Thank you to all who have read, favourited and/or reviewed the story! And the characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them. I hope I have thanked the persona leaving a review, while logged in, personally. If not I'm sorry for missing you, but I read each and every review!
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Chapter 8. New directions
Two days later she was back in Trenton. She had found a cheap motel, and had just tried to relax. She had spent the two days mostly on the beach, and had finally acquired a more healthy skin tone. She in no way had a tan, but she no longer looked like she had been inside the whole summer.
Stephanie had listened to the messages on her phone. Thirty seven was from her mum - mostly variations of 'why me', one from the solicitor who said the will reading would be the next week, and two was just someone breathing, not saying anything. She strongly suspected the latter was from Joe Morelli, but since the number was blocked and he didn't say anything she couldn't prove anything. She wrote them down on her Morelli-list anyway. Eddie Gazarra had also left a message, where he told her that Joe would be out of Trenton until the end of October.
Steph had also talked with Mary Lou, who said that she had done her best to set the Burg right about Edna's funeral, being careful to give Val credit too. She said that the fact that Stephanie hadn't been in any incidents for a while also helped her case against Helen.
On her way home she stopped at the supermarket and bought some food. The stay at the beach had been a splurge, and now she needed to live a bit more frugally again. She didn't regret it though, she really had needed her time away from Trenton. Thankfully she didn't run into anyone she knew at the market, and drove home with her windows down to let in the balmy evening air, and in a good mood.
x
Her apartment was the same as she had left it, no visitors, and the locks looked untampered with. She put the groceries away and went to sleep early. The next day she braved the creepy laundry room in the basement, and also cleaned the apartment again. She felt a bit like Suzy Homemaker, but consoled herself that she was doing it for herself, not for her mum, and definitely not for Joe. And it felt really good to put away all the clean laundry. Nothing was ironed, but she didn't need her mum's help, the cost was too steep.
Steph called her mum the next day, carefully choosing a time when she knew her mother was too busy to talk for more than a minute, and told her that she was too busy to have dinner the next days, and that they would meet up at the solicitor. Then she sat down again and thought through work options. She really liked Rangeman and her Merry Men, on the one hand. On the other, she didn't want to get a job based on her knowing them. And the situation with Ranger… Well, she really hoped they were on their way to a real relationship. But both working at Rangeman and at the same time trying a relationship. Or worse, not being in a relationship. She shuddered at the thought. No, working at Rangeman was out right now. Pity, since she thought she could be of help. But, maybe… She quickly googled Les Sebring and his bond business. Ten minutes later she had a meeting with Sebring scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
Trying to figure out what to wear to the meeting was a bit of a challenge. Steph thought that she really was over the bounty hunter thing. Considering all the things that had happened to her she was lucky to still be alive. And her luck would probably run out some time. At the same time she thought that she could be of help at a bond's office. At least more help than she thought both Connie and Lula together were. And yes, there was some resentment towards both her cousin Vinnie and the duo at the bond's office. But now, what to wear. She didn't think jeans would send the right signals, but neither would pantyhose and a skirt. She finally decided on a linen pants suit, with a light green silk blouse under. Her nude pumps was a moderate height, at least for Jersey, and she had only put on three layers of mascara.
x
Outside Sebring's office, in a much better neighbourhood than Vincent Plum's Bail Bonds, Stephanie sat in her car for a couple of minutes, to get her breathing even. Then she stepped into the office trying to look as confident as possible.
Behind the desk sat a woman in her sixties. She had coloured her hair to an unforgiving black, and paired with the heavy makeup around her black eyes and deep wrinkles around her mouth she looked weary. It looked like the wrinkles were caused more by a severe sunbathing and nicotine habit, than laughter lines. The yellow nicotine stains on her fingers supported the theory.
"Hi, I'm Stephanie Plum. I have a meeting with Mr. Sebring at two o'clock."
"I'll tell my son you're here," the woman answered with a scratchy voice.
"Oh, nice to meet you, Mrs Sebring," Steph said and shook her hand.
"It hasn't been Sebring for about three marriages. I'm Nellie Jarrod. Please call me Nellie."
"And please call me Stephanie. Or preferrably Steph."
Nellie called in, and Les Sebring came out of his office.
He compared favourably to Vinnie, Steph thought. He had a nice blue suit, with a white shirt and a silk tie in grey. His eyes were not as dark as his mothers, and he still had all of his hair, in a stylish haircut, just beginning to go grey at the temples. He looked to be in his forties.
"Ms. Plum, or may I call you Stephanie? I'm Les."
They shook hands, and Steph appreciated his dry and firm shake.
"Please call me Steph."
Sebring gestured to his office, and they went in, and he closed the door.
"What can I help you with?"
"I was wondering if you have a job for me. Not as a bond enforcement agent, I must add. Rather as a receptionist slash assistant slash investigator. I can help you locate bond bailers, check if collaterals are valid and so on."
He was silent for a so long that Stephanie was on the verge of fidgeting.
"That was not what I expected to hear," he finally said. "Although I must confess I was unsure of why you wanted to see me."
He fell silent again.
"Why don't we have a cup of coffee and you explain everything to me. I thought you were working as a BEA for your cousin?"
He fetched two cups of coffee, and smiled when Stephanie doctored hers with both cream and sugar. A lot of both. They also moved over to two armchairs in the corner of the office.
Stephanie took a deep breath, and began telling her story. She explained about Joyce Barnhardt getting the skips that normally went to Stephanie, about fear of her luck in dealing with the skips finally running out, and that she wanted a job where she could use her contacts and instincts, and not have to wear pantyhose all the time.
The pantyhose comment earned her a smile, and she relaxed a bit.
"Most of the offenders from the Burg take their business to Plum's Bail Bonds. Do you think you have the connections to find people not from the Burg?" he began.
"Maybe not the connections outright, but I'm good at searching in different ways, and find their traces. I must confess I don't know how you run the office. Maybe you just have the BEAs doing all their searches themselves?"
"Mostly, yes, but I have been thinking of changing that. Most of our bonds is retrieved because most of the people go to court voluntarily."
He smiled.
"I might be a bit more choosy than Vincent Plum when I bail people out."
Steph smiled back. Considering some of the people Vinnie had bailed out, she couldn't gainsay him.
"However, I have been thinking about my BEAs lately," Sebring continued. "I've lost some money when they've been unable to bring in the skips in time. I believe I have the hired muscle to do the job, but they've not always been successful in finding them. And Jean Ellen Burrows have decided to move to Washington.I know you have a real good percentage of bringing in your skips. So if you wanted a job as a BEA..."
He trailed off, but Steph shook her head.
"No, I really meant it when I said I worry about my luck running out. Honestly, considering some of the things that has happened, I'm lucky to still be alive."
She got up from the armchair, and shook his hand.
"Thank you for your time."
"Don't be too hasty, Steph. As I said, I would hire you as a BEA in an instant. As it happens, I'm between assistants at the moment. My mother is just filling in while my ordinary assistant is on parental leave for half a year. I don't know if my ordinary assistant will come back after her leave. Would you like to try that position, and also see how much you can do on the skip tracing? The assistant job is usually 9 to 5, no pantyhose required, and if we get along we can see if you might take some shifts on weekends and evenings bailing out people."
He mentioned a figure, and Steph did an involuntary grimace, and he raised the figure ten percent. Considering the grimace had been as a reaction to a much better salary than she had expected, she accepted.
"If you can help us find skips, you'll get a percentage of that as well. When can you start your new job?"
"On Tuesday. I have a will reading at Monday."
"Then I'll ask my mother to work beside you next week, and hopefully you'll manage it all after that."
He gave her a cheeky smile, and they shook on the deal.
"I'll have the papers ready on Tuesday. Welcome to Sebring's bond office."
"Thank you very much. See you on Tuesday."