AN: The characters, other than Anna, belong to the Plum Universe created by Janet Evanovich. I'm building up to something here, so please bear with me... If it gets too taxing on your nerves, include that in your review.

Building

Chapter 5

The phone rang early in the morning. I thought I heard Ranger answer it. The way he talks on the phone makes it difficult to hear. I was jolted out of bed when I heard him yell into the phone.

"Shit," he snapped as he threw the phone against the bed.

"What is it?" I was definitely wide awake now.

"That was my ex-wife. She is delaying Elena's visit." Ranger was visibly upset. He had been looking forward to his daughter's staying with us for a week.

"Why?"

Ranger sat on the bed. "Babe, I told her about us yesterday. She didn't take it well. I think she believes that I will try to take Elena from her."

I looked into his eyes. Had he thought he had a chance at getting his daughter full time? "Ric, is that what you want?"

He laid back on the bed. "I would love to have her with me all the time, but that isn't possible. I accepted that a long time ago. I was hoping that we would have more time with her. She's older now and I know she was really looking forward to meeting you."

Ranger reached over and began stroking my leg. "Babe, I have to go to Florida. I need to talk to Elena and her mother."

I realized that he was right. If his ex was going to try to keep his daughter away from him, Ranger would have to fight her.

"Do what you have to do," I offered. "I'll be here when you get back."

That comment got me a mind-blowing kiss and a brilliant smile. "Knew I could count on you, Babe."

Ranger packed quickly, staying on the cell phone as he did so. He was flying on the company plane and would be in Florida in a few hours. He didn't usually use the plane for visits to his daughter, but time was of the essence this time. He wanted to keep the schedule for Elena that he had planned.

I walked him to the door, kissing him every chance I got. I really hated to see him go, but knew that he needed to take care of this business.

"Call Tank if you need backup and don't get into any trouble," Ranger advised.

"I'll do my best." We both knew I couldn't make any promises.

Once he left the house, it felt rather lonely. I walked through each room, noticing the things that we picked out together. The house was a mixture of both our tastes. There were Latin elements that complemented Ranger and some Italian elements that celebrated my heritage. I stood in the doorway of the library, where Ranger had set up his office, and reflected on what got me to this place.

It felt odd to be here in this house now. It was a far cry from my one bedroom apartment. This house was meant to be lived in and neither Ric nor I really spent much time here. The house was huge. I don't know why I didn't see that before. It had five bedrooms, including the spacious master suite that we shared. There were four bathrooms. My parents survived with two daughters and only one bathroom. Part of me felt guilty to have so much space at my disposal. I wandered into the kitchen, a room where I simply couldn't see myself spending time. I hadn't really contributed to any decor in this room. Kitchens were not my thing. I left the kitchen, wandering into the den. My father would love this room. No one in my family had yet visited this house. We were planning a housewarming party when Elena was here. I suppose now we could even announce the engagement at the same time.

Engaged? I still had trouble believing it. First a house like this and now an engagement. Batman was no longer Batman. He was Ric. He was real. He was different than I thought he would be and that bothered me. I considered for a moment that perhaps my problem was that I didn't really want to be tied down. Maybe my thoughts of wanting marriage now were just flights of fancy. How could we have gone from 'not doing relationships' to marriage? I was starting to think that things were happening too fast.

I walked outside and sat down by the pool. The backyard was spacious and neatly kept. My parents had a small yard where my father would sometimes barbecue. He'd have a fit over this yard. Grandma Mazar would love the pool. My mother would wonder what the neighbors would say with all the men coming and going. Rangers' employees spent quite a bit of time here. I kept running the past six months through my mind, trying to put my finger on exactly what was attempting to ruin my happiness. I lost track of time. By the time I wondered back into the house, it had been two hours since Ranger left.

I went back upstairs and changed into my work clothes. I intended to talk to Lula about skips today. Helping her would keep my mind off Ranger and his trouble with Elena. Maybe Lula would be a good sounding board for my troubles as well. Sometimes, you needed a girlfriend to put stuff into perspective for you.

I called Vinnie's office. Connie answered.

"Connie, is Lula in?"

"Yo, white girl, how's it going?" Lula sounded like her usual self. "You working with the hunk Tank today?"

"Actually, I was hoping to work with you today. Ranger's out of town and I could use a diversion."

"Damn straight you could! You've come to the right place. I'm a damned good diversion person." Lula was learning the bounty hunting trade and had actually managed to bring in quite a few skips on her own, but tailing along with her was an experience.

"I was hoping that we could work on some files, then grab lunch," I offered.

"Grab lunch first, then work on files. Have you seen what time it is?"

I glanced at the clock on the wall. Damn, it was later than I thought. "Okay, lunch then files. Tell Connie I'll pick up the files for Rangeman as well."

"Meet you here in 20?"

"See you then," I answered and hung up.

I grabbed my keys from the sideboard and found my purse laying on the sofa in the living room. I checked to see that my gun was loaded, my stun gun was in the purse and that my can of mace was nearly full. I made sure I had the office keys, in case I needed to change clothes in the office apartment. I left Lupe a note that explained that Ric was out of town and I was off to work. I locked the front door, used the remote to arm the security system and opened the garage. A black Bronco was parked in the garage. I pulled the set of keys off the holder at the rear of the garage. It was a company truck, placed in the garage for the use of the employees who stayed in the carriage house. No one was staying over this week.

I pulled out of the driveway and proceeded to the gate. The gate registered the fact the vehicle was a Rangeman vehicle and opened before I actually reached it. The security upgrades Ranger placed around the property meant that the house and the grounds were constantly monitored by Rangeman employees. The system was state of the art. Ranger felt it was necessary in our line of work that we never lose sight of the need for additional security. Frankly, the only thing that ever made me feel totally safe was to be lying in his arms. Funny, but it didn't matter where we were or what we were doing, if he held me tight, all was right with the world. I filed that realization away for analysis later.

Lula was waiting for me when I pulled up. Since I no longer drove Big Blue, she was more inclined to ride with me. She hauled herself up into the passenger side of the truck before I could even put it into park.

"Let's ride girlfriend," she answered in response to my silent questioning look. "I needed to get away from that pig, Vinnie. He's got that skank Joyce in his office and man, what noises. I seen a lot on Stark Street, but nothing compares to what must be happening in that room. I don't know how Connie can stand it. That girl must block everything out."

I shook my head at the image. Vinnie was scum, no doubt about it, but he was also family. I wasn't proud to admit that however.

"What have you got for us?" I noticed that Lula was carrying some files.

"Nothing that can't wait until after lunch," she quipped. "I'm thinking fried chicken. What do you think?"

I hadn't had fried anything in a few days, so I was up for the experience. We had just pulled into the lot when my phone rang. The tune told me it was Ranger.

"Hey, you made it all right?" I was relieved he was calling.

"Yo, Babe. Yeah, I'm fine, but this thing with Gina is going to take some time. I know she's playing me and while I don't appreciate it, I have to do what's best for Elena." He was waiting for a response from me.

I didn't answer right away, giving Ranger time to wonder what I was thinking, I guess. "Babe, you still there."

"Yeah, I'm here. So how long as you going to be gone? Any idea?" I was irritated but really couldn't put my finger on why.

"A couple of days, a week at the most. Will you be okay?"

Okay for what, I wondered. "I think I can take care of myself for a week. Of course, I will miss you," I lowered my voice, as I noticed Lula hanging on my every word. "Be careful and don't do anything that I wouldn't do." Yeah, that left things wide open for him. Maybe I should have said, don't sleep with your ex-wife. I wouldn't sleep with the Dick.

Ranger murmured something about calling me tonight. I told him that I would be waiting and he hung up.

Lula grinned. "I can't believe you and Batman are going to get married. Man, things have changed."

I had to agree. "Yeah, and there are times when it gets pretty damned confusing."

Outside the fast food place, neither one of us noticed as a black sedan parked near the Bronco. My cell phone rang.

"Bombshell, you driving the Bronco from the garage, right?" Tank asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Someone's tampered with it. Hal got a signal from the security system that a foreign object has been attached. Where are you? Are you in the truck?"

I stood up to look out the window. A black sedan was pulling out of the parking lot. "No, I'm at the Cluck in a Bucket. A black sedan just pulled out of the parking lot . I don't see anything wrong with the Bronco."

"Just stay put. I will send Lester over to check it out. Whatever you do, don't go near the truck."

Now why would Tank tell me that when he knows I 'm going to do just the opposite.