Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's sad, really.
Please review! Any thoughts on where you want the story to go is always alright.

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After an uneventful afternoon of grocery shopping and cleaning my apartment out of complete boredom, I now found myself in my thinking position - spread eagle on my bed. I turned my head to the side and almost gagged. Man, I smelled. I should probably take a shower, but showering involved moving and I wasn't doing that, so I just rolled over on my stomach instead. There was some seriously thinking to be had and I wasn't leaving until I figured everything out, even if I didn't have much to go on.

The mystery man, or Bane as I was calling him, knew were I lived. He knew I had a relationship with both Ranger and Morelli. He knew were I worked and knew which skips I was going to go after probably before I did. So question number one - how did he know that I would be going to Mooners'? Neither Connie nor Lula would have said anything to him, and the second I walked into the office they would have been talking about him if he had been there. Maybe he had somehow overheard what was being said when Mooners' file came up. That would mean that he had me bugged. Okay, that was creepy.

I ran into my bathroom and stripped down and looked myself over naked. I didn't see anything stuck to me, so that must have been a good sign. I took a quick second look and decided that tomorrow I was going to go running, I needed it. I tossed on a bathrobe and carried my smelly clothes for the day into the kitchen where I proceeded to stuff them in a garbage bag and shove them out the kitchen window. I felt a little better. I looked around my apartment quickly, just making sure that nothing was there that shouldn't be, just make sure that my apartment wasn't bugged. Nope, nothing. I sighed and went back into my bedroom, back to my thinking position.

I wasn't sure how, if at all, Bane had gotten my clothes bugged, but that seemed like the only real possibility. I highly doubted that he would have been able to tap into anything that Ranger gave me. It's not like Batman was careless. I got up again and grabbed my bag, dumping it out onto the kitchen table. I heard a small clash and rolled my eyes when I realized a bottle of nail polish had rolled off the table and broke. Fantastic.

I went over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a roll of paper towels to clean up the mess. The only thing that would make this day even better would be if someone decided it would be a good time to break into my apartment and see me on my hands and knees in a bathroom cleaning up nail polish. I looked up quickly and peeked around the corner, all the locks were bolted. I picked up the mess of nail polished paper towels and threw them out before tossing Rex a couple of grapes. Hey, I could buy healthy food if I need to, I could even be a decent mother to Rex.

I dragged myself into the bathroom and took off my robe, before stepping into the shower. This Bane stuff was driving me nuts, and so was on own smell.

I stood under the water, my head down, trying to think of how this guy was figuring out where I was going to be. Where else could he have heard? The office. Maybe he has the office bugged. Sometimes Vinnie bugged the office just make sure we were working, while he sat in his and fornicated with barn yard animals ... or Joyce Bernhardt, but there really wasn't much of a difference there. But how did he have it bugged? Maybe Vinnie did and he was some how tapping into that from outside? Never say never. That was starting to look like a possibility. I would have to check out and see if anyone could do that.

I was stepped out of the shower once I started to look pruney and got changed into a pair of boxers and a knit tank top that I had hanging on the back of my bathroom door. I walked back into my bedroom. It was only six ten and I was already exhausted. It couldn't do much damage to go to bed, could it? Not like I had anything to do. I crawled under my covers and let out a content sigh. I closed my eyes, started to drift off to sleep and then ...

... the phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked reaching over to the floor were my portable phone was in a pile of clothes. I could have sworn I cleaned them up earlier.

"Where are you?" I heard mother whisper.

Oh boy. "I'm in bed trying to get some sleep. I woke up un-Godly early this morning."

"Your sister is here crying her eyes out because you stood her up today? And what's this I hear about another one of your cars blowing up? Lisa DeAngelo never has this problem. Her daughter, Claire, works at the button factory. I could get you an application."

"Mom, I don't want to work at the button factory."

"You're late for dinner." Once again, dinner overcomes me almost being burned alive in my car.

"I never agreed to dinner."

"Be here in ten minutes. I have pineapple upside down cake." Click.

This day was perfect. I'm being stalked, my apartment is getting broken into, and now I'm already fifteen minutes late for dinner. I'll be surprised if food isn't burned and I'm not disowned for this.

I tossed on a pair of sweatpants over my boxers, not caring about what I looked like and ran into the kitchen, grabbing my bag. Normally I could get to my parents house in the Burg in ten minutes, if I was lucky and hit the lights right I could be there in four. If there was every a time for God to prove that he existed to me, right now would be it.

"Going somewhere, Miss Plum?"

I turned from where I was now standing in my kitchen looked into my living room. Bane.

I looked towards my ceiling. "You've got to be shitting me."

"I was hoping we could finish our conversation from this morning." I placed my bag on my shoulder and grabbed Ranger's keys.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm late for dinner. Seeing as you like to break into my apartment, please, stay, I just went to the grocery store." I walked over to Rex's cage and picked it up. "Stay as long as you like."

"I hope you're not thinking about running to a friend's house, Miss Plum. That would be unwise. I just have a few questions for you and then I'll be on my way." The truth was I wasn't sure where I was running to, but I sure as hell knew that I wasn't coming back here. At least not tonight. Not until I knew if there was a bug in there or not, which I was starting to become more and more certain of. This creep probably had everything bugged.

"Maybe if you were a little more open with me I would talk to you." I placed Rex's cage under my arm and balanced him on hip as I made my way for the door. Two minutes had passed. I was sure the pot roast would be burnt if that's what my mother was cooking. The world was going to be coming down on the Plum household when I arrived.

"I'm afraid I can't do that not, Miss Plum. I see you're driving Mr. Manoso's truck. It's a lovely truck. I hope everything went well with him today, and I sure hope you enjoyed your donuts with Mr. Morelli this morning. You had four, right?" I could have sworn I only had three, but how this guy had any idea that I had seen both of them, and knew how many donuts I had, was more than unnerving.

"I'm late," I said as I opened my front door, not bothering to close it behind me. I pushed the button for the elevator and waiting, hoping that it would come soon.

"I'll be waiting for you to return!" I heard him shout from my door, and then close it. The creep was holding out on me coming back home tonight. Showed how much he knew.

When the elevator finally arrived I was thankful no one was in it. I hit the button for the lobby, got out, and pretty much ran the entire way to the Ranger's truck, pretty sure Bane was watching me from my bedroom window, but not having the nerve to look. I wasn't worried about anything happening to me in this car. This was Rangers' personal property and I highly doubted anyone would try to blow me up in it. Besides, it was hooked up to the RangeMan system I would think knowing at least my record that any car they gave would have a bomb detection system in it.

Okay, so I had blown up Rangers' cars before, but that didn't mean I couldn't think happy thoughts while a crazy man was watching me from my bedroom window, could it?

I wrenched open the door, put Rex on the passenger seat, and took off like a bat out of hell. I couldn't go home for dinner, I didn't want to chance the freak following me there. I took out my cell phone and dialed my house. My sister answered.

"You stood me up today!" She sounded like she was still crying, and honestly if I had her three kids and Albert Kloughn, her husband, to deal with, I think I probably would to.

"I'm sorry, Val, but something came up at work and I couldn't get out of it. Can you put mom on the phone?"

I heard Valerie place the phone down on what I assumed was the kitchen counter. "Mom! Steph is on the phone to tell you that she's not coming to dinner!" I pulled the phone away from my ear and gave it the best death glare I think was possible, considering I was threatening to kill something that wasn't actually alive and could feel pain.

"You're not coming?" I heard my mother say as she started rummaging around. She was going to start tipping, and it was going to be all my fault. I would be hearing about this night for the rest of my life.

"I was going to! I swear! It's just that right after you called Joe did and asked if I wanted to go and get something to eat at Pino's." I was getting way to good at this lying thing. My mother saw Joe as my last chance to be married off, and if there was ever any reason for me to miss a dinner, this was going to be it.

"Joe! Why didn't you say so! Be here tomorrow for dinner, and make sure you bring him. It's been a while since he's been here for supper." In the Burg, enough dinners with a girls family is the same as being married. Joe was dangerously close to going over that line and I was dangerously close to going insane if he did.

I heard Grandma Mazur yelling in the background. "You're grandmother wants to know if it's true you blew up another car."

I sighed. "No, tell her I got into an accident and it caught on fire." My mother started muttering and I could almost picture her crossing herself. "Mom, I would love to chat, but I'm going to be late for my dinner with Joe. Bye."

When I slammed the phone down away from me I noticed that I was at Cluck in a Bucket and I heard my stomach growl. If I was missing my mothers food and Pino's, then I was definitely getting something to make my insides shut up. I pulled into the drive-threw and got a bucket of chicken, half a dozen rolls, and a tub of mashed potatoes. I wasn't planning on eating all of that by myself, but I figured where ever I was going for the night I was probably going to have to bribe someone into letting me stay there.

I pulled into a spot and grabbed a roll, taking a big bite out of it as I weighed my options. I could call Joe, tell him everything, and then go spend the night at his house, but I was afraid it would end in sex, and I really didn't want that from Joe right now. We were having a hard time getting the "just friends" stuff down after we broke up last, and I didn't want to mess it up. I didn't want to stay with my best friend Mary Lou, hell I didn't even want to go over her house most of the time with the pack of kids that she has. I didn't want to stay home, with my sister, my parents, or Lula, I didn't want any of them in danger because of this freak. Only one choice left. Ranger.

I put the truck in reverse as I held a second roll in my mouth and drove quietly to the RangeMan building. It was an unmemorable building in an area of Trenton that had a lot of old factories. I knew from past experience that Ranger had an apartment there, as well as apartments for RangeMan employees when they needed it, and I hoped that he would be gracious enough to let me use one for the night. The safest place I knew always seemed to be with Ranger, whether I liked the fact that he could get me to do almost anything or not. Not I said almost anything. I must be getting better at this self-control stuff then I though.

I came up to the building and grabbed my keys, hitting the little button to open the security gate to the garage. The second that you entered this building you were on camera, and sure enough Ranger would know that I was there before I even got out of my car. I parked in one of the four spots reserved for the man himself and walked around to the passenger door, grabbing Rex under my arm, tossing my purse over my shoulder, and barely being able to balance the bucket of chicken, rolls, and potatoes in my other hand. I'm sure everyone in the control room was getting their moneys worth out of me tonight.

I carefully walked to the elevator and hit the up button and almost immediately there was an elevator for me. I walked inside and then I faced a new problem. I had put the keys so that I could get to Rangers' apartment on the seventh floor in my purse. My purse was on my shoulder and my hands were full. I sighed and kicked button number five with my foot. I walked off when the elevator stopped, smiled at Tank, Bobby, and Lester, and dropped everything but Rex on the floor. Lucky for me the food had lids.

I picked at the food and managed to fit four pieces of chicken, half a tub of mashed potatoes, and two more rolls into one container and placed the rest on a chair in front of the guys, them staring the whole time.

"Is Ranger here?" Tank nodded his head. "Is he in his apartment." Another nod. I rolled my eyes and motioned towards the remaining food. "A present, from me to you." And walked back to the elevator. It came quick, again, and this time I could hit the button on the keys to get to seven. The doors opened up on the top floor, and there was Ranger waiting for me.

"Babe," he said.

"I know."

He looked down at Rex, who I had placed on the floor while rummaging through my bag and looked back up at me, the corners of his mouth turned upwards.

"I brought chicken!" I was trying my best at being nice, but when Ranger did the no-talk-just-laugh-and-smile-at-Stephanie routine, it tended to get old quick.

He bent down at picked up Rex. "It's fried."

"So?" I said as I followed him to his apartment door. He opened it, taking his keys from my hands and placing them in the silver dish to the side.

"I don't eat fried food."