"Stop!"I yelled, chasing after my skip, David Moore. For a 65 year old, he was really fast. Of course, it didn't help that I was in heels. We were at the Senior Center and I was trying to be real civil about his arrest. Then, he took off.
My name is Stephanie Plum and this is unfortunately a part of my job. Chasing down people, getting my car blown to bits, and finding dead bodies are all part of my job as a bail bond agent. As you can imagine, it's not the safest job. But, my Italian Hungarian heritage, curly brown hair, and blue eyes can get me out of some situations. Dumb luck gets me out of the rest.
Like now. I was extremely lucky when a nurse came out of a linen closet and David ran into the cart she was pushing around. I cuffed him and hustled him out of the Senior Center. Lula was waiting in the car.
Lula was an ex-ho' and still dressed that way. Spandex and neon took up about 90 percent of her wardrobe. She changes her hair color about twice monthly, if not more. Today, her hair was firetruck red and matched her short red Spandex skirt and black shirt. Her red pumps went right along with the whole outfit.
"Thank god. I thought I was going to die from heat stroke."she complained, as I stuffed David in the back of her Firebird. It was hot July in Trenton. I got in and she drove to the police station. Five minutes later, we went to the bail bond office with a body receipt.
"Poor old man. I feel bad that he forgot his court date. You would think the receptionist would remind him about it."Lula said, sitting on the couch on her phone.
"Hey, at least I got pizza money."I said, collecting the cash from Connie.
"Joe called while you were out. He wants to meet you for lunch."Connie said. I sighed.
Joe Morelli was my on-off boyfriend. He was plainclothes cop, who had chocolate brown eyes that could make a girl melt. He was from Italian heritage and comes from a huge family of weirdos and crazies. Then again, he could say the same thing about my family.
I hiked up my messenger bag and got into my 2003 Toyota Camry. I was proud that this car has made it two weeks. Normally, I keep a car for an hour or two and it's blown up. Another occupational hazard. But, at the moment, I was bringing in easy skips and avoiding the jackpot of the month: Alonzo Costa.
Alonzo was found smuggling Russians and Slavs into the country via his deep sea fishing company. Normally, this was a feds job. But, it was turned over to the Trenton police when the judge released him on bail. Now, the police had hit a dead end and it was Vinnie's problem now. Which made it my problem. Which I was avoiding.
Morelli was already in a booth when I went into Pino's. I slid into the booth across from him.
"How's business, Cupcake?"he asked.
"Good. Took down David Moore today. I'll pay for dinner tonight."
"Sounds like a deal. Two meatball subs and two beers."he ordered when the waitress came up. It was surprisingly quiet between us.
"Something's wrong."I said.
"No. Nothing's wrong."
"You're lying." He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.
"I need you to find Alonzo." I looked at him in shock. Normally, he wanted me to avoid all this bounty hunter stuff. But, now, he was coming to me for help.
"Why?"I asked between bites of meatball subs.
"Because he's a slippery bastard. Because he's a criminal. Because I'll lose my job if he's not in prison. Take your pick, Cupcake."
"Wait, they threatened to fire you?"
"Yeah. And, I need this job or else Bob and I will go homeless."
"You can always stay with me." The thought of big shaggy Bob living in my teeny tiny apartment made him laugh.
"Tempting but no. Bob needs a backyard and lots of space."
"Alright." I said, pulling his file out of my messenger bag. I ran all the addresses and relatives past Morelli.
"All dead ends." he said miserably.
"Any close co-workers? Any boats missing?" I asked. Morelli shrugged. I sighed.
"Talk Ranger into helping you."
"He's busy." My phone buzzed and I got a text from Ranger. I'm never too busy for you babe. Now, get out of there. it said. I looked around the restaurant. Hal nodded at me from the bar and I grabbed Morelli's hand and we left. Five minutes later, the building was surrounded by Rangeman men. As soon as Hal left the restaurant with more civilians, it blew up.
"Damn it. They had to blow up Pino's."Morelli said, annoyed.
"Babe."Ranger said, putting his hand on my shoulder.
Ranger is almost Batman. He's all muscle, he wears all black, and he's all single. Today, he was in his normal attire. Tight Rangeman shirt, black pants, and black shoes.
"So, what's this about?"I asked.
"He can't tell you. This is a CIA operation."a woman said, approaching Ranger, her head buried in an iPad. She was in her early twenties, with pitch black hair and computing grey eyes that was consumed in huge glasses. She looked like she was from a Irish-German heritage. She was in a blue business suit that was showing about two inches of cleavage. Ranger rolled his eyes. Morelli looked her over, all confused.
"Steph, Joe, this is M. She's a CIA forensic anthropologist and investigator." he introduced.
"Nice to meet you. Ranger, I know she's on your confidentiality list but I rather debrief her about the situation." she said. Ranger nodded and I was a bit surprised. Ranger doesn't like it when he's not in charge. It must be weird for him to take orders from a girl about five years younger than him.
"Debrief me? On what?"I asked. The news station van was pulling up and M groaned in annoyance.
"I'll have to tell you later. Meet at Rangeman in about twenty minutes. Oh, and sorry about your car. We'll reimburse you for the damages."she said, walking up to the news van.
"My car?" I turned around to see a huge CIA van had rear ended my car. I sighed in relief. As long as it wasn't blown up, I was fine with a broken tail light and a dent in the bumper.
"Her names M? That's it? Just the letter M?"Morelli questioned.
"It's a cover name. We have a bet at Rangeman going on whether it's short for Miranda or for Madison."Tank said. I laughed as Morelli put $10 in the pool, betting on Miranda. He kissed me and headed back to the station.
Twenty minutes later, I was in Ranger's suite on the seventh floor of the Rangeman building. Normally, Ranger's apartment was all neat and organized. Now, there was a bed where the living room should be and his kitchen table had more computers than the police station. M was at the computers, going from one to another.
"Babe."Ranger said from behind me. He was annoyed. This was his private sanctum, his fortress of solitude. Now, a CIA girl was living here too. M looked up from the computers and pointed to a seat at the table for me to sit down in.
"Alright. I'm going to make this brief because I had to Skype my superior soon. All along the East Coast, there's been accounts of arson in almost every major town. Normally, we would dismiss this as normal crimes for these cities. But, we noticed a trail and it leads right to New York. We're trying to catch the scum bag before he reaches there."she said rapid fire, showing me the map she had. The trail was marked with red X's and it started in Florida and went up the coast.
"We've tried to catch him in Richmond and Baltimore but he's a slippery thing. My superior sent me here to work with Rangeman and the police to try to stop them."she said.
"How come this hasn't been on the news?" I asked.
"It has but the CIA gives them fake stories, like it was a drug addict that did it or that it was just a stupid teenager. We haven't told anymore that the arsons are related."she explained. Smart girl. Too smart.
"Why do you need my help?"I asked.
"Ranger says that you're good at this sort of stuff. Hunting people down and forcing them out of hiding. The police force even recommends you." I looked at Ranger. Again, dumb luck. She got a Skype call and shooed us into Ranger's bedroom. She needed her privacy.
"She's driving me insane. She's only been here three days and already she has taken over my apartment."he said, sitting on the bed.
"So, I'm guessing you put me on this list, not so I can help, but so I can get her out of your hair."I guessed. The corners of his mouth twitched and his eyes were like melted chocolate.
"I would love you forever if you did that." I rolled my eyes. Of course he would.
