Nothing Ever Goes As Planned--Part 1
Rated : T for language and some graphic stuff in later chapters.
I am off work right now, and a new story popped into my head. Please leave feedback.
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I watched Ranger give me that same "blank face" expression he always gives then this topic comes up. Then, his characteristic, "Babe." 'Don't "babe" me Ranger. You know I want to become more independent, more like you."
His eyebrows raised at that. " Babe, you aren't like me." I sighed. "You know what I mean, Ranger. How can I ever get self sufficient as a county hunter when I am constantly falling back on you? When one of your guys is constantly with me? When they tell you if I even stub my toe?" He sat in his chair, calm, in his zone. " Babe, my men are there to help you and protect you." That's just it , Ranger. If your men are always protecting me, how can I develop my skills? How can I become a badass bounty hunter? There's no reason why I can't at least make enough to pay my bills bounty hunting."
He looked at me intensely. " I can teach you skills. Better than anyone. I'm the best there is." I smiled. Damn straight he was. I didn't want him to be mad at me, I wanted him to understand. " Ranger, you've taught me a lot. But anywhere I go, your men go , too. I can't learn that way."
I don't mind still doing a shift here and there for Rangeman,since its mostly desk work anyway, but for the bounty hunting, I want to learn new skills. "How are you going to learn these skills without someone to teach you?" Damn his logic. But I was ready for this one. "There is a guy called Jake Monroe . He's a very experienced bounty hunter. He's heard of my Bombshell Bounty hunter rep and says he'll teach me a few things.
Ranger 's eyes snapped. I could tell he didn't like the idea of anyone but him teaming up with me. " I've heard of Monroe. And he's experienced. He's also reckless and dangerous. He'll get you hurt. He has a record. He applied to work at Rangeman and I didn't hire him for those very reasons."
'Ranger, I'll be fine. And you'll you be proud of me when I can be a good bounty hunter even without you there? When I really can take care of myself?" He stood as still as a statue, his eyes gleaming black. I went to him and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I'll be fine. See you on Wednesday for my shift."
An hour later, I drove my current piece of shit car, a Kia, to the bonds office to get my new skip from Vinnie. Ranger had offered me one of his fleet of shiny black cars, but I wasn't that dumb. I knew all his cars came with a GPS tracker, so he could always know my location. I'd stick with my crappy Kia.
" What have you got for me today?" Connie hedged. " Well, not much right now in your bond range. Some in Rangers and a few midlevel ones."
"Gimme one of the midlevels." Hold on a sec. I have to find where all the paperwork is. Connie made a big show of moving around papers. "Ok, here's one, Slider Gibb. He's called slider because anytime he's in trouble with the law, he seems to slide out of it unscathed. But he's wanted for armed robbery and assault. He's usually armed. He's one you should get Ranger's help with.
I looked speculatively at Connie, trying to determine how much I should tell her about my new arrangement. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a huge , black Escalade cruise to a stop at the curb right in front of the bonds office. Shit. I eyed Connie suspiciously. Had Ranger called her? Had she been told to stall until his guys got there. I stood near the back of the office, behind the file cabinet, pretending to peruse Slider's file.
I watched as Bobby amd Zip got out of the Escalade. Damn. They were menacing looking in all black Rangeman uniforms. Their shoulder holsters carried large Glock subautomatics, the standard weapon carried by all Rangemen and their utility belts were so weighted down with gear, I was surprised they could move at all. The room seemed to get smaller as soon as they walked in.
Bobby was about six foot tall, black hair, brown eyes, and an easy smile. I had worked with him a fair amount. He knew most of my body intimately from a clinical perspecttive, since he was the one who always took care of me whenever I got hurt. He was stern and hard assed when it came to my safety, though. I had only worked with Zip a few times. He was slightly taller than Bobby, with sandy colored hair and green eyes. He wasn't about to take a chance with my safety, either. Both were ex- military had the hard bodies, massive muscles, and overall hotness required of all the guys who worked for Ranger. Only alpha-males need apply.
All Ranger's guys were sweet and protective of me, and unquestionably loyal to Ranger. I didn't know if they'd come here just to get their skip, or if they knew I was here. Either way, if they saw what I was doing, I knew my plans would be abruptly changing.
They both scanned the room as they walked in, always aware of their surroundings . "Hey, Connie. We need Rangeman's skips." Bobby's deep voice sounded from the other side of the office. Zip came swaggering over to me. Shit. I didn't want to seem like I was hiding, even though I was, so I put the file down and acted like I was getting coffee from the table behind the cabinets. I could feel Bobby's eyes on me , too, so I knew the guys had already known I was here.
Zip came over and pretended to look at the assortment of donuts, although I am pretty sure Rangemen can get fired for even looking at a donut. "Hey, Steph. How's it going?" His eyes scanned my face and skimmed down to the file on the table. I hoped that upside down reading wasn't a required Rangeman skill. "Um, good. Zip." I smiled, trying to hide the folder without him noticing, but I accidentally spilled all the pages onto the floor. Shit.
Being the gentleman that he could be when he wanted to, Zip crouched down and started picking up the papers. The giant mugshot photo of Slider lay on top, so big I was pretty sure even Bobby could see it across the room. I knew he'd seen it when he walked over to me. His eyes met Zip's and both sets of eyebrows raised as Zip showed him the name on the folder. " Hey, sweetie, " Bobby said, giving me a little hug. " You going after Slider? He's a really bad guy. Wait here a minute and I'll call control and have Lester come help you with him."
"Um, no , thanks, Bobby. I got it under control." Bobby and Zip looked at each other, but both turned blankface on me. Was that on the damn Rangeman application? Have to know how to do "blankface?"
Zip said, " Steph, honey, he's a really dangerous guy. You can't work it alone." I tried to keep the exasperation out of my voice. After all, Ranger's guys were so protective of me because he cared about me. Plus, they knew he'd probably send them to Siberia if they let me get hurt. "its ok. I'm not alone. I have someone helping me with this case."
"Does Ranger know about this?, Bobby asked. " Um, sure. I told him I am going to be working with someone on the bounty hunting cases when I'm not doing shifts at Rangeman."
"And he was ok with that?" Zip asked, unable to keep the surprise off his face. " Ranger doesn't need to be ok with it.", I said indignantly. " I don't need his permission." My face was starting to get red from anger.
Another look passed between them, apparently a form of silent, alpha-male communication. Maybe they were trying to decide if they should cuff me and stuff me in the Escalade to keep me from running off and getting hurt. I had no doubt they would do it if they thought it was necessary.
I brushed past them, in the tiny space remaining between them and the wall. "We're serious , Steph. You need to stay away from Slider."" Zip warned. But neither of them made a move to stop me as I left the bonds office. They followed a minute later and as they got into the Escalade, Bobby was already on his radio, apparently tattling on me to Ranger.
