"There's a problem," Said a voice. Ranger knew the voice well.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Your daughter." She said, as if something was his fault.
"Like to run that by me again? Why is it that she's my daughter when something bad happens, then your daughter the rest of the time?" He replied but he figured it was fruitless.
There was a silence on the other line for a moments pause. Not a good idea to agitate this woman, Ranger remembered.
"Just get down here." She said, and this time, Ranger heard a small crying on the other end. Ashley.
"What happened, Diane?" He asked.
"Catch the next flight into Miami." The woman ignored him and hung up.
He set the receiver down, then did as she had advised. He got a single ticket for the next plane out of Trenton. He called Tank and had a ride set up as he packed. This man was used to packing on the run, so he was waiting at the door when Tank arrived.
The ride to the airport was as usual. Silent. Tank dropped him at the gate, and before Ranger stepped onto the curb, he handed Tank a slim, white envelope. "Leave this for Stephanie." He said, and was gone.
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Chapter 1. Trenton, NJ - 9:46
There was a crash. Usually, I've never liked loud noises, even when I was a kid. I sat straight up in bed. No bad guys came through my door, so I kicked my feet off the side of bed and shuffled into the living room. Rex sat twitching in his cage, apparently also awakened by the crash.
I investigated, carefully of course, because there tends to be bad guys who more often than not want to kill me, roaming my apartment. I came into distance of the kitchen, and a big, black cat ran the opposite way. Mrs. Kaluski's cat, Barinibus. I got closer, and noticed one of my glasses that had been left half-filled with milk was shattered on the linoleum.
I walked to the door and opened it to let the impatient cat out. He ran down the hall and disappeared up the stairs. I returned to by bedroom and saw that my window was opened up. This wasn't anything new. The cat occasionally came into my apartment, mostly when it was cold out and his owner wouldn't open her door. He was a good kitty. Except for the glass thing this morning.
I set the coffee maker and stepped into the shower. I stepped out of the shower when the coffee was done. I got dressed and left the house with my pocketbook and a steel mug of coffee.
I was still working in the Rangeman building. After the Stiva-thing, Ranger has asked me if I would stay. When I asked why, he said nothing. Maybe he gets a tax-break for having a human wreaking-ball on his payroll. I was working more part-time for Ranger, then part-time for Vinnie. Ranger's side of law enforcement was a little to dark for me to want to play in. Ranger still let me use his computer, in exchange that I ran a few of his skips through too. And Tanks. And Bobby's. And Lester's. Just about every Rangeman had something for me to run. But, I was balancing the two jobs and not doing so bad financially. For once in my bounty hunting career, I was living comfortably. I still had to choose between a righteous pair of red pumps or name brand cereal, but that was one of life's disadvantages.
And I hadn't blown up a car in a record of 4 months.
I reached the office, and parked in my usual spot. It was a hike to the office from the very corner of the parking garage, but I didn't want to accidentally ding Tank's car with my gas cap if my car explodes.
On my desk was an envelope. No name on the front. Not a trace of who it was for, or from. But chances were high that I knew those things. It hadn't been sealed, so I pulled out my note. It was folded into thirds. Inscribed on it was a simple note. I had to go to Miami for a couple days. Be back soon. -Ranger.
This didn't surprise me. Ranger had disappeared for days at a time, usually leaving me a similar note. He always left me a note. There had been times that he hadn't even told Vinnie he was leaving, but still left me a note. I was still getting accustomed to the note.
Ranger had changed in the last couple months. He was more friendly and playful. Maybe because his chase was over. I had broken up with Joe, rather he broke up with me, but we as a couple, were finished. We met for pizza and beers for a while, but slowly those were going to end too. So maybe Ranger didn't have any competition and gave up the badass thing.
I missed the badass thing.
I slipped my note into my desk drawer and opened a file of a skip for Tank. Judging by the pile I before me, I won't have time to miss the badass thing.
Tell me what you guys think. I'm going to be gone for the weekend, but I promise to post the instant I get back. Oaky, so not the instant, but sometime Monday, I promise!