Stephanie goes to talk to Benito Ramirez, speaking with Lula and Jackie on the corner. Inside the gym Ramirez acts creepy, then pulls Stephanie into a small room before knocking her out.

Ranger

I held myself back until she said to get his hands off her. But even if she hadn't had a touch of panic in her voice, I would have come at those words. No way a bully like Benito Ramirez would back down until he was faced with a larger threat. I might have gotten to her in time if a bullet hadn't come through the window, throwing the whole room into chaos. A neat hole was in one of the punching bags, leaking out sand. All the other people were diving or running for cover, getting in my way. I got to the room right as a lock slid in place. I can pick almost anything, but there was no keyhole for me to pick. So I went with my second option, and tried to kick down the door. In my ear I could still pick up the signal from the mic. Stephanie was yelling, and the rustle and scrape of clothing showed she was fighting. But then it went quiet. At first I thought the raket was covering up the sound of her voice, but even when I stopped kicking there was no voice, just the steady thump of footfall. I'd seen the room as he opened the door, it wasn't more than a couple paces wide. No way to really walk.

Then there was a scratch of metal, and a few seconds later the distinctive thud of a car trunk. I turned and ran back towards the rear exit of the building, the sound of a car starting in my earpiece. I ran out right as a taillight turned the corner a block away. Something crunched under my foot. Looking down, I saw something scuffed and silver. I picked it up, realizing it was her cell phone. Either it fell out of her pocket, or Ramirez had thrown it out when he put her in the trunk. In either case, we couldn't use it to track her.

I raced back to my truck parked two blocks away, where noone at the gym would see it. In my earpiece I could hear the engine of Ramirez's car turning a corner and picking up speed, as well as a horn honking. But one thing I didn't hear was Stephanie. She knew she was wired. She should be talking to me, or crying, or something. Anything but the utter lack of her voice. I needed to hear her. As I rounded the corner I whipped out my cell phone and called Hector, holding my phone to the ear without the fading crackling signal from the microphone. He answered on the second ring.

"Can you track the location of the mic you gave me?"

"No," he replied in Spanish. "You said you wanted a mic with a clear signal, small enough to hide in a bra without showing. GPS adds circuits and space, and it would need a larger battery. I thought you were going to be in the same building?"

"She's been kidnapped." I reached my truck and jumped in, Slamming the truck into gear and heading in approximately the same direction as Ramirez had driven off to. Luckily the Bluetooth took over the phone call so I could keep both hands on the wheel. I planned on driving very recklessly.

"Kidnapped? By who?"

"Benito fucking Ramirez"

"Shit. That's not good. Look, no way to add a GPS now, but I can try to rig up something that will triangulate the signal. If you're in range, might help you narrow down exactly where she is. Any idea where he would take her?"

Every passing moment the signal was getting weaker, more staticky. I was blowing through yellow lights, weaving between lanes, and in general driving like a guy from New Jersey. But I could only guess where he was headed. Stark Street ran into route 29, and from there he could get to 3 different highways, meaning 6 potential directions. He also might go to route 1, adding another 2. My odds of getting the right place weren't great, especially since I didn't have a description of the car, aside from it being a dark colored sedan. The static crackled in my ear, but I could hear one faint sound. A soft femanin moan, groggy and disoriented. "Ranger?"

And the signal cut. I now knew two things. She was alive. And I had no good way to find her.

Stephanie

I woke to darkness, with the growl of an engine below me and a pounding headache. The last thing I had seen before losing consciousness was a brick lined tunnel. "Ranger?" I asked the roaring darkness. I wasn't expecting an answer, it was only a one way mic, but I held out hope he could hear me. He had said the range was 2 miles. In Jersey it could take anywhere from 90 seconds to an hour to drive 2 miles. The brakes slammed and I was thrown forward, slamming my body against the walls of the trunk, sending me back into oblivion.

Ranger

I drove down Stark street, looking at the driver of every car I passed, keeping an eye out for anyone driving as fast as me. I'd been tempted to yell her name into my earpiece, but that would have been pointless. I kept driving, looking, searching. But as the green metal beams of the bridge over the river came into view, I knew I needed a different strategy. I hadn't heard anything from the microphone in far too long. He had to already be on a highway. Without knowing anything about the car, there was no hope of finding him that way. I needed more information. I got on the phone. "Tank, meet me at Stark Street Gym. Get Lester as well. And call up anyone we are planning to bring on once Rangeman is open, put them on standby."

"Ranger, if we have a major outlay of funds now it's going to take us longer to open our offices. You'll have to take more bounties to make up the money, that could take months."

"I don't care. Do it. I'll see you in 10."

Stephanie

When I woke up again the road seemed smoother, and the car was just traveling, not careening around. It was certainly more comfortable, but it also meant we had left the city and were on a highway. I tried to consider my options. My head still hurt, and my brain was kind of fuzzy from being knocked around like a pinball. My arms and hands were a little scraped up, but not too bad. My legs hurt like hell though.

OK. Cars were supposed to have glow in the dark trunk releases, right? I was sure I'd heard that at some point. But a search of the darkness didn't show anything. Might have been disconnected, might have just been an older car. What else did I know about being trapped in the trunk? I'd heard you were supposed to kick out the tail light, which would let you see out and maybe flag someone's attention. My aching feet wouldn't be kicking anything. They were hurting enough I was worried about a sprain or break, and I needed to be able to run if I got the chance.

I tried pushing the taillight with my hands. I couldn't get it to fall out, drawing the attention of cops looking to hand out tickets, but it did let in a tiny crack of yellow glow from the streetlights. Considering the total darkness I had been in, it was all I needed. My purse was still hooked over my arm, sending a thrill through me. Good thing I rarely cleaned it out. I reached my hand in there to see what treasures I might find.

Hairbrush, bobby pins, chewing gum, wallet, receipts, nail clippers, empty box of tic-tacs, a charging cable for the Samsung I had hocked, ibuprofen, and a condom. The last one made me think wistfully of the night before. Had it only been 1 day? It felt like ages. And seriously, how had I managed to get myself into a life threatening situation twice in one day? My mother was going to have a cow.

I allowed myself a moment to fantasize about what dinner with Ranger tonight would have been like. If things hadn't gone so wrong, I'd be there right now. I tried to imagine the meal, and the company. Then with the drool I built up I used it to take 3 ibuprofen to help my head, and hopefully reduce any swelling. It was hard, but I managed to choke it down.

I didn't have my phone, which had been in my pocket. That would have been nice. But there was one more thing I did find in there, tucked into the side compartment. My gun.