I thought back to the situation at hand quickly, barely taking an instant for the multitude of thoughts to cross my mind. I was going to be working with her, so I decided on what those I work with call me. There were very few people who called me anything else.

"My street name. Ranger."

Chapter Two

Taking her bond agreement from across the table, I scanned all the paperwork she had on Morelli. Basic facts on him, bail set at 100,000 dollars, pretty standard for a murder, especially a cop. There were a bunch of photos – mug shots from Morelli's booking and some other miscellaneous photographs – and some newspaper articles about the murder clipped to the front.

"You do anything on this yet?" I asked her. "You check out his apartment?"

"He wasn't there, but I got lucky and found him in an apartment on State Street. I got there just as he was leaving."

"And?" Please say she didn't just let him go, please say she did something…

"He left." This coming from the person who thinks she's going to bring him in.

"Shit. Didn't anybody tell you that you were supposed to stop him?"

"I asked him to come to the police station with me, but he didn't want to." I couldn't help but laugh at this. I can imagine he didn't particularly want to go in, not if he was going to get charged with murder.

"I don't suppose you've got a gun?" I asked.

"You think I should get one?" If you want to be a bounty hunter, yes. If I wasn't already still beaming, I would've done at that.

"Might be a good idea." I finished reading the bond agreement. "Morelli offed a guy named Ziggy Kulesza. Used his personal piece to put a .45 hydroshock between Ziggy's eyes at close range." One of Lester's favourite guns. I looked up at her. "You know anything about guns?"

"I know I don't like them."

"A .45 hydroshock goes in nice and neat, but when it comes out it makes a hole the size of a potato. You end up with brains all over the place. Ziggy's head probably exploded like an egg in a microwave."

"Gee, I'm glad you shared that with me." Stephanie replied.

My smile was back again. This was going to be fun working with her. "I figured you'd want to know." How could I not have told her? That would've taken all the fun out of it. I tipped back in my chair and folded my arms across my chest. "You know any of the background on this case?"

"According to newspaper articles Morty Beyers clipped to the bond agreement, the shooting took place late at night a little over a month ago in an apartment building on Shaw. Morelli was off duty and had gone to visit Carmen Sanchez. Morelli claimed Carmen had called him concerning a police matter, that he'd responded, and that when he got to Carmen's apartment, Ziggy Kulesza answered the door and drew on him. Morelli claimed he shot Ziggy in self-defence.

"Carmen's neighbours told a different story. Several of them rushed into the hall at the sound of gunfire and found Morelli standing over Kulesza with a smoking gun. One of the tenants subdued Morelli until the police arrived. None of the tenants could remember seeing a gun in Ziggy's hand, and the immediate investigation didn't turn up any evidence that Ziggy had been armed.

"Morelli had placed a second man in Carmen's apartment at the time of the shooting, and three of the tenants remembered seeing an unfamiliar face, but the man apparently disappeared before the police came on the scene."

"And what about Carmen?" I asked.

"No one could remember seeing Carmen. The last article was written a week after the shooting, and as of that date, Carmen still hadn't surfaced."

I nodded. "You know anything else?"

"That's about it."

"The guy Morelli shot worked for Benito Ramirez. The name mean anything?"

"Ramirez is a boxer." Stephanie replied.

"More than a boxer. He's a fucking wonder. Heavyweight. The biggest thing to happen to Trenton since George shafted the Hessians. Trains in a gym on Stark Street. Ziggy used to stick to Ramirez like white on rice. Sometimes Ziggy'd do some sparring. Mostly Ramirez kept him on as a gofer and a bodyguard."

"There any word on the street about why Morelli shot Kulesza?"

I looked at her for a moment. "None. But Morelli must have had a good reason. Morelli's a cool guy, and if a cop wants to pop someone, there are ways."

"Even cool cops make mistakes."

"Not like this, babe. Not Morelli."

"So what are you telling me?"

"I'm telling you to be careful."

I saw a flicker of doubt cross Stephanie's features. I could tell she was scared of bringing down a murderer, especially as it wouldn't be easy. But there was also a shadow of something else. Like she almost didn't want Morelli to go to prison at all.

"You still want to tag him?" I asked her.

Stephanie didn't say anything, the doubt clear on her face.

"If you don't, someone else will," I told her. "That's something you learn. And, you got no business making judgements. You just do your job, and bring the man in. Got to trust in the system." This was something important I'd learnt early on, and made my job feel a hell of a lot easier. I didn't see the point in making her learn that for herself too. Sure there were points I didn't agree with, but there were ways to get round most of those.

"Do you trust the system?"

"Beats the shit out of anarchy."

"There's a lot of money involved here." Stephanie said. "If you're so good, why didn't Vinnie give Morelli to you? Why did he originally give him to Morty Beyers?"

"Vinnie moves in mysterious ways." I replied.

"Anything else I should know about Morelli?"

"If you want your money, you better find your man fast. Rumour has it the judicial system is the least of his problems."

"Are you telling me there's a contract out on him?"

I made a gun sign with my hand. "Bang."

"You sure about this rumour?"

I shrugged. "Just repeating what I heard." And what I hear tends to be pretty accurate most of the time.

"The plot thickens."

A smile tugged at the side of my mouth, but I pushed it away. "Like I said before, you don't care about the plot. Your job is simple. Find the man, bring him in."

"Do you think I can do it?" Stephanie asked me.

Truthfully? "No." This was Morelli we're talking about.

"Will you help me anyway?"

I smiled mentally. "Long as you don't tell nobody. Wouldn't want to tarnish my image by looking like a good guy."

She nodded. "Okay, where do I begin?"

One badass bounty hunter, coming up. "First thing we need to do is get you outfitted. And while we collect your hardware, I'm gonna tell you about the law."

"This isn't going to be expensive, is it?"

"My time and knowledge are coming to you for free of charge because I like you, and I always wanted to be Professor Higgins, but handcuffs cost 40 dollars a pair. You got plastic?"

Stephanie paused, thinking. She decided on this job at least partly for the money. Meaning she didn't have a lot of it spare. I could see her reach a conclusion.

"I have a few dollars set aside."

Disclaimer: Forgot this when I uploaded the first chapter, but I don't own any of this, except maybe the occasional Ranger thought. Even the plot's Janet's! I think she's selfish, taking both Morelli and Ranger. If only she would just keep Morelli...

Please read andreview!