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Authors note: Hey, here's the next chapter – tell me what you think!

Chapter 11

So by the evening the next day Val, Albert and the girls were saying their goodbyes and getting into a yellow cab with my father in the drivers seat.

I grinned at them and waved as the car trailed off into the distance.

They were so excited to finally get away and Val kept thanking me over and over. I just nodded and took it all smiling.

I was jutted away from thinking about Val and Albert's holiday of paradise when I heard my phone start ringing. I pulled out my cell from my purse and answered it,

"Stephanie Plum."

"Yo".

Ranger was phoning me…?

"Yo yourself, what's up?" I said, using my usual comeback.

"Got a job proposition for you, interested?"

"Sure, what's the drill?", I said feeling like I owed it to Ranger to do something for him, since I was such a bitch before.

"There's a meeting in RangeMan, conference room 3, be there. It's at 2, babe."

"'k" I said before I realized I was speaking to dial tone.

Looks like his phone habits haven't changed, not even slightly.

I rolled my eyes and put my cell back in my purse, walking towards my truck as I did so.

I looked at my watch; I had a couple of hours before the meeting.

I rolled the engine and drove towards the office.

It would be nice to have a little bit more money in my pocket before I head back to Spain, aside from the load I got yesterday of course – god I'm greedy.

It was 2.05 when I parked up in the RangeMan garage. My skip was slightly reluctant to go to the cop shop until my gun convinced him, but they still took a while.

I waved at the camera and the door opened, it seems Hal hasn't forgotten me yet.

I rushed inside and walked up to Hal's desk.

"What floor are the conference rooms on?" I said fast.

"2nd floor. They've only just gone inside, I'm sure they haven't-

I didn't hear the rest as I speedily ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

I hated being late for things, you miss information which you might need to know.

It's no fun to learn it on your own when there was a possibility you might've already known if you hadn't been late.

I got to the second floor, straightened my clothes and opened the second conference room.

I closed it soundly behind me and turned to see all eyes on me.

Ranger was at the head of the table, fixing me raised eyebrow. To his right was Tank, Lester, Bobby, and Cal. To his right was Junior, Woody, and two other guys I didn't know.

I gave the merry men a finger wave and took a seat next to Cal and looked expectantly at Ranger, as if to say, 'Continue..?'

He blinked then cleared his throat, "Anyway, so Rio is our mission. We need to locate him, and bring him in. This has been specifically asked of by the Trenton PD, so he's a serious psycho."

"Rio Sentrani?" I said to Ranger and he gave held my gaze for a second then nodded slightly.

I bit my lip, I'd heard of Rio and nothing I had heard about him was good. He was one of today's biggest active Mafia leaders. He was so heavily connected, he knew just about every mob boss like a brother, and so they wouldn't hesitate to back him up.

"Anyway as I said, our objective is to bring him in. It's not going to be easy but we can handle this."

No one said anything but I was pretty sure everyone was thinking the same thing,

'Yeah…whatever.'

"The plan is this; Rio has recently been staying at a hostel in west of New Jersey with some associates. He's visiting and so won't be staying longer than a couple of days. Since his stay, he's been a regular at a bar in town, we've had a tip off that he's going to be going there tonight. We are going to get this done quickly and simply. Steph…"

Everyone's attention focused on me, "…is going to be a barmaid and get as much information as possible, while Les is going to be a bouncer with Tank. Bobby, you're going to be just a regular. The rest are going to be all around the place, with Woody and Guy doing the sound and backup. If all goes to plan, Steph will retrieve Rio's trust and he'll ask her to contact him but we'll cross that path when it comes; any questions?" Ranger said looking blatantly at me. I fought the urge to narrow my eyes but I just shrugged and shook my head as did the others.

Ranger ended the meeting then and told everyone to meet up at RangeMan tonight at 9 sharp.

So I didn't have very long to get a barmaid outfit, that consisted of hot but not too slutty.

You'd think that I would have known by now what sort of outfit that would be but alas, I didn't. I was hoping Macys would give me some sort of helpful insight in the matter.

Since I was at RangeMan already though I decided it might be good if I had a couple of hours in the gym so I made my way up the stairs.

I got out of the gym 2 hours later panicking my ass off because I was yet to find an outfit.

I raced to Macy's in my sisters Buick and walked inside, thankful to see it not too busy.

An hour later I was running out hope when I reached my last resort shop. It was a small isolated shop that sold cute dresses that I always passed when I lived in Trenton, I never went in due to the price of the dresses - they were something of a small fortune - but at this moment in time money was not a problem.

I entered the small shop and looked around, gasping constantly at the gorgeous dresses. They weren't really what I was looking for, a little too classy but they were still to die for.

"Hello? How can I help you?"

I jumped back, startled by the voice and looked around to see a small dark skinned, dark haired woman.

The woman smiled at me, "I'm sorry if I startled you. Would you like some help?"

I smiled warmly at her, "I don't know, do you have anything less…classy?" I said knowing I sounded like a slut already.

"I know what you mean, all these dresses seem a little formal am I right?" she said and ushered me towards the back of the shop to show me the perfect dresses.

I gaped at them, "They are all so…pretty!"

She grinned, "Well thank you; I'm the little sister of the designer. She doesn't get many customers, just prissy regulars who don't give a damn about the dresses just how they look on them. Does that make sense?"

I nodded, "I know what you mean, please pass on my compliments to the designer, she is very, very talented."

The woman beamed at me, "I will. So would you like to try one on?"

"Would I...can I try this one on." I said pointing to the dress in question.

The woman nodded and rustled the rack, holding up a dress.

"How did you know my size?"

"Honey, I guessed."

I took the dress of her and tried it on in the dressing room.

I checked in the mirror and gasped, holy shit.

I looked more than hot.

I looked fucking smoking.

I took it off and brought it to the cashier smiling again at the woman.

"I love it!" I said to her as I got out my credit card.

She smiled, "Glad to hear it." And took my credit card off me to swipe.

"May I ask for the designer's name? I really like her stuff." I said grinning.

"It's Celia, and mine is May. I'm happy you like it. Please come again. It's nice to see new faces." She said handing me a bag and my credit card.

"I will, don't worry. I'll make sure to get the word around too. Thanks!" I said and I walked out of the shop some what happier.

I managed to find some FMPs to match and some new lingerie from Victoria Secret too.

I was well prepared for tonight I was happy to say.

I stopped at the food court and bought a big baguette with everything in it, excluding the chili peppers and anchovies – their just nasty.

I was just finishing it off in the car when I glanced at the clock and almost screamed.

It was 6. I only had 2 ½ hours to get ready and it would take me at least a quarter of an hour to get to RangeMan with all green lights.

I rolled the engine quickly and sped away towards Val's apartment hoping time would stop for me.

TBC

Authors note: Hope you liked it. Tell me what you thought – please?