I hope this chapter doesn't totally suck! For some reason it just wasn't flowing for me, atleast most of it. Here it is anyway. Things are going to start picking up in action for Stephanie. A stalker and a big time case for Stephanie coming up soon.

Some other things...Things with Ranger will take time to resolve, don't look for a quick answer to what's going on. Stephanie will have some run ins with Ranger that you won't want to miss. It may seem like things are getting worse for Stephanie at times, but it is all leading to a self discovery for Steph. She needs to have a time of self discovery to find out what is really important to her and what she wants to do with her life.

I promise there will be a very happily ever after :)

CHAPTER 11

A CRAZY BITCH Of A DAY
PART 1

Lester and I headed back to Trenton after we cooked and ate dinner together. I was on the fish breading station and he was in charge of the frying. For some reason he didn't trust me with the hot oil and the open flame of the gas stove. Go figure.

The drive was a quiet and dark, by time we left the sun had already set. I drifted off sometime during the ride and woke laying across the seat with my head on Lesters leg when the car came to a stop in my lot. He walked me upstairs and did a quick security check on my apartment before coming back to the door to get my bags and allowing me inside.

I took my bags from him and went to place them in the bedroom. Immediately I noticed all the glass and other broken items were all cleaned up. I turned to question Lester but before I even got the words out he answered me.

"Ella, I called her yesterday morning when you were still sleeping. She came in the afternoon to clean and feed Rex."

I didn't know how to thank him for everything in words, so I just launched myself at him landing in his arms and held on.

"Thank you, for everything." I wonder how I'm ever going to return the favor. He must have read my mind.

"Your welcome, and no, you don't owe me anything. If roles were reversed I know you would do anything you could to help me." He pushed me away from him, giving me a kiss on the forehead. His cell phone beeped with a text message. "I have to go. Call me if you need anything."

"All right, if you have time tomorrow night come by for dinner. My treat, we'll call and order something and watch a movie or something."

"Sounds like a plan. Call me tomorrow."

"Kay, and I won't forget." I did a cross my heart across over my chest and he laughed. The door was just about to close behind him.

"LESTER WAIT!" He turned and swung the door back open as I ran to the bedroom to grab the letter I wrote to Ranger from my bag. Running back to the door I handed him the envelope and he looked confused. "Give this to Ella and ask her to put it in Rangers apartment where he will find it when he returns."

He didn't ask questions, just nodded and headed off to work.

The short time I spent with Lester this weekend gave me a break an emotional break from myself, that I really needed. Most of the time Lester had me too distracted or too busy to think about Ranger very much. When I did get a chance to think, it was a little more rationally without my emotions all tangled up with my thoughts. But now that I was back home alone with nothing but my mind and heart battling each other, the overwhelming emotions were unavoidable.

I had a restless night. A couple hours into my sleep I woke and found myself staring at the chair against the wall across from my bed. The chair Ranger always sat in to watch me sleep. I've come to think of it as 'his' chair. He would show up in my apartment in the middle of the night and just sit and watch me sleep. When I woke up one night and found him there, he told me watching me sleep helped to calm and relax him. Laying there staring at the chair part of me wished he was sitting in it right now, and the other part of me didn't want to see him sitting in that chair watching me ever again. The battle of the mind and heart. My mind wanted to let him go, but my heart couldn't say goodbye. I tossed and turned the rest of the night fighting and losing an internal battle with myself that was still wearing on my emotions. I was angry at myself for still loving him, for loving him so much that his leaving flipped my life inside out.

My alarm on my phone woke me at five the next morning. In the time it took me to turn off the alarm and reset it, I had already decided running was going to have to wait until tomorrow and I curled back up to try for a couple more hours of sleep.

How long it would take for the hurt and anger to go away? Will it ever go away? I still wanted to throw things, smash things and just sit and cry. I was going try as hard as I could not to let the tears fall anymore, but it is a constant battle that wears me down.

I am emotionally exhausted.

Too bad we can't fall out of love as fast as we fall in love. I know it will take time, I just wonder how long?I am not a patient person. When will it feel like a part of me is no longer missing?

"You can do this, Stephanie." I said as I looked in the mirror putting on my final coating of mascara a couple hours later. As I finished getting ready to go, I just had this feeling that today wasn't going to be a good day.

I pulled up to the office and jumped out of the car, with a donut bag in hand. As much as I didn't feel like doing this damn job anymore, hopefully I'd be able to bring in my last two skips today and collect my money.

The bell on the front door of the office rang as I opened it. Show time! Time to put on the happy face.

"Morning Ladies!" I handed over the donuts and greeted Lula and Connie trying to sound upbeat.

"You're sure chipper this morning." Connie said through her first bite of a donut. Not really all that chipper, it was just easier putting on a show today.

"Yeah" Looks can be decieving. I stuffed a donut in my mouth and sat down handing the bag over to Lula. Distraction. I needed a distraction. "I think we need a girls day and night out, you guys got any plans for this Friday?"

Connie perked up. "I'm game! Vinnie can fend for himself for a day."

We both looked over at Lula. "I might as well go. It's not like Tankie will even notice as busy as he is." She turned and looked at me in panic mode like she said something wrong. "And just so you know, I don't blame you."

"Okaaaaay" I said slowly, not quite sure of what she seemed panicked about. "Why would I think you blamed me?"

"Never mind." She said with a wave of her hand. "It's nothing, forget I said anything." Lula paused for a second. "So do you have any idea where you want to go Friday?"

She just pulled a topic switch on me.

I was about to ask her about it when Vinnies office door opened. "You girls aren't doing anything if you don't get your asses in gear and bring your skips in." He yelled out and slammed his door shut.

Immediately we all jumped up and started lifting things and looking around. Connie found the bug Vinnie planted under the flower pot on her desk.

"This will teach him." She blew a high pitch whistle in it before smashing it.

We all heard a crash from Vinnie's office, gave each other a high five before Lula and I headed out the door, going our seperate ways.

I called Joe on the way to pick up my first skip. He didn't have much time to talk. But I found out his date went great and they already had another date for lunch tomorrow. He told me he would try to call me back this evening if he had time. How come it was so much easier to talk to Joe now than when we were together? Hmmm? I guess that just proves we weren't meant to be together.

My first skip, Billy Mitchell works at the button factory and had been arrested for disturbing the peace. There was some incident at the mall in which he was yelling at his wife and started throwing all of the items from her shopping bags into the fountain at the mall. Oh joy, this should be fun. Button factory hours were from eight to four, so I headed to his job.

When I arrived I went directly to the front office and asked for Billy, only to find out he got and emergency call from home just after he arrived and left. Over the river, through the woods and off to Billy's house I go. The woman at the front desk wasn't sure what kind of emergency he was called home for. There was a good chance he wouldn't even be there. I parked my car behind the one in the driveway and knocked on the front door with one hand, the other hand on my stun gun just in case. I wasn't in the mood for any crap today. The front door opened.

"Billy Mitchell?"

"Yes, can I help you?" He looked a little frazzled, but other than that he seemed like a normal guy.

"Stephanie Plum, from Vinnie's Bail Bonds. Your in violation of your bail agreement and I need to take you down to the station to reschedule your court date."

"Thank God!" He said and before I had a chance to think, he came out of the house closing the door behind him. He grabbed the cuffs hanging from my front pocket and locked them around one wrist. "In front or back?"

"Huh?"

"Should I cuff my hands in the front or the back?"

I stood there dumbstruck for a second. I've never had a skip so willing to go with me that he cuffed himself, there's gotta be a catch. Maybe this is one of those hidden camera shows. Looking around I didn't see anyone or any camera's.

"Front or back?" He asked again.

"Uhh...the back." I said still trying to figure out what was going on.

"Is this good?" He turned around showing me his hands.

"Uhh...yeah, perfect."

"Okay, lets go then." He pushed past me and headed to my car.

I shook my head, shaking myself out of my stupor and followed behind my skip towards my car.

I opened the door for Billy to climb in and heard yelling from behind me. "BILLY! WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR GOING?"

I turned around to look at the woman standing in the doorway of the house. Her size was somewhere between me and Lula. She was dressed in a short tight jean skirt, a shiny black tank top and heels, definitely not what a housewife usually wears in the burg to fix lunch. But to each his own. There was a cigarette hanging from her lips, a large bowl in one hand and two little kids peeking from behind her. Must be twins, they looked to be about two years old.

"BILLY, I ASKED YOU A DAMN QUESTION."

Not knowing what to do I just stood there looking back and forth between the two of them.

Billy finally spoke up. "Remember that court date I missed because you just had to go get your nails done? Now I am being forced to go down to the station and reschedule my court date."

"YOU THINK I'M STUPID BILLY? SHE DON'T LOOK LIKE NO POLICE. WHO'S GOING TO WATCH THE KIDS WHILE I GET MY HAIR DONE? YOUR ALWAYS DOING THIS CRAP TO ME BILLY, YOU CALL YOURSELF A HUSBAND. YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING FOR ME."

Billy got in the car. "Just close the door and get me out of here."

"WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING WITH MY HUSBAND?" She screamed at me.

Wow, this woman was a piece of work. I turned around trying very hard to be calm, there were little kids there. "Ma'am, I am Stephanie Plum with Vinnie's Bail Bonds. Your husband is in violation of his bond agreement."

"YOU THINK I BELIEVE THAT BULLSHIT STORY? YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE NO BOUNTY HUNTER." Well, couldn't argue with her on that one. She looked back at Billy. "WHAT HOTEL ARE YOU GOING TO FUCK HER AT? HUH BILLY? YOU TAKING HER TO THE SAME ONE YOU TAKE ALL YOUR OTHER WHORES TO."

Whore! This lady was beginning to piss me off and give me a headache. I really wanted to go over there and slap the shit out of her, but I could never do something like that with her kids right there. So I did the only thing I could.

I turned towards my car. "Billy, you take your other girls to hotels? You never take me to a hotel. Why do we always have to park and use the back seat of the car?" I stomped my foot and added a whine as Billy stared up at me in shock. "It's not fair, I brought the handcuffs like you asked, so this time your taking me to a hotel." I opened my door to climb in the car and something smashed against the outside of the window as I heard a slew of cuss words directed at me.

"What the heck?" There was another smash against my window. This bitch was throwing eggs at my car. Seriously? Eggs! That's the best she can do. I started the car and backed out of the driveway laughing as a few more eggs smashed on the windshield. Of all the things that have happened to my continuous line of vehicles and the best she can do is eggs. Nothing a trip through the car wash won't take care of.

I turned my attention to the man in the backseat of my car. "I can have Connie meet us at the station to re-post your bond."

"What happens if no bond is re-posted?" Billy asked.

"They will hold you in jail until your court date." I explained.

"I think I'll go for that option."

I snapped my head around. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I need a vacation from my wife, and this is the only way I will get one."

"Suit yourself." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

On the way to the station he explained how he could never do enough to keep his wife happy. He said he lost control at the mall that day. They had been shopping all day, he bought her several things. When he wouldn't buy her one thing she started going off on him that he never gets her anything. So he started yelling at her and threw all the things he bought her in the fountain. No matter what he does she is constantly nagging on him. I listened quietly, not really caring and figuring the truth was somewhere in between anyways. I got him settled at the station and picked up my receipt.

One down...one to go. If I hurried with this next skip I could make it to Shorty's for a late lunch. My Merry Men always ate there on Monday afternoons. I missed them and was hoping to catch up with them there.