More - because some of you have already memorised the last chapter...Let me know what you think– Heather x

I turned to Joe, suddenly weary of him, 'you're not the one for me Joe, maybe you never were, but sleeping with the skank was the last straw. We're done, Joe.'

And looking at the shock, hurt and confusion on his face, I think I just got my payback.

I felt my fury at him dissipate. He wasn't what I wanted any more. But I was beginning to get an idea about what I did want.

And it rhymed with manger.

Chapter 12

Joe shook his head, 'I can't do this,' he said to his captain, 'I can't work on this case with him,' he said, gesturing to Ranger. 'We've got too much personal shit going on for us to work constructively together.'

The captain nodded, 'understandable. You take over the Marcosi case, Jared Firoli can take over from you.'

Joe turned to me, 'I'm sorry.' He said, then he walked out.

'You've worked with Firoli before?' the captain asked Ranger.

Ranger nodded once, and the captain met his eyes for a moment then nodded, 'Stephanie?'

'Yes captain?'

'No B&E on my watch.'

'Ranger was just teasing Joe, I would never break the law.' I said, fluttering my eyelashes innocently.

'Of course you wouldn't.' The captain smiled ruefully, 'The papers weren't too far off when they called you the Bombshell Bounty Hunter, or the Bounty Hunter from Hell.'

'Hey!' I objected.

The captain grinned and left.

Ranger tucked an errant curl behind my ear, 'Ok Babe?'

I thought about it - really thought about it, 'yeah, I'm ok. But you know what?'

'What?'

'I'd flunk out on the Ricardo Carlos Manoso Quiz; you need to cut the mystery bullshit now.'

Ranger threw his head back and laughed. 'Ok Babe, I'll try.' He promised.

Ranger glanced at the box on the table and his smile faded. 'Can you step out of denial land for a minute so we can talk about the presents you're receiving?'

I nodded reluctantly, 'yeah.'

Ranger sat in his chair and pulled me onto his lap.

'Tank.' Ranger said.

Tank got up and moved to the front of the room, 'We've talked to all of Steph's neighbours and no one saw anyone, or anything, unusual in the vicinity of the building. The lab has been unable to get an ID from the hands; we don't have any DNA matches, and the fingerprints were removed from the fingers.'

'Wait a sec.' I said, 'the fingerprints were removed from the fingers? Explain.'

Tank shrugged, 'the prints were burnt off the pad of the fingertips with a high concentration of hydrochloric acid.'

'Ok,' I said, swallowing the sudden bile in my throat, 'sorry I asked.'

Tank continued, 'as we have been unable to identify the victim, it makes it harder for us to identify the perpetrator.'

'Why?' I asked.

'Normally you look into the victim; their physical characteristics, the area they lived, their hobbies – something will have drawn the perp to them. If we find that thing, it makes us easier to find the perp.' Tank explained.

'What if it was a random attack?'

'Even random attacks can give us information. For example, if they just attacked someone walking home, then it means the perp passed through that area. From that, we can draw a radius on a map about the possible distance the perp would have travelled and so we can draw conclusions about the likely areas of the perps residence.'

'Huh. Cool.'

Tank smiled at me, 'unfortunately, we've got ourselves a Jane Doe, which makes it much harder for us. I don't doubt that the human skin will match the hand's DNA, but that still doesn't really help us - unless the perp got careless and left a print or two for us to run.'

'Babe,' said Ranger, 'I know this might be gross, but do you think you could look at the hands? You might see something we don't, or you might even recognise them.'

I sighed and nodded.

Tank put the new box into the dumb waiter and sent it down, he used the intercom to request the other box get sent up.

A minute later I was staring at the victim's hands, they were, as Tank said, definitely Jane Doe's, not John Doe's. The bones were finer and besides, she had an excellent French manicure.

Hang on…

I looked at my hands, then at the victims, then at mine, then at the victims.

'Huh.' I said.

'What?' asked Ranger.

'She has the same manicure as me. It's a French manicure, but it's a bit different to a normal French manicure. You see a normal French manicure has a base of clear nail polish and then…'

I looked at the men's glazed expressions, 'never mind. Just take my word for it; she got her manicure done at Suzy's Treat in the Mall, by a manicurist called Lolita. She's the best, she makes her own base coat which…never mind. But the victim definitely got her nails done by Lolita. Lolita is very nice, and quite organised; I'm pretty sure she keeps a record of all her clients.'

The men were staring at me, 'will that help?' I asked.

'Babe.' Ranger said, shaking his head fractionally in disbelief.

'What?'

'You just got us our first lead.'

'Did I do good?' I asked Ranger.

Ranger's eyes darkened, 'yeah, real good.' He said firmly, and then he kissed me lightly on the lips.

I smiled.

Tank removed the box and sent it back down to the labs via the dumb waiter.

'I'll check out Suzy's Treat.' Tank volunteered.

Ranger nodded. 'Good.'

'I'm on stakeout duty with Cal.' Lester grimaced, not looking excited at the prospect of spending several hours with Rangeman's own Steriodasaurus.

I started to move off Ranger's lap, 'where are you going?' Ranger asked.

'To catch myself a nasty fugitive?'

'Nuh uh.'

'Nuh uh?'

'Nuh uh. You're coming up to the seventh floor with my father and my cousin.'

'Are you ordering me, or asking?'

'Um…asking. Definitely asking.'

'Good move – I don't react well to orders.'

'I've noticed.' He said, smiling. 'Please Babe, will you come up to the seventh floor with me?'

'Seeing as how you asked so nicely; sure.'

We got up and headed to the lift. Ranger and I assumed our normal position: I leaned back into his arms, which were wrapped around my waist.

I met Ranger's gaze in the mirror of the lift. I smiled at the couple we made: everything about us was a contrast; my slender frame accentuated his muscles, my blue eyes drew attention to his dark gaze, my pale skin looked milky against his delicious mocha skin, and my curly hair looked wild compared to his straight silken hair.

We looked stunning together; we looked hot.

Ranger's lips turned up in a slow smile, 'damn straight.' He said.

'Stupid Esp.' I mock pouted.

I felt his silent laughter vibrate through me, and my pout faded into a smile.

The lift stopped and we all hopped out. Ranger and I sat together on one couch and his father and his cousin sat on the other.

'Oh hello dear,' said Ella to me.

'Hey Ella.'

'How are you, Stephanie?'

'Fine thank you, and you?'

'Wonderful, thank you.' she replied in a bubbly voice, 'Is there anything you want, dear?'

'Oh,' I said surprised, 'no, I have everything I need,' I said, involuntarily glancing at Ranger.

Ranger smiled at that, and kissed me lightly on my hair.

'Oh!' said Ella, her smile broadening. 'I've cleaned the bedroom and the bathroom Ranger, and I put your special delivery on the side there.'

'Thanks Ella.' Ranger said.

'What special delivery?' I asked.

'You're the most curious person I know.' Ranger muttered, amused.

I ignored that, 'Is it a gun? Or a Batman gizmo? Or is it more mundane like…a clock?'

'Some movies.' Ranger shrugged.

'Which ones?' I persisted.

Ranger reached behind me and snagged the bag behind me, 'here Babe, snoop to your heart's content.'

I rifled through the bag: 'The Fast and The Furious', 'Minority Report', 'The Lord of the rings Trilogy', 'The Ring', 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Ghostbusters', and the complete box sets of Batman and the adventures of Wonder Woman!

'OMG!' I yelled, eyes wide.

I'd complained to Ranger, about a month prior to the Slayers mess, that I couldn't find the adventures of Wonder Woman anywhere.

'Sorry it took me a while to find them.' Ranger said, 'But take it as thanks for my thanks present.'

'You're the best!' I squealed, throwing my arms around him.

Ranger shook his head slightly, 'not quite, Babe.'

I met his eyes, 'You are to me.' I said simply.