Hawaii—A Stephanie Plum inspired work
DISCLAIMER: All characters are based on the characters developed by Janet Evanovich in her Stephanie Plum series. This short story follows the events between Smokin' Seventeen and Explosive Eighteen.
Chapter 1: All Alone
Here I am. On my way to my dream vacation in Hawaii. I can't believe that I am on this plane flying first class to Hawaii by myself. I had envisioned this trip to be so much more. Up until yesterday, I was on my way to Hawaii with my on again, off again boyfriend, where we are currently in the "on again" stage of our long-term relationship. He is 6'0" of Italian hotness and the dream of every women in town. However, Joseph Morelli, one of Trenton PD's finest, is on a case. Again. He got called to a double gang murder and had to cancel his vacation.
My name is Stephanie Plum and I am a bond enforcement agent, better known as a bounty hunter. I work for my sleazy cousin Vincent Plum, whom I had to blackmail into giving me a job after I was laid off from my job as a lingerie buyer. I earn money by bringing in people who are out on bond who fail it appear to court on their assigned date. These FTAs forfeit 15% of their bond to Vinnie, of which I get a 10% cut. That being said, I don't get paid without bringing in my skip.
While I love the variety of my job, I am not very good at it. I often go out after skips with the office file clerk, Lula, who is a former ho and not very subtle. We are more like the Lucy and Ethel of bounty hunters. I'm actually surprised at how many skips I manage to bring in. I was trained by the God of all bounty hunters, Ranger. Ranger is a Cuban God who is my mentor, friend, and sometimes lover. He is magic in bed, but has no desire for a committed relationship. He is 5'10" with a body of hard muscle, café mocha, and the blank stare. He calls me Babe, and that one word can mean so much coming from him. I have worked for him occasionally, as a researcher for his security company Rangeman. I have also lived with him, mostly when my life was in danger and I need a safe-house. Living with him is a challenge because I feel so much attraction to him, that it is often hard to keep any boundaries while trying not to cheat on Joe.
The only reason I am actually on this plane right now is that my mom, who is convinced that I will be an old maid, tried to set me up with someone from the Burg. This is the section of Trenton where I grew up. Dave had moved to Atlanta, had a family, committed fraud, lost his family, job and home, and moved back to New Jersey. In the end, he turned out to me a murderer and he tried to kidnap me. Fortunately, his scheme was spoiled and he is out of my life permanently. In his quest to kidnap me, he left me with $12,000 worth of American Airlines gift cards. So, I decided to take a much need vacation and invited Joe.
Now, here I am, alone, about to land in paradise. I was tempted to call Ranger to take Joe's place, but that wouldn't be fair to Joe. Besides, Ranger wasn't my boyfriend, and it would definitely be too hard to control myself around him in Hawaii. As the plane touched down I started to gather my headphones, neck pillow, and books to get ready to step off the plane. I started the walk down the aisle to exit the plane. Got my lei, and then entered the terminal. I was looking around to see where to go for the baggage claim when I saw her. Tootie Ruguzzi, the Rug's wife. She was married to a high bond FTA that Ranger and I have been trying to find for quite some time. Even though it was my vacation, a skip was a skip. If I could nail the Rug, I would have lots of play money. I quickly gathered my bags, and followed her to the hotel shuttle pick up center. I wrote down the name of the resort where she was going, got into my rental car, and followed her there. I parked the car with a view of the lobby and saw her meet up with her husband. Bingo! I waited another 20 minutes, then walked into the lobby and over the concierge.
"Good morning and welcome to our resort. How my I assist you today" asked the reservation manager, a good looking Hawaii named Matt.
"Good morning. I would like to book a room here at your resort for the week." I said.
"Are you here with your husband?"
"No, I am here by myself. My cousin stayed here last year and said that this was the best place in Hawaii to stay, so here I am."
"While I am so excited to hear about the great recommendation, this month is booked exclusively for couples only. We have no single reservations available. Perhaps you would like to book a reservation for 3 weeks from now?"
Sigh. "No, thank you. I'll see if my husband is finished with his meetings, maybe he can join me."
"Well, if he can, we are more than happy to have you stay here. This is my card. Call me if your plans change." Matt gave a huge smile and discretely dismissed me.
I walked out to my car and sat down. I searched through my purse and dug out my phone. I could call Joe. He can contact the local authorities and they can take in the Rug. However, I don't have the ability to do out of town retrievals. I could call Ranger, but that would be playing with fire. Or, I can just go check into my singles hotel, get changed, and lay on the beach. I think I'll go with option 3.