Notes and Disclosures: If the characters seem familiar it's because they probably are! I've taken the setting and several characters from the amazing Plum World given to us by Janet Evanovich and taking them for a spin of my own.
A/N: This is the sixth installment to my Alyssa Chau Series and takes place right after "Deuces, Baby"
I want to thank those that have been sticking with me through the different stories and adventures. =)
WARNING: You're going to hate Ranger in this story. I still love him tons but he's going to be a major douche-canoe in this one. Don't say I didn't warn ya!
Chapter 1
"And how is that working for you?" the older woman, with the graying hair tied in a tight bun asked me.
"It's working fine," I muttered in annoyance as I shifted on the plush black leather couch.
She gave me a slight head nod as if to say, "Yeah right," and began scribbling in her notepad.
This woman would be Dr. Patricia Francesco, my therapist. Rangeman brought her in to meet with me twice a week for the past six months since my kidnapping. I was only required to see her for six weeks but the bitch told Tank that I needed further counseling so here I fucking am half a year.
So who am I? I'm Alyssa Chau, the ticking time bomb. A string of bad luck seems to follow me. But to contradict myself, I tend to have a string of good luck to help me get out of the sticky situations I usually get myself into.
I'm a career bounty hunter and part-time Rangeman employee. Rangeman is a private security firm run and owned by my mentor and used to be friend, Ranger. Once upon a time I also tried to describe the sticky and complicated relationship tango with Ranger as my one-time lover but now I just realized that's all he is to me – mentor and employer, nothing more.
He took me under his wing and helped me when I started out as a Bounty Hunter then when I was having a bout of financial strife he gave me a job with his company.
You're probably now wondering what this sticky tango I'm talking about with him now that I've mentioned it, right? Let's just say that Ranger was forged from the majestic mountains erected by the Gods to be put on this Earth as a sexy Rambo-esque superhero.
I'm not really quite sure if he's human. That has yet to be determined. I once thought that Ranger and I shared some sort of hidden passionate love for each other but after he left six months ago, I realized that it was never really true.
I can't even seem to count on him as a friend anymore. So what happened? I'll tell you what happened just like I've been telling this condescending bitch what happened for the past 6 months!
I was kidnapped, not once but twice, by my former Rangeman partner, Deuce. Who was assigned to me by Ranger. This new partner of mine turned out to have some sort of sick vendetta out against Ranger and decided to use me as his collateral to help him punish Ranger. So he kidnapped and abused me for a couple of weeks. Turned out that was six weeks pregnant with Ranger's baby and lost it. End of story.
Yes, my trust in the Merry Men (what I enjoy calling Ranger's band of muscle bound men in black that work for him) and Ranger was slightly damaged but I've come to terms that people cannot predict the actions of others. It's no one's fault but Deuce's ill-conceived actions.
Yes, I was traumatized by what I had to go through. At some point during my capture, I wanted to give up and let go but I came to my senses and my survivor mode kicked in.
Yes, I still have nightmares of what happened to me. I've been through several horrifying situations throughout my life. This just happens to be my most recent episode and the top of my horrifying list but I'm ready to move past it and get on with my life.
But I can't do this having to see this bitch on a constant basis. I feel like she's trying to pry into my life. She wants to go beyond the realm of my incident. She wants to discuss my childhood, my parent's death, growing up orphaned, my non-existent relationship with Ranger, the loss of my baby…
What baby? I'd repeatedly ask her when she asked. I know that it's my denial kicking in but this is how I cope. I never knew I was pregnant with Ranger's baby at the time. I didn't know I even had something growing in my stomach until it was taken away from me. So to me it never existed.
I'm tired of talking about my feelings. I just want to move on. I don't want to analyze the major issues in my life. I'd rather roll around in a dumpster than to sit here and talk to this woman any longer.
"Is there anything you feel you're not sharing, Alyssa," she asked in that remanding know-it-all voice of hers.
"No there's nothing that I feel that I'm not sharing, Dr. Francesco," I answered her annoying question. I looked at my watch and stood up, "Well, look at the time. I know you're a busy woman, Dr. Francesco. I do appreciate your time coming here and all but I gotta get to work now. I'll have someone walk you out."
I shook her hand brusquely and left the confines of Ranger's office. Tank contracted her to come into Rangeman so that I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of driving downtown to her office twice a week. But we all knew the truth; he wanted to make sure I was actually making it to my appointments.
Stepping out into the hall, I almost slammed into a huge dinosaur of a man. "Hal!" I exclaimed enthusiastically at the man I warmly thought of as Halosaurus, as he was a giant that had muscles in places that you didn't even know you could grow muscles.
"Alyssa," he blushed, stepping back slightly. As scary as this man looked, he was the shyest of all the Merry Men. Makes me wonder if he's ever been with a woman.
"Would you be a doll and escort Dr. Francesco to her car?" I waved towards Ranger's office.
"I'd be happy to," he replied.
"Thanks," I smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and watched his face go up in flames.
I loved watching the Merry Men get uncomfortable since they were all a bunch of tough macho men and it was fun to watch them at their most vulnerable moments. It makes it easier to spot their human side.
I walked down to the elevator and hit the down button and stepped in. I haven't heard from Ranger since he left. Half a year has passed and not a single peep. No phone call. Not text. No card or singing telegram. He didn't even have the decency to tell me goodbye in person. He just left me a generic note, "In the wind," on the pillow next to where I was sleeping and slipped out in the night.
I spent the next two months crashing at Lester and Bobby's who begged me to move in with them permanently. As much as I wanted to take them up on their offer, I knew that it wasn't a healthy or realistic choice. I needed to get on with my life like normal.
So I moved back to my industrial-style apartment that everyone and their mothers seemed to know how to break into. But it was cozy to me, mostly elderly and retired people lived in my building. Most times it was quiet and nobody bothered me. My roommate Monster was low maintenance even though people keep telling me to toss him out with the trash.
Now before you go in shock from the horrifying thought. Monster would be my fern who had a lot of lovely character and class from his lovely brown and yellow highlights along the tips. You know women pay good money to get those types of highlights. Monster gets them for free.
But back on topic, the guys have been great. All of them have been an intense support system and with Ranger gone, I feel like everyone's relaxed enough to interact with me freely without the worries of pissing off the boss. And I have to admit being the only female employee in a company full of gorgeous men is an empowering feeling.
I've been spending a lot of my time with them outside of work and it's been great. I've never been the "hangout" type of girl before. My parents died when I was eleven and I was never adopted. So I kept to myself a lot growing up other than spending time at the local community center in Brooklyn. My passion is in street dancing. So I practiced and trained a lot with the boys growing up but never developed that many friendships.
So it wasn't that hard for me when I left for school and decided to start in a new town. And why I chose Trenton was just a fluke. But it's where I call home now. And I have the most wonderful people in my life. My best friend Misty Plum, whom I met working at E.E. Martin as a lingerie buyer forced her friendship on me.
She's the one that actually helped me get the job as a Bounty Hunter after I was laid off from E.E. Martin after the company merger. Her weasel faced cousin, Vinnie Plum, owns the bonds company that I work for full time.
I never in a million years would've thought that this is where my life would end up but honestly, I wouldn't change it for the world. Even after my many obstacles through this job, I still wouldn't trade it. I mean, sure I would do them differently…but my life is where I feel it should be at the moment…even with the current absence of Ranger.
Because who wouldn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous available men every day? On top of that they've been leaving nice little random gifts and notes at my door step and on my car the past few months. Who knew men could be so kind and thoughtful.
I rapped my knuckles on the black door rapidly and after two seconds the door swung open.
"I need to go now!" I said firmly to the gorgeous blond man with sky blue eyes before me.
"That bad, huh?" Binkie smiled and a cute little dimple graced me with its presence calling me to kiss it, but I've trained long and hard not to give into those urges.
Binkie would be one of the youngest of the Merry Men crew and it's been easy hanging out with him over the past few months. Lester and Bobby are my closest Rangemen friends but I often feel like they're trying to tiptoe around my feelings after everything that happened. I love them dearly but sometimes I just want to be normal and I can't be normal if I feel that there's judgement in the air between us.
Hasn't treated me any differently. Maybe it's because we never really were that close before but he's been the perfect getaway person when I just want to escape from the day.
"It's the same 'ole same 'ole every time! I'm sick of it," I rolled my eyes pushing past him and walked into his bedroom, rifling through his closet.
"If she's that bad, why not just ask Tank to find you a new therapist?" he called out from the door.
"Because that's just too much trouble and it wouldn't matter anyways. Therapists are all the same. They don't want to focus on the issue at hand. They always want more. What you give them is never enough."
"But that's their job. To uncover the underlying issues buried deep inside of you."
"I'm an open book. In fact, you could go down to the box office and buy a front row ticket to my life story if you want. There's no reason to uncover any underlying issues with me. It's a load of crap, and I don't need it. And if I just happen to have any underlying issues that even I don't know of myself, I'd prefer to keep those underlying issues buried deep down in the dark trenches never to be revealed," I grabbed what I was looking for and walked towards his open arms and tucked my face into his chest and breathed out a long and loud sigh.
"What I need right now is to get wet and I need to get wet now!" I said wrapping my arms around his waist and looking up into his beautiful blue eyes.
"Your wish is my command," he grinned and tossed me over his shoulder.
