A/N: Sorry about the delay between posts but I did warn you from the beginning that I'd probably be erratic. That pretty much describes my life – erratic.

Disclaimer: All familiar characters and settings property of the wonderful Janet Evanovich. I'm just borrowing them for a bit of playtime. I'll return them unbroken, I promise.

Chapter 10

Well, hell. If I'd seen the car a little sooner I'd have passed the lot and gone to the mall for a few hours, but it was too late now. She'd seen me pull in. I had no choice but face her. That didn't mean I couldn't drag my feet about it.

Not too much, though. If she got the idea I was trying to avoid her it would be like admitting guilt -- the game would be up. But I took my time swinging the Jeep into a parking space, then got myself together and climbed out. I checked the doors to make sure they were locked and then strolled through the light rain to the door. Jeannie Ellen stood there in her black leather pants, looking intimidating. She was better at it than I am, which seriously pissed me off.

"Hey, Jeannie Ellen, what brings you here?" I asked in a cheerful tone. I was hoping it would throw her off – and maybe it did, slightly. A brief look of surprise crossed her face.

"I came to see if you were the one using my name last night at Dante's," she said.

"Me?" I don't know if it was nerves or a latent stoke of brilliance, but for some reason I laughed out loud.

"I'm flattered," I said, still laughing. "But do you really think I could have pulled that off? I heard she broke some guy's knee!"

"Dislocated," she corrected, but she was giving me a speculative look like maybe she was having second thoughts.

I conquered the giggles finally and sighed. "Whatever. Anyway, I don't know how to do that. Maybe I should start taking some martial arts classes. I could learn, right?"

"I didn't really think it was you, I just wanted to check. I didn't find anything." She pushed open the door but gave me a parting shot over her shoulder. "But lessons wouldn't hurt. After all, Ranger won't always be around to save your ass."

I stood gaping at her back as she left. How rude! How insulting! Okay, so it was probably true, but still…Wait a minute, she said she didn't find anything. She'd gone through my apartment!

I flew up the stairs, too angry to wait for the elevator. My door was locked, but that never seemed to slow down anyone but me. Nothing looked out of place as I did a quick check in the living room and bedroom, then I looked closer. The necklace, earrings, and hair clip I'd left on the dresser were missing. In their place lay the ID and money I'd forgotten about putting in my hip pocket. I yanked open the bottom drawer where I'd stuffed the outfit. Empty. It was gone.

Wait. If Jeannie Ellen had found the outfit she'd have known it was me at the club. And if Jeannie Ellen didn't find it…? Ranger.

His line was ringing before I realized I'd dialed.

"Yo."

"Did you take my clothes?"

There was the briefest of hesitations. "Why were you looking for them?"

"Jeannie Ellen was waiting for me when I got home." I heard his indrawn breath but didn't give him a chance to say anything. "Did you burn my outfit?"

"No."

"You said I should. You said you didn't want me wearing them again."

"I meant for anyone else." And he hung up.

Okay… That left me staring at my phone for a few heartbeats. What had he meant by that?

I gave up trying to figure Ranger out. Men in general were beyond my comprehension, and the ones closest to me were the worst of the lot. It seemed like they spoke in code most of the time. I flopped backwards onto my bed to think, then remembered I still had my wet slicker on and bounced back up. After hanging it on the hooks by the door I returned to my thinking position, avoiding the now-damp patch on the bedspread, and went over the day so far in my head.

It occurred to me after a while that I'd gotten away with a lot already today. In the office I'd managed not to let Connie and Lula know the nightclub woman was me. And Joe had told me about Ranger calling him without me having to ask. I'd even managed to fool – at least temporarily – Jeannie Ellen. What had I done differently?

I hadn't talked. I'd kept my mouth shut, and it had worked. Maybe Ranger was onto something. Would I be able to keep it up? Not likely, but I'd give it a shot.

I thought about which skip to go after next, then wondered what Mom was making for supper tonight, and whether it would be worth it to go over to see. Chances are Valerie and her family would be there and it would be chaos. Maybe I'd get a pizza instead.

I woke up a few hours later to a room dim with twilight, and the sound of the television coming from the living room. I guess I had company.

Joe and Bunchy were sitting on my sofa watching a sports talk show, eating pizza and drinking beer. The rest of the pizza was on the kitchen counter, and more beer was in the fridge. I helped myself to both and dropped into the chair, eating and waiting for them to realize I was there. It took until the next commercial.

"Hey, Stephanie," Bunchy waved with his beer bottle. "Have a nice nap?"

"You guys read my mind," I said, ignoring the jab about the nap. "I was wishing for pizza for dinner. What's up?"

"Bunchy wanted to come by and say hi," Joe said.

"Yeah, I hear your life has gotten boring. No car explosions lately?"

"No. I think everyone got tired of that – too predictable now. I'm sure something new will pop up soon." I was only joking, but Joe gave me a dark look.

"There's nothing wrong with boring, really. I'm just as glad your life has quieted down. So, how's Lula doing?"

"She's fine – same as always. She's doing some skip tracing now, too, and we still help each other out from time to time. You should go say hello to her, too."

"I'm sure I'll run in to her while I'm in town."

Joe nodded toward the bedroom with his head, and when he got up I followed him. Inside, he shut the door but he waited a few beats to speak. I kept quiet, even though I had to bite my tongue. It worked.

"In a nutshell, the Feds say something big is going on. The problem is that they're not sure exactly what. Counterfeiting is involved, and drugs and murder, maybe more.

They're setting up a task force and they've asked us to lean on our sources, see if any word is on the street."

He paused, heaving a sigh and putting his fists on his hips before continuing. "I know you, Steph. With your luck you'll manage to run across some information, and I'm not saying to stay out of it – but, please, don't try to follow any leads on your own. Call me, or Ranger, or hell, any of the cops you know. Just… Please."

Holy shit, the impossible has happened. Joe said please.

"Okay. I'll call you or Ranger. I promise." See, I could be cooperative if people asked me nicely. Joe looked a little shocked, but it didn't last long."

"So, Cupcake -- can I see the rest of the dragon now?"

Since he asked nicely, I folded my t-shirt up to the band of my bra and did a slow turn so he could see the whole dragon. He whistled through his teeth and, being Joe, had to feel it.

"You should get a real tattoo," he said.

"Not likely. I hate needles. But I might do the temporary ones again. They're kind of fun." A thought crossed my mind. "You didn't say anything to anyone about it being me at the club, did you? Or about the tattoo?"

"No, why?" he asked, frowning.

"Well, for one thing, I don't want it getting around. Jeannie Ellen was waiting for me when I got home today as it was."

"Why is she involved?"

Oops. I guess I left out a little bit of the story. "Um, because I used the name Jean Burrows at the club – but only to one person, so I'm not sure how it got spread all over so fast."

"My lips are sealed, but you must have a death wish," Joe complained, but it didn't slow him down much. His hands started to wander, but since Bunchy was in the next room he didn't push it when I stepped back. Which turned out to be a good thing, because when I opened the bedroom door Bunchy and Ranger were eyeing each other in the living room.