Author's note: Any characters you recognize are property of JE....they've been gently used and will be returned in almost perfect working order….someday.

Other characters are all mine! Thanks to my gals Dee and Nicole! And a special 'spade on' to the others!

Ranger was in his driving zone. Well, at least on the outside. On the inside…

Couldn't she have just been reasonable, cooperative even?

Have you forgotten this is Stephanie Plum?

Wonderful, now his thoughts were doing point, counterpoint. This day was just getting better and better.

Stephanie was sitting rigid in her seat with her arms crossed.

He had tossed her into the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt.

"Do. Not. Move." he had growled.

"Why? You going to club me over the head then cuff me to the door handle?" she spat back. He leveled her with a look and she flinched as he shut her door. He stalked around the vehicle, and angled into the driver's seat.

She was seething and glaring straight ahead.

Five minutes. She won't make it five minutes staying quiet. Two minutes if traffic is bad.

When he thought yet again of Kuhn's hands on her, his jaw clenched and he squeezed the wheel until his knuckles turned white. She'd been manhandled by skips before and he never took it lightly. But this time…he wasn't there. He didn't get to exorcise his anger by being the one to pull Kuhn off of her. And he also wasn't the one to examine her and reassure her that she was safe. Reassure himself…

Ranger exhaled silently and slowly. He needed to locate his calm center. When they got back to Rangeman they would sort this out, away from prying eyes.

***

I cannot believe he just did that to me! And in front of the guys!

As he buckled her in, his hand brushed against her chest. She shivered as her nipples hardened. It angered her further, being aroused by his caveman tactics.

"Do. Not. Move."

Oh yeah, keep using that tone. 'Me badass, you Babe. Grrr…'

"Why? You going to club me over..." Her mouth kept going but her heart nearly stopped as she looked up into his eyes. Cold and angry, it sent a very different shiver down her spine.

The sound of the door slamming jolted her. She crossed her arms and let out a frustrated sigh.

Maybe it's time to show him that I've made some changes in my life.

Steph focused straight ahead.

***

Ranger was stunned. Not that his blank look wavered in the least.

Traffic was increasing in volume as rush hour started.

He had made two phones calls during their drive across town.

The first, to the control room telling Tank to handle the 2pm meeting.

The second was to Hector, telling him to get a ride to the bonds office and bring Steph's car to Rangeman.

Not a word from Steph.

Not a look; not a sound, she just kept staring straight ahead.

She wasn't pouting. He managed a glimpse of her profile while making a turn just to be sure she was still conscious.

Her rigid posture, sitting up straight, hands clasped in her lap, told him she was still fuming.

It was unlike Steph to be quiet for any length of time, especially when she was angry.

Was she trying to convey something to him?

Whatever it was, it could wait.

He was four blocks from Rangeman when his cell rang.

Ranger glanced at the display before answering.

He listened for a moment, and then began replying in rapid Spanish.

Spinning the Porsche in a wide arc, he made an illegal U turn and continued to speak with the caller.

Ranger hung up and dialed again.

Steph turned to face him. His peripheral vision caught her look of concern.

"Yeah…enroute…them too…yeah…compile a list…" Ranger narrowed his eyes and ended the call.

He kept his eyes on the road as Steph continued to stare at him.

The silent treatment isn't bad, but her stare down needs some work.

Ranger suppressed a smirk as he saw her mouth open. Shutting it again she turned away letting out a frustrated sigh.

Though he was tempted to test just how long she could stay quiet, it too would have to wait.

He eased the Porsche into the alley and slid into a spot behind the bonds office.

***

Steph blinked a few times then got out of the car. She walked over towards her Kia and stopped about 30 feet away. She stared at Hector who was lying on the ground to examine the undercarriage.

Standing, Hector brushed off his clothes.

"Chica." He nodded at her before he passed her to get to Ranger.

"Someone call for the auto club?" Lester quipped as he and Tar arrived with two bags of equipment.

"Nada." Hector gestured.

"Check again." Ranger ordered.

Hector nodded. He pointed at Tar and they both walked back to the vehicle.

Steph could feel Lester's gaze as he looked her over.

She ignored him and watched as the two men examined her car. When Tar frowned at the windshield she realized there was a paper tucked under the wiper blade.

Steph stepped forward and flinched as Lester reached out and grabbed her waist.

"Stay back, Beautiful," he said as he pulled her back against him.

"What's going on?" She turned to look up at him, her cheek brushing his chin.

He released her but didn't step away. "Hector got dropped off to bring your car to Rangeman…noticed the note on the wiper. He called Ranger, but had to wait for us to bring the equipment."

Ranger said something in Spanish. Steph assumed he was talking to Hector, but got a strange vibe from the way Tar glanced over at her.

Hector replied to Ranger and then flashed Steph a smile. Tar and Hector conferred for a moment, before Tar waved them over. "We're good, it's clean. Well...it could use some detailing."

Lester chuckled. He and Steph walked over to her car. Ranger stalked over to Hector, and they spoke while Hector put on a pair of gloves.

"I need some remedial lessons on Spanish ghetto-speak…" Tar glanced at Ranger then looked at Lester.

Lester shook his head. "That was a shot at me."

"Really?" Tar replied.

Lester tugged playfully on Steph's hair. He stepped around her and began putting away the equipment.

"You speak Spanish, too?" Steph smiled at Tar.

"Yep. My whole family did…does."

"And where are they?"

He smiled at her warmly. "I'm from Miami."

"Did you transfer here because you dreaded year-round fabulous weather?" Steph laughed.

He chuckled and Steph shivered. She felt her face flush as Tar's grin grew brighter. "Your smile alone is enough to brighten up my day."

"Stephanie." Ranger waved her over.

Steph blinked at Tar for a moment. She turned to Ranger and saw him holding the note inside a zip lock bag. She walked around the car to get a better look.

"Can I see it?" She held out her hand without meeting Ranger's glare.

When he didn't respond, she stepped in close to him and read it anyway.

Saw you with him. You need to be careful.

The note was hand written in black ink on white paper.

Well, I've had worse, she thought.

"Wonderful, a new stalker for my collection," she said as she stepped back from Ranger.

If she stood too close, she might accidentally forget she was still angry with him.

Hector was now dusting her windshield and wiper blades for fingerprints, while Lester opened the door to examine the inside.

"Take me through your last 24 hours." Ranger looked at her.

Steph rolled her eyes. "Not much to tell. Yesterday I picked up some files from Connie. Then went to my parents to do some laundry. I was going to go after some skips in the afternoon, but Tank called and...well… you know about the distraction."

Lester climbed back out of the car and shut the door. He placed two empty donut boxes into a large plastic bag.

"You can tell you've only had this car about a week," he said as he pointed at the bag. "Not one Cluck in a Bucket receipt in the ashtray yet."

"Continue." Ranger clipped out.

Steph shook her head at Lester then said to Ranger, "where was I?"

"The distraction that I know about." His blank mask was in place, but that dangerous fire had returned to his eyes.

"Yes. I went shopping at the mall for clothes, went home to get ready, and then Bobby picked me up. After we got Kuhn, Bobby took me back home. And that was yesterday."

"What other men were you with?"

"Excuse me?" She narrowed her eyes.

"At the mall, did you talk to anyone?"

"I told the salesman 'thank-you' when he handed me my receipt."

Lester smiled. Tar was standing close to Hector who was showing him how to lift a print.

"Take me through today; tell me about anyone you talked to."

Steph sighed. "I got up early. Picked up Wilson at the Tasty Pastry. Dropped him at the cop shop, spoke to Robin who was shocked to see me so early in the morning. Drove to Rangeman. Talked to you." She poked him in the chest.

Ranger quirked a brow at her, yet his expression remained unchanged.

"Worked for a few hours, spoke to several of your employees. Then left for lunch."

"You had lunch at Pino's?"

"No. I ordered take out. I brought it to Mary Lou's house."

"Did you talk to anyone at Pino's?" he impatiently prompted.

"Just some cops…and Jimmie at the counter…" Steph paused. "I got my food and went over to her house."

At that moment Hector popped his head up. He looked at Steph then spoke to Ranger.

Steph thought she heard him say 'Morelli' and watched as Lester and Tar exchanged bemused looks. Ranger stiffened and glared at her.

"What did he say?" Steph narrowed her eyes and glanced around at all the men.

"Morelli. He was at Pino's also; you've seemed to have skipped over that small detail."

"Yes. Morelli was leaving. He walked me to my car and said goodbye."

Hector muttered under his breath. Lester started laughing and Ranger's head spun towards them and glared.

Lester shook his head while Hector continued on.

"Enough," Ranger growled.

Steph looked back at Ranger. "What did he say?"

Ranger crossed his arms and gave her a blank look.

"If that's how you say goodbye, he'd like to see how you two say hello." Lester smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her.

Steph felt her cheeks flush as Hector winked at her.

"Get everything back to Rangeman and have Zip run it immediately."

Ranger waited as the guys packed up and took the equipment back over to the Escalade.

"You left out Morelli; did you forget to mention anything else?" There was a touch of frostiness in his tone.

Steph was becoming annoyed.

"So I skipped over Morelli, like that matters." She rolled her eyes. "The note isn't about him."

Ranger leaned closer to her. "You don't know that; you haven't the first clue what matters."

Steph took a step back and snapped her eyes to his. For a moment she thought there was some flash of emotion from him, but it was gone. His face was blank, void of expression.

She looked over at the Escalade. "Lester? Could you bring me my purse? I need to get home."

Lester tossed her a salute.

Ranger quirked an eyebrow at Steph. "You're not going anywhere; we're not finished."

She looked at Ranger. She cared for this man…but what was she to him?

"I'm a big girl Ranger. I can decide when and where I'm going to go and I know when I'm finished."

Ranger scowled.

"Explain."

Steph shook her head. She walked away from Ranger as she saw Lester approaching.

'Explain?' How can I explain what I don't understand myself…?

****

TBC

Happy back to school everyone! Where did the summer go?