(Same Disclaimer-If you know it it's Janet Evanovich)
We followed Jarvis as he wound through the streets of New York. We were in Manhattan and he was heading towards the mainland.
I gnawed on my lip. It was a bad idea to follow him out of Manhattan but I didn't want to lose him. I could feel in my gut that he would lead me to Barbara.
We crossed the bridge and hit the mainland then he turned south, heading along 295. After awhile I had a heart stopping moment that we were heading to Trenton but we got off the highway at East Brunswick.
We followed him through town and out to the country until he pulled into a farm. I was hoping this whole time we hadn't been spotted as a tail. I was sure he would have picked up a cab following him from Manhattan.
He never made any sign that he knew we were there. We watched him drive up the long, tree-lined lane and disappear into a copse of woods.
I was at a dilemma. I didn't want to chase Jarvis by myself. I already knew what he wanted to do to me, but Ranger and Joe were in Manhattan. Both men were probably frantically searching for me. I decided to call Ranger.
"Babe" he said. I could almost swear I heard relief in his voice. This wasn't typical of Ranger.
"Yo. I found Jarvis." The line was silent. I thought I heard muffled talking before Ranger finally spoke.
"Where are you?" Uh oh. I thought. He was saving punishment for when he was in person.
"East Brunswick." There was more silence and more muffled noises.
"Get somewhere public, don't move, and stay out of sight. We'll be there asap." I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me.
"Ok, fine, no problem." I hung up the phone. I didn't want to go after Jarvis, but I wanted Barbara found. I wanted to wait for backup, but I didn't want to sit and do nothing.
I decided I'd do a little investigating from a distance and scope the place out while I waited for backup. Ahmed was dead set against it when I told him the plan.
He threatened to drive away and put the car in drive and started to move. I opened my door and moved to jump and he sighed and stopped.
"Most women want to be wives, have families and be safe. Why do you put yourself in danger?" I clenched my teeth. I didn't want to be just another burg wife. That wasn't my style.
"I'm really concerned about Barbara; besides, Ranger and Joe will be here soon." I slipped out of the car and shut the door as quietly as I could. I then ran down the road a ways to where the trees were thicker.
A smart person would wait in the car. A smart person would let the big, scary men in her life handle the situation. Unfortunately, I wasn't a smart person. I really learned I wasn't a very smart person when I stepped into the trees.
As soon as I was inside the woods, out of sight of the road I heard a low growl. My heart stopped and time froze as I saw a big ball of fur standing several yards away.
At first I thought it was a wild dog, but then I saw the collar. This was a watchdog. Damn. I didn't have much time to plan and I climbed the nearest tree I could find.
I scraped my arms a couple times and almost fell a few times before I was safely perched in the tree, out of reach of the snarling beast at the base.
I heard a whistle and the dog stopped growling at me and trotted over to Jarvis who had just came into view. I froze. I was hoping he wouldn't see me, but I already knew that he knew I was there.
I was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was really wishing I'd taken orders from Ranger and gotten as far away as possible from Jarvis. Instead, I'd walked right into his trap. My only consolation was that Ranger and Joe knew where I was.
I waited, feet dangling from the branch I was on as Jarvis came and stood beneath the tree I was in. He reached up, grabbed my foot and yanked. I shrieked and came crashing down through the branches, landing with a sickening thud on my back.
I was gasping for air when the dog came and held me to the ground, holding me at the throat. I lay completely still, not daring to move, hardly daring to breath. Actually, I think I stopped breathing altogether.
"Well, we meet again Stephanie Plum. What a pleasant surprise." He had an evil grin on his face and I was cursing myself a thousand ways wishing Ahmed had just kept driving.
"I saw this tree and thought it would make a great tree house. I was checking it out." I was acting brave. Truth is, I was scared shitless and I was afraid this dog was going to decide I was a nice meal and eat me.
"This tree house awfully close to my home. You sure you wasn't spyin'?" I gulped.
"Nope, no spying. Fresh out of spying tools." He reached down and grabbed my hair and the dog let go of my throat. He started dragging me by the hair. I yelled and kicked out. My foot connected with the dog's nose and it dropped. I was afraid I'd killed it.
"Shit! You stupid bitch!" He let go of my hair and I scrambled to my feet and ran. I wasn't even sure where I was going I just started running. I was moving through the woods, blindly running, hoping to get away but not really believing I would.
I suddenly broke through the trees and was in the road. I heard tires screeching and turned just in time to see a black Porsche 911 Turbo careen off the side of the road into the trees. My breath caught in my chest. Ranger!
I ran to the car and he was climbing out the driver side window. The side of his face was covered in blood. I felt blood drain from my face and little black dots danced behind my eyes.
Suddenly there was a hand at the back of my neck, forcing my head down. I took a few deep breaths and stood back up. Ranger was in front of me and he'd wiped half the blood off but I could see the gash in his forehead.
"You're bleeding." I was gulping for air, hoping I wouldn't pass out.
"I'll live. What the hell were you doing?" Ranger was standing, arms akimbo at his sides, fists clenched. He was barely maintaining control. The words had been spoken calmly but there was a steely tone that let me know, he was just barely holding on.
"I thought I'd check the place out while I waited for you." I saw his eyes harden. It looked even scary through the blood on his face.
"I told you to get away from Jarvis." I lost it. I'd been held by the throat by a dog, dragged by the hair, almost watched Ranger die in front of me, I was hungry, upset, and my blood pressure was through the roof.
"Well I didn't listen!" He reached forward and pulled me too him, his mouth coming down hard on mine. All the fight went out of me, I deflated in his arms, reveling in the kiss thanking everything holy that he was alive.
"I could have killed you." There was an edge in his voice and I bit my lip, holding back tears. We heard a throat clear. We pulled apart and I looked up. Morelli.