Chappie 2

Twenty-four hours passed by slowly but surely. I was allowed to walk around a little but I had to have someone with me. Lester Santos was assigned to watch over me. He was 21 years old, and of course he was amazing looking. Mostly we just played cards. Lester was the easiest to talk to because he was the youngest. I found out that the Ricardo guy was known as Ranger and that he was the boss. The other guy from the SUV was known as Tank. At random intervals of the day guys poked their head in to see the teenager the boss had dragged in. I met a bunch of guys. Ranger's brother Jordan, Cal, Junior, Eric, and a guy who's name I didn't catch to I called him Cement-Head

Finally the twenty-four hours were up and I kicked everyone out of my room so I could sleep. Six hours later I was woken up by none other than the boss himself.

"Whadda ya want?" I groaned, trying to turn away from the blinding light.

"We're leaving. Your plane leaves in two hours."

I was dragged out of bed and my newly washed clothes were handed to me. I kicked Ranger out of my room so I could use the little attached shower. Ranger was waiting for me in the hallway. I followed him down to the garage, gladly taking the elevator because I was still pretty weak. When I inquired about food, Ranger said we'd stop at a McDonald's or something. I guess he wanted to get rid of me. Oh well, I guess I don't really blame him.

We were passing my hotel when I suddenly remembered I'd left my messenger bag in my room. It was the only thing I'd taken with me. Three bras, three panties, two extra shirts, a wad of money, a pocketknife, a handful of granola bars, my cell phone, pens, a bottle of water, a deck of cards, and an atlas were all I had taken when I left two and a half weeks ago.

"FUCK! Go back!" I yelled at Ranger.

"Why?" he asked me, looking at me like I was crazy. I probably was.

"I left my bag in my hotel. I need to go get it."

Ranger did a U-turn and pulled up to the curb in front of the front door. He idled while I rushed up to my room to grab my stuff. I didn't bother handing my key back to the front desk. There was a good possibility I'd be back within the week.

"Got everything?" Ranger asked when I climbed into the passenger seat of his Porsche.

"Yup," I said, "Hey is this the Porsche I stole?" I asked, looking over at Ranger.

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. It was first time I'd seen him come close to smiling. "Yeah, I thought it'd be a nice send-off."

"Cool. You know you probably shouldn't leave it just sitting at the curb, doors open with the keys dangling from the ignition. That was stupid."

"There was an emergency and I needed to get into the building fast. I didn't have any time to take the keys or close the door."

"Well you could have at least driven it into the garage."

"I had someone watching it for me. Maybe I should fire him."

"That would be mean. I think he's probably embarrassed enough having a kid steal a car right from under his nose."

This time the smile was full on. And omijeezus was that smile gorgeous. I think I might have fainted.

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Twenty minutes later we were at the airport, I was checked in, had my pocketknife taken away, and Ranger was sitting with me at the terminal. People were giving us weird looks 'cause I was covered with bruises and cuts. Most of them were shooting Ranger dirty looks, probably because they thought he did it. Ranger had left his weapons in the Porsche and I could tell he felt vulnerable.

"You know you could just hide a blackjack in your boot. That's what I do," I said, breaking the silence.

Ranger glanced over at me. I reached down into my boot and pulled out my little sap. It was a short, rounded piece of wood, good for knocking on heads. Being a teenage girl all alone in a strange place meant I needed to have some sort of weapon to fend off the psychos. Lord knows how many times I'd had to use it already.

"I've never thought of that," Ranger said, taking the blackjack from me, "Doesn't it get uncomfortable?"

"For the first few days, yeah, but if you get one that's small enough but still dangerous you get used to it." I took my blackjack back and stuck it in back into my boot, behind my foot. "The best part is, if I lose my pocket-knife at an airport I still have a weapon 'cause it's wood."

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"Rows 30-34 now boarding," the lady over the intercom said. My seat was in row 33. I stood up and yawned, turning to Ranger, who had also stood up.

"Well, Ranger old chap, it's been a pleasure," I said, sticking out my hand.

Ranger smiled and took it. "A pleasure."

A thought struck me as I took my seat. I dug through my bag, searching for the card I swiped from Ranger's wallet. I found his cell number and used my phone to call it.

"Yo," Ranger answered.

"Say, what were you thinking when I stole your car?"

"First I was thinking how badly I was going to hurt you, but then once I spoke to you on the phone, I was thinking 'shit, this kid has balls'."

I laughed and disconnected because the lady on the intercom was saying no cell phones or electronics on at this time.

So I guess I was going back to Trenton. Oh well. I'll just buy a ticket to Nepal or something once I land. I looked out over Miami as the plane flew higher, figuring that I'd never see Ranger or Tank or Lester or Bobby ever again. Boy, was I ever wrong.

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I was in Key West, and what a beautiful place that was. Sunny and gorgeous, it was like a mix between a small town and a jungle. Chickens roamed the streets, there were hardly any cars, and the food was pretty wonderful. But I wasn't enjoying the sights right then. Nope, I was being hauled in for driving drunk, driving without a license, and auto theft. Now, I can hold my liquor. I can do anything while I'm drunk. So the problem wasn't that I was driving recklessly, I just got pulled over because the cop thought I flipped him off or something. When he asked for my license and registration I told him I didn't know where the registration was seeing as it wasn't even my car. That didn't make Mr. Cop happy, so he hauled me in.

"Don't I get one phone call?" I asked, leaning on the bars of my jail cell. I saw the cop searching my bag on the other side of the room, at his desk. He was pulling out everything, probably looking for drugs or something.

"Hey ya know I'd appreciate if you wouldn't go through my underwear." I said. The cop looked up and glared at me, telling me to shut up and that he'd get to me in a second.

So I leaned back on my little cot and stared at the ceiling. Ten minutes later the cell door was opened. "One phone call," said the cop, leading me to his desk.

I sat there, staring at the phone, wondering who to call. It was two o'clock in the afternoon. I didn't want to call my parents. I could call Charlie, a guy I met in Tallahassee a few weeks ago, but I didn't know his number. I looked over at a stack of phone books leaning against the wall. I looked back at the phone. I knew Key West zip code, I could just dial a random number and tell whoever picked up to come and get me.

"Well?" snapped the cop, wrenching me back into reality.

Without thinking, I reached into the pile of my stuff on the cop's desk and grabbed a white business card. I flipped it over and stared at it.

Ricardo Carlos Manoso

Rangeman LLC

Under that was two phone numbers. A cell number and a work number. I chose the cell number.

"Yo," a familiar voice answered. I had met the owner of that voice three days ago in Miami.

"Hey Uncle Carlos, it's Jamie." I figured only family members could come bail me out of jail, and Carlos sounded more Uncle-esque.

"Jamie," Ranger said, sounding exasperated.

"Yup, it's me. Anywho, I was wondering where you are right now."

"I'm in Miami, Jamie, what do you want?"

"Well, you see Uncle Carlos, I kinda stole a car and now I'm at the Key West county jail and I was wondering if you'd come get me. I would call Dad but you know how he is, he'd have a heart attack if he found out I'd gotten arrested. So whadda ya say?"

"Christ Jamie, do you think I'm going to come all the way down to Key West to bail you out of jail for stealing another car?"

"Yes. Please," I said. I knew he would do it. He liked me. I could tell.

An audible sigh escaped his mouth. "I'll be there in two hours. You're lucky I have a job down there tonight or I wouldn't be coming."

"Sure you wouldn't. Thanks Uncle Carlos. See you in a couple of hours."

"I'm going to need to see your birth certificate to make sure you're really family," the cop told me.

"Oh and Uncle Carlos, could you bring my birth certificate? The cop says he needs to make sure you're family."

"I'll have one," Ranger said and he disconnected. I put the phone onto the receiver and looked at the cop.

"He'll be here in a couple hours," I said. The cop locked me back into the jail cell and I flopped onto the cot and went to sleep.

"Jamie, your uncle is here," I heard the cop say. I sat up and sure enough there was Ricardo Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger, standing with the cop. He stood there in his glorious hotness, with mocha latte skin wearing a painted on black shirt and black cargo pants with big black combat boots. I winked at him and stood up.

"Hey Uncle Carlos," I said. The cop opened the cell door and I came out, standing next to Ranger. The cop asked for my birth certificate and Ranger's ID. Ranger handed it over. The cop inspected it and nodded his approval, handing it back to Ranger. The cop gathered my stuff together, gave me slip of paper that said I was to be in court in ten days, and dismissed us.

"How much was the bail?" I asked, climbing into the front seat of a shiny black SUV.

"Eight hundred. You owe me."

"Yeah I know." I caught a glance at the birth certificate. My birthday and time of birth were all correct but the name was Jamie Manoso instead of Plum.

"Cool. I'm a Manoso now."

Ranger's mouth twitched but he didn't respond.

"So where are we going?"

"I'm staying in a hotel on Duval," Ranger said. He stopped at an intersection and he turned to me. "I know how you can pay me back."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh yeah? How?"

"I need to lure a guy out of a bar tonight, and I expect it would be easier if he came willingly instead of me or Tank dragging him out."

"And?"

"And I think he wouldn't suspect anything if a hot, young woman caught his attention and led him out."

I snorted and laughed to hide the fact that my face was turning bright red. "You think I'm hot? Are you kidding me? I haven't got any boobs." Okay, so that wasn't entirely true, I was a 32B.

Ranger flicked his eyes over at me. "I beg to differ," he said.

Even brighter red. I didn't even know it was medically possible to blush that much. "And besides," I continued, "I'm seventeen. I'm not even a legal adult. You could get arrested for thinking that." Not that I minded.

"I thought you were sixteen."

"My birthday was yesterday."

Ranger pressed the accelerator and drove through the intersection. "Happy birthday," he said softly.

The rest of the drive was silent. I was thinking maybe it wasn't a bad idea to do this job for Ranger. I did owe him a favor, and at least he hadn't asked for anything gross, right?

Ranger pulled into a parking space in front of a small hotel. He turned off the car and I turned and looked at him. "So what goes into this whole luring-criminal-out-of-bar thing?"

"You go in looking sexy enough to catch the guy's attention. Then you flirt enough so you keep his attention. Don't worry; you'd be wearing a wire. And then you ask him if he wants to go somewhere quieter. The instant you get him outside the door Tank or I will slap on the cuffs."

Hmm. It sounded fun.

"And don't worry about getting into the bar, I can get you a fake ID."

I laughed out loud. "Hell, you won't have to worry about that. I've had a fake ID since I left home," I said, grinning at him, "Why do you think I got arrested?"

"For stealing a car?"

"Well yeah, that too, but also cause I was drunk outta my mind. And I still am."

Ranger shook his head and opened the driver's side door. I climbed out of the SUV with my bag and followed him into the hotel.

"You know I'm going to have to go shopping for clothes if I have to look sexy," I said to Ranger when we were in the elevator, "And I haven't got any money."

"Rangeman will pay," he said simply.

Cool.

The elevator binged open on floor three. I followed Ranger down the hall and into room 315. We went in and there was Tank, Lester, Bobby, and Jordan all sitting around a table playing cards. They all looked up when the door opened and grinned when they saw me, calling out greetings.

"Howdy," I said. I looked around the room. A queen-sized bed, mini kitchen. "You don't all share this room, do you?"

Lester grinned at me. "Nah, Ranger is alone in this room, me an' Bobby got the one next door, and Jordan and Tank are across the hall."

There was a door adjoining Bobby and Lester's room with Ranger's. "Ah. Okay, 'cause that would-a been a little creepy, no offense."

"Jamie is our secret weapon," Ranger said from behind me, "She's going to be luring Winston out of the bar tonight."

I smiled as the boys laughed. "Yeah so I need to go shopping for a sexy dress, anyone want to join me?"