Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers. Any other character is a figment of my imagination.

Spoilers: Possibly any book from 1-18.

Chapter 1: An Explosive Start

Stephanie's POV:

I picked up my mail and headed upstairs to my apartment. I had no idea why my spidey sense was practically screaming at me to drop the mail and get out. I looked through the envelopes until I came to the last one. It was addressed to the daughter of Col. F. Plum. Why would I be getting something from one of my dad's friends? I made my way towards my apartment, but suddenly it was as if I couldn't move. My brain was screaming at me even louder to drop the mail and run. Now, I've questioned my instincts on a number of occasions, and each time, by the time I finally listened I barely made it out of the situation in one piece. I no longer cared why I was getting this message; the only important thing was I was getting it. Me being me, I dropped the mail and made a beeline for the stairwell door and flew down the stairs and outside into the parking lot. I made it to the back of the lot and turned around to see if anyone was looking to see what I was doing. Yep. Sure enough, there were several people from my apartment building looking at me like I was crazy. However, the others were hustling to make it over to where I was standing. By now my face was beet red and I was getting ready to apologize for causing a scene when there was an explosion.

I ducked behind big blue and dug through my purse for my phone. I had no doubt that inside of 5 minutes I would be bombarded with phone calls asking what was going on. Before they did that, there was one call I suddenly had to make. I put in the number and was anxiously waiting for it to be picked up on the other end when I saw Joe Morelli pull into the parking lot right behind the first of the fire trucks. A couple seconds later 3 black SUV's pulled in. I watched as Joe got out of his car and stood there with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face. He had no more than taken up his position when the SUV's emptied and Tank, Cal, Lester, Bobby, Ram, and Ranger were fanning out and searching for me. The phone was still ringing and suddenly I had another screaming thought to run. I looked around and saw all the seniors had made their way over towards the fire trucks and ambulances. I was the only one still by big blue. I saw Ranger start over to my position and suddenly found myself running in his direction as fast as I could. The rest of the guys drew their weapons and started looking around for possible threats.

I launched myself into Ranger's arms and he'd no more than wrapped his arms around me when there was a giant KABOOM coming from under big blue. The force was enough to knock us to the ground. Ranger took the brunt of the fall but quickly had me under him and totally covered. One of the hose groups of firefighters turned their hose on us cooling down any potential shrapnel. Tank came over and took hold of me under the arms and as soon as Ranger rolled to the side to stand, Tank lifted me to a standing position. Just then Joe came over and shook his head in disgust. "What the fuck did you get messed up in this time Cupcake?"

I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Here we go again. This was the story of my life. My name is Stephanie Plum, Aka Cupcake, Aka Babe. It was a normal occurrence for my apartment and my car to get blown up, usually not on the same day within minutes of each other though. Ricardo Carlos Manoso, Aka Ranger, Aka Batman; was a bad ass Bounty Hunter and owner and CEO of Rangeman Security, and the man I'd launched myself at. The man standing with his hands clenched into fists resting on his hips, looking at me with disgust was my on-again, off-again boyfriend Joe Morelli, a Trenton cop. We were currently in the permanently off phase, even if Joe refused to accept that memo.

"Answer me Steph. What has Manoso gotten you drawn into this time?"

"Ranger hasn't gotten me mixed up with anything. I don't know who targeted my apartment and car. I don't have any skips right now."

Joe stepped forward and reached out a hand. His look softened and I could see the pain in his eyes. "Please give this up Cupcake."

I turned to Ranger. I didn't know what else to do to make it clear to Joe that he and I were over. It hurt to see him clinging to this warped view of us he had. Ranger lifted an eyebrow as if asking for permission and I nodded. Ranger cupped my cheek in his hand before turning to Morelli and narrowing his eyes, "Steph has tried doing this nice to spare your feelings, but you're not getting the message. It's over Morelli. Move on."

Joe's cheeks got red and he darted a look around to make sure no one had overheard. He turned and glared at Ranger, "Stay out of this Manoso. It doesn't concern you."

Ranger reached out and I put my hand in his. He flicked a gaze my way, his eyes softening with love before turning back to Joe. "Anything that involves Stephanie has an impact on me."

Joe looked to our joined hands and frowned, "You aren't serious? What about all that not wanting to expose Steph to all those crazies who have a beef with you?"

Ranger chuckled, "Let's just say after Scrog, I came to my senses and admitted whether I wanted to believe it or not, the world already considered us a couple and the only one I was deluding was myself by not admitting it. Steph handled Scrog just like she's handled all the crazies who've been after her all these years."

Joe scowled, "You two are a couple now?"

I smiled softly at Ranger before I turned to Joe and said, "Yes."

He looked at me with pain-filled eyes. I sighed and spoke softly, "Go home Joe…or back to work, or to wherever you were headed before you came here. Let someone else deal with this. I don't want to hurt you or cause you discomfort in front of you friends. But it's over between us. I've moved on with Ranger and I need you to move on too."

Joe's eyes met mine for several seconds before he nodded. "Alright Cupcake. I'll leave you and Manoso to get on with your lives." He turned his gaze to Ranger, "I won't poach like some people."

Ranger lifted an eyebrow but remained silent. I squeezed Ranger's hand to thank him for not commenting on that. I sighed, "Ranger's not to blame for the poaching Joe. I am. I'm the one who allowed it. I never told him that I was yours or to stop. He was just reacting to the mixed signals I was giving him."

Tank stepped up to comment, "We need to move this conversation to someplace safer."

Joe shook his head, "We're done. Take care of her Manoso." He turned to look Ranger in the eyes and said, "If you hurt her I'll kick your ass."

Ranger gave a miniscule nod, "You won't have to. My men would be more than happy to kick my ass if I hurt Babe."

Joe smiled for the first time, "I'd give real money to see that." He turned, got in his car and drove away.

Ranger wrapped his arm around me and we made our way over to the SUV he and Tank were using. He helped me into the back and slid into the driver's seat. Tank went around and got in the passenger seat. Ram and Cal pulled out ahead of us and then Ranger pulled out and Bobbie and Lester brought up the rear. On our way back to Haywood, I told Ranger about what had happened. When I'd finished my explanation, Ranger and Tank exchanged a look before Ranger pulled out his cell phone and pressed a number on his phone. He pressed a button and suddenly I heard the phone ringing. We were just pulling into the garage when a voice I recognized asked, "Who the hell is calling me on this line?"