SPOV

Grandma texted me this morning that she put all of her things away and placed all my personal items in the living room to organize, so I decided that was my plan this morning. Ranger asked me not to carry anything over 10 lbs so Ella was nice enough to help me pack empty suitcases and boxes into one of the Rangeman SUV's since it was bigger then the Porsche. Bones is my bodyguard today and hasn't said one word to me. He just nods. No matter what I say it's a nod. It's driving me nuts. Bones carried boxes for me while I rolled the suitcases to Grandma Mazur's.

I had a full breakfast curiosity of Ella, but Grandma Mazur insisted I have a muffin too. I didn't want to be rude so I ate a few with peanut butter and jelly creating my own little Tastykake. I was happy to see her happy here.

I walked through the bedroom and bathroom and she did indeed move every item to the couch or coffee table even the sex toys and movies Lula bought for me in the past. Still in their original boxes too. I hid them underneath a pillow, but Grandma commented on them in front of Bones and asked me to compare them to Ranger. Bones didn't even flinch about Grandma Mazur. I found a grocery bag and placed the Pleasure Treasure items inside then left it on her bed as a house warming gift.

I made two piles, keep and trash. I trashed any clothes with stains or holes which was most of my casual wear since that was what I wore when I went bounty hunting and got rid of old shoes. Mostly my dressier outfits and heels were the only items going in the suitcases.

I boxed up my movie collection, photos, papers and mementos and in the end I really didn't have much. Four boxes, three suitcases and a medium garbage bag of clothes with three holiday rubber maids filled with decorations. I had eight trash bags for the dumpster so bones moved everything in the hall and made the trips to the dumpster and the car while we secured ourselves into the apartment with the Rangeman alarm system.

Grandma and I discussed my mom and how she was going nuts unable to talk to me. She wanted the full story but backed off when she saw the tears in my eyes. Dillon stopped by during my visit and I informed him about the changes in the lease and he seemed sad to see me go but understood. He presented Grandma with a gold plaque engraved with black lettering and an image of handcuffs above the words to mount to the apartment door.

It said "Stephanie Plum, The Bombshell Bounty Hunter has moved. Sorry you missed her but thankful for the unnecessary carpet cleaning you would have caused."

I didn't think it was hysterical but Grandma loved it and took pictures with it to show her friends. Dillon stayed for lunch and Grandma made us grilled cheese with tomato soup just like when I was little. I looked around my old home, Grandma had made it her own. It look good. A throw on the sofa, curtains, flowers on the coffee table, the dining room table made up with table cloth, napkins with holders. I was kinda sad I never had the opportunity to do this. Between the firebombings and stalkers trashing the place, I never had the cash anyway. Bones refused lunch and was starting to make my eye twitch.

Eventually we said our goodbyes and started exiting the apartment building when I heard glass breaking and a car alarm blaring. Some woman was annihilating our car. Bones hit his panic button.

"Holy shit! She's taking a baseball bat to our car!" We were about 25 feet from her so I drew my gun and aimed it at her to be on the safe side.

"Hey Stop!"

She turned around and I had no idea who she was but she had blond hair in a bun in casual clothes with mascara running down her checks. She saw my gun and got angrier. "I HATE YOU!"

She hit the car window one last time with her bat then charged at me. I was just about to pull the trigger when out of the corner of my eye I saw Bones charge her then tackle her to the ground getting the bat away from her. She was trying to fight him but secured her while she hysterically cried. I lowered my gun to my side. A Rangeman SUV screeched into the lot and Hal jumped out with a raised gun checking me over.

"Secure." Bones stated. Hal put away his gun so I holstered mine. Ranger ran to me from his Turbo with a blue and white cruiser entering the lot behind him.

I felt dizzy. Another of Ranger's cars was completely trashed on my watch. I felt sick about it but at least it wasn't the Porsche. I would pay for the damages to make it up to him.

Ranger started checking me for injuries and asking if I was ok. All I could do was nod. She smashed every window, light, dinged the door. Crazy bitch.

"I'm so sorry about your car, I'll pay for it to be fixed but I have no clue who the psycho is." Ranger reminded me I was more important then a car and she would pay for it not me.

Bones had the woman in handcuffs but had to hold her up by her shoulders or she would have fallen to the ground. She was crying and wailing it was annoying.

By now all the residents of the apartment building were cheering at me and welcoming back from their windows enjoying the show. I gave a slight waive and Grandma said she'd be right down. I heard a few residents say how it's always exciting when I'm around and that they have missed me. I just rolled my eyes. I liked it when it was less exciting.

Ranger gave a nod to Hal who took a guard stance next to me then approached the woman.

"Stop! Why did you destroy my car and attack my woman?"

By now Eddie Garza walked over and hugged me hello. He settled in to watch Ranger's interrogation too.

"She ruined my life! She stole my boyfriend! I hate her!" She broke into hysterics again.

"Huh?" Who did I steal?

Eddie bumped me "Joe's new girl Ella."

"Are you freaking kidding me. I'm going to kill him!" I was furious. She could have hurt me and the babies. I saw red. I walked up to her and slapped her across the face to snap her out of her crying.

I heard Eddie voice "I didn't see that." He started admiring the sky then.

"Joe and I have been done for over five months! You just trashed my boyfriend's SUV and tried to kill me! I don't even know you! Joe and I aren't even talking right now you psycho!"

She got an angry look on her face. "Last night I went over to his place, our place! He had been drinking but he was horny so I took care of his needs the way you never would." She gave me a smug look and I crinkled my face in disgust. "And while he was pounding into me every which way he said your name over and over then came to you inside of me! I'm with him now! I want to be Mrs Joe Morelli!"

I got even more angry. I had nothing to do with this. I thought I was going to punch her. "Joe's all yours! You could have just talked to me first!" Ranger grabbed me from underneath my arm pits to hold me back from her.

"Are you stupid! Go trash his truck then! Hit him with a freaking bat! Your psychotic! I have a BOY-FRIEND! Look at him! Your lucky Bones saved your ass before I put a bullet in you!" She started screaming to Eddie to arrest me for assault but Eddie just grabbed Ella and put her in back of the police cruiser.

Ranger held me against his body to calm my anger inside of me, reminding me of my blood pressure and asking me to take deep breaths.

Eddie took all of our statements and pressed charges against her. Ranger also pressed charges for the damage to his car. In the end Eddie gave me a hug and kiss and told me he would drop it by Rangeman for me to sign later.

Grandma came over to check on me but had to run upstairs to call everyone she knew. Ranger placed me into the turbo and gave me a long and deep kiss showing me how much he loved me.

We made our way back to Rangeman."The old me would have felt sorry for her maybe even not pressed charges but she could have hurt me and the babies. I will never forgive that... I feel like if I let her walk she could come after me again. By doing nothing it sends a message that everyone is open to attacking me... This is Joe's fault too. I warned him about hurting her and instead of attacking him, she came after me."

"Your a good person with a big heart. Even if you didn't press charges Bones and I would have. People need to understand they can't walk all over you, eventually you will build a reputation that supports that. I know you feel a little guilty but this wasn't your fault. You can't control her behavior. I've already contacted my attorney for a restraining order and the control room has contacted every bond agency within 30 miles from Trenton not to extend bail to her while you gave Eddie your statement." Ranger parked in his spot at Rangeman. I opened my door to get out and he lifted me into his arms.

"I'm fine I can walk Ranger." He just shook his head.

"This isn't for you Babe. I need to touch you right now." I understood what he meant. He needed to assure himself I was ok. I didn't protest anymore I just placed my head into his neck and let his scent wash over me. Ranger placed me in bed and took off all of my clothes. He removed his as well pulling the covers over us. His arm went under my neck and his other hand protectively to my stomach. We intertwined our legs while he gave me soft little kisses then deeper ones.

"I'm sorry I took you from work. I know you have a lot to catch up on, you can get back when you need to."

He just shook his head." Being here is more important to me. When I'm ready I'll work from my office up here. Tank will take my meeting. I need to be close to you today. You said after moving you were going to research from here, so we can stay in together."

"He kissed my lips a few more times then moved his hand between my thighs to my sex. I couldn't help but moan and enjoy his fingers. I felt him move on top of me and enter me slowly. His hips gently rocked in and out of me as he kissed my jaw and lips.

"I love you Carlos."

Ranger broke into soft Spanish while he kissed my body. I had no idea what he was saying except for "I love you too." After holding each other skin to skin Ranger told Tank to bring up his paperwork. Ranger put on some lounge pants and grabbed our laptops to work in bed. I put on Ranger's shirt from today and grabbed our drinks and a snack tray of fruit Ella had made earlier. Hector really did a number on my Mac. Somehow it was faster cleaner and organised. I thought it was a different machine until I saw the small scratch on the top that told me it was indeed mine.

While Ranger did paperwork and emails, I had a list of 35 names to check out from Royce for my missing victim. My personal cell didn't ring but my work one wouldn't shut up so I silenced it. I let Royce know my private number but told him to keep it to himself. He told me he heard about my morning and was happy I was ok.

He mentioned Joe was hung over and at the jail now talking to Ella. I could have cared less. That's his crazy to deal with and I already had plenty of my own.

Ranger worked in silence but I plugged my headphones in and listened to Pandora. Occasionally Ranger would put his arm around me or grab my hand rubbing his thumb along my palm making me feel like we were back in Greece again in our own little world.

All of the names Royce gave fit the killer's profile in someway. Single women or engaged that appeared single due to the spouse being away. Age range 24-36, lived alone without many friends.

First victim was held for 5 weeks, the second 1 month and 1 week, the third 5 months, the fourth 5 months and 2 weeks, the fifth 2 months and 2 weeks, the sixth 2 months and 3 weeks, the seventh 7 months and 2 days and the ninth almost 3 months.

The eight victim was barely 3 weeks. He had to search for the next woman before could kill the current one. He always replaces the women quickly within weeks of the prior ones death. He kills one then hunts the next looking for an opening since he already researched them. Some time frames even over lap. He had the 7th woman the same time as the 8th for a few weeks. I felt a shiver run down my back. I cleared my mind and placed my head against the pillow.

Where would I hide a body if I had to hide the evidence. I started making a list of ways I'd hide someone and eventually Ranger spoke up.

"Should I know what your planning? Or just be prepared to alibi you?"

"Your a funny guy. I was just thinking... let's say he has never hid a body before. He doesn't want it found, how would an average person get rid of it? TV, internet, movies would be my source. I wouldn't tell anyone except maybe you if this was my situation.

I wouldn't just drop a body into water, people always find those eventually. The dump is more Mob style but again those bodies are also found often. Homicide cops routinely check there. I wouldn't burn it because a fire draws attention no matter where you are. He wasn't near Florida so he couldn't go to a swamp to feed an alligator. It would be to risky to drive that far. It's one thing to sedate a woman and travel with her, if your pulled over you can lie and say is drunk or took a sleeping pill but a dead body no.

If she was bloody or messed up that's a different story... it would kill me not knowing for sure when or if that body would be found unless I knew where it was at all times. Probably monitor the area I guess, if I owned a large property I'd hide it there in the ground. No one would dig on my land... and if I didn't have land somewhere private, the Pine Barrens.

If I was really smart and in shape with a bunch of time I'd go to a cemetery dig deeper into an already dug out plot that was prepared earlier in the day then hide the body under the dirt so the coffin the next day would be placed on top and never found. Although that's a ton of work, someone could come by and see me. Maybe it would just be easier break into a crematory and dispose of the body."

Ranger just gave a nod but didn't comment. I didn't want to know if he ever got rid of a body I assume he has. I'm sure they were bad people or he was ordered too. In my heart I knew he was a good man and I loved him regardless. I know him though, he believes he has bad karma but I don't. I gave him a big kiss.

"I wouldn't make a great criminal."

"No but your good at thinking through different views of the deranged and delinquent. Run with it as part of his profile. It's good to look at some of the missing girls but with so many you might want to start finding something the women had in common that attracted him in the first place to narrow your search. Your best bet will be running deep backgrounds on the victims. The killer held these women between 1 month to 5 months except for two. Those two I would focus on right now."

"The seventh and eighth. Seven was 7 months and 2 days and the eighth was barely 3 weeks." I kissed him on the way to my bathroom break.

Ranger and I eventually settled in again and he was like a machine with paperwork and emails. While I ran background checks and surfed the internet, I checked my work phone and deleted the gossips asking me personal questions.

I decided to keep this as my work number since everyone knew it and could call on me for my services. Looks like Grandma told everyone I was an investigator now, at least it saves me from advertising. I've also found sometimes people leave gossip for me about other people that I have used on cases on occasion. I look at it as taking the good with the bad. Anytime I heard my mother on my voice mail I delete it. The last message was from Joe so I listened.

"Cup...Stephanie. I heard what Ella did and I'm very sorry, this is all my fault. She is normally not like this but a sweet person. She took out her anger at me on you. I'm sorry. I was stupid, drunk and upset yesterday. I take full responsibility. Ella and I are taking a break but I wanted to talk to you about the charges or at least help her get bail. Vinnie refused for fear of Ranger and so did Les Sebring.

I know what Ella did was wrong but it was in the moment and she was hurt. We had fought that morning and she saw you enter your apartment building so she went home for the bat because she felt threatened. Everyone comments to her about you. I explained to her we aren't together and you've moved on with Ranger. I made sure she knew you were completely innocent and it was all me, she was very remorseful. I feel responsible please call me back."

I snorted. I saw Ella's smug look when she talked about her having sex with Joe. She was jealous and territorial. People would never stop comparing her to me in this town, hell I use to hear about him and Terri a lot and I never trashed Terri's car. I know about being angry in the moment, I wanted to punch her thanks to my crazy hormones but I also had a strange feeling about her too.

I gave the phone to Ranger to listen too and he grew tense, simmering with anger. I explained to him my observations about Ella and the comparisons I dealt with. He agreed with me, even if she was sorry, jealousy doesn't go away over night. I'd always be the enemy in her eyes. We agreed to maintain our position.

I was eventually going to call Joe back but I wanted to run an in depth search on Ella. I was curious if she had an imbalance or a record. While that ran I felt bad for Ranger so I took a stack of his papers and started organizing and taking notes on what he would need for Trenton's reviews. He kissed my head in appreciation.

My notes consisted of any major flags or changes in each man's file along with if they received a write up or were late often. I pointed out new skills they acquired this year too. I never realized Tank and Ranger tracked everything about these men. I knew about the constant background checks but they tracked gun skills, gym time, partner relationship and had a running commentary page on every man during the month. The good and bad. It was intense. I highlighted and made notes in the margins to make it easier. I wondered if my file was in this stack? I got a quarter of the way into the men when Ella's results pinged.

No criminal record, paid bills, worked from home. I looked at her medical history... hmm she goes regularly but isn't on birth control right now. She stopped at the end of September according to her Doctor's notes. I looked further into her credit cards nothing interesting. I looked into her insurance claims, she has a therapist. Not uncommon people do go to them. I dug deeper. She has been in therapy since high school wow! Her parents also took out a second mortgage that same year she went into therapy but they only had to have a co-pay. I don't see any repairs to the home or permits issued that year but I see a check made out to Eloise Witt.

I look into Eloise at the time and she was 17 when she received the money. I ran a check on her for that time period and let it run for a while. I went back to my Rangeman paper work. I remember researching some of these men before when Ranger had asked but everyone's background mostly comes up clean. My search pings eventually and I view her background and medical history. I'm in shock from the doctor's notes from that month. I pull out my phone and call Joe.

"Hey Steph thanks for the call. I just wanted..."

"Stop. I heard your message but you have bigger problems. I don't know if you investigated Ella before but she has a history of being in therapy since she was 17. Her parents paid another girl $50,000 to not press charges against Ella when she attacked another girl at school with a field hockey stick over a guy she was dating. And I hope you have been using a rubber because she isn't on birth control since the end of September. So no I'm not helping. She's a wacko. I'm keeping the charges and not helping get her bail."

"What! You have the wrong girl. I've never seen her in therapy and she is on birth control. She told me." I repeated her name, age, date of birth and social security. Joe agreed it was her information and I said it was the same girl. He asked me how I found out and I was vague in my explanation.

Joe said he had to go confront Ella. He apologized to me again then hung up. He sounded seriously stressed.

Ranger smiled. "Proud of you Babe." I felt proud of myself too.

"I hope she isn't pregnant. Joe would have his hands fuller with her issues then he ever was with my life. I actually felt sorry for him." Ranger tried to hide his smile. He didn't feel the same.

Ranger ordered us dinner and we moved to the dinning room to finish working while we ate. I grabbed a throw blanket to cuddle with while I finished Ranger's files.

RPOV

When Babe's alarm went off I thought the worst. I ran out of my office to her apartment. I was relieved when I saw her standing near Hal. I was pleased to see she had her gun out too. I was a little surprised Steph wanted to rough Ella up but Babe has a bunch of hormones going on right now so it was to be expected. I'd have to make a note for my men not to let her hit anyone and safely intervene when necessary.

It was a small situation compared to her usual scares but I just needed to reassure myself she was fine. I wouldn't be able to focus if I was away from her today, so I ordered Tank to take my meeting and day to day responsibilities so I could catch up on paperwork and emails.

When I heard Morelli's message I was annoyed but being near Babe and touching her helped me simmer it. When I heard about Ella's issues I was thankful for the security in place and my actions afterward. I saw the guilt from Babe disappear too about having her arrested, but I hated that she felt bad for Joe. It's his own fault. He should have made sure she was on birth control and used a rubber or seen how desperate she was to be with him. She involved herself into his entire life quickly. I never even met Ella before today and I saw the flags just from other people's observations. I just shook my head.

I don't take many breaks when I'm working but Babe is in her own world. Music, celebrity magazines, Pinterest, on her phone texting and deleting messages. It was adorable. When Babe took the reviews off my hands that Tank printed out and placed in individual folders for each man employed including contract and part time workers, it took a big load off my plate this week. It takes most of my time reading through every detail on every man. When her notes I could just fill out improvements, training and decide who earned a salary increase with my comments while checking off boxes on each man so they could understand my expectations of them.

In January Tank, Les and I will meet with each employee and discuss their progress and goals. I find this method retains most of my employees and instills trust between us.

I also take Steph's notes seriously. She knows what I look for and although she hates the research desk and thinks it's boring, she is almost as good as Silvio. When Babe didn't stay on staff for Rangeman in the past I was disappointed. I wanted to be close to her but I also liked having a free man for patrol. I couldn't blame Babe for wanting to be on the streets like me, so Tank and I fill the position with whoever is on our shit list that week.

I checked my email and saw the Pardo's have been accepted for an interview tomorrow night at 9:30 pm. I told Babe the dress code for The Leather Riding Crop and explained how their was a locker room for us to shower and change if need be just as the email stated.

Babe rolled her eyes "Of course they accepted us. A female probably ran a background check on Marc Pardo and saw your picture automatically picking you... I have no idea what to wear to a sex club. I really don't own leather."

"I already have Ella picking out wardrobe that is sexy and upscale, not slutty or leather. She will have it for us tomorrow at breakfast." Babe smiled and returned to the reviews while I hit the back logs harder.

SPOV

I knew Ranger employed men of a diverse background, con artists, pick pockets, safe crackers, a Frenchmen who could scale tall buildings like Spider man but one guy in particular had gotten off several murders on a technicality. It states he was defending his sister against a gang but he killed people from behind while they were running away from him. I really didn't want to be in a room with him. His picture was scary enough but Ranger trusted in these men so I guess I should too.

I can't even imagine where he meets them. My strange friends like Mooner and Sally Sweet were FTA's. I had to hand it to him though he really did stack his staff with the best skills. He made sure they all received continuing education and training year after year in their specific fields. I was really impressed.

I got to my file in the stack and I paused. I really shouldn't read this one. I can't unread these notes inside and see what people think of me but I kinda had to know. I looked at Ranger and he was engrossed in his own work.

I reviewed my background check and he knew every detail about my life, personal, professional, medical, banking. I made notes on myself just like everyone else but gave a few more explanations for anything embarrassing that came up. Next to my birth control shot record I wrote "see I did take it" with a heart as a joke.

I moved on to my status, it said contract then my building access. No room was marked off limits to me except the gym locker room. Even Ranger's office I could get into with my fob I was shocked. I never knew that. I reviewed the notes from the cases I have done for Rangeman and both Tank and Ranger gave me high praise for my investigations and thought process, my professionalism, my ability to work with anyone, my keen eye and my ability to get people to talk to me.

It stated I'm best used for getting information from others naturally or as a good distraction and a pit bull when I want information. That was nice of Tank. It also said I like being social and Ella felt better having another woman in the building to look after and talk too.

I read my needs to improve section. Doesn't carry gun, doesn't always have her pepper spray or stun gun charged, needs self defense lessons and gun training. Would excel if she asked for help in lock picking and further training. Doesn't like to be pushed, likes options and making her own decision. Will not follow orders, needs better transportation, impulsive at times to the point of being reckless going into unknown situations. That one hurt but it was true. Guess that one was genetic. My biological mother was impulsive with me and ended up getting herself killed. I touched my stomach. I didn't want to be like that anymore. I didn't want anything to happen to me or the babies because of my own stupidity.

The bottom stated my passed jobs for Rangeman and what I could be used for in the future. Nothing was a real surprise to me. I knew all these things about myself. I made notes about the changes I have done in the last few months and closed the folder.

"Why didn't you come to me with this file?" Ranger looked up and raised his eyebrows at me surprised.

"You reviewed yourself?" I passed him the file and he read over my highlighted sections and notes.

"You weren't ready to hear my thoughts and you don't like to be told what to do. You had to come to it on your own not because I made you. I've tried that before, running with you was a disaster." He gave me a grin. Jerk. It was like 5 am.

"I want to work on my impulse control. It hasn't escaped me I'm like my biological mother. Ethan himself said she had the intuition, the instincts the impulsiveness. I don't want to end up the same way." Ranger squeezed my hand in support until we both returned back to our work. I didn't want to go to bed until I was done. I finished the last file at 1 am and looked up at Ranger still typing at his computer.

"I finished the notes on the Trenton employees, if you leave Miami for me tomorrow I can tackle them but it's late. I need sleep." Ranger looked at me and nodded. He closed his lid to the laptop and followed me. We left everything on the dining room table and went to bed together. Both of us fried from our long day.

Just as I was about to drift off to sleep in Ranger's arms I was hit with a thought. I sat up immediately and Ranger turned on the light raising an eyebrow in question.

"Violet. Her body was found one day before my .38 Special was stolen from my apartment. I saw the report from Tank. I went through my apartment today, not one other thing was missing. I had my purse and valuables all in sight for a criminal. They only took the gun... the gun I killed Jimmy Alpha with on my first case.

It has to be him. Anyone else would have stolen my valuables. I can't believe I didn't realize this before! I just thought one of Grandma's friends walked off with it because she had this big Halloween party and a lot of friends over the last few months." I jumped out of bed looking for Tank's report and the police report.

"Grandma came home from a viewing and noticed things were out of place and some of the clothes were thrown around. She checked out everything and nothing valuable was missing, she called Tank and he came over to check it out and felt someone was looking for something. He checked my cookie jar and noticed the gun gone and Grandma agreed so Constanza and Big Dog came out to make a report. They didn't check for DNA or fingerprints but Tank had someone come in and didn't find any. I want to ask all the neighbors if they saw anyone tomorrow. I might get lucky." I had a big smile on my face now.

I crawled back into Ranger's arms. He had a megawatt smile too. "Always a pleasure to see you in action Babe." We intertwined our legs and settle back into sleep. Finally my mind could rest.