The elevator started moving. It moved slowly from five to seven, and the doors opened smoothly.

I stepped out into a small foyer, with a table next to the door. I hurried over to the door and paused. What if I'd got this wrong? Should I knock first? I held the fob up to the door and swiped myself in, and quickly shut the door behind me. I was relatively sure that the apartments wouldn't be monitored but I guess I'd find out.

I put my food down on the kitchen counter, and had a look around. It was a large apartment, with an open plan kitchen, lounge and dining area. There was a doorway off the lounge that looked like a powder room, and then a small hallway. I had a look down there. The first room off the hallway was a study, and the last room left was a bedroom. There were no photos or personal items on display. I stuck my head into the ensuite, then breathed in. I could smell a faint scent. Ranger. I relaxed.

I made my way back to the kitchen and put my food away, inspecting the fridge. There was beer, low fat yoghurt, olives and eggs along with a good selection of condiments. I looked in the crisper drawer and found apples, limes and oranges. There was also two types of cheese in the dairy compartment. The kitchen cupboard contained muesli, honey, crackers, tuna, green tea and coffee. Ranger clearly did not believe in buying in bulk. I wondered how much time he spent here. I also hoped that it wasn't just someone with the same taste in after shave as Ranger, and that this was the mysterious stranger who smelled the same as Ranger's apartment. I wondered if that justified snooping in the drawers, to try and find out who this apartment belonged to. The kitchen cupboards didn't enlighten me, so that left either the bedroom or the study.

I chose the bedroom first. It seemed less invasive, somehow. There weren't any photos on display, no books on the night stand, no papers nearby. The wardrobe was full of black clothes. No other colours. Either Ranger only wore black, or he had another closest elsewhere that held the colour. I opened a drawer in the night stand and found a single pair of boxer shorts. Which made me realise that there was no underwear in the wardrobe. So either Ranger had packed it all to take with him, or he didn't wear any. I felt my cheeks flush at the thought.

I wasn't sure about poking around the study in case he had business information out, but everything looked fairly tidied away. There were no photos in here either, but I did find the notes from my meeting with Ranger on the website. I took that as good enough confirmation that this was his apartment. I also found a phone charger that I could use for my phone.

I went back out to the kitchen and heated up the dessert that I'd taken from downstairs. Lester had said it was fairly healthy but it wasn't too bad. I added an extra squirt of honey on top and wished that I had some ice cream to go with it. I checked Ranger's freezer but there was only ice cubes in there.

My phone rang. I froze. I didn't know the number so I let it go to voicemail, and then checked the message when it beeped.

"Hi Stephanie, this is Tank from Rangeman. Uh, Ranger asked me to keep an eye on your situation with the troubles you've been having. Our informants have given us some news that has me concerned and I'd like to know that you're safe. Please give me a call when you can."

Well that's an understatement, Tank. The news about a hitman being after me is more than a little concerning, especially now that I've met Junkman, but I think that I'm safe now. I decided to give Tank a call back.

"Hello?"

"Hi Tank, this is Stephanie Plum, returning your message."

"Stephanie. Are you somewhere safe?"

"Yes I am."

"Are you at home?"

"No, I'm staying at a friend's house."

"Okay. Ranger asked me to keep an eye on your situation while he was away. Please call me if you need anything, and keep a low profile until the police find Junkman."

"Will do. Thanks Tank."

"Anytime," he said, and hung up.

I relaxed. Tank checking up on me meant that he didn't know that I was in Ranger's apartment, and also meant that Ranger was still away, and, I was assuming, not due home in the next few days. I was safe in his apartment. Although I'd managed to scam my way into the building and past security, I was a known visitor and I had a key fob. I was confident that Junkman couldn't find his way in as easily. I knew that Ranger hired ex-gang members (Hector being a good example) but I was confident that none of them would risk his wrath by letting someone into his private domain. I still put a few bottles across the doorway just in case.

I washed up my dessert bowl and spoon, put the dishes away, and went into the bedroom. I had no spare clothes with me, so I had a look through Ranger's wardrobe again. I pulled out a soft shirt, black of course, and some sweat pants that I could roll up.

I took a deep breath. I could do this. It just a shower. It was just Ranger's shower. It was just Ranger's shower in his apartment that he didn't know that I was in. It was just Ranger's shower in his apartment that he didn't know that I was in and I didn't know when he was getting home. It was just – I stopped myself thinking and took off my clothes. There wasn't a washer or dryer in the apartment, so I put my shirt and underwear beside the sink to handwash. I took a shower, washed my hair, and sniffed Ranger's shower gel. That was the scent. I lathered up and got out of the shower, smelling like Ranger and feeling vaguely guilty. Apparently it wasn't taking over Ranger's apartment that made me feel guilty, it was smelling like him. I found a robe behind the bathroom door (black of course) and put it on, then found a hair dryer under the sink and dried my hair.

I hand washed my clothes and hung them up to dry, changed into Ranger's clothes, and then got the charger and plugged my phone in. I was all ready for bed. I checked the beer bottles that I'd put across the main doorway just in case, added a few pots and pans, and then went back into the bedroom. I wondered which side Ranger usually slept on, but the lack of personal items in the room made it impossible to tell. I decided on the side closest to the door and slid between the sheets.

They were the best sheets that I'd ever slept on. Soft, silky, warm. They smelled comfortingly like fabric softener, which made me think that they'd been washed since Ranger had last slept on them.

I tried to remain alert while I slept, but before I knew it, I'd slipped into a deep sleep.

I opened my eyes. A small amount of light was peeking under the blinds, and I checked my phone. It was 8am, I'd been asleep for 9 hours, and I had multiple missed calls. The most recent one was from Mary Lou, so I started with her.

"Stephanie! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mare, I'm fine."

"The rumours are crazy around here. They said there's a mob hit out on you?"

"Not a mob hit! Geez. The rumour mill is having trouble these days keeping up. It's got to do with that robbery I witnessed, so I'm just laying low for a few days. And I don't want you at work alone, so take a few days off, okay?" I told her.

"What about our orders?"

"I got all caught up yesterday. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Do you want to come and stay here, Steph? So you're not alone with Dickie away?"

"No, I'm okay, thanks Mare. I'll see you tomorrow."

I got up and splashed some water on my face. I stared longingly at the shower. I really had no reason to take another shower since I'd had one before bed the night before, but Ranger's shower was amazing. The perfect pressure, a great shower head, not to mention the amazing smelling shower gel.

I wrapped the robe around myself and went into the kitchen to make a coffee. Ranger seemed to have some kind of fancy coffee press but there was also a jar of instant coffee that I opened up. I found Ranger's muesli in the cupboard and added low fat milk. Ick. At least it was adding to my healthy diet in case I needed to run from Junkman, or survive the zombie apocalypse. I drank half of my coffee and unenthusiastically chewed on the muesli before listening to the next message. My mother. "Why me, Brenda Matherson's daughter doesn't get involved with gangs, blah blah blah..." I sighed and sent her a text to let her know that I was okay, but taking a few days off work.

Another message had come in while I was listening to the very long "why me" message from my mother. I finished off my coffee, ate the rest of the cereal and wishes for marshmallows. None had appeared in Ranger's cupboard. The cereal sucked, and I was still hungry, so I ate my leftover stew from last night. I was trying to ration out the food a bit better, but muesli was like eating bark and twigs.

I listened to my new voicemail message. It was from Morelli.

"Junkman killed his cop. A narcotics detective from Northern New Jersey working in Trenton as a secondment. Be careful, Steph, and call me."

It was a good thing that I was already sitting down. I was the last one left on Junkman's list. While I was fast asleep last night, oblivious to the world, Junkman was moving around. I shivered. I had felt very safe in Ranger's apartment, but now I wasn't feeling so sure. I guess I'd better call Morelli.

"Steph!" he answered.

"Hi Joe."

"Where are you? I went to your house but you're not answering the door."

"I'm not there, Joe. I didn't feel safe."

"Where are you?"

"No offense, but I don't feel like telling you."

"Stephanie!" he sounded annoyed. "Your sister is worried. Your mother is worried."

"Great, Joe. I'm worried too! That's why I'm not home. A hitman is after me, so I'm staying inside. I'm at a friend's house. It's safe."

"We can keep you safe."

"You couldn't keep one of your own safe, Joe."

He was silent. I guess that hit too close to home.

"Keep in touch, okay, Steph?"

"I'll have my phone on, Joe. Call me anytime."

One caller was noticeably absent. Dickie. If it had been him with a homicidal gang hitman after him, I'd have at least checked in, but Dickie was bad at calling while he was away on a business trip. I sighed. Dickie was the way he was, and wishing wasn't going to change that.

Now I was the only one left on Junkman's list. And given how easily he'd found me yesterday when I'd been hidden away from Dougie and Mooner's worried me. I remembered Ranger telling me about how Dickie could check where my phone was using the phone data, and wondered if Junkman was doing the same.

I decided to call Tank for some help. I asked him if I should be worried about the Slayers tracing my whereabouts through my phone location. He thought for a second, then said, "You know what, I'm going to get Lester to give you a call back. Lester thinks he's James Bond, so he'll know this spy stuff."

My phone rang a few minutes later as I was staring into the cupboard and wishing that more food had appeared.

"Hey Steph! Tank said you were asking about phone tracing, is that right?"

"Hi Lester. Yes. I was laying low yesterday afternoon, but Junkman approached me and-"

"Junkman approached you?" Lester asked, horrified.

"Yes. So since then I've been somewhere that I think is secure but I'm worried about him finding me. I was at a friend's house yesterday that I rarely visit, and the only way I can think of that he knew where I was would be if he followed me, and then waited for hours, or if he was tracing my phone. And I was fairly careful to check and see if I was being followed."

"Hector's good with technology, so he's going to have a look and see how easy that would be," Lester told me. I could hear Hector talking in the background.

"Really?" Lester asked.

"Si," Hector replied, sounding amused.

"So you're… Hector says you're in the building. Are you downstairs?"

"Um..."

"Because I can just come to the foyer if you're down there."

"Well..."

I could hear a smile in his voice.

"Oh Stephanie. You haven't done what I think you've done, have you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, lying through my teeth.