NOTICE:

This chapter contains quotes and plot references from One For The Money by Janet Evanovich. All due credit goes to her for plot, quotes, and characters. I'm just filling in gaps. If you have not read One For The Money, this chapter will give spoilers as to what happens in the book. You have been notified. Enjoy.

Chapter 25

Ranger didn't hear from Stephanie for another few days. He didn't want to call her, well he did, but he was afraid to. He didn't know what to say and he didn't want to be weird so he just left it alone. But eventually, after about four days, his phone chimed as he was sitting at his desk doing paper work. It was Stephanie.

"Yo," he answered.

"I have a problem," she said to him. He couldn't help but tease. "Are you naked?"

"No. I'm not naked."

"Too bad." She gave him a slight laugh. "Sorry," she said. "I'm calling because I have an FTA cornered in his house, but I'm not having a lot of luck at the apprehension part of the deal."

"Would you mind to elaborate on the 'not having a lot of luck' part?" He asked. He was praying that she wasn't hurt. Hopefully the guy had just locked her out.

"He took my purse and kicked me out of the house," she said, sullenly.

"Don't suppose you managed to keep your gun then huh?" She sighed. "Nope, don't suppose I did. On the bright side though, it wasn't loaded," she said.

"Did you have ammo in the pocket book?"

"...Shit. I think there were a few bullets rolling around in there, yeah."

He repressed the urge to sigh. This complicated things. "Where are you now?" He asked.

"In front of the house, in the Jeep."

"You want me to come over and persuade your skip to behave, babe?"

"...Yes?"

"Good thing for you, I like being Henry Higgins. What's the address?" He asked.

Ranger heard her breathe a sigh of relief. She told him the address and he hung up the phone after telling her he'd be there in a few minutes.

«XX»

Ranger kept true to his word and pulled up behind the Jeep in only seven minutes. He stepped out of his Mercedes wearing a black baseball cap, tight black jeans, and a black, muscle clinging shirt, all completed with his signature black Doc Marten slip on boots. Stephanie got out of the Jeep, pulling her rain coat tighter around herself and stood watching him clip on his nylon gun belt and holster.

The holster was held to his leg with a black Velcro strap. After fastening it on and hostlering his gun, he clipped some cuffs to the belt. He then moved to the trunk of the Mercedes and got out a Kevlar vest, slipping in on and tightening it. He glanced at Stephanie and realized that she didn't have a vest on. He nearly smacked himself. Of course not dipshit, he thought to him self. You didn't tell her that she'd need one or where to even get one.

With his mental chastising put on hold for the moment, he grabbed an extra vest from the trunk and handed it to her. "Here," He said. "Put this on. The guy has a gun and we aren't taking chances. I forgot to tell you that you would need one of these but you really do. Good way to not get dead."

She looked at the vest a moment and then she gave a very slight smile, removing her rain coat and pulling it on. Ranger has to help her fasten the straps, but after that she was good to go. "How do I look?" She asked, striking a pose. Ranger laughed. "Fabulous, darling. Just fabulous," he said in a frenchie accent. She giggled at him and got out of the pose. They both sobered. "Who are we dealing with?" He asked.

"Lonnie Dodd. First time offender. Auto theft," she replied. "You got a photo?"

"Yeah, gimme a sec." She jogged back over to the Jeep and picked up the file, grabbing the photo and handing it to Ranger. He scanned the photo and nodded. "Is he alone in there," he asked, eyes cutting towards the house. "As far as I know, but I can't guarantee it," she said.

"The house have a back door?"

"Don't know."

"Let's find out."

They walked around the back of the house and sure enough, there was a back door. Ranger turned to Stephanie. "Okay, you stay back here alright? If someone comes out and heads towards the tracks, step out of the way. Don't engage," he told her. She nodded seriously. Stephanie slipped into the shadow of the shed that sat not five feet from the back of the house. She had a good view of the door and she would be hard to spot.

Ranger walked back tot he front of the house and stepped up onto the porch. He knocked on the door twinge before the door was flung open and a man said, "The fuck you want?!" Ranger looked at the man calmly. "Bond enforcement. I'm here to take you in to get rebonded," he said. "The fuck you are. I ain't going no where with you, pretty boy. You better get the fuck off my property before I put a bullet in your ass," Dodd growled, slamming the door in his face.

Ranger counted to three and took a deep breath. He knocked on the door again and there was no answer. He shouted a warning that he was coming in, and then kicked the door in. He took all of three steps into the house before he felt a stab of pain in his leg and heard the report from a gun. He went down for a moment, and looked up just in time to see Dodd run out the back door.

Ranger clambered to his feet and took off after him, blocking out the pain in his leg, not worrying about the blood. He ran outside and saw that Steph had tackled Dodd and was now standing over him, gun in hand, threatening to shoot if he moved. Proud of you, babe, Ranger thought. He jogged over and out and knee in the center of Dodd's back, clipping cuffs around his wrists.

Stephanie called the police and then noticed the wound in Ranger's leg. "Oh my God!! Ranger are you okay?!" She asked, leaning down to see how bad it was. "I'm fine. I've had a lot worse, babe. It's just a flesh wound," he assured her. She was unconvinced but let the matter go, watching him closely. When the police and ambulance arrived, Dodd was shipped off to the lockup, and Ranger was whirled away to the hospital. "Call Al, from the garage and tell him to come get my car?" He asked Stephanie. She nodded and assured him that she would.

«XX»

Damn, getting shot sucks ass, Ranger thought. He couldn't help but think about the way that Steph had looked at him when she realized that he had been injured. She looked sad, guilty, scared, worried, and he thought he caught a tiny glimpse of true caring in her eyes. He couldn't be sure though, he was torn away and put on a gurney too quickly to tell. I need to man up and ask her out, he told himself. I need to just stop being nervous and do it. Ranger kept thinking about it, and decided that as soon as she brought in Morelli, he would ask her out on a date.

Maybe they'd go to the beach, or go watch a movie, or even just get some ice cream and talk. He didn't care. His idea of a perfect date, was a date with Stephanie Plum. He just prayed that she would say yes when he asked.

«XX»

A/N: I'm so happy with this book. And I'm glad that you guys seem to be okay with me deviating from the original books. This story has been more than I could have ever hoped for so far, and I'm more than excited to see just how great it will be in the end. Please review and let me know if you liked the chapter, and have a great day/night where ever you are. Until tomorrow :)