Long time no update huh?

Hm.

I have no excuse for that so...

Enjoy! You guys plenty deserve this.

Chapter Three

When Ranger first came to a stop in front of Julie's door, he smiled.

"Have you fed her?" He asked one of his men, who seemed to have the unfortunate task of keeping guard.

"We've been sliding food under the door."

The Latino man shook his head and jerked his head backwards. The man got the idea and scurried off. Ranger then commenced to moving all of the furniture they had carried into the hallway to block her door, out of the way.

And to top it off, they had even put a lock on the door as well.

He opened it and looked in, sweeping his eyes across the completely pink and white room. He squinted his eyes a tinge, observing how very contrasting her room was to the rest of the Rangeman quarters.

He stepped inside, not finding a trace of his daughter. "Julie?" He called out, walking over to check the attached bathroom. He completely missed the jarred closet.

As soon as Ranger made it to the bathroom door, Julie tiptoed out of the closet, slammed the bedroom door shut and snapped on the lock.

"Julie!" He growled, stomping over to it.

"Now how do you feel!" She mocked, sticking out her tongue although he couldn't see it.

"Let me out." She heard him command in a contained voice.

Julie snickered to herself. "Not a chance." She knocked on the door once with her knuckle."I hope you have a good time in there, dad. I should be back by sundown."

"Julie," He grumbled threateningly, his voice muffled by the closed door. "I will have my men on you so fast; you'll never see it coming." He waited for a reply but was angered when he got none. "JULIE? I will break this door down. JULIE?" He put his ear to the door just in time to hear the elevator doors at the end of the hall close shut.

Stephanie wasn't one for surprising. Why, for her thirteenth birthday when her mother had threw a party, she had accidentally knocked her Grandma Mazur out due to the suddenness of it. It wasn't her fault. She just hadn't expected the older woman to jump out of the closet like that.

But, coincidentally, she was about to do the same thing she detested to her once belonged business partner, Connie. In actuality, she wouldn't be jumping out of any closets but she was going to appear before her in the flesh after a good five or six years. That was the equivalent of jumping out of closets, she guessed.

The brown haired woman parked outside of the little bonds office and smiled in spite of herself. After all these years, she just couldn't believe that it was still up and running. She wondered if Vinnie still owned it, wondered who was the new 'bounty hunter' and, for the first time since arriving back in Trenton, she pondered if Connie was even still working there or if she still lived here. Stephanie rolled her eyes at her own obliviousness and got out of the car.

After the almost peculiar conversation with her mother about her soon-to-be divorce and such, she had gone sightseeing around her own town and it was pretty much the same. Same old stores, same restaurants, same apartments. Trenton: The city that never upgraded. She had made a mental note to show her daughter the city where she had grown up. Then she had gone to check in on her favorite (or not so favorite) bonds office owned by her weirdo cousin.

Even after her earlier thoughts, Stephanie had expected to see Connie sitting at that desk regardless. She expected to see papers piled up, a brown couch in the corner and stained rugs because Vinnie was a cheapskate when it came to furnishing.

What she hadn't expected was to see a brown skinned teen sitting at the desk, her feet up, and reclined back. Her deep brown hair fell across her shoulders, her eyes looked lazy and bored and the clothes she wore reminded Stephanie of army brats.

The girl turned upon her entrance, instantly shot to her feet and took on a sheepish look as if she had been caught in a sinful act. But, when the girl stared long enough, her look faded into relief. " Oh, hello there. If you're looking for Connie, she's not here yet." The girl rolled her eyes. "The woman would be late to her own funeral...Hey, you look familiar."

So did she, Stephanie thought, watching the Latino girl squint her eyes in suspicion... "Julie?" She asked carefully. She knew it had to be upon inspection. Same light skin, some long silky hair, almost the same tone of voice. She was older though, no doubt. Maybe in her mid teens.

Obviously taken aback that the woman knew her, Julie cocked her head to the side. "That's me but who are..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the door came open and a woman bustled in. "Oh jeez, my alarm didn't even go off. I swear I..."Her words trailed off as she took in the woman in front of her; first the smiling teenager and then the foreign looking lady who was giving her a warm look. "Oh hello there Miss, is there something you wanted?"

Stephanie's grin widened and she put hands on hips. "Miss? You're calling me miss now, Connie? Do I really look that old?"

Connie's face rumpled in confusion but, a few beats later, it lighted and if you looked close enough, you could see the tears twinkling in her eyes when she exclaimed, "Stephanie!"

Before Steph could even comprehend it, she was dragged into a big bear hug by the woman who, in her standards, hadn't changed so much. Maybe a little wider around the midsection, a couple more wrinkles in her forehead then usual, a thinning of her hair. There was no doubt that the woman was aging but she was doing it quite gracefully.

"...Connie..." A wheeze.

"Yes?"

"..Can't...breath."

Connie let her go with a 'oops' and a laugh. She made a big scene of standing back and giving her long time friend a once over. "Wow. Stephanie Plum. Did you ever think you'd be back in this run down office again?" She motioned around.

Stephanie glanced around and her smile faded a little. "No, I never thought I would."

"Hold on, Stephanie Plum!" Julie was speaking up now, rounding the desk to stand beside the women. She eyed her. "That name sounds so damn familiar..."

Connie gave the girl a dull look and it was enough to let Stephanie know that they were friends. "Think hard. Now who exactly saved you when you were kidnapped?" She said it so lax as if a kidnapping was every day news. And, in the Trenton, it kinda was.

Julie instantly perked and lurched forward, wrapping the brown haired woman in her arms while she babbled on. "Oh my god! I knew it was you! Well...I had a feeling. Your name sounded too familiar but man, you look different!"

Stephanie smiled at the girl when she let her go. "Well, I've gotta say, you look different as well. You've grown a lot."

The girl posed and obviously took the statement as a compliment. Connie pushed her out of the way to gain access into Steph's face. "Soooooooooooo! You're back in town! Wow, this is amazing! I can't believe you're back. Jeez, Lula is gonna be pissed when she finds out you're here. Man oh man, this is crazy. Look at me I'm rambling, haha. I-" She was forcefully cut off by Julie who shoved her out of the way to reclaim her original position.

"She doesn't want to listen to you and your illiterate sentences." The teen pouted.

"Illiterate! How dare you. I'll have you know that I was done with high school way before you were born."

"Could have fooled me."

Stephanie watched the two females glare and shout at each other and couldn't help but put on a bemused smile. She saw their relationship to be a bit unorthodox and she found herself wondering why, out of all people, Julie had chosen to befriend the elder woman. It wasn't that Connie wasn't fun but it just seemed strange that Julie hadn't opted to make friends with people more her age. Her mind snapped to attention when the oldest woman's words came back to mind. "Hey, where is Lula?"

The two stopped abruptly and turned to face her, both breaking out in smiles. "Oh she's out. Around. You know, she doesn't' live her anymore right?"

No, she hadn't known that. Her eyes bugged out of their sockets from the information. "Really? Where's she at now?"

"Morris-ville. A little down south from here. Her and Tank have a house down there."

Stephanie blinked. She knew of the couple's wedding only through telephone, text messages and emails. She hadn't been able to come down and participate because that was the week when her daughter had come down with a severe illness. She sent her 'congratulations' and promised to come down and visit soon enough. That was years ago. She often wondered how their marriage was going. She knew from experience that everything wasn't all its cracked up to be.

"She still comes up here though." Julia was speaking now, explaining. "Off and on. At least two times a week." She was smiling coolly. "If we don't tell her about your arrival then she'll kick all of our asses."

Everyone nodded in agreement to this. Lula liked to kick asses.

"I've got to ask," Steph began as Connie took her seat behind the desk. It was almost haunting to see her, six years later, still sitting in the same spot with the same look on her face in the same place. She shook her head to clear it. "Who's the new bounty hunter?"

It was suppose to be a joking question which she followed up with a laugh. She hadn't really expected an answer for some reason because, she didn't really see anyone tripping over themselves to try and get this job. She had a few people in mind who could be potential bond officers though.

But, she did not in all her years of living; she did not expect what happened next. She watched Connie give Julie a knowing look and the teen put on a lopsided smile.

"You're looking at her."

It was then when Stephanie noticed the words embroidered on the front of the girl's shirt:

Julie. Bond Enforcement Agent.

That couldn't be good.

Man. I know it was short but forgive me. Anyway, there you go. Hope people still come around to check this out, haha.