AN: All familiar characters/etc. belong to Janet Evanovich. I am not making any profit from this.

SP POV:

Oh great, Monday morning and I'm running late for work. A month ago I finally accepted a full-time position at Rangeman, a security company owned by Ranger Manoso, my friend, mentor, and occasional lover. After helping Ranger identify and capture the punk kids targeting and robbing his clients, Ranger offered me a full time position at RangeMan doing paperwork (finally my business degree was coming in handy), doing research and handling clients, apparently heavily armed, larger than life ex-military and ex-gang members with an aversion to smiling and often small talk didn't inspire confidence in potential clients so much as terrify them. Who knew?!

After careful consideration (especially given the required exercise and weapons training), I accepted. The truth was that the excitement and freedom that came with working as a bounty hunter for my decrepit cousin, I was tired of the constantly ruined wardrobe, the crazy stalkers and the constant gossip. The fact that my 30th birthday was only months away and I had yet to manage any financial security also helped me decide to accept Ranger's offer. After having a few candid conversations with Lula and Mary Lou, I realized it was time to take charge of my life and get myself out of the rut I'd been somehow content with over the past couple of years.

Plus, the RangeMan offer was generous, included benefits (insurance, a company vehicle and an apartment which I opted out of for privacy reasons), variety and allowed me to solve puzzles, which was the most appealing aspect of working for Vinnie. All in all, it had been a dream job, especially after my body got used to the exercise and healthy diet. I mean, the old Stephanie is still there and can enjoy the hell out of dessert, but overall, I've never felt better physically which definitely improved my attitude and self-confidence.

Aside from helping with research, the new job has been completely unlike my two-year tenure as a bounty hunter for my duck obsessed cousin Vinnie. I haven't rolled around in garbage or had a vehicle blown up in weeks! A definite milestone for me and perk of being a fulltime RangeWoman. I also talked Ranger into allowing some color into my wardrobe, because the black on black on black look isn't quite friendly enough for potential customers. So I get to rock a business/business casual look in lieu of the urban swat Barbie outfit. Today, my business casual look consisted of a lilac silk button down shirt, black Express stovepipe slacks and 4inch black stilettos. I no longer feel guilty for buying heels because I actually use them on a daily basis. Of course, with the 5 hours a week of gym time, self defense training (scheduled for 7:30 AM Tuesday and Thursday with a different Merry Man depending on their schedules) and the ever dreaded hour of required firearms training per week, I've also had to invest in more sports bras and yoga pants, but since it's helped me go down two sizes and increase my flexibility and ability to defend myself, it's well worth it. I hate to admit it, but I kinda wish I'd accepted Ranger's offer to train me years ago.

Also, Ranger had offered me my own office with ice blue walls, an espresso desk with a magical ergonomic chair for me and two pale blue damask covered guest chairs. Off to the side of the office there was a huge window coupled with a window seat that was perfect for reading over contracts or just taking a break. Ranger also tried to give me a company car, a M3 BMW convertible in black, naturally.

Overall my arrangement for fulltime employment at RangeMan worked out wonderfully. The guys were no longer drowning in paperwork (and I've managed to streamline the process for reports they're required to fill out) and I no longer rolled around in garbage or had the TPD betting on me.

The other people in my life had been moving forward as well. Lula had been taking community college courses since she started working at Vinnie's and was now working as a counselor and activities director at the Trenton Youth Center, which helped at risk children. Lula was thriving at her new job, which I think was because she was doing something that she really cared about. She understood the kids there and with her attitude, she could get through to even the most closed of kids and didn't take crap from anyone.

Connie is still working at Vinnie's as a receptionist although she is now equal partners with Vinnie in the business. Turns out Harry the Hammer, Vinnie's father in law, was informed of Vinnie's poor work ethic and misuse of company time and demanded that he resume his previous position as a BEA part-time. So, essentially, Vinnie and Joyce have taken over all the skips that I used to cover while Vinnie and Connie officially manage the office. Connie's thrilled with her new position and the increase in pay, which given that she had to put up with Vinnie and Joyce was more than well deserved and long overdue.

Even though I no longer worked at the bonds office, I still made time to hang out with Connie and Lula a few times a week. We tried for a weekly girls night and every Monday morning we met at Star Diner for breakfast and gossip. The perfect way to start the work-week. Breakfast with them was also the reason why I was running late today. We got caught up in discussing the fire that took place in one of the slums on Stark last night. Apparently it was due to faulty wiring but it would take an official report from the fire department for any charges to by raised against Capello Housing, which owned several apartment buildings in Trenton, including several slums. The Capello family also owned several other businesses in New Jersey and were a very powerful family which more than likely meant they would get away with housing Trenton's destitute in sub-standard conditions.

My love life had also changed since I started at RangeMan a month ago. Joe Morelli, my on-off boyfriend for the past two-ish years and I have officially been off for a month. Before accepting the fulltime position at RangeMan, we had a conversation (without yelling.. well with minimal yelling) about what we both wanted from our relationship and in our careers. I explained that I wasn't sure that I could make the sacrifices he seemed to require from me (safe/boring job, future including marriage and children and some level of domestic prowess) and while I understood his reservations regarding my safety, I wasn't willing to work in a job where I would be bored to the point of wanting someone to explode yet another vehicle just to break up the monotony. He finally admitted that having a family was a definite part of his future and while he was adamant that I would be happy fitting into that role, he wasn't willing to sacrifice that if I never changed my mind on the while wedding/kids front. Also, there was the fact that he was unwilling to accept my friendship with Ranger, which was completely understandable. If our roles had been reversed, I wouldn't have understood either, especially given my inability to maintain physical boundaries with Ranger. Joe and I both deserved better than what we were willing to give each other.

Since we've broken up, we've managed to function as amiable colleagues, for the most part, and after explaining things with Joe to my mother, she's managed to keep her condescending comments and meddling to herself. Don't get me wrong, she still manages the subtle dig every once and a while but she's changed her attitude to semi-supportive because since working fulltime at RangeMan, I haven't lost a car, been seriously injured (which I suppose is why Ranger had been pushing me to get trained and in shape for so long… I just hate it when he's right – he's too damn smug for his own good) or provided any grist for the burg gossip mill.

Also, since our breakup, Joe has taken to dating casually, which has soured my Mother to Joe being my last hope for marriage, children and attaining the burg ideal. Honestly, Joe dating was more of a shock than I thought it would be. Not because I wanted to be with Joe, aside from missing the comfort of his friendship and his skill in bed, I didn't really miss him. It was more the fact that our relationship was borne out of a mutual need to orgasm without complications or pretense. There were no dates (Pino's and takeout don't count), no dressing up for dinner and dancing, no flowers or wooing of any sort. Our relationship was sex and yelling and watching sports while eating pizza in our sweatpants. I'm not a Nicholas Sparks type of love story kind of girl but honestly, what Joe and I had was kinda depressing. We were too busy, lazy or uninterested to make an effort for each other and well, he wasn't when it came to the handful of women he'd been seeing since. From what I'd been told, these new women were treated to fancy dinners and flowers and after the initial hit to my self esteem, I figured it was for the best. Neither one of us should settle and at least we got out before we got in too deep. Of course that didn't stop him from hitting on me every now and then, old habits and all that.

As for the other man in my life, well, things were always a bit complicated with Ranger. After helping him find the punk kids who had been ripping off his clients, Ranger spent one week checking in with his other offices to ensure nothing like this could happen again during which things between us were business as usual with the flirting, stolen kisses and occasional groping. After that, our flirting escalated to several adult sleepovers and tons of time spent in his apartment on seven over two weeks. Then, a week ago he stops by my apartment (or breaks in, if we're being completely accurate) at 4AM on a Friday morning after my weekly girls night with Connie, Lula and Mary Lou to tell me that he was 'going in the wind' again and would be incommunicado again. Then he gave me a mind-melting kiss and was gone.

I just barely managed to go through the motions for the next couple of days during which I went through every emotion from fear and panic to anger to frustration before finally settling on serene. I finally got it, Ranger's life did not lend itself to relationships, and a condom would definitely come in handy. While we had spent the past two weeks being intimate, more physically than emotionally, it wasn't a relationship. The most he could offer emotionally was what we had in our friendship and while the physical aspect was definitely satisfying, it wasn't enough for me for the two to be separate and distinct. While I wanted to maintain the friendship that I had with Ranger, I needed the put up physical boundaries to keep myself from mistaking the friendship for more than it was. Hopefully, Ranger would understand and wouldn't fire me. Gosh I hope he doesn't fire me, I'd miss the Merry Men and my job and my snazzy company car way too much.

I used my key fob to beep open the RangeMan underground parking garage gate and pulled into my spot. I hurried through the maze of shiny, black vehicles and ran up stairs to the fifth floor, the sound of my 4-inch stilettoes echoing through the stairwell. I unceremoniously dumped my laptop and purse on my desk then hurried to the fifth floor conference room, 5 minutes late for the daily 9AM meeting. My attempt at surreptitiously joining the meeting was foiled by Tank Sherman.

"Nice of you to join us, Bombshell. We were just about to go over new client installs for this week" Tank announced. Tank was 6 foot 6 of milk chocolate muscles, Ranger's second in command and currently acting head of RangeMan while Ranger was in the wind toppling a dictatorship or staging a coupe.

"Sorry for running late Tank. This week we have two residential installations scheduled along with installations for Marchesi's Jewelers. Also, I have a meeting with a few potential residential clients and Sognare clothing boutique Tuesday, so hopefully we'll have some new clients by the end of the week." I informed the group.

"Beautiful, Ranger's been after Sognare for years. All they do is window shop, but good luck!" Lester commented. Lester was latte colored, 6 foot 4 inches with a dirty blonde faux-hawk and mischievous emerald eyes.

"Sounds good little girl. Now, what skips do we have this week?" Tank queried Lester Santos, the head of the BEA part of RangeMan Trenton

"We've got a few skips from Vinnie's that we have a few weeks to capture, no criminal masterminds though. And we've got a lead on Samuel Carter for tonight, so we'll be planning a distraction for tonight, if you're up for it Beautiful."

"No problem" I answered.

"Great, the takedown team will meet at 6PM to go over the plan." Lester informed me.

"Sounds good, who is Carver? He's not one of Vinnie's is he?" Tank added.

"Naw, he's on the FBI's list, a white collar criminal" Lester replied.

"Ok. Now let's go over account reports and alarms from this past week." Tank continued.

Forty-five minutes later, everyone was caught up on what needed to be done during the upcoming week. For me that meant two new client meetings, my bottomless pit of search requests, paperwork and a distraction set for tonight.

After two hours of juggling searches and paperwork, I grabbed a bottle of water, sandwich and apple from the break room and went through the run searches with a highlighter to point out things to help the guys find their FTA's, concerns regarding new potential customers and background checks for other customers both private and government. As a naturally curious person, I really loved going through information from the searches and seeing what other people have been hiding, especially since people in Trenton are so very fond of unabashedly and publically criticizing my every choice and action.

Before I knew it, it was 6PM and Lester was prepping the team for the distraction take down. "So we are after Samuel Carter, 36 years old, 6 feet 2 inches. He's a fugitive from the FBI white collar division. He's been frequenting O'Malley's, a dive bar during weekday evenings. Woody, Ram and I will be inside as patrons, Cal will be filling in as the bouncer, Hal will be the bartender and Bobby and Tank will be waiting outside. Questions?"

The guys looked at me to see if I had any spidey-sense related concerns. Everything looked fairly straight forward. He seemed like an over grown frat boy who was too entitled or deluded to know when lay low. From his dating history we knew he liked tall, busty, Caucasian women and from his pay-per-view bills we knew he had a thing for catholic school girls and spanking. Hopefully the spanking information wouldn't really come into play, but with my history, you could never really be too well prepared. "I'm good guys, really. The only thing is that I think we should try to get him out before he's had more than three or four drinks because that seems to be when he goes from cheesy but thinks he's charming to belligerent", I stated giving the guys what I hoped was a reassuring look.

"According to the bartender, he generally gets there between 2100 and 2200 and either watches whatever game is going on or plays pool while drinking beer. I think you should get there by 10 to be on the safe side." Lester explained.

"Okay, Bobby and I will be by your place to pick you up at 2130, ok" Tank asked.

"Soo… 9:30? Sounds good big guy. See you guys tonight." I replied and headed to the gym for my mandatory workout. I didn't mind it but there was no way I was waking up early for that. I changed in the only women's bathroom (on the first floor where we held client meetings) and headed to the third floor to get my sweat on. Before my anti-Ranger in my personal space epiphany I had just used his apartment on seven whenever I needed a bathroom, shower, place to store some clothes or escape for a quick break. Now I keep a couple of changes of clothing in my cubicle, use one of the empty apartment showers on four and discreetly had Hector swap out my all-access key fob for one that lets me into the same areas as regular RangeMen employees.

Sharing a gym with tons of crazy hot guys has its ups and downs. On one hand, they are attractive, sweaty (in the best way) and generally only half dressed. On the down side, they are hella intimidating and see me while sweaty, panting and disgusting which is a level of intimacy I was hoping to avoid with all males. After stretching, running 4 miles, some basic weights and exercises and yoga too cool down I grabbed my purse, Carter's file and some of what Ella had left out for dinner and headed home.

I listened to messages while I ate and moaned my way through the stew that Ella had prepared. That woman was incredible. She's the only person that could make healthy actually taste like you weren't being deprived of essential fats, sugars and carbs.

"Steph, it's Connie. I talked to Lula and Mary Lou and we're planning on meeting at Lucia's, the new Mexican place downtown for girls night Thursday. We have a reservation for 8. Oh and dress for dancing because they have live music in the evenings!"

Oooh dancing, that counts as cardio, right? Hmm.

"Stephanie, it's your grandma. I just wanted you to know that my date with the new guy I met at Bingo went really well and he'll be taking me to the viewing tomorrow night so you're off the hook! Also, maybe we could go shopping for some of that fancy underwear this weekend?"

Oh good god. There is no way that is happening. I cannot shop for boudoir clothing with my grandma. Maybe I could just buy her a gift certificate and have her go with one of her friends from Clip 'n Curl.

"Hey Steph - It's Veronica! I was calling to check in. How are things going with your family, work and did you get a chance to tell your hunky boss that you no longer want to ride his magic stick? Anyways I'm slipping into those ridiculous purple shoes you made me buy the last time you visited and I thought I'd say hi!"

Man, I haven't talked to Veronica in a week, since I decided that I needed to stop banging the boss man. Veronica Smith (V), Mary Lou (Mare), Rebecca Jacobs (Becks) and I were inseparable in college and did everything together. Unfortunately, we haven't had much time to get together over the past few years aside from the major life events: my over the top, burg circus wedding, Mary Lou and Veronica's infinitely more successful weddings, baby showers, christening and a few birthdays. V's daughter, Krista (Kris) was my goddaughter and I absolutely adored her. I think it's also because her parents are so active and attentive, but she has a really remarkable personality, especially for a 5 year old. She's bubbly and a bit brazen, just like her V but I'm pretty sure her father's sense of analytical thinking is going to come out over the next few years. Anyways, one of the downsides to growing up is that you get too busy and wrapped up in the day-to-day to find time to keep in touch with the people who are truly important. I mean, I've spent more time with random skips and asshole city employees who bet on me than some of my best friends, people who despite the distance and the things going on in their lives have always been there for me.

I called V back while I laid my distraction outfit together on my bed. "V! How the hell are you doing?"

"Hey Steph! Dom and I are headed out for an impromptu date night! Dinner, a movie and well, you know, dirty stuff. What's going on?"

"Hey V! I hope you and Dominic have fun – don't do anything I wouldn't do! How's Kris doing? Still on track to be a prima ballerina?" I asked.

"Yeah, your goddaughter is doing wonderfully and is at a slumber party for a friend's birthday. She's been asking if you were going to visit sometime soon."

"A slumber party on a Monday?"

"Yeah well, it's still summer vacation for another few weeks. So, quit stalling, what's up with the hunky boss man?" Veronica questioned. I could hear her husband Dominic laughing in the background.

"He's still out of town. But I'll let you know when I get a chance to talk to him. Hopefully he won't fire me, although if he does, I'd love to come visit you guys for a few days!"

"Look at you, finding the silver lining! Same old Steph! Well, aside from the turning away a guy you're crazy about, I still don't get what that's about – but I totally support your crazy ass. So what are you up to tonight?"

"Oh you know me, picking up guys, the usual…"

"What?! You're picking up guys? Plural?" Veronica exclaimed. And in the background I heard Dominic laughing incredulously.

"It's for work, it's more getting a creep back in the system." I amended, giggling.

"You know what they say about all work and no play?! Be safe and I'll talk to you later Steph."

"Take care! Miss you guys!" I responded and hung up.

I hopped in the shower, exfoliated, shampooed and shaved in record time. I hopped out, liberally applied lotion, blow dried and straightened my hair and opted for a natural makeup look with smoky eyes. I pulled on white lace boy short panties and a matching white lacy wonder bra that definitely lived up to the name. I pulled on a pleated gray wool skirt that hit mid thigh, a fitted white collared shirt that was unbuttoned to show just a hint of cleavage and lace from the bra. I added a cross necklace I borrowed from my sister Valerie that further accentuated my cleavage, some modest princess cut diamond studs that I bought with my first paycheck as a full time RangeMan, and 4in black patent leather mary jane pumps. I decided against the whole knee high socks so as to hint at the catholic school girl fantasy without being obvious enough to arouse suspicion. I topped off my look with a thin red headband in my now straight hair that reached mid-back and switched the essentials, panic button, cell phone, some cash to my red satin clutch. I also hid a couple of bobby pins in my hair, incase I needed to pick a lock. After a few hours training with Hector, I managed to learn to pick handcuffs and basic locks with a bobby pin and a few basic Spanish phrases. I just finished readjusting my headband when my phone rang.

"Hey" I answered.

"Yo, it's Tank. We're just pulling up. You ready?"

"Yeah, headed down now." I hung up, spritzed on some VS very sexy for luck and took the elevator down. I walked out and hopped into the waiting black SUV. "Hey guys!"

"H-h-hey Bomber. You look umm well are you ready?" Tank responded. I hate admitting it, but the fact that the distraction outfits had an impact on the Merry Men was flattering. I mean, it would be flattering regardless, but given how attractive they were, well, it's just the boost I needed before trying to pick up a creep.

"Almost, I just need my wire and earbud. You know what they say, accessories make the outfit." I replied cheekily.

"Here you go." Bobby stated, handing back a case. "Also, Hector finished up that mini tazer you requested. It only has enough charge for two zaps, so make sure you charge it each time you use it." Bobby said as he handed back another case. I opened it to reveal a charger and what looked like a matte silver tube of lipstick with a button on the base with the picture of a cartoon bomb complete with lit fuze and label stating that the lipstick 'color' was called Bombshell.

"Wow, this is amazing! Hector has really outdone himself!" I exclaimed while attaching my wire to the inside of my bra and putting the earbud in place.

"Yeah, he said he's thinking of coming up with a Bombshell line of self defense products for women." Bobby added with a chuckle.

"That's brilliant! Incognito mini tazers, knives hidden in stilettoes and lock pick sewn into clothing. The possibilities are endless!" I added as we pulled into the O'Malley's parking lot.

"True, the possibilities are endless," Tank stated turning around and looking at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Just imagine trackers and panic buttons hidden in jewelry. Brilliant."

"Crap, that's too sneaky guys." I added. Dammit, why am I giving them ideas to keep tabs on me. Gotta think before you speak Steph.

"Hmm, we should definitely bring that up to Hector… and Ranger." Bobby added, chuckling. Super, the muscle bound Merry Men at their finest.

"Alright Bomber, turn on the mic and let's get this show on the road." I turned it on and Tank started the mic check. "Alright guys, mic check". After all the guys and I had checked in, I headed toward O'Malley's.

"Damn Bombshell, looking good" Cal said, grinning, as he let me into O'Malleys. I stepped inside, looked around for the rest of the Merry Men while acclimating myself to the lighting and smoke filled interior.

I heard a whistle over the earbud and then Woody's voice "So Wifey, this is definitely going to be added to my school girl fantasy. And I love the hair."

"Glad to know skipping the argyle knee-high socks didn't detract from the effect." I replied dryly as I walked over to Hal at the bar.

"Cut the chatter" Tank boomed. You'd think the guys would know better by now.

"The skip's at the pool table, and you definitely have his attention" Ram added. "He's almost done with his game, about 10 more minutes if Lester's half as good as he thinks he is." I glanced to the side and saw Lester and Carter checking me out as they played their game.

I bent at the waist and leaned my forearms against the bar "Could I get a rum and coke please?" I asked a blushing Hal who was trying desperately to maintain eye contact.

"Shit, you just know she likes to be spanked." Lester drawled out, in an obvious attempt to bait Carter.

I paid Hal when he handed me a coke and coke, and I sipped it while sitting on one of the barstools with my back against the bar so I could casually glance around. I fiddled with the cross necklace and sipped my drink. I pretended to check a text message, caught Carter staring while Lester took a shot and I smiled back and walked over to him.

"Hey guys, do you have someone lined up to play the winner? I was supposed to meet a friend here, but she bailed" I asked Carter.

He looked me up and down and then smiled, as if it was supposed to be flattering or something. Creep. "Nope, you interested?"

I fiddled with the necklace and dropped it against my chest. "Mhmm. I'm not really sure how to play though."

From his expression it looked like he thought it was Christmas morning and I was waiting to be unwrapped. "No problem, I'm sure I could give you some pointers. I'm Sam." He said, holding out his hand.

"Patience, it's nice to meet you" I went to shake his hand but instead he raised it to his mouth and kissed it. Don't cringe, don't cringe, don't cringe. This is definitely the worst part of distraction jobs. I don't really mind the dressing up and being someone else for a few hours. It's not quite as much fun as dressing up for Halloween because then I get to be someone I aspire to be (Wonder Woman, Lara Croft, the Black Widow, etc. as opposed to slutty barbie) but it's still fun and keeps my lying skills up to par.

"And this is my friend Javier" Carter said, nodding his head toward Lester. Hmm, I guess we're all playing parts tonight. I held my hand out towards him and he thankfully just shook it and gave me his patented 'I'm so handsome I make women stupid' smile. Luckily for me I've built up some immunity.

"Aw shit," Lester said, pulling out his phone, "I have to take this, maybe we can play some other time." Lester said and took off towards the bar.

Carter went over the basic rules while setting the game up and motioned for me to go first. I was about to take my shot but stopped. "So, what are we playing for?"

"Hmm, if you win, I'll buy you dinner," he stated, and smiled mischievously, "and if I win, I'll give you a ride home" He finished cockily.

After pretending to think about it, I nodded. "Am I doing this right?" I asked as I lined up my shot and Carter stared down my shirt.

"Umm Beautiful, I don't think he heard you" Lester said after a few moments.

"Sam,"

"Hmm, yeah, what's up?" Carter said as he snapped back to attention.

"Am I holding this right?"

"Let me see," he walked around the pool table and pretended to adjust my stance while copping a feel. "You're all set, let's see what you got."

I really love taking arrogant assholes down a peg or two. It's a purely altruistic endeavor, restoring balance to the world or something. And that is exactly what I planned to do. Unfortunately, it also meant that I wouldn't be able to use the fact that Veronica and I used to hustle at pool when we were in college to make some quick cash off the Merry Men, but it's for the greater good so I'm willing to make the sacrifice.

At the end of my first turn I was halfway to beating Carter and had clearly impressed Lester, Cal, Woody and Ram per their comments. "Well damn, Patience, looks like you really want that dinner, huh?" Carter responded as he took his turn.

"Yeah well, a girls gotta eat." I stated saucily. Carter made his first shot and lined up his second. "Although, I'm pretty sure either way, neither of us would really be losing." I stated, distracting Carter enough to make him miss his shot.

"Well, as a banker, I'm a firm believer in win-win negotiations. So, what is it that you do?"

I took my shot, while deftly lining up a second. "I teach high school English. It's great but sometimes I would much rather adult company versus a room full of teenagers all day long." I looked up at him and and hit the 8-ball into the pocket, intentionally losing the game. "Huh. Looks like you owe me a ride home Sam" I said, smiling sweetly at him.

"I suppose I do, fair is fair. Are you ready to head out or would you like another drink?" Carter replied with a wink.

"Well, I don't want to be up too late," I replied in a slightly husky voice as I started walking towards to door. I looked over my shoulder and motioned for him to follow me "It is a school night after all." That's all it took for Carter to rush up to me, sling his arm around my waist and guide me toward the door.

"Damn Bombshell, you may be better at picking up people than Lester" Woody replied.

"Hey, guys are easier than chicks!" Lester exclaimed.

"Get it together!" Tank boomed, focusing everyone's attention on the impending takedown as Carter and I exited the bar. Before I knew what was going on, Tank had shoved Carter back into Ram and Woody and they had easily handcuffed him.

"What the fuck is going on?" Carter shouted over my fake screams.

"Miss, you need to leave." Tank directed towards me with his blank face on. Honestly, even though I know they are harmless and forces of good, they are still terrifying when they want to be. I quickly scurried away to the SUV I came in, away from Carter's line of sight. "Samuel Carter, we are contracted by the FBI to apprehend and deliver you to the authorities.

The guys finished wrangling Carter into one of the SUVs and Tank and Bobby headed over to me. "Good work Bomber" Bobby said as we settled into the car. "So, I take it you know a little something about playing pool?"

"I uh used to hustle a little pool when I was in college with a friend of mine. You know, to give cocky frat boys a sense of reality"

"And make a little extra scratch, right?" Tank asked while they both chuckled.

"Payment for my public service." I replied.

"So, back to your apartment?"

"Yes please."