Next chapter is here! And the nice thing is that in four more days I will be done school and have more time to write so hopefully the wait between chapters will be shorter Don't forget to review and let me know what you think I really appreciate hearing from you guys!

Chapter 3:

On the Other side of the Window

The window rolled up blocking out the sun and the prying eyes of the people of Trenton. Valentine smiled to himself as the car drove down the streets of Trenton heading for the harbour. Stephanie would be the perfect addition to his operation. Of course he would have to break her first.

"Uh, boss?" Valentine looked over at Jorge with disgust in his eyes. He hated working with the Americans. But American was what his clients wanted, so Valentine was willing to make some sacrifices. "Why are you bringing Stephanie Plum into this? Garcia told you that we would have to watch out for her not to bring her on bored."

"Garcia is afraid and weak." Martinez smirked looking back out the window as they approached the docks. "He doesn't see the benefits only the risks. And I feel that the benefits of taking Ms. Plum will outweigh the risks."

Jorge shut up after that. As he should. Actually Jorge should be apologising for questioning Valentines motives, but Valentine knew better than to expect miracles.

Martinez had his reasons for wanting Ms. Plum. The main one being the payoff, she would be able to handle his merchandise better than any of his current employees. The second being her own personal worth. And third revenge. Ricardo Carlos Manoso had ruined a good thing in South America and there was no way that he was going to get away with it.

Steph's POV:

I finally entered the bonds office 20 minutes later with a box of Boston crème donuts. Lula was already opening the lid before I had set it on the desk in the small office. I had already eaten my donuts in the car so I immediately asked Connie if there were any more files today. I might have been despite to avoid the fat naked skip that was sounding more and more like bad news.

"Vinnie hasn't brought the new ones out yet." Connie shrugged, "Morelli was in there talking to him so I haven't had the chance to get them off of him yet."

Lula interrupted me before I could do anything. "White girl, you know there's only 3 donuts in this box that's made for 12 right? Did they rip you off or something?"

I felt pink creep into my cheeks. I had been eating the donuts in the car. I just never noticed how many I ate. Apparently the answer was nine. Good I needed to run after Igor after my breakfast otherwise I was going to have to unbutton my jeans halfway through the day. "I'm stressed out. I need to make rent today."

"Nothing new today Steph," Vinnies head poked out of the door frame along with one hand extending some files to connie, "Only have skips for Rangeman"

Lula shrugged not pressing the matter and took two of the donut and handed the other to Connie who glared at her and the two donuts before taking a bite out of hers and banging on Vinnie's door. "Vinnie! Steph needs her skips!"

Vinnie was normally a slimy weasel who couldn't be trusted but the way I could hear him shuffling around in his office made me extra suspicious. My eyes narrowed on the door as it cracked open I could only see one of his eyes and a pies of his greasy hair that had fallen onto his forehead. "Sorry Steph nothing new for you today. I only have bonds for Rangeman."

Well shit. I was going to have to go after Igor Franco after all. I knew I should have stayed in bed. As I was thinking about this Connie took the files looked through them. Once she had read threw them she looked at Vinnie with a scowl. "alright Vinnie, where is the Anderson and Rosenberg files. Those were lower profile. I should know I did the searches on them."

Fear crept into Vinnie's eye and he started stuttering. He had given them away already and he was scared about what I was going to do. Which was a realistic concern considering that I could get overly violent when the situation called for it. I once tried to choke out my ex-husband and I hadn't even realized it until I was being pulled off of him. "You gave them to Joyce didn't you."

I guess my tone scared him a little because he shrink back a little, "Listen Steph I'm sorry but I had to give them up I didn't have a choice-"

"Oh you had a choice but you chose that bimbo over me. Wait until Harry hears about this!" Harry the hammer owned half of the bonds office, he was also Vinnie's father in law and His name wasn't a joke.

I was pissed. I had to pay my rent today, I had been accosted by mobsters on the frost street, I was going to have to exercise from eating those nine donuts and now Vinnie had given away my files to my arch nemesis. "I guess I should have known that you were a lying weasel huh? I mean if it looks like a duck and smells like a duck, then Vinnie's probably had sex with it!"

I was on a roll! That had been a fairly decent line for me to have thought it up on the spot. But he deserved it! Actually I probably wasn't even that angry at Vinnie but with the shitiness of my life right now and his stupidity I was getting desperate. And when I get desperate well it can be a scary thing.

The reason I probably didn't feel him enter was because I was in the middle of reaming Vinnie out. I hadn't noticed that Lula and Connie's jaw's had dropped and Vinnie had backed himself back into a corner. If I had noticed these things probably wouldn't have said what I said, "If I don't pay my rent today I'm screwed! Give me one of Ranger's files. I don't care if it's an arsonist or a rapist or a serial killer! Give it to me."

There was silence for a moment, and that's when I realized no one in front of me was paying attention to me. They were all looking past me. My confusion allowed my anger to subside and my spidy sense to work again which immediately indicated to me that Ranger was standing behind me with Tank.

"Babe." At his word I turned to face him and was met with one of the most beautiful sights known to women. Ranger was taller than me, had mocha latte skin that made me thirsty whenever I saw it and dark brown eyes that when I had first met him I had thought were blank. But I had been wrong it was one of the few places that I knew I could look and get a straight answer. Right now he was confused and worried about me. Which I'm fairly sure has become a staple emotion for him since meeting me. "Can I talk to you outside babe?"

I nodded in response and walked out the front door of the bonds office while ranger held the door for me. Seconds later I was pinned against the side of the bonds office in the alley. "Babe, care to tell me why you're stealing my skips?"

Ranger knew what he was doing. Having his body so close to mine made my head spin, made all of my rational thoughts disappear and he knew it. When I was able to string a sentence together my voice was airy and begging him to move closer. "I'm short on money and Vinnie gave my skips to the Trenton whore."

"If you need money, you just have to ask." Ranger stepped closer to me raising on of his hands to tuck a loose curl behind my ear while his other rested on my hip. I'm pretty sure I would have melted to the ground if it wasn't for the brick wall at my back. I shook my head trying to clear him from my mind so I could put some force behind my voice when I denied his money.

"I won't take your money Ranger. I want- I need to be able to stand on my own." I felt like giving myself an high five when my voice game out strong and clear instead of the garbled mess of hormones that it normally was when ranger stood this close to me. "Besides, it makes me feel cheap."

Ranger frowned at this. It wasn't normally something I see his mouth do, usually I see it smirking, or twitching with the threat of a smile, and every once in a while I would get a full blown 200 watt smile. Those were rare though so I didn't get my hopes up. "Babe, you are anything but cheap."

I felt a stab to my heart. Not exactly what a girl wanted to hear. Especially one that was had previously been labelled as a subcategory title entertainment in Rangers financial statements. He must have seen the pain on my face because his hands moved either side of my face softly stroking my cheeks. "Babe, not what I meant. You're priceless to me babe. And I wouldn't offer if I couldn't afford it and didn't want too. Your safety means a lot to me."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead before pulling away and making sure I was looking him in the eye, "Which is what I really wanted to talk to you about."

I saw flicker of pain in his eyes and then I saw him sigh as he pulled farther away from me. "I need to put a man on you for a while. You can have your pick of anyone in Rangeman. They can drive with you or watch from afar whatever you want."

`This was surprising. Ranger normally didn't ask to put a man on me, he usually just did. And the choices, those never happened either. Not to mention that nervous was not an emotion Ranger allowed to show on his face. But his eyebrows were drawn together, his eyes pleading and his mouth was in a grim line that I still wanted to kiss. I stepped closer to him closing the gap that he had created "What's wrong?"

"Legally speaking I can't say. But let's just say that the wind has come home with me this time and I need to know your safe." I must be growing up because my first reaction was hell no. No way I was giving up my freedom and privacy for a threat that might not exist. But in the second after that thought filled my head another one replaced it saying to take the bodyguard without a fight. Obviously this was important to him and after everything that he has done for me I owed him one. A third less important thing lingered in the back of my head. The drug lord who had accosted me in the street. If I had my very own Rangeman I wouldn't have to worry about that. But I should probably tell Ranger.

"Alright. But I have three conditions." His eyebrows raised marginally in a silent question or possibly in shock that I accepted so quickly. "One is that you pick the guy who comes with me based on who you can afford to take off their duties."

"Done."

"Two is that you have to come with me to diner with my parents, so you don't have to pay the men hazard pay." This wasn't really a deal breaker more like I was testing the waters for my third request.

"Think I'd rather pay the hazard pay." I punched him in the shoulder which made him laugh, "Babe your grandma's scary. But I'll come to dinner."

"Thank you. The third is for you to promise to not freak out after I tell you something." All the playfulness left his eyes and his blank face slammed down into place, " See immediately pulling that blank face out constitutes as freaking in your case."

"Babe."

Ahh the word that could mean so many things. I liked it when it meant he was turned on, when I amused him, even when it meant that I was worrying him. I hated it when I wanted a straight answer, when it meant he was angry with me, or like right now when it meant 'don't play with me Stephanie'. "Ummm well I got a job offer this morning. From a not so nice person, or at least I'm betting on a not so nice person by the way his henchman was hovering over me with his hand on his gun."

I dug into my purse and pulled out the card that Martinez had given me and handed it over to Ranger. His eyes left mine to look down at the card. Reading the name alone made him curse under his breath. He whipped out his cell phone and gave orders for someone to go search my apartment for any fowl play before hanging up the phone. He paced in the alley for a second, probably contemplating the mess that I had unknowingly gotten myself into.

How I did this to myself I had no clue but I must have the worst karma in the world. But the fact that Ranger was visibly showing signs of distress had me worried. After more cursing under his breathe and turned to look at me.

"Does asking you to come live at Rangeman count as freaking?"

Alright what did you think? Will Steph go quietly? Or will she fight for her freedom? What is Martinez plan? And how is Joe going to react to Steph's new predicament?