Plum To The Rescue

by ewal32

What happens when our hero Ranger finds himself in an impossible situation? Stephanie is used to Ranger coming to her rescue and now it's her turn to help. Will Stephanie find him before it's too late? Ideas are mine but all characters, names, & places belong to the fabulous Janet Evanovich. **NOTE FOR THE READERS - THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THE REVIEWS SO READ THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK**

3. Chapter 3 - Stephanie

02/06/2019

Chapter 3 – Stephanie

I was in desperate need of a shower. I was quite sure I'd have Jello in parts of me that even Morelli hasn't seen – and trust me, he's seen it all. I parked in my lot and ran upstairs to my apartment, pausing at my hamster, Rex's cage. "Hiya Rex, did you have a good day?" I asked him. I dropped a green bean in his cage and then dropped my clothes on the floor on the way to the bathroom.

I took a shower and dressed in jeans and a black stretchy t-shirt. I finished off the look with a little mascara and lip gloss. I was debating the finer points of eating a peanut butter sandwich vs. mooching lunch from my parents when my phone rang.

"Do you know where your hero is?" a strange voice said when I answered. "Excuse me?" I said. "You heard me" the voice said. "Who is this?" "That isn't important. Answer my question." "Are you talking about Ranger?" I said. Silence. "Are you going to give me a hint as to what you're talking about?" "You'll see. It's all part of the game. You have to find the mouse to get to the cheese." And the line went dead. Uh…find the mouse to get to the cheese?

Ok. It's not like I haven't had the occasional crazy phone call before. I'm kind of a magnet for this sort of thing. So I wasn't sure if I should be creeped out or worried or ignore it. It could've been a totally random prank. I mean, he never said Ranger's name. Should I call him? I should call him.

I dialed Ranger's number. "Babe" Ranger said. "Hi" I said. "What's up?" Silence. "Just wanted to check in. All good?" "All good" Ranger said. "Ok then, good chat, gotta run" I said. "You ok?" Ranger said. "Yep" I said. "Babe" Ranger said. And he disconnected.

See Stephanie? Nothing to worry about. Ranger's fine. Probably some kids playing pranks. I'm glad I didn't mention the call to Ranger, he probably would have laughed at me. Well, he would've laughed on the inside at least. So why do I have this nagging feeling that something isn't quite right? I could use a doughnut. Life is always better with doughnuts. So I locked up the apartment, got into my latest piece of crap car, and headed out to Tasty Pastry bakery.