Okay I just think I should let you all know that for half of this chapter my grammar check wasn't working so there will probably be more typos than usual.
Sorry about that. Otherwise, enjoy!

I had just stopped my car outside Steph's parents' house, pulled out my cell phone and was just about to call her and tell her that I had some news about Dotty. When I saw Lula's car roll on to the street.

The door to the passenger seat opened and Steph tried to get out. I had stepped out of my car now and watched her as her foot got caught in the floor mat, and she fell out of the car, face first. I laughed in silence and started walking towards her. I guess she and Lula had been downing the drinks tonight, probably trying to forget about the man in the rabbit suite stalking her. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the stars.

'I'm fine. Maybe I'll just sleep her tonight.' She told Lula.

I stepped up to her and pulled her to her feet by her jacket. 'Not a good idea, babe.' I looked up at Lula, whose jaw was dropped. 'You can go now.' I told her and her car rolled away.

I looked down on Steph. 'I'm not drunk, I only had one margarita.' she tried to defend herself.

'I understand you're having rabbit problems.'

'Fucking rabbit.' She slurred out with a grim look in her eyes.

I almost laughed out loud. 'You are definitely drunk.'

'I'm not drunk. I'm on the verge of being happy.' She leant heavy against me. 'What are you doing here?' she asked me. Her voice much softer now.

Her scent intoxicated me and I released her jacket and wrapped my arms around her instead. 'I need to talk to you.'

'You could have called.'

'I tried calling. Your phone isn't working.'

'Oh yeah. I forgot. It was in the car when the car blew up.'

I was amusing and scary at the same time how easily she got used to the fact that her car had just been blown up. Again. 'I did some investigating on Dotty and came up with some names to check out.'

'Now?'

'Tomorrow. I'll pick you up at eight.'

'I can't get in the bathroom until nine.'

I tried to control my laughter but didn't succeed completely. 'Okay. I'll pick you up at nine-thirty.'

'Are you laughing?' She asked, looking up at me. 'I can you feel you laughing. My life isn't funny!'

'Babe, your life should be a prime-time sitcom.' I swear to god that it would get higher rates than "Friends".

At 9.30 I rolled on to her parents' street again. I watched as she emerged from the house. She wore her usual jeans and t-shirt, with her hair up in a ponytail. Even though it was obvious she had a hangover she still looked damn good.

She opened the door and slid onto the seat, closing her eyes. A smile spread across her face. I guess she smelled the fries. She opened her eyes and grabber the only thing that worked as cure for her hangovers - fries and coke.

'God bless you.' She said and dug in.

'Tank and Lester are checking campgrounds in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They're doing the closest ones first and then moving out. They're looking for either of the cars, and they're talking to people when possible. We have your list of Evelyn's relatives, but I think they're long shots. Evelyn would worry that they'd get in touch with Mabel. The same goes for Dotty's relatives. There were four women Dotty was friendly with at work. I have their names and addresses. I think we should start with them.'

'It's nice of you to help me with this. We aren't really employed by anyone. This is just an issue about Annie's safety.'

'I'm not doing this for Annie's safety. This is about your safety. We need to get Abruzzi locked up. He's playing with you right now. When he stops enjoying the play he's going to get serious. If the police can't tie him to Soder, Annie might be able to tie him to something. Multiple murders maybe, if the drawings are from real life.'

It was the truth. I didn't really care about the girl and the two ladies, I just didn't want Steph to get harmed in any possible way. And if Abruzzi stopped playing around she most likely would be. I wasn't sure Steph realized how bad the situation was, so instead I watched her every step. If Abruzzi got his hands on her... I'm not sure what I'd do.

'If we bring Annie in, can we keep her safe?' She asked.

She still worried about the little girl, why couldn't I get this women to realize the danger of her own situation? 'I can keep her safe until Abruzzi is sentenced. Keeping you safe is more difficult. As long as Abruzzi is at large, nothing short of locking you in the Bat Cave for the rest of your life will keep you safe.'

I sure as hell was tempted. She gave me a pensive look. 'You said the Bat Cave has television, right?'

Clearly she had decided to stay in the land of the denial. 'Eat your fries.'

We went to three of the four women that Dotty worked with. We got two dead ends and only got to talk to one of them. We found out that they had spent then night at one of the women's house, but other than that we got pretty much nothing.

We were on our way to the fourth lady when we went through the college town New Brunswick. Just as we passed Douglass College, Steph looked out the window. 'I went to college here. It's been a bunch of years, but I still feel like a student when I ride through town.' She said.

I already new she went to Douglass but had never really thought about it before. I could imagine her living a crazy student life, more interested in partying than actually passing your exams. 'Where you a good student?' I asked her.

'I was a terrible student. Somehow the state managed to educate me in spite of myself.' Just as I imagined. 'Did you go to college?'

'Rutgers, Newark. Joined the army after two years.' I don't even know why I told her. Normally I didn't like to share things about myself. But things just came easy with Steph. I never really liked college. I hate learning things just because people tell you to learn them. I need to really be interested for it to work. The army, on the other hand, fit me much better and I've never regretted leaving Rutgers.

'The last woman on the list should be at work, but her husband should be at home. He works food service for the university and goes in at four. The guy's name is Harold Bailey. His wife's name is Louise.' I informed her.

We parked in front of the Bailey house, walked up and rang the bell. When Harold answered the door, I introduced myself and handed him the photographs of Evelyn, Dotty and Annie. 'We're looking for Evelyn Soder. We were hoping you might be able to help. Have you seen any of these people in the last couple of days?' I asked.

'Why are you looking for this Soder woman?' he asked us suspiciously.

'Her ex-husband has been killed. Evelyn has been moving around lately, and her mother has lost touch with her. She'd like to make sure Evelyn knows about the death.' I explained.

'She was here with Dotty last night. They came just as I was leaving. They stayed overnight and left in the morning. I didn't see much of them. And I don't know where they were off to today. They were taking the little girls on some sort of field trip. Historical places. That sort of thing. Louise might know more. You should try reaching her at work.' He said and closed the door.

Historical places. Most of the things that Abruzzi collects for his war gaming is historical. Maybe we had a connection here. I would definitely have to look into it.

'We're always one step behind.' Steph said.

'That's the way it is with missing children. I've worked a lot of parental abduction cases, and they move around. Usually they go farther from home. And usually they stay in one place longer than a night. But the pattern is the same. By the time information on them comes in, they're usually gone.'

'How do you catch them?'

'Persistence and patience. If you stick with it long enough, eventually you win. Sometimes it takes years.'

But I had a feeling that this wouldn't take years. 'Cause if we didn't find Evelyn soon, chances were that Abruzzi would get his hands on either her or Steph.

'Omigod, I haven't got years.' Steph cried out. 'I'll have to hide in the Bat Cave.'

'Once you go into the Bat Cave it's forever, babe.' I told her. I could see her gulp in the corner of my eye. 'Try calling the women. The work number is in the file.'

Steph called and talked to each and every one of them, not getting too much out of the conversations. When she disconnected after talking to the last one, she turned to me. 'Dead end. But I know why they vacated the campground.' She told me some story of how they had been grocery shopping and when they came back everything had been stolen. So they left. I didn't buy it for a second.

'The more likely scenario is that Dotty and Evelyn came back after shopping, saw a strange car parked next to Evelyn's, and they abandoned everything.'

'And when they didn't return, Abruzzi cleaned them out.'

I guess she agreed that my version was more believable. 'It's what I'd do. Anything to slow them down and make things more difficult.'

We drove back through Highland Park. We didn't get any new leads, but at least some information. We knew where they'd been and that they'd change car. Also I had realized that Steph wasn't realizing what a dangerous situation she was in. And since she didn't realize, she also wasn't prepared for it. She didn't even carry her gun, and even if she did there would be bullets in it. And if it for some miracle reason were bullets in it, she still closed her eyes when she fired it. She needed to feel more secure with her gun. It wasn't a guarantee that she would be save, but at least it would be a start.

When we stopped for a red light I turned to her. 'When was the last time you shot a gun?' I asked.

'A couple of days ago. I shot a snake.' She said defensive. 'Is this a trick question?'

'This is a serious question. You should be carrying a gun. And you should feel comfortable shooting it.'

'Okay, I promise, next time I go out, I'll take my gun with me.'

'You'll put bullets in it?'

She hesitated. I can't believe it. She's probably the only person in Trenton who doesn't carry a gun. And she's the one who works as a bounty hunter. The lord works in mysterious ways sometimes. 'You will put bullets in it'

'Sure.' She said.

Yeah, that felt assuring. I reached out, opened the glove compartment, and took out a gun. Her gun to be exact. 'I stopped by your apartment this morning and picked this up for you. I found it on the cookie jar.' The woman could keep the gun anywhere... and she chose the cookie jar. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

'Tough guys always keep their gun in the cookie jar.' She said in a childish voice.

'Name one.'

'Rockford.'

I couldn't keep the smile from my face. 'I stand corrected.'

When I stopped the car outside of a warehouse-type building, Steph looked confused. 'What's this?' She asked.

'Shooting gallery. You're going to practice using your gun.'

I could see she was uncomfortable with the situation. But it was necessary for her own good.

After getting her outfitted with ear protectors and goggles, I showed her to the shooting booth and arranged for the targets to fit her. 'Okay, Tex. Let's see what you got.'

She loaded and fired. She missed the paper target completely. 'Good. Let's try it with your eyes open this time.'

I adjusted her grande and stance. She tried again. This time it was better. She practiced until her arm was shaking from exertion. 'How do you feel about the gun now?' I asked her.

'I feel more comfortable. But I still don't like it.'

'You don't have to like it.'

She had done good. In the end she had hit the target's middle almost every time. I though that if I rewarded her with pizza, maybe she'd wanna go again soon. So I decided to take her to Shorty's.

Now let me tell you, Shorty's wasn't located in the nicest of areas, but it was the best pizzas this town had to offer. Also, you have privacy there. Nobody judges or question you. I was a regular. As we got closer I could se Steph getting more and more anxious. She peered out the window and bit her lower lip. I had to tighten the grip of the steering wheel. She was so sexy when she bit her lip. 'We aren't going to the Bat Cave, are we?' She said, snapping me out of my trance.

'No babe, we're going to Shorty's for pizza.'

We walked up to the door. I saw Steph looking around with frightened eyes. 'The pizza is good here?' she asked in a shaky voice. Man, she was cute.

'The pizza is good here.' I assured her and opened the door.

We walked to the back and slid into my regular booth, my back to the wall. I leant back and relaxed a little bit. I always felt comfortable at Shorty's. People mind there own business.

Rosa, the waitress, approach us after a while, smiling at me. I supposed she was curious about who Steph was. I'd been to this place many times, but never with a woman. 'What'll it be?' she asked.

'Pizza and beer.' I answered, knowing that Steph'd want the same.

'Do you come here often?' Steph asked.

'Often enough. We keep a safe house in the neighborhood. Half the people are local. Half come from truck stop on the next block.'

Rosa returned with our beers and I took a sip of mine. 'I thought you didn't drink. You know the-body-is-a-temple thing? And now wine at my apartment and beer at Shorty's.' She said.

'I don't drink when I'm working. And I don't get drunk. And the body is only a temple four days a week.'

Not that I ever ate like Steph could do. 'Wow,' She said. 'you're going to hell in a hand basket, eating pizza and boozing it up three days a week. I thought I noticed a little extra fat around the middle.'

I loved the fact that she teased me. That she dared to tease me, even though I'm twice her size and a lot stronger. Most people though I would kill them if they tease me. But not Steph, to her I was just like anybody else. Well okay, not just like anybody... I was Batman too. I raised an eyebrow at her. 'A little extra fat around the middle? Anything else?'

'Maybe the beginning of a double chin.' She answered with a twinkle in her eye.

I took a swing at my beer and studied her for a moment. 'Don't you think you're taking a chance, baiting me, when I'm the only thing standing between you and the guy at the bar with the snake tattooed on his forehead?'

She looked over at him. 'He seems like a nice guy.' She answered.

She was such a bad liar. I smiled at her. 'He works for me.'

After dinner, we were heading back to the car. I glanced over at Steph. She looked so much more relaxed now, not uptight like a spring like she was when we got there. The way to Steph's heart really does go through her stomach.

The dinner had been nice. Fun even. I'd had some trouble containing myself when her fingers got all greased up and she licked them off. One by one. I'f felt my pants tighten so much that I had to stare down at the table and think of my grumpy old aunt for a while. And the most amazing thing is that I don't even think she realized what she did to me. You know how people say that you can be naturally beautiful, well she's not only that. She's naturally sexy. She can get me more worked up than every other woman I've ever been with, and most of them really tried.

'That was possibly the best pizza I've ever had.' She said.

Well I guess that explains all the small moans that came out of her mouth and almost drove me insane. 'Overall, it was a frightening experience, but the pizza was good.' She continued.

'Shorty makes it himself.'

'Does Shorty work for you, too?' she asked.

'Yeah. He caters all my cocktail parties.' Wait a minute, did I just make a joke? Not sarcasm or irony. A real joke. She really has a bad influense on me.

'Where are you staying tonight?' I asked her as we reached Hamilton Avenue.

'My parents' house.'

I was pleased with the answers since it meant no Morelli. I knew she would go back to him soon enough, she always does. But I didn't want it to be before I collected my "fee". Or else I would never get her out of my head. 'I'll have Tank drop a car of for you. You can use it until you replace the CR-V. Or at least until you destroy it.'

How she managed to destroy every car that came within reach of her, except for the Buick, was a mystery to me. My men, on the other hand, thought it was hilarous. They had started a betting pool on when and how the next car would be destroyed.

'Where do you get all these cars from?'

I smiled on the inside. Ms Curiousty strikes again. 'You don't really want to know, do you?'

She thought about it for a second. 'No. I don't suppose I do. If I knew, you'd have to kill me, right?'

'Something like that.'

To tell the truth, it wasn't as bad as I made it out to be. A long time ago I did a really, really big favour for the president of a big car dealing company. The favour wasn't really approved by law and if it got out his career and company would be ruined. To repay the favour, he provides me with top of the line cars, when ever I want and how many I want. It's not completly legal, but it's not like I steal them.

We looked over to the front porch, when I stopped the car outside of her parents' house. Both her mother and grandmother were standing there, watching us. Her grandmother was ogling me. She was one of the few thinks that made me uneasy. The lady is like five houndred years old and looks at me like she's going to ravage me any second. 'I'm not sure I feel comfortable about the way your grandma looks at me.'

'She wants to see you naked.'

Oh fuck. 'I wish you hadn't tolk me that, babe.'

'Everyone I know wants to see you naked.' She said in a 'Duh' voice.

Well well, things just got interesting. 'And you?'

'Never crossed my mind.' She said, holding her breath. She jumped out of the car and ran inside.

I chuckled. She was such a bad liar.