A/N: Thank you again for the reviews!! The chapters may not come as fast as they have been, dealing with a few personal things and I want to make sure I draft the rest of the story out before publishing any more of it. Wanna get all the details right!

So thank you again to all my reviewers, a shout out to the guest ones I can't respond to personally!! You guys have great questions and I can't wait to dig into this story for you! Also , something tells me y'all don't like Ranger that much do you?? LOL ;) Thanks everyone:)

Chapter 4

Stephanie's POV

We landed in Miami and as we step off the plane I get an overwhelming sense of dread. I have this thing where the back of my neck tingles when Ranger is near… it wasn't that I was feeling though, it was something… off. I can't describe it, so I won't even try, but it was there. It took awhile to get us all off the plane and our luggage situated but when we walk towards the terminal I see a young woman waving frantically at me, standing next to a man probably a good foot and a half taller than her with the same caramel coloring as Les and Ranger. Marco Sanchez stood with the expected blank face of Rangeman employees, but I could see a small smile attempting to creep up as Julie was tugging his arm and pointing to us. I handed my bag to Bobby and ran over to Julie, hugging her tightly.

"Jules!" I hardly recognized her, she had grown so much since we had seen each other last.

"Stephie!!" I could barely breathe she was hugging me so tight but I didn't mind.

"How old are you now, 25??" I teased and stepped back when she finally let go to get a good look at her. She got Rangers complexion and her eyes and hair from Rachel (Rangers ex wife), and I knew he and Rachel would have a hell of a time keeping the boys away.

She laughed "No Stephie!! I'm 14!"

I pretended like I was going to faint and she laughed even harder, I was glad I could entertain her. Lester swooped in , playfully shoving me aside.

"What, no hugs for actual family?" He appeared offended but winked at me.

"Uncle Les!" she grabbed him around the waist and squeezed. "I'm glad you guys are here, I'm worried sick about dad." Les and Ranger are cousins, but they may as well be brothers. Their families are close and they grew up together , so Julie knows Les as her uncle. He kissed her on the forehead and did a solomn nod to Marco as the rest of the team joined us. Julie gave hugs to everyone (all her honorary uncles) except Trouble, but only because she hadn't been introduced to him yet. She shook his hand very politely and then tucked herself in next to me as we loaded into the vehicles Marco brought and took off towards the Miami office.

When we arrived the men did a round of shaking hands, introductions were made, and I got hugs from everyone. I didn't know the Miami men as well as the Trenton crew, but I had met them a few times and they were all nice enough to me. We got settled into the conference room as Julie made her way to the penthouse apartment Ranger kept there (same as at Haywood) on the 7th floor. I told her I would be up later and we would hang out. When she left the men began.

"Start from the beginning." Marco looked to me, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Ranger decided he wanted to take a break from Trenton, and said he was coming to Miami to see Julie, and work on this office." I started in and stopped when I heard a growl come from Marcos throat.

"He thought we were lacking? He hasn't said anything… our capture rate is through the roof, and we just got a multi billion dollar contract…"

I didn't want to seem like I was babying them, so I just used myself as the excuse. "I'm sure you're aware of Ranger's and my relationship over the last few years." The men smiled and nodded, and Marco just sat there staring at me. "Well about 6 months ago it ended…" before it ever really began… "I moved on, and while he was supportive it was too much for him to be around every day. I'm the real reason he was going to come here and spend some time away from Trenton. You guys are doing great." I had been talking to Rodrigo (my counterpart in Miami) and we've been comparing notes. They actually were doing really well as a business, and I didn't want them to feel otherwise.

Marco accepted that excuse easily. "So what else do we know?"

I let someone else take over, I was exhausted emotionally. I hadn't talked about what happened between Ranger and myself since he left, and bringing it back up, even the short version of it, had left me wiped.

" I sent you the surveillance video from Haywood, Ranger had originally scrambled it when he left, not sure why. But Silvio cleared it up and it showed Ranger getting into a candy apple red 2005 Ford Thunderbird, not a Rangeman vehicle. The cameras last saw him leaving the garage and turning right, we assume to go to the airport." Hector spoke up (in perfect English, which shocked a lot of the men but not me) and I looked at the Trenton guys. They looked as confused as I felt about what he had said, the only one that didn't was Lester.

"I didn't know Ranger had a personal vehicle that wasn't Rangeman black?" I whispered to Bobby, and he shrugged indicating he didn't either. We all turned towards Lester and watched as he scrubbed his hand over his face, looking like he could kill someone.

"We both have one, we bought them together when he started Rangeman. It was our first present we bought ourselves with our first paycheck. Dammit I should have realized that's what he drove when none of the others were gone!!" I jumped a foot when he slammed his hands on the table and pushed his chair back, jumping up and pacing the floor. We all did another glance at each other but I was the one that spoke up.

"Les, what does it matter what he drove?"

Lester turned towards me. "The Firebird is low jacked."

Lester's POV

God how stupid was I?! Of course he took the Bird, he wouldn't have wanted to leave a Rangeman vehicle out of commission sitting at the airport for however long he was going to be gone for. I typed rapidly into my phone and pulled up the GPS locator I had on my cousins car. It showed nothing. That couldn't be right? Unless someone disabled the system that was built into the car… or the car was destroyed. I realized everyone was looking at me so I explained that there was no signal emitting from the vehicle. I heard Stephanie's voice through my fog.

"Lester, he's okay. I would know if something had happened…" she was standing next to me, her hand on my arm. She didn't finish the sentence but she didn't need to. My cousin and Stephanie Plum had been dancing around each other for years. It all started when Connie from Vincent Plum Bail Bonds called him up and begged him to help out their newest BEA, Vincent's inept cousin (not Connie's words, Vinnie's ). From the moment she walked into that diner Ranger was a goner. He has protected her since, and at one time we all thought they might just be each others Happily Ever After. Instead, he fucked it royally up, causing Steph to high tail it away from Rangeman and him to retreat to Miami for awhile. FINALLY Steph came back to Rangeman full time, and then a few months ago they got their shit together, becoming friends again. I know he still loves her, hell every man in our company has a deep seated love for the woman, but my best friend is the one who finally captured her heart. It's been 3 months and Bobby and Stephanie are more in love than ever. Truthfully, it's a little disgusting how cutsie they are, and I love giving them crap about it, but in all honesty I'm over the fucking moon for them. Bobby Brown is our medic, and probably the best guy I've ever known, which is why I give him such hell about Steph. And Steph? God she's the most beautiful, brave, bad ass woman I have ever met. Yup, I fell under her spell too, but once Bobby made his move I was happy to step aside and be there as a friend and partner to her. It doesn't stop me from being super sexually suggestive towards her every fucking chance I get, but they expect that from me and I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone.

So one of Stephs many talents is this thing where she knows when Ranger is near. The back of her neck tingles, and she can sense him before he is ever spotted. She also has what we like to call Spidey sense. It's saved our asses on more than one occasion, so if she tells me she knows he's okay, then I believe her. "They've turned off the signal, or the car has been destroyed. Neither one is a good scenario beautiful." I tell her, but instead of seeing worry all I see is that gorgeous mouth upturn into a small smile as she throws a look towards Hector.

"Something you want to share with the rest of the class?" Marco asks, impatiently.

She nods. "You all know Rangers penchant for placing trackers on me. On my body, my purse, my phone , my car… it's saved me on numerous occasions from the low life's that seem to be in unending supply around me. So I figured I would see how he liked it." She sat back down next to Bobby. "Hector and Silvio have been working on trying to get a signal from the one I put on Ranger. It had been quiet for the last three months."

"Until now." Hector said. "It started transmitting10 minutes ago."