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“No, this is perfect,” Ranger said. “Thank you.”
Ella rolled the cart to the far end of the room and left.
The silverware didn’t have smudges of peanut butter. The white linen napkins had been ironed. The glasses were elegant and stemmed and didn’t have water stains. The plates of food looked like they came from a three-star Michelin restaurant. I’ve never eaten at a three-star restaurant, but I’ve seen pictures.
“This is why I might consider marrying you,” I said.
Ranger reached for the bottle of wine. “I can give you some other reasons if you want to spend the night.”
“Not tonight,” I said. “I don’t want to get overwhelmed with reasons. And I should stick to water. I have to drive home.”
“I have two men riding your bumper twenty-four/seven. You can leave your car here and go with them.”
“What about using me as bait to catch the kidnappers?”
“That ship sailed. I’m just trying to keep you alive and unharmed until we find them.”
“What about Vinnie?”
“I’m having a hard time getting emotional about Vinnie.”
I held out my wineglass. “Fill it up.”
I ate every crumb on my plate and was tempted to lick it clean, but I didn’t want to be gross in front of Ranger. I drank two glasses of wine and was feeling incredibly mellow and moderately sexy. Okay, I’m going to be honest. I was feeling moderately mellow and incredibly sexy. Let’s face it, the man was more delicious than the lamb, and the lamb had been freaking amazing.
Ranger finished eating and pushed back from the table. “I want to check with control to see if they have any information on Luther Smulet.”
I poured myself half a glass of wine and followed him back to our seats at the computer.
He went online and dialed into his system. He found what he was looking for and scanned through the report.
“We’re making progress, babe,” Ranger said. “Luther left El Paso three weeks ago, driving one of the trucks to Trenton. He hasn’t returned.”
“How do you get information like this so fast?”
“Luck. Michael Ortega is my IT specialist. He has relatives in El Paso.”
A photo of Luther Smulet appeared on the screen.
“He resembles his brother,” I said. “Same chunky build. He could easily be the second kidnapper.”
“Luther has a tattoo on his neck. It doesn’t show in this picture, but the intel report lists it.”
“What sort of tattoo?”
“Scorpion.”
“Ugh.”
I looked at my glass. It was empty. Someone drank my wine. I suppose it was me.
“Now what?” I asked Ranger.
“We keep looking for the rig. And we watch for the Smulet brothers. We know they’re here.”
“Yes,” I said, resting my head on the table, closing my eyes. “But what about Stephanie?”
Ranger turned in his chair and looked at me. “Babe, how much wine have you had?”
