Disclaimer: I do not own the characters created by Janet Evanovich. I just really really wish I did! I am just using them in this story. I only own Carmella, but you can have her if you want her!

They pulled up outside the RangeMan building and Carmella jumped out the car.

"Ok thanks, I guess I'll see you tomorrow…hopefully." She muttered. Harry climbed out the car.

"Do really think that we'd just let you go in there on your own?" He asked. Carmella stared at him, then shook her head.

"No, you can't come. It's too dangerous; I don't know who is in there or what they're capable of. I don't want to put any of you in danger." Now they were all out of the car and looking at her. Mandy looked up at the building.

"Sweet, you live here? That is way cool!" She exclaimed, then looked at the expressions on everyone's faces as the stared at her in shock "Right sorry, I guess now isn't the time." She mumbled. Estella walked to Carmella's side and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I'd be worried sick if we didn't come with you, you'd hate to have us worrying on your conscience." She grinned. Carmella sighed.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" She muttered. Harry gave her a hug and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"Nope, sorry baby." Carmella nodded, took a deep breath and walked towards the front door.

I huddled in the corner, sobbing quietly. I could see Ranger, collapsed on the floor, not moving at all. I didn't know what they'd hit him with, but it sure as hell was effective. I thought I'd heard a gunshot when he'd walked in the room, but I didn't know for sure. I didn't know where the merry men were, I guess they'd gone out, or our assailants had got to them as well. There were three of them, all wearing balaclavas and dressed totally in black. Ranger wannabees. What did they want with Carmella? If she was anything like her father then she'd be here in a matter of seconds. I really hoped she wasn't as much like Ranger as she seemed to be. I didn't want her to get hurt as well. The sound of a phone ringing filled the air. One of the men looked at the other two.

"Go find out where that's coming from and make sure it stops." He commanded. One of the men nodded and disappeared from the room.

Carmella held her cell phone against her ear, waiting impatiently for Tank to pick up.

"I'm sorry; we could not connect your call. Please try again later." The annoying automatic voice told her. She swore loudly and disconnected. Harry looked at her.

"No joy?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Nope, I'm going in." she announced. Estella, Alex and Mandy all stood up from the bench they'd been slouched on. Mandy pulled a small can of pepper spray out of her bag. Alex looked at her.

"Who would attack you? You look terrifying!" He stated. Mandy shrugged and grinned. Carmella walked towards the front door and pushed it. It swung open easily. That wasn't right, there was a key card system, the door shouldn't open without use of a key card. It was one of the most advanced Carmella had ever seen, so it had either been broken down from the outside or the system had been disabled from the inside. Neither thought was particularly comforting. She walked into the lobby with her four new friends following her. It was completely empty. The guards had gone from the front desk. The security camera swivelled to point at them; they were going to be a problem. Ok think…Carmella jumped up onto the front desk and reached up towards the camera.

"Harry can you pass me the scissors from the desk?" She asked. Harry nodded and handed her the scissors.

"Why not just pull the wires out?" Mandy asked, watching intently.

"Because then anyone could just plug them back in. This way I can be sure that we're unseen at least while we're in here." She explained and cut the wires at the back. She jumped off the desk and went through the drawers. Finally in the bottom draw she found what she was looking for. She pulled out the black Magnum .44 and checked to make sure it was loaded.

"You can't use that, they're dangerous!" Estella exclaimed. Carmella looked at her.

"I know how to use it, don't worry. Now there should be some tasers somewhere and some stun guns. Check the drawers over there." She instructed. Harry pulled the drawers open and pulled out three tasers, four stun guns and a couple of cans of defence spray. Carmella picked up a taser and told the others to grab an item of weaponry.

"Ok, here's what I want you guys to do. Estella I want you to stay here and call me if anyone tries to come in or go out. Don't try to stop them in case they're armed. Do you want someone to stay with you?" Carmella asked. Estella shook her head.

"No, it's cool."

"Ok thanks, it's nothing personal, it's just that you're wearing the least practical outfit." Carmella smiled, looking at her floor length layered black skirt and her flared sleeve top. Estella smiled and gave her a quick hug.

"Good luck." She whispered. Carmella nodded and looked to the others.

"Right, I need to go to the fourth floor to get changed quickly. This skirt isn't that practical. I don't know which of the floors these people are hiding out on. All of the floors are monitored except the seventh floor, but there's no way they could get up there. It won't be the fourth floor or the sixth floor because those are both residential floors and there wouldn't be anywhere particularly practical to hide out. I'm, thinking it won't be the gym because it's just not a great place to camp out, there are too many objects that could be used as a weapon and so I think it's the office and surveillance floor. It makes the most sense. So we'll go to the fourth floor then to the offices." She instructed and started walking towards the lift. She jumped in, hit the button for the sixth floor and then jumped out again. They all stared at her quizzically as the lift doors closed.

"What was that about?" Alex asked. Carmella smiled as she led them to the staircase.

"There's a dial above the lift on each floor telling them where the lift is going and where it's stopped. When they see it they'll think we're going to the sixth floor and might go up there to check." She explained as they started to climb the stairs up to the fourth floor.

I watched the dial above the elevator move up to the number six. Shit, someone else was in the building and it was probably Carmella. I wasn't the only one who saw it moving.

"You two go and see who that is. If it's the girl, bring her here. If it's anyone else then kill them" the man who was obviously in charge instructed. I bit my lip and silently hoped it was Carmella, just so no one innocent would die. The two men nodded and walked out. Ranger still wasn't moving. I whimpered quietly, drawing the unwanted attention of our captor.

"You mustn't take this personally; it's really nothing against you. This is about Mañoso." He growled. I wanted to know which one he meant, but I wasn't about to strike up a conversation with him.

Carmella walked out of her bedroom wearing jeans, a pair of Dr Martens and a black top. She had a shoulder holster on that held the Magnum she'd found in reception and another gun she kept by her bed. Her gun sat on her hip and her taser was in her back pocket. She looked at the three teenagers sat on the couch. She really didn't want to get any of them involved especially since they'd only just met. Maybe she could just sneak out without them noticing.

"Are we ready to go?" Harry asked suddenly. Carmella froze.

"Um…do you guys want to stay here and I'll go check out the situation." She suggested hopefully.
"Nice try. Come on, let's go." Mandy smiled and walked towards the door with the two guys following her. Carmella sighed and walked out after them. They walked to the staircase and started making their way to the surveillance room, disabling cameras as they went.

I watched him walk into the surveillance room and then heard him curse loudly. He stormed out and kicked Ranger's limp form.

"Dammit, your daughter is too crafty for her own good. Sneaky bitch." He spat and kicked Ranger again.

"Leave him alone!" I shouted before I could stop myself. He snarled and stalked over to me.

"You stupid fat whore, keep your fucking mouth shut. This is nothing to do with you." He shouted, towering over me. I hunched up as small as I could. I resented the fat comment, I could hardly help it considering my condition but I was hardly going to voice that thought. His balaclava was still firmly in place but I was almost certain he wasn't from around here. The accent was slightly Hispanic. Maybe from Cuba or Spain or even Mexico. It was hard to tell, the balaclava muffled it. His eyes were the only parts of his face that were visible and they looked furious.

Carmella stopped on the last step and looked to her little gang.

"Ok, I don't know who the hell is in there and I don't know what they're capable. What I know is what I am capable of. If anyone gets hit by a bullet of any other object then hit the floor, even if you're not seriously injured. If they think that you're out of action then they probably won't give you another thought. Once you're down stay down. Look out for yourself above everyone else. It sounds selfish but it's the best way. If everyone covers themselves then we should be ok. I can't believe I'm actually saying all this stuff." She said. Harry smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll be ok. You just concentrate on getting your family out of there; I've got your back." He said softly. She nodded and thought about that for a second. 'Concentrate on getting your family out of there'. Was Steph her family? She was obviously very important to her dad and she was the closest thing Carmella had to a mother. In her books, that made her family. She looked at the three faces staring at her and nodded. She pulled her gun out and checked again that it had ammo in it. She hit the taser on and checked it was fully charged. Everything was set up and ready to go.

"Ok, everyone stay behind me, stay low and most importantly, stay alive." She pushed the door open gently and slipped into the room, squatting down to stay out of side. The others followed her in, crawling in the same style. As Alex, the last in, entered the room, Carmella suddenly remembered the door. As she turned to tell him to stop it closing, it slammed shut.

As he raised his hand to hit me again, a loud slamming noise filled the room. He turned and I saw the door settling back into place. Someone had just entered the room and it didn't take a genius to work out who.

"Is that you Miss Mañoso? Why don't you join us, there's room for one more." He said in a taunting voice. I closed my eyes and begged for Carmella's safety. I had no doubt that this guy would hurt her. He didn't seem to have a problem with hitting women.

Carmella turned and looked at her friends.

"Remember what I said. You also need to find somewhere else to hide in case anyone else comes through the door. You're an obvious target here." She whispered as quietly as possible. They nodded at her, all looking grim.

"Come out come out wherever you are." The voice sang, mocking her. This was not a good situation to be in. If she stood, she had no guarantee he wouldn't just shoot her straight away. Though it rarely happened in this kind of situation, it was still an option.

"Am I going have to come and find you?" The voice called. Shit. That wouldn't be good. If he came to find her, then he'd find the others as well. She really had no other option.

I saw Carmella stand up slowly from behind a desk and face the masked psycho. She stared at him, her face blank, except for the hatred that was burning in her eyes. He laughed softly.

"You really are beautiful Carmella, you've changed so much since the last time I saw you. You've become a beautiful young woman."
"I have no idea who you are." Carmella hissed back, her eyes flicking onto me then back again. Her face remained free of emotion, Ranger would have been proud. I wasn't sure if she'd seen him yet.

"You do know me, but it's been a while since I saw you last. You must have been…9 I think. And no, I'm not your father. It's just a coincidence that I haven't seen you for six years either." He said, laughing softly.

"Don't you dare compare yourself to my father. You will never be even a quarter of the man he is. He'd never raise a hand to a woman for one thing." She hissed, her eyes taking in the bruises on my face.

"You really don't want to upset me again Carmella. This is just revenge for the first time; you don't want to make it worse." He replied with a voice full of anger.

"I don't know who you are or what you want revenge for, but Stephanie didn't do anything to you so let her go." Carmella said forcefully.

"You're not really in a position to negotiate terms here Carmella." He said, laughing again. Suddenly, Carmella was aiming a gun at his head.

"I think I am." She whispered darkly. Then he pulled out a gun and pointed it at my head.

"Do you really think that you can shoot me before I shoot her, or, even better" He lowered the gun so it was aimed for my stomach "Before I shoot her unborn child. Could you deal with that guilt Carmella? Having the death of a child on your hands. Would your father ever forgives you, that is, if he lives" He hissed "Put the gun down on the floor. All three of them, on the floor." Carmella didn't move for a few seconds and then slowly bent down behind the desk.

Carmella quickly handed the guns out, so each of her friends had one.

"They're easy to use. But don't use them if you don't have to. Now move out of sight." She instructed and stood up again.

I could almost sense him smiling when Carmella stood again.

"Now, come a bit closer dear. You look so lonely there, all on your own. But be careful not to step on your father's body." He warned. I think if Carmella had still had a gun in her hand, she'd have shot him in that second and I didn't blame her. But instead, she said nothing and just walked forwards slowly. She stopped by Ranger and looked down at him.

"What did you do to him?" She asked. For some reason, this made him laugh loudly.

"You Mañoso's, you're all the same. You try to act cool and uncaring but under the surface you're bubbling with Latino temperament." He laughed "But if you must know, we simply shot him with a hydro-shock bullet." He answered simply. Carmella looked furious. She ran at him and pounced before he had time to aim his gun at her. He fell backwards, letting out a yell of surprise; Carmella was on top of him, punching him in the face and torso and shrieking at him in Spanish. I noticed movement in the corner and looked up to see three teenagers hurrying across the room. A boy with black and red hair looked at me. We held eye contact for a few seconds and then he smiled slightly and winked. I smiled back and they disappeared from sight. Just then, the man lunged forwards so that Carmella was pinned to the floor and he was straddling her. He aimed his gun at her head and growled.

"That was a stupid thing to do Angel, really stupid." Carmella pulled an arm free and tore the balaclava off his head. He didn't make any effort to cover his face; he just smiled as though this situation was vaguely amusing. His skin was a shade lighter then Carmella's; a scar ran the whole length of his face and he looked to be in his late twenties. Carmella stared at him, with only the faintest glimmer of recognition.

"Do you still not know who I am Carmella?" He asked. She shook her head, but kept her eyes on his face.

"I'll refresh your memory. When you were nine years old, you went to the supermarket with your mother. As you were waiting to pay at the checkout, a man in front of you pulled out a gun and aimed it at the girl working on the till. He demanded that she filled a bag with all the money in the till. Then the security turned up. He shot one of them in the leg and tried to run for it, but the police arrived and arrested him. No one was willing to testify against him except a little nine year old who'd been shopping with her mother. Your testimony put me in jail Carmella. Because of you I've spent the last six years inside; because of you I have this fucking scar. But now I'm out and I want to get even." He hissed, leaning close to her.

"I don't understand how the scar is my fault." She whispered, fear creeping into her voice.

"In jail, some guy took a knife to me. Like I said, I'm here to repay the favour. Only I think it's fair that I add interest." He smiled and lowered his mouth onto Carmella's. She let out a muffled scream and pushed him away. He grinned.

"Sorry Angel, I couldn't resist."

"You should have tried harder." A voice growled. I looked up and saw Tank stood over us. He grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt, lifted him and threw him against the wall. He slid down the wall and landed motionless at the bottom.

"Are you two ok?" He asked, but before we could answer, a gunshot rang through the room.

"Fuck." Tank whispered, then dropped to his knees and collapsed on the floor. Carmella screamed and looked around. The other two men were back and one of them was lowering his gun. Their balaclavas were still firmly in place. Carmella scrambled to her feet. Her hand went for her back pocket and I noticed the taser. The guy without the balaclava was slowly climbing to his feet. He walked over to Carmella and pulled the taser out of her pocket.

"Tut tut Carmella, you should be careful carrying this kind of thing around, you might zap yourself." He said mock-concern in his voice.

"Call an ambulance." She whispered "Or at least let me, let me call an ambulance. Please, we'll take them downstairs and-"

"No way. Sorry Angel, it's not going to happen." He said softly. She turned and looked at him.

"What are you going to do? Are you just going to keep us all here for God knows how long? Do you even have a plan?" She asked. He grinned and pulled a knife out from a thigh holster. It was about 10 inches long, I had no idea how I hadn't noticed it. I guess I just wasn't concentrating on his legs. He closed the gap between him and Carmella and held the knife to her throat. She didn't show any emotion, just stared at him.

"So your plan is to kill me. Wow, that's some plan." She whispered.

"I'm not about to kill you. You're no use to me dead Angel. Like I said, I'm here to repay the favour. I have to live with this monstrosity on my face; I have to live with the memories of jail. You're going to suffer the same things, only worse." He hissed. She just kept staring. The blade was now resting on Carmella's cheek. Her expression hadn't changed at all.

"It won't change anything. You do this; I'll get you thrown back inside. It's as simple as that. When and if you get out again, I'll be in my twenties probably. You should come back then, so you're picking on an adult, not a teenager."
"I have an alibi sweetheart. I wasn't the only one who had a problem with you. When I got out, I discovered you had a…hate club for lack of a better word. I was accepted right away. Turns out the Mañoso's are not a popular group." He hissed.

"No, it must be all that work we do, cleaning the streets of filth like you." Carmella replied, sounding bored. He laughed softly.

"You think very highly of your family don't you Carmella? What about Enrique Mañoso? He was pretty quick to abandon his family, well you and Ricardo, just for a bit of cash. He was easily bought. But this, this is the end of the Mañoso rule. You and your father first, then uncles, aunts, cousins, you will all be brought down a peg or two. Of course, after the untimely death of your father, your grandparents will be distraught, as will his brothers and sisters. Bit by bit, it will all fall apart. Then the daughter goes mad with grief, wondering why fate took away the one person she thought cared for her. Knowing that she could have stopped it. The little self confidence she has left will disappear and she'll start the downward spiral to suicide. That's you Carmella" He paused and smiled creepily.

"Yeah I got that." She muttered.

"The family crumbles. Soon, there's no more Mañoso rule anywhere. Not here, not in Miami and not in Cuba." He finished dramatically. There was a silence, then Carmella said;

"Right. In theory, it's a good plan. But if I could make a few alterations; I don't do 'mad with grief'. I do 'furious and on a revenge fuelled warpath'. If dad happened to die of mysterious circumstances then I would know exactly who to come after. You are also underestimating the strength of the family. Dad isn't the prized son. I mean that in the nicest possible way, but he was the rebel son. Still is in a way. I admit I haven't seen them for a good few years, but I know what they're like. They are strong and they still have respect and control. My aunts and uncles would kill you before you had time to take a final breath. And finally Cuba; no chance whatsoever of you making any impression at all there. And I mean no chance at all." There. Those are my comments; I hope they help in the grand scheme of things." She finished with a sweet smile. He snarled and lunged forwards. Carmella jumped to the side and the two masked goons moved forwards to assist their boss. At that moment, three goths jumped out from behind a desk.

"Carmella!" A white haired boy shouted and threw a gun to her. She grabbed it and in one swift movement had the safety off and was aiming it at the unmasked lunatic.

"You can kill me, but I'm not the only one who's going to bring you down Carmella. Like I say, there's more to come. The car exploding, almost being run down, the flowers and the intruder, it's all related. You'll see, you can't escape us. You'll die running." He hissed. Carmella said nothing, just kept her gun pointing at his head. He sighed and quickly pulled out a gun and aimed it at Ranger.

"I will kill him Carmella. Do you think you can shoot me before I shoot him. Or before one of them shoots you?" He asked, motioning to his goons. I wondered why everyone was ignoring the goths. I guess they weren't seen as a major threat. Then I realised that two of them had guns pointing at the goons' heads. How had that happened? Carmella lowered the gun slowly.

"That's good, now drop it on the floor and kick it away." He commanded. Carmella did it instantly and he grabbed her gun.

"Now, get on the floor on your knees, with your hands on your head." He commanded. She did, slowly, muttering some Spanish obscenities under her breath. He turned to me.

"You, do the same. I don't want to have to hurt you again but I will." He said without a trace of remorse. I whimpered and got onto my knees, hands on my head. This was starting to get slightly scary. Carmella looked over at me and whispered 'I'm sorry Steph'. I smiled and nodded. She had nothing to be sorry for, I knew that but I didn't want to draw any extra attention to us by telling her. Just then, the two goons collapsed onto the floor. I looked and saw that the goths all had stun guns. That was very organized of them. The man in charge glanced over, then grabbed Carmella by the hair and pulled her roughly to her feet. She let out a yelp of pain and scrambled to try and find her footing. Unfortunately, she was hovering about an inch from the floor. That guy was strong. Or Carmella was extraordinarily light. He shook her slightly and I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

"Tell them to drop the weapons or I swear, someone will get shot and I assure you, it'll be some one that you'll miss." He spat at her. She winced.

"Guys, drop the weapons please. Just put them on the floor and kick them away. Don't make any attempts to recover them. Can they go? This is nothing to do with them." She pleaded with him.

"No. Everyone in this room stays here until we go. That's just the way it is Angel." He replied shortly. Carmella winced as he shook her again. She looked a bit like a puppet.

"So just hurry up. Just do whatever it is you're going to do and leave because I am getting so damn bored with all this." She shouted. He snarled and threw her across the room. She slammed against the wall, letting out a whimper.

"Leave her alone you bastard! What the fuck is wrong with you? Just leave us all alone!" I found myself shrieking. He stalked over to me and without warning; he kicked me sharply in the stomach. Pain hit me and I doubled over with tears rolling down my face. Carmella was staggering, trying to stand.

"You fucking prick. You fucking heartless bastard. She's fucking pregnant!" She shrieked with the tears that had tried so hard not to fall now rolling down her face. She walked up to him and punched him in the mouth, hard. He staggered backwards, obviously shocked and dazed. She hit him in the stomach, she kicked him in the shins and she scratched his face. Then he grabbed her, and wrapped an arm around her throat. His knife was back at her face.

"That was very unwise. Really stupid." He hissed. He started to bring the knife down, when another gunshot was fired. He stopped and stumbled backwards, dropping the knife. I looked up and saw the boy with the black and red hair holding the gun up, pointing it in his direction. The two goons started to clamber to their feet again. The Goth turned the gun to them.

"Take him and get out. I mean that. Get out or I will shoot you both. Don't even touch the girl in reception, just leave." He commanded. They staggered to their boss and helped him up to his feet.

"Come on Kellin, let's go." One of the goons said to him. They stormed out of the office, with Kellin clutching the wound on his shoulder.

"This isn't over." He hissed and disappeared out of the door. Carmella started sobbing uncontrollably, while the other girl pulled out a cell phone.

"Estella; it's Mandy. Get out of sight. Three guys are coming down and you do not want to get in their way. I'll see you later." She hung up and hugged the white-haired guy next to her. The other boy walked over Carmella and wrapped his arms around her. She leant against him and sobbed quietly. Then she quickly pulled her head up and grabbed a phone off a near by desk. She tapped in the number and held it to her ear, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Hi I need an ambulance…Three, two gun shot wounds and a pregnant woman…ok, get here soon." She told them the address and hung up the phone. Neither Tank nor Ranger appeared to be moving.

"Stephie, you need to stand up. We need to get you, dad and Tank downstairs. Take my hand." She said softly. I looked up and grasped her outstretched hand. Mandy was by the lift, keeping the doors open while the two boys were trying to carry Ranger into the elevator. I didn't know how they were going to move Tank. I stepped into the lift and Carmella went to help move Ranger and Tank.

The ambulance arrived in about five minutes and we met another Goth girl in the lobby.

"Stephie this is Estella. The other girl is Mandy, the white haired boy is Alex and the boy with red and black hair is Harry." Carmella explained to me. I nodded shortly, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in my stomach. A small fleet of paramedics rushed in, pushing stretchers and carrying tanks of oxygen. They loaded Ranger and Tank onto a stretcher and pushed them out. Carmella jumped into the ambulance with Ranger, after checking with me that I didn't want her company. The goths assured her that they'd meet her at the hospital. I was loaded into the third ambulance and was being assured that everything was going to be ok. I only wish that I could believe them. Though I wanted to stay optimistic, but I could feel the lives inside me fading away.

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Many thanks to everyone who read this chapter. Please Please PLEASE review! As always, any suggestions and/or comments are welcome. Thanks to everyone who reviewed to the last chapter! I'll try to update ASAP. Arigato!