A/N 1: Story Seven in the iPod Series, after Not Meant For Me…
A/N 2: Don't own them, just borrowing for a little while!
A/N 3: This will be switching between Stephanie and Ranger
A/N 4: It is completely accidental that I'm posting this so close to Ranger's Birthday, but a nice birthday present…
A/N 5: This chapter was not Beta'd because of how long it's taking me to get chapters out now... Sorry for such a long wait in-between, I know I hate it as a reader too…
A/N 6: Epilogue is all that's left… Thanks to everyone who has supported me and PM'd & emailed me after my father passed away… Thanks bunches Guys!
Snuff
By Hummer246
Stephanie licked the last envelope shut and wrote the letter "R" on it. There were envelopes for her Dad, Tank, Lula, and finally Ranger. She knew there was a very real possibility that she might not come back from this and she wanted the people that she loved the most to understand why she'd done the things she'd done.
She knew that she had maybe two, no more than, three days, before Ranger would be here wanting an explanation about that little scene she'd pulled on the guys. Stephanie just hoped that she was gone before then. Her surgery was scheduled for Monday at 11:00 a.m. and then she had to rest for two hours and Jonesy was going to test the accuracy of the tracker out in the desert with her.
She was planning on being on the road no later than 5:00 p.m. Tuesday night. She smoothed her hand over Ranger's letter sighing, then looked over her apartment one last time. She kissed the letter, grabbed her two duffle bags and using her jacket sleeve opened the door. She had already cleaned the apartment and wiped it all down, none of her finger prints were anywhere, except the letters. She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and went to finish what they started a year and half ago.
#######
Ranger took another deep breath and muttered under his breath, swiping the papers off his desk. He got up and went up to his apartment on the seventh floor, grabbed a duffle bag and opened his safe. Whatever his Babe was doing was obviously dangerous and he needed to be prepared.
He didn't pack clothes, he packed guns and ammo. He knew that whole 'killing him' scene was staged, but he just couldn't figure out what she was doing. She had thrown enough 'stay away' vibes that a blind and deaf man could have seen and heard them; but something about the whole thing was niggling at his brain. He knew it was a set-up from the get-go, but the question was, why invite them to set them up in the first place?
It was like she was sending a message but it was in Sanskrit and he couldn't translate it.
He knew that the glasses wouldn't fool her. Ram had perfect vision, and always had, that was why he was such a good sniper and why he was in charge of the gun range and armory. He knew she would see through that in two seconds, but he just needed to see and hear her. God she looked so good, he just wanted to go to her and kiss the living shit out of her.
Her tattoos had seriously turned him on, especially the Spanish quote on her lower back. He knew it was pure coincidence but his father used to say the same thing to his mother. His initials on her neck did something to him; something possessive to him. It made her his in a way she wasn't before. It was like she knew she was his and always would be. It was driving him crazy being this far away from her and he just had to do something about it, right now.
He went down to the fifth floor to his office, Tank and Lester just happen to be watching the monitors and saw the determined way that Ranger was walking to his office, the two duffels he was also carrying might have tipped them off too.
Tank picked up the phone, paging everyone with the word, "Now"
By the time Ranger was coming back out of his office Tank, Lester, Bobby, Ram, Hector, and Raul were waiting for him with duffels of their own. He took one look at the guys, nodded his head.
"Ok, let's go get her and bring my Babe home where she belongs."
'Ho-yah' and 'Hell-yeah' were the answers from the guys who loved her almost as much as him. The group climbed into two SUVs and made their way to the private airfield that Ranger kept the Rangeman jet, no worries about their weapons this way. He had called the flight crew from his office so they should be getting the jet ready by the time they made it there. He would be in Vegas in four and half hours and be with Stephanie in five. By 10 p.m. he would be holding his Babe.
Steph nodded at Jonesy through the door window and took off down the dirt road toward Arizona. She knew it would take her four hours to drive to the compound. She plugged her iPod into the stereo and hit playlist one, then repeat. This was her special playlist; it played only one song, over and over again. She started out singing along with Corey Taylor but before long, she was screaming it.
Bury all your secrets in my skin
Come away with innocence and leave me with my sins
The air around me still feels like a cage
And love is just a camouflage for what resembles rage again
So if you love me let me go
And run away before I know
My heart is just too dark to care
I can't destroy what isn't there
Deliver me into my fate
If I'm alone I cannot hate
I don't deserve to have you
Ooh, my smile was taken long ago
If I can change I hope I never know
I still press your letters to my lips
And cherish them in parts of me that savor every kiss
I couldn't face a life without your lights
But all of that was ripped apart when you refused to fight
So save your breath, I will not care
I think I made it very clear
You couldn't hate enough to love
Is that supposed to be enough?
I only wish you weren't my friend
Then I could hurt you in the end
I never claimed to be a saint
Ooh, my own was banished long ago
It took the death of hope to let you go
So break yourself against my stones
And spit your pity in my soul
You never needed any help
You sold me out to save yourself
And I won't listen to your shame
You ran away, you're all the same
Angels lie to keep control
Ooh, my love was punished long ago
If you still care don't ever let me know
If you still care don't ever let me know
At 8:12 she pulled over and watched the sunset. She wanted to see it since she figured it was her last one. She closed her eyes, tilting her head back taking a deep breath. Her head came forward until her chin was touching her chest as she exhaled. She opened her eyes looking up through her lashes and turned her head in the direction of the compound. Her voice was soft but truly evil.
"Ready or Not, here I come."
#######
Ranger stepped out of the elevator on the 22nd floor and headed to the left. He stopped in front of her door. His hand laid flat on the surface and he knew she wasn't there. He could just feel it. He turned the knob after Lester picked the lock, the door propped open with his boot. He could smell the cleaning solution in the air. Bleach was burning his nostrils as looked over the empty apartment. There was nothing missing but it had the feel of aloneness. It was empty of anything at all that would be Stephanie and it was now waiting for the next person to live here.
He saw the envelopes on the bar counter and raised his hand to hold everyone off. He looked over his shoulder and then around the room again.
"Touch nothing." He took the three steps to the counter and scooped up all the letters and walked out again pushing everyone out into the hallway. Ranger handed Tank his and Lula's letters and ripped open his own.
Lester saw his eyes scanning the page then turn to him.
"Find her second, Jonesy. He knows where she is and he is going to take us to her right fucking now." Lester hadn't heard that voice in a while. Not since the last screwed up mission they all were on in a Stan that shall remain nameless. Lester handed the phone to Ranger once Jonesy answered.
"Where is she?"
"Is this RCM?" Jonesy was being very cautious right now. Someone about an hour ago called looking for Stephanie saying they were her 'Boyfriend'. Stephanie had set it up with him that the only person he could give any info to was someone called 'RCM'.
"Yes." Ranger's voice kept getting lower and more guttural the more he had to wait. He knew that Stephanie was in trouble, serious fucking trouble.
"Tell me what she called you the one time and you know what I'm talking about." Ranger closed his eyes at the memory of laughing with her on top of him their one and only time making love. Every time he thought about it, it still made his lips curve up.
"Radio Controlled. Now, you are going to take me to her, right fucking now. "
"Come to the office, I'm monitoring her tracker as I'm talking to you and I think she might be in trouble. How many are with you so I can let them know downstairs?"
"Seven, but meet us at the airstrip. If I have to steal a fucking helio then I will but we need to get to her right now. She has no idea who she is going after."
"Just get here, we have our own, and trust me, she knows exactly who she is going after. How do you think she knows about them, man? Do you think she just pulled their names out of her ass? They had her. They had her for three fucking days man, so don't stand there and say she has no idea who she's fucking with, she knows them. But I think you are right; I think she's in trouble, her heart rate is erratic, and her blood pressure keeps spiking. Just get here!" Then Jonesy hung up.
#######
9:00 p.m.
Stephanie sighted the tower guards, taking a deep breath in she breathed out and pulled the trigger twice and watched as they fell just where she knew they would. The only way you would see the guards were down was if you walked up on them or above them in a helicopter and she knew that their helio was down due to mechanical problems.
Being here and so close to them was throwing her into her memories, she kept having to shake her head to get back to the here and now. She couldn't go back there right now. She blinked her eyes and all she could see was that room and herself.
Stephanie closed her eyes and was back there and thought again that she should have never gone after the skip. The address had been bogus and the men were there waiting for her to show up for this guy.
Eighteen Months, 1 day, 4 hours Ago
The room they had her cuffed in was bright, like she was standing in the noon day sun. It was never dark, no matter the time. One wall was made of mirrors just so she couldn't miss anything that was happening and was completely sound-proof.
First she had been hung up by her wrists and her clothes cut off with a scalpel. She had nicks on her shoulders and on each hip where he pressed down too hard to cut through the seams. She was in too much shock to even feel the slices, she couldn't believe she had been abducted again, only this time she had no idea why or who these men were.
There were five of them and they took turns torturing her, each one had a specialty.
The first was the one who just liked to hit, and in such a way as to give the most pain without leaving lasting damage.
This went on for a while; he only stopped when she puked from a gut punch. She had lost track of time, it wasn't like there was a clock or a timer to tell her how long each one had with her, she just knew they had her for three days.
The second man liked water and she didn't mean to play in.
She could now go to Congress and give first-hand testimony on the effectiveness of waterboarding on terrorists; and if they still didn't say what they knew, then they didn't know jack-shit. She would've confessed to killing Lincoln, if only he asked her any questions.
The third man liked to play Russian roulette.
The only good thing that came from that was Stephanie was no longer afraid of a gun, or death. She had looked it in the face, and in the beginning she had flinched, but by the twenty-sixth time the gun clicked empty, she no longer had any fear of the Grim Reaper coming for her.
The fourth man came in with a chair and a coke.
He sat in front of her and fed her the coke a sip at a time and begged her to just tell them what they wanted. Stephanie cried and told him that they never asked her any questions so she didn't know what they wanted with her. He just kept giving her sips of the soda and telling her to answer them. By time he left she was screaming in anger at him to shut up.
She thought she was broken but the last one was who destroyed her.
The fifth man loved knives.
The first two men came in and lifted her out the chair they had put her in and pushed her up against the wall and cuffed her to it by her raw and torn wrists and ankles. This was the first time she had seen them in a group and she noticed they all looked alike. She didn't know why but this was significant and she told herself she had to remember that for some reason.
He then sat in the chair she had just been in and looked at her for a while. Stephanie could feel the tears falling on her cheeks, but she didn't make a sound until he made the first cut; then she whimpered and closed her eyes. He would cut and wait for a while in that chair, watching as she bled. Then he would make another and wait. He sat in that chair twenty-three times, after the fifth slice she had stopped crying and just looked at the ceiling as he made his trips back and forth to the chair. At twenty-four he left instead of sitting down again.
She didn't know when it happened but at some point she fell asleep standing against the wall, hanging by her wrists. When she woke up that's when she changed. They dragged her to the middle of the room and laughed as she fought them. They stretched out her arms and nailed her arms down by the palms. She screamed every time the hammer hit the nail head. They had pinned her like a butterfly to a board. The hitter kicked her in the ribs and laughed as she tried to curl her body at the injury. They laughed again as they left her nailed to the floor.
She knew what she had to do because she was the only one that was going to save her this time. She screamed as she forced the nail through the back of her hands. Once she was free she found his knife and someone had been Mr. Helpful and left her a gun as well. She guffawed at being Ranger, she only needed one more gun for his prerequisite 'two guns and a knife' rule.
Stephanie jumped up from her sniper spot and unzipped her ghillie suit grabbed her rifle and jogged to the gates. She grabbed the dead man's walkie-talkie and leaned against the wall, raising the walkie to her ear, listening in. Now she knew where everyone in the compound was and answered in a low voice when someone asked for one of the six men she had already taken out.
Before she even registered the sound her gun was up and aiming in the direction the sound came from. She eased up on the trigger at the rabbit beside the wall looking at her. She holstered her gun and plugged in her earphone into the walkie and put it in her ear.
She looked both ways as she squatted down and started arming herself; extra clips went into her cargo pockets. She pulled her 45s and checked the clips making sure they were full. She stuck two more guns in her back waist band and wrapped a holster around her waist and then Velcro it to her thighs. She checked the two 9mm's and then holstered them in her thigh holsters. She slipped k-bars into each boot and slung her sniper rifle over her shoulder.
Stephanie's head bowed and her lips moved for a few seconds then she crossed herself. She grabbed her necklace out of her tank top and kissed it, putting it back where she always wore it, next to her heart. She took a deep breath and stood up, ready to face what ever happened in the next hour, whether it was her death or theirs.
11:30 p.m.
When they reached Las Vegas Bond and Security, Marcus and Jonesy were in the lobby waiting for them. Ranger nodded at them and followed behind the two men. Not caring where they were going as long as it led to him getting his Babe.
They ended up on the roof where a helicopter was ready and waiting on them to take off. Jonesy had told them on the elevator ride that her heart rate and blood pressure kept spiking in such a way that he had decided to have the helicopter waiting cause they were leaving to go get her. And if Ranger and the guys hadn't shown up in five more minutes he was leaving without them.
Ranger sat next to Jonesy and watched the iPad that showed Stephanie's vital signs. He'd seen this type of tracker before but it was only used on high profile dignitaries, like POTUS, for example. He knew it was out there in cost and he couldn't figure out how she was paying for everything that she had been getting.
He put the ear bud in his ear and took out her iPod and hit play on her playlist, the song that came up made him close his eyes and told the story of his life, he knew all the songs word for word now, he'd listened to them so much.
Bury all your secrets in my skin
Come away with innocence and leave me with my sins
The air around me still feels like a cage
And love is just a camouflage for what resembles rage again
Jonesy nudged his shoulder and Ranger took out the earbud.
"I don't know what happened between you two, but all I know is that she must love you beyond anything I've ever seen. She told me goodbye earlier today and it was the kind of goodbye that's very final, you get me? She doesn't think she's going to live through whatever she's doing for you."
"No one knew what she was doing out here. We all just thought she had moved away. I just wish I had known what happened to her. I don't understand why she never told me." Ranger replied, his fists clenching tighter in his knees.
Lester bumped his other shoulder and nodded at him.
"This is Beautiful we are talking about, 50 says she walks away from this with hardly a scratch."
Tank and Hector nodded they were in and Ram said 50 on her blowing the whole place up and it not being her fault.
The guys joking eased the tension as Ranger put the earbud back in his ear. He bowed his head and his lips moved silently, then he took out his necklace and kissed what was hanging from it letting it lay back against his heart where he had kept it for three years. His head tilted back as he looked at the roof of the helio and kept his hand on his heart trapping it in his palm.
They had been in the helio now for about an hour and half and everyone was getting tense. Jonesy yelled that we were closer gauging by the signal strength of the tracker, but that her vital signs were still all over the place; lots of spikes still going on.
Ranger leaned forward, looking out of the front windscreen and could see a glow on the horizon. Ten minutes later they were circling a massive house with two cars on fire in the courtyard, dead men on the towers surrounding the house. The large wooden gate was still closed and when Ranger leaned over Santos he could see a few dead bodies lying on the ground. He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer for Stephanie.
When the helio landed in the courtyard Ranger was the first one out, gun sweeping for anyone moving; but nothing was except his skin, it was crawling. He could feel something in the air but he couldn't put a name to it. It made the hairs on his arms stand up and his stomach turn.
He motioned Jonesy to get behind him and everyone closed around the two with their guns sweeping for anyone, alive that is. Jonesy motioned up using his chin and they all made their way upstairs. The house itself was very elegant with art on the walls that any museum would kill for. What was so unnerving was the lack of bodies and sound. It was too quiet and there didn't seem to be anyone here.
Jonesy led them all down hallways and through rooms until he grabbed Ranger's arm and nodded at a closed door. Stephanie was behind the door according to the tracker's system.
Ranger made a few hand signals, took a deep breath and grabbed the door handle; he felt the lock. Lester was there before Ranger even made a motion, taking about ten seconds to pop the door lock. Ranger closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he might find in the room.
The door smoothly opened three feet letting everyone come in, once again sweeping for danger, what they found made their arms fall and their mouths drop.
There were three men strapped to chairs, obviously dead from the head shots but what made them all stop and stare was the man nailed to the wall; and when they said nailed, they meant literally nailed to the wall.
His head was hanging loose on his neck and his body was loose so the only thing holding him up was the nails in his wrists. Bobby could see he was dead from the distance he was standing, mainly because of the blood pool at his feet. Ranger kicked over the one man on the floor then kicked the gun out of his hand. Everyone swiveled around to the door when they heard him mumbling.
"What Raul, what is it?"
"I'm sorry Ranger, I'm so sorry." He kept mumbling looking around the room.
When Ranger took a step toward him, his head exploded spraying Ranger and Tank with his brain matter, Raul's lifeless body dropping to the floor at their feet. Ranger blinked his eyes several times before he could bring the sight before him into focus. Her words snapped back into reality.
"I told you I would kill you last." The gun made a clinking sound on the tan ceramic tile floor beside her hip and into her blood. That's what snapped Ranger back, her blood.
"BABE!" He screamed as he slid in front of her seated form. Ranger could see she was losing too much blood and the pool under her was getting bigger.
"Hey Ranger." Stephanie said trying to smile at him.
"Oh God, Babe, you're gonna be ok. We're going to get you out of here and you'll be fine. Everything is going to be fine."
"Liar," she accused him and looked over his shoulder and tried smiling at the guys, "Hey guys," Her voice getting weaker and weaker as she got paler and paler.
Bobby and Marcus pushed everyone away and gently laid Stephanie on the floor to see her injuries better. Ranger kneeled at her head and brushed a few stubborn curls that had come out of her French braid.
He leaned down and kissed her gently on her lips, whispering in Spanish to her.
"I know I love you too, always remember, that I love you Carlos. I always loved you," she coughed out and blood bubbled out of the corner of her mouth. Ranger kissed her again laying his forehead on hers looking into her eyes.
"Babe, you can't leave me, understand? You can't leave me. I'll give you anything you want if you just stay with me. Just stay with me. See, look what I have? I got this for you about three years ago and I don't know why I didn't give it you." Ranger jerked the chain off around his neck snapping the gold links and slipping the three carat diamond ring on her ring finger as he begged looking down into her blue eyes that were fading.
"It's okay Carlos, it's okay." Stephanie winced and took a deep breath as Bobby and Marcus worked on her more rapidly yelling for stuff from Lester and Jonesy as Ram and Hector watched. Stephanie reached up and cupped Ranger's cheek, smearing her blood on him, trying to smile at him.
"Kiss me one last time, kiss me goodbye Ranger."
"Babe…" Ranger leaned down and pressed his lips gently to hers watching her close her eyes and felt her breath leave her body.
"I love you Babe." Ranger whispered against her lips and then laid his forehead on hers again closing his eyes, his tears mixing with the tears leaking out of hers and running into her hair.
He had never been so scared in his life and that said something, when he was the father of Stephanie Plum, as he hurried into the hospital and up to the information desk.
"Plum… Manoso… Plum" He yelled at the woman manning the desk and jumped when Tank appeared at his side grabbing his arm. Frank saw the look on his face.
"Oh God, where are they, where are they Tank?" Frank yelled as he looked at Tank.
Tank just shook his head and led Frank, Helen, and Grandma Mazur to Stephanie, and Ranger, who hadn't left her for even a second.
Snuff by SlipKnot
I wanted to thank everyone who has had anything whatsoever to do with me and this story. Yes, there is one last chapter… But I think it will be two epilogues… We will just have to wait see what my muse is willing to do… And who responds(lol)…