I decided to start organising our plans for tonight. First up, we needed a babysitter. We were avoiding talking to mom in case she wanted to speak to Grandma, so since Val was needed to be back-up for Morelli in the great Kidnapped Grandma Caper, that left one option. I sighed and called my husband.

"We need you to babysit Angie and Mary Alice tonight," I told Dickie. He hesitated.

"Uh, why?" he asked.

"Well, Val has something on, and I told Grandma that I'd meet her at the mall at six," I told him.

"I'll give them their dinner, and make sure they're showered, they can watch TV until seven, then you just need to make sure that they brush their teeth, get into bed by 7.30 at the latest, and make sure that Mary Alice brushes her mane," Val told Dickie.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

"I… uh… I have a date!" she told him.

"Oh that's great! Who with?" Dickie asked.

"Uh… Joseph Morelli," Val said. She looked over at me and shrugged.

"Did you decide to set him up with your sister? Good thinking, Steph. That sounds great, Val. Don't worry, I'll take care of the girls," he said.

Dickie arrived home at quarter to six, far earlier than normal. He was armed with his laptop, briefcase and a DVD of Moana. "I thought I might need TV back-up," he said, grinning at me. Sometimes he could be an ass but he was endlessly charming when he felt like it.

Angie and Mary Alice's faces lit up when they saw the DVD.

"Moana! Moana!" they yelled, dancing around. I wasn't quite sure that Dickie knew what he was in for. Val kissed the girls goodbye and told them to be good for their Uncle Dickie.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," I told him, kissing him goodbye. "I'm going to drop Grandma at home afterwards."

"Have fun shopping," he told me, opening up the DVD case and getting the movie ready. Looks like it was movie night with Uncle Dickie.

Val and I got into the Mercedes and drove to the mall.

"So have you and Dickie come to an agreement on having a baby?" Val asked me.

"No," I said shortly, hoping she'd get the point.

"You need to work it out, Steph. He wants a baby. Look how happy he was to be spending the night with the girls," Val said. I rolled my eyes. Buying one DVD doesn't mean that he is good father material. I think he was only happy about it because he thought that if Val was dating Morelli, then Morelli wouldn't be hanging around showing off his motorbike to me. Good thing that Dickie didn't know the history that Morelli and I had or his jealous streak would be having a red hot fit.

I pulled into the parking garage of the mall and found Morelli and Ranger waiting by Ranger's car. Ranger had the best spot, right by the entrance, but Val and I had to park further up. Morelli's truck wasn't on sight but the plan was for him to park on the other side of the mall just in case.

Last time I saw Ranger he was dressed all in black – black dress slacks, black business shirt, black suit jacket. This time he was dressed on his bounty hunter black – black boots, black cargo pants, black shirt, black jacket. He looked good in black but I had a feeling he'd look good in anything. Or nothing. He nodded to us.

"Hey Steph, hey Val," Morelli said. He was holding a cooler bag. I was just going to assume that his butcher came through and not ask any further questions.

"Hey Joe," Val said, with a bit of a blush.

"So, what's our plan?" I asked.

"We've got less than an hour before DeChooch is due to call to make the transfer. He might call early though to try and catch us off guard. We're going to split into two teams – Steph, you and Ranger stay here and wait as back-up. We don't want to scare DeChooch off," Morelli said.

"If we don't want to scare him, then why aren't you and Ranger the hidden back-up?" I asked. Morelli sighed.

"Because DeChooch is old and crazy and I don't want either you or Val alone with him in case he pull out a gun again?"

Oh. That. I looked across at Ranger. An hour in a dimly light parking garage with Ranger. Right. He look over at me.

"Don't worry, babe. I'm the scariest creature in this wood."

Val giggled. "So you're the mouse and not the Gruffalo?" she asked him. The corners of his mouth twitched. Morelli and I looked at each other and I shrugged, not understanding the reference.

Val and Morelli picked up the cooler and headed off into the mall for the food court to wait for DeChooch.

Ranger and I climbed into his car, another black Porsche but this time a Cayenne, and waited. He was calm, sitting comfortably in his seat, breathing quietly, just watching and waiting. He reminded me of a creature waiting for its prey.

I, however, was not calm. Or patient. And I was getting hungry. I squirmed in the seat. The parking garage didn't have enough cars driving past to keep me entertained. There were no snacks in my bag.

"This is boring," I told Ranger. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Do you have any snacks?" I asked him.

"No eating in my car," he told me. I sighed. I got out my phone and stared at it. No call from DeChooch.

"What's a Gruffalo?" I asked Ranger. He raised his eyebrow at me again. Right. Okay. I googled instead.

"Do you often quote from children's books?" I asked Ranger.

"Only when the mood strikes," he said. I read more about the book.

"Were you trying to say that you're all bad reputation but you're not actually scary at all underneath?" I asked him. He grinned for real this time.

"I'm a mercenary, babe, and a bad man. When I said I was the scariest creature, that's exactly what I meant."

"You don't seem that scary to me," I told him.

"You probably thought that Alexander Ramos was a nice old man. I think your instincts are a bit off."

"My instincts are fine," I told him, rolling my eyes.

We sat in silence for a few more minutes.

My phone rang. It was Grandma's number. I answered, putting it on speaker.

"Hello?"

"Are you at the mall?" Eddie DeChooch asked.

"Yes. Where do you want to meet?"

"Not so fast," he said. "You need to take the heart somewhere for me. First, you take route 10..."

"Wait, where are we going?"

"Just follow my directions," he said, sounding irritated.

"Can't you just give me the address? I didn't bring a pen! I thought we were meeting at the mall," I said. Ranger raised his eyebrows at me.

"How will you know how to get there if I don't give you directions?" DeChooch asked.

"I'll put it into Google Maps."

"You'll… just follow directions," DeChooch said, sounding irritated. Ranger held up a pen. He was prepared. Must have been a boy scout.

"Choochy doesn't know what Google Maps is," said Grandma's cheerful voice in the background. "He doesn't even have a smart phone."

We managed to get the directions down.

"Bring the heart to that address. Then wait for more directions," he said.

"What? Aren't you at that address?" I asked him, but he'd hung up. I turned to look at Ranger.

"Now what?" I asked him.

"Phone Morelli and tell him to take the heart to the address," he said. Ranger's phone beeped and he checked it. "Your Grandma's phone is at the mall somewhere. Let's go check the food court."

I rang Val and passed on the message.

"I'm pretty sure that's where DeChooch's nephew Ronald lives," said Morelli. "We'll go do the delivery. Don't worry, I'll look after Val."

"We're starting to get looks walking around the mall with a cooler anyway," Val said.

"Keep an eye out for Grandma just in case," I told him.

Ranger got out of the car and stretched. I knew he had one gun tucked away behind his back and I suspected that there were more somewhere. He pulled on a bullet proof vest, and put his jacket on over the top, hiding it.

"I've got a vest that would fit you," he offered. I thought of all the calls my mother would get if I was spotted walking through the mall with a bullet proof vest on.

"No thanks."

My phone rang again as I was getting out of the car.

"Is Val still with you?"

"No, I dropped her off on her date with Morelli. Why, are the girls okay?" I asked him.

"Oh yeah they're fine. We're just finishing up Moana. Where are you?"

"I'm at the mall waiting for Grandma."

"She's not there yet?"

"No, not yet. But she'll be here soon." Fingers crossed, anyway.

"All right. Can you pick me up some shampoo while you're there?"

"Okay, sure."

"Thanks Steph. You're the best. Love you," he said, hanging up.

Well that was weird.

"That was Dickie. He's wondering when I'll be home. I told him that I was meeting Grandma at the mall, and then dropping her home afterwards," I said. Ranger looked at my phone.

"He's got a tracker on your phone," he said casually.

"He's what?"

"He's got tracking on your phone so he knows where you are all the time," Ranger said.

"Oh, the thing that lets you see where the phone is? That's in case I lose the phone so we can find it," I explained to Ranger.

"Do you have the same for his phone?" Ranger asked me.

"Well, no. But Dickie never loses his phone. It's never out of his sight," I told him.

"He's tracking you," Ranger said.

"Why do you think that?"

"He called because your phone hasn't moved from the parking garage. He's a suspicious man, babe. Probably thinks you're having sex in the back seat of the Mercedes right now."

"You have a dirty mind," I told Ranger. He raised an eyebrow at me.

We headed into the mall together. My stomach growled when we got to the food court. It all smelled delicious. I needed to find Grandma first, then I was heading for pizza.

It was crowded in the food court but Ranger had no trouble getting through. People looked at him and skittered out of the way. It was impressive. I looked around. Grandma liked to eat Chinese food from the mall and they had a seniors discount. I saw her, sitting next to DeChooch, and put my hand on Ranger's arm to warn him. He stopped walking and looked over.

"Good spotting," he told me softly. He warned me to stay behind him, then strode over to their table.

"Mr DeChooch, you're in violation of your bail bond. I'm authorised by Vincent Plum to bring you into custody," he said, taking out hand cuffs.

"Ranger Manoso," DeChooch said, standing up. "I see Vinnie finally brought in the big guns. About time." Grandma eyed Ranger and I got the uncomfortable feeling that she was picturing him naked.

"Who's the hottie?" she asked me.

"He's a bounty hunter," I told Grandma.

"You see?" said DeChooch. "I told you I was a wanted man." He turned around so Ranger could cuff him.

Mall security officers arrived, looking at Ranger uncertainly.

"I'm a Bond Enforcement Agent, and he's in violation of his bond. I have the paperwork if you want to see it," Ranger said. They shook their heads no. Apparently what they wanted was for Ranger to leave as soon as possible. They offered to escort him to his car, and DeChooch took off with a swagger.

"See how many men they sent for me?" he said to Grandma. "That's how dangerous I still am."

Ranger tipped his head at me in farewell. "Have a good dinner," he said, and left with DeChooch.

Grandma and I got pizza and drinks and were sitting down eating when my phone rang.

"I dropped the heart off," Val said.

"Ranger and I found Grandma and DeChooch," I told her. "Ranger took DeChooch away and I've got Grandma safe. We're having pizza."

"Oh thank goodness," Val said. She sounded relieved.

"Are you coming back to the mall?" I asked her.

"Um, I think we might go out to dinner. And then Joe will drop me home. You know, since we're meant to be out on a date and all," Val said. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, see you at home," I said, and hung up.

"Who was that?" Grandma asked.

"Valerie. She's on a date with Joe Morelli," I told Grandma.

"Lucky her. He's a hottie and a real catch," Grandma said.

Grandma and I finished our pizza, and I drove her home. I took the coward's way out, and watched her get inside the house from the safety of my car, then took off. I was sure I'd get a phone call from my mother before too long but I'd be safely home by then.

I pulled into the garage, and walked into the quiet house. Dickie was working at the kitchen table.

"I brought you some pizza," I told him, sliding a container across the table.

"My hero. Did you get my shampoo too?"

Ugh! I knew I forgot something.