There are moments in life when everything just makes sense. Like when you wake up wrapped in the arms of the one person who loves you more than anything. Or when you find that random candy bar buried in your coat pocket right when you need a sugar fix.

And then there are moments like these. Moments when you're muddy, wet, and barely dressed walking down a grungy back alleyway in a city that smells like salt water and rotting fish. Moments when you figure you must be on one of those "gotcha" reality shows because no one's life can be this messed up. Or moments when you wonder in what universe Wonder Woman could ever be bested by Harley Quinn.

But maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Things actually went better than expected flying from Newark to Seattle. Nothing alerted airport security to the fact I might be a potential terrorist when I went through the body scanner, so I figured I must have done a pretty thorough job of ridding myself of any superfluous trackers. I'd even been clever enough to dump the ones I'd found into my sister's diaper bag when I dropped off my car. She'd agreed to drive it around for the weekend and was nice enough not to ask too many questions. Probably just assumed this sort of thing was all part of the charmed life of the one and only Stephanie Plum-Manoso. No big surprise there considering she'd had the pleasure of growing up with me.

Lula kept herself mostly under control and only made a small scene at the airport when a female security guard had to come over and pat her down after her jewelry kept setting off the metal detectors—Lula insisted on having the male guard with the flirty smile do it. And I only threw up once during the flight thanks to an unfortunate combination of turbulence and those extra donuts that refused to digest properly.

By the time we touched down, I was antsy and anxious. Antsy because I'd just been confined like a sardine for the last six hours between a plus size black woman and a big, burly guy who made some of my former skips look pretty tame. And anxious because I was about to start stalking Batman. In a place I'd never actually set foot in before. What could possibly go wrong, right?

Lula had organized sleeping arrangements for us at a cheap hostel downtown that she claimed had decent online reviews. The Green Tortoise. Thanks to horror movies, I wasn't exactly thrilled to be sharing sleeping space with a bunch of travelling strangers, but I figured for a few nights, I could probably make do. Maybe I'd sleep with one eye open. Just in case.

Once we'd grabbed our luggage, we took a shuttle from the airport straight into the heart of the city. The streets were teaming with masses of people even though it was already starting to get dark. Guess it was one of those cities that never slept.

I glanced around and admired the skyline. Towering skyscrapers as far as the eye could see. Their lights flickered against an overcast backdrop and reflected off the nearby body of water. It was mesmerizing.

Something savory wafted through the air as we toted our luggage toward The Green Tortoise, and I remembered all the awesome dining experiences I'd recently had in LA. Hopefully Seattle wouldn't disappoint.

We checked in, and I situated my stuff in one of the complimentary lockers before giving my bunk the once over. It wasn't so bad. Definitely not the penthouse suite at Rangeman, but at least it was clean.

I plugged my laptop in to the nearest outlet and said a small prayer that Ranger hadn't made any last minute changes to his itinerary. It wasn't super likely, but when working with a con artist, who knows? The thing booted up, and I clicked into the program Hector had graciously installed for me.

Just like magic, a little blinking beacon appeared on my screen. Good news. We were in the right city. And apparently Ranger was still wearing his watch.

I zoomed in to get a better look at the cross streets before pulling out a map. I couldn't believe our luck! Ranger's tracker was only a few streets over! Seriously, what are the odds?

"What's got you so happy?" Lula asked as she glanced over my shoulder.

"Good news. The person we're tracking is practically our next door neighbor."

"Cool! Does this mean we have more time to go exploring? I wanna be sure to do some souvenir shopping. I gotta find me something good to commiserate this trip."

"You mean commemorate."

"That's what I said."

I sighed and decided to let the debate drop.

After putting the laptop away with my other belongings, I grabbed my handbag and a jacket.

"I'm not sure what the local time is, but I've gotta eat something. I didn't get much of a chance on the plane thanks to my queasy stomach, so I'm beyond starving. Wanna go check out some of the local food options?" Maybe something deep friend and sodium infused. And a chocolate-based chaser for dessert.

"Hell yeah!"

Lula pulled on a pink faux fur jacket and grabbed a bright, sequined handbag. "I saw this place called 'What the Pho' on the ride over. Something like that's gotta be pretty good, right?"

I had no idea, but considering I was hungry enough to eat sawdust, I wasn't feeling particularly picky.

"I'm game, I guess. Do you think we can check out these cross streets while we're at it?" I showed Lula my map. "I'd kind of like to see where we're headed tomorrow." And maybe catch a glimpse of my man while I was at it. One could hope anyway.

"Good idea. Then we should probably hit one of them dive bars after."

The dive bar plan didn't seem all that great to me. Especially considering my history with alcohol. Not to mention my recent tummy troubles. But we were on vacation. Sort of. Who knows? Maybe it would be fun.

###

Turns out Lula and I never made it to "What the Pho." Mostly because a pair of familiar golden arches caught our attention before we could find it.

"We're definitely branching out tomorrow," I said as I practically inhaled my second cheeseburger. "It's not every day we're in Seattle, so we need to broaden our horizons and try some new things. Like the sea food or something."

"You got it, white girl. New things tomorrow."

A contented, dopey grin spread across Lula's face when she took a giant slurp of her milkshake. "But you gotta admit, sometimes the familiar stuff's the way to go."

I grabbed a handful of salty, golden fries and smiled. I couldn't have said it better myself.

After I polished off my side order of chicken nuggets, Lula and I headed off towards the cross streets marked on my map. We walked around for a while until we reached what I assumed was our final destination. It made sense. A big, fancy hotel stared back at us from across the street. The Four Seasons. It had Ranger written all over it.

"Do you think they've got some rooms available for tomorrow night?" I asked. "It could make tailing our guy a little easier."

"Guess there's only one way to find out." Lula grabbed my arm and started dragging me across the street. "Go get your little white booty in there and ask."

We'd just stepped into the lobby when I felt a sharp elbow jab in my ribcage.

I glared over at Lula. "Jeez!" I hissed. "What was that for?"

She pointed across the lobby. "Don't look now, but I think I just saw Batman."

My heart froze in my chest as my eyes connected with the person Lula was pointing at. Yep, there was no doubt about it. It was definitely Batman.