Bombshell

When I woke up the next morning, Ranger was gone, and I was alone in the large expanse of silk sheets. Holy shit, I'm in Batman's bed! There was a note resting on the bedside table, and I smiled as I picked it up.

Babe,

Had some business to attend to. I had Tank stop by the office and pick up your car. I also took the liberty of having him install a few gadgets. Rex is in the spare room, and there's clothes in the closet. Meet me at noon at Pino's. Catch you later.

Love you.

I smiled wider, and rolled out of bed. Mr. Man of Few Words didn't even right long notes. Tank must have grabbed half my closet, and dresser, because there were two of my suitcases in the closet. I pulled out jeans and a t-shirt, put my Ranger's jacket over it, and put my Ranger's cap on my head. I moved into the bathroom, and found my toothbrush and face wash sitting on the counter. I smiled.

I stopped in to check on Rex, and gave him a hamster nugget that Tank had grabbed. After that, I moved down the stairs and out the door. There was my Mazda Miata, waiting for me in the driveway. Now, if I knew Ranger, and his cars, he would have some kind of tracking device, bulletproof tint, and bomb detection installed in my cute car.

I climbed inside and started it up. If only I could remember how to get back to Trenton. The way into town was quiet, I had my music down, and my brain working overtime. Finally, I reached Vinnie's. The window guys were there, working with huge plates of glass. Lula and Connie were standing on the sidewalk, watching with interest.

I walked up and watched for a moment, before I whispered, "What are we doing?"

"Pretending that last night happened to someone else," Connie whispered back. I thought about that for a second, and then figured that was the better way to go about it. Pretend it was someone else's misfortune.

I heard a vehicle pull up behind us, and I turned to see Morelli get out of his truck. "Eek," I said, under my breath, and ducked my head, making my way to the office door.

"Stephanie!" Morelli barked, darting forward going for my arm. He snatched it and pulled me backward with a lot of force. My cell phone rang.

I yanked my arm away from Morelli, and answered it. "Yo," I said, glaring at him.

"You want me to shoot him?" Ranger asked.

I grinned and glanced around, as if I could see him. "No, but thanks. I can handle it."

"Okay, but if you want help, just make the sign. We can blame it on someone else trying to shoot you." I nodded, still smiling, and hung up the phone.

"That guy is trouble, Steph," Morelli said. I glared at him. "Where were you last night?" he asked.

Instantly, Lula and Connie were there. "In a safe house," I replied, staring at Morelli.

"I followed you to the Burg, but I lost you. Where'd he take you in the Burg? There's no safe houses there."

"We didn't stay in the Burg," I snapped, angry he had followed us. It's almost like he thought I was sleeping with Ranger. Wait, I was… Oh well.

I saw Lula's eyes get wide, and she stepped forward to listen better.

"Look, Stephanie. I don't want you hurt," Morelli said.

"Once more, you're the second one to say that! I wish you'd get your own damn lines!" With that, I turned on my heel and stormed into the office. "Follow me, Morelli, and I'll have Lula stun your ass!" Lula chuckled, and followed me, swaggering her neon pink butt behind her.

Once inside the office, I was allowed a whole two seconds of peace before Vinnie exploded from the office. "God damn him, damn him to hell," he was shouting. "You need to get your ass in here and look at these files. You're my only damn bounty hunter." I must have looked confused, since I was, but Vinnie started ranting. "Ranger quit. Something about moving to California." My heart stopped.

Instantly, my phone rang again. "Yo," I said, knowing who it was.

"I can explain, Babe."

"Damn straight you can explain," I shouting, glaring out the new window. "Where the hell are you?"

Ranger stepped out of the shadows of an alley on the other side of the street. "Listen. I got this call this morning. That's why I left. Melissa was in a car accident last night. She's dead." I inhaled.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Hey, no sweat. We weren't real close anymore. Anyway, I have to go out there to make sure Courtney is taken care of."

My heart sank, as I asked, "For how long?"

"A month or so," Ranger replied. I could feel his eyes burning me from across the street. My face must have fell, because Ranger quickly said, "Hey, don't look like that. I haven't got to the best part yet."

Lula walked up beside me as I repeated what he asked me, more to myself then anything. "Come with you?" HELL YES! "Yeah, why not." Ranger grinned. He must have been able to hear my heart all the way across the street. He broke into a jog, and burst through the door.

"We leave in two hours, can you make it?" he asked, the grin still in place.

"Already packed," I replied, grabbing my keys. "Just have to call my mom."

"Tank will meet you back at the house. I have something to do, you guys will pick me up back here in two hours," Ranger said. I could tell by the glimmer in his eyes that he wanted to kiss me, but he didn't want to make me uncomfortable in front of Connie and Lula. Ha, they're already going to demand an explanation when he left.

"Catch you later," I said, winking at him. He grinned broader, and winked back.

"See you, Babe."

He left without another word. Instantly, Lula and Connie cleared their throats. "What the hell was that?" Connie asked, her lips tight and flat.

"Okay, you win," I said. I was tired of fighting with them. "Ranger and I have to go out to California to pick up his daughter."

"Why are you going?" Lula asked, her tone suspicious.

"It would be pointless to lie to you, wouldn't it?" I asked, switching glances between the two of them. They nodded. "Fine. I didn't just go to a safe house last night," I said, watching them. Both faces lit up. They had figured it out. "I stayed with Ranger."

"Holy shit, girlfriend!" Lula exclaimed. "You slept with the Wizard!"

"You and Batman?" Connie asked, incredulously.

I nodded. "Couple of times," I finished.

"Omigod, I think I'm gonna faint," Lula said, sitting down.

I started laughing. "How do you think I felt?" I asked, sitting next to her.

"So, what's up with you two?" Connie asked, sitting on the other side of Lula. "Are you a couple, or just bed buddies?"

I laughed harder. "Originally, bed buddies. Now, I have no idea." For chrissake's, the man asked me to stay at the Bat Cave, forever.

My phone rang again. "Yo," I said, wondering at what my bill would be this month.

"Watch the birdie," a voice said.

Without another word, the Mazda exploded, shattering the new plate glass windows. Lula, Connie and I flew backwards, more startled then hurt. I was fumbling with my cell phone when I heard the sirens. What was wrong with people this week? I had barely hit the call button when Ranger came flying in the door.

"Jesus, Stephanie," he exclaimed, grabbing me and holding me. "Who did you piss off?" I shrugged against him, and started to sob, again.

I was curled into a ball on the seat of Ranger's Bronco when I saw Morelli drag Ranger out of the storefront. "Listen up, Manoso. I want you to stay away from Stephanie. Guys like you are fun for awhile, but it's guys like me that girls like her come running back to. Especially when a bad-ass bounty hunter run-a-muck breaks her heart. So let her go, before you hurt her."

"Now you listen, Morelli," Ranger growled. "From what I understand, I'm the only guy in her life that hasn't hurt her. And I have every intention of remaining that way. You will never break her heart again. I will protect her from guys like you, and she won't have a reason to run back. Nothing can stop how I feel for her, and it drives you crazy. It has for months. Now do your job, and stop this sicko, or I'll take it into my own hands." Joe glared at him. "Then I'm coming after you."

With that, Ranger turned on his heel and stormed over to the Bronco. He slammed his door shut and glanced to me. I hadn't moved since he put me in the seat, and he knew it. "Babe," he whispered. I rolled my eyes to look at him. "I can't take you to California. You might make the plane go down." My heart sank. I was going to have to be here without Ranger for a month. "But, I can't leave you here, I'll go crazy. Tank's going to pick up Court, and taking her to New York to stay with family there. You're going back to the Bat Cave until we find this guy."

"Ranger," I whispered, leaning on his shoulder.

"Yeah, Babe," he said, turning the engine over.

"I love you."

I heard him inhale sharply, then exhale slowly. He kissed the top of my head, and replied, "I love you too."

The Bat Cave was silent as I sat on the couch. I didn't know what to do in this big house. Ranger was at the airport with Tank, and he had given me explicit directions to not open the door for anyone. As far as I could tell, there was no phone in the Bat Cave, which made sense; Ranger never listed a home number. But it did have cable, as promised.

So I was sitting on the couch, watching HBO, when the doorbell rang. I was shocked. Who would be ringing the doorbell. Slowly, I grabbed my purse and pulled out my gun. I walked to the window on the far side of the foyer, and peeked around the curtain. Ranger was standing there, grinning at me. He swung the door open, and said, "Good girl." I glared at him. "What?"

"You scared me to death!" I exclaimed, smacking him as I uncocked my gun. In the past two days, I'd been shot at and bombed. I was getting tired of it.

Ranger shut the door, and wrapped his arms around me. "Who's going to hurt you here?" he asked softly. In Ranger's arms? No one. He reached around me and lifted me off my feet. "You've had a very trying day, Babe. I think you need to climb into bed." I grinned.

Two hours later I was curled into the crook of Ranger's arm, quite pleased with myself. "What did Morelli say to you?" I asked, knowing quite well what was said. I felt Ranger tense up beside me. I trailed a finger along his pecks and down past his belly button, playing with the curly hair I found there. He inhaled sharply, and relaxed.

"He told me to stay away from you. That guys like me were fun, but girls chose guys like him," Ranger said.

"And what do you think?" I asked, twirling my fingers in the course hair. I felt him fidget.

"I think you love me," Ranger said, his fingers dancing across my hip bone. "And I think Morelli's a self-righteous asshole."

"Those were my thoughts," I sighed, leaning in close to him. I took him in my hand and instantly noticed the response. He groaned and rolled over to face me. "Let me guess. I could kill a man." Ranger just nodded, his eyes dark with passion. I surrendered once more to the feeling of completeness and honesty we shared while in bed. There was something about the way it felt. It was almost like Ranger completed me, and I completed him.

Another hour later, as we lay together, my cell rang. "Yo," I said.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Hi, Mary Lou." Ranger grinned and kissed my forehead before rising. I enjoyed the view for a moment, then returned to Mary Lou. "I've been busy."

"Getting shot at, and nearly blown up?" Mary Lou demanded.

"Yeah."

"Are you safe?"

Hell yes. "Yep. I'm with Ranger."

Mary Lou was completely silent.

"Mary Lou?"

Still silence.

"Did you pass out, because I'm not going to dive through this phone anytime soon."

"Have you been with Ranger since last night?"

"Actually, he had just dropped me off when the office got turned into Swiss cheese. After that, he made me come with him."

"STEPHANIE PLUM!" Mary Lou screeched. "Okay. I have to take the boys to soccer practice, but we are talking about this later!" Without another word, she disconnected.

Ranger strolled back into the room, wearing baggy commando pants. At that moment my phone rang again. "Mary Lou! Take your kids to soccer!"

"You never learn, do you?" A female voice growled. My eyes widened, and I must have looked terrified, because Ranger strode across the room, and leaned down to listen. "Stay the hell away from Carlos, bitch. You might live to see another day!" With that, the phone disconnected.

I stared at the phone, then at Ranger. He had that grim look on his face, like he wasn't going to say anything. This was almost as bad as Joe's cop face. "Did you know her?" I asked, my hands shaking.

Ranger gathered me into his arms, and I swear I saw his eyes watering. "Yeah," he said, his arms strong around me. I heard his heart racing, and I knew it wasn't good. He didn't know how to protect me, and it scared him. "That was Jeanne Ellen."

It took a minute for it to sink in. One of Ranger's own troops. She knew how to find him, therefore, knew how to find me. "Omigod," I gasped, holding tight to him. "What are we going to do?"

Ranger's eyes grew dark and angry, and I could see the muscles in his eyes hardening. "We aren't going to do anything. You're staying out of it. I'm going to kill her." Omigod. Ranger really did love me.