Author Note: I really enjoy reading your reviews! I also appreciate all the follows/favorites. Thank you very much!

/

Janet Evanovich owns most of these characters. I'm just borrowing them.

Back in the Game

Ch10

By the time Ranger and I finished getting intimately reacquainted, the day was mostly over. He asked me if I'd stay the night, and I agreed. We took my Explorer back to my house to get some necessities. While I was packing, Ranger wandered the house, checking out the house and the security. When I finished, I found him sitting on my new couch.

"What do you think?"

"Of the house or the security?"

"Both."

"It's a big house for one person, but I can see why you like it. It has character. The place suits you." This was the right answer. He was one of the few people who didn't grimace when they first saw the place.

"As for the security, the guys did a good job. I'd rather there be more cameras, but I understand why you didn't allow any more. I know your privacy is important to you. I like the upgraded locks on the doors as well. Thank you, Stephanie, for taking your security seriously."

"You're welcome. Security is important to the new, improved version of me. I just don't want to head over the edge into paranoia and loss of privacy." Ranger nodded at my statement. I continued, "Did you go outside?" When he shook his head, I took his hand and led him out the back door. We walked to the back of my long, narrow yard to the garage. I showed him the garage itself, which was pretty basic, and its security features. I then took him upstairs to the garage apartment, which Jeff's guys had totally demolished in less than a day. I explained how I'd be moving there in a few days, so the guys could work faster inside the house, but that later I envisioned using the space as an office.

We made our way back through the yard into the house. I gave Rex fresh water and an assortment of fruit and veggie chunks mixed with his hamster crunchies, while telling him it was his job to hold down the fort for the night since I'd be gone. Ranger shook his head at my one-sided conversation with my hamster. He picked up my overnight bag with one hand and wrapped his other arm around my shoulders. I locked up carefully, making sure to set the alarm. I'd have to be back early enough in the morning to let Jeff's crew in, and to meet Lula for our walk/jog session at the park.

I let Ranger drive my Explorer back to Haywood. I was itching to ask about his mission, but knew he couldn't tell me anything. My natural curiosity was driving me nuts, but I managed to restrain myself. I wished he'd take a few days to relax before jumping back into Rangeman business, but that wasn't likely to happen since he wasn't injured or seriously run-down like last time.

/

When we got back to his apartment, I stowed my bag in the bedroom and joined Ranger on his couch. He had the file folder open again. I grabbed a notepad and pen from my purse, so I could take notes since I couldn't take the file itself out of Ranger's apartment. The file consisted of a bunch of loose photocopies of the original documents. After Ranger finished reading the first page, he handed it off to me. We continued in that fashion until we reached the bottom of the pile. I held off on note-taking until after the initial reading.

After we finished, Ranger looked at me. "How does this stuff happen to you? I've never understood how you manage to attract all this crazy shit." When he saw my eyes narrowing and my face turning red, he continued, "Steph, I know you don't do it on purpose. You're right, it usually isn't your fault. But you have to admit, you do tend to be a shit magnet."

I sighed, knowing he was right. "So what is your first impression, after reading through everything?"

"I think someone tried to double cross a drug cartel, but that's just a guess. Something went wrong and you saw the aftermath. What I don't get is why they think you have the missing drugs. Going by the bloody hand, someone in the cartel probably knows about the double cross. Why they think you would have the drugs instead of their traitor, I don't know."

"That's pretty much what I was thinking. The report on the drugs that the police did recover showed that the packages each contained a kilo of cocaine. The blood in the unit was relatively fresh, so the incident probably happened in Newark at the distribution center for the storage unit company. I now know my unit was off loaded in Newark from the train that hauled it east and then loaded on a truck to bring it to Trenton."

I thought for a minute, then asked "Is there a way to find out which cartel is likely to be responsible for the trafficking? Lula offered to discreetly ask questions on Stark, but if these people are based elsewhere, she may not get any answers."

"I can put out some feelers. I have informants in places Lula can't get to." I didn't doubt that for a second.

"They fingerprinted the hand and it belongs to Anthony Costello. I think I went to school with an Anthony Costello, but I don't know if Hand Anthony and School Anthony are the same guy yet. Hand Anthony has an extensive criminal record of drug arrests. The report doesn't say how he was employed, so maybe I could use the Rangeman computers to do an in-depth search on him. Is that okay?"

"Yes, Babe, you can use your old cubicle."

"It's not really my 'old' cubicle, Ranger. I've spent a lot of time in that cubicle lately."

"Explain. You don't exactly need a job these days."

"Well, Tank was overwhelmed while you were gone. Business is booming and the paperwork piled up. I volunteered to come in periodically and help get it under control. I'm sure Tank will fill you in on everything in the morning. You have a new office manager starting soon, so that should help. They offered it to me, but I turned them down."

I jotted down a series of questions I thought needed answering, based on our conversation and from reading the report. I wanted to know who the likely trafficker was of the drugs. I wanted to know if they had ties to the storage unit company, or if this was a random shipment. I needed to find out a lot more about Anthony Costello. Was he still alive? Did he work for the drug traffickers or did he just decide to hijack a shipment of drugs? Most importantly, who had the missing drugs?

Ranger and I decided to make it an early night. We crawled into bed and quickly got ourselves situated into our usual sleeping positions, with me draped all over him. It felt so good to be so close to him. Ranger ran his fingertips up and down my back lightly, making me shiver a little. I lifted my head to look at him and saw his eyes darken. With a smirk, I ran my own fingertips up and down his side lightly, in a move similar to what he was doing to me. Before I could blink, Ranger had me flipped over on my back and he was on top me, mouth sealed to mine. We fell asleep much later, much more relaxed.

/

The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed when Ranger did, at the freakin' crack ass-o-dawn. Five in the morning is a ridiculous time to wake up, in my opinion. I think Ranger was shocked to see me out of bed and dressed in workout clothes when he came out of the bathroom. I'd decided that since today's walk/jog session with Lula wasn't likely to get my heart rate up very much, I would take advantage of Rangeman's gym and use the treadmill. I did my thing in the bathroom real quick, and followed Ranger down to the gym. We each got on a treadmill and started off. Five miles later, I was done. Ranger was still running, so I waved goodbye and went up to seven to shower. I could have showered at my house, but I'm in love with Ranger's shower and didn't want to miss an opportunity to use it.

I got home just in time to let Jeff and his guys in. Unlike Steve, who had a key and the alarm code, Jeff and his guys would have to wait for me to let them in. It's not that I don't trust Jeff, but I'm really trying to be more security conscious now that I'm back in Trenton. I checked on Rex and started a pot of coffee. By the time I went upstairs to change into fresh workout clothes, the coffee was done.

As I finished my first cup of the day, Lula arrived, dressed in yet another outrageous workout outfit. I grabbed my phone and keys and stuck them in the little zippered pocket of my shorts and we were out the door. By the end of our short walk to the park, Lula was already breathing hard. I sort of felt like it was the blind leading the blind when it came to me directing Lula's fitness regimen, but I decided to continue on. Lula wanted to know how far she was going to have to run, and I shrugged my shoulders.

"When I started, I just paid more attention to how long I ran instead of how far I ran. It seemed to work for me, so let's try it for you, okay?" She nodded, so I continued, "How about we do a combo of speed walking and jogging for twenty minutes today and see how it goes?"

"I can do that," she agreed. "I'm gonna run the shit outta those twenty minutes. You watch."

I did watch as I kept up with her. I thought she was gonna die by the end, but Lula managed a slow jog for the entire time. I imagined that was what I probably looked like when I finished running as well. "Lula, that was awesome! I'm proud of you!" I told her as we strolled back to my house. I always felt good when Ranger told me he was proud of me, and was hoping it would work on Lula too.

She beamed. "Yeah, thanks. That was hard, but I feel pretty good now." We stretched a little when we got home, and I invited her in for coffee and cereal.

"Are you too sore for more yoga tomorrow?"

"Nope. I'm sore, but it's not that bad."

I thought about my investigation and debated whether to involve Lula, despite her offer of help.

"White girl, what're you thinkin' about so hard?"

Decision made, I replied, "Are you still willing to ask around a bit about those drugs?"

"Oh yeah, and I'll be real sneaky about it too. What do ya got?"

I told her about Anthony Costello and his missing hand and how I wanted to know if he was alive or dead. I basically ran down my entire list of questions I'd made after reading the file the night before. "You don't have to get answers to all these questions, Lula. I just wanted you to have an idea of the type of info I'm looking for."

After we finished our cereal, I walked Lula to the door. "I'll be discreet and ask around, okay? I'm gonna catch me a skip or two today and I'll see you for yoga tomorrow." Lula drove off, the bass from her stereo rattling my windows.

I showered for the second time that day and dressed like mini-Ranger, so I could do some searches at Rangeman. Their search engines would hopefully help me find out a lot more details about my investigation.