Prologue

I looked through all the papers I'd accumulated over the past few weeks; I hadn't realized I'd collected so much information. Some people would say some of it was trivial but in my mind nothing was trivial, sometimes that's all it took to solve a problem, the thread that would unwind the rest of the mystery. I was worried, no anxious really that the person who was going to be hearing my story would think I was stupid, isn't that what most people think, certainly my mother would say that. I made sure I was comfortable, I had a bottle of water on the table and some tasty cakes I'd managed to find. The window was open letting in a pleasant breeze, causing the drapes to cast eerie shadows around the room. He was due any minute now so I wasn't surprised when the door opened and he came in and sat next to me. I could tell he was in a serious mood and as he put his papers down by the side of him I straightened as much as the chair allowed me to. Was he going to be mad at me for what had happened, think of me as a disaster magnet, or would he simply laugh at me seeing me as a joke? I cleared my throat and took a sip of the water; yes I was nervous but to hell with it, with him and what he thought. This was my story and he was dam well going to take me seriously. So starting again I began to talk and to tell him my story, exactly how it had happened and the thoughts that had gone through my head.

Chapter 1

Stephanie's story

As I lay on my bed looking up at the ceiling I realized just how foolish I'd been. I should have been more aware of what was happening tonight before it happened and stayed out of the way, but as usual my curiosity got the better of me, and I'd ignored all those little warning signs, pushing them to the back of my head, but now after what happened tonight I couldn't ignore them anymore. I couldn't deny it anymore. I'd lost my best friend and I didn't know why. Had I done something stupid, said something wrong or was it that I wasn't interesting enough, not pretty enough, not intelligent enough? He'd got fed up with me and now was living a life that didn't include Stephanie Plum. I knew I was in love with Ranger, that's what it felt like to me, maybe that was the problem, he'd told me he didn't do relationships and now he was moving on. Tonight, oh god I didn't know whether to be embarrassed hurt or annoyed. I'd arranged to go on a night out with the girls, Lula, Connie and Mary Lou and we'd agreed that a new nightclub here in Trenton would be the ideal place to go. I'd spent the early part of the evening getting myself ready, shower and hair washed, scrubbed, shaved and moisturized ready to put on a beautiful red dress that I'd bought ages ago in the sales but had never had a chance to wear. My hair was behaving falling in soft curls around my face and donned in a short black jacket and black FMPs I'd waited outside of my apartment for Connie to pick me up. To me this evening was about enjoying myself with my friends, I wasn't interested in picking up any men, I was done with them at the moment and was relishing in the freedom from Morelli, yeah we'd had another falling out but this time I'd told him it was over, there would be no getting back together again and I was fine with that decision. I swore to myself that I wouldn't be drinking alcohol and I was managing with that decision until I realized what was going down at the club. There were a lot of people there, dancing and drinking and it was Lula who pointed out to me that some of the Merry Men were here in the club. From the dance floor I watched them as they spread themselves around the club. Bobby was at the bar holding a drink but not putting it to his mouth, Lester was at the far end casually chatting to a couple of girls but looking around and Vince was close to the entrance way just watching as people came in. It was the entrance of a blond woman that got my attention, tall, thin and pretty wearing a very slutty little black dress, because all of a sudden the Merry Men were watching her. She obviously knew whom she was aiming for because she walked up to the bar and started talking to a man there, she was just about all over him and obviously he didn't mind. When she stood and turned bringing the man with her and started to walk toward the door the Merry Men followed at a distance, constantly watching her. What the hell was going on? I carefully followed them going to a different exit door and watched the scene unfold outside. Tank and Cal had come up behind the man and saying something had taken him down to the floor, cuffing him and then carting him off to an SUV parked close by. The woman, yeah she'd stepped away, was suddenly walking toward Ranger who was looking at her with a smile on his face, then his arm was around her shoulder and she was being led to his Porsche Turbo. I quickly made my way back to the girls on the dance floor and that's when I decided that the decision not to drink wasn't going to happen. So now as I lay on my bed I didn't feel as drunk as I should do. My thoughts were pretty sobering. Ranger had found someone else to do the distractions, he'd always asked me before, was I not good enough? Surely I was better than that blond bimbo? And that's when all the little tell tale signs came back to me. Thinking back I suppose it had all started about three weeks ago, I'd been given a skip who to be honest was way out of my league, but as usual Vinnie had bonded him out and made out that he wasn't as bad as his record showed. I could find him easily enough but trying to capture him was another matter. The first time I found him at his home I had Lula with me, maybe that was what made everything go wrong. I didn't realize she was behind me at the door brandishing her big old revolver until Guntrip, yeah that was his name, slammed his fist in my jaw pushing me back against Lula. He'd slammed the door and we'd ended up on our asses on the sidewalk. The second time I came across him was completely coincidental. I was walking across the road outside of the bonds office when I heard a car accelerate and the car he was driving nearly knocked me down. Scraped knees and hands were all I got from that encounter. The third encounter was when I'd tracked him down to his sisters house, that time he came running out firing a sawn off shotgun at me. The casualty was the back window of my car, which was patched up with a plastic sheet. So I did what I'd done in the past, I texted Ranger to ask if he could help me bring in Guntrip. The reply was weird now I came to think of it, "Out of town" That was all the message had said, which brought me to the second sign that something wasn't quite right. You see in the past if Ranger was going to be out of town he'd let me know and tell me to call Tank if I needed anything. That time he hadn't even let me know he wouldn't be around. A couple of days later though I managed to get Guntrip, he was in a bar I was sat watching, and he came out drunk, too drunk to notice me. But as I approached him Eddie turned up and was really helpful in getting him to the police station and locked away. The next sign I took for granted was when I was inside the bonds office, Ranger must have been in with Vinnie when I came into the office but when he came out he didn't speak or even look at me, as I ran after him onto the street he was peeling away from the curb obviously in a hurry. I was left on the sidewalk feeling awkward and confused, but decided maybe he didn't see me and he had a meeting to get to. Then later that day the event that really got to me was when my POS car was hit by some random van and went up in flames. Fortunately I wasn't in the car but was near enough to get blown off my feet at the resultant explosion. Normally Ranger would come check up on me, but not even a Merry Man turned up to the scene. Instead it was Eddie who picked me up and dusted me down, giving me a lift back to my apartment.

Then I received a text message from Tank to say that they had just employed someone to do searches so wouldn't need me anymore. To say I felt dejected at that was an understatement, but then as I'd thought about it at the time, that job I did at Rangeman wasn't a permanent arrangement, more ad hoc really. So again I dismissed it, but tonight a distraction job that I would normally do had been given to that blond bimbo. So I was back to the feelings I'd had before, embarrassed, hurt and annoyed. With that on my mind I channeled all of those emotions into anger, at myself for being so stupid and at Ranger for hurting me. I had fallen in love with someone who was unobtainable, not interested in me. He'd found himself someone else. With those thoughts I turned over and ignoring the impending headache cried myself to sleep.

I felt like crap as I slowly became aware that I was in fact awake, enough that sleep wasn't an option. And to make matters worse there was someone pounding on my door. Could it be Ranger? No, stupid idea, he'd have just picked the lock and come straight in. Pulling my robe on I stumbled to the door and without thinking yanked it open to find Eddie stood there.

"Morning Steph"

"Not so loud"

He laughed as he came through the door, closing it behind him. I went and sat on the couch, holding my head in my hands, eyes closed against the bright sunshine coming in through the window.

"Heard you had a rough night and might be in need of this"

I looked up, well squinted at him, but my eyes rested on the bag in his hands. McDonalds fries and a coke, the smell was already permeating around the room.

"You're a life saver Eddie"

He handed them to me and took a seat in the chair opposite me, watching as I quickly demolished the fries and washed them down with the coke. Better, much better, my stomach was settling and I didn't feel as rough as I had done. I got up and went into the bathroom cabinet to finish my cure with some Advil.

"Eddie how did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I'd need the cure"

"Someone down at the station mentioned you were knocking back the cocktails and would probably be regretting it"

"Oh, thanks for thinking of me"

"No problem, you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I suppose I need to get ready and get into the office"

"Okay, shout if you need me"

With that he stood up and walked from the apartment, closing the door behind him. I retired to the bathroom and after a shower, hair wash and teeth brush I felt nearly human and got dressed in my usual jeans and sweater. The sun might be shining but there was still a chill in the air. My head went back to what had happened last night and the thoughts all came swirling back, I was on my own now, no more Merry Men and no more Ranger, he'd made that clear over the last few weeks and now I heard his message loud and clear, but it only made me feel lonely and hurt. My latest car had eaten up any savings I'd managed to accumulate so I was hoping that Connie had some skips for me this morning, it had been a quiet week for skips so far and I knew I was down to my last few dollars. Fortunately the rent was paid to the end of the month, but I still needed gas for the car and food, not to mention the bills that would appear at the end of next week for electric and my phone. Parking was easier than I expected and I managed to pull up right outside of the office.

"Morning Connie"

"Don't talk so loud"

"Sorry, are you still suffering from last night?"

She nodded then pointed toward Vinnie's door.

"He wants to see you"

I knocked loudly on Vinnie's door, then waited a minute before I walked in, I had to give Vinnie the chance to stop doing whatever he might have been up to, no way could I walk in on him.

"Steph, I have a problem"

"What's that Vinnie?"

"Rangeman have pulled out of picking up the high skips and anyone out of state"

"Oh, why's that?"

"No idea, but I may have someone for the high ones, but thought maybe we could get you authorized to bring in those that are out of state"

"How does that work?"

"Well I've already put in the paperwork so it should be here in a couple of days, you've got a high enough capture rate to obtain one, the new guy hasn't but he's good, so I thought maybe if you and him partnered up we would get the skips in easily. You know how to find them and he knows how to capture them"

I couldn't argue with his logic, for once Vinnie seemed to have come up with a good idea; I suppose it depended on whom this other guy was.

"Who's this new guy?"

"He should be here soon, so you go get the paperwork from Connie and then you can be ready to go"

I went back out and stood in front of Connie, she looked up at me obviously not really being aware of what I was after.

"What's up Steph?"

"Who's the new guy?"

"No idea, Vinnie just gave me the paperwork to get him on our books and for him to authorize captures"

"What's he called?"

"Zachary Newsome"

"Have you met him?"

"No, but Vinnie said he's due in this morning"

"Vinnie told me to get the paperwork on the skips we have"

"Yeah, he told me his plan. Steph you be careful, some of these skips would have gone to Rangeman"

Shit, was I up to this? I hope this Zachary was good, no better than good, he'd better be freaking amazing. So it was official Ranger definitely didn't want to be seen or spoken to by me. The pile of files that Connie had given me looked daunting, why was there so many? I arranged them into the date the skip had to be back in the system and then started to read through them.

"Connie why aren't there any regulars, what's happened to those?"

"Vinnie wants Lula to bring in the low ones, he's upgraded her to being an apprehension agent"

"Hell you'd better tell her to leave her gun here or she'll end up shooting someone"

"Yeah I know, but I think Vinnie has someone lined up as her partner"

"Not Joyce?"

"No, not Joyce, some old geezer who Vinnie knows. Maybe we should take bets on who lasts the longest"

"The old geezer or Zachary?"

"No the old geezer or Lula, she doesn't know yet"

I had to smile at that, I mean who else could put up with Lula as a partner the way I had? What with her eating fads, how she dressed and how she disappeared when the going got tough, not forgetting her bag with her arsenal in, no one could put up with her as well as I did. I was going to miss going out with Lula, maybe, but I was looking forward to working with someone who maybe was better than me at the captures. Hell, I hope I liked this new guy. As I finished that thought the door opened and in walked a tall blond haired man. He was wearing black cargos and cat boots with a black shirt over a white T-shirt. Connie looked up as he approached, her eyebrows going up into her hairline, she sat up straight, pushing her chest forward, and gave him one of her smiles, yeah, the one that said I'm free and available. He extended his hand as he spoke.

"Hi, I'm Zachary Newsome, Zach. I understand you have some papers for me?"

"Yeah, right here, you just need to sign them and then you're good to go"

Vinnie came out of his office, obviously the camera or microphones were working again, I'd have to remember that. Zachary disappeared into Vinnie's office and as soon as he did Connie deflated.

"Hell Steph I'd go out hunting down skips if I was with him"

I hadn't really got a good look at his face, but was taken aback with the idea that I might have a good-looking guy with me. When he came out of the office with Vinnie I had the chance to assess exactly what Connie meant. He was taller than me, maybe six foot, had straight blond hair that touched the collar of his shirt, blue eyes and a face that exuded charm. Dam he was good looking, in fact he reminded me of Diesel, a warm smile and a twinkle in his eyes. Vinnie walked over with him and stood in front of me, I stood up since I was sure Vinnie was about to introduce us.

"Zach this is Stephanie, she'll be your partner, she's a whizz at finding the skips and has a very high apprehension rate, that's why she's going to be the one authorized for out of state captures. Steph this is Zachary Newsome, your new partner"

Wow Vinnie was really turning on the charm and the manners. I extended my hand and was surprised at how firm his handshake was, he smiled at me and then let go. Dam he could have been a Merry man, his toned muscles showing through his T-shirt, but not as good looking as Ranger. Dam girl, stop thinking about Ranger.

"How's about we find somewhere quiet so we can talk through how wer'e gonna do this job?"

"Sounds like a plan Zachary"

"Please call me Zach"

"Okay Zach, you have anywhere in mind?"

"No, I'm new to Trenton so I'll leave that up to you"

"Let's go next door, Maggie won't object"

We left the office with Vinnie in deep talks with Connie and went into the bookstore next door.

"Hey Maggie"

"Steph, how are you doing, I haven't seen you in a while?"

"Good, would you mind if we hijacked one of your reading corners, Zach's my new partner so we need to have somewhere quiet to talk?"

"Go ahead, it's quiet today"

We headed into the furthest corner and sat down opposite each other at a table, I felt awkward and for once didn't know what to say, oh well here goes.

"I don . ."

"I'm s . . "

We had both started to talk at the same time and laughed at each other; that had the effect of lightening the mood.

"Steph you go first"

"Well, I was going to say I don't know anything about you, how much experience you have or even if you've done this job before"

"Let me tell you something about myself then. I'm 34 years old and come from Los Angeles; I was born and raised there. I've done all sorts of work, mainly outdoors, construction, driving and recently helped out at a bonds office where I ended up doing their captures. I'm a black belt in martial arts, have trained in Krav Maga and can shoot a gun"

"Oh"

Not a very eloquent response but how did someone like me have a hope of keeping up with someone who sounded so proficient?

"Steph, being a bounty hunter isn't all about strength and fighting, you have an excellent reputation for finding people, in many cases solving puzzles and going about the job in a non threatening way"

"I suppose, what else do you know?"

"You're the Bombshell Bounty Hunter, so I've got good insurance cover on the car"

"Very funny, but you won't be laughing when something blows up. An ex of mine called me a disaster magnet"

"Steph, don't put yourself down, you get into situations because you're close to your man, too close"

"Okay, I see your point"

"So, what files do we have?"

We went through the files together, he agreed we needed to bring in the ones who were due in soon and then we put them into order of difficulty, leaving the out of state files unopened at the bottom. I hadn't realized how much money some of the high bond skips brought in.

"Zach, could we maybe mix in the higher value skips, I've only really done the low ones until now and this job pays my bills, some of which will be due soon"

"Sounds reasonable to me, some of the higher ones are white collar workers anyway so not overly dangerous"

"We could really do with somewhere to work from"

"Any ideas?"

"We can use my apartment if you want"

"Yeah that would work, we'll use my car"

I approved of that when I saw him get into a dark grey Jeep Cherokee, he followed me back to my apartment and parked next to me at the back of the car park.

"The residents tend to be on the old side so I don't often get to park anywhere closer"

"They give you any problems?"

"Nah, half can't hear and the other half can't walk well"

He laughed as he opened the door for me. Thank goodness I'd cleaned my apartment a few days ago! Over a mug of coffee we went through the files and decided on our first three skips and then got down to how we would find and apprehend them. First up was John Walker, wanted for aggravated battery against his daughters' boyfriend.

"I know him, he lives on the Burg and if I'm right the boyfriend probably deserved it, his daughter is a bit of a wild one"

"So where will he be?"

"At home with his wife, she put up the house as bond, shall we go visit him?"

"Sure"

Zach followed my directions to where we needed to be and parked one house down from the Walkers house. I got out of the car and led the way to the front door, knocking politely.

"Mr. Walker?"

"Stephanie Plum?"

"Sorry Mr. Walker but I'm here because you forgot your court date"

"I aint going, that boy deserved what he got"

"I know Mr. Walker, but if you don't go in you'll end up in a worse position with the courts and he'd be one up on you"

"I aint letting him do that"

"Show him how a good man behaves Mr. Walker, then you can talk some sense into the pair of them"

"I suppose so, he with you?"

"Yes he's my partner, but I know you'll come quietly"

"Lead the way then missy, just don't cuff me in front of the neighbors"

I think Zach was a bit wary that I hadn't cuffed him but went along with it. Ten minutes later we'd booked him in and were just leaving the station when Eddie walked in.

"Hi Steph, all quiet?"

"Yes Eddie, no problems. Eddie this is Zach, my new partner. Zach, Eddie. Police officer and good friend"

They shook hands but I'm sure they were sizing each other up.

"Quick word Steph?"

I turned to Zach and told him I'd meet him back at the car.

"What's up Eddie?"

"Who's he?"

"Vinnie brought him in, we don't have Rangeman anymore so we needed someone who could handle themselves to work with me"

"Well, you be careful, okay?"

What was that all about, did he think Zach was a threat to me? I didn't get any bad vibes from him and anyway what else was I supposed to do, dam Ranger for pulling out with Vinnie, this was entirely his fault. Back in the car I picked up the next file, Noah Digby, wanted for drug distribution near a school. Great he lived on Stark Street.

"Digby lives on Stark Street, not a safe area"

"I'll take lead then, put the address into the sat nav"

We arrived not long after that and Zach just looked me.

"I see what you mean, but I've been in worse places"

He led the way into the block we'd parked in front of and headed up to the first floor with me in tow. Thank god I only had to climb one flight of stairs. At the door he stood to one side, with me at the other side then hammered on the door. We could hear a voice from the other side.

"Aint got nothing to sell today"

"Not buying Digby, apprehension agents, you're in violation of your bond agreement"

There was the slamming of a door inside the apartment and as Zach kicked in the door I turned round and ran back down the stairs heading outside and round the back. As I suspected Digby was climbing down a very rickety fire escape. I grabbed his foot as it came into reach and yanked him off it, but I didn't react quickly enough because he landed on top of me. I resorted to hanging on to him, anything to stop him from getting away.

"Let go of me you stupid bitch"

"No way"

As he lifted a fist to punch me I brought up my arms to protect my face, but the punch didn't happen and when I looked up I could see that Zach had Digby on the ground and was handcuffing him.

"Good call Steph"

"Maybe but you saved the day"

"That's why we'll work well together"

He held out his hand and pulled me to my feet and hauled Digby into the Jeep, shackling him to the ring in the floor. I hadn't noticed that before, maybe he was in fact a professional bounty hunter, more professional than me anyway. Another visit to the police station and I only had a small amount of dirt on my back. This time though it was Morelli who was inside as we were about to leave.

"Cupcake, I was looking to catch up with you"

"No Joe, I said what I needed to say"

"Come on we've always got back together again after an argument"

"Not happening Joe, I meant what I said"

As I turned to leave he grabbed hold of my arm and tried to pull me toward him. As quick as lightening Zach was between us holding tightly onto Morellis wrist.

"You heard her, so I suggest you let go of her arm"

"Who the hell are you, one of the thugs in black?"

"No Joe, he's my new partner, now let go of me"

Reluctantly Morelli let go of my arm, rubbing his wrist where Zach had been holding it.

"This isn't over with Cupcake"

"Yes it is Joe"

"I'll get my talk with you, you'll see sense"

Zach turned me around and with a hand on my back led me out to the car. Was I angry, hell yeah, was I annoyed, yeah but as I started to sit down in the car I started to shake and a tear ran from my eye. Dam it, I was upset with Morelli but what really hit me was the way Zach had defended me and then used his hand on my back to guide me out. It should have been Ranger, he had always protected me, when was I going to get over the fact that he wasn't in my life anymore and when was my heart going to stop feeling like it was breaking apart?

"Steph what's wrong, did I overstep what I did?"

"No, it's not that, thank you for helping me"

"Who was that?"

"Detective Joseph Morelli, an ex who it seems won't back off"

"Has he done that before?"

"Yeah, but it's complicated"

"Do you want to talk with him?"

"Hell no, I'm fed up of trying to avoid him, every time he sees me he starts on at me to get back together. He and I, well we had a weird relationship, constantly falling out and then getting back together. After the last time I realized that it was unhealthy and I didn't want him back in my life"

And yeah Ranger had implied that when my bed was empty he would be there for me. Did he just say that so he could kiss me into submission in the alley and have a friend with benefits and now Morelli was out of the picture decide I would be too much trouble?

"Then we won't let him"

Zach started the engine and drove us back to the bonds office; by the time we reached the door I had calmed down and wiped away the smudges of makeup from under my eyes.

Connie looked up and smiled and held out her hand with payment slips.

"You know we collected some?"

"Oh yeah, words already out about Morelli having a go at you"

Shit, that would have my mother on the phone. I handed over the receipts and she acknowledged that the money would go directly into our bank accounts. I actually missed getting a cheque and going to the bank, this way I felt I never really got the money in my hand, never mind, modern times, no one dealt with cash or cheques anymore.

"You'll need to do some damage control with your mother she's sure to have heard by now"

"Probably, I'll see you tomorrow. Zach can you drop me off at my apartment please?"

Zach dropped me off outside my apartment block with the promise to be there at 9 in the morning. As I walked up the stairs I actually felt good about the skips we'd brought in and felt comfortable with Zach. Yeah I think this partnership could work out well. Having showered and changed I was sat outside of my parents house talking myself into getting out of the car, looking up I saw my mother watching me from the doorstep. No way of getting out of this now. Once inside I headed for the kitchen to help bring through bowls of food, just waiting for the inquisition to begin. I was surprised when she waited until dessert was served before she started.

"Stephanie is it true you tried to ignore Joseph today?"

"Yes mother, he tried to grab hold of me in the police station"

"But he probably only wanted to talk with you"

"I've done talking to him"

"Stephanie he wants to marry you"

"Well I don't want to marry him"

"He's your last chance, he's a good man, and you'd be stupid to ignore it"

"I've already told you that I am not getting back with him"

"Don't you shout at me young lady"

"Then please listen to what I'm saying"

"Well who was that thug with you then?"

Strange that she'd used the same term that Morelli had used to describe Zach.

"You've been talking to Joe haven't you?"

"He was worried for you, that's the sign of someone who cares for you and wants to marry you"

"The man with me is another bounty hunter employed by Vinnie to work with me, he is not a thug"

"Well you need to get your life in order, running around as a bounty hunter is no job for a young woman"

"I need to go now mum, I don't want to have to come here and defend what I do"

"So stop doing it"

"Yeah, you're right, I'll stop coming here"

She really didn't expect that as an answer and as I stood up from the table I actually felt better for having once in my life stood up to her. I couldn't understand why she was so set on me marrying Morelli, hell when I was a kid she didn't like the family and there was no way she was going to force me to do something I didn't want to do. That had happened once too often when I'd ended up married to Dickie. It wasn't late when I got home and having nothing better to do I sat on the couch with the files of the skips and mapped out a plan of action for tomorrow. I put the files into order of capture leaving the out of state skips to the end and then emailed Zach the list. I spent the rest of the night researching where the local skips would be, feeling more confidant of an apprehension now I had Zach working with me. Maybe we could go after an out of state skip next week, at least that would get me away from Morelli and my mother and maybe some distance would help me forget about Ranger, there were too many places here in Trenton with too many memories.

The rest of the week went really well, I took the lead on the non-violent skips and left the others to Zach. We worked well together and I hadn't got dirty and Zach hadn't got hurt, so maybe this whole partner thing worked, so why hadn't I listened to Ranger when he had said that, maybe another reason why he wasn't around anymore, I was a liability and cost him money. My bank account was healthy and I was feeling so much more confident in my job, but did I feel happy? No not really, I was working on auto pilot tamping down my feelings.