I was making myself a peanut butter sandwich when my phone rang. It was Val.
"Steph, I need your help."
I grabbed my gun and checked it was loaded. "I'll be there in a few minutes."
Six minutes later, I pulled up out the front of my parents' place.
"What's the matter?"
"Lisa is driving me mad. I need to get out." She looked at me.
"No! You're not coming with me."
Ten minutes, a sore throat and a lot of curious neighbours later, Val and I were making our way to Hamilton.
I pulled up in front and pushed open the door. Ranger was leaning against the filing cabinets looking incredibly sexy. Behind me, Val screamed, grabbed my arm and stopped.
Ranger nodded at me and smiled at Val. The girl was obsessed with him. I managed to pry off her fingers and walked over where Ranger was standing.
"Got the big sister today?"
"Yep. She needed to get away."
"Are you up for some decoy work?"
"Why am I needed?" I did not like the look in his eyes.
"The guy's straight and so am I."
He walked over to where Vale was almost drooling. "Steph and I are going out."
"I'd love to come!" she said with her hand on her chest. She was far too eager.
"So, who am I after?" I asked once we were all in Ranger's Bronco.
"Robert Ranson. Serial Rapist. Looks like a duck," he said, handing me a photo.
No one spoke until Ranger had pulled up in front of his house.
"You coming, Val?"
"No, no, no. I'll just stay here."
"Alright, Ranger will look after you."
She started fanning herself. I saw Ranger glare at me.
"I'll have your back," he said as he got out of the car.
I looked at him. I was not sure about this.
"In and out, Babe."
I pulled off my jersey so I was just in my sports bra and jeans and threw it at Ranger who smirked at me. He had been doing that an awful lot lately.
I sauntered up to Ranson's door, mainly for Ranger's benefit and knocked. A minute later, he answered. Ranger was right. He did look like a duck. He reminded me a lot of a character from a Donald Duck comic book I'd read as a kid. I think Ranger had read the same one.
"What?"
"My car's broken down. Could I use your phone?" I asked I my best Valley Girl voice.
"No. But I will have a look for you."
I smiled at him and led the way to Ranger's Bronco. I glanced at it and saw that Val had got out.
I looked away from the car to look for Ranger, and that was when it happened. Ranson grabbed me from behind, threw me to the ground and then straddled my thighs.
I would have screamed for Ranger, except that the bastard knocked the wind out of me. I tried to sort through the panic to the rational part of my mind - the part of my mind, which had actually paid attention when Ranger was teaching self-defence.
"The funniest thing happened today," I started rambling. "I was making myself a-"
He kissed me. I have to say, it was the most disgusting experience I have ever been forced to endure. Instinct kicked in. I did not want to be kissed by this guy or to be another one of his victims.
I managed to maim him sufficiently for Ranger to stroll up and cuff him. He smiled at me as he threw Ranson into the back.
"Let me guess, you were assessing my self-defence?"
I spent an hour in the shower, trying to get rid of the icky feeling from Ranson. I was walking from the bathroom to my bedroom towelling my wet hair when I heard Ranger's voice.
I dressed then played back the message he'd left on my machine. He wanted me to meet him and the others at RangeMan offices as soon as possible.
Half an hour later, I was making my way to Ranger's office where he, Tank, Bobby and Lester where talking.
"If she's driving you insane then you've got to get rid of her. Send her back to Miami," Bobby suggested.
"The threat hasn't been neutralised." Ranger sounded tired.
"I haven't heard anything about any more shootings."
"I'm not sure if the drive-by shootings are related to the men who took Alej."
"If you're not sure then you could probably send them back."
"It's just too risky at the moment."
"Man, it's Miami. It's always going to be risky."
I decided to walk into the room as Ranger signalled the end of the conversation.
"Yo, Babe. Right, now that Steph's here, I'll get straight to the point. Romano is preparing to hit the another bank."
"When?" Lester asked.
"Exactly a week's time. They're getting a large deposit at ten, I believe he plans to hit it at ten-thirty."
"Are we having an undercover op?" Bobby asked as he clapped his hands together.
"Yes."
"Who's going in?" Tank asked.
"Steph."
"What?" I cried, snapping out of my daydream. "You want me to do what?"
"Go in, make sure nothing goes wrong. If need be, you get shoot a member of the mafia," Bobby answered.
I shot him a good job look. There was no way in hell I was going to shoot a member of the mafia.
"Babe, I can't send Tank in. We've been through this before. I need you in there to be my ears."
"Ranger," I whined.
"Do this for me, and I'll help you get Edwards."
I stayed and waited for the Merry Men to leave before I made my way over to where Ranger was standing.
"Are you okay?" I hadn't meant to say that, but it just sort of slipped out. I meant to complain about being used as bait.
"What's up, Ranger?" I asked when he hadn't answered me.
"Just leave it."
"What's wrong with Clorinda and Alejandra?"
I looked at him for a few minutes.
"You've been staking out Romano's every night, haven't you? You've been trying to avoid them?"
"Stephanie. It's fine."
"I guess I can't blame you. I'd want to avoid Clorinda too if all I ever heard was how my job was too dangerous. How she was forced to leave all her family and friends in Miami because of the threat to her and her daughter."
Ranger let out a breath. I guess I was on the right track.
"Ranger," I said softly as I stroked his face. I guess he was right. My biological clock was ticking. My maternal instincts were starting to kick in. "I'll take Clorinda and Alejandra out for a girls' night tonight." He looked at me. He really wasn't marriage material. "You can have the Batcave to yourself, then I'll drop them off when we're done."
"Nice try, Babe. I'll bunk at your place."
"I want to see the Batcave," I said with a pout, which caused Ranger to smile.