22 Caliber - A Stephanie Plum-inspired Story

Chapter Twenty-Three

I had a good sleep and woke up feeling refreshed. Joe had already walked the dog and gone to work by the time I got up. My leg wasn't quite as painful as it was the day before and I could get on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt by myself. I could also, gingerly, handle the stairs myself. I hobbled downstairs, poured myself a coffee and put a raisin in Rex's cage. Ranger came through from the living room with Bob following dotingly behind. Ranger asked me how I was feeling.

"Better, I think. I don't need a pain pill and can get by on over-the-counter pain meds, so I think that's a good sign. No more falling asleep all the time", I replied.

"Good."

"Can you rebandage me?" When Ranger nodded yes and went to get the gauze I said "now about Mendez..."

Ranger sighed. "As I said before, I promise I will help you capture these guys even after Mario has been caught, you know. You don't have to do all the captures now."

"I know. But I'm going nuts. There is only so much reality TV I can watch and I don't have any patience for talk shows. The news is depressing and soaps are fake. I can't move around easily and you wouldn't let me walk the dog anyway. I don't have any good books and I've read all my magazines Lula brought. I'm bored. Going after Mendez isn't boring. It's doing something. Even surveillance is doing something." Bob put his head on my knee in commiseration.

"I have another idea. Why don't we visit your parents and grandmother? They called while you were in the bathroom and asked us to lunch. After lunch, depending upon how your leg is feeling, we can go after Mendez." That was a good deal for me. A free lunch, a chance to show my family I was okay and help with Mendez.

We took my laundry home with us. We met my grandmother at the door. Ranger carried in the laundry basket. "Thank goodness," she said, "I am running out of underwear for your mom to iron. I'll do your laundry this afternoon." I gave her a hug and kiss and came in the house. I limped into the kitchen and gave my mom a hug and kiss as well.

Lunch with Mom and Grandma consisted of fresh ciabatta buns from the bakery, sliced ham and roast beef and sliced provolone and Havarti from Giovichinni's, sliced tomato and lettuce, mayonnaise and mustard, tubs of macaroni and potato salads and an Entemann's cake. Coffee and glasses of water accompanied the meal. We all sat around the table and helped ourselves.

"I have a daughter who gets shot", my mother said. "Why can't you get a nice job, like as a crossing guard or a bank teller? Your sister works as an assistant to a lawyer. Why do you have to work as a bounty hunter? Remember when you had that good job buying lingerie for that department store? You never got shot at then. Why me? Why do I have to have a daughter who gets shot?" She looked towards the cupboard that held the whiskey, shook her head, looked resignedly at the table and started eating her lunch.

"I got let go from the department store, remember? And the job wasn't that good. People got the wrong idea when I told them I worked in the lingerie department. Besides, I like being a bounty hunter. It's not like I get hurt all the time."

My mom gave a half-choked out sob. "You've been shot twice in the last couple of weeks!"

"Yeah, it's been a tough couple of weeks. But this isn't the norm."

Mom just shook her head. "I'm just afraid one day I will get a call from Joe and instead of telling me you're in surgery to dig out a bullet he will tell me you are dead. And I'm having a huge problem with that." She changed her mind about having some whiskey and helped herself to a couple of fingers. She knocked it back and poured a couple more.

"Why don't you get married? You could have a couple of kids, a nice life. You wouldn't need to have a job then. And I would get more grandchildren." My mom was starting to glow. I wasn't sure if it was the thought of more grandchildren or the impact of the whiskey. Mom turned to Ranger. "Don't you think she should get married? She could marry you. Joe certainly doesn't seem to be offering for her."