Recap: Ranger finds out more about what vampires can do. Ramirez threatens Stephanie.

Ranger

By the time I left Alpha's office, Tank and Lester were finished searching the apartment building. "Morelli's not there, we searched the whole place" Lester said. "What's next?"

"We need to find out where Ramirez went. Check out his apartment. He's almost certainly not there, but we might find out if he has another place he might go to."

Despite the control I normally had in the face of danger, my stomach was roiling. Somehow, in only a few days, Stephanie Plum had become the most important person in my life. A week ago I hadn't known her. Now I couldn't imagine my life without her.

Now if I were a psychotic vampire, where would I be?

Stephanie

Ramirez wasn't actually a particularly tall man, but with me tied to the bed and helpless he looked about 9 feet high. He grabbed my thigh in one meaty hand and squeezed. I tried to keep from crying out, I really did, but he was so ungodly strong. Once I let out a small scream, he stopped. "I like to hear you scream. I like it a lot. I wonder how long you can do it before you just break?"

Hail Mary, full of grace I started to recite in my head. How long had it been since my last confession? Months? Years? And I had just committed a bunch of new sins too. I knew that dying quickly was the best I could reasonably hope for in this situation. Considering how cruel Ramirez was to random women he picked up off the street, there was no telling what he would do to one who had actually made him mad.

"Of course, I know a way where you can just keep screaming forever. You'll have to do every little thing I command."

He tested the rope binding my arm to the bed. It was secure, and in some kind of Gordian knot I could never hope to untie. He looked at the clock. "Pushing it for time, I'll have to hurry. Too bad, I wanted to start breaking you while you were warm."

I was too terrified to think about what that meant.

Ranger

I was running out of ideas. Hours had passed, and we were no closer to finding her. I slipped away to my truck to think. As I got in I saw the recording equipment. I wanted to hear her voice, not knowing if I'd ever hear it live again. Our voices echoed, ghosts from a few hours ago.

"You don't have to do this. Like I said, there are other ways to get money."

"I don't like leaving things undone."

The sound of the truck door opening, then of her turning and kissing me. A soft moan I hadn't noticed at the time.

I closed my eyes, running my tongue along the small cut the kiss had given me, trying to lock the memories in place.

"Hey, I was wondering, do either of you know Joe Morelli?"

I looked up. The recording had kept playing, and was now covering the conversation Stephanie had while I was getting into position and not listening closely to what she was saying.

"I'll get better ones soon. I'm going to talk to Benito Ramirez, I'm hoping he has some information."

"Ramirez is a scary bastard. Likes to hurt people. Likes to hurt women." Spoke the voice of a woman. Probably from Stark Street, considering the accent. "He took a friend of mine. She didn't want to go, but you don't say no to him. He roughed her up good. She was never the same after that."

For the first time in a while, I had a clue.

Stephanie

Ramirez left the room so fast I couldn't see him. I didn't know how long he would be gone, so I scrambled to do the only thing I could. I dug the transmitter and charging cable out of my hair, grateful it hadn't smashed when I landed on the concrete. At least, there wasn't any external damage. The diode that had previously been green, showing it was transmitting, was dark. Hopefully that just meant it was out of batteries and not broken.

The clock by the bed was the modern kind you find in hotel rooms. A couple of alarms, a sleep function, and 2 USB slots. Maybe my praying to Mary had helped. Was there a patron saint of charging ports? Seemed like there was a big need for one. Way more than Saint Magnus' protection from caterpillars. I plugged the cable in, then dropped the transmitter behind the bed stand, hoping like hell Ramirez wouldn't notice it.

Ranger

I drove to the corner between where I was parked and the gym. Sure enough, there was a large Black woman standing there, her arms wrapped tightly around herself to keep out the chill air.

She perked up as I pulled up to her and lowered the window. "Want to hop in?"

She looked me up and down. Well, as much as was possible from her position. "Mmm, honey, you are a hot one aren't you? Lula's going to take care of you."

Lula. One of the name's on the tape, and the one who was more cooperative. Perfect. I leaned over and opened the door, then turned up the heat full blast. She climbed in, sighing in relief at the temperature change.

I drove to a nearby parking lot, and parked so my back was as close to against a wall as I could get it. "So, what are you looking for tonight?" she started, about to give me her rates. I handed over $300 in cash. It was all I had on me.

"Information, and that's all. You don't have to do anything else."

She looked at me very cautiously. "Information on what?"

I could see her eying the money. Knowing the going rates on Stark Street, it was probably at least a few days income for her, with almost no work. "A few hours ago you told a woman named Stephanie Plum that Benito Ramirez was dangerous. I want to know everything else you've heard about him.

She looked at me skeptically. "What do you want to know, and why?"

Shit. "You said he was dangerous, you were right. He's kidnapped her and I have to get her back."

Lula looked like she was about to bolt. I was desperate to keep her in the car. "Please" I asked. Or maybe begged. "Please just tell me anything you know. Where his hangouts are, or if there's anyone he would go to."

"Are you trying to get my black ass killed? Do you know what he'd do to me if he knew I talked? Because I do. I've seen it firsthand"

The friend. She'd said she had a friend who had been taken by Ramirez. Did I let her know I'd heard the conversation? I needed to get the info as fast as possible, but telling her Stephanie had been bugged might make me soundy creepy and controlling.

"When you say you've seen it firsthand….?"

"He took a friend of mine. Beat her up bad. She's never been the same."

"I'd need to go to an ATM, but I'll give you another $500 if you ask your friend if she remembers anything, anything at all, about where she was. We think he took Stephanie outside Trenton, but we aren't sure."

She looked at me with a evaluative gaze. "This girl means a lot to you, doesn't she."

I nodded. "I should never have let her go question Ramirez without me. But hindsight is 20/20."

She nodded. "You got Venmo? I want to get this over with quick."

Stephanie

With the bug plugged in and hidden, I had a few moments to look around the room. It was decorated in yellow and white and was probably meant to be cheery. Queen size bed shoved against the wall. Chair in the corner. Small decorative dresser with a TV on top of it. That gave me an idea. I opened the drawer in the nightstand and luckily found the remote. I turned on the TV, looking for a station I could bear to have on. The news was too depressing, and sitcoms seemed too lighthearted. I found a channel that played old movies, but when it came back from commercials I saw that it was a marathon of classic vampire flicks. I considered switching, but realized that might be perfect.

Ranger

Lula pulled out her phone to confirm I had transferred the $500. Then she made a call. "Hey hon, how you doing? Yeah, I'm sorry for waking you up, but I can cover your rent for a couple weeks if you help me out with something. When..he… took you, I know it's painful, but do you remember anything about where you were taken? Like, city or rural, or some shit?" She listened for a moment and turned away from me, speaking softly. "I know you don't want to think about it, but he took someone else, and we're trying to find her. I know, I know, I'm sorry to ask you to think about it."

I wasn't exactly trying to listen, but I could hear crying over the phone. In any other circumstance, I would have felt bad. I just didn't have that luxury right now.

"OK, thank you sweety. I know. I'll come see you tomorrow, bring you some groceries, OK?"

Lula hung up and looked at me. "I hope it was worth it putting her through that. All I got is that there wasn't a lot of noise around, so it probably wasn't in a city. The house was nice, not a dinky cabin in the woods or something like that. And she thought she could smell salt."

New Jersey had 141 miles of shore. And while that wasn't counting the multiple inlets and barrier islands. But it did narrow the search to an approximately straight line, instead of a wide area. That made the search much easier, though still huge. I gave Lula my card. "If you hear or remember anything, anything at all, please give me a call."

"Uh huh" she said, looking like she wanted to leave. I tapped a few keys on my phone. Lula looked down at hers. "You accidentally sent the money again."

"Wasn't an accident. Take care of your friend. Do you want to be dropped off here or brought back to your corner?"

Lula left the car, saying she was taking the rest of the night off. I called Lester. "We have a lead, not a great one, but it's a place to start.