Alex kept running, she could hear the feet that pounded on the ground behind her. Rounding one of the cars in front of her she slid on the loose gravel as a hand came down and grabbed the back of the t-shirt she had on. Alex went limp and raised her arms quickly and the shirt came off, rolling to her hands she placed both feet into Ranger's chest and kicked off sending him back a few steps and then came down and took off again running in only her gi bottom and sports bra.

"Fuck!" Ranger tossed the shirt back and it landed on Tank's chest.

Lester came out and saw Tank chasing after Ranger and Stephanie chasing after them. Lester went to the SUV and jumped in and started it, not sure what was going on but he had the feeling that they didn't keep the FTA with them. He snickered, "Only Stephanie's FTAs run." He said to the empty vehicle.

Bringing the SUV around, Lester stopped and picked up Stephanie first. She got in slamming the door. "Ranger is going to kill me."

"No he won't." Lester told her.

"Yes he will, I just cost him a hundred grand." Stephanie couldn't fathom what she was going to have to give up in order to pay him back. "This skip is only worth fifty bucks."

Lester grinned, "I know, life's a bitch."

Stephanie sent him a death glare, which only had him laugh even more.

Lester slammed on the brakes as he saw Ranger and Tank looking down an embankment. He got out of the vehicle and looked over the edge. "There is no way she went down that."

Ranger pointed out beyond towards the small patch of woods down and on the other side of the sewage sludge. "She's over there now."

Tank shook his head and started walking down the right side looking for a safe way down. He had seen Ranger stop and almost go plunging down into the crap himself. Tank kept shaking his head, they had her and lost her. He looked back at Lester and Ranger, Ranger was now on the phone. This was going to be a long night, and all because Stephanie had asked help for one little skip. One little skip that wasn't even an adult yet.

Alex slowed down once she hit the woods and looked back up at the ledge. She wasn't sure what she had just ran through, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to smell any longer. Stopping at the tree she bent over and wretched up what little bit of food they had given her several hours before the fight. She spat out the puke taste in her mouth and saw the men walking along the edge. They hadn't wanted to follow her, she didn't blame them. She didn't want to wade through that crap again if she could stand it. Alex didn't know where she was, but she had to get moving before they found a way to cross what she had ran through. She turned and started walking through the woods. It had to lead somewhere, anywhere was better than where she had been. Anywhere was better than what she feared the man, Ranger, had paid for her.

Not my problem, Alex thought to herself while she walked. I didn't ask him to pay that money. Thoughts of her mother filled her head as she walked, she was pretty sure she was dead. Dead. Looking down at her black gi bottoms, Alex thought she reeked of death and decay. Alex shook her head and kept walking.

"James is going to kill me." Alex said out loud to herself, "he's going to be so pissed I haven't been teaching the classes."

Alex kept thinking, if she could only get back to the karate school, she could clean up, get changed, and think. The more she thought of it, the better the idea sounded. She had clothes there, there was shower, first aid kit, everything she needed. All but money, she'd have to wait for James to come in, and then she could get him to give her the months worth of lessons she already taught. He always held the money for her because she never trusted her mother not to take it. Any time she hid it in the apartment her mother found it and spent it just as quickly. She needed money, she needed a hundred grand to get the Ranger guy off her back. She made twenty an hour for teaching karate, tae kwon do, and only worked twenty-five hours a week. The hours that the school was opened up. James had given her chance and she had been doing it for a solid year now. The only time she missed a class was when she had to visit her probation officer. She groaned as she remembered she didn't make the last visit. Picking up a stick she broke it in half.

"So much for my freedom," she said into the night air that was humid and sticky. "Dumb fucking prick officer."

Tank didn't find a way down that wouldn't have you wading through sewage. He went back to where Ranger was. "Now what?"

"I have Bobbie coming out and few other men, I want those woods combed through." Ranger turned and looked at Stephanie who was still sitting in the SUV. He left Tank and Lester and went to the door and wrenched it open.

"Let's go Babe," Ranger said as he grabbed her hand and gave it a tug. "Let's get you back home."

"I'm sorry, this always happens to me. I thought since she lived close to Slayerland by bringing you in nothing would go wrong." Stephanie started explaining to him. Trying to rationalize why her FTAs always seemed to be the weird, deranged, and oddly the bottom feeders of the life pool.

Ranger gave a shrug, "Entertainment."

It hadn't been entertainment three months ago. Ranger had walked into her apartment and gave himself over to save her and his daughter. She had fell apart, fell apart so bad at knowing that one of the men in her life was walking into a situation that was going get them killed. She went to see Ranger after he got released from the hospital. She still hadn't told him she loved him. Stephanie, the master of denial, was still debating that part of her life. Something she did rather well.

"Where do you think she'll go next?" Stephanie asked him.

"Where she feels comfortable." Ranger said as he reached his car. He opened the passenger door and waited as Stephanie got in before he shut it. Going around to his side he climbed in and started the car. He drove Stephanie back to her apartment while he stayed in his zone. He stopped the car in her lot, Stephanie unbuckled the seat belt and had the door open, and he reached over and grabbed her chin. "Don't go in Slayerland, don't go anywhere near it."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid, been there done that."

"I know you Babe, you aren't going to let this go. She'll make a mistake, when she does, we'll nab her." Ranger stated.

Stephanie moved her head and looked back towards the apartment building entrance. "Why did you say Joe owed you? This was my skip."

Ranger moved his hand back to the gearshift on the car and put it in park. "He gave the go ahead to pay to have her released. I talked with him and Teri before taking you there last tonight. Shiropolli only knows money, that's the only language he talks in, Babe."

Stephanie looked back at Ranger, "So the feds will cover it?"

"Since he gave the go ahead, they will. They want Shiropolli brought down, they have that chance if they get the girl." Ranger moved his hand and picked up Stephanie's and brought it to his lips and kissed it. He watched how her breathing hitched with the rise of her breasts and how she let it back out slowly. The current of chemistry that ran between them stayed sparking between them. "Let Joe do his job, stay away from Shiropolli's business. Concentrate on the skip, but don't go in Slayerland."

Stephanie took her hand away. She got out of the car and walked towards the apartment, at least she didn't have to tell Joe the girl got away. That was Ranger's business, it was his money he used to get her out of Shiropolli's hands.

Ranger kept the car in park until Stephanie made it inside the apartment building, he picked up his phone and dialed Morelli.

"Changed your mind about me talking to her tonight?" Morelli asked.

"Nope, she got away." Ranger grimaced as he heard Morelli swearing on the other side.

"You know the feds aren't going to cover what they can't get out of her if we don't have her." Morelli told him. "They'll make you eat that hundred grand."

"If they make me eat it, then the kid is mine." Ranger told him. "You told me if they agreed they would return the money. They don't return my money I dished out then the kid is mine and all deals are off."

Ranger kicked the car into gear and started driving out of Stephanie's lot. "You must have a death wish if you want to keep that kid." Morelli growled.

"At least I don't drink antacids by the case." Ranger snarled back into the phone.

"Don't remind me," Morelli jeered back at him. "Is Steph home now?"

"Just dropped her off."

"I'll see what I can do about the money. I can't promise anything now, I told them we would have access to the girl tomorrow. Now I have to tell them you lost her." Morelli hung up.

Ranger shut the phone off. He drove until he made a pass by the apartment the kid lived in. He had been inside three days ago. There wasn't much in there, the only room that really showed any life to it was the kid's room. Ranger couldn't really figure out what it was about this kid, but all the guys felt a pull towards her. She came from the wrong side of the street, had a small wrap sheet, not much, but the kid had a set of ethics and she drew the line at murder, even risking her own life in the process to not take a life. What Shiropolli put her through for two weeks was sheer hell. Ranger could relate with the kid, most of the guys in his company could relate with this kid. She was a lot like them, only with a different package. He shut the car off as he pulled into the lot that housed the karate school. He had asked himself over and over again if he was this kid, where would be the first place he would go when he could get there. She spent more time at the school, he had talked with the owner, James Spragget.

Spragget had been real talkative about the girl, he always called her Alex. Ranger reached for the file that was on the back seat and leaned back he opened it up. Caitlyn Alexandria Ramono, age fifteen, worked for Trenton Karate Acadamy, sophomore at Trenton High School. Ranger flipped through the school information, not a lot of trouble with school, she had problems with math though, he noticed she failed and had to repeat most of her math classes during the summer. He flipped to the next sheet to her work history which consisted of the one job. Spragget had started paying her six months ago when she turned fifteen, he looked at the notes he had written in the file after talking with the man.

Lone wolf, keeps to herself and stays out of trouble, hasn't been in any more trouble since the probation. Very independent, doesn't trust easy, but is good with kids. Ranger closed the file and sat watching the lot. His cell phone rang.

"Yo." Ranger answered.

"Woods are totally clean. She's totally out of them, no sign of her on the road though." Tank told him.

"Go watch the apartment, I'm at the karate school." Ranger hung up the phone.

Alex climbed out of the back of the truck, she had made it all the way out of the woods and climbed into the back of a truck after it stopped to pull the branch she had laid in the road. The man had to get out and remove the branch or drive over it. It had been a lot of work to put that branch in the road to get away as fast as she could, she had to guess about the direction she needed to go, but after the truck had jumped up on the highway and she saw the signs for Trenton she knew she had made the right decision. She had waited for the truck to stop and the man to go away before she sat up to see her surroundings. She smiled at thinking of keeping herself moving this far.

Getting out of the truck she started walking down the street to find out where she was. She recognized the street name and knew she was in the better part of Trenton. Getting to the karate school was going to be a chore, it would be easier if she had a shirt on least instead of a sports bra and her gi bottoms. Alex stayed close to the shadows as much as possible and waited till no cars were around before she crossed any streets. Thirty minutes later she was walking towards the lot that had the karate school in it. She scanned the lot and noticed the expensive black car sitting in the lot beside the Uhaul truck. She was coming across the lot on the north side from around the businesses that she had skirted around the back. She sat down and watched the car, she couldn't see real well from where she was at and couldn't be sure if no one was inside it.

Ranger shifted in the car. He was beginning to doubt whether or not she was going to show. He looked at his watch, four thirty in the morning. He was sure she had plenty of time to get here by now. His cell phone had rung, so he answered it. Tank hadn't picked up anything at the apartment yet. Ranger scanned the lot and turned his head to look back over towards the other businesses on the north side. He would have come in from the south, but now he was wondering if she would have come in from the north side. He would be exposed from the north.

Alex was getting antsy, she shifted while she was squatting behind the light post. Ranger saw the shadow move on the concrete under the light. He grinned, she had come from the direction he didn't think she would. She had actually walked out of her way to come from that direction. He cranked over the engine and headed for the exit to the lot. He wanted her inside that school, not outside.

Seeing the car drive away, Alex waited and stood up, she sprinted to the door of the school and punched in the numbers on the keypad. Her access code worked and she heard the door open up. James had this installed so she didn't have to carry a key around to get inside the school. She slipped inside and heard the lock click in place behind her and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Ranger gave her fifteen minutes and pulled into the lot again, this time leaving his car hidden behind the Uhaul so she wouldn't be able to see it from the front window of the school. This kid was making him look bad. He had to draw on his street smarts to get on this kids level. He slipped over the door that had the keypad and punched in the numbers. James's computer system had been too easy to break into and he had pulled the code to the door. He slipped inside and listened. He could hear water running coming from the back of the school. Walking softly he made his way back to the rear of the school and went in slowly through the hall. He read the signs of the dressing rooms and heard the water coming from the female side.

Ranger moved till he was in front of the door and leaned back on the wall. He wouldn't walk in and freak her out. Ranger didn't think she needed company in the shower, the stench in the place was revolting, he figured she was going to have to burn the clothes she brought in.

Alex turned off the water. The shower was great, she felt a lot better now that she felt clean. The room reeked, but she would get rid of the clothes and air out the place before James came in. She grabbed the towel and dried herself off, glancing in the mirror in the dressing room she just realized how much bruising she had over her body. She knew she hurt like hell, she looked bad. Going to her locker she opened it up and pulled out the clean gi bottoms she had inside and slipped them on, she grabbed a pair of socks on the bottom of the locker and slipped them on. She pulled down one of the t-shirts hanging and slipped it over her head. Taking the bag she brought from the store room she picked up the clothes she had put in earlier, even with stuffing them in the bag and twisting them up in it she could still smell the stench of sewage from them.

Alex opened the door to the hall and stopped short when she saw shoes. She looked up into the eyes of the man who had paid for her release from Shiropolli. "Shit!"

Alex tossed the bag at Ranger and dove out into the hall and did a barrel roll coming back up on her feet, she pushed off from her feet and went down, the socks slipping on the linoleum. Ranger had batted the bag away from him and turned to go get his prey and saw her sprawled faced down on the floor. She had forgotten her shoes. He grabbed the back of her shirt and gi bottoms and yanked her to a standing position.

"Slow down tiger, we have business to discuss." Ranger told her.

Alex pushed her hands behind her trying to get him to release her but he wasn't letting go. "We don't have any business to discuss." Alex turned back to look at him and saw the grin on his face, "Let me go, dickhead."

"Such a little potty mouth, that isn't very lady like." Ranger told her as he assessed how he was going to take her down now. The problem was he really didn't want to grab her, she probably knew a few moves to get out of holds that way. Most of his skips didn't know defense, they were just down right out mean. Steph's skips always seemed to surprise him, and he didn't really want any surprises from the one he had in his hands right now.

"Fuck off!"

Ranger picked her up and she went swinging with her face towards the floor. "Watch your mouth! You aren't in the position for any negotiations yet." He walked back into the main part of the school lugging the load in his arms. He stopped when he saw the first aid box and hoisted her back to her feet. "Make yourself useful and grab the first aid box."

Alex looked back at him. "What do you want with me?"

"You are in violation of your bond agreement." Ranger glared at her, "now grab the first aid box."

Alex reached out and took it. "Let me go."

"No! You have a way of getting away. I'm not that stupid." Ranger moved towards the manager's office, "Open the door."

Alex opened the door, when she did that Ranger took them inside and let her go and reached behind him and pulled the door shut. The room was pitch black. He reached to his right and found the switch and turned on the light. Alex was looking at him, Ranger was watching her eyes, watching her assess him.

"Sit down and lets get your knuckles fixed up." Ranger pointed towards the chair by the wall. Alex looked at the chair and then down towards the box in her hands. "You throw that at me and I'll bind you to that chair and fix up your knuckles myself. Sit down!"

Alex kept looking at the box, she hated that he knew what she was thinking. She could still see her knuckles were bleeding, the shower had opened them up more as she had to scrub all the muck off herself. Since she was going to be doing this anyway she moved over to the chair and sat down.

"Good. I'm not going to hurt you, I won't cuff you, if you don't try to run." Alex looked up at him.

She glared at him. "When are you going to take me to the police station?"

"When we are through talking, maybe not even then. I need to make a phone call before I take you in. It depends on what the feds want to do with you. You have a bargaining chip to keep your butt out of jail. You have information they need on Shiropolli." Ranger spelled it out for her.

Alex looked back at the box in her lap and then opened it up. She found the pads that would be able to clean her knuckles up, she thought about what he said. "Shiropolli will kill me if I talked, screw the feds, they can make their case without me."

"They've been working on that for months, Shiropolli's debtors don't talk after they walk out of the pit." Ranger told her.

Alex snapped her head up and looked at him, "Who would talk after they murdered someone. That's a one way ticket to the joint."

"On the nose tiger." Ranger moved away from the door and knelt down in front of her and picked up the pads and took her left hand in his and started cleaning her knuckles. "You're the only one who hasn't murdered anybody in the pit. You're the only one who has walked out of that pit that can actually help the feds build a case and not go to jail because of it."

Alex sat there as he cleaned her left hand up and watched him spread the ointment on her knuckles and put bandages over them. She watched as Ranger started cleaning her right hand. He wasn't saying anything else. Alex sat thinking not paying attention as Ranger took the box off her lap and then pulled up the other chair in the room and sit down in it. He sat studying her. He could see her eyes were unfocused on anything in the room, she was lost serious thought.

"I won't do it." Alex turned and looked back at him. "Shiropolli will have me killed. I don't feel like dying."