I do not own any of these characters, although I would really like to meet up with Ranger in a dark room somewhere. I simply borrow and gently use them for my amusement.

Chapter Ten

"Babe," I said. "What are you doing at the VFW?" There was a touch of exasperation and a bit of fear in my voice.

"Valerie's shower. Is Hal okay?"

Trust her to stun gun a guy and then ask how he was doing. "Yeah. You were caught on camera again. The men in the control room were laughing so hard when you stunned Hal they couldn't get down the stairs fast enough to stop you from leaving the garage." Those guys were in serious trouble when I got back.

"I heard they caught Junkman, so I thought it was okay to leave."

"I heard that, too, but I haven't been able to confirm the capture." I was fairly sure that the man in custody was another Slayer trying to draw Stephanie out into the open, but I didn't want to scare her. And I knew that her mother would never forgive her if she didn't go to Valerie's shower. "I've got a man on you. Try not to destroy him."

I disconnected, hoping for the best, and went back to my search for the real Junkman. I felt like time was running out.