Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns the Plum Universe. If only she would just rent out Ranger…

Note: Thanks for all the help and support everyone! Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 3

The boys were taking the phone call from the kidnappers. I wasn't allowed in the room but I didn't mind in the least. For once I was more than willing to let someone else take the lead. I didn't have the foggiest idea of how do deal with kidnapping and ransom demands when it was someone else who had been kidnapped. Deranged psychos were one thing, deranged psychos with an agenda were something else entirely.

I didn't have the training for this, and if I was seen anywhere it could just put Haley in even more danger. This sucked on so many levels I didn't even want to think about it. I couldn't go looking for her, I couldn't really help the guys without just ending up underfoot. All of this was running through my head as I walked back to my apartment. The place already felt like home, but tonight it just felt empty. I'd always thought I did better living alone, but I was being forced to realize I'd gotten used to Haley being there. It was fun to have someone with her energy bouncing around, it always gave me someone to talk to and laugh with.

Now it was just too quiet. I turned on the stereo, sliding in one of Haley's randomly mixed cd's of bubble gum pop and club songs. It was one of our few differences- I preferred rock and metal to headbang to, Haley wanted something to bounce to. A bit of white lying under the sofa caught my eye and I bent to investigate it. Her teddy bear with the blue eyes. The one that she had acquired somehow during a night on the town. I hugged it to me and wondered again where it had come from. She was going to tell me when she got back. If she- the tears that had been threatening all night started to spill down my cheeks. There were too many psychos in the world and they apparently just gravitated toward my family members. God, what ancient gypsy tribe did we piss off?

I tried to concentrate on the mind numbing pop song, but it didn't help. I hugged the stuffed bear and tried to distract myself. Let's think about food. I could handle food. Food didn't worry about which kind of love was which, or worry you senseless, or wear Bulgari, and it didn't take anything hostage except my thighs. Yeah, food was good. No one kidnaps food unless you're in a college dorm.

I was just opening the door to the fridge when I heard the music. I closed the fridge and listened again. Definitely the Midnight Sonata, as played by a cell phone. I walked back out to the couch and poked through the cushions. There it was- Haley's cell phone, just where I'd tossed it after I talked to Alec.

I looked at the display, dreading what I might find. Her mother was probably calling, wondering what had happened to her, why she hadn't called... then again, I didn't remember Haley ever talking to her parents in the last few weeks. That was a sad commentary- I was thirty and my parents played a bigger role in my life.

However, the LCD spared me the torture of enduring the legendary fury of Marie Thorne, instead revealing the caller to be... Professor M.? Who in the hell was that? Had she had an affair with a college professor? And why would a professor's number be in her phone anyway?

Ok, so by now I should know better, but as usual, I didn't. I answered the phone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Ah, Hello Miss," said a man's voice. It wasn't very deep, but it was very cool and polite. A professional salesman type voice. Uh, should I correct him?

"Uh huh," I said indistinctly.

"Ma'am," the man said pleasantly, "We have your cousin."

Shit! The kidnappers were calling HALEY? What happened to Ranger? Wasn't this revenge against Ranger and I?

Before I could say anything, Mr. Cool Kidnapper Voice continued. "No need to worry, she is quite safe at the moment. In fact, we'd be very happy to arrange her release, in exchange for you. You see, you are much more valuable than she is, but you know that, don't you? Be at the parking lot in front of Pino's in fifteen minutes alone and your cousin will be free to go."

And he disconnected before my brain and mouth could even reconnect. The kidnappers wanted Haley? She was more valuable... Oh, shit, another psychotic relative after the inheritance. Geez, you'd think they'd at least wait until her grandpa was dead…

I looked at the clock. I had fifteen minutes to get to Pino's Of course, this involved me leaving the RangeMan building and directly disobeying Ranger, which would probably really piss him off. I didn't think he'd shoot me, probably he would just ship me off to a third world country.... I could deal with that, if it got Haley out of their clutches.

I should tell Ranger now, and let the guys handle this, the annoying voice of sane reason piped up. But they couldn't mobilize in fifteen minutes, and what if they wouldn't let me go? No, I could do this. Simple exchange that's all it was.

The kidnappers wanted to exchange me for Haley, but they were really exchanging Haley for me. There was probably some sort of ironic humor in there somewhere, but I really didn't care about that, I cared about getting to Pino's in the next thirteen minutes.

I grabbed the keys and ran down the hall. I took the stairs for once, skipping down them two at a time, because I was determined to beat any and all security guys down to the garage. I didn't want to have to try to stun one of them again, since I was pretty sure they weren't all as gullible as Hal.

Exactly fifteen minutes later I was angling my powder blue Escape into the Pino's Parking lot. I was just easing into a parking space when I realized I hadn't left a message for the guys. And that I probably should have at least called them on the way or something. Whoops. I wonder what happens in My Fair Lady when Professor Higgins shoots Eliza?

Well, only one thing to do now, and that was a quick call to Ranger. Actually, considering what Ranger was like when pissed, maybe this was a good time to get taken hostage... or not. What if he decided to just let them have me? Crap. I should have thought of that...

"Babe?" his voice sounded tired, and just a little strained.

"Hey. I'm at Pino's."

"I know," he growled. Ah, I've heard the third world is great this time of year...

"Sorry," I said trying to sound as apologetic as I possibly could. "It was an emergency. They called Haley's cell, and wanted her to change places with me."

"What?" Ranger's volume raised a couple notched. Uh oh.

"So I'm meeting them, and um," I got out of the Escape. "You might need to come get Haley because-" I never finished the sentence. A sharp prick at my neck distracted me.

"Stephanie!" I heard Ranger's voice faintly as the phone fell away from me.

I blinked a few times, wondering what was going on as the cell dropped away from my suddenly unresponsive hand. It was so heavy; my body felt heavy too, and time seemed to have slowed a little... Everything faded quickly to black, and I only had a heartbeat to feel a faint stir of panic. Irrationally, my panic was not over my impending ordeal at the hands of a demented drug lord. Oh no, my panicked last thought was: 'Shit! I just hung up on Ranger...'

Ranger glanced at his nephew, more than a little concerned. Dom was hiding his thoughts very well, but his body language was overly tight and almost too controlled. Ranger understood perfectly, having been in similar situations with Stephanie more times than he really wanted to remember.

He looked across the table at Dom's companions. He had hired Dante a couple years ago, another street fighter punk with an attitude, but a good work ethic. That background made his reaction to the situation so far a little surprising. The wall of the hallway outside was sporting several new holes to prove just how surprising. Stephanie's charm was apparently just as genetic as the car destruction.

Ranger gave a mental sigh. He had a very bad feeling about this, but maybe if Steph stayed out of sight, it might work out...

"Boss?" Cal's voice came over the intercom, sounding a little nervous. Fuck.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"She just took off in her car." Cal coughed. "We didn't get down there in time to stop her." No need to ask who 'she' was.

"Fuck," Tank voiced his own opinion.

Ranger's eyes narrowed and his hands curled themselves into fists. What in the hell was she thinking going out by herself? He took a deep breath, willing himself to stay calm. "You have someone following her?" he asked Cal through the intercom.

"Yeah, Boss. Hal and Drake are on it. GPS has her headed toward, uh, Pino's," Cal sounded a little more relaxed. Stephanie's pizza habit was well-known.

"Good. Tell them to stay close." And he punched the button to disconnect. Of all the god damned times for her to decide to take a pizza break… His stomach clenched at the thought of what might happen if kidnapper saw her and realized his mistake.

The rest of the guys in the room were silent, apparently waiting to see if he was under control or murderous. Before they could decide either way, Ranger's cell phone went off. A glance at the LCD, and then he answered it. "Babe?" he said, trying to keep his voice calm and neutral.

"Hey, I'm at Pino's," she said with false cheer. He gritted his teeth. He knew perfectly well where she was.

"I know," Ranger said, his voice tight.

"Sorry, it was an emergency. They called Haley's cell, and wanted her to change places with me." Ranger shook his head slightly. Hoping like hell he hadn't heard her right.

"What?"

"So I'm meeting them..." Maybe Morelli had the right idea with that shower curtain rod after all. "You might need to come get Haley because-" she gasped and there was the sound of plastic hitting pavement.

"Stephanie?" he asked desperately. What the hell was happening on the other end of the phone? His mind played out a myriad of scenarios, none of them ending well. The line went dead. "Fuck!"

Dom watched his uncle's cell phone sail across the room. She must have hung up on him. Before he could ask, though, Ric was on his feet, heading out the door.

"Tank, Dom, we're going to Pino's," he growled. Huh, so much for explanations. "Everyone else, I want to know who would want Haley and why, ASAP. And any and all connections to the East St Louis drug scene."

Dante raised an eyebrow and glanced at Dom questioningly. He nodded in response and then motioned to Angel as he followed his uncle out the door and down to the garage. It was going to be a fucking long day.

Angel was on his phone before the door closed. "Anything?" he asked as soon as the person on the other end picked up.

"Nada," came the response. "Fucker hasn't moved out of the hotel room. But he's nervous. Pacing like a motherfucker."

"You got sound in there?"

"Hell yeah. The maid was real helpful. Cute little thing too," the other man said happily. Angel hoped the maid hadn't been as helpful as the tone implied.

"Phone?" he asked.

"Quinn's working on it. But we got his cell covered. He got a call from Haley's cousin a while ago. You know, he don't seem to think real highly of us and definitely not Dominic." Angel snorted at this revelation.

"Yeah. There's news," his voice dripped sarcasm.

"He seemed to think her getting kidnapped was Dom's fault," the other added conversationally. Angel's instincts went on full alert.

"What doesn't he consider Dom's fault, exactly?"

"Good point," the other responded. "So, any news on our girl?" his teammate's voice was suddenly serious. Angel sighed.

"Nah. They called, wanted a mil, wanted it dropped off somewhere and they would drop her off somewhere else."

"Fuck. There's a setup."

"No shit. Now they called her cell, got her cousin and offered a trade."

"And she went alone, fast as could be, right?"

"Got it in one. D, Ric, and Tank are out playing cavalry right now. Ric had a couple guys tailing her anyway but they ain't called in."

"Fuck."

"Yeah. Stay close to the weasel, okay?"

"Aye aye, captain."

Angel disconnected and banged his head against the wall. Dante tilted his head by way of inquiring as to his partner's mental health. "Nada, amigo," Angel said finally. "Guess Stephanie called him with the news but that's it."

Dante shook his head sadly. "This thing don't feel right. It feels like someone ain't all there who's calling the shots." Angel thought this over a minute and decided his partner was right.

"Which would fit Deering perfectly. But I would be willing to bet my life Alec isn't just in town by coincidence."

Angel could almost see the wheels turning in Dan's head. His partner's dark eyes took on a familiar gleam and his accent was slightly more noticeable when he spoke. "Got an idea," he said and nearly sprinted toward the control room.

)))(((

The parking lot at Pino's was deserted except for a tragically powder blue Escape with the driver side door ajar and a black SUV idling behind it. Dom had his gun out before Ranger even turned in.

Cautiously the trio of men exited the bronco and began making their way toward the SUV, guns ready. A loud groan alerted them to the presence of someone inside.

"Hal?" Tank called softly

"Yeah, Boss?" came the reply. "I think Drake's hurt pretty bad. I just got hit with some kind of dart thing. Muscles ain't all workin' yet."

"Stephanie?" Ranger asked as they opened the driver's side door. Hal was sitting deathly still, his breathing a little shallow.

"Darted. Three of them in a white van. Don't know what happened. We stopped and there weren't any others. I opened my door and got it, I guess they took a little longer on Drake."

The man in question was slumped in the passenger seat sporting a bloody nose, and a nasty cut on his head. Two darts were still lodged in the back of his neck. Considering Drake was about Tank's size it wasn't surprising he took an extra dose. Tank was already calling for an ambulance. It was never a good idea to put off medical attention when unknown tranquilizers were involved. Dom pulled one of the darts out of Drake's neck for analysis back at HQ, while Ranger headed over to investigate the truck.

Stephanie's cell phone was on the ground in pieces by the door, and another phone lay on the passenger seat, its pink Playboy bunny cover marking it as Haley's. No blood anywhere, which was a relief albeit a small one. He picked up the pieces of Steph's phone and looked again at Haley's. Steph had said the kidnappers called it .He tried finding the 'received calls' listing, but with no luck.

"Let me try," Dom said, sounding a little amused. Watching his bad ass uncle fumbling with a bit of shiny pink plastic and jewel toned buttons would have been a Kodak moment any other day of the year. As it was he himself felt a little foolish as he flicked through the menus, and wondered for the umpteenth time what had possessed Haley to put the ridiculous cover on. When he finally found the menu, he nearly choked at the name next to the last call. Professor M.

He let loose a few inventive Spanish phrases. Ranger raised an eyebrow. Dom just handed him the phone.

"Professor M.?" Ranger said after giving his nephew a moment to calm down.

"Deering." Dom rubbed a hand over his eyes, feeling suddenly drained. "That's what a lot of the kids at McKendree called him."

"Thought you said she didn't do drugs?" Tank said as he ambled over. "How she got a dealer in her phone book then?"

"She didn't! Haley's drug of choice is caffeine or...Shit." Why the hell hadn't he thought of that sooner? His thoughts raced through the possibilities. That meant she knew Deering, and he would have probably noticed how much she looked like the bounty hunter that caught him... So maybe the kidnapping wasn't a mistake after all?

And they sure as hell hadn't traded Haley, so they either wanted both the girls or they knew they had made a mistake. Dominic closed his eyes and tried to focus.

"So she knew him?" Ranger prodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd definitely bet that she knew him. I think we need to get back to the office," Dom said quietly, feeling ill. "Things just got complicated."

"I hate it when that happens," Tank muttered.