Disclaimer: I can only wish about making money on this. All the characters in this story except the psycho belong to Janet Evanovich. Thanks to everyone who leave reviews. I appreciate the feedback. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Julia

Part Thirteen

I was floating on a cloud. I snuggled deeply into the bedding. It was silky soft. I don't remember the hotel sheets being this soft. My eyes flew open and I quickly sat up in bed.. I wasn't at the hotel. I was in Ranger's apartment. I looked down, and I realized I wasn't in the dress. I was only wearing one of Rangers T-shirts.

It was then that I noticed Ranger was lying next to me. He was watching me propped up on his side and his lips curved into an almost smile. I knew he had undressed me last night. I Looked away to hide the slight blush, and glanced at the clock. It was eight in the morning. My eyes narrowed. I never wake up on my own at this time of day. Ranger woke me up.

"If you think I am going running, you're crazy."

"Babe, I went running at five." He was trying to suppress a smile. I glared at him. That only made him start laughing again. I didn't get what was so funny. He always ran at five. When he began to calm down, he noticed my confusion.

"Babe, I tried to get you up. You refused, saying you would only go if I ran naked again. Then, you mumbled something about no Flash impersonations." He lost it again.

I remember that dream. We were running and Ranger was completely nude. Only problem was that in my dream he was running too fast for me to keep up. I wasn't able to see him very well. It had been a frustrating dream. I turned bright red. Only I could embarrass myself while sleeping.

"Uh, why am I at your apartment by the way?" Time to get him distracted from laughing at me.

He reduced to chuckles again, and then said because I fell asleep. He did a swift move to get off the bed. "Ella brought you breakfast, it's getting cold" and left the room.

That got my interest, but I didn't have any clothes. Of course, Ranger's ESP kicked in and he called out for me to check the closet. I reluctantly got out of bed, only because when I tried to lie back down, Ranger said he would come to dress me if I went to bed again.

I relieved my bladder, and found things unpacked from the duffle I used on our trip. I brushed my hair, and pulled it into a ponytail. It would have to do for now. Then I joined Ranger in the living room. I wasn't happy.

"What is going on, my things are unpacked?"

"I should have escorted you upstairs last night. It won't happen again. You're staying here, till I can assess the risk level. " Ranger replied as if it was fact.

"Excuse me! Why are the men in my life all turning into cavemen? What gives you the right to dictate how I live my life?" I really wanted him to answer all of my questions.

"I am not dictating your life, I am keeping you safe. I will not let you put yourself in danger because of me again." he growled.

"Exactly, I put myself in danger. If I want to do that, I have every right to. But you will not keep me locked up. I never asked for you to bring me here. Don't take advantage of my trust!"

He paused looking slightly hurt and took a few deep breaths. I stood with my hands on my hips. "Do I have to tell my men to stun you again?" he finally asked.

"Well you can try, but you do remember how that ended don't you?" I batted my eyes at him. I had a taser gun this time too.

"Babe, why do you fight me keeping you safe?" He asked dejected.

"I'm not fighting you keeping me safe. I am fighting you locking me up in your apartment without my permission. Why do you and Joe both think locking me up is a good plan?"

He really didn't like that last part. "I am not like him" he said his voice back to normal.

My voice softened too. "Not usually, but right now, your doing the same things Joe always did to me. You're assuming that I am going to put myself in danger; you are using your influence over me to control my actions. Joe used guilt, you use muscle. Not much difference, both of you are looking for the same thing. To control me, and I won't stand for it anymore."

Ranger walked over to me, and backed me up against the wall, and pinned me.

"We have been here before too." I said. My inner Wonder Woman was chanting you go girl for standing up for myself. Since when did she start sounding like Lula?

Ranger leaned his forehead against mine. His eyes were closed, and he seemed off somewhere. I squirmed after a few minutes. My control was slipping being this close to him.

He let backed up a few inches. "I need you safe. Rangeman is involved with the investigation, and after what happened at the party, that note could be because I involved you. I need to check things out without worrying about your safety."

"I agreed to do the job Ranger. I also burst into that room. I could have gone and got you, but I didn't. Joe was right that sometimes I just jump into things. He was wrong about me not thinking. I just don't always look for alternatives till after I have jumped. For all we know, that picture is Christina, and the killer may be after me because we were looking around."

"If that was the case, why didn't he threaten Lula?"

Ranger had a point with that one. "I'm not sure. I always attract the craziest people. If they visit Trenton, it's only a matter of time till I piss them off somehow." I shrugged. It was a sad fact of my life. "Maybe because I involved the cops by calling Joe. Several of the girls were riled up by that. Maybe the killer was too. My point is you can't be sure this is because of you. For all we know, the killer could want me to not contact Joe again."

"Fine, how about we make a deal?" He stepped back, and resumed standing with his arms crossed.

I was skeptical, but said "What's your offer?" Would he really compromise with me?

"I can have my men tail you, but I would prefer them to accompany you since you won't stay hidden."

"I don't want you to bleed money…" I started to protest, but he put his finger on my lips so he could continue.

"You come back on the payroll and help work this case. I know that nothing I could say will get you to stay away from it. You've already gotten the killers attention too. If you help work the case, then I don't have to add manpower to you. You'll just ride with a partner."

He knew me well. I wanted to get this bastard. Not only did he threaten me, and violated my home, but he killed Lula's friend. "I'm not sure being on the payroll is a good idea. Do you remember how that ended the last time too?" Am I the only one who remembers this stuff?

"Babe"

Ok, so maybe Ranger remembered. Stupid ESP. Things were still slow, so it wouldn't interfere with working at Vinnie's. I could always go back there again. "Can I still pick up my skips for Vinnie?" there weren't many right now, but somebody had to do it.

"Yes"

"Who would be my partner?"

"Depends, I will have to rotate people based on other job requirements right now."

"Can I think about it for a while?"

"Yes, but you don't leave without one of my men to do anything."

Ok. His terms were that I was to be kept safe, and we would try to find the killer as a team. "Fine, I will do it. Might as well." I knew I would end up agreeing to his offer. "Do you know where I could get some training?"

"Does this have anything to do with your new weapons?" How did he find out, I only showed him the taser? "Babe, I unpacked your bag."

"Oh. Yes and no. See I want to get better at my job. When I told you about getting my life together, I also meant my job. I decided I like being a bounty hunter, but don't like my cars exploding, the betting, rolling in stuff, and having food thrown at me. The way I see it, if I was better, it wouldn't happen as often." Even I couldn't deny that things would still happen to me.

Ranger smiled at me.

"As an employee, me and the guys can train you."

I had already thought about that. Problem was his men scare me still a little bit and being that close to Ranger would scramble my brain. Like now, part of me just wants to drag him back to bed. It was taking all my concentration to talk.

"Worried you can't control yourself?"

Yes, but I would never admit that. I narrowed my eyes for effect. Stupid ESP "If I remember correctly, you were the one to kiss me last time I tackled you." and I had enjoyed it way to much. His lips tilted up slightly at the corners.

"Are you serious this time?"

"Of course I am, what makes you think I'm not?"

"There was this call that woke me up in the middle of the night. And a week later, you quit. I have always thought you could use more training, but I won't force you."

Ok, he had me there. I did wake him up asking for help to get in shape. I really hate running though. "That's why I'm not asking for help getting into shape. But I am serious about getting some self defense, and techniques to capture my FTA's would help. It was pointed out to me, that I could take classes anywhere but, getting the right help is more important than trying to do it alone." Annie seemed so sweet and soft spoken until we got to that part of our talk. She transformed into a scolding motherly type real fast. She had a point though. Ranger began studying me again. Well, he would only find out that I was serious.

"How about working with Louis Guzman?"

"Ella's Louis? Are you sure he won't mind?"

Ranger just raised his eyebrow at that. I still wasn't sure. I could be hell on the Merry Men.

"Babe, try it. If it doesn't work I'll help you find something else."

"Ok." I replied. I could do that.

"I have a meeting. I will send Bobby and Louis up. Bobby can accompany you today. Don't try to lose him", and with that he was gone. I wondered if the meeting was about the FBI case, or some security thing. He will always be a man of mystery, very complicated. Oh well, Ella's breakfast is waiting and it's probably cold now. I went into the kitchen and found doughnuts from the Tasty Pastry. Breakfast will get cold my ass.

He tricked me into getting up. I got my cell phone and called him. When he answered I immediately said "Doughnuts don't get cold. You woke me up for nothing."

"No, talking was important. Ella just thought after last night, you needed comfort food." he said.

I wish Ella would adopt me. She even understands a girl's need for comfort food. I heard someone in the background say Boss, your grandmother is calling.

"Babe" I could tell he was smiling. Then, he hung up on me. I scowled. At least I have doughnuts.

I knew she would be mad that I hung up. She constantly surprised me. Who would think that of all the people in my life, the only one to really stand up to me would be Steph?

In the last few days, I've seen more strength in her than I've seen since that day in the café. . Steph has always been strong. It was one of the things that attracted me to her. But, someone has had a new influence in her life. She was serious about getting training, had purchased new weapons for herself, and was working on figuring out her life. I wanted to know who has been influencing her. I gave brief consideration to it being Diesel, but dismissed that. I confirmed he left on Valentines Day.

After being injured, I decided to start letting her in. I didn't want to freak her out, so I have been simply showing her my feelings more. I'm not sure she is ready for that talk yet. With her getting rid of Morelli, sooner than I thought she would, I may have to adjust my plans. Time to get back to work.

I answered the phone call from Abuela Rosa. She was in trouble at the zoo. I rolled my neck. She called me instead of mother or Celia. Sometime it didn't pay to be the favorite grandchild. I never minded picking her up, but to drop her off would mean I had to take her home. I was still avoiding my mother. With the job this weekend, I had a real reason to skip the family dinner. Mama was not pleased. Abuela had Paco with her, so I told her I would be there soon.

I sat there thinking about Ranger's grandma Rosa. I knew that she was the older lady at Celia's house. She didn't seem really scary or anything. When I finished my first Boston Cream someone pounded on the front door.

I opened it up to find Bobby and Louis standing there. They smiled at my doughnut. I hope they don't want me to share, because this was the last one.

Bobby was about six foot tall. He was African-American, but his complexion wasn't as dark as Tank's. We had only met once, but I saw him around the building when I worked here. Louis was about Five foot Ten. He was from Hispanic decent. He was somewhere in his mid to late fifties. He was fit, probably just as buff as the rest of the Merry Men when he was younger. He smiled at me, and I could see how Ella fell for him. His smile was definitely a charmer. I stepped back and let them in.

I spent the next half hour working out a schedule with Louis. We would meet twice a week at 11 o'clock in the morning to train. I trusted him; I just hope I don't get him hurt. When Louis left, Bobby asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I needed to check in with Connie today.

She had two files for me. I told her I would be by soon to pick them up. I could tell she was dying to grill me again. I didn't hear Lula in the background, so I would need to call her today.

I make plans to meet Bobby in the garage in an hour. I jumped into the shower and got ready. I strapped on my new toys. Kick ass Stephanie was on the job. Plus, having Bobby as backup would help too.

I called Lula; she was staying at home, working on contacting Christina's family. I told her to call if she needed me. Hearing the sadness in her voice only furthered my resolve to catch that bastard and make him pay.

I met Bobby downstairs, and we took a shiny SUV to the bonds office. I tried to drive, but he looked at my like I was crazy. I huffed and climbed into the passenger seat. Stupid macho men. It had nothing to do with my car history.

When I arrived, Connie was prepared to grill me about everything. She was reserved since Bobby was with me. She asked me how Lula was doing, and I told her as expected.

Connie gave me the two files. The first one, Brian Anderson was seventy-two years old. He was five foot eight. His picture looked sad. When I looked at his arresting charge it was for bank robbery!

"Connie, this guy tried to rob a bank!" Back up or not, I wasn't sure I wanted him.

"Don't worry, he just wants to go back to jail. His note only asked for two fifty dollar bills. Then the crazy bastard waited to be arrested in front of the bank. He was disappointed that his daughter posted bail." She explained while filing her nails.

He didn't sound too bad. She said he wanted to go back to jail. I glanced over at Bobby to see how he was taking this. He just smiled at me. I forgot Ranger's men are a little crazy.

I opened up the next file. Jacob smith. He was twenty eight years old. Five foot eleven. He weighted 220 pounds. Definitely glad for the extra muscle. I looked at his charges. Smuggling lizards in his pants? I instantly know why he went to Vinnie to be bonded out. Vinnie had a lock on all the criminals who were arrested for perverted or just gross acts.

I handed Bobby the files to look at. I began explaining that I would be working with Ranger too, but would still do my skips here. Vinnie came out of his office yelling that he wasn't running a charity. I said, charity my ass. He should be happy I was willing to work for him. None of his other bounty hunters ever stayed around. I told him this, and he went to yell back, but Bobby stepped into his line of sight, and he retreated to his office mumbling. We all made a face. Vinnie was below pond scum.

Bobby asked who I wanted to catch first, I thought about it, and picked the robber. The other was still making my stomach churn. Why would he put lizards in his pants? Never mind I don't want to know. Bobby said he would follow my lead unless things got rough.

We pulled up to Brian Anderson's house. He lived two streets up from Joe. His house was a slate gray house with white trim. It was nice by burg standards. Clean and well kept.

I got out of the SUV, and we approached the front door. Bobby stood to the left, out of sight. I knocked on the door. No one answered. I motioned for Bobby to follow me around back. We went around back and notice the attached garage door was open. This house had the same floor plan as Joe's. Well, except Joe's garage was exploded a few years ago, and hasn't been replaced yet.

My skip was working on something that looked familiar. But from where?

"Brian Anderson" I called out.

Brian jumped and put his over his heart. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on people? Who are you anyway?"

"Actually sneaking up on people works real well for me. My name is Stephanie Plum. I represent your bondsman. You missed your court date, you have to come with me and my partner to get rescheduled."

He looked hopeful until I said rescheduled. "I don't want to get rescheduled. I know I missed my court date. In my day, the cops would come and arrest you. Now you come and tell me I need to be rescheduled. How hard is it to be sent to jail these days? I robbed a bank, just like last time, and they didn't even keep me behind bars. Well this will get them to take me back"

That's when it clicked. A pipe and wiring were on the table. He was making a pipe bomb. Bobby grabbed me and pushed me out of the way. He drew his gun and trained it on Mr. Anderson. "Step slowly away from the table and come with us."

"No way. If you take me I won't have time to finish before my daughter gets home. Try to take me and I will blow us all up."

"Mr. Anderson, those things are very unstable. I had one blow up before on accident. How about you work with us, I know you want to go back to jail. We can work something out."

"Shit, mixing her and explosive materials is never safe" that came from Bobby. I scowled at him. It's not my fault.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Anderson inquired.

"She is the Bombshell Bounty Hunter, things always explode around her." He said again. I was getting pissed. Bobby just winked at me though. Huh…

"Fuck, I heard about that garbage truck and Porsche while I was in jail. You will help me get arrested for good?" he asked hopefully.

This would only happen to me. Why do I always have the crazy FTAs? Cause Vinnie bonds out anyone that's why.

"I'm sure we can get the cops to hold you. I know lots of them. And I will tell them you resisted coming, and about the bomb. That will definitely convince a judge to lock you away." I said in all seriousness.

He smiled and came over to us. Bobby closed the garage door, and started making phone calls. I raised my eyebrows at him. He mouthed bomb squad. Shit we had to get out of here. No more betting. We loaded Mr. Anderson into the SUV and drove toward the Police Station.

"Mr. Anderson, why do you want to go back to jail so badly?" I was dying to know.

" After twenty five years, it's all I know." he said.

"You were in jail for Twenty-five years?"

"Yep, robbed several banks when I was a younger man."

I still didn't understand, but let it go since we were at the station. Bobby and I escorted Mr. Anderson inside. Eddie Gazzara was at the desk. He asked if I was anywhere on the premises of the bomb location. He had two hundred on it. I asked if I copped to it, would I still have to pay for a baby sitter? He said no, so I admitted I was there. Then, told him about Mr. Anderson. Ha, got out of paying to watch the demons. He would have won anyway. I had promised to tattle on Mr. Anderson so they would hold him.

I arrived at the zoo office to pick up my Abuela and was shocked at who she was with. Sitting in the same room, was Stephanie's Grandma Mazur, and Mary Alice. This wasn't a coincidence. Abuela was at it again. With only a few comments about my package, I was able to withhold my shudders and cringes. Thank God, she didn't try to grope me.

I offered to take them home too, but Ms. Mazur said her daughter was already on the way. One thing went right today. I took Paco and Abuela home, and was able to avoid my mother. She was at the market. Another close call. I smiled. Even after another fight with Stephanie this morning, maybe this day wouldn't be that bad after all.

Then, my phone chirped, and Tank told me the bomb squad was being called to Steph's skips place. He confirmed Steph and Bobby were ok, but had no details yet. I took a deep breath, and rolled my neck again. Maybe I spoke too soon.

Stephanie's POV

After handling making my statements and getting my receipt it was lunch time, and I wanted Pino's. Bobby offered to take me to Shorty's instead. After a few minutes of arguing, which consisted of me talking and Bobby standing perfectly still, I finally gave in. We would eat lunch at Shorty's. The food isn't bad, but the crowd is. I was pretty sure Bobby would keep me safe though.

After lunch we went to collect Lizard Boy, also known as Jacob Smith. When I knocked on the door, he ran. I chased him, calling him a sick pervert. He was running around the living room, with me trying to tackle him. Screaming he was just trying to make money. The lizards were rare, and worth two grand each. That made me pause, when I stopped, so did Jacob. Bobby came up behind him, and put cuffs on him. We took him to the station. Two for two today, and I didn't get any food or mud on me. I felt good.

After collecting my checks, Bobby took me back to the Rangeman building.