Hal leaned against the wall in the Rangeman garage. He was visiting his mother when Zip returned from New York. Imagine his surprise when Hanna called and told their mother about an attractive man she met named Adrien Spera. Hal knew it was his coworker, Zip. He patiently waited for Zip to return after taking an FTA to the police station with Zero.
Zip's face paled when he saw Hal staring at him menacingly. "Hey, Hal," Zero greeted. "Is everything okay with your mom?"
"My momma is fine. I need to have a few words with Zip," Hal snapped. Zero noticed Hal's red face. It wasn't red from embarrassment but anger. Nobody wanted to get on Hal's shit list. Somehow, Zip landed there head first. Zero wandered off, staying close enough to help his partner if needed. Hal watched Zero walk away, far enough to not overhear, close enough to offer assistance to Zip.
"You know about Hanna and me," Zip said without fear. "Hal, I never set out to have a relationship with her. She's my soulmate." Zip prayed Hal wouldn't tear him limb from limb. Hal was overly protective of his sister.
"Your marriage?" Hal snarled.
"Over. I need to tell you about my late wife," Zip replied.
"Late? Did you kill her?" Hal stood to his full height to tower over his coworker. Zip held up his hands and took a cautious step back.
Ranger watched the interaction on the cameras. He ordered Hector to the garage with the documents for Zip. In the package were Zip's divorce papers and the other names the woman used to scam her ex-husbands and the government. The coroner had emailed the autopsy results with the cause of death.
"Leave," Hal snapped when Hector appeared.
"Take these. Ranger said it explains everything," Hector replied, standing his ground. Ranger didn't get involved with altercations between the men unless he deemed it necessary. Hal leaned back against the wall to read the evidence from Hector.
When he finished reading, he passed the documents back to Hector and dismissed him. "Wow. I never knew your ex-wife was so diabolical. I'm sorry, man," Hal said. "You won't get away with hurting my sister."
Zip was about to reply when Hal's phone rang. He noticed it was Stephanie calling. "Hey, Steph," he answered.
"It's Edna. Steph let me use the phone," came the reply. "Stephanie received a text that you're giving Zip trouble regarding Hanna." Hal looked at the camera, wondering who tattled. "Get over yourself," Edna snapped. "Zip had enough grief and shit from women to last a lifetime. Stephanie and I saw how Hanna and Zip looked at each other. We know they would last the distance. Your sister is a remarkable woman. She deserves to be happy, and I know Zip can give that to her."
"This isn't your battle," Hal said.
"Not your battle either. Zip and Hanna need your support. I must warn you that I told Zip to wait a year before marrying her," Edna added.
Hal left the phone at his ear and asked Zip, "You want to marry my sister?"
"Yes. I know she's the woman for me. I can feel it in my heart, body and soul. It's an indescribable feeling. Unless you find your soulmate, you'd never understand," Zip replied. His eyes briefly flicked to the camera.
Edna decided to give Zip a lifeline. "Hal, do you recall how Stephanie touches her neck whenever Ranger is near?"
"Yes," he replied. "We know he can sense her too. She could enter a bar, and his eyes would automatically find hers."
"That is what Stephanie and I saw between Zip and Hanna. We told them not to waste valuable time," Edna explained. Hal lowered his head. He thanked Edna for her advice, then ended the call.
"Remember, Zip. You can't marry my sister for one year," Hal ordered before leaving.
"You're lucky he didn't strike first and answer questions later," Zero said when he walked up the stairs with Zip.
Ranger nodded at Zip when he entered the fifth floor control room. Zip sat in his cubicle to email Stephanie to thank her for sending Ranger the proof. Stephanie didn't have to help, but once again, her intuition did not lead her astray.
~~~~~~~~~~
Stephanie was nervous about dinner with Ram's family. "What do I call them?" Stephanie asked Ram. She didn't want to be disrespectful by calling them by their first name. They arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes early. The hostess guided them to a table in the back.
"Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey, unless they tell you differently," Ram replied. Stephanie rolled her eyes. Ram's parents would fit nicely in the Burg. Ram had Edna's arm linked through his. He placed a protective hand on Stephanie's lower back. Men and women inside the restaurant followed the trio with their eyes.
Edna and Stephanie wore the dresses they bought on the cruise. "Everyone is staring at you, Ram," Stephanie said with a giggle.
"Not me, Steph. You," Ram replied. "You look gorgeous." Stephanie blushed as she thanked Ram.
"As if," Stephanie mumbled. After the waitress collected their drink orders, Stephanie excused herself to the washroom. She noticed the men watching her as she walked past their tables. Stephanie gave her reflection a pep talk after using the facilities. She applied another layer of mascara for courage.
Her heart fluttered as she walked back to the table. Someone set off her spidey sense. Stephanie wanted to look around, but she felt it would only encourage the person's behaviour. She suppressed a shudder as she walked past the man sitting at the bar.
"Honestly, you would think the men spotted a celebrity by the way they're gawking at that woman," Edith Ramsey rudely said. She watched the woman approach their table. "May I help you?"
"Oh. Hi, Mrs. Ramsey. I'm Stephanie Plum, Ram's friend," Stephanie replied.
"His name is Evan," Edith snarled.
"Noted," Stephanie mumbled. She sat between Ram and her grandmother at the table. Stephanie thought a woman dying from liver cancer would be more personable. She was sadly mistaken. Even her grandmother stopped pinching the Merry Men's butts and grabbing their crotches. She apologized to the others when their journey commenced.
Edna decided to break the ice. "I know it's none of my business, but when did you receive the diagnosis?" She knew the silk scarf wrapped around Edith's hair was hiding the hair loss from chemotherapy.
Edith looked at her son before replying, "You're right. It's none of your business." Duane Ramsey nudged his wife. "Six months ago, I got diagnosed with liver cancer," she reluctantly added.
"Couldn't you get a liver transplant?" Stephanie asked.
"It's too late," Edith confessed. "Cancer metastasized in my lymph nodes." Edith couldn't get the transplant until they eradicated cancer from her system. None of the treatments worked. She wasted precious time in the hospital for chemotherapy and radiation.
"I'm sorry, dear. I know how you feel," Edna offered. Edith stared at Edna as though she had two heads. How could that woman know anything about learning you have less than a year to live?
"Mrs. Ramsey, my grandmother got her diagnosis last year. She only has another year, at the most, to live. It's why we're travelling to complete her bucket list," Stephanie quietly and calmly said. "She didn't want to waste her life receiving treatments that wouldn't extend her life by more than a few years."
Edith stared at Edna with her mouth open. Duane gently closed her mouth by lifting her chin. "I'm sorry," Edith quickly replied. "I know better than to make assumptions."
Ram grew up in San Diego. He hadn't seen his family since he joined the Army at eighteen. They supported his decision until he got promoted and trained as a sniper. It was all he had ever wanted, but his family couldn't accept his career choice. They were embarrassed to have a murderer, a paid hitman, in the family. He received notification that his mother was dying from liver cancer. It was time to make amends with his family, but he didn't know how.
Having dinner with his parents didn't help. He kept broaching the subject, but his mother kept shutting him down. Ram offered to pay the medical expenses. Edith refused to accept the 'blood' money. Stephanie squeezed his thigh beneath the table. She silently warned him to drop the subject.
Travelling to San Diego with Stephanie and Edna provided Ram with the opportunity to set the record straight with his parents. He was shocked they agreed to meet them for dinner. However, nothing was going according to plan.
The waitress stopped by the table to set down the drinks. "Hi, my name is Tessa. I'm your waitress today." Tessa pushed the wine toward Stephanie. "The wine is from the man at the bar," she said.
"No, thank you," Stephanie replied after a cursory glance at the man sitting at the bar. His wedding ring twinkled under the lights. "I don't accept drinks from married men hoping to get lucky when their wives are unavailable."
"Oh. Okay," Tessa said as she returned to the bar with the glass of wine.
"That was rude," Edith admonished. "You could have accepted the wine graciously."
"I could have, but the guy set off my spidey sense. He would have assumed there was a speck of hope of me sleeping with him. I'm not the one-night stand kind of woman," Stephanie snapped.
"Mom, in our business, Stephanie attracts a lot of stalkers and ill-wishers. Rangeman does everything possible to ensure her safety. I wouldn't be here if I never got assigned to accompany Stephanie and Edna," Ram defended. Ram grabbed his phone to take a photo of the creep staring at Stephanie. He sent the image to Hector, requesting he get the man's name.
"There's no harm in accepting a drink from an attractive man," she argued.
Ram's phone buzzed. He smiled as he read the message. Leaning closer to Stephanie, he whispered, "His name is Carter Michaels. He's one of Rangeman's skips." The only way Ram and Stephanie could apprehend the man was for them to do a distraction.
"Excuse me," Stephanie said. She grabbed the cuffs from her purse and gave them to Ram. Edith watched Stephanie approach the man while Ram went in the direction of the washrooms. "Hi. My name is Shelly. I'm sorry for turning you down earlier. I was with my family and they don't understand when I accept drinks from random men. May I sit here?"
"Yes, you may," Carter replied. "My name is Mike."
"Hi, Mike," Stephanie purred. The bartender passed Stephanie a glass of white wine. She sipped, purposely letting some dribble onto her lower lip. Carter's eyes darkened as Stephanie licked her lips, then she licked the rim of the wineglass. "Do you want to get out of here?"
"Boy, do I ever," Carter replied. Stephanie looked over her shoulder to wink at Edna. He tossed money onto the bar top, then tugged Stephanie toward the door. Edna, Duane and Edith watched Stephanie press her breasts against the man's arm. She swayed her hips as she walked beside the stranger.
Duane and Edith called the waitress to the table. Edna stopped them from interfering. "It's a distraction. Let your son capture the bad man," Edna hissed. Edith's lips pinched together in disgust. Why would her son embarrass her in an expensive restaurant? Stephanie's behaviour was inappropriate for the establishment. People were going to think she was a prostitute. For all Edith knew, Stephanie could be a hooker like in Pretty Woman and her son was the man who hired her for the week.
Ram grabbed Carter the second he stepped through the door. Within a minute, he had Carter cuffed. The SDPD officers arrived to take Carter into custody until Ranger and Tank arrived to escort him back to Boston.
Stephanie and Ram returned to the table. "What did you do?" Duane Ramsey demanded.
"We ran a distraction," Ram replied. "At Rangeman, we track and return criminals who jumped bail to the judicial system. Stephanie is the best researcher in the company. She can trace the men and find the rock they hide beneath."
Edith clicked the roof of her mouth, making the tsk tsk noise of disapproval. "Don't bother explaining, Evan. We're here to visit with your family, not seek their approval for our career choice," Stephanie said.
The waitress returned with the food. "Thank you for getting that man out of here," Tessa said. She leaned close to whisper, "We think he attacked our bartender, Felicity, a few nights ago. She's in a coma in the hospital."
"What makes you think he's the same man?" Edith asked.
"The police said he fit the description the witness gave them," Tessa replied. "Your meal is on the house."
"We can't accept that," Stephanie argued.
"You can and you will," Tessa replied before walking away.
Edith and Duane had a new level of respect for Evan and Stephanie. They thought he only used unnecessary force to make the men comply. Stephanie tilted her head sideways as she examined Edith and Duane's faces. "What changed?" she suddenly asked.
"We were under the impression that Evan and his coworkers broke into places with weapons drawn," Edith confessed. "It's what they show on that bounty hunter show."
"Sometimes the men have to break down the doors to capture the criminal, but they only use that method when they know innocent people aren't around to get injured. It's a tactical maneuver they use in the military to protect the civilians," Stephanie said. She spent their time eating to explain how Rangeman works and when they use brute force or distractions.
"So you only need to put yourself in danger to protect the innocent bystanders?" Duane asked.
"Yes, sir," Stephanie replied. "You should let Evan explain more about his military career. I know you would be amazed by everything he has done to protect our country. Rangeman employs mostly military men and women from the Navy and Army. They follow military protocols." Stephanie's answer intrigued Duane and Edith. "The core team ensures the men or women meet the basic skills required to work at Rangeman." Stephanie further explained that the non-military employees, such as herself, had to meet the minimum military requirements for their gender.
Ram's parents agreed to meet them at the San Diego zoo the following morning. Not because they wanted to know anything about their son, but because they wanted to spend more time with the brave, considerate woman.
Stephanie waited for Ram to escort his parents to the door before she dropped a few hundred dollars on the table to cover their meal and a sizeable tip.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ranger and Tank boarded the Rangeman jet. Tank carried the documentation to retrieve Carter Michaels. He was wanted for aggravated assault, rape and murder. Carter wore his wedding band, but he had killed his wife several months earlier. "How does she do it?" Tank asked Ranger.
"I don't know. She seems to find herself in the middle of everything," Ranger replied. "You realize we have to split the bounty between Stephanie and Ram."
"Little Girl won't accept it," Tank argued. "We should add it to her Rangeman account."
"I'll warn the accountant." Ranger sent the Rangeman accountant an email detailing the disbursement of the funds they would receive for Carter Michaels. The bulk of the money would go to Stephanie and Ram since they captured the criminal. Subtracting the cost of the private flight, Stephanie and Ram earned nearly one hundred thousand each.
"Ram had a digital copy of the apprehension papers," Tank told the man on the other end of his call. "Yes. I have the original files with our Rangeman credentials to return Michaels to Boston." Ranger raised an eyebrow when Tank completed his call.
"Chester?"
"Michaels argued he did not get apprehended by the correct bondsman. The papers Ram showed the SDPD had Rangeman as the BEA. Michaels said he could only get brought in by the department head," Tank explained.
"Did Ram have his Rangeman ID?" Ranger knew it was a dumb question. Ram was acting as Stephanie and Edna's bodyguard. Carrying his Rangeman identification was part of the job.
"He never leaves home without it," Tank replied, grinning. "Are we visiting Little Girl before we collect Michaels?"
"Not this time," Ranger replied. "We have our meeting with the FBI tomorrow afternoon."