Authors Note: It took me a little longer than planned, but I finally have another chapter for you. I'm still amazed that anyone would actually want to read my dribble. But hey, I'm not complaining.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Janet Evanovich, I am merely borrowing them and their world to do the bidding of my mind. I am making no profit from these chapters..

Don't Mess With the Village Elders

Chapter Three

"What are your plans for the day?" Lester asked as we sat at the breakfast table three days later. It was Saturday and we were enjoying a bit of quiet time, since Ari was still in bed. "You're not on call are you?"

"I was thinking of taking Ari to the park so she could run around a bit," he replied, stealing a bite of my cereal. "You wanna tag along? We could take a picnic, make a real day of it."

I narrowed my eyes at him, sliding my bowl further away from him and pushing his toast closer. "First of all, hands off my Froot Loops. Second, you mean you want me to make a picnic and trail behind you and our daughter while she absolutely ignores my presence? No thank you. Feel free to make your own sandwiches though."

"Daddy!" came a shrill cry from the other end of the house. Lester sighed and I grinned at him, my point practically made for me. "Daddy!" It came again closer this time. "Daddy!" This time she was in the kitchen doorway, staring straight at me, her little hands were fisted on her hips. "Daddy," she demanded.

I gave her one of my you've-got-to-be-kidding-me looks and said, "He's right over there, open your eyes and look."

She made a hurumph sound and practically flounced over to her father who willingly picked her up when she raised her arms. Ari trained her big green eyes on him and said, rather indignantly, "Daddy." I'm not sure what it was supposed to mean, but Daddy smilled and kissed her cheek.

"Does Ari want to go to the park with Daddy today?" he asked her, setting her on his lap and sharing his toast with her. She made affirmative sounds around a mouthful and stole another piece for her other hand. That was always the way, if she was eating, there had to be one in each hand. Once she'd filled both her hands she squirmed off his lap and stood on the floor staring at Lester expectantly, her hair, just like mine, was sleep tousled and sticking up in odd places and she had drool stains on her pyjamas. "What?" Les asked around his latest bite of toast.

"Park, Daddy," she said exasperatedly. "Park Daddy. Park Daddy. PARK DADDY!" She was jumping up and down, almost dropping her own toast in the process. "Park. Daddy."

"We can't go yet," he told her. "You haven't brushed your hair. You're still in you jim-jams. And Mommy hasn't made us a picnic."

Ari's eyes widened at Lester's words and she turned to me with her exasperated look on her face. "Mommy," she said, little hands on her hips. "Nic-nic." Her hands were held out just like Lester does when he's getting frustrated with me.

"Where are you manners?" I asked sternly.

She sigh. Yes, actually sighed. If I'd had any doubts that she was mine before that, the sigh would have confirmed it. "Nic-nic pwease mommy?" she asked.

Lester stuck his head into my line of vision, a huge grin on his. "Nic-nic pwease mommy?" he repeated.

I turned my best glare on him. "You did that deliberately," I informed him. "There will be consequences. Mark my words."

So I made them a picnic for two. I even found it in my heart to throw in a couple of pudding cups, knowing they would love it. Meanwhile, Lester took Ari upstairs to get her ready. I wasn't concerned. She generally behaved better for Daddy than Mommy anyway. For instance, I was absolutely not allowed to brush her hair if Daddy was home. It was evident the moment they re-entered the kitchen that Ari had insisted on choosing her own clothes, as was her prerogative these days. When I got her ready I would give her options that she could choose. Obviously, Lester had given her a free for all. She wore black shorts with green spots on with her favourite pink and purple striped top.

I sighed, knowing there was no way I could get her into something that matched, since Lester had already allowed her to wear it. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for free expression. But I'd prefer if she could express herself in a more co-ordinated way that didn't reflect badly on her parents.

"Right," Lester said, straightening a bow in Ari's hair and picking up the basket I'd prepared for them. "We're off. What are you going to do without us?"

"Catch up on some housework."

"Uh huh," Lester encouraged. "And then what? The house isn't that bad. It should only take an hour or so. What are you going to do after that?"

"I thought I might go visit Ranger," I informed him. "See how he's handling things and everything. It's gotta be hard for him."

Lester gave me a knowing grin and tucked a wayward curl behind my ear before kissing me. "I know you," he whispered against my lips. "You really wanna go get high on new baby smell. You want another one soooo baaad. You just don't want to admit it."

He was right. I had kept to my word though. His appendage had come nowhere near me. "Yes. I want another one. But do you?"

"Honey-Jumble," he said, "Of course I want another one. I want another ten!"

My jaw fell open of it's own accord. By the time I'd regained enough brain power to segue into my floundering fish impersonation though, he and Ari were already out in the car, backing down the driveway.

Mental note for later: rip Lester a new one if he thinks I'm gonna go through another nine pregnancies.

Three Hours Later

I stood on the porch of Ranger's house (mansion, whatever. Potato. Potahto) I buzzed the doorbell. Waited a minute or so. Buzzed again. Waited. Knocked. Waited. Buzzed again while knocking. Itried the handle. It was unlocked. Something was wrong with this situation. First the gate had been open. Then the lack of answering the door. Now the unlocked door.

Slowly and cautiously I inched into the hall, slipping my gun from my handbag. I had learned quickly not to leave it behind – ever – once I got with Lester. The consequences were much worse than the stern talking to I used to get from Ranger. If I left my gun behind with Lester I'd get a spanking. Literally. He'd take me across his knee and spank me. Not in a sensual way either. It was the kind of spanking I used to get from my mother when I broke something in the house while playing pirates. I'd have his red hand prints on my derriere for days

I stalked down the hallway, gun in hand, keeping my back to the wall. Another tactic Lester enforced quite strictly. I paused when I reached the stairs. Listening. I heard the tell-tale screams of a new baby coming from one of the upper floors and followed the sound to the nursery. Tank was there, pacing back and forth with the baby - whose name I realised I did not know – held awkwardly against his chest. I entered the room almost silently, tucking the gun away and Tank's eyes were immediately on me.

"I don't know what to do!" he cried. "She hasn't dirtied her diaper. She's not hungry. I don't know what to do."

I dropped my bag onto the dresser by the door and gestured for Tank to hand me the baby. I rocked the screaming child, rubbing her back and whispering soothingly as I had so many times with Ari. Finally, the little girl let out a massive burp and the screaming stopped. I held her back from my shoulder and she looked at me, wide eyed, like the burp had startled.

"Is that better, baby?" I cooed. "All the nasty wind monsters run away?" I nuzzled her belly and she made a contented sound. "Babies get wind and they need help to get the wind up," I informed Tank. He nodded his understanding. "Where's Ranger?"

Tank shrugged. "Haven't seen him."

I filed that away to address in a moment. "How's he handling things?" I asked at the same time Tank spoke.

"How'd you get in?"

"The door," I said, like it was obvious.

"What about the gate?" he asked. "Someone would have had to buzz you in."

I shook my head, bouncing the baby from side to side on my shoulder. "It was open and the door was unlocked." He paled, which is a great feat for a black man. "Something wrong." I'd probably just taken the words right out of his mouth. "Where's Ranger's bedroom?"

Now it was Tank's turn to shake his head. "He's not there, I already checked when Penny started screaming."

"He named her Penny?"

"No. That's what I've been calling her. He hasn't called her anything but 'the baby'. Penny suits her, don't you think? It's pretty. Just like her."

"Yes," I said. "But we have more important things to do than admire her name. Where's her Daddy? When was the last time you saw him?"

"It must have been about three o'clock this morning."

"Something's really wrong, isn't it?" I asked, trying not to let the fear I felt show. His affirmative nod did nothing to ease the knot in my gut. Ranger may not be the love of my life, but I loved him and I wouldn't want anything to happen to him. I laid a now sleeping Penny in her cot and turned back to Tank. "We need to find him."

"You take the upper floors, I'll take the lower and the yard," he strategized, slipping into Rangeman mode instantly. "We'll meet on the landing between levels one and two in," he paused, I guessed he was mentally counting the number of rooms and calculating an average checking time. "fifteen minutes? If you find him before that, I've got my cell on."

Fifteen minutes seemed to go like a shot and I was only just making it to the second of my floors. I was just coming out of the first room when Tank stepped off the stairs looking for me. "Fifteen minutes was five minutes ago," he informed me.

I glanced at my watch, shocked. "Really?" I asked. "It didn't seem like that long. Sorry."

"It's fine. I just got back myself. The grounds are bigger than I remember. Was starting to worry when I didn't see you waiting for me, that's all."

"I guess I got distracted by sticky beaking," I admitted. "I've never really been here before."

"You didn't find anything?" he asked, all business.

"Not a thing," I said just as Penny cried over the baby monitor I had strapped to my belt, not that I wouldn't be able to hear her loud and clear anyway. I sighed. Babies always interrupt things. "I'll go see to Penny, you finish this floor and meet me up there. We'll work out where to go from there."

"Spoken like a true Rangeman," he said approvingly and we parted ways once more.

By the time Tank made it back upstairs I had already changed Penny's diaper and settled her back down. I was rifling through few clothes in the dresser and marvelling over the tiny little things when Tank entered. One look at his face and posture and I knew he'd found nothing. I may not have the ESP all the Rangemen seemed to, but over the years I'd learned to read basic tells to gauge mood, and thoughts. "No luck?" I asked, redundantly. "We should expand the search."

"I'll call Lester and Bobby," Tank agreed. I grimaced at the idea of pulling Lester away from Ari. "What?" Tank asked, catching my look. "What was that?"

"Lester's at the park with Ari," I said. "They haven't really had any quality time in weeks. What with Ranger off work he's been spending more time there and…" I sighed seeing the look on Tank's face. "Can I call him and see what they're doing? Maybe Ari's getting tired anyway. She usually goes down for a nap soon anyway."

He looked like he wanted protest but in the end he simply nodded. He knew how much Lester loved his daughter and how little time they'd had together of late. He also loved Ari from the bottom of his heart. All the guys did. Except Cal. For some reason he called her "Devil Child" and refused to go anywhere near her. That was a puzzle for another day though.

So I called Lester's cell. It rang out. I tried it again and he answered on the third ring. "What took you so long?" I asked by way of greeting.

"I was juggling," he informed me. "Ari fell asleep halfway through her pudding and I was carrying both her and the basket to the car. It was a hard enough task to do that and not wake her without adding answering the phone into the mix."

I laughed at the image that brought to mind. "It's okay, honey. I know the feeling. It's a pain in the butt."

"Major," he agreed. "What's up?"

"Ranger is missing," I told him. No point in beating about the bush at a time like this. "We've checked the house and grounds but can't find him anywhere."

"Expanding the search?" he asked. The shift in him from loving father to security expert was obvious to me even though I couldn't see him.

"I wanted to be sure it wouldn't ruin your daddari day before I told you. You've missed her lately."

"I have," he confirmed, "But she's in nap mode now, so it's okay. What's happening with the baby?" I heard the car start in the background. "Is she missing too?"

"No. Penny's still here. Bring Ari here and you can trade the Porsche for the SUV. I'll look after the girls while you help look."

There was a pause before he asked, "He named her Penny?"

"That's what I asked, but no. Penny is what Tank has been calling her. Ranger hasn't named her yet."

"I'll be there in a few minutes," he informed me and hung up without so much as a goodbye. Not that I wasn't used to that. I decided that I would be the one to teach Ari phone manners when the time came.

"Well?" Tank asked, also hanging up his own phone.

"He's on his way."

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