Thank you everyone for your patience. For Mother's Day I got time alone to work on this story! Hope you enjoy it.

I left Dickie's office and walked three streets away before a black SUV glided to a stop beside me, and I hopped in.

"Nice work. The bug is transmitting loud and clear," Ranger told me.

"Great. I'm just glad I'm not the one having to listen to all the conversations," I said.

We drove back to Rangeman and went to Ranger's office on Level 5, grabbing sandwiches from the kitchen on the way. I loved Ella's sandwiches. She went to much more effort than I did when I made a sandwich. I counted adding olives to peanut butter as a gourmet touch. Ella started with fresh rolls delivered from a local bakery, deli meats and cheese from the fancy deli and fresh salads. I could feel my mouth start to water just looking at the sandwich.

"I wish someone looked at me the way that Steph looks at a sandwich," Lester said.

"A little slow in the action department lately?" Hal asked him.

"No, plenty of action, but still no one is looking at me like Steph is looking at her sandwich," he said. Ranger shot them a look and they both turned around to their desk and pretended to be working. I looked at my sandwich again. It was a fine sandwich. It would improve with a few chips on the side. And maybe a pickle.

We sat down in Ranger's office and I took a few bites of the sandwich, mulling over my thoughts from earlier in the day.

"I had a realisation when I was talking to Peter Smullen."

Ranger inclined his head toward me. I took that as an indication to keep talking.

"Joyce doesn't fit in this," I told Ranger.

"Babe?"

"Joyce is a man hunter. She trades up husbands. Her third was a wealthy, slightly older man and left her with a nice house, expensive car and mostly importantly, expensive alimony. So why was she after Dickie? He makes decent money, but it wouldn't be as much as her last husband. He has political aspirations, but not with Joyce on board and the divorce we're about to have. So how does Joyce fit in?"

"Hmmm."

"I mean, she hates me, but not enough to give up money over it. She's petty, but she's not stupid."

"What are you thinking?" Ranger asked me.

"You said the other night that you didn't know whether Dickie was dumb or dirty. Dickie isn't dumb. Joyce isn't either. That leaves Dickie being dirty, Joyce knowing more than we do, and me being the idiot who had no idea what was going on."

Ranger reached across to squeeze my hand. "You're not an idiot, Stephanie. Dickie was hiding this from you."

"I should have known that something was happening. But anyway, the point is that Joyce knows more than I do on this one. And while I really want to pummel her into the ground, I really need to find Dickie. So I've got to go and visit Joyce."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. Joyce is a gossiper and she'll tell everyone that I was the one cheating if I show up with you. I'll see if Mary Lou will come with me."

"Take Hal. Your husband was kidnapped and your house was broken into. It's better to be cautious."

"I don't need a babysitter."

"He's not a babysitter. He's a bodyguard. We don't need your disappearing like Ziggy and Dickie."

The mention of Zip's brother made me agree. Dickie seemed dirtier by the minute but there seemed to be no reason for Ziggy to have disappeared.

"Okay but Mary Lou will be disappointed it's not Lester with me. She likes her eye candy," I told Ranger. I could tell that he was thinking about smiling.

Mary Lou was keeping the office running for me and I really needed to start working properly again. I sighed.

"I need to find Dickie but I also need to keep my business running. Mary Lou is keeping things running for me, but she's only part-time, and only until the baby arrives," I told Ranger.

Ranger went to tell Hal that he was on Stephanie duty while I packed a few more snacks from the lunchroom into my bag.

Hal wouldn't let me drive, saying that it was company policy that only employees drove Rangeman vehicles. I'd driven Ranger's Porsche so I knew that wasn't true, but I decided that I could get used to being driven around as Hal drove us over to Plum Lingerie. Mary Lou gave me a hug, ran her eyes over Hal, and put me to work while I updated her on all that had been happening, including my suspicions over what Joyce was really up to.

"We should find out what she is up to. Let's go and grill her," Mary Lou said.

"Ugh. I know. But I really don't want to talk to her. I can't get that image of her and Dickie out of my brain."

"Dickie's a horrible cheater. You're better off without him," Mary Lou told me.

"I guess so."

"In fact, Joyce might have done you a favour," Mary Lou said.

"Geez Mare, let's not go that far."

"Fair call. Too far. All right, let's go," Mary Lou said, putting down her paperwork and waddling over to her handbag. Mary Lou was due any day now. I'd asked her if she needed to stop working but she claimed that I couldn't do it without her (fair enough) and also that working was the best part of her week. She said it was quiet, she could go to the toilet without anyone following her, eat her lunch without having to share, and that she took frequent naps in her office chair. I'd been so distracted over the last week that I'd stopped arguing with her and been grateful for her being there.

Hal drove us to Joyce's house, and Mary Lou followed in the minivan. She had to pick the boys up soon and planned to go straight home from Joyce's house. The house was one that she'd gotten in her settlement with her third husband and it was huge. It was in a fancy neighbourhood, in a fancier town than the Burg, and had rose bushes and columns out the front. There was an expanse of lawn leading up to the front door. It looked three times bigger than my townhouse. You could fit about five Burg families into this house.

"I would kill for a yard like this," Mary Lou said.

"Be my guest," I said, gesturing to the house.

"We should probably get information out of Joyce first," she told me.

"Yeah, but if we kill her after, then Hal can dispose of the body for us, right, Hal?" I asked him. He coughed and shifted, looking at his feet. He seemed to be considering where disposing of evidence of a crime fell in the "keep an eye on Ms Plum" part of his instructions.

Mary Lou and I stopped admiring the house and walked up to the front door. I knew that Joyce was home because of the red convertible in the driveway and also because I could smell sulphur which meant that she was nearby.

"Oh," Joyce said when she opened the door. "Well if it isn't dumb and dumber."

"Nice to see you too, Joyce," Mary Lou said.

"It really isn't," I told her.

"Stephanie. Why are you here? Have you come to confess to killing Dickie?" Joyce asked me.

"Have I come too….?" I saw red. Joyce had been a pain my behind my entire life but she'd out done herself this time. She'd broken up my marriage, and now she was trying to pin the blame for Dickie's disappearance on me? "Dickie isn't dead, Joyce! I'm trying to find him," I told her.

"Whatever, Stephanie. We all know that you killed him. You got greedy and killed him for his money."

"I didn't kill him, Joyce! Stop telling people that. He disappeared after we had a fight because he was cheating on me. WITH YOU!" I yelled at her. Hal shifted nervously. I wondered what Hal would do when this fight between Joyce and I turned physical. She scoffed at me and that nearly sent me over the edge.

"What do you want with Dickie, anyway? He's not going to have any money left after our divorce."

"Oh Stephanie, you really are a naïve little idiot," Joyce told me.

"What? Joyce you have to tell me everything that you know. I need to know so that I can find Dickie," I told her.

"I'm not telling you anything, Stephanie Plum. You need to keep your nose out of it. This is my investment, not yours, and it's about to pay off."

I took a deep breath and was about to start yelling at Joyce when I heard Mary Lou gasp.

"Mare? What's wrong?" I asked her. Everything looked okay.

"I think my waters just broke," Mary Lou told me.

"Oh shit," I said as fluid gushed down Mary Lou's legs and on to the floor. Hal took one look and his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. I managed to catch him on the way down except he is as heavy as a tank so it was more that I slowed his fall on his way down.

"Stephanie!" I heard an angry voice behind me. Ugh. I'd recognise that awful whine anywhere, even underwater. It was Joyce.

"What?" I snapped at her.

"What is this on my carpet? Is that going to come out?"

"Nope," Mary Lou said cheerfully. "We got it in our car with Kenny. You're probably going to need new carpet, Joyce."

"Shut up, Joyce! Mary Lou, what do we do? Do I call an ambulance?"

"No, we usually have plenty of – ah. Argh," she said, making a groaning noise.

"What? What?"

"I think this baby is coming faster than the others. You'd better call Lenny," she said. I looked for my phone, then remembered that Mary Lou and I had both left our bags in the cars.

"Joyce, I need your phone. And a phone book. I've got to call Lenny."

Joyce waved me over to a small table in the corner of the room which looked like it was used as a desk. I opened the drawer to find a phone book, found the listing for Lenny's plumbing businesses and dialled up.

"Mary Lou, can you at least move on to the tiles?" I heard Joyce ask her.

"No!"

"Oh for crying out loud. I only redecorated last year. I'm calling my carpet cleaner," Joyce said.

I got hold of Lenny and told him what was happening. He told me that he would be there in five minutes, and to tell Mary Lou to breathe. I figured that Mare had it all worked out after the two previous babies and that I didn't need to give her any advice. She also seemed to be enjoying herself by annoying Joyce in between contractions. I decided that I'd better phone Ranger and let him know that Hal was out of action.

While I was on the phone to Rangeman and giving Zero the update, I saw a scribbled note in Joyce's drawer.

"Stephanie? Is everything okay?" Zero asked.

"Uh, yeah. Just a bit hectic here. I'm probably going to need help getting Hal off the floor. He's coming around but looks a bit woozy," I told him. He said that someone was on their way and would be there soon. I grabbed the note and shoved it into my pocket without Joyce seeing. It was in Dickie's writing. There were two nine digit numbers and Dickie's social security number written across the bottom. The knowledge that Dickie had likely been in Joyce's house made me want to crash tackle her across the room, but the noise that Mary Lou was making reminded me that I needed to focus on her at this point.

"Stephanie! My hospital bag is in the minivan! You need to get the bag!" Mary Lou told me.

"I'll get it when Lenny gets here," I told her. Rangeman arrived first to scoop Hal off the ground. Bobby and Lester came, and Bobby checked Hal over. I also noticed that Joyce was doing her own version of checking Bobby and Lester over.

"I'm in need of a new security system," she told them. I rolled my eyes.

"Puh-lease!" I said.

"What? I am. It can be hard to be a single woman in a neighbourhood like this. Alone. Vulnerable. Lonely."

"Lonely? A few days ago you were shagging my husband!" I yelled.

"Focus back on me!" Mary Lou yelled.

"Sorry, Mare," I told her.

Lenny pulled his work van up outside and between Lenny, Bobby and Lester they decided to put Mary Lou into the minivan, and for Bobby to drive Lenny's work van home. I gave Mary Lou a hug and wished her good luck and told her that I would visit as soon as she was ready. Lester picked Hal up off the ground, and Joyce slipped her card into Lester's pocket, and then Hal's as well. Joyce slammed the door behind us as we all left.

I slipped into the backseat behind Lester, and we followed Bobby back to Mary Lou's house. Bobby handed me the keys to drop off later, and we headed back to Rangeman.