Disclaimer : None of the characters that you recognize are mine.
This is the other half-assed story I'm working on, again, the plot was suggested by Aznbeez (Belinda). Meh. Here ya go.
I stood on the sidewalk outside the RangeMan building, staring up at the windows above me. All around me were familiar Trentonized noises and sounds that reminded me that I was back home. Back home, after being gone for a year.
My name is Stephanie Plum, streetname Bombshell. I used to be a bounty hunter, although not a good one. I used to keep my gun in a cookie jar, and even then it wouldn't be loaded. I used to always have to call Ranger for help in tricky situations, and accidently blew up every car I touched.
But not anymore. I guess the last straw came when a psychotic man posing as my mentor and friend, Ranger, kidnapped Ranger's daughter and me and held us hostage in my own apartment. When Ranger got shot, I realized I needed to get my act together. So I did. My father, who used to be in the military, contacted one of his friends, Marcus Gallister, who contacted his son, Jake Gallister. Jake, who was an ex-Ranger himself, sent me a letter a few weeks later. "You have to be serious about this," he had written. "I'm not going to treat you any differently than I would a real trainee." I had agreed, and a week later I was on a plane to Dallas, Texas. Once I got there, Jake sent back all of my stuff, including the things I had worn over there, and replaced everything I needed. I never told anybody I was leaving except my father and Mary Lou, who had Rex. Mary Lou agreed to tell Ranger and Joe goodbye for me, and my dad said he would take care of my family.
Jake had been serious when he told me he wasn't going to treat me any differently than a real trainee. He drilled my ass from dawn to dusk for eleven months. He never once told me I couldn't do it, but damn, that man can cuss. When he wasn't drilling me, I either slept or ate. I was allowed one shower a week, and had sleep deprivision one night every other week. I wasn't allowed contact with anybody other than my father, who kept me up to date on how my mother, sister, neices, and grandmother were doing. Outside of the family, he didn't really know any of the gossip, so I couldn't ask him how Ranger or Joe were. He did say that Mary Lou wanted to tell me that Rex was doing fine, and I told him to thank her. I wasn't really sure when Jake was letting me go, I just knew I had agreed for a year or so.
Then, finally, after a year of training in everything from psychology 101, to picking locks, to guns, to throwing knives, to the physical stuff, Jake announced that I was allowed to go home. I thanked him for everything, gave him a hug, and my ass was on the next plane to Trenton. I had gained a hell of a lot of confidence while I was gone, and I knew without a doubt that I would be able to move on to Ranger-sized skips easily. As soon as I got into Trenton, I went to my mother's house, knowing that half of Trenton would realize within the next ten minutes that I was back. My mother and grandmother were ready waiting at the door, how they knew I was coming, I have no clue. After enduring a bunch of hugs, kisses, and "How could you just leave me?"'s, my father helped me make my escape. I went from there to Mary Lou's. Mary Lou was also waiting for me in the doorway, and once I finally went over every single detail of Jake's body, I was allowed to take Rex. I got my key to my apartment from Dillon, who explained that my father had continued to pay rent, and took the stairs up to my floor. I took my gun in my hand and examined the place thoroughly. Satisfied, I plopped Rex's cage down on the counter, and opened my refridgerator to find.. nothing. Cursing, I grabbed my purse and headed out to the grocery store.
I thought I was doing pretty good by managing not to run into anyone, when right there on the produce section was who other than Ranger's right hand man, Tank.
"Hey!" I called out to him, throwing a carrot at his head. It hit him dead center in the ear, and surprised, he turned to me.
"Holy shit," he swore, eyes wide. "Bombshell?"
I grinned at him, moved around my buggy, and gave him a hug. "Yep, it's me."
He hugged me back, then I was smothered by a body from behind me. Turning, I saw that it was Lester Santos.
"Les, can't breathe," I mumbled.
Lester loosened his hold on me, then pulled back and looked me over. "Lookin' good, Bomber," he grinned.
I rolled my eyes at him. "Right back atcha," I said sarcastically, taking in the bandage on the left side of his forehead.
"Had some trouble with a skip," Tank said, answering for him. Lester looked a little sheepish, and I grinned.
"Who?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Lester mumbled something incoherent, so I stomped on his toe with my boot. "Who?" I demanded louder, giving him my best intimidation glare that worked on even Jake.
"Um, Grandma Mazur."
My eyes were as wide as saucers. "You took in my grandmother?" At both Lester and Tank's sheepish nods, I frowned.. then burst out laughing.
"Ah shit," I groaned, leaning on Tank to hold me up. "That's a classic."
At that time, both Lester and Tank's pagers beeped. "Ella's getting impatient," Lester laughed. "We were supposed to be back thirty minutes ago."
"Well, go on," I told them, waving them away. "Don't get Ella too riled up, she's the one who cooks for you." They both grinned and hugged me again before walking away. I watched them go, a question brewing in the back of my mind.
"Hey, Tank?" I called, straining my neck. Tank turned around, still walking. "How's Ranger?"
Both Tank and Lester froze. They spoke to each other quietly, then Tank headed my way while Lester went to check out.
"Um, Bombshell," Tank said slowly, looking as though he would rather be anywhere but here. "Have you talked to Ranger within the past year?"
"No?" I knew there was nothing wrong with him, or Tank would have been acting differently. "Just spit it out, Tank, what's going on?"
Tank looked at me, staring into my eyes for a full minute and a half, then nodded. "I think that you should probably come with us. But Bombshell.. he's changed. He.." Tank droned off, looking very uncomfortable. I frowned, but nodded, and followed him to the front to pay for my groceries. As soon as I was done, we silently loaded our bags into Tank's Dodge Ram. I sat in the middle between Lester and Tank, feeling the tension and apprehension coming off of the both of them in waves.
"Okay, cut the shit," I said finally, looking from side to side. "What the hell's goin' on?"
Lester bit his lip in a determined silence, while Tank flat out ignored me. I growled, but said nothing. We finally pulled up at the RangeMan Garage. Tank and I both went to the elevator together, while Lester parked the car.
"Listen, Stephanie," Tank said, turning to me as we waited on the elevator to get to floor seven, "I'm not showing you this to hurt you, but to show you what I think you need to see. Your leaving.. it hit him hard, Steph. He tried to follow you, but couldn't figure it out, how you were supposably in seven different countries at once." I grinned at this, it had been another one of Jake's precautions. My grin faded as Tank continued. "He started withdrawing himself into work more and more, and then-" he stopped as the elevator reached the seventh floor. "I'm warning you, Steph, you're not going to like this," he said softly. Before I could reply, he knocked firmly on the door.
A few minutes later, Ranger swung it open. "Yea man?" he asked. Tank nodded in my direction. Ranger's head swiveled to me, and his jaw dropped an inch. We stood there, staring at each other, both of us lost from the real world. I saw many emotions flicker across his eyes -- surprise, hope, apprehensiveness -- until they settled on pain. My face softened even more, and I gave him a small smile. He opened his mouth to speak, when another voice rang out.
"Ric? Tank? What's going on?" A woman -- long brown hair, thick lashes, slim, beautiful face -- put her hand on Ranger's shoulder and looked out. Her eyes stopped on me. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I looked at Tank, who was staring intently at me. I looked back at the woman and saw the engagement ring on her finger. Letting out a small, sarcastic laugh, I nodded my head at Tank and turned to the elevator.
"Stephani-"
The elevator doors cut Ranger's voice off. I rode down the elevator in silence. Nobody stopped me from leaving the building. Outside, I looked up at what I knew was his floor, his apartment, and shook my head. I kept a tight rein on my emotions, waiting until I once again secured my apartment and locked my doors, before I let my tears flow. Don't do relationships, my ass.
Ah hah hah. Mk. I have an awful craving for a Frito Chili Pie now, so I'll be back to write more later. To0dleZ.
By the way, I don't think I'm even gunna work in this one anymore, unless you REVIEW:-D
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