I ended up spending about four days in Helena and had to admit I liked it a lot. It was different from the other offices I had seen so far and that also included the pace. While there was always action and something happening in Miami or Trenton, in Helena it was… quieter. Probably because of the work they did here. It wasn't like they needed to respond to plenty of client calls for quotes and consultations or customer service. They didn't need to rush out of the door because a break-in was reported or some other shit went down.

When I started in my position all these months back I never really had a grip on this office. It wasn't like I wanted to get rid of it, but… out of all the offices it always seemed odd to have one in such a small town. There was in general not a lot to do in regards of standard RangeMan stuff and the work for different agencies was probably time consuming but required a lot of patience. I had seen some of the files they were asked to help with and realized on some of these cases Franklin and his men had been working on since months. Months! And then I saw the price tags attached to some of these files – and had to admit that patience apparently paid off very well.

I of course had seen some of the financial reports of all the offices and had always assumed the numbers for the Helena office seemed a bit strange, in regards of size and money they pulled in. But now, looking at these files, I wondered whether the numbers sent to me weren't just humble.

"What is it with all these high bond files?" I asked curious and saw Franklin smile widely at me.

"Montana is so far out, very few people find their way here or would look for you if you need to hide. Also… a lot of militia means a lot of people willing to fight your cause if you sell it properly. The bank robber who was also wanted for murder and manslaughter could argue he was robbing the banks to give back to the people and the ones he killed were in the way between freedom and truth. You'd be surprised how many people are willing to overlook facts for the favour of having someone like-minded who fights for freedom and against a supposedly rigged system. Some of these wanted people require the entire office to be present when the capture is taking place."

"I bet," I agreed, looking at an aggressive mug shot from one of the files. Jeez, just looking at the picture I knew I did not want to get closer than 100 miles to that guy.

"How well does communication with the Canadians work?"

"Quite alright. I hate admitting it, but most of them are more pleasant to deal with than a lot of their US counterparts," he laughed and I joined in, knowing only too well what he meant.

When I took over all these months back my first few FBI cases were less than stellar and the agents assigned to the cases were just plain assholes. Some of them were alright, but most of the ones I encountered were not and I tried keeping contact as minimal and short as possible. Usually I was more than happy and grateful to delegate that part of the job to Tank or Bobby. They seemed to handle the entire pissing contest and powerplay well better than me. But then again, they had been at it way longer than I had been.

We were interrupted a moment later when there was a knock on Franklin's open door and a second later Cal and Bones entered.

"Is it time already?" I asked and saw both of them nod.

"Right, I guess this means goodbye for now as we are on our way to surprise someone else," I smiled at Franklin who had already gotten up from his seat.

"I hope they will appreciate your visit as much as we did," he said walking behind me towards the entrance. "And can I just say, as surprising as your visit had been and as nervous as you showing up here all of a sudden was making me, it was good finally meeting you in person, Stephanie Plum."

"I guess I can just return the compliment. Though you have obviously not made me nervous;" I laughed and gave Franklin my hand once we were outside the building a few moments later.

"Despite having seen you on my screen every once in a while for our meetings, you are not at all what I expected you to be. You are… just exceeding all expectations," he said, shock my hand and made me laugh one last time.

"I really would like to know what all of you actually really expected. Can't have been too much if I exceeded it," I laughed back and saw something in Franklin's expression that reminded me a lot about something Ranger did once or twice as well.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short, Stephanie. You took a company and a field you had not a lot of knowledge about and faced an army of guys that has a lot of people run screaming in the opposite direction and just… went with it. Every ounce of respect you get from us isn't just because you own the company now and sign our paycheques, but because you have proven over and over again these past few months what you are capable of. Ranger was one hell of a lucky guy to have you in his life and count you as his friend."

"Ranger is … was … a good man himself and only deserved the best in his life. We all know he worked too damn hard for this life. But he deserved everything he had."

Franklin just nodded at my sentiment and wished us well for our onwards travel, adding with a smile that he'd appreciate a heads up next time I planned a visit.

Without a promise I got into the car and off we were to the airstrip to get to Denver.

One of the things I was looking forward to the most in Denver was seeing Collins again. At least one face I knew moving forward with this little road trip. A few hours after we had left the Helena office, we touched down on a small airstrip just outside Denver and were greeted by a waiting SUV. If travelling as RangeMan was always like this I could really get used to it. No annoying lines, no waiting, no people. It was heaven.

Cal and Bones once more debated who'd get to drive and after a few rounds of rock, paper, scissors Bones was announced the winner and we were on our way.

"Can we stop somewhere along the way for coffee?" I asked, typing an email on my phone that was going to Bobby, Lester and Tank. I had promised I'd keep them in the loop in regards of this trip and was wondering whether they had any idea in regards of the Helena office and how to make recruiting easier for them. Both Bobby and Tank had a few ideas that somehow seemed rather impractical when thinking about it. Which was odd, especially for Tank. But it wasn't like recruitment was an issue in Trenton. Lester was so far only writing he'd look into it.

An hour after we had touched down, Bones pulled up in front of an impressive and sleek looking glass building that proudly displayed the RangeMan name over its door and across the front of the building. Alright. While the Trenton office was rather off the radar and couldn't really be recognized by name from the outside, Denver went different ways.

Before the front door even fell into the lock behind us a usual RangeMan guy was greeting us, looking like he knew exactly who we were. Different to Helena then.

"Third floor, ma'am. Someone will greet you by the elevators once you get off, ma'am."

"Um… thank you," I said, taking a key card which was presented to me a second later.

"They probably have cameras outside and the control room probably notified everyone the second you got out of the car," Cal answered my unasked question, after we had gotten onto the elevator. I pressed the button for the third floor and up we went.

"Can we have some sort of rule that people need to stop calling me ma'am?" I asked, when we slowly made our way up.

"Why? It is just… what we are used to. I remember when we all met you for the first time. I think we all called you Ma'am for at least six months," Bones laughed and I joined in as well. He was right. And getting any of them to stop calling me that had been a lot of hard – and quite fruitless – work. They only stopped once I mentioned it to Ranger and he literally ordered everyone to not call me that anymore. The beginning of 'little girl', 'Beautiful', 'Bombshell' and the likes really.

When the elevator door opened and we were met by not one but two bulky standard issue RangeMan I was so surprised that I made a few steps backwards.

"Ma'am," came the response from both men simultaneously and with a certain amount of confusion. Probably about me taking a few steps back.

"These are Bones and Cal," I made as an introduction, mainly because I wasn't entirely sure what to really do. All four men nodded and I decided now was the best of times to get of this elevator.

The first thing I noticed was that the chatter which I definitely had heard a moment earlier all of a sudden stopped and it seemed like very single pair of eyes was directed to me. Great, attention. The second thing I noticed, was a guy a few feet away from me, grinning at me widely.

"Collins," I announced almost excitedly before stepping past Cal and Bones and giving him a hug. Maybe not the most official greeting, but I was really glad to see him again and catch up. What surprised me, was that he hugged me back and that the room all of a sudden seemed to be even quieter than a moment ago.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, Stephanie, but… unannounced visits are never good."

"Why does everyone keep saying that? Franklin Monroe seemed not too excited to see me as well when I stopped by a few days ago."

"You were in Montana?" he asked surprised and I smiled.

"Yeah, figured I start with the two offices the furthest away from Trenton."

"Is Tank chasing you away already?" he asked amused at which I just laughed.

"It isn't him," I laughed at which he laughed as well.

"Lester then," he said, and guided me as well as my two Merry Men to what I assumed was his office. "But…. Honestly, do I need to worry in regards of your visit?" he asked serious a moment later.

"You really don't," I said, stepping through his door. "I just figured it was time to familiarize myself with the other offices and meet some people. Also… I have been busy trying to figure out where to add another branch and was hoping for some sort of magical inspiration. But really, this is nothing to worry about. It is just… a check up if you like. And to quench my curiosity a bit. Also, I guess it helps knowing how you all operate and work. But I'm happy to see you. How have you been?" I asked and saw him smile at me.

"I should be asking you that question. We haven't seen each other in a while and when I left the Trenton office you seemed like you still had a million questions all these months ago. But, I guess it all worked out for you."

"I… made it work," I replied.

"I wouldn't have expected anything else in all fairness," he confirmed.

I laughed at his optimism and confidence, seeing as I had faced times where I hadn't been certain I was doing anything right or was making it work. Even today I still had days where I wondered what the hell I was actually doing.

"How about a tour?" I asked.

"How about I introduce you to everyone as a start and then we'll see about a tour?" he offered and I agreed. It wasn't like I expected to remember every single name and person working here, but it was nice meeting other RangeMan guys and seeing how they compared to the original ones from Trenton.

Collins pressed a button on his phone before he ordered someone – I assume the Denver version of Tank – to set up a meeting for in about ten minutes and that everyone who wasn't busy with something urgent was supposed to attend.

Ten minutes later I found myself facing a whole room of Cal's, Tank's, Bones' and Zero's. The tension was almost unbearable and everyone just looked at me without saying anything. I felt a bit put on the spot in all fairness and was not entirely sure whether I was going to say anything or wait for Collins to start.

"Guys, I'm certain she doesn't really need to be introduced, but well… this is Stephanie Plum, CEO of RangeMan and all your guys' boss. She decided on stopping by for a surprise visit for the next few days."

I could see some faces move slightly into something that seemed remotely like worry or confusion.

"I'm not here for evaluation or to… spy on you. I'm just trying to familiarize myself with the offices and people in it," I offered quickly and with a soft smile, hoping to ease worries. It isn't like I didn't get it. The boss shows up unannounced and you get nervous by default. Usually, the boss showing up didn't go along with good news. "I …I um look forward seeing more of all of you the next few days. I'm certain some of you might know my companions. Those of you who don't, these are Cal and Bones," I introduced my two men and both of them did an odd mix of a nod and a hand gesture which was returned by everyone in the room. "Also… if you ever wanted to bring something forward, talk with the higher ups about issue or make suggestions about...stuff, now is your chance," I laughed but was pretty much the only one doing so. The rest of the room seemed unmoved. Okay, maybe no suggestion box then for any of them. "Anyway… I'll… um…. I'll probably occupy one of the conference rooms for the time we are here in order to do the small amount of work I need to take care of. So… feel free to stop by?!" I finally offered but assumed this wasn't going to go anywhere. And here I was trying to seem approachable. Why I tried I wasn't even really sure myself.

"You don't need a conference room," Collins said almost shocked. "I'll set you up in an office, my office if you'd like," he offered graciously, but I declined.

"That is very thoughtful of you, but really not necessary. I don't have a lot of stuff to take care of, just checking in with the Trenton branch and making sure I sit in on a meeting or two. But that is it. So it won't be a lot of work stuff for me and I really don't need much space. A conference room really is sufficient."

"If you are certain…" he started carefully.

"I am," I quickly validated my suggestion and after that the meeting was dismissed and I was taken on my tour. A tour which would take me an hour to see everything.

The Denver office was similar to the Trenton one in regards of set-up and size, thought it was a bit smaller and didn't have seven floors. Just five, but than again, they certainly didn't need an apartment on top or probably a few other things the Trenton office offered.

"How many people do you employ here?" I asked when taking the elevator down again from what we had just looked at.

"About 150 I guess. Why? You want files?" Collins asked with a smile and I shook my head laughing.

"No, it is just… so quiet. And when we were in that conference room, it seemed like a fraction of that number. I was just curious, since the size of the office is so big compared to the amount of people I had seen so far."

"Ah, well… we have quite a few people out and about right now. We have quite a large number of FTAs in the area that are wanted by several branches of agencies, so these are taking up a lot of manpower right now. A few are one or two states over taking care of a few other things, contracts and the likes. It usually is really not that quiet."

"I'll have to take your word for it," I admitted smiling and went on. After that Collins had to take care of a few urgent calls and check in with his guys and I decided on this being a good time on reaching out to the Trenton office, getting dialled in to a few of the meetings and checking in with Tank, Lester and Bobby.

For a day or two that was my day really. I talked a lot with Collins, got a good look into how the Denver office operated and met a ton of his men, who all seemed to keep their respectful distance in the beginning but slowly seemed to warm up to me. I took Cal and Bones out for lunch and dinner and occasionally they bought one of the Denver guys with them. Being literally one of them it was easier for the two guys to find a way in then it was for me. Also, it did help that both of them knew one or two of the Denver RangeMen already as well.

The afternoon's were usually spent with me setting up shop in one of the unoccupied conference rooms and doing stacks of paperwork or being brought into phone conferences with Trenton.

I was at the end of one of these calls when I saw someone standing in the door of the conference room. A Denver Merry Man who was called Davis if I wasn't entirely wrong.

"Ma'am," he said as form of greeting, but didn't move an inch.

"Hi," I said almost enthusiastically. This was the first time that one of them actually approached me without Collins, Cal or Bones being somehow a part of it or involved. Of course, this could just mean that Collins needed to see me and just sent someone because he himself was tied up for the moment being.

"I was… wondering whether I could talk to you for a second, ma'am?" he asked and I nodded, pleasantly surprised that he wasn't sent by Collins.

"Of course. And please, you don't have to call me ma'am. Stephanie, or Steph is fine."

Instead of a reply he just nodded, but moved inside the room and took a seat opposite of me. And then there was silence. I figured since he had the need to speak to me I'd let him have the time he needed to find whatever words he was looking for. Or maybe he was waiting for me to give him the 'go'. After a minute or two I figured he wasn't looking for words but really waited for my 'go'.

"What can I help you with?" I finally asked and saw him relax.

"When you arrived a few days ago you said that if people have things to talk about or suggestions for all kind of things we should come and see you."

"Yes, I did. I'm always open for ideas and suggestions. And maybe things being brought to my attention that I haven't had a chance of seeing myself."

"I… I um… spoke to Cal and he said that you are rather good to talk to."

I laughed at his explanation and had no problems seeing Cal as just that.

"He would say that seeing as he is my sort of liaison between the Merry Man and me. He brings stuff to my attention others might have mentioned in passing or didn't consider too important to bother me with."

"Merry Man, ma'am?" Davis – I was almost certain that really was his name – asked confused at which I laughed some more.

"That's what I call my guys in Trenton. They are my Merry Man. Like Robin Hood," I explained, using Bones' explanation to Franklin a few days prior. "And despite the fact that we have a very good working relationship there are obviously topics that these guys don't want to bring up. They mention stuff between each other, stuff that they think is not worth my attention because it isn't important enough or just general things that irk them. And that's when Cal steps in. He usually brings these topics to my attention, but not as in spying on his colleagues. They usually approach him with things and suggestions that they don't want to talk to me directly about. It often enough is some sort of anonymous thing. He's like my walking-talking suggestion box," I admitted laughing and was surprised when Davis laughed as well. "So… what is your issue?"

"I assume you are familiar with the transfer-process within RangeMan?"

"Kind of," I admitted honestly. Transfers were usually handled by the offices themselves. Mainly by the office the current employee was working for and partly by the office he or she asked to be transferred to. I was never really involved since recruiting was Tank's thing and I only sat in on the new hires. People that were already employed by RangeMan hardly ever got my attention to be honest. I trusted Tank and the others to know who fit. It was a fairly easy process as far as I know and I never heard anything problematic about it. Maybe that was about to change?

"I… am originally from the Miami office," he started explaining and I wasn't entirely sure where this was going to. "I transferred to Atlanta about a year ago and to Denver four months ago."

I found his transfer history slightly odd, seeing that most RangeMan guys started out in one office and then – when the opportunity was given – transferred to an office that was maybe a bit closer to home and family when they were ready to return home. Two transfers within a year were… unusual.

"And I was thinking of transferring to the Chicago office soon." And okay, that was unusual for sure.

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but… are there issues I need to be aware of? With the other offices? With Collins?" I asked carefully and saw Davis shake his head quickly.

"No, no, really not. No, that is not it. I actually voluntarily move offices since my partner is working for a company that sends him all the time to a new location every few months. And I basically sort of follow him."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense. For a moment I thought whether or not there were maybe internal issues. So… what's the problem? The Chicago office not having vacancies?"

"That's not it. There is… apparently there is an unofficial limit to transfers?"

"Okay. I mean… it seems a bit odd that someone is switching offices as often as you do. And with every move you need to get familiar with the new office and how they do things. Knowing you'll probably won't be around too long in the new location might raise some red flags. But on the other hand, I understand your reasoning behind the moves or transfers."

Davis just nodded as a reply but that was it.

"So, do you suggest we change the policy?" I asked careful, knowing I'd have to definitely run this past Tank.

"In a way yes, Ma'am…."

"Stephanie, please. Or… Steph. Ma'am really is not needed," I reminded him at which I actually got a small smile. "I'll be honest here, I get your reasoning and I'm certain there are a few others who might be in similar positions, but… I am not entirely sure what you'd like me to do. I could of course more or less order Chicago to just take you, but I'm certain that wouldn't go down too well in regards of office spirit. I'll… I'll tell you what… I'll take your issue and think about it for a few days, run it past a few people and see what can be done. I'm not gonna make any promises, but… let me run with it for a while and maybe we can find something that works for everyone and is not necessarily a security issue."

"That's all I was asking for Ma-" came his reply. Before he could finish his Ma'am, he stopped himself and just looked at me amused. He might have said that this was all he had hoped for in a way, but it was palpable to me that this wasn't it. He had hoped for more, which I wasn't able to give him. I figured Cal had probably said to tell me that and be happy with whatever I was able and willing to offer for now. Cal knew me better than most Merry Man and we had a certain special bond in a way.

After that my afternoon was less exciting and I was spending more time in phone calls than I had anticipated or liked for that matter. But well… it wasn't as if I had a lot of choice.