Chapter 2

Sixteen months earlier

Stephanie heard the locks tumble on her door as she was putting on the finishing touches to this evening's distraction outfit. The halter top had a deep cowl neckline that further highlighted her Victoria's Secrets enhanced assets. The short denim skirt was only a couple of inches past indecent exposure and if she dropped anything tonight, it was going to have to stay on the floor or the whole world would see the black lace thong she was wearing. Her four inch wedge sandals only accentuated long smooth legs that seemed to go on forever. The messy, just fucked hair and slut makeup were just right for the look she was going for on this job.

As she walked out of the bedroom and into the living room she rummaged through the hobo bag she was taking to make sure she had her pepper spray and stun gun just in case. She glanced up at Ranger and started to say hello but the words caught in her throat at the look of pure hunger on his face. His chocolate eyes were dilated to black and the expression on his face could only be described as feral.

Suddenly feeling either brave or foolish, Stephanie smiled and wet her glossy lips with the tip of her tongue. "Howdy stranger. Come here often?" she asked, in what she thought could pass for a sultry voice. Before she knew it, Ranger had engulfed her and backed her up against the wall. His hard thigh was pressed between her legs and there wasn't room for a piece of paper between their bodies. Then, with agonizing slowness, he lowered his mouth to hers and began to kiss her. The kiss was gentle at first, but then his tongue urged her mouth open and he began to consume her. When they finally came up for air, Stephanie realized she was grinding herself against his thigh. If the kiss had lasted just a few more seconds she would have completely embarrassed herself with a Ranger thigh induced orgasm.

"Playing with fire, Babe."

With that, he slowly pulled away and pulled out the small case containing the wire Stephanie would wear for tonight's distraction. Stephanie held out her hand for the wire but he just gave her a small smile and moved closer. His hands slipped up under the front of her shirt to place the wire under her Victoria given talents. Once the wire was placed, he ran his thumb across her taut nipple before lazily trailing his fingertips down her abdomen. The light touch reignited the fires that were just starting to die down from the earlier kiss. He gave her one more quick kiss and said "Let's roll."

Victor Konner had been arrested for sexually assaulting two separate women on the same night. The first woman had been raped at knife point while her three year-old slept in the next room. Fortunately, Victor had not known the little girl was in the next room or the whole nightmare would have been even worse. The woman was afraid to fight or make a noise and wake up her daughter. The lack of resistance left Victor feeling unsatisfied, so he made sure his next victim gave him the satisfaction of fighting and screaming as he worked his "magic" on her with both ends of a 10" hunting knife. How someone as deprived and dangerous as Victor Konner was ever released on bail was beyond belief, but it happened. Victor had violated his bail and now Rangeman about to bring the scumbag back into the system.

The Black Hole was a dive bar near the docks in Newark where Victor liked to hang out, drink beer and shoot pool. The team from Rangeman met up at a warehouse near the docks to set-up for the take down. The plan was to have Lester and Hector inside before Stephanie entered. Ranger and Tank would be in front, Ram and Hal would be in back. Because they hadn't been able to get a man in place behind the bar, Stephanie would stick to bottled beer to lessen the chance of being drugged. As Ranger finished reviewing the plan he caught Steph's eye. She was chewing on her lower lip like she did when she was worried.

"What is it, Babe?"

"I'm not sure. My spidey sense is going spastic but I think it's just nerves. This guy is a monster and I want him off the streets before he can cause any more harm."

Les through an arm over her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry, Beautiful. We've got your six."

As the teams headed out, Ranger and Steph slipped into the black Ford F150 they had driven up from Trenton. They drove the short distance to the parking lot beside the bar and parked in the far corner where the street lights didn't reach. He gave her a questioning look and she gave him a small smile and nodded her head. She was ready. "Go get em, Tiger."

As Steph entered the bar she was struck but the overwhelming smell of stale beer and stale bodies. Hector was over near the pool table watching the game and drinking a beer. Les was hunched on a bar stool at the corner of the bar, sitting at an angle so he could see down the length of the bar and into the pool area. Stephanie walked to the middle of the bar and settled herself onto the barstool before turning to the bartender and ordering a beer. The bartender's eyes started at the tips of her toes and traveled up the length of her endless legs before finally reaching her face. He knew there was no way in hell a girl like that comes into a Hole like this one and knew this would mean trouble. He popped the cap off her beer and set it on the bar in front of her.

"Whatever you're looking for, it isn't here. Drink your beer and then leave before your night gets extremely ugly."

Stephanie raised her beer and tipped it in the direction of the bartender to acknowledge his warning. As she sat at the bar, she watched her target in the mirror behind the bar. In the mirror, Stephanie saw when the target noticed her at the bar. He had just finished his game of pool and his beer at the same time and was making his way over towards the bar. She did her best to keep from tensing up, but she couldn't help but jump when Victor laid his hand on her back.

"Bartender, I'll take another draft and one for the lady as well."

Stephanie turned her barstool to subtly remove his hand from her back and gave him a bright, fake smile. "Thank you. I'm Steph."

"How about I just call you Gorgeous? I'm Victor. What is an angel like you doing in a hell hole like this?"

"I was supposed to meet some friends at some rave club down by the docks but could never find the party so I thought I'd stop in for a quick drink before I head home. All dressed up and nowhere to go wasn't working for me. I came out looking to party so now I'm just looking in a different spot."

Victor smiled at that. "I know where we can find a party like you've never experienced before," he said with a smirk. It was all Stephanie could do not to cringe as Victor lightly stroked her bare arm with his fingertips. Stephanie wondered how any woman would ever fall for a line like that but gave Victor another bright smile.

"Count me in. Let's get out of here and start having a night to remember." As Stephanie slid off the stool, Victor put his hand on the small of her back and started directing her toward the back door.

"Why are we going this way?"

"My car is parked out back so I don't have to worry about any of the drunk fucks ramming into it when they pour themselves out of the bar."

Before they got to the back door, Victor suddenly pushed Stephanie through an open door to the left, out of sight from the bar. Before she realized what was happening, Victor had her shoved up face first against the wall with his hand over her mouth and nose and a knife held tight against her face. As he leaned his body against her she could feel his excitement building as he ground himself into her backside. He very quietly whispered in her ear. "I know who you are Miss Bounty Hunter bitch. How stupid do you think I am? I also know you are wired and your boyfriends are listening, so I'll make this fast. This is just a taste of what I'm going to do to you when we have some time alone to party." With those words, he dug the knife into the side of her face. Stephanie screamed into his hand as the blade sliced through her cheek and hit bone.

When the feed from Stephanie's wire got quiet, Ranger barked into the comm "Report". Lester answered "They headed out toward the back exit." Ram responded "They have not come out the back." As soon as they heard that, Lester and Hector ran for the back exit.

"We need medical. Steph's down. There is an open window in the store room that he must have escaped through. The bastard has a knife. Watch your backs."

Even as Lester finished his sentence, Ranger was coming through the door. He knelt down beside Stephanie to determine how badly she was hurt. Finding only the injury on her face, he was relieved that she was alive and wasn't going to die because he had fucked up and let her get hurt. He listened to the search for Victor through his ear piece as he tried to wake Stephanie up. It didn't sound like Victor had knocked her unconscious, but she could have hit her head when she passed out from the pain. He felt around her scalp as best as he could without touching her damaged cheek and discovered an egg sized knot on the side of her head.

Tank showed up beside him with the first aid kit from his car. Ranger waved smelling salts beneath her nose and Stephanie startled awake.

"Shhh, lay still. I've got you. You're safe. You've got a cut on your face and probably have a concussion from hitting your head when you passed out but other than that, you're ok." Ranger didn't want to tell her the cut on her face was down to the bone and that she would most likely need plastic surgery to repair the damage Victor had done.

"Did you get the bastard?" Tank asked.

"Not yet. He slipped out through this window but they're hunting him now. He won't get far."

The bartender came through the door and turned white at the sight of Stephanie laying with her face in a pool of blood. "You're better off loading her up and driving her to the hospital if you can. Emergency services don't make us a priority, if they come at all."

Ranger nodded to acknowledge what the bartender had said and began to make a compress with the sterile gauze from the kit. He gently rotated Stephanie's head until she was laying on her undamaged right cheek and used the sterile pad to push the flap of skin back over her left cheek. He used surgical tape to secure the gauze to her face before trying to move her.

"I'm going to pick you up and carry you out to the truck. I'm going to be as careful as I can but it may hurt when I start moving you. Just hang on, Babe," and with that, he slowly lifted her and carried her as gently as possible out through the back door where someone had moved his truck. He slid into the passenger side holding Stephanie carefully on his lap as Tank jumped into the driver's side and spun gravel as he took off into the night.

The hospital in Newark was similar to St. Francis, the hospital where Stephanie's misadventures usually landed her. The only difference was that the nurses in Newark didn't know the Rangeman guys were considered family, which created a bit of confusion about who exactly was allowed back into her room to see her as she was waiting to be seen. Whether it was out of fear or lust, the duty nurse finally allowed Ranger to go back to Stephanie's room to check on her. She was resting with her eyes closed when Ranger silently enter her room. He made a small noise so he wouldn't startle her. Stephanie slowly opened her eyes and tried to bring his beautiful face into focus, but that was proving to be more challenging that it should be.

"Yo." she said softly.

"Yo yourself. How are you doing?"

"I want to get stitched up and go home. I hate hospitals but at least in Trenton I know the nurses. Here I've got no leverage."

"You'll be going home soon, but it will probably be a couple of days before they release you. The doctor will want to monitor you for concussion. I'll get you out of here just as soon as I can."

Just then, the doctor came into the room and looked from Stephanie to Ranger. "Good evening. I'm Dr. Simons and I'm going to take a look at that cut and get you stitched up. I'm guessing the lady in the bed is Ms Plum so you must be Mr. Plum?" he said looking at Ranger.

A very unladylike snort escaped from Stephanie as Ranger replied "Please call me Carlos." without correcting the doctor of his incorrect assumption.

"Ok, Carlos. I'm going to be suturing your wife in just a few minutes when the nurse arrives with the suture kit. I'd like to ask you to wait out in the lounge and I'll send someone out to find you once we are done."

He didn't want to leave Stephanie, but he knew it would only delay her treatment if he tried to stay. When the nurse came through the door with the kit, he bent down and gave Stephanie a kiss on the top of her curls and said "I'll see you soon."

When he returned to the waiting room, he found Tank, Lester and Hector in the room. Hector handed Ranger her bag just as her cell phone sounded. Ranger pulled it out and saw the cop had called and texted her repeatedly. Just then, Ranger's cell chirped. Knowing who was calling, Ranger said nothing as he picked up the call.

"Where the fuck is Stephanie?" Morelli demanded angrily.

"We are at St. Michael's Medical Center in Newark. Steph was hurt in the take down and is getting stitched up now. They are going to keep her at least overnight, possibly two."

Morelli disconnected without another word. Ranger turned to his men and barked "Report."

Tank spoke up immediately. "Victor Konner was located a couple of blocks from the bar and taken into custody. He is in rough shape but should survive the trip back to Trenton with Hal and Ram."

What was left unsaid was the damage that had been inflicted on Victor when he was located was permanent, and he would never be hurting Stephanie or any other woman again.

The waiting room was quiet as each of the Rangemen went into their zone. Nothing more was said until Joe Morelli walked into the waiting room an hour later. He stalked over to Ranger and growled "You fucking psycho. What did you do to her?"

Ranger remained completely still without showing a bit of emotion, just staring back at Joe. Only someone who knew Ranger understood how much danger Joe Morelli was currently in. If Ranger lost control now, Joe would be dead. Tank spoke softly from the side "Joe, I know you're angry but you really need to take a step back. Steph is going to be ok. She has a cut on her face that is being stitched up now and has a concussion from hitting the floor when she passed out."

Thankfully, the nurse came into the room and distracted Joe from Ranger. She informed them that Stephanie had been moved to a private room and that her husband could go in to see her for just a few minutes now, and they were all welcome to come back in the morning when visiting hours started at 8:00 am. As soon as Joe heard that he spun around towards Ranger with disbelief on his face.

"Husband?"

Ranger turned and silently followed the nurse from the room while Tank was left to deal with the cop. They took the elevator up to the sixth floor and the nurse led him down the corridor to Steph's room. She was lying in bed with the left side of her face heavily bandaged.

"Because of the concussion, we aren't able to give her more than Tylenol for the pain. Once she has been cleared by the doctor, we will be able to give her something to be more comfortable while the laceration heals. The doctor will be in to speak with you in the morning if you have any questions. Please keep it brief."

As the nurse left the room, he bent over and kissed the top of her curls. He pulled a chair up close to the bed and took her hand in his. Stephanie stirred at his touch and gave his hand a quick squeeze.

"Did you find him?" she asked.

"Yes, my men found and neutralized him. He's still alive but won't be able to hurt anyone ever again."

"That's good to hear. He promised me this was just a taste of what he was going to do to me when we had more time to 'party'. How bad is it?"

"We won't know until it has had time to heal. The cut was clean so the scarring should be fairly smooth. However, it was deep. Until it heals, there is no way of knowing. If you decide you want to have plastic surgery on the scar, we will find you the best surgeon available. But don't worry about that now. You will always be beautiful, Babe. A scar isn't going to change that."

Stephanie lay there silently for a while and enjoyed the feeling of Ranger's hand in hers. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, only to be rudely awakened a few hours later while the nurse ran her through the concussion protocol. At first Stephanie thought Ranger had left, but as soon as the nurse left the room he moved out of the corner where he had been standing in the shadows. Stephanie smiled at the thought of Batman watching over her while she slept. Because it was so late by the time she had been placed in a room, the sun was up the next time she was awakened. Apparently Batman had an aversion to sunlight because he was not lurking in the shadows this time. However, he did reappear a short time after the nurse left with coffee and a contraband Boston cream donut.

"I thought you could use a bit of cheering up this morning."

Stephanie stared at the donut trying to figure out how she was going to eat. Because of the stitches and dressings on her face, she was only able to open her mouth a tiny way. Certainly not enough to shove a donut in. Ranger was using his ESP and pulled a knife and fork out of the donut bag. He set the donut on a napkin and cut it into tiny pieces. He then dipped each piece in the creamy custard before gently feeding it to her. The whole process was strangely intimate and Stephanie felt herself starting to get emotional. Obviously the events of the prior evening were starting to catch up.

Just as Ranger fed her the last bite of donut, there was a sharp rap on the door and Joe walked in. Ranger gathered up the trash from her breakfast, gave her hand a squeeze and said "Babe." Then he walked out of the room without saying a word to Joe.