Disclaimer: I am not Janet Evanovich, nor do I own any of her characters.
The red lights read 3:14 in the morning. The night was never ending, yet never had a beginning either. There was no movement from the dark figure wrapped up on the bed. She simply stared at the clock, waiting for it to change. One lone tear fell down her face, disappearing under the top cover as it was pulled up to her nose. The red lights changed to 3:15 and an audible sigh escaped into the room. Forty more seconds before the clock would change again. The figure had been laying there all day, not eating, not sleeping and unaware of her immediate surroundings. Her mind was far away, only to come crashing back to her when one more tear fell down her face when the numbers changed to 3:16. Her phone rang for the fourth time that hour alone, yet it went unnoticed on the floor, where it had dropped. There must of been countless voice mails left on the phone, but they would only fall upon deaf ear when finally listened to.
Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter extraordinaire, rolled over in bed and watched the moon light glint off her gun laying on the bedside table. It was no longer in her cookie jar for the many long nights of hearing scratching at her door, rustling at her window and the creaking of her fire escape pushed her to carry her firearm with her to bed. Of course, whenever she checked to see what was going on, there was never anything there, but she never felt safe in her own apartment anymore. Not after finding Lula on her fire escape, having skips break into her apartment, and Benito Ramirez leaving her notes on her bedroom window. With Joe Morelli, vice cop, out of the picture and Ranger left out of the knowing, she was left with a predicament: alone, scared and forever broken.
Yesterday was the day Stephanie Plum was supposed to become Mrs. Joseph Morelli. Yesterday was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Yesterday was supposed to be her new beginning. She had accepted her new role as house-wife, giving up her job as a bounty hunter the week before. Ranger had yet to be notified of her off-duty position with Vinnie, but Stephanie was sure he would understand soon enough. Ranger knew everything except for her desire to be with him. He continuously pushed her back towards Morelli, not acknowledging that she wasn't completely happy with him. Ranger told her it was for the best and she had to take him at point-blank, knowing that Ranger would never lie to her. Yesterday, she was supposed to be married and moved in with Morelli. The day did not happen the way Stephanie had envisioned it.
Two nights ago, Stephanie was surprised by a knock on her apartment door close to midnight. After looking through the peephole and recognizing the visitor, she opened the door with a soft smile on her face. After letting them into her apartment, closing and locking the door, did everything change. Stephanie found herself backed into a corner without seeing a way out, not knowing how it came to this. Her life would never be the same after that night. That night was the night that Stephanie Plum broke, never wanting to heal again.
A/N: I have finally broke out of my cocoon of writer's block and have an idea of where to go with this story. Please press the magical green button as I will not update until there are five beautiful reviews for me. The more reviews, the faster I write, and I encourage ideas to put into the story as I love getting feedback! (This will only be posted once, as well as my disclaimer. For every consecutive chapter, there will need to be five reviews! Thanks)
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