I use them for fun and not for profit.

Chapter 3

Light spilled out of Stephanie's office. The floor was deserted except for her. She'd started in on her day's work at four p.m. and she was still busy sorting through papers at seven. Ranger opened the stairway door and paused as he saw the yellow square of illumination reflected on the carpet. He looked at his watch. The idea of getting a little paperwork done before he called it a day vanished as he walked toward her office.

She didn't glance up from her task, but they both knew she was aware of him. It had been ignored for years, but the awareness between them was still there. It was an appetite that hadn't been fed, but neglect hadn't lessened their innate knowledge of one another's presence.

"You're working late tonight," he said. "Is Morelli on night duty? I'd have thought you'd want to be home with the husband." She kept her eyes firmly focused on the screen in front of her.

"I have a job to do," she said. "And since I was doing your job today I didn't have a chance to start my work until late."

"My work?" he was perplexed. What did she mean? He waited, but when no further explanation was forthcoming he walked in and sat in the chair facing her desk.

"My work?" he asked again. "What were you doing?"

"As if you didn't know," she said. "I spent the morning showing Julie and Scott around RangeMan, helping her find a job and helping them find a place to live. This afternoon I got them moved out of your apartment and I helped them move the rest of their meager belongings from their car and get settled in their new place, and then…" she stopped to draw in a deep breath, "we went shopping. They have two days to honeymoon in their new place before Scott leaves."

"Stephanie," Ranger said, "I asked you to give them a quick tour of the building and a brief explanation of the inner workings of RangeMan. I didn't ask you to organize their lives." He felt guilty with the lie. He'd wanted her to do everything she'd said, but he didn't admit it. He hoped she'd been able to find Julie employment someplace acceptable. Julie needed a job that would send her straight back to her mother after a few miserable weeks. The personal products plant would be good, or maybe the Tasty Pastry was hiring.

"You didn't?" she asked. "I'm sorry then, if I've stepped on your toes. I didn't know you planned to spend the day welcoming your daughter to Trenton and helping her get settled in." He heard the sarcasm in her voice and ignored it.

"She was old enough to run away from home and get married," he said. "She's old enough to take care of herself."

"That's bullshit, Ranger, and you know it," Stephanie said. "Someone needed to guide them in the right direction and you planned for me to do it all along. And you don't even have to admit it, because we both know it's the truth."

Okay, it was the truth and he wasn't going to admit it. He wasn't comfortable showing Julie around RangeMan. Most of the older guys knew of her existence, but he didn't talk about her, ever. Julie had been the result of a mistake, and he gave thanks Rachel had the maturity to raise the child he'd walked away from. He'd made sure there was money for Rachel and the child and, in the lean early years, that hadn't always been easy. The legal, financial and moral commitment he could deal with. The emotional commitment had been beyond him at that young age. He wanted to be proud of Julie, but he hadn't had any hand in the young woman she'd become. All the credit went to Ron and Rachel.

She was their daughter, not really his in the true sense of the word. If he'd needed any proof of that, Julie had given it to him last night. She'd showed up with a husband, telling a story of her mother's disapproval. Scott had talked to Ron about the marriage, but no one had considered Ranger's opinion, because he wasn't the father. He'd have stood firm with Rachel for a number of reasons. He loved Julie and even though he hadn't been a large part of her life he stood in solidarity with the decisions of her mother. He didn't like it that she'd run to him after her parents, her mother specifically, had disapproved of her actions.

"Connie will start training her sometime later this week," he heard Stephanie say and with a jolt he pulled his mind back to the present. His heart was thumping a staccato rhythm as he heard her words, but his body remained motionless. Then he slowly extended his knees and stretched his legs in front of him. He rested his elbows on the chair arms and he steepled his fingers in front of his face. He resisted the urge to look at Stephanie, and instead concentrated on his fingers.

"You gave her a job at RangeMan?" he asked, quietly interrupting her.

"Connie hired her for an open position," Stephanie said. He could hear the quick rise of anger in her short clipped tones and he imagined the color was high in her cheeks, but he wouldn't look. She was sensing he was ungrateful for everything she'd done and she was getting angry at his implied censure. But he was angry, too.

"Who gave you the authority to hire my daughter?" he asked.

"You are not listening, Ranger. Connie hired her, not me, but since you asked, I have the authority to hire. I hired two part-time researchers last month without your knowledge, but with your full approval. Julie will be working in the office, helping Lula and I doubt if anyone will even realize she's your daughter."

Stephanie's voice was coming from directly in front of him. He lowered his hands to stare straight ahead, into her midriff. She'd moved from the chair behind the desk to stand in front of it, in front of him. Her breath was heaving and he could tell she was in full blown temper mode. "You might as well know the rest, Ranger. I moved them into the smaller apartment on six and arranged to have the rent withheld from her paycheck. I tried to let them have it for free, but Scott insisted they pay their own way."

"You did what?" He stood and their bodies were just inches apart. He was fucked. He'd only wanted to grant Julie's wish to spend some time with Stephanie. He'd thought she'd find them a place out of the way, in a quiet neighborhood, and a dead end job in the Burg. Stephanie had jumped in with both feet and taken care of everything. His plan to manipulate his daughter into returning to Miami to be close to her mother had backfired, and he was pissed, both at Stephanie and himself. If he was honest with himself, he knew it had been Julie's goal to work at RangeMan. If there was anyone to be angry with it was himself, not Stephanie.

She looked good, he thought, momentarily forgetting his temper. He'd provided Stephanie with a job where she would be safe, after she'd married Morelli. Part of him was altruistic and part of him was selfish, because even though she was married, or maybe because she was married, he needed to see her. And for six years he'd seen her, but he could count on one hand the times they'd been this close. They both made it a point to avoid any kind of physical contact. Hell, she was married, or at least she pretended to be. He shouldn't do it, but he reached out a hand and pushed a curl behind her ear. It sprang forward and his stomach did a little flip. They were alone on the floor. The rest of the building was populated with various RangeMan personnel, but the fifth floor was empty. He reached out and wrapped his hand around her upper arm.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked. She was trying to maintain her mad, but he saw the desire in her eyes. It had been six years since she left, and he ached to pull her against him. "Joe t-trusts you," she said.

Ranger shook his head. "Joe isn't a good excuse, Babe. We both know that."

She looked deeply into his eyes and pulled her arm free of his hand. "You know," she said. "How long have you known?"

"Two years," he answered. "Since the day Albert Kloughn filed your divorce papers."

"Two years!" she said unbelievingly. "Albert said he could keep it quiet and he has. No one knows. You really expect me to believe you've known all along?"

"I have known."

"Why am I just now hearing about this?"

"Because you're still living with Morelli, and Morelli's not being discreet any longer." She swung around her desk and unmindful of the open programs hit the power switch on the computer. She looped the handles of her purse over her forearm and tried to push past Ranger.

"My life is none of your business. Get out of my way," she said. He didn't move. She stepped to the side and so did he. She looked at him unblinking and in a move he almost didn't see coming, she raised her knee. Eight years ago that knee had been lethal to any number of skips, but he knew her well and he blocked the oncoming knee. He used her unbalanced stance to pull her close against him, so she couldn't try again. He felt the familiar stirring in his groin and considered for a moment before he released her. She almost stumbled in her attempt to step back, but he let her put space between them. He couldn't go there, and he didn't think she wanted him to.

"Stephanie," he said. She ignored him and walked around him. "Babe, please." She stopped and swiveled to face him. There was silence, and a magnetic pull between them. They had been lovers a lifetime ago and they'd been friends. Now they were neither, but the current between them was still strong. He saw her shoulders heave with her deep breath and watched her as she silently turned and walked away.

He stepped out of her office and quietly made his way back to his own. The desire to get work done had totally left him, but he needed to sit for a while and contemplate on Julie's arrival and the apology he needed to make to Stephanie.

He heard the stairwell door open and stopped where he was standing, in the doorway of his office. Stephanie had her head down and she was walking quickly toward him.

"I've got more to say to you," she told him as she stopped in front of him. She glanced briefly to the right and left and seemed satisfied they were alone. "No one knows Joe and I have been divorced for over two years. We're getting ready to make public the news that we are no longer together. I need your word that you won't say anything to anyone."

"You don't need my word," Ranger said. "I don't make a habit of sharing what I know with anyone who isn't immediately involved."

"It seems to me," Stephanie said, "you do make a habit of poking your nose into my business. You are not immediately involved in my life, unless my job here as head of research is just a ploy so you can track my movements?"

"Do you think I would have kept you as an employee all this time, to track your movements?" His voice was harsh, cutting. He had a need to bite back. "I don't need you to work for me in order to know what's going on in your life. You're the head of research, Stephanie. You of all people should know how easy it is to learn people's secrets."

Stephanie moved past him in the hallway and began pacing back and forth in the narrow confines, and then she turned. She looked him full in the face. "I don't understand you, Ranger. I spent a great deal of today thinking about the time when Julie was kidnapped by Scrog. I saw him shoot you and I know you let that happen to protect Julie and me. That's when I knew for sure I loved you, and you loved me."

Ranger stood and watched her and said nothing in response. He wasn't sure what to say in any case, but he knew she wasn't done. He wasn't sure what point she was trying to make so he let her finish.

"You made sure I knew, Ranger, there was no future for us. For two years I waited and you never changed your story. And Joe, good old Joe, came to the rescue. He gave me an ultimatum. 'I know you love me, Stephanie,' he said, 'so marry me. I need a wife and I want you to be my wife, but if you don't want to marry me then we're through'."

Ranger watched as Stephanie's arms rose and fell and her hands punctuated every sentence. "So I did what I thought was best. I married one of the men I was in love with. And the other man stepped forward to give me a job."

"I gave you a job," Ranger said, "because I knew Morelli would want you to be safe and I knew you'd be safe working at RangeMan."

"You gave me a job and then you acted like I didn't exist," Stephanie said. "I don't understand why you were angry when I married Joe. You didn't want me. You made that clear. And I don't understand why for six years you have totally ignored me at work. I thought we were friends, Ranger. How did I ruin that?"

"You were married." Ranger took a step toward her and she backed away. He let her have her space. "Morelli wasn't the only one that wanted you to have a job where you'd be safe. How the hell did you want me to act? You belonged to another man. And you didn't come to me when that changed, Babe. You let everyone believe you were still married to Joe."

"We had our reasons for staying together after we divorced," she said. "I can't, and I wouldn't even if I could, talk about that with you." She looked at him with eyes shadowed with pain. "I never did understand you, Ranger." This time when she turned away she ran to the stairwell door, and Ranger was left alone.

He went into his office and sat at his desk wondering what the hell had just happened. He heard the stairwell door open again and looked up, sure it would be Stephanie, but it wasn't.

R.C. Madrid walked toward him, a lanyard with a visitor tag hanging from his neck. Ranger stood and walked into the empty hallway to greet him. "I wasn't expecting you for a couple of days," Ranger said to him. What he didn't say was he wasn't in the mood for any conversation. He buried his mood behind a blank face and did what he was very good at, he forgot the altercation with Stephanie and gave his full attention to R.C. Madrid.

The men stood quietly, assessing one another. It was unspoken, but they both saw it. They were the same height and Ranger would have guessed they were within five pounds of being the same weight. Same hair color, eye color and same skin tone. Ranger knew from reading Madrid's bio, they were both Cuban-American. Madrid was younger, by almost ten years, and he could have easily passed himself off as Ranger's brother.

"My last assignment wrapped up a little earlier than I expected, and I want to get this job started," R.C. said. "What the hell was the tornado that spun by me on the stairs on my way up?"

"Stephanie Morelli."

"Ahh, so that's the infamous Bombshell Bounty Hunter." R.C.'s grin showed perfect white teeth and his eyes crinkled as his smile expanded.

Ranger lifted an eyebrow. "You do your homework," he said.

"I bumped into Lester Santos earlier today. I introduced myself, but didn't give him any back story. I had questions and he was in a talkative mood. I told him you'd hired me to work as a private investigator and bounty hunter for RangeMan. He gave me the rundown on several of the guys, not just Stephanie Morelli."

Ranger's gaze was direct. "You've been listening to war stories from Santos?"

"Santos told me quite a bit," Madrid said. "He said Stephanie Morelli had no skills to speak of, but unbelievable instincts and good luck, and that her capture rate is still the record high." Ranger stayed quiet while Madrid recounted his conversation, remembering Stephanie Plum. He kept the enjoyment of hearing Madrid's interpretation of Lester's account buried deep behind his expressionless façade.

"Did they really have lottery pools to guess the date of her next car explosion?"

"They did," Ranger said. "They were never sanctioned by me, though, because it was usually one of my cars she was driving." He was quiet remembering the fear and then gratitude she always exhibited when she told him she'd destroyed another of his cars.

"Then the stories are true?" R.C. asked, "About the Bombshell Bounty Hunter?"

"There is probably some grain of truth in what you heard," Ranger said. "If Santos was the one talking there may have been some embellishment. I should warn you, she's never liked the name, or its diminutive, Bomber. She tolerates it at best."

"I'm looking forward to getting to know her," R.C. said.

Ranger didn't respond but asked, "You wanted to talk to me about?" Indicating he was done with the subject of Stephanie Morelli. R.C. had a surprise for him. It was Stephanie he was here to talk about. They walked, in silent accord, into Ranger's office to continue their conversation.

R.C. Madrid. He'd told everyone the R.C. stood for nothing. That he had no traditional first or middle name. The truth was he shared names with his pseudo-employer, but Ricardo Carlos Madrid preferred that fact to remain unknown. He shared enough in common with Mañoso as it was. He was content to let the men call him R.C., or maybe he'd acquire a nickname. The men of RangeMan had a propensity for nicknames, apparently.

"I want to talk to you about Stephanie Morelli," he told Ranger.

"Stephanie?" Ranger asked.

"Yeah. I'm assuming you are going to use the backstory we came up with. I'm being hired as a PI, but I'll start by doing a little skip tracing to get my feet wet in the corporation."

"Yes," Ranger said. "I plan on sharing your real identity on a need to know basis, but probably with my core group. Tank already knows you come with a hidden agenda. What does this have to do with Stephanie?"

"I want to use her to help me with a skip," R.C. said. "She knows the population of the Burg and the geography like the back of her hand, or so I'm told."

"Part of the agreement when Stephanie came to work here was that she wouldn't do any field work. She hasn't done any in six years."

"She's kept her BEA credentials up to date," R.C. said. Again, Ranger raised an eyebrow.

"I have resources." R.C. closed the office door ensuring complete privacy for himself and Ranger. "I did a little research on RangeMan in preparation for my time here. You could say I did my homework."

"There is an FTA that came across your office manager's desk this morning," R.C. continued. "Tinley Hicks. Tinley is old time Burg. He graduated high school in the same class as Stephanie's husband. He has siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles all living in the Burg. And Tinley's business partner is…"

"Naldo Montara," Ranger said.

"You know this?" R.C. was surprised.

"I have resources," Ranger told him, "and I do my homework, too."