All characters named in this chapter were created by Janet Evanovich, Except Helen a.k.a. Elena created by AutumnDreaming and Charlie created by Charles Martin in the novel "When Crickets Cry".

Steph's POV

Terry was still holding the gun on me when she picked up her cell again. She plugged in what looked like a phone charger and hit speed dial. "Voice distortor," she told me. "Make a sound and you're dead."

"Yo," I heard Ranger answer.

"Take two SUV's with four men apiece and wait behind the loan center on State near Broad. Our men will meet you there. Do anything stupid, and Stephanie dies." She paused. He was speaking. "You're not in a position to give demands," she told him. "Or, am I bargaining with the wrong chip?" She stood and walked over to Elena. She put the phone down on the end table beside Elena and slapped her hard across the face. Elena opened one eye and glared at Terry. Her mouth was still taped shut.

Terry pointed the gun at me, indicating that if Elena said anything she didn't like, she'd shoot me. She ripped the tape off Elena's mouth and switched a button on the voice distortor. She held the phone up to Elena's ear and pressed the speaker button so she could hear what was said between them.

"Ranger?" Elena croaked, her mouth dry.

"Yeah, Sunshine, it's me."

Elena tried to clear her throat, and Terry tensed, waiving the gun at me again. "We're okay," she said, "but I forgot to feed the cat. Can you send someone?"

I was looking at her like she was nuts? We're about to be killed and she's worried about the cat! Typical Elena.

"I promise, I'll send someone, Sunshine."

Terry pulled the phone away and pressed the end button on her phone. She unplugged the device and slipped the phone into a small black handbag.

Elena was giving me a meaningful look, as if help was on the way. I didn't get it, but I decided that if she was expecting Ranger to come breaking down the door, I had better be expecting him too. The loan company Terry mentioned was squarely in the middle of De Luca's neighborhood, and I knew she was setting him up. Maybe Elena had managed to let Ranger know it was a set up. Maybe they had a code word, I decided.

Terry seemed to be having the same thoughts. She turned and looked intensely at Elena, trying to see if she was passing information to me. Elena unexpectedly broke down in tears. She was sobbing uncontrollably, apparently distraught at the thought of her cat becoming motherless.

"Well, that's done." Terry sounded self-satisfied again. "As soon as I know Ranger is out of the way, you will be too."

I wanted to start crying right along with Elena. I almost did, but I wouldn't give Terry the satisfaction.

We sat, waiting in silence while Terry played with a glass vial full of white powder. It had to be Jezebel's Rope.

"What's that for?" I asked. I know it was stupid to ask, but I have always been gifted with an over-abundance of curiosity. I just had to know.

"It's for Kenny," she smiled. "At least, what's left of him."

"You're going to kill him too?" I asked, looking back down at Jean Ellen's limp body. "I don't get it. I thought Kenny was like your partner of something? I heard Vito put him in charge of his little operation."

It appeared I had hit a nerve. "Let's get one thing straight," she said coldly. "I developed Jezebel's Rope. It was my idea to pick up Rufus' business, and it was my plan Vito bought into. And then, he put Kenny in charge. He said he was grooming Kenny because the family needed a man in charge." She laughed out loud. "Yeah, 'the Martin crime family' has such an ominous ring to it!"

"So, Kenny was in charge? Then what happened?"

"Kenny is a moron," she laughed. "I wanted out of the family business. The only way to do that is to leave the family, and there are only two ways you leave the family." She held up two fingers. "Dead, or by being the lone survivor." She laid the gun on the desk in front of her.

"I gave Kenny enough Rope to hang himself with." She stopped, laughing at her own joke. "It was easy. I gave him access to what he thought was all the money. I gave him opportunities to skim, and I let slip where the big games were going to be happening. It was too easy," she said, her voice as silky smooth as it was menacing.

"Then, you set him up and let Vito go after him?"

"Sure. Can you think of a better way? I gained Vito's trust, Kenny was a dead man, and all I needed was someone to help me pin Vito's death on De Luca and the crime war."

"And Jean Ellen volunteered," I concluded.

"The timing was excellent. And we shared a common interest," she let her evil gaze fall upon me. "We both wanted you dead. It was all falling into place until Jean Ellen's little stunt. I warned her that you were trouble and we should just be rid of you, but you've really gotten under her skin. She wanted to watch you burn."

I'd heard that one before. And I still didn't like it. My skin started crawling, and the room started spinning a little.

I was saved from a full-blown panic attack by the young butler who had appeared earlier. He had reappeared and addressed Terry. "Signora, Manny Rosolli is here."

My head popped up at the mention of his name. That was Connie's cousin. What in the world was he doing here? Elena noticed my reaction and gave me a look that said I should cool it and look unconcerned.

"Tell him I am otherwise engaged and he should call again some other time," she said smoothly, glaring at the man through her long eyelashes.

"Signora," he said hesitantly. "He says Vito sent for him."

"What? When?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry. Would you like me to ask him?"

"No," she said. Apparently it was not uncommon for guests to be bound to the chairs and threatened with guns. The butler didn't seem concerned. "Pat him down and send him in," she said, picking up the gun again. I had the feeling Manny was going to wish he'd picked another day for a visit.

Manny was a real Italian grease monkey, wearing what had once been a white T-shirt under his leather dress coat, jeans, and worn black leather boots. His hair was in as much need of an oil change as his junked cars, and he had a slight mustache on his upper lip that reminded me a lot of Connie.

"Hey, doll," he said casually to Terry. "What's up?"

"What's up with you?" Terry asked. "Vito sent for you?"

"Yeah, got some job or other for me," he walked around to Elena and me. "This it?" he asked. He bent over me, putting his face near mine and sniffed me behind the ear like a dog. I had every intention of kicking him hard in the nuts, that was, if I could have got my ankles free. I was holding my breath, not wanting sweaty Manny cooties entering my nose, but he stayed close so long I had to take a breath. And when I did, I got a nose full of Elena's perfume. My eyes were wide as half-dollars. It was a good thing my face was pressed into Manny's neck.

He pulled back and I tried to control the racing of my heart. This was it. Ranger had sent him in to help rescue us. Ranger had to be right outside.

"I think I'm going to like this job," Manny crowed. "Why can't they all be like this?"

"Be like what?" Terry said.

"I'm supposed to take them to another location and sit on them." He walked over to Elena and pulled a similar stunt on her. I saw her eyes widen, then narrow, and then fume. She didn't like her privacy being invaded any more than her personal space, and she was actually angry with Ranger for dipping into her personal stash of spice. I was just glad to know we weren't alone.

"Well, plans have changed. They stay here with me," she said.

"Hey," Manny shrugged. "Orders is orders, Cookie. Take it up with Vito."

"When did you talk to Vito?" she asked, calculating again. I could see the wheels turning.

"Just now. I passed him as he was leaving with Kenny Martin in tow," he said casually.

Terry walked quickly out of the room, and I could hear her marching down the hall, heels clicking on the marble floors.

Manny had been patted down by the butler and didn't have a knife or gun on him. He grabbed Joyce's gun from her belt. He patted her down quickly and came up with a switchblade, which he used to deftly slice through the ropes, freeing us. "Get moving!" he said. "Ranger only gave me 15 minutes. They're coming in!"

Manny handed me the gun, pocketed the blade, and tossed Jean Ellen over his shoulder. I was shocked to hear her gasp. She was still alive!

Since I had the gun, I lead the way to the door, Manny followed, and Elena brought up the rear. We were halfway across the room when Terry appeared in the doorway. She got the drop on me. She waved her gun, indicating I needed to drop mine. I hesitated, but she meant business. Just as I dropped the gun, there was a shot fired. Plaster and wood rained down from the ceiling. At first I thought my gun had gone off, but I hated guns. I had really just hoped to scare anyone we met, not shoot them. I hadn't even chambered a round. But there was a second shot, and we all scattered. I jumped over and behind Vito's' mahogany desk. Manny and Jean Ellen were behind the tan couch, and Terry was standing behind a large pillar just inside the doorway. Elena was crouched behind the chair I had been bound to and she had a small gun that she apparently had pulled from Jean Ellen's ankle holster.

Terry aimed and fired at Elena, but missed. It's much harder to shoot accurately when your adrenaline is through the roof and you're boiling mad. Terry was murderous. She knew Vito was still alive, and she was probably number one on his list of people to kill.

Terry came around the pillar in a flurry of black dress and pale skin, aimed the gun directly at me, and fired. I dove under the desk and felt the impact of the bullets as they lodge in the wood just inches from me. Terry was in a frenzy, firing off every round she had. The final click of the gun was followed by the clicking of her heels as she made a dive for me. She was going to kill me with her bare hands.

I had dropped the gun, and I didn't have any weapons. I quickly made a swipe of the top of the desk, praying for a letter opener or a steel-tipped fountain pen, but what I got was a crystal vial of power. The information barely had time to register before Terry was on me. We were rolling around on the floor, pulling each other's hair, screaming, and unleashing all the pent-up frustration we'd been storing up all these years. My thoughts were on Terry and Joe and how they had made me feel like such an idiot time and time again.

I wrapped my fist around the vial and punched Terry square in the jaw. She rocked back, and when she came forward, I tagged her in the eye. I wanted to punch in her pretty nose, too, but she brought both hands together over her head and brought them down so hard into my stomach that I thought I would never be able to draw a breath again. My legs drew up and I rolled onto my side, unable to respond. She was going for my gun. I had to act, whether I could breathe or not.

I grabbed her ankle and pulled her back towards me, struggled to straddle her, enduring the slapping and hitting. I pulled back my fist and made to hit her as hard as I could. She turned her head at the last second, and I missed her nose and smacked my hand into the side of the desk. The vial shattered, and Terry got a face full of Jezebel's Rope. She sputtered and coughed, and I knew she was inhaling it.

It was at that moment that the mansion was rocked by the sound of explosions. Flash bangs were going off in various areas of the house. Men were shouting warnings, firing off automatic weapons, and chaos was breaking loose all around us. Ranger was here with the cavalry.

I pulled away from Terry, who was gently writhing in a state of drug-induced confusion, and waited behind the desk for our rescue. "In here!" Lester bellowed, and Ranger and Tank followed him into the room as full speed. They were in full tactical gear and armed to the teeth.

When I popped my head up from behind the desk, I saw Ranger standing just inside the doorway, looking like a Cuban-American Rambo. He removed his flak helmet. His hair was a sweaty mess, his eyes were clear and focused, his muscular might was threatening, and he looked as dangerous as a man can get. I sucked in a breath. Was I really in a relationship with this guy? Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!

His eyes caught mine, and although I sensed relief flooding him, I didn't see him make any perceptible movement or change his expression. "Babe," he said, coming towards me. He stopped when he saw Terry lying on the floor with a white clown face. "Problem?" he asked.

"Definitely," I told him. "But I've got it under control." I smiled up at him.

"I know you do, Babe."

"Are you okay?" I asked him. "I was so worried about you!"

The corner of his mouth curled upward. "I'm the one who was desperate to find you, and you're worried about me?"

"Yeah," I said, seriously. "I love you." That got me the 200-watt smile.

"Even when you're playing the damsel in distress, you're still wearing your Wonder Woman outfit underneath," he said, pulling me in for one of those bone-melting kisses. Did I say yikes? I meant, yum.

Hal and Tank removed Jean Ellen and Bobby and Lester took Terry. When we got outside, the butler and some other men were in cuffs and being loaded up into a military transport vehicle. For a minute I thought the Marines had rescued us!

Manny and Elena were right behind us. I turned to Manny. "How in the world did you march in there like one of the family?" I asked him.

Manny rolled his eyes and grimaced. "Rosolli. Grizolli. Sound alike to you?"

"You mean, you and Connie are Grizolli's?" I gasped.

"Were," he corrected. "Our families parted ways a couple generations ago over a 'difference of opinion'." He shrugged. "We have a saying: "Rosolli's work, Grizolli's crook". But to Vito, blood is always blood. He gave me the money to start the salvage yard, and I've made a few vehicles disappear for him over the years. I didn't do the actual crushing, mind you. But he used the equipment once in awhile."

"Nice," I said, screwing up my face in disgust.

"You knew this?" I asked Ranger.

"I know lots of things, Babe," he said. No kidding.

"They, why didn't you know about Jean Ellen? She was using Rangeman to run Terry's operation and you didn't know about it?"

"Yeah," Ranger groaned. "One of the things Jean Ellen did for Rangeman was scout out new locations for our safe-houses. She was also in charge of setting up the security. I don't have time to do everything myself, you know. I have to rely on my team for a lot of the work. And Jean Ellen was trusted with a lot." He looked over to the ambulance where paramedics were hooking Jean Ellen to an IV. She had been restrained and cuffed and shackled to the gurney. "The safe-houses they were working out of hadn't been utilized by Rangeman yet. Once we use a safe-house, we dispose of it and find a new one. I suppose Jean Ellen was feeling rather insulted by the assignment. I thought I was keeping her busy and out of trouble, but I suppose she saw it as demeaning." He sighed. "I never mean for things to turn out this way."

I put my hand on his arm, and he covered my hand with his. Then, slowly, he pulled me to him and wrapped me in a warm embrace. I clung to him for a moment as the adrenaline rush finally fading.

Morelli had been seeing to Terry who had been taken to a waiting ambulance. Now he joined us, looking torn between pulling me away from Ranger and running the other way. I pulled back from Ranger, but stayed within his invisible force field.

"What happened to Vito? Did he really leave with Kenny?" I asked Morelli. "Terry tried to poison him. She thought he was dead," I told Ranger.

"We saw Vito leave with a still-kicking Kenny stashed in the trunk of his car. I wanted to call for backup to follow him, but Ranger let Vito go," Morelli explained.

"I didn't want to risk him seeing any of us tailing him," Ranger said. "That was just one less variable to be concerned about when we went into the house."

"Ranger said you were all that was important, and that we would catch up to Vito later." Morelli toed the dirt in front of him, looking down. "I would have tried to catch him," he admitted. He turned to Ranger. "I'm glad to see you put Steph first this time."

"My Babe comes first everytime," Ranger said, pulling me back into his arms.

To be continued...