Disclaimer: The Plum characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I don't own anything.

Thanks to JessicaRenae for editing this chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

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Chap. 25 – She Wolf

"I need paint," I added with as a sudden blast of inspiration ran through my brain. Ranger glanced my way, eyes calculating, attempting to figure out what I was up to. We made our way to a hardware local store and bought variety of fluorescent paint. Ranger was sullen, disapproval clearly written on his face.

The house stood tall and haunting. We made it through the iron gates and I looked at my blank canvas for a few moments before picking up a red paint can.

I HEARD YOUR CALL. DOUCHEBAG, I'M NOT INTERESTED!

Ranger swallowed his burst of amusement. I glared, seething a little.

"Well, he's not a man, he's a monster," I replied. "He's a cowardly monster, who preys on the innocent and defenseless. If there's any other person who deserves it, that's him."

I got into the driver's seat, clicked on the seat belt, and drove us to Pasty Pastry. The place was crowded for some weird reason that day. Ranger and I walked in holding hands. The girl behind the counter lifted an eyebrow at our entrance. I pointed excitedly at everything I wanted before adding some healthy dark chocolate cake for Ranger. I picked a piece of it with my fingers and fed it to him. The joy in his face was radiant and unexpected, sending a jolt of electricity down my spine. There was clear amusement in his eyes. I looked around and realized that the eyes of everyone in the room focused on us, only us. My cheeks heated before I saw my scarlet blushed face reflected in the display window. Our actions were a blatant display of love, and I had forgotten myself in the moment.

Ranger snaked his hands around my waist. The woman behind the counter smiled and packed up our treats. I hurried out of the store, Ranger following behind me.

"Babe."

"Do you know what this means? The whole town is going to talk, spread rumors. They're going to think we are sleeping together. Again." I gasped and slapped my forehead. "Oh God."

The Cuban hotness next to me trapped my body between his and the car. He took hold of my arms, taking the bag from my hand. He leaned forward, pushing my body against his own. The passionate kiss he planted on my lips was delicious, sinful, breath-taking. We broke the kiss to find that everyone walked out of the store, people had gathered around us - Rangemen included - to take pictures of us with their phones.

I ducked out of Ranger's arms and ran to the driver's seat. Ranger took the seat next to me, and I drove out of the parking lot. He opened the box of sorted cupcakes and finished eating the one I had picked out for him earlier. This time his silence was deafening, but broken a few minutes later by the ringing of his cell phone. He glanced at the screen with a blank expression.

"What?" I asked, bringing the car to a halt before a curve. He gave me the phone. There on the screen was a picture of us in the bakery, with me feeding him cake with my fingers, juxtaposed with the picture of us kissing against the car. The tagline read:

"Trenton's Bombshell Bounty Hunter finds Time for Love"

The phone chimed once again, another link appearing on the screen. It was a text from Lester. This time the tagline made me even more frustrated and angry.

"Trenton's Bounty Hunter back in Sinful Relationship."

My eyes narrowed as I stared at him. He smiled, amusement clearly displayed across his face.

"This is not funny," I said. My phone started ringing this time. The number appeared as "unknown." Ranger answered, feeding the call through the car's bluetooth.

"The first little pig built his house out of straw because it was the easiest thing to do," he said, his voice vibrating with anger. "Listen to me, I will have you, even if he has to die. You will come willingly to me, or you'll fear me for the rest of your life. Ask yourself, are you in control or am I?"

He hung up. Ranger and I shared a glance.

"I just got a few ideas about what to do to derail him," he informed me.

"Really?"

"Stephanie Plum, would you go out on a date with me?" He extended his hand towards to me.

"Are you serious?"

We switch seats. Ranger drove us to Haywood to change our clothes. I managed to tame my hair into an elegant twist, and changed my shoes to strappy heels. Ranger later drove to an expensive restaurant. The discarded our bulletproof vest and sneakers, leaving them in the back seat of the car. Our clothing (t-shirts and jeans) was completely out-of-place, but being early afternoon, the outfit wasn't totally inappropriate. It was a clear message to Alonde. It said, "look at me, now come get me."

The chef himself came to greet us at the door.

"Mr. Manoso, it's a pleasure to see you at my establishment," the man greeted. "You must be Ms. Stephanie Plum."

Chef Lonzo showed us to the best table in the room. We sat, side by side, looking through the menu. Ranger placed a hand around my waist and pulled me off my seat and on his lap in no time.

"Ranger," I gasped. He bit my bottom lip in response.

"Call me Ranger again, and you don't be able to walk for weeks," he rasped into my ear causing my breath catch in my throat.

"Hey!"

He nipped my ear in return. I rolled my eyes, my body relaxing against him. The waiter came out with complimentary dishes for us to try.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" I whispered in his ear.

"Only one way to know," he said.

The food was delicious, possibly out of this world good. We took turns feeding each other, talking about family, and friends.

"Do you think Sofia and Lester will end up together?" I asked when our conversation came to a lull.

"You know Sofia better than I do," he responded. "At this point, I think it's pretty much her choice."

"Our baby has a crush on her," I reminded him, smiling at the thought. My son had a soft spot for his adoptive aunt. They had gotten closer over the years as she often filled the role of aunt and babysitter for him.

"Let's hope this thing she has with Lester doesn't leave him heart-broken," he added. I didn't know what to say in response.

"Do you think he's serious about her?" My hands rested on his shoulders. Ranger provided a solemn nod. I thought about my friends for a minute.

"I'm so happy for Joe," I confessed, changing the topic. "He is so happy with his new girl. I can't wait until she's old enough to date. He's going to pull out his hair."

"I thought you were his friend," Ranger replied with a slight smile.

"And you!" I said, poking his chest with my finger. "We need to talk about us. We also need to discuss this baby issue. Ranger, I thought you didn't want children." My tone dropped, my voice dripped with melancholy, but didn't take my eyes away from him. This was not a subject I was comfortable discussing, but it was a needed conversation. It was the reason I left this town.

"I'm a man," he said, "so I can be an idiot sometimes."

Ranger's phone rang again, startling me. He shared a short conversation with the person on the line.

"They found some interesting things at the beach house," Ranger announced. "The witness confirmed seeing Leticia." I gasped. "Apparently, they moved a smaller group yesterday to another location."

"Do you know what this means? Alonde must have more than one house," I said. "He's found another place to hide the group of women. Maybe some place nearby?"

"You're right," he said. "I'll have someone look into it."

Ranger paid the bill, made some calls, changed our shoes, and headed out of the restaurant to the new investigation site. It was a three-story house, surrounded by walls, a pool in the in the back yard facing the beach. We could hear the sounds of the ocean coming from behind the privacy wall.

Ranger studied the setting with carefulness. Samuel appeared moments later with a sweater in his hand. I tapped lightly on his shoulder to get his attention. He turned towards me, his eyes unfocused.

"This is hers," he said, showing me the piece of clothing in his hands. "I gave it to her on her fourteenth birthday. The seams were starting to come undone, but she sewed it back together, never took it off."

Tears pooled in his eyes, and in mine.

"The realtor says the buyer bought a number of complexes similar to this one." Ranger interrupted the moment. "We might find him in one of them."

I jumped as my cellphone vibrated on my hip. I grabbed it and put it on speaker for everyone to listen.

"The second little pig built his house out of sticks. This was a little bit stronger than a straw house," Alonde's voice. The backyard became quiet, except for the sounds of nature around us.

"Stephanie Plum, I'm not a patient man," the voice sneered. "I did not want to resort to this kind of cheap games, but you need an incentive."

A sudden wave of heavy breathing could be heard on the line, followed by a yelp.

"Stephanie," a breathy voice said, the tone forced as if she was gritting her teeth.

"Leticia, talk to me, please." I begged, my body in alert. There was a huff and scream. Samuel fisted his hands, holding the urge to snatch the phone and yell a few words into the receiver. The line went dead again.

"Samantha sent teams to investigate the other two locations," Ranger started, taking my hands in his. "We should go."

A minute later, Ranger received another call. Samantha had a hit. She gave him directions, and he drove faster than ever. I had to hold onto the door when I stepped out of the car, waiting for the feeling of vertigo to subside.

The house was surrounded, held by white walls hiding the evil on the other side. We found Samantha sitting in a van and staring into a screen.

"We are trying to find out how many people are inside," she said. "There's a basement. We won't know how many are armed until we are closer."

"Do you think he might have drawn us here on purpose?" I asked, fearing that this was another setup. Our previous experience with Alonde showed that he could be quite smart at times.

"We are about to find out," she answered. A second later, a voice resonated through walls of the vehicle.

"We have the house surrounded. A man was seen looking out the window."

My phone came to life once again. I took it out of my packet and pressed the speaker bottom.

"The third little pig built his house out of bricks," he said. "Do you know what happened to the wolf, Stephanie? Did you think you could outsmart me? I've been waiting for you. I'll see you in four hours, or you won't see your little friend ever again."

The color drained from my face. Alonde was smart, too smart. Things never ended well for the wolf.

"You think I'm a she-wolf?" I asked him.

"Oh Ms. Plum, for that you'll pay."

"I need to go in," breathed, hanging up.

"No." Ranger's voice was firm. I looked up at him to find a stern face, jaw tight, eyes hard.

"He wants me," I snapped. "Didn't you hear? This is the only way."

"This is not the only way," he responded, voice cold.

"The swat team's here," Samantha said. We walked out of the vehicle to find a SWAT team ready for action.

Ranger glanced at Samantha, their eyes met. She seemed confused for a few seconds, until her eyes widen.

"You want to join the team?" She asked. Ranger nodded.

"I'm going in," he said, "keep her safe."

"What?" I couldn't believe it, couldn't bear the thought. "This is exactly what he wants!"

"Babe."

I walked towards him and beat his chest with fisted hands. My voice dropped to an angry whisper, almost a sneer.

"This is what he wants," I said. "If you go in, he could hurt you, torture you." My anger faltered a little. "He could kill you."

Ranger took my hand and pulled me away from the action. We were semi-hidden between two vans. He pulled my body against him, his breath caressing the skin of my neck.

"Ranger, please don't go," I pleaded.

"Babe," he warmed. I took a deep breath and strengthened my shoulders.

"Car…" I paused, bracing myself. "Carlos, please."

He closed his eyes, body relaxing under my touch. I wrapped my arms around him, drawing him to me. Ranger rested his forehead against mine. My hands snaked down his t-shirt, caressing the skin uncovered by the Kevlar vest.

Samantha found us some minutes later. She had changed her clothes, Kevlar and sneakers.

"Stephanie, we need you," she said. We walked back to the van. Three men sat behind the machines, headsets in place and backs hunched over keyboards.

"We are going to call the house," she said. "We need to find out how many people are in the house. Witnesses suggest we are dealing with at least eight hostages. Plus three men and two women associated with Alonde, we think they're partners."

One of the men offered me a chair close to the audio system. Ranger stood on the other side, arms crossed. I was given a phone. The line rang a total of five times, nobody picked up. We tried again a few minutes later, this time letting it run longer.

"We'll have to wait for him to call back," Samantha lamented.

"But time's running out," I complain, my temper getting the best of me. We waited around for half an hour until my phone started ringing.

"Time is running out little wolf," the voice mocked. "The clock is ticking away."

"How many people are inside the complex?" I asked quickly.

"You need to come in and find out," he said. Samantha leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "exchange."

"What happens if I go in?" I asked. "Would you release your hostages?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" He questioned, his tone hinting annoyance. "You have two hours left Ms. Plum. If you don't come to me, I'll start killing them off, one by one."

And the line went dead.

-RS-

Ricky: Daddy! Can I have a dog?

Ranger: Too loud…messy.

Ricky: Can I have a snake?

Ranger: Too dangerous. What about a turtle?

Ricky: Turtles are boring (frown). Can I get a lion? A crocodile?

Ranger: (Pensive) Okay, let's go get the dog.

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