This was my first real attempt at Fanfic but I was too nervous to post it. It is going to take me a long time to finish it but I wanted to post the start to see what people thought. My updates will be slow for sure but I already have the ending written so I promise to finish it!

Not my characters… just having fun

Chapter 1

Standing over a handcuffed naked man would be strange for most people. Not for me. It happens more than I would like because of my job. This is not the kind of man you want to see naked and handcuffed. This is the kind of man who should not be allowed to be naked. He skin was pasty and red in places and wrinkly everywhere. He had apparently been lying out in his yard trying to get tanned for his date with Grandma Mazur. No one told him that a bathing suit would be a good idea and he definitely forgot the sunscreen. His front was mostly white, while the entire back half of his body was lobster red. The underside of his arms stood out against his back where I had him cuffed and waiting for Lula. She was supposed to be helping me bring in this FTA, that's Failure to Appear. It means he didn't show for his court date and as Vinnie's bond enforcement agent, I was sent to retrieve him.

Grandma Mazur had asked to help since she had heard so many stories about the whiley old men I was forced to drag into the police station in my line of work. She had set up a date with Arnold to meet for lunch today. He hadn't shown, so Lula and I had driven by his house to see if he had taken off. He was asleep on a lawn chair in the backyard, face down, snoring so loud we heard him as soon as we got out of my car. I was currently driving an old Lincoln town car that looks like it could have previously been property of the mob. What matters is it drove and you could fit a person in the trunk if necessary.

When we tried to wake him, he took off running around the front of the house after squirting baby oil at Lula. I had managed to avoid the spray and took off. He didn't get far before the pain in his legs took over and I rushed into him, unable to slow down fast enough. He was flattened to the sidewalk but I remembered my cuffs and had him restrained before he could try to get away again.

Lula had gone inside trying to wipe off the baby oil. It hadn't stuck to her vinyl halter top in hot pink, but left a mess on top of the table created by her cleavage.

"Do you know what this looks like? I don't do this shit any more. I should not have to walk around looking like some old geezer spilled himself all over my chest." She told me as she came back out of the house. Most of the oil was gone but it left a nice shine all over her chest.

"You never go inside the station with me any way. You'll be able to go home and shower without anyone seeing you. It could have been way worse. You've seen me with all kinds of nasty things on me."

"That's true," she said. "But it's giving me flashbacks to some nasty customers I used to have. Let's get this old man turned over so I can get cleaned up."

We walked Arnold to the car and tried to sit him in my back seat. The old leather material of the bench seat was cracked and hot from the sun. He yelled in pain and I couldn't tell if it was the broken leather or the sun burn that hurt him worse. We had wrapped him in a towel, but it had fallen as we tried to put him in the back seat.

"I'm sorry Mr. Whiticker. Maybe we should get you some Aloe for that?" I told him.

"I don't need Aloe. I need a skin transplant. My date is never gonna sleep with me now. Edna had promised to do nasty things to me." His face was slumped in a look of pure disappointment. My stomach was churning as I tried not to think about what my Grandma had offered to do to this lobster man with the wrinkles.

"We'll get you some aloe on the way downtown." I said with my eyes shut, trying to block out the images.

We took him downtown to the Trenton Police Department and I walked him inside. I got my body receipt, gave the aloe to the officer behind the desk and left out the back door.

As soon as I walked outside I saw Ranger. He was leaning up against the black Mercedes that he had given me with his arms crossed over his chest. I looked around and couldn't find my car or Lula anywhere. I walked over to him and asked, "Where's my car?"

"Right here." he said with his blank face looking at me from behind sunglasses.

"No where's my car. The one that I bought."

"Gone for now."

"Where did Lula take it?" I asked getting pissed already.

"I think she was going home to get cleaned up. You missed the mess this time Babe, I'm proud of you." His eyes scanned over my body. Twice. It gave me butterflies and I felt my stomach start to warm in the familiar way it always did when Ranger was around.

"Thanks. But you're changing the subject. I want my car."

He threw me the keys which I of course didn't catch and had to turn around and bend over to pick up.

"Nice view." Came his voice from behind me. I stood up quickly and turned around, trying to remember that I was pissed.

"I can't drive this car. It will die."

"All cars die. Yours just dies quickly and there's usually smoke." His lips turned up slightly at the corners in his almost smile.

"So when are you leaving?" I asked. Ranger had stopped by the bond's office to tell Vinnie he'd be gone for several months and that Tank would handle any high end bonds that came around. I hadn't talked to him yet and was slightly worried that my voice might crack trying to ask the question that was floating around in my mind.

"Tomorrow night."

Shit. This was sooner than I expected, but I should have known with Ranger. Now that question was going to have to come out. I focused on my shoes so I wouldn't see my embarrassment reflected back at me in his sunglasses. "Can you stop by later tonight. I have something I need help with before you take off, if you have time."

"FTA giving you trouble?"

"Something like that. I was just hoping to get your insight before you disappeared again."

"Do you have the file with you?"

"No and I have to run back to the office and grab my check for Mr. Whiticker."

"I'll be there at seven." He said as he walked away to a waiting black Ford Explorer. He drove away before I could remember that I was supposed to be pissed about my missing Lincoln and left me with only the Mercedes as means of transportation.

"Shit." I climbed in the car and drove over to the bonds office. Connie was smiling when I walked in.

"How'd he get you to drive it again?" she asked looking outside at the Mercedes.

"Told Lula to take off with my car and left me at the station with the keys in my hand. I forgot to be pissed about my missing car till after he left."

Connie grinned and took the body receipt from me. She wrote me my check and looked at the files on her desk. "I don't have anything new for you; just the two files you've already got and they're not due for a while."

"I am heading home any way, thanks." The warmth in my stomach wasn't going away as I thought about what I was planning for tonight. It was spreading actually as I thought about it more standing in front of Connie. Luckily, she had turned away and didn't see the stupid look on my face before I could take off back towards my ridiculously expansive car that Ranger had given me and was now forcing me to drive.

Ranger and I have an interesting relationship. He loves me. He's told me before and he does things like giving me a car and killing a man to show me. I love him, but I've never told him. I've known for a while, ever since the Scrog fiasco where I thought he was going to die walking into my apartment where the psycho was waiting with a gun. I didn't tell him then, and hadn't told him since.

At that time I had been with Joe Morelli. I loved him too, but we aren't together either. We were on again and off again for a long time, but I couldn't bring myself to go back to him this time. I slept in his bed upon occasion when I got really lonely, but those were few and far between these days since he had started dating. I think he finally realized that I'm not the marrying-housewife-mother of three boys-kind of woman he's looking for. Or at least not any time soon. Sadly, he still referred to "us" and seemed possessive. Like it was ok for him to start looking, but I was supposed to be celibate until I grew up enough to go back to him. Yea, right.

I was going to tell Ranger. I wanted him to know, before he left for who knows how long, that I loved him. I don't know why this time it seemed important. He's gone on these trips lots of times before, just not always this long. But this time, it felt important that he know how I feel. Especially since he had already told me more than once, and he's not the type to share. There were usually qualifiers that followed these statements, but when I was being honest with myself, he had still given me more assurance then I'd ever given him.

When I got to my apartment I ran upstairs to get ready. I fell twice on the steps and almost went face first onto the second floor of my apartment building but caught the hand rail and hurled myself down the hall towards my door. I was going to be clean with layers of mascara for confidence tonight. I showered and shaved and applied the layers of creams and such. My hair was tame, but left down and my makeup was simple. I put on my black lace boy shorts and I was slipping on the black dress I had bought when I heard the locks tumble on my door. My clock said 6:55, so I knew it was Ranger.

I looked in the mirror quickly to check out my appearance. The dress was simple chiffon with one inch straps leaving an open neckline. It had a gathered bodice and a v cutting between my breasts, not leaving enough room for a bra. It had a slim band of black satin with five small square jewels right under the bust line. The rest of the dress flared out slightly hugging my hips ending in a double layered hem with a slight rise in the front. This is as good as it gets, I thought. I slipped my feet into my four inch black snake skin FMPs and walked out into the living room.

He turned around after relocking my door. I still had no idea how he got through those every time. I was starting to contemplate jumping out the window onto my fire escape, but I bit my bottom lip and waited. I had butterflies in my stomach that were making my hands shake. His eyes locked on mine when he faced me and then traveled down and back up again. It's hard to tell when a man of few words is speechless, but that's the impression I got. Maybe just wishful thinking.

"Babe."