Disclaimer: see chapter one.

A/N: You may hate me for what I'm about to do. Feel free to yell and scream. And be patient about Ranger... he'll be around eventually.

Chapter 3: Death in the family

I stuck the gun between the cushion of the couch, within arms reach. I stayed up all night watching TV and eating my Ben and Jerry's. Trying very hard to convince myself that the cigarette butt meant nothing, but I couldn't ignore it. I had looked up and down my fire escape but no one was around. Surely that was a good sign, right?

Sometimes during watching TV and trying not to freak out I fell asleep. The last thing I could remember seeing on TV was a problem on the paranormal.

A knock on the door woke me up. Shit! I had fallen asleep on the couch again. I rolled off the couch and dragged my ass to the door. I peeped through the peephole. It was Eddie Gazarra holding donuts and coffee. I couldn't help but smile.

I opened the door and let him in.

"Mmm… donuts." I said in imitation of Homer Simpson. We walked to the table and sat down. I grabbed a donut and began, forgetting conversation. He did the same.

After his second donut he spoke. "Stephanie," uh oh… bad news right? I stared at him. I was excited by the donuts and had completely forgotten the fact that he hasn't come around here with donuts in a long time, which obviously means he was delivering bad news. "I did some looking around. I don't know the details of the case Morelli was working on. All I know is that it was going to be a drug bust." Uh oh… was? What does he mean was? "He was suppose to be back a week ago, at the most a couple of days ago."

"What does this mean?" I asked not really wanting to know the answer.

"We don't know, but I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." Then he looked down at the empty bag of donuts. "You finished them?"

Oops. I was so nervous with the news he was delivering I has eaten the last donut. I gave him a smile and he just sighed. He then looked at the couch.

"Are you not sleeping well?"

"I was just watching some movies." I lied. Didn't want him to find out that there might have been someone who was watching me through my window. He stood up.

"Well I gotta go. Got to get to work."

I let him out and looked around the room. The empty tub of Ben and Jerry's sat on the coffee table. I cleaned that off and went into my room intending on going straight to the shower but then the bed looked so inviting.

The alarm was screeching again at 8:30, I had reset it after the morning I woke up at 7 and had nothing to do. Well I was supposed to go for a run, but we all know that wasn't going to happen. I stumbled into the shower and spent 10 minutes putting heat back into my body. I dressed in jeans, sweater and my docs. Put gel through my hair and tied it back. Slathered on a thick layer of mascara and black eyeliner hoping to hide the obviousness of the dark circles.

On my way out, I went to the fridge grabbed a grape and a piece of crust and dropped it in Rex's cage. He didn't come out to get it he must be asleep. Then a thought suddenly struck me. Where was Bob? Morelli had been gone for three weeks. He must have left Bob somewhere. I would have to do some inquiring about that.

I was at the office at nine sharp. Lula wasn't there yet. I sat down on the couch with a donut from Connie's desk.

"Got anything else for me Connie?" So far I had been pretty lucky with FTAs, even the assault case had been pretty easy. I had agreed to make sure Gina would get to court in two weeks when she was scheduled in exchange for Vinnie agreeing to bond her again.

"Just one." She handed me a file.

A drunken disorderly case. David Galloh: 23, 6'2", 180 pounds, no priors. Ex-military, more specifically marine. I looked at the picture. He had fair skin, black hair in a military cut, and dark blue eyes, which looked tired. He was arrested for starting a fight at a bar. The bartender had called the cops. He and another man had stepped outside; he had used his military training to his advantage and put the other man in a chokehold until he passed out.

"Ranger should take this one." I said.

"Is he back then?" Connie asked. "I miss that ass."

"Not that I heard."

I got up and left the office. No point hanging around there, the sooner I get this bad guy, the sooner I can get home and get some sleep… only to go to my mother's house tonight! I groaned at the thought. How do I get myself into these things? That's right, I had slipped in mustard. In any sane world these two things would not have been connected, but you're in Stephanie Plums world. I shook my head and got into the car.

He lived on Columbus Avenue, not too far from my parents. I hope nothing goes wrong with this guy, but that's too much to hope for.

I decided on the straightforward method. I go knock on his door, explain the situation, use my charm and hopefully he'll agree to go to the station quietly. The chances of this happening, nada. But I followed through anyway. I parked right in front of his house. His car was in the driveway, good sign. I walked up to his door and knocked.

Some things falling over and the door opened. A very tired looking marine answered the door. He didn't look too bad, tired and dirty. But if he cleaned up I'm sure he would be hot.

"What do you want?" He asked, I could hear the anger in his voice.

"Hello, my name is Stephanie Plum." All the while my brain screaming, Stop Stephanie, you are gonna piss this man off! "I'm with the Plum Bond Agency, you missed your court date. I'm here to see if you would like to go down to the station with me to reschedule?" He slammed the door in my face and slipped the deadbolt in.

I knocked again. "Go home lady, before I shoot you for trespassing." I couldn't believe this, but I wasn't about to argue, I left immediately. He was a marine and I was pretty sure his aim would be better than most of who've shot at me.

I was on Hamilton considering going home to sleep, but I should probably get some work done before I called it a day. That's when my phone rang.

"Yo." I answered.

"Stephanie, this is Albert." Like I didn't know this. "He's here. That Michael Kurtis guy."

"Shit, I'll be right there."

I hung up and made my way to the Laundromat. When I pulled up, Kloughn came running to my car. I put down my window.

"He just left. He was in a blue car. I didn't see the make and model."

I thanked Albert for what he had and he said he'd call again if Mr. Kurtis came back. I on the other hand headed back to Michael Kurtis's apartment building.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked. I looked around for any blue cars I spotted two. One was an older Mustang and the other was a Camry. I took the two license plates down; I'll call them in later and find out which one exactly belongs to Mr. Kurtis.

Today's plan: go up to his apartment, knock and cuff him before he can do anything. The basic direct method, not that this plan worked any better the countless times before.

I up at his apartment knocking before I knew it. I stood to the side of the door so he couldn't peek through the peephole and decide to run when he saw me. But before I knew it I heard a shotgun cock and a hole blasted through the front door. I got out of there as fast as my legs could carry me.

I was in my car and out of there in ten seconds flat.

I hate it when they shoot at me. How did he know anyway? It's not like he could have seen me to recognize me.

I really wasn't having a good day. I think I deserve a long nap. So I stopped by the McDonalds for a large fries and diet coke and went straight home. I dropped a fry into Rex' cage, not really paying all that much attention. I was tired as hell and all I could think about was my bed. I downed the fries and drank the coke at top speed and flopped into bed. I was out before I hit the pillow.

When I woke up again it was 5 and I was hungry, one more hour to dinner. I decided to eat a slice of pizza while I waited for dinner to come around. I ate it cold and grabbed the phone. I dialed Mary Lou.

"Hello?" You could hear the boys screaming in the background.

"Hi Lou."

"Hold on Steph." I could hear her telling the boys to go into the other room while she spoke to Aunt Stephanie. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. Morelli's missing, Ranger's missing, Bob is missing, I'm being shot at and I think there was someone watching me a couple of nights ago." I took a deep breath.

"Stephanie… I thought you knew. Morelli left on a case about three weeks ago, with Terry Gilman." I was dumbstruck. Terry Gilman, again? Why does he always have to work with her?

"Stephanie?"

"Do you know where he left Bob?"

"At Stevie's Kennel, you know Stevie Marodii" I knew Stevie from high school. He wasn't too bright and wasn't too nice. Over the years he became a drunk and then he was forced into the AA program by the courts after the third DUI.

"Stevie has a kennel?"

"Yup."

I thanked Mary Lou for all the info and hung up. Terry Gilman of all people. He chooses Terry Gilman to disappear with. I hung up the phone and suddenly noticed Rex's cage. All the food I had dropped in for him was still there. I tapped on the glass, no movements. Something was wrong. Rex always ate all his food.

I opened up the cage and took the soup can out and turned it on my hand. Out came Rex, but he wasn't warm like usual. He just lay there on my hand. Tears began to well up in my eyes as I realized Rex was dead.

I bit back the tears. I would have to give him a proper burial, where could I do that? I didn't have any place at this shit hole apartment. My parents. They wouldn't mind if my only hamster child was buried in their backyard would they. I grabbed the only dishtowel I had in the kitchen and wrapped Rex in it. I grabbed the keys and my bag and drove to my parents' house.

Ignoring my mother and grandma Mazur I walked into the backyard, straight to the far corner and I dropped to my knees. I looked around for something to dig with but I didn't see anything. I was about to stand up and go grab a shovel or something, but there was my father handing me a spade.

I dug a hole about a foot deep, I didn't want any cats to dig up Rex's body and I laid Rex in the hole, towel and all. And then I covered him up with the dug up dirt. I stood up and my father marked the spot with a rock. How he got the rock I don't know. How he knew I need a shovel I don't know. My father worked in mysterious ways.

I sat through dinner quietly. I didn't even have any dessert. I just took some leftovers home, stuck it in the fridge, retrieved my gun from between the couch cushions and flopped into bed to cry, which I did until I fell asleep.