CHAPTER 3

I rang Connie, to see if she had any ideas as to where we might find Sally, she suggested Sally's boyfriend, because she had listed his address as her other place of residence. I thanked Connie and hung up. I pulled out Sally's file, and looked up her boyfriends address, 234 Hopetown Street. I told Lula the address, but neither of us had ever heard of it, so we looked it up, and it turned out to be a few streets over from my parents place.

"Since it's about lunch time, why don't we stop at your parents house?" asked Lula

"No way, you know that if Grandma Mazur is there, she'll only want to come, and lets face it, we'd be better off without her"

"Does your mother know about…?" she asked pointing her head in the direction of my stomach.

"No, and I would like to stay that while for a bit longer, do you have any idea, what it would do to her if she found out I was 8 weeks pregnant and not married. She'd have a heart attack. I just hope she doesn't notice. After all, you guys did."

"If she starts to ask questions, we'll just hustle our butts out, ok"

"Ok" The same feeling that washed over me that morning, washed over me again.

When we pulled into the drive, mom appeared at the door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "You're not in any trouble are you?"

"No, we were in the neighborhood for business and thought we'd drop in for lunch." Lula replied "Is that ok?"

"Not bounty hunter business?"

"Yes mom, bounty hunter business"

"You know, Macy's in hiring makeup artists" mom told us.

"I'm not interested in another job, the one I've got is fine. Can we just please get some lunch, we want to be gone before Grandma Mazur gets back, and we don't want her tagging along. By the way, where is she?"

"At the beauty salon, you know she has her hair done every Wednesday. She should be back in about half an hour"

"Well, we had better get started on lunch then, I'm starving" Lula announced

I don't think Lula or I had ever downed so much food, in so little time.

As we left, mom handed me a brown paper bag, which smelt like leftovers.

"Are you going to come back for dinner?" mom asked.

"Nah, I think I've eaten enough to last me the next few meals. Plus this bag of food, will keep me going for longer after that."

"Not the way you've been eating…" Lula whispered in my ear "Thanks for lunch Mrs. Plum"

"Your welcome. Remember about the job at Macy's"

"Bye mom"

Our next stop was Sally's boyfriends, with any luck we would find her there, haul her to the police station, and collect my money.

As we were pulling out of my parents drive way, Lula asked "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what?"

"What are you going to do when you get further along in your pregnancy and after you have the baby? You're not going to be able to keep working."

"I haven't really thought about that, and I sure as hell don't want to become a house wife. Could you see me doing that?" I thought for a moment. "Maybe I should start looking for another job."

"I guess it's some thing you and "Ranger" are going to have to talk about"

I ignored the Ranger part "Who said anything him, it's my decision, not his."

"Man. I would love to see how he reacts to that!"

"Slow down, we should be just about there. That's the building" I said pointing to a five story brown brick apartment block.

We pulled into the closed parking spot we could find, mainly because we are lazy, and that Lula has a habit of using her stun gun, which makes it hard to drag someone long distances.

"What apartment number is it?" Lula asked as we walked up to the front door

"Um, 4c"

"Good thing we parked close by"

"Please, please, please do not stun her"

With that, Lula pushed open the door and proceeded up the stairs.

"You know, there's an elevator just here" I told her

"I know, but we need the exercise after that lunch"

Four stories later, we were knocking on the door of 4c.

"Fugitive Apprehension Agent, open up" I yelled though the door

The door was thrown open, and a very large bland man snarled at us.

"Wadda what?"

"We're looking for Sally Turton, is she here?" I responded

"Wadda what with her?"

"She missed her trial date, and we need to bring her in to reschedule it" replied Lula

"Well, she ain't her, so why don't you piss off"

The next voice we heard wasn't mine, Lula's or baldy man, but in fact the woman who wasn't here.

"Sally Turton?" I asked "Hi, I'm Stephanie Plum, I work for Vincent Plum, your in violation of your bond agreement."

"No shit, really" she said sarcastically

"Yeah, no shit, we need to take you in to reschedule"

"And what if I don't want to go?"

"Then I zap baldy here and then you" said Lula

"I'd like to see you try" said baldy man

Within second of him finishing that sentence he was on the ground.

"Now will you come with us?"

"Yeah, just don't hurt me. Will he be ok?"

"In a few minutes he should be fine. We'll just pick him up and put him on the couch over there"

45 minutes later I was back at the office, and Connie was writing out a cheque for me.

"Now what" asked Lula

"Macy's is having a sale, you can go shopping for maternity clothes" Connie said

"I think I'm a few months away from that"

"But you can go and at least have a look" said Lula, "I'll come with you"

"And you can pick me up some nail polish" said Connie

"Out of curiosity, how many colors do you have Connie" I asked

"Oh, I don't know, try and buy me something outrageous"

"I suppose we're going in you car right?" I said to Lula

"Yep, still won't go in no pimp mobile"

"Let's go then, but I have to go to the bank first to cash my cheque"

20 minutes later we were walking inside the front doors at Macy's.

"Maternity is that way" Lula told me, very loudly

"You want to tell the whole world?"

"Sorry"

We slowly made your way over to the maternity section of Macy's and within seconds, Lula had found me something to try on.

"You do realize that I need to be at least 6 months for this to fit?

"Yes, but it's on sale, just go try it on"

It was a beautiful pale yellow, sleeveless, knee length dress. The moment put it on, I decided that I was going to buy it. And it only cost $30.

We spent another 30 minutes looking at stuff, and trying it all on. I looked at my watch, and realized how late it was.

"Lula, its 3:30, we've got to go and find something for Connie"

"I'll head over there, you pay for your stuff"

Unfortunately for me, on my way to find Lula I ran into Joyce Burnhart.

"Well, if it isn't Stephanie Plum"

"Hello, Joyce, what are you doing here?"

"I'm shopping for something, obviously. I've decided to get a boyfriend, of course, it all depends on which man you have in your life - Ranger or Morelli. Then again, I might, just go after both of them. What do you think?"

"Do you really think that either of them would look sideways at you?"

"Probably not, but I figure that they both went after you, just like Dickie, and I got Dickie, so why should either of them be any different."

"Newsflash, Dickie went after anything with 2 breasts. I think Morelli and Ranger have a little bit more class"

"You forget Steph, they're both red blooded males, when it come down to it, all men are the same, and they all want the same."

By now I was fuming.

"What the hell is it with you and men in my life? First it was dumb ass Dickie and now Morelli and Ranger. Can't you find men of your own?"

"I can get more men than I can handle, I just happen to like yours more"

"Oh my god, you are one sick sad woman. Do you have nothing better to do with your time that harass me? What the hell have I ever done you?" I yelled

The next thing I knew, Joyce was on the ground and Lula was standing behind her.

"Fastest stun gun in the west" announced Lula

"Lula" I hissed

"I know, but she was pissing you off. I had to do something."

"Let's sit her down on the chair over there, by the way, people are looking at us"

Lula got up "Move along people, ain't nothing to see here"

Joyce was beginning to wake up.

"Joyce, are you ok?"

"What happened?"

"You fainted again, you should really go and have that checked out"

"Thanks"

"Lula, lets get out of here"

"Hang on, I had just found the perfect color for Connie"

"Then go get it, I'll wait by the car"

20 minutes Lula had dropped me back at the office.

"Let's go show Connie the nail polish color, and tell her about Joyce"

"Nah, I'm tired, I just want to go home"

"Ok, take care. See ya tomorrow"

I go into my car and along with all my packages went home.

When I got home, I pushed the elevator button and waited for the elevator.

When the elevator doors opened Mrs. Bestler announced "Ground floor". Several people got off, and she asked me "Going up?"

"Yep, just hold the doors for a second" I said while struggling with all my packages.

"What floor?" she asked as I got in.

"Second please"

"Good choice, 50% off all cooking utensils today."

Usually when I come home and Mrs. Beslter is playing elevators, she mentions something about ladies clothes or bounty hunting, so I wondered why she chose cooking utensils.

When the elevator got to my floor I stepped out and thanked her and got out. I walked the short distance to my door, only to discover that the door was not locked, and yummy smells were coming from inside, I realized why Mrs. Beslter mentioned cooking utensils.

I opened the door and dumped my coat in the hallway, along with my packages, I continued through to the kitchen, when I got there I saw the owner of the best butt in Trenton cooking in my kitchen.

"Morelli, what are you doing in my apartment? How did you get in my apartment?"



CHAPTER 4

"Well, are you going to answer me?"

As he turned around to face me, he replied, "Cupcake, I'm here to collect on the debt, and I still have a key to your apartment"

I'd forgotten about his having a key. "What are you doing?"

"I came straight here from work and picked up Pino's meatball subs on the way. I'm just re heating them" He noticed the bag and my hands and raised an eyebrow. "Been to your mother's?"

"Yeah, Lula and I were working out that way, so we dropped in for lunch. Um, where are you parked? I didn't see your car"

"That's 'cause I rode the Ducati over. I parked next to the dumpster, so you wouldn't see it and run away."

Damn, he knew me to well "How long have you been waiting? Can I have a ride?"

"About 15 minutes and no"

"Can you give me a yell when it's ready?"

"Why, where are you going?"

"I was going to have a shower"

Morelli raised his eyebrows "Need someone to wash your back?"

I paused and thought about the last time I had a shower with Morelli in the same house, it hadn't turned out good for me. "No, I think I wait until after dinner" and you've gone I said to myself.

I left Morelli in the kitchen and went back into the hall to collect my packages. I noticed on the bags it said "Macy's Maternity" I hadn't noticed it earlier. I hoped that Joyce had not seen the bags when we argued at Macy's. Otherwise I was in big, big trouble. Hell. I was in big enough trouble right now, what would happen if Morelli saw the bags? Unfortunately at that moment, Morelli walked into the hall.

"I'm just getting ready to serve. What's in the bags?"

"Umm, not much, Lula and I went shopping"

"At Macy's Maternity?"

"Yeah, umm, a friend of mine is pregnant. We went shopping for the, umm, baby shower"

"Which friend?"

"Nobody you know"

Morelli looked at me with, oh god, those eyes, I swear I felt my knees begin to melt I put my hand on the wall to steady me. "Ok, hurry up"

Pull yourself together Plum, I said to myself, its just your hormones going wild. No big deal. "I'll be there in a minute"

5 minutes later we were seated at the kitchen table, and I was starved, I guess Lula was right when she said I'd be hungry again soon.

"So, where have you been? I haven't seen you in a while. Not since…"

"I know, that was the other reason I came here tonight, I wanted a chance to explain what's been going on"

"What's been going on? All I know is that you've been gone for over a month"

"Can we talk about this after dinner?"

"If we have to"

For the next 10 minutes we sat and ate in pretty much silence. When we had finished Morelli asked "What did your mother send home with you?"

I got up and had a look in the bag "I have no idea, I haven't looked, but it smells like chocolate cake. Yep I was right, it's chocolate cake, you want some?"

"You had to ask?"

We scarfed down the chocolate cake, and Morelli settled himself on the couch, while I sat opposite him on a chair, I had a feeling that we would need several more beers. Luckily for me, Morelli had bought a six pack with him

"Ok, so what's up?" I asked

"Firstly I want to know one thing. Have you ever slept with Ranger?"

"Do your really want to know?"

"Yes, its something I need to know" he replied

"Do you remember how we were going to go away for a romantic weekend after the "black dress" night?"

Morelli nodded

I looked down at my hands, they were shaking. "Well, after you cancelled, Ranger rang and asked me if I needed to make some quick cash, and of course, I said yes. Anyway, we had to go to Atlantic City and pretend to be honeymooners. I suppose it was the room and the atmosphere and the fact that Mary Lou had just called me to tell me she has seen you kissing Terry, well I thought, if you can screw around on me, then why can't I, so I slept with Ranger"

I looked up at Morelli, and was fairly surprised to see that he was really not all that upset.

"I expected you to be more upset that this"

"I am upset, the reason I was kissing Terry, was I had just found out you had gone away with Ranger, and I wanted to go after you, but we were on a job"

"Did you have sex with Terry?" I asked quietly

"Yes, but I think it was for the same reasons that you slept with Ranger, because we knew the other was doing something wrong, and we both wanted to prove a point"

"Do you love her?"

"No, I've already told you, you are the one that I love. But, do you love Ranger?"

"I think it was just lust with Ranger. I woke up the next morning in Atlantic City and realised I was in the honeymoon suite with the wrong person. I think that I love you."

"Do you realise that, that's the first time you have told me that?"

"I suppose I was just trying to deny my feelings, because I didn't want to get hurt, I know you are different than the rest of the Morelli men, but still, you have some of those genes"

"You know, that I would never hurt you right?"

"I know" I said simply

"How do things stand with Ranger?"

"I don't know, I told him that it was you I wanted to be with, and I think he handled it well, but with Ranger who knows."

"You haven't seen him?"

"No, not since we left Atlantic City, he kinda just disappeared, what about Terry?"

"We still see each other, mainly because of a case we are working on, but not outside of the job"

"You know, you never explained where you had been for the past month"

"Terry and I were working undercover, and we had to go to New York"

"Now what? We have everything sorted out, right?"

"Yep" Joe stood up, and took two strides across the room, pulled me to my feet and kissed me, it was long, hot and lots and lots of tonsil hockey.

When we broke away, I said "I've missed that"

"What else have you missed?" Morelli asked as he started to kiss my neck and moving slowly down my body

"That, and ohh that as well" It was about time I had a Morelli induced orgasm.

Unfortunately for me, that's when I heard my front door being opened. And I also knew who it was. Oh shit, god please help me.

"Joe, stop for a sec"

"Don't want to"

"If you don't we'll have an audience in a few minutes"

"What?"

"Stay here" I ordered him

I walked into the kitchen and saw Ranger standing there.

"What are you doing here?" I asked

"Came to see you babe"

"Why? And besides I've kinda got company"

"Morelli?"

"If you must know, yes. I have a feeling that if he sees you, he'd be mightily pissed"

"Sees who?" Morelli asked as he walked into the kitchen.

Ohh, shit, kill me now.