Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: It is sad to say that my attempt to get the rights to the Stephanie Plum characters was unsuccessful. They still belong to Janet Evanovich, who is one lucky person for having a mind like that.

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Chapter Two:

September 6, 2011

Stephanie sat outside the bail bonds trailer with Connie and Lula. They all sat in lawn chairs that Connie had brought from home, and each woman held a glass of ice cold lemonade. They all watched the cars that passed by in silence. Vinnie was off bailing a couple of guys out for lifting a series of muscle cars, and Stephanie had brought in all outstanding FTAs. Truly, there was nothing to do.

Connie looked over at Stephanie. "So, what's it like living with Batman full time?" she asked curiously. She sucked at her straw and reveled in the taste of the cool citrusy liquid as it ran down her throat. It was still relatively warm in Trenton and sitting in a trailer was certainly not an option seeing as it drew in heat rather than protecting the women from the humidity.

Stephanie slouched in her seat and let out a sigh. "It's hard to say," she said. She set her glass down on the cement and sighed. "He's at the office most of the day dealing with an influx of new clients. I'm spending a lot of time catching skips, and am already asleep by the time he gets home." She picked up her glass to take a sip.

"Is the sex still good?" Lula asked with a grunt. She held a small fan in front of her face. There was no need to sugar coat these things after all. Ranger was one fine male specimen, and everyone knew it. The least Stephanie could do was throw Lula a bone, or two.

Stephanie choked on her lemonade, but really? What was she expecting? Lula got a hot flash every time Ranger walked into the room. A few coughs later, and she was able to look at Lula without her eyes falling out of their sockets. "Of course the sex is still good," she said stiffly. She eyed the portly woman before letting another cough escape her lips. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Have kids in the house changes things," Lula said as she shrugged. "Two teenage girls. Ranger's probably hiding out at the office because of all the hormones."

Stephanie snorted. The last thing that would scare Ranger off was teenage drama. For the most part, Julie and Allegra didn't have a lot of problems. Allegra was complaining about calculus, but Cayden helped her when she was stuck, so she was easily quelled. Julie was a little irked over some girl in her choir class who seemed to think she was God's gift to the music industry- when in truth she couldn't carry a tune to save her life. If anything, Ranger found the slightest bit of normalcy amusing amidst the everyday chaos that seemed to follow his fiancé.

"On the brighter side of our current work situation," Connie began. It didn't really take a genius to know that she was talking about the trailer. "It's been a while since someone's tried to kill anyone we know."

Stephanie snorted indignantly. She knew it was only a matter of time until Vinnie bailed out some psychopath- like he always did. Then, said psychopath would go FTA (probably to spite Stephanie), and Stephanie's bounty hunter duties would be kicked into high gear. Again. Lula had placed a bet that this time they would be chased down by some guy with a chainsaw. Stephanie just hoped that is was someone she could outrun until employees from Rangeman showed up to save the damsel in distress. Again.

Stephanie pushed herself out of the chair. "I should head back to Princeton."

"Why do you have mini you's car?" Lula asked. "I thought she didn't let you drive your car because you have a tendency to blow them up."

"The Porsche is being serviced, and I needed to check in here, so she let me use it," Stephanie answered casually. She wouldn't mention the reluctance on Allegra's part to hand over the keys.

"I hope you're being careful with," Connie stated. "I bet she would find the first scratch you get on its pristine paint job."

Stephanie looked over at the shiny candy apple red Beetle and smiled. "That's why I've been super careful. Allie would hate me if something happened."

A dark SUV came cruising by and the three women stared at it. As soon as it disappeared from sight, they shivered as a cold chill passed through them.

"Creepy," Stephanie muttered becoming all too familiar with the feeling. She made her way to the trailer to grab her purse and some files on past skips that had court appearances coming up. If you can't make them show up for court, at least you could be ready to check all their old haunts when they went FTA. She found Moocher sitting in front of fan. He spoke random sentences into the blades so that his voice was mechanical.

"Hey, Dude," he greeted as he giggled.

"What's up, Mooner?" Stephanie asked with a gentle smile. She swung her bag over her shoulder and pulled Allegra's car keys out.

"Just livin' life, ya know?" Mooner grinned.

Stephanie laughed and rolled her eyes. She walked over to the door. "Well, you keep living, Mooner."

Stephanie opened the door only to be thrown back by an explosion. Mooner fell out of his seat and covered his ears. After getting her breath back, Stephanie pushed herself up and jumped out of the trailer. She was searching her purse for her gun, but of course it was under all of her make-up, junk, and receipts.

Lula and Connie were on the ground with their hands over their heads for protections. Stephanie looked around frantically searching for something to explain the explosion. She saw the black SUV from before screeched down the street and rounded a corner on two wheels. Allegra's vintage candy apple red Bug was engulfed in red, orange, and yellow flames several feet tall. Stephanie pulled her thick curly hair away from her face as shocked had started to set in. The Bug was gone.

She had another car blow up while it was in her custody. Normally, she could guess at who had been behind the explosion, but today, at that moment, she couldn't come up with an answer. Even Connie had mentioned that nobody had tried to kill any of them. So why would someone blow up Allegra's beautiful car?

Connie and Lula pushed themselves off the ground as sirens screamed in the distance. Both women stood on either side of Stephanie while they waited for the police, fire, and EMTs to arrive.

"Are you guys okay?" Stephanie asked as her gaze stayed on the burning car.

Connie dusted herself off and examined her nails. "Just another day with Stephanie Plum," she shrugged as she patted her hair back into place. She pulled a piece of burned upholstery from her frizz and flicked it off her finger in distaste.

"She's going to kill you," Lula said. Stephanie didn't need to think of the 'she' Lula was referring to.

Morelli's SUV pulled up along with two cop cars, two fire engines, and an EMT. Morelli slid out of the car and walked over with a bemused grin. "I knew I'd find you here," he said. He put his hands on his hip as he bit his lip to avoid laughter. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes," Stephanie whispered. Her voice had raised an octave despite the quiet confirmation.

Morelli let out a bark of laughter and bent over. "She's going to kill you!"

A few minutes later Ranger pulled up as the fireman sprayed a large stream of water on the burning car. Stephanie looked at him over her shoulder as he shook his head minutely. Morelli glanced over and nodded by way of a proper greeting among men. Stephanie left the group and walked over to her fiancé.

"She's going to kill me," Stephanie moaned.

Ranger pulled her close as he smiled. "Do you think I could assuage her with a Porsche?" he asked wittily.

Stephanie laughed slightly. "That car was so special to her," she said as she started to cry. She couldn't help it. Everything was going so well, and then another car blew up.

"Any idea who did it this time?" Ranger asked scanning the area discreetly. He could feel somebody watching them, but couldn't place a direction. The street was full of onlookers and twice as many hiding places.

"A black SUV," Stephanie said. "It passed by before. I walked into the trailer to get my things and head home."

"It passed by before?" Ranger asked this told him something. The bomber- whoever it was, was checking for something. The fact that they came back around to blow up the car while it was empty indicated a threat. Now he had to figure out who the threat was aimed at: Stephanie or someone else close to her. Someone who would be around to see the charred remains of the car. Someone like Morelli, or Ranger himself. "I'm going to put Bobby and Lester on babysitting duty."

Stephanie pushed herself back and looked at him. "I'm fine," she said stubbornly. She didn't need people to protect her.

"It's not for you," Ranger said seriously. His jaw was tight which told Stephanie that this was more than just blowing up a car because it was fun. "This was a threat. Bobby and Lester will be watching Julie and Allegra. We don't need to expose them to an unnecessary trouble."

"Do you think whoever did this will go after the girls?" Stephanie asked as she swallowed.

"No," Ranger answered. Nobody had been so bold since Allie and Stephanie had been abducted by Magnusson. He was deranged. Any intelligent person would know that going after the two teenager would incur the wrath of Rangeman, Stephanie Plum, and the Trenton Police Department (Morelli freely admitted that he had grown fond of the two girls). But, it was better if he was on the safe side. "They miss spending time with the girls."

"Do you think they could tell Allie what happened to the car?" Stephanie asked hopefully.

"I don't think they're going to want her screaming at them," Ranger shook with laughter. "I'm sure they would watch, though."

"Great," Stephanie grumbled unpleasantly.

"Let's head home."

Normally, Stephanie would have swooned after hearing those words, but today she was more concerned with the words her daughter would have after she found out that Little Red Riding Hood was no more.

0o0

"You blew up my car!" Allegra shrieked as she stood stiffly in the living room. Her fists were clenched tightly at her side.

Cayden McAllister sighed and raked a hand through his long shaggy brown hair. His blue eyes shown in the light of the table lamp next to his spot on the couch. "Allegra, don't yell in the house," he scolded.

Allegra snapped her head in his direction. "Mom blew up my car, Dad," she said pointedly. "How can I not yell?"

"It wasn't Stephanie," Julie defended. "She said someone in a black SUV blew it up."

Allegra fell into the couch and covered her face with her hands. "This is what happened when you let the bombshell bounty hunter borrow your classic car," she groaned. "That's possibly the biggest mistake I've ever made. And this tops pulling out of early admission for Princeton."

No need to be dramatic. Stephanie thought as she mentally rolled her eyes. "Ranger will let you borrow one of his cars," she stated. Maybe an expensive sports car would help. Just maybe.

"Ya da," Allegra grumbled her classic Japanese denial. It normally translated to 'I don't want to'. "Keep your fancy German sports car."

Ranger rolled back on his heels and glanced over at Stephanie. "How about the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle? It has the same classic look as your old car, but the mileage is better than you got with Little Red Riding Hood." It killed him every time he said the full name of Allegra's car.

Allegra moved her fingers to peek at her soon-to-be step-father. She eyed him suspiciously. Her car was her precious, and now it was in car heaven.

"We'll paint it your favorite candy apple red, and it can be a Little Red Riding Hood two point o'," Bobby spoke up from the kitchen. He and Lester had been listening intently as they ate some left over Chinese food from dinner.

"This is all very diplomatic to you isn't it, Will Scarlet?" Allegra asked.

Everyone at Rangeman who associated with Allegra and the rest of her friends on a regular basis were given names from The Adventures of Robin Hood. Allegra called them 'secret identities' and even changed the names in her phone book to match each one. Lester was Friar Tuck, Tank was Little John, Ranger was Robin Hood, and Bobby was Will Scarlet. Stephanie had easily adopted the match to Robin Hood, Maid Marianne.

"Hey, at least you get a new car," Lester barked.

Ranger raised an eyebrow as he watched Allie. Her tirade was simmering down at the prospect of a brand new car right off the manufacturing line.

"Mom is not allowed to borrow this one," Allie conceded slightly.

"Your mom will not touch the new car," Ranger grinned knowing he had won. Now he just had to buy a new car and paint it. He only needed to remind himself that even small wins were still a win. Allegra needed a car to get to and from school, and seeing as she took Julie with her, it was a good investment. Provided she didn't adopt her mother's knack for blowing up cars.

"That's not fair!" Stephanie stated. "What if it's the only car available?"

"No!" everyone chorused.

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Author's Note: A new chapter, a new adventure, a new car. I hope you all liked the chapter because I'm not off to delve into the land of Criminal Minds so I can get some writing done there before school sticks its nose into my business once more.

Leave a review letting me know what you think.

Ren