Chapter 1

Miranda's POV

Do you know this feeling? You worked your ass off to make something happen, to pass your final exam with decent grades or you finished your project in a minimum of time and you are flying on a success high and then suddenly something happens that throws a wrench into your plans and you crash land hard on the ground of reality? Yes well welcome to my life, or well to my second life, because the first? Well let's just say it didn't end quite as I had planned.

The name that I had listened to in my first 36 years of life had been Miranda, Miranda Herington to be exact. When I died I was a white, single, fashion designer in New York and believe it or not I had just finished with the successful launch of my first fashion line as a somebody in the big apple.

Surprised? Yeah so was I when I realized that all my hard work and tears that I had put into my designs and the promotion of them were for nothing. You know if somebody had told me that I would die on the day the Maya calendar ended I probably would have laughed the person in the face, before turning around and leaving.

Oh well back to my death, it was nothing spectacular to be honest. I didn't die tragically in a terrorist attack or was taken hostage; I wasn't torn apart by zombies, hell I wasn't even mugged by somebody desperate for cash. No, the taxi I had sat in with my best friend had been hit by another driver, end of story.

Or well it should have been for me, because the last thing I saw before everything went black was a car coming too fast at me.

General POV

Well and in the next moment she breathed in once again and felt completely disoriented, because Miranda suddenly wasn't alone in her body.

A screeching voice awoke a still sleepy Miranda, confused the blonde fashion designer turned around in her bed and away from the noise, whoever that was Miranda didn't want to deal with them, the voice screeched again and she was not proud of this but the first thing that went through her head was that Debbie's newest neighbor must have found a way into her flat once again.

Ah, she would have to explain that wouldn't she?
Well let's just say that her best friend and personal assistant Deborah Milano had bad luck with neighbors. No matter how nice or expensive a flat was, it was guaranteed that she would have at least one crazy somewhere on the floor that would make nuisance of themselves in the most inconvenient moment.
The latest case was a 40 year old recent divorcée that somehow had gotten into her head that Debbie was to blame for her divorce, no matter that Debbie had never even met the former Mrs. Stoneheim's better half.

But back to the screeching voice, after it didn't just go away she opened her eyes and had a strange feeling of vertigo, Miranda was laying in a unknown bed and around her everything seemed to be turned inside out, the black's were white and the white's were black and beside her stood a babbling woman that was certainly not Mrs. Stoneheim, for that she lacked another 100 pounds.

The woman in front of her stopped speaking and smiled at Miranda's assessment, before she continued in a calmer voice.

"You should be dead! I dreamed of you dying, holy shit my dream is possessed by a ghost!"

"What are you talking about?" Miranda couldn't help but ask confused before the happenings of the day rushed back at her and she turned white as a sheet.

"Oh my good you are right, I should be dead! Why am I here? … is this the afterlife?"

"No, this is my dream!" the woman in front of her said now a bit more empathic.

"How the hell did I end up in your dream if I should be dead?"

"I don't know, I have had this strange dreams about you and your friend for nearly a week now. You know when you were at this fashion show and the benefit for children and all that stuff to promote your collection."

"You saw all of that? What the hell?"

"Don't look at me like that I didn't chose watching you in my dreams."

"…, sorry I… it's just this is surreal!"

"Don't I know it?"

"Miranda Herington."

"Stephanie Orr."

Miranda laughed, "Oh my god, like in the Janet Evanovich series? Stephanie Plum, the bounty hunter with Carlos Manoso and Josef Morelli?"

"What books, and Morelli? You know Joe?"

"Eh I mean the series of books that Janet Evanovich has been writing for ten years or so, you know Stephanie Plum, who was married to Dickie Orr before divorcing him, then she was let go from E.E. Martin and after that she started bounty hunting for her cousin Vinnie."

"Is this a joke?"

"What? No, the books are pretty popular and have been translated in a lot of other languages."

"I… I'm divorcing Dickie? I have just married him."

"Wait, are you telling me that you are Stephanie Plum, live in Trenton, have an older sister named Valerie, a pervert of a cousin and married the lawyer Richard Orr?"

"Yes, yes I am, how the hell do you know about me, what the hell is going on? And bounty hunting?"

"Oh shit, say what's the date?"

"13th of June."

"I died on the 21st of December."

"Okay that's strange. Who is the president?"

"Obama?"

"Who?"

"Obama, he was elected 2008."

"Wait what? It's 1998."

"WHAT? I died on the 21st of December 2012, as on the day the Maya calendar ended."

Stephanie's eyes went big, "Okay that's just freaky."

"Tell me about it. … and I had just started with making a name in the fashion scene in New York."

"So… back to my divorce…"

"Uh oh, you won't like that."

"TELL ME!"

"You caught or well… will catch Dickie fucking Barnhardt on your new dining room table."

"…"

"Sorry."

The woman across Miranda, Stephanie was still gaping at her. Before she abruptly closed her mouth before she hissed.

"I'm going to kill him. Joyce Barnhardt, JOYCE BARNHARDT, that skank? He is fucking my arch nemesis on MY dining room table?"

Uh oh, seemed as if somebody was in for a rude awakening.

"Hey, hey calm down. If this is really real and not just some odd dream it hasn't happened yet and I think you want a legitimate reason for divorcing him so don't do anything that you will regret."

"Regret? Oh believe me I regret something alright and that is marrying this cheating, lying son of a bitch. Damn it why have I let myself being talked into this marriage?"

"Hey don't worry, it will get better, but just a piece of advice. Sue the bastard to his last penny. He is going to make problems for you about 5 years after your divorce and will accidently set a psychopath on your trail, so take all the money you can get. See it as interim payment for what you will have to go through."

"Ugh. You said something about being let go and bounty hunting? Tell me everything!"

"Oh well, the books began with…"

Miranda's POV

And the following hours I proceeded to tell the infamous Stephanie Plum what would wait for her in the coming years.

"I need a drink. No, I need a bottle." Stephanie sighed.

"Calm down, everything is going to be alright, you are warned now. Oh and one thing… don't let Morelli in your bed, he is toxic for you. Ranger will let you do what you want, how you want and will probably be a lot more satisfying between the sheets than Morelli. The sentence, 'The boys miss you.' has come up often enough in the books to make me hurl. Please, oh please don't do this to yourself."

"You think so?" Stephanie asked unsure.

"I know so, from what I have gathered from the books you are more than unhappy with Morelli trying to convert you to Burg housewife material and trap you in a marriage, but you never say anything because it is what your mom always tries to push on you."

Stephanie sighed miserable once more, before she nodded, "You are probably right. So even if Joe Morelli is a sexy son of a bitch I will not let him in my bed." The last part sounded like a mantra.

"Good girl." I said satisfied, that was when an annoying tone started to beep from somewhere. "What the hell is this?" I asked confused.

"My alarm." Stephanie sighed, "Well I think that's it, I hope you can move on."

"Yeah me too, good luck Steph."

"Thanks, I will probably need it."

"And remember wait until you catch Dickie red handed..."

But before I could finish my sentence everything began to swirl around me. The next thing I was aware of that my arm moved and stopped an annoying noise right beside my face, my hand then went to my head and combed through my wild curls… wait wild curls? I had straight blonde hair not brunet curls! Oh shit.

"Steph?"

"Miranda? What the hell, this wasn't a dream?"

"No… shit I'm stuck in this body!"

"Oh crap, okay give me a sec this is going to be awkward but I need to pee."

"You don't have to tell me, I need to pee too! I feel everything you feel."

"Okay, okay…. we have to calm down, there has to be a logical explanation why you are stuck in my body."

That was the last thing Steph said before she relieved us of the horrible feeling of a full bladder. Calmer than before we went down into the kitchen to made ourselves a pop tart while we discussed in Steph's head how to solve this problem.

"We can't go to anybody for help; they would just think we are crazy." Steph reasoned.

"Yeah, bad idea, I'm not sure how much was exaggerated but I don't think your mom would be happy."

As an answer I could feel Steph grimace and shudder, nah that was probably a very bad idea.

"Okay, let's assume this is a temporary situation. That would mean you would probably have me in the back of your head for some time before getting rid of me?"

"And what if it isn't? I mean I'm sorry if this sounds insensitive but you are dead and it seems as if your soul in anchored to my body, for whatever reason, wouldn't it be more reasonable that you will leave it the moment I leave it?", Steph asked.

Miranda wasn't too sure what to say about this before answering, "It does sound logical but what is more important now is do we try to do something about this situation?"

"Do you want to?"

Miranda snorted, "As you said, I'm dead; you are the one living this life."

For some time Stephanie was silent before saying, "Funnily enough I don't mind that much. I like you, I mean I have watched a part of your life and you seem okay to me. I also could probably use the help if it is true what is going to happen to me in the next few years." At the last sentence Steph sighed once more, she clearly wasn't happy with what I have told her, who would?

"Hhm, if you are okay with it, why not? I mean I'm dead, I don't think I will go anywhere in the near future. Let's make your life as awesome as possible."

Stephanie laughed and smiled at this.

"Looks like I now have my own inner voice. Hopefully nobody will see me talking to myself in public… that would be kind of bad."

"Steph I don't know if you have noticed but take a look in the mirror across from us, we have been talking the whole time and not once have your lips moved. I think there won't be problems with talking to yourself in public."

"Huh, you are right, man that's kind of freaky. But wait… you have the same field of vision I do, though you seem to be able to concentrate on different things than I… that's interesting and will probably be very useful!"

"True."

"You think you could control my body?"

"You mean make it walk or something? Well let's try."

And with that Miranda tried to move Steph's head from one side to the other. It didn't work.

"Damn." Miranda pouted.

"Sorry." Steph answered out of reflex.

"Don't say that. It's your body, you should probably be glad that I can't move it."

"Still this would have been pretty cool, if not a bit freaky."

"Seriously? You would have allowed me to walk around in your body?"

"Not all the time of course, but you are stuck here with me. The last thing I could do is letting you use my body from time to time."

Miranda snorted, "You know, be glad that nobody can hear us talk, this just sounded all kinds of wrong. But thanks for the offer anyway."

"You are pretty calm for somebody who just died and lost everything."

"Yeah… to be honest I have no idea why I am so calm. Maybe I'm still in shock, or maybe it's the fact that my soul, essence, whatever knows that I'm dead and accepts this as fact and that's why I don't flip out."

"Hhm, you know what? Our experience has just proven that we all have a soul and that there is something after death. We have still no idea what it is but if the soul exists without a body I don't think it will stop to exist when it goes where it should go." Steph stated.

"Yeah… you know this makes reincarnation a lot more plausible than any other believes about the afterlife." Miranda mused before she changed topic, "So, I couldn't help but notice, Dickie isn't here. Were the hell is he?"

"Business trip."

"You sure about this?"

"To be honest I don't want to know."

"Yeah, me too."

"So what are you going to do today."

"I would say we write down everything you know about the books before you forget it. It could be vital for us."

"Hhm, sounds good, but don't you have to go to work?"

"Nah, it's Saturday."

"Oh... oh well, then let's do this."