Disclaimer: Stephanie and co. still belong to Janet Evanovich.

Note: In case you missed it, the whole thing is now rewritten from like Chapter 5 onward. The Goldwater Island saga is now separate and titled Caribbean Blue.

Chapter 7

I watched Ranger shed a small armory in the truck before we headed into the hospital. This led to several new discoveries on my part. First, I had no idea one person could carry that many knives, guns, and ammo hidden on them; secondly I had also never realized watching a guy handle a gun or a knife could be an erotic experience; third, I was really hoping he'd shed more than the weapons. All of this led up to my fourth discovery, which is that I need a psychiatrist. Ranger pulled another knife from some his leg and glanced at me.

Apparently his ESP was in full working order, because his eyes raked over me knowingly and his lips turned up faintly. He flipped up the console and pulled me across the seat.

"Never knew you were a weapons kind of girl," he whispered into my ear, his breath flowing across my skin. I shivered even as I felt my face heat up. Ranger laughed and tilted my face toward him.

His lips brushed mine, igniting every single nerve ending in me. It was soft, gentle, everything that I had never pictured Ranger being. This was also the third time he'd kissed me like this. It was wonderful, but I wanted more. I reached up and slid my fingers into his hair, pulling him close while I pressed my body against him.

I got what I asked for. He pulled me into his lap, his hands slipping under my t-shirt. I know I was making very happy noises by then- I was almost to the boiling point just from his kiss and feeling his hands on me was just another step to paradise.

And then it stopped. He pulled his lips away from mine, saying something in Spanish that I didn't catch. I put my head on his shoulder, too dazed and floaty to figure out what had just happened.

Honestly, the night had gone weird enough in the last couple hours I was past questioning it.

"Let's go, Babe," Ranger said softly.

I nodded and let him help me out of the truck, then steer me through the hospital with a hand at the base of my neck. He was still touching me, so I took that as a positive sign. It meant he wasn't mad at me. And I was perfectly happy to keep in contact with him, so I obviously wasn't feeling that badly about our make-out session either.

The reality of why we were there didn't actually sink in until we stepped into the Emergency Room that Haley was in. I was relatively sure there was a limit to the number of visitors or something but no one said a word when we came in. Tank and Bobby were both standing by the bed looking like hulking bodyguards, exuding a subtle protective menace which was successfully unnerving the young doctor who was attending.

Haley was sitting up, but barely from the look of her. Even with her tan, she was only a few shades darker than the white bandage wrapped around her shoulder. She caught sight of Ranger and I as we walked in and smiled brightly.

"Hey, you two. Welcome to the party!"

"Are you okay?" I stepped up to give her a very careful hug which she returned enthusiastically.

"Peachy keen. Painkillers rock socks."

I looked at the doctor who had busied himself scribbling out a couple of prescriptions. "What happened?" I asked, returning my attention to Haley.

She shrugged her good shoulder. "I was heading out to my car, and Tank walked me out. We almost got to it when there was this explosion and then somebody started shooting. Tank plowed into me right about then so I didn't get to see anything else."

"I didn't plow into you," Tank sighed.

"Ok. But I still ended up on the ground underneath you."

Tank raised an eyebrow. "You the first girl to complain about that..."

"I think I'm the first girl to survive it. The rest probably got squished. You weigh a ton."

"Fine. Next time you be on top," Tank deadpanned.

Haley grinned. "Sure you could handle that, big guy?"

Bobby was clearing this throat to hide the laughter, and even Ranger had a half-smile. I just tried to keep my chin from hitting the floor.

"What kind of pain killers did you give her?" I asked the doctor.

He shook his head and handed me the prescriptions. "These are for some mild pain pills and antibiotics. Just keep it clean and she shouldn't have any problems. But she might need a couple days rest. Her blood pressure was a little low and she's anemic. I'd recommend some daily vitamins."

"Flintstones?" Haley asked hopefully.

The doctor smiled. "Sure. Just get the ones with iron."

"Rock on. Can we head home now?"

"I have your release form right here. You are staying with your sister?" The doctor looked between Haley and me curiously.

"Cousins," I corrected him. "But yeah, she's staying with me."

I held the door open for Tank to carry Haley in. She was out cold- never good with blood loss or pain meds. With the two of them together I figured she'd probably be out for the next couple of days. He put her down on the couch and I pulled the blanket over her before we headed back toward the kitchen where Ranger was leaning against the counter.

"Any chance this might be connected to the Slayers?" I kept my voice low. Haley was apparently dead to the world, but better not to take chances. Ranger shrugged.

"Could be. It could also be just a random drive by. A turf war could be starting up again. Could be a drug dispute."

"The owner, Julian, he seemed okay to me."

"Julian's a good guy." Something in the way he said it let me know Ranger's opinion was rock solid.

"He a friend of yours?" I asked him, unable to restrain my curiosity.

"Yeah," Ranger's attention was on something behind me. I looked back in time to see Tank tucking the teddy bear of mysterious origins in with Haley.

Just when I thought this night couldn't possibly get any weirder it kept proving me wrong. The image of the very large, scary, possible mercenary holding a teddy bear was one I couldn't have cobbled together my most cracked-out dream. Tank of all people! The man I had seen throw a drug dealer out of a third story window. I rubbed my eyes and turned back to Ranger. It was safer that way.

Okay, maybe not safer really, I mean now I was looking at a guy who sent even my hormones into overdrive. But I was used to this. I could handle Ranger, sort of. I wasn't sure I could handle a teddy bear toting Tank.

Ranger was grinning. "I think you just ruined your image," he said quietly as the large scary man himself ambled over.

"Huh. Remind me throw the manager out the window or something."

I turned to look at him, praying he was joking. The shit-eating grin on his face was enough proof for me.

"See, Boss? I still got it."

I rolled my eyes. "How'd you know about the bear anyway?" Both men looked at me skeptically.

"You don't remember the other night?" Ranger spoke first.

"No. Apparently the funny colored drinks in test tubes induce some serious amnesia." Damn what had I missed? I really needed to ask Haley about that night.

The two monkeys just shook their heads, smiling like cats stuffed with proverbial canaries. Disgusted I turned my attention to the blinking light on my answering machine. One message. Huh, that was an all time record low. I had been ready for at least ten from my mom alone. Maybe the Burg grapevine really did sleep.

I pressed play so I wouldn't have to turn around and look at the two grinning idiots.

The voice that came through the speaker was gratingly electronic, spoken through one of those microphones that morph your voice. "Warning number two, curly sue," it growled. "Back off now or baby gets it."

That old familiar feeling of sick dread washed over me. I stepped away from the machine slowly, unwilling to touch it. Ranger saved me the trouble, flipping out the little mini tape. "You got an extra?"

I just nodded. I had several extras, left over investments from the Benito Ramirez days. Tank and Ranger were exchanging identically grim looks, the kind that normally made me have nervous daydreams about third world countries or losing bladder control. Thankfully they weren't directed at me, just the little innocuous piece of plastic in Ranger's hand.

I left them to hold their ESP conversation and watched Rex run on his wheel. I tallied up the last couple days in my head. Yesterday my new car had been bombed, I'd found out my so-called sort-of boyfriend was screwing his so-called ex, and had bonded with the A-team over lunch. Today I got to take some very theraputic vengeance on the ex, had a freaky confrontation with him only to be saved by Batman, and found out my cousin was shot. And by the sound of that message it was because of me.

"Number two. That's the guy who putt the bomb on my car... Haley has to go home," I announced to the room at large. "She's going to get killed here because of me."

"Babe, no one's going to kill Haley," Ranger said softly. "Are you in the middle of any cases right now? What would this person want you to back out of?"

"Nothing," I sighed. "I'm not in the middle of anything. The most dangerous skips I have right now are Dougie and Mooner." I watched Rex working away on his wheel. I really should get him some more exciting exercise equipment. "The only people I know really want me dead are the Slayers, but they'd just go for me. Why would they threaten Haley first?"

"Scare tactics?" Tank sounded thoughtful. "Or maybe it's easier to get to you without a shadow."

"Something isn't adding up." Ranger didn't sound thrilled about it either.

Great, I'd managed to attract yet another psycho killer. And now they'd decided to take my family along for the ride. Have I mentioned lately that I need a new life?

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