The characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I just borrowed them for a bit. Any errors are mine.
Ranger picked up the phone on his desk. "Report."
"Boss, all the trackers on Bombshell just disappeared off the screen. We tried her house phone since her cell tracker disappeared and there was no answer."
"What about her car?" He stood getting ready to head over to Stephanie's apartment.
"It's in the lot of her building." Ranger hung up and walked out of his office. As he passed Tank's office, he stopped just long enough for Tank to see they were heading out.
When they got in the vehicle, Ranger filled Tank in.
"I'm sure she's fine." Tank said.
Ranger just sat there in silence as they made their way to Stephanie's.
When they pulled into the lot, they both jumped out of the vehicle, pulling out their guns as they entered the building. They ran up the stairs to the 2nd floor. Nothing looked out of place when they got to the landing. The door to her apartment was closed. Tank covered Ranger as Ranger made quick work of the locks on Stephanie's door. When they entered the kitchen, they smelled the remnants of a fire. They followed the smell until they found a garbage can filled with her bag and her cell phone in the bathroom tub. The shower curtain had been removed. No chance of the fire getting out of control.
Ranger walked out of the bathroom and went to her bedroom. Tank followed looking around.
"Doesn't look like there was any sign of a struggle." Tank stated.
"Because there wasn't. She set that fire." Tank looked at him blankly as he watched Ranger's shoulder's slump. "Her clothes are gone. She's in the wind."
Before Tank could say anything, they heard someone else enter the apartment. They went back to the kitchen with their weapons drawn.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Morelli asked. Ranger and Tank dropped their guns.
"Steph's trackers went off line. We thought there was trouble." Ranger said. Joe looked at Ranger confused.
"You keep trackers on her?" Ranger just stared at him blankly. "Ok, well where is she?" Joe asked. Ranger shrugged.
"Wherever she is, it's not here."
"I don't get it, she told me to meet me here at 7pm and I get here, she's not here and you are. What the hell?" Morelli yelled.
"Not sure what is going on, but whatever is, Stephanie's gone. All her clothes are gone."
"What!"
"See for yourself." Joe rushed past them.
"This doesn't make any sense. She wouldn't just leave."
"Maybe you shouldn't have given her an ultimatum." Joe glared at Ranger.
"She told you? What else did she tell you? What did you say to her?" Joe took a step towards Ranger. Ranger took a step towards Morelli. Tank stepped in between them.
"I didn't say anything to her." Ranger started taking another step towards Morelli. Tank put his arms out to keep the two men apart.
"You two are both idiots. But getting into it right now is not the answer." Both men glared at each other. Then glared at Tank and then took a step back.
"Let's get back to Rangeman." Ranger said. He took one more glance at Joe and they left.
"When we get back to Rangeman, I want a report on where she was all day today after she left Rangeman this morning." Ranger told his second.
"What happened with the two of you this morning."
"That's need to know info and right now there is no need to know."
"She burned all her trackers! And she left behind her car. I think that makes it a need to know." Ranger turned and glared at Tank. Tank glared back but didn't say another word.
Thirty minutes after they got back to Rangeman, Lester walked in Ranger's office with the report on Stephanie.
"The only thing that stands out is her stop here on Stark Street. Uncle Nino's. He's known to deal in cars and papers." Lester said as he handed copies of the reports to Ranger and Tank. "Don't know how Bombshell would know that though."
"Lula" Tank stated. "She still has a lot of contacts from her days as a ho."
"We can hit up the bond office in the morning." Ranger says. "Until then watch her bank account and credit cards." Lester handed them another piece of paper.
"Already done. She cleaned out her bank account this afternoon. Bombshell had a nice little nest egg hidden. Not enough to stay hidden forever, but enough to get her out of the Burg."
"It looks like she had a big deposit 2 weeks ago, 25g's. Didn't think she had any big skips lately." Tank said.
"That was a check from her grandmother. We can check with her about that as well tomorrow." Lester stated.
"Anything else?" Ranger asked.
"Yeah, what was Morelli's ultimatum?" Lester inquired. Tank looked at Ranger. Ranger looked down at his feet.
"He told her she had to quit her job, stay away from me and marry him or they were through for good." Lester never one to let things go.
"And she came here to tell you! What did you say?" If looks could kill, Lester would be dead from the glare he received from Ranger.
Lester taking the hint, went back to work.
"You and Morelli are really both idiots." Tank said as he stood and left Ranger's office.
"I know." Ranger whispered to himself.
8 hours earlier….
Stephanie was waiting for the cops to come to the home of her latest skip. Malcolm White was running a meth lab out of his home. While Stephanie and Lula were trying to apprehend him, he called Lula fat. Lula always over reacted when being called fat, pulled out her gun and shot at him. Lula being the worst shot in the world, missed Malcolm and hit the bunsen burner that was in the kitchen. That caused a small explosion which caused the kitchen curtains to catch fire, which in the end, ended up causing the whole house to explode.
Thankfully they had all managed to get out alive, just some scrapes and cuts when they divided behind her latest POS to protect themselves before the explosion. At least her car didn't blow up this time.
Her phone buzzed and sighed as she picked up. "Babe, you're in a red zone."
"My skips house exploded. I'm ok." she said.
"Good to know." and he disconnected. Stephanie knew that would be the easier of the two conversations she'd have to have with the men in her life. The next one would definitely be more difficult and then she'd have to deal with her mom.
She saw Morelli pull up. As he got out of the car, he pulled some Tums out of his pocket and threw a few in his mouth.
"Are you ok?" He asked her, looking her up and down. She nodded as he pulled her into a hug. "Cupcake, I can't deal with this anymore." He said as he kissed her forehead. "I'm waiting for the call to tell me you were blown up."
"It wasn't my fault Joe." she said as she pushed away from him.
"It never is." He was getting angry. "When are you going to be done with this already?"
"Joe this is my job."
"And I'm over it." Stephanie just rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time they were having this fight.
"So what do you want from me Joe." He reached into his pocket and took something out. He took her hand and placed it in her hand. She looked down and she was holding an engagement ring.
"Quit your job, stop working for Rangeman on the side and marry me." Stephanie glared at him.
"This is how you propose?"
"Hey at least i have a ring this time."
"And if i say no?"
"Then we are through." Stephanie huffed. She couldn't make this decision right now, right here. She couldn't believe he got her a ring, but it came with a lot of stipulations.
"Can I have some time to think about it?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"How much time?"
"Till tonight. You can meet me at my place at 7. I'll have an answer for you." He looked down at his feet.
"Yeah I guess I can do that." She held the ring out to him.
"Until then I think you should hold on to this. Who knows what else can happen today." Joe reluctantly took the ring back but knew it was safer with him than with her until it was on her finger and she was no longer a bounty hunter.
"Be safe Cupcake. I'll see you later." She gave him a quick kiss, then got into her POS and left.
After she dropped off her skip at TPD, she was planning on heading back to the office with her body receipt, but she somehow ended up outside Rangeman's office building. She didn't pull into the garage but sat outside the front in her car.
Her phone buzzed. "Are you coming in Babe?"
"Do you have time to talk to me?" She asked Ranger.
"I have the next hour free."
"I'll be up in a minute." and she heard him disconnect. She used her FOB to drive into the underground parking garage and pulled into one of Ranger's 4 personal spots. She got in the elevator and did a little finger wave at the camera as she made her way to the 5th floor where Ranger's office was.
When the elevator door opened, he was waiting there for her. "Let's talk on 7 Babe." She nodded and he joined her in the elevator.
When they got to 7, she followed him into his apartment and into his kitchen. "What's going on?" he asked as opened the fridge and grabbed two water bottles.
"Morelli asked me to marry him." Stephanie blurted out. Stephanie just watched his face and there was no change as he handed her one of the waters.
"What did you say?"
"I asked him if i could think about it."
"What's there to think about?"
"He wants me to quit my job and Rangeman."
"So he wants you to cut me out of your life."
"Basically." Ranger just stood there not saying anything. "How do you feel about that?"
"Babe."
"You have to feel a certain way Ranger. How do you feel if you could never see me again?"
"I wouldn't like it, but if you decide to marry Morelli, I'd respect your wishes and his."
"Just like that."
"Babe."
"Oh my god Ranger. I understand you aren't one for words, but I think more is required right now." Stephanie glared at him.
"You know how it is Babe." Stephanie looked down and shook her head.
"You can give me up that easily? And for some reason I thought I meant more to you being that you are so intent on keeping me safe."
"I won't stop you from doing what makes you happy." Stephanie looked up at him.
"And what if you make me happy?"
"I don't know if we can ever have our someday." he stated, keeping his face void of all emotion.
The tears slowly started to stream down Stephanie's face. She wiped them away. Without another word, she walked out of his apartment. She was determined to keep a strong face on as she left. She didn't want the guys in the control room to see her crying in the elevator.
She got in her POS, drove a few blocks away and pulled over. She couldn't see past the tears streaming down her face.
She loved two men and she hated both of them right now. How dare Joe give her an ultimatum. Why couldn't he see she could never be just a Burg housewife. Why couldn't he accept her for who she was. Then maybe they could be happy. And how dare Ranger just willingly give her up. She knew he loved her in his own way. He wouldn't track her or keep giving her cars if he didn't care. He was her superhero.
She needed out of the Burg and quickly. It was now almost 12pm. She had 7 hours to come up with a plan and get the hell out of Dodge. As she put her car in drive, she started to formulate a plan. Lula and Connie would have connections, but she'd need cash, so her first stop was the bank.
"Where's Vinnie?" Stephanie asked as she walked into the bond office.
"He's in Atlantic City for some convention." Connie stated. Stephanie walked over to the desk and handed her the body receipt for Malcolm.
"Any way you can pay me in cash for that?" Connie and Lula looked at her quizzically.
"You've never asked for cash before. What's up?" Stephanie sat down in the chair opposite Connie's desk.
"I need help from the two of you. I need a new identity and a new car and a burner phone so i can keep in touch with you and my family and some other select people. I need to get out of the Burg for a while."
"Uh white girl, you need to tell us what the hell happened in the last hour or so since I saw you. As far as I know it was just a typical day." Lula said. Stephanie blew a curl out of her face.
"Yeah until Joe proposed to me at the scene and gave me an ultimatum."
"NO WAY!" Lula exclaimed
"Did he get down on one knee?" Connie asked.
"No, he handed me a ring, told me he couldn't deal with this shit anymore, and said I had to choose, marry him or still be a bounty hunter."
"What did you say?"
"I told him I needed to think about it. He also wanted me to cut Ranger out of my life, and I didn't think I could do that."
"Huhn" Lula stated. "So you went to talk to Batman after I'm guessing?" Stephanie sucked in a deep breath. She was not going to cry again, well not right now anyway.
"Yeah and he was fine with giving me up with no issues."
"I find that hard to believe." Connie stated.
"Well he didn't stop me from leaving or tell me I shouldn't marry Joe." Connie and Lula were pissed.
"Well you tell us what you need and we got your back. Forget about those two idiots." Lula said.
"That's easier said than done. But getting out of the Burg will help until I can figure out my life. I got cash, a lot of it. Grandma Mazur gave me a portion of my inheritance. She said it was the same amount she gave Valerie to help her buy the house with Albert. So it should be able to get me a car and an identity quickly. I want to leave tonight."
"Well then let's get to it."
Several hours later….
It was 6pm. Lula was picking her up in front of her building in a half hour. She would light the fuse when she walked out the door and by the time she was picking up her new ride, Ranger and Joe would be at her apartment and see that she was gone.
She spoke to her grandmother, who would tell her family. She would call them once she was settled somewhere south of here.
She didn't know where she was going to go yet, but she didn't care. That part will figure itself out.
She was no longer going to be Stephanie Plum. She was going to be Amy Kline. Connie was able to get her the id and social security quickly and Lula got her a great deal on a car. It was probably stolen, but she needed something reliable not her typical POS. She would change cars when she got settled.
"So white girl. You be safe."
"Thanks Lula, i really appreciate all you've done for me." The two ladies hugged.
"Call me and Connie when you get settled." Stephanie got in her new car and left the Burg.
***two weeks later***
Ranger parked his car outside the bond office. He grunted when he saw Morelli's green SUV in front of him.
Morelli rolled his eyes, when he saw Ranger's car pull up. Ranger got out and then met in front of the office.
"I'm assuming you haven't heard from her." Morelli asked Ranger.
"Not a word."
"I'm also assuming she's safe?" Ranger shrugged.
"I'm assuming the same thing since it seems her friends and family are not reporting her missing. You must have gotten the same call I did, to come here to get info on her." Morelli nodded. He grabbed the door to the bond office and walked in with Ranger behind him.
"Well well well. If it isn't Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum." Lula exclaimed.
"Cut the shit Lula." Morelli said. Lula stood up.
"Don't you tell me to cut the shit Office Hottie. You and Batman hear both royally screwed up, that our friend left town to get the way from your sorry fine asses." Connie rolled her eyes at Lula's comments. Morelli looked like he was about to kill Lula and Ranger just stood there with no emotion on his face. Connie wondered how he did it.
"You have info for us?" Ranger asked Connie, ignoring Lula's rant. Connie picked up two envelopes and handed one to Ranger and one to Joe.
"She sent us these to give to you." Ranger took his envelope and left.
"She didn't have to leave." Joe said.
"Yes she did." Connie stated. And Joe walked out of the office.
Ranger pulled away from the bond office. He waited until he found a secluded spot to pull over and open the envelope.
Dear Ranger,
I guess you aren't surprised I could disappear without a trace being that I learned from the best over the years watching you. Sorry I had to leave without saying good-bye, but I was angry and I was tired of crying over you and Joe. I know you told me plenty of times that your life didn't lend itself to relationships, but to me action speaks louder than words, and you saving me over and over and over told me you loved me. Hell you jumped off a bridge once to save my life. Who does that. You always encouraged me to be me. So for you to just say you would be fine with me no longer in your life cut me deeper than anything. I love you. But I need time away from you, away from the Burg, away from Joe. I need to find out who I am and what I want out of life. I need the time to get over you so that when I get back I hope that we can be friends. I can't see my life not having you in it in some way. I know that you won't stop looking for me, but I think I did a good job of covering my tracks, so I don't think you'll be able to find me. I'm sorry again.
Yours always,
Stephanie
Ranger just sat there reading the letter over and over knowing he messed up. Maybe one day he'd be able to get her to forgive him and fix the biggest mistake he ever made.
Meanwhile across town, Joe pulled into his driveway. He strolled into his house and walked around Bob. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, let Bob out back and pulled out the envelope.
Dear Joe,
An ultimatum? Really? I guess you don't truly know me as well as I thought you did. I guess if you did, we'd probably be married already instead of the merry go round of our relationship.
I just want you to know I love you. But I can never be the woman you want. I will never be a housewife. And to be honest, I don't know if i'm cut out for Motherhood. This isn't how I expected our relationship to end but I needed to get out of the Burg and away from everything for awhile. You'll always be in my heart as you were my first love, but I think we need to take this as a final break. Find the woman that wants what you want. We both know that its not me. I'll be back in the Burg eventually. I don't know when, I have a lot of things I need to work through. I hope that when I return, we can be friends.
Best wishes,
Stephanie
Joe knew she was right. They were each other's first loves and trying to fit round pegs in square holes. He hoped that when she did return they could be friends. He would use this time to heal from the loss of her. And move on.
It had been six months since Stephanie left New Jersey. She found a great apartment on the beach in North Carolina. She got lucky and found a security firm to work for that wasn't' associated with Rangeman. She was part of their research team and had been training to go in the field.
She now surprisingly carried 2 guns on her every day and hasn't had a car blow up or rolled in garbage since taking the new job. And she was loving it.
Her phone buzzed and she saw it was her boss. "Yo." she answered.
"I need you to come into the office. I have to talk to you about something.." John said.
"Ok, should I be worried?" John never asked her to come in for a talk.
"It's nothing to be worried about. But we need to talk in person asap."
"I can be there in 10."
"Perfect." and he hung up. She was used to people not saying goodbye before hanging up. Hell she was doing it sometimes. She grabbed her bag and headed to the office.
Stephanie pulled up outside of the headquarters. Like Rangeman it was a plain building that you would never know housed a state of the art security firm. She pulled into the underground garage and headed up to the 5th and top floor where her bosses office was.
She knocked. "Enter." John called out.
"Hey." She said as she walked in.
"Have a seat." She kept her face blank, another trick she picked up over the last couple of months, but her insides were going crazy. She was worried about what he wanted to talk to her about.
"So I received a call from a colleague of mine, looking for someone. I was surprised when he sent me over the picture of this woman named Stephanie Plum. She kind of looks like an employee of mine named Amy Kline." Stephanie sank back in the chair.
"You know Ranger?" She asked.
"We've worked together occasionally when we have skips in each other's territory. When I asked what this was in regards to, he said it was a personal matter."
"Did you tell him you knew me?" John stared at me for a minute.
"No, I told him you didn't look familiar, but I would keep an eye out. I worked with Ranger, but I don't know him personally. You, I know personally. I wanted to talk to you first. Hoping there is a good explanation and I didnt want to lose a good employee." Stephanie sighed. "Did he hit you?" Stephanie sat up straight.
"No!" She exclaimed. "Nothing like that!"
"So then what."
"It's going to sound childish." John smiled. The woman in front of him, never surprised him with her stories.
"Just split it Kline."
"Fine." Stephanie got up and walked to the fridge in the corner of his office. She grabbed two beers and handed her boss one. "We need to have a drink while I tell you the tale of me, Ranger and my ex-boyfriend, Trenton PD cop Joe Morelli."
A few beers and a few hours later, John had the whole story.
"Well I'm impressed, Kline. I didn't know someone could blow up so many cars and still have car insurance." He laughed.
"They only covered me for liability after the third one." She sighed. "But my karma here has been much better. I still have the same car I had when I came into town."
"So what are you going to do now?"
"I'm not ready to go back. I hear Joe finally has moved on. He's been dating a nurse for a couple of weeks now. But Ranger" she trailed off.
"Listen I don't want to lose you as an employee and a friend, but you're not going to get over Ranger being here. You need to face that head on in Jersey. Morelli well that was definitely a different situation. Sounds like you both wanted out but neither wanted you to pull the trigger."
"I know you're right, but I'm just not ready."
"Your secret's safe with me Kline."
"Thanks John. I appreciate it." They both stood. John hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
"See you tomorrow. Go get some McDonald's so you don't have a hangover tomorrow." The both laughed as Stephanie walked out.
****a few months later****
Stephanie pulled up to her town house. As she walked to the door her spidey sense kicked in and she felt that something was off. She pulled out her gun and held it at her side as she unlocked the door. She pushed the door open and pointed her gun into the house. As she passed the door, a pair of hands grabbed the gun and disarmed her. The assailant grabbed her from behind. She managed to turn her hip and use his weight against him and rolled him over her. As she came down with a knee on his chest, she pulled out the gun in her ankle holster. As she managed to get the gun pointed at him, the assailant was pointing her other gun at her.
When her eyes focused, she realized her assailant was Ranger. She lowered her gun and he lowered her gun that he had pointed at her.
"Ranger, what the hell!" She rolled off his chest and sat on the floor next to him.
"Two guns Babe?" He asked as he sat up. She just rolled her eyes at him. "Impressive take down."
"Thanks. I've been practicing." She wasn't looking at him. He reached over and put a hand under her chin.
"You look good."
"So do you." She stared at him, keeping her face void of emotion. Matching his look. "How'd you find me?"
"Santos saw you when he came to pick up a skip from Mustang Securities."
"Damn it! Where? I avoided the office and all the surrounding areas for days when John told me a Rangeman was coming down to collect Brown."
"You know John?" He raised an eyebrow at her. She slowly stook up. Ranger followed.
"Yeah, I work for him. I'm the one who apprehended Brown for you."
"You did?"
"Yeah. don't look so surprised. I'm not the same person you knew." He looked her up and down slowly taking in all the new curves and weaponry.
"I can see that."
"And don't you dare go after John for not telling you about me. He was doing me a favor."
"You knew?"
"He told me you sent him a picture looking for someone for personal reasons. He didn't want to lose me as an employee."
"Just an employee?" Ranger asked. Not wanting to really know the answer. It has been months. It really wasn't his business. But he needed to know. She turned and glared at him and he was about to smile. He had missed her so much. And when she was angry she had this glow about her.
"Not that it's any of your business, but yes just as an employee. As you saw, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. I'm a vital part of Mustang Securities."
"Babe."
"How come Lester didn't approach me when he saw me?"
"Because he knew if he did and you went in the wind again and I found out, I'd kill him."
"He's family, Ranger."
"Doesn't matter. It's been a long 8 months. I needed you found." She looked up at him and stared, trying to read him.
"Why? What difference does it make. You were ready to cut me out of your life in Trenton, I made it easy for you to do and not have to worry about bumping into me." She got mad and didn't want to look at him anymore. She turned and was looking out the window at the ocean. The ocean always put her at ease.
He slowly walked up and stood behind her. He wanted to wrap his hands around her waist and pull him to her. But he didn't want to end up on the floor again.
"Yeah but in Trenton I could have groveled for the last eight months and asked for your forgiveness. You living made me realize, I couldn't live without you in my life. You were right in your letter. I do love you and I showed you the only way I knew how. I was a coward when you came to my office and told me Morelli proposed. I thought that was what you wanted. You always went back to him."
"You always pushed me back to him." she whispered. Ranger put his hands on her hip. She she didn't fight it, he wrapped them around her waist and pulled her to him.
"Not always. But I did tell you I didn't do relationships and you were always trying to make everyone else happy and fit into their mold. I wanted you to see that you didn't' need a piece of paper to be happy. The last eight months have been torture. My men hate dealing with me because I've been miserable. But I see you came into your own." THey both just stood tehre in each other's company.
"Are you happy here?" Ranger asked.
"Yes." Stephanie felt Ranger's shoulder's slump.
"Were you ever going to come back?"
"Funny coincidence, I was just coming back from the office. I gave my notice to John."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he told me something a couple of months ago when he confronted me about who I was. He said that I would never get over you while I was here. And he was right." Ranger stepped back from Stephanie. She turned around to look at him.
"You were coming back to New Jersey to get over me?" She finally saw a hint of emotion on his face. He looked sad.
"I was coming back to New Jersey to kick your ass for not being man enough to tell me how you feel. If you still wouldn't be man enough to tell me then yeah, i would have moved on to getting over you." He smirked at her.
"Babe, really, kick my ass?" Stephanie took a step towards him filling the space he put in between them.
"I think I'd hold my own. I did take you down." She put her arms around his neck.
"Yes, that and the guns, all very sexy. I didn't know if i was mad at myself for letting you take me down or turned on for how hot you looked doing it." Stephanie smiled up at him.
"So what's it going to be Ranger. Are you going to be a man and finally tell me how you feel? Or do I have to come back to Jersey to get over you."
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. "The only getting over me you'll be doing is if you're on top when we're in bed babe." He went to lean in to kiss her and she turned her cheek. "Babe?"
"I know I said action speak louder than words, but I still need to hear those words Ranger." He shot her his thousand watt smile and whispered in her ear.
"I love you Babe." She smiled as her lips met his.
"I love you too Ranger." And then he showed her just how much he did love her.
