”

         Joe shrugged. “Probably not. I can’t always tell her the honest truth, because I’m not really legally allowed to, so that adds one more reason for her not to trust me.  But even without that reason, there are other reasons for her to doubt me.  I’ve told her that I love her, and though she probably believes me, in my family that doesn't mean much.  The men in my family are known for sleeping around. Divorce isn't an option, so they take other avenues.  Me, on the other hand, I don't plan on being like every other male in my family. As I’ve said before, and I really meant it, Stephanie is the only woman I'll ever want.” 

         Lee glanced at his watch and realized that they’d been male bonding for almost a half hour.  Morelli was going to have to get back to the backroom before too long, and he really wanted to know what the cop had been able to uncover, if anything. “So, were you able to find out if Grizzolli’s involved with Veranos and the guns that are supposed to be going to El Salvador?”

         Joe shook his head. “Not really, I think Terry was a distraction, something to get me out of the room so they could talk about things they didn’t want me to hear. She showed up about ten minutes after one of Grizolli’s men had hung up a two minute phone call.  I can only assume he was calling her at Vito’s request.”

         Lee tilted his head and looked at Morelli with a puzzled expression. “You said not really?  You have your suspicions?”

         “As I was heading out of the room,” Joe glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to over hear them, “I noticed Veranos’ name on a document that was on the table.  But seeing his name doesn’t mean anything.  Besides, its unlikely Grizolli’s involved, they deal mostly with drugs, the bigger action usually goes through New York.” Suddenly his beeper began to buzz and as he reached down to check the number, his cell phone rang, and his heart leaped to his throat. The only time his pager and cell phone went off simultaneously, was when something bad happened and Stephanie was involved.

         Lee watched Morelli’s face go from concerned to exasperated to concerned again, so fast that a sinking feeling began to grow in the pit of his stomach.  Something had happened to Stephanie, and since Amanda was with her, that meant his wife was in trouble too. 

         Joe smacked the off button on his cell phone and jumped off the bar stool. “We need to leave now. I want to get to the scene before half the burg shows up.” Muttering a few choice words, he headed for the door.

         Lee got down off his own stool and quickly followed Morelli. As soon as he had caught up to the cop, he asked, discarding the Texas drawl, “What happened?”

         Joe pushed through the front door and then, as soon as they were both outside the bar, he turned towards Lee. “There’s been an explosion.”

         “Is anyone…” Lee couldn’t bring himself to ask the rest of the question.

         Joe threw up his hands and shrugged. “Hell if I know.  This is why I hate her job.  The emergency personnel find it amusing to tell me that Stephanie’s been involved in some sort of explosion, but they never bother to tell me if she’s okay.” He gave Lee an understanding, but worried frown, and then turned and ran towards his truck.

         Feeling like someone had just ripped out his heart; Lee sprinted after Morelli praying that his wife was alive and unharmed.