A/N: I was really nervous about writing two POVs for this chapter. I feel like I've got Steph's down good but other than being a breathing sentient being, I have nothing in common with Ranger so I was very unsure about his voice. In this chapter, Steph's part is mostly action and dialogue based because we all know she's not known for thinking before she acts (you'll see her thoughts on this meeting later, don't worry) and Ranger is mostly thoughts because I'd covered the action with Steph. It was important for me to get them both in here though because Ranger often does and says things that I've aways felt are misinterpreted by Stephanie. I want to get his reasons and unique perspective on everything especially since I've made him even more...unique.

Once again, thank you for all the beautiful reviews, alerts, and favs. I responded to all of the recent ones. I hope you enjoy this next installment of our babe in training and her dashing teacher.

All of the characters you know and love were borrowed from the lovely Ms. Evanovich. They will be returned to her in due time. Maybe never since I'm having so much fun.

Chapter Three: The Big Bad Wolf

RPOV:

ABOUT THIRTY MINUTES ago, my pager went off. Connie was requesting a call back. I had no idea what for, I'd been in earlier to make sure they didn't have anything for me today. I'd called Connie and she told me that I was going to help out a new bounty hunter, just want I wanted to spend my day doing. I was to meet him at a cafe downtown and play nice. Connie was smart to hang up before I had a chance to reply. She was one of the few that got away with bossing me around. I mostly put up with it because I needed her to get my bond contracts.

Anyway, I was seated in a booth at the cafe with my back to the wall and the entrance and other customers in my line of sight. Sometimes old habits die hard. I wasn't waiting long before the smell of oil overwhelmed my senses and the bell above the door tinged as someone entered. Female, undeniably a lightweight, high heels...definitely not who I'm supposed to meet. I checked my watch again.

SPOV:

I WOKE UP to Connie staring at me. "I just got off the phone with Ranger. He's agreed to meet you. I thought it was best not tell him anything about you." That was probably a smart idea, don't want give him a chance to know what an unteachable dork I was. Much better to force him to find out on his own, that way I'd have a chance to whine and beg that he try to help me out anyway.

The puddle under the Nova looked concernedly larger than it had been. I didn't know anything about cars, but I had a feeling that this wasn't a good sign in regards to the Nova's lifespan. My hair couldn't look any grosser and I sort of wanted to see where the puddle was coming from. I sighed then got down on my hands and knees for the second time today and carefully maneuvered my head and torso under the car. I didn't see the leak until a big ol' drop fell on my shirt. I sighed again then crawled back out. It was just like I suspected... something I had no clue how to go about fixing, big surprise.

I clambered into the car. I wasted a few minutes pouting and rubbing at the oil stain then started making my way downtown. Traffic was light so I made good time. I was even a little early arriving to the cafe that I was supposed to meet Ranger at. I wanted to get a good look at the guy before I committed to some sort of one on one training session with him. Connie had seemed hesitant and for all I knew Ranger could be a clone of Vinnie. I decided to get something to drink from the cafe before joining him if he'd beaten me here.

As soon as I opened the door I knew why Connie had struggled over sending me to him. The smell of werewolf permeated the air drawing me in. The thing about alpha wolves is that it is impossible not to notice them. Their very presence demands attention. I beat down the urge to look over at him and made my way to the bar. I hopped up onto a stool and ordered a milkshake before sneaking a glance his way.

He had silky straight black pulled back into a ponytail that would have taken my hours to tame my hair into. He had bulging biceps that are common to all weres but they, surprisingly, didn't make him appear hulking. I guessed his height to be about 5'10" and his physical appearance to be in its late twenties. Weres stop aging once they're changed so who knew how old he really was, it's not usually something they share with me anyway. Everything about him screamed alpha, from the way he held himself to the calculating look in his eyes.

I took a giant gulp of my milkshake and shook all thoughts of tasting his yummy body out of my head. Going down that path wouldn't lead to any good. Money had to come before everything else right now. I couldn't afford to be stupid Stephanie.

He hadn't glanced at me since I came in which surprised me a little. I knew Connie didn't tell him anything about me but I figured my unique scent would have peaked his interest. I grabbed my milkshake and made my way to his booth. Still not a glance. I stuck my hand out at him and said, "Hi. I'm your new trainee," then gave him a blinding smile as he looked up.

I hadn't been prepared for the full force of his gaze and had to immediately look away. Instead of measuring dick size, werewolves determine their machoness with a bunch of silly mind games. I told myself that I hadn't looked away because of his dominate status to me, rather that his intenseness was just unnerving. Dominance and all that doesn't really affect me; humans and other werewolves all respond to it but witches, vamps, the fey and I can pretty much ignore it. I mostly choose to play along though so they left me alone. Not playing along typically leads to their belief that you want to challenge them and I definitely didn't want to get my butt kicked.

I watched him visibly shake off his surprise before he stood and offered me the seat across from him. "I wasn't expecting...you."

I gave him another nervous smile then took another gulp of milkshake. "Um, this is a pity job that Connie offered me. I'd appreciate any help you can offer. If you can turn me into a badass fugitive apprehension agent, that would be even better."

He took a few seconds to really look me over before giving me a quick grin. "What happened? You run into trouble already?"

I really wanted his help and I didn't want to get on the local alpha's bad side so I only gave him a mental glare before complaining, "I'm in a mid-midlife crisis right now. I actually have to contemplate homelessness versus moving in with my parents. And to make everything worse, look at my car!" I waved a hand towards the parked Nova and the strain below it.

"Ouch. Looks like a death trap."

I shrugged. "As long as it takes me with it when it goes and doesn't get me abandoned somewhere, I don't mind. That beauty cost me the few joys I have in life and I need them back. I need the money from this job, bad."

"There are easier jobs to get some fast money from." He gave me a look, expecting me to elaborate on my motivation for taking the job.

Lying would be useless since he had a nose better than mine. I was still confused about why he hadn't brought up my second nature yet but knew better than to bring it up myself. "Okay, so it's not just money...I have a personal investment in this as well."

He shook his head and looked frustrated. "Making it personal is dangerous. Unless you're able to set it aside and think, you'll end up hurt."

I frowned. Did he really think that I hadn't thought of that? I was well aware that I'd probably end up hurt, that's why I was here so that he could maybe teach me something to prevent that. "Do you do it just for the money?"

"I do it because it happens to be one of the things I'm best at." It hit me then that he was referencing his nonhuman abilities and that he had no clue that I was a little more than human myself. The car oil must be overpowering my own scent. I did a happy dance inside. I'd managed to unknowingly pull a fast one on a werewolf, an alpha werewolf. Oh, this was good. I wondered how long I'd be able to keep my secret a secret. I hoped it was at least until he'd taught me the good stuff. Who knew what his reaction would be to a wiley coyote.

I smiled around the milkshake straw and allowed myself to completely relax around him. "I just need to be halfway decent this one time, then I can go about moping again for a while."

"Alright, let's get started. Who's your skip?"

I got a warm rush thinking about Morelli behind bars again. "Joseph Morelli."

I wasn't paying attention, too busying drifting off into my own little dream world of a hefty paycheck and Morelli at my mercy, so when I heard Ranger's bark of laughter I accidentally spilled the rest of my shake. He laughed harder and I resisting both lapping up my milkshake and doing a face plant into it to get away from this day.

"Oh, this is good. No wonder Connie wanted to get you help." He tipped his head back and grinned but he at least look like he was trying to tone it down. I grabbed some napkin and angrily mopped up my mess. His smile had started to warm me up for reasons other than revenge and stupid Stephanie was suggesting that I deserved a little kiss after losing so much shake. A little kiss couldn't hurt if he thought I was human, right? No, bad Stephanie. Focus, be the bounty hunter. It was much easier to resist when he continued, "You're never catching him. He actually knows what he's doing and he's good. He's not some old lady who forgot to pay her bills and then forgot her hearing date. He's a cop accused of murder. You get why this is crazy, right?"

I knew who I wasn't going to go to for a pep talk in the future. I tried not to sound too petulant, "Connie said you'd help me."

"I'm not a miracle worker, Sweet Thing." Ouch, I'd get him back for that. It didn't matter how pretty or untouchable he was, that was a direct hit to my ego and I planned on giving as good as I got. I'd need to be sneaky about it though, an accidental payback or something he couldn't stick to me.

I folded my hands in front of me and leaned forward. I'd spilled my shake and I'd been poked fun at, a grumpy and hungry Stephanie is a dangerous beast. "Okay, look. I get that I'm not tough and muscular like you. Desperate times makes me a desperate lady though and I'm willing to put my all into this. I've been jobless for half a year. My mother threatened to treat me to daily lunches with her. I lost my hockey tickets and my TV. I can't take much more and I'm hungry as hell. You're more than welcome to keep taking stabs at me but you better be teaching me something while you do."

I grimaced hoping he hadn't caught on to the subtle order I'd just given him. He just look at me, amused. "Sounds like a deal. What's your name, by the way?"

"Oh! I'm Stephanie Plum. You can call me Steph. Connie said I was supposed to call you Ranger?"

"Yup, that's my street name."

I giggled. Street name, really? Growing up in the Burg there are no street names and this is the first time I've ever heard anyone even say street name. I slapped Morelli's file down on the table and slid it towards him. He opened it and started scanning through. I got bored after a few seconds so I got up and squeezed onto the bench next to him. I knew I was pushing it, there was a chance he'd catch the coyote scent. There was also the issue of wolf personal space but I wanted to have something to do before I said something that might get me into trouble.

Ranger glanced at me before returning to the file. I read through the bond agreement again with him. He tapped Morelli's address, "You check there yet? It's a decent starting place."

"Yeah, I went there earlier today. Morelli wasn't there but I caught Mooch getting stuff out of his place. I followed him to State Street and saw Morelli before he checked out."

Ranger waited for me to continue.

"And, uhh, that's it. He left, like I said."

Ranger looked dumbfounded. "You found him and what, let him go? Why didn't you stop him? You could have kneed him or something. That's a pretty good girl move. Effective."

I didn't really want to tell him that I'd asked Joe to come with me but he'd said no, so I opted for truth two point oh. "He had a gun in his pants! I couldn't have done anything, plus it's hard to balance on these shoes. I hadn't planned on finding him so fast." That probably hadn't helped my helpless girl image or my street rep but it was better than the other option.

I caught him smirk out of the corner of my eye. "Plan on getting a gun?"

No I did not, but I also knew the correct answer to this question so I tried an evasive maneuver, "On a scale from one to ten, how necessary is it that I invest in a gun? I don't have much left to pawn off. Could I substitute? Maybe I could work up to one."

He must had expected a cop out like this because he immediately said, "Usually I'd say a three of four, but for you I'm going to say a ten. You've seen him with a gun, he killed some guy with a gun...I'm not seeing another solution for you."

I started to protest even though I really had no logical response but he cut me off. "He used a .45 hydroshock on Ziggy Kulesza's head. Do you know what that does?" He caught my eyes and I was trapped. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be sunshine and rainbows but I didn't want to think about worse things. "The bullet went in nice and neat between his eyes then went out the other side making a fist sized hole." He gave me a look that said he wanted me thinking about this. "His brains would have looked a lot like your milkshake."

I wasn't sure if he was trying to scare me off or if he was testing me somehow. "Wow, that's great. Maybe, if you're lucky, when my milkshake comes back up, none of it will get on you."

He smiled gently. "Not my goal. Gotta know your target though, it will help."

I rolled my eyes at him. After the brains comment I really didn't care much about the danger seated next to me. "I know enough about the case through the PG newspaper articles. Did you read them? No? Okay well, Beyers included some clippings about the shooting." I closed my eyes and tried to recall as much as I could back to him. "It happened at night..a month-ish ago. Morelli was off duty and was meeting...Carly? No, Carmen Sanchez at some apartment on Shaw. He claimed that the meeting was concerning a police matter and that instead of Sanchez meeting him at the apartment, Ziggy showed up. Morelli also claimed it was self-defense. Boo yeah!"

After such a stressful day and still being hungry, I was impressed that I could even remember my own name. I laid the side of my face on the table and closed my eyes. A lot of things made me sleepy and I felt like I was starting to shut down. Great job Steph, fall asleep next to the big bad wolf when he's finally agreed to help you out. Instead of looking disgusted with me, I saw a concerned look cross his face when I opened my eyes sleepily.

When I opened my eyes again there was a piece of pie sitting in front of me. I was tempted to just dive right in but resisted and used a few human manners deciding that a fork would excuse the piggish eating. The pie was heavenly and I couldn't hold back the groans. I saw him shift in his seat a bit and smirked. Once the pie was polished off, I gave Ranger a real smile. Not one of my nervous or crazy smiles which I usually bring out. He smiled back at me looking perplexed and still a little bit concerned. "Feeling better?"

I nodded. "Yes, thanks. I've had a long day. The heat is making me sleepy and I think I was feeling a little low on sugar." And I'd shifted earlier today so my metabolism was ramped up.

He looked unsure about my answer but it had been true enough. "Let's keep going then. What else do you know?"

"The neighbors all told a completely different story than Morelli. Most of them came out when they heard a gun go off and saw Morelli standing over Ziggy. None of them remember seeing a gun near Ziggy's body and one hasn't turned up in the police investigation. One of the neighbors subdued Morelli until the police arrived at the scene. Umm, Morelli said he saw someone else in the apartment, not Sanchez though. The neighbors remember this person too but he was gone before the police got there. And I think that's it!"

I wasn't actually sure Ranger was paying attention to what I'd been saying. While I was going over everything I'd been running my finger through the pie goo and crumbs then cleaning it off with a swipe of my tongue. Ranger hadn't missed a single taste and I was pleased with myself. The pie and all it had encompassed was good enough payback for his earlier asshole comment since uncomfort for uncomfort was a fair trade.

He must have caught me watching his interest because he smirked at me then asked, "Know anything more about Carmen?"

Another slice of pie walked by and my nose led me to it. It kept going though and I was forced to focus on answering Ranger's question. Before I started, he interjected, "Got a food radar in there?" He was definitely trying to figure me out now. I hoped the oil stain and my sugar breath were enough to distract him for at least this meeting.

"What! So I like food! The sweeter, the better."

"Stuff's bad for you"

"Yeah, yeah. When rabbit food starts tasting like doughnuts, then I'll eat it. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I already said something about Carmen not being there. I don't think she's been seen since either. That's all I know about the shooting." I was careful to add that qualifier because otherwise I was a big fat liar and I bet Ranger would love to hear all about how I wanted to pummel the guy who slept with me in a sugar haven then ditched me so I beamed him with a car.

"That's pretty good. I have a little more info for you. Ziggy was working for Benito Ramirez when Morelli shot him. Name mean anything to you?"

Of course I knew that name. Anybody who wasn't living in a cave in Trenton knew that name. I wasn't sure if he was looking for something more though. "He's a boxer."

He shook his head and mumbled, "A boxer..." He did grin though so I assumed he was making fun of me. I'd forgive him since he bought me pie and I enjoyed seeing the smile again. "He's not just a boxer, he's the boxer. A fucking heavyweight and the best Trenton's seen in a long time. He trains in a gym on Stark Street. Kulesza was with him a lot. Sparring sometimes but mostly Ziggy was his gofer and bodyguard."

Why would a heavyweight boxer, who impressed an alpha werewolf, need a bodyguard? Ranger looked like he was about to continue but cut himself off. I watched him switch gears, "Be careful around him, babe. He's not a man to mess with." Uh oh, that sounded a lot like a nicer version of the Morelli warning I used to get. I don't think Ramirez would offer to play any games I'd enjoy, so maybe I actually would stay away.

"Do you know anything else? Like maybe what the whole meeting was about. You'd know stuff like that, right? Street name and all..."

I knew better than to poke the wolf's buttons but so far I'd liked all the reactions I'd received from him and he didn't disappoint this time either when he gave me a 'dear God, this woman is really a bounty hunter' look. "Nothing. If self-defense wasn't the real reason for the shooting, Morelli probably had a good reason to shoot him anyway. He's levelheaded, doesn't do rash shit unlike some cops."

I don't know what crack pipe he was smoking because the Morelli I knew wasn't levelheaded. All I got from him was reaction, reaction, reaction. Telling Ranger that he was wrong would only result in story time so I kept my trap shut on that. "Everyone acts stupidly eventually though. It's a natural law or something."

He shook his head and I felt like he was holding something back. "No, not Morelli."

I narrowed my eyes at him as took a drink from his water for the first time since I'd sat down. "You're not telling me something. What is it?"

I gasped and covered it with a cough when I caught a peak of his wolf's eyes staring back at me. As soon as I'd seen them they were gone. They'd been a shocking pale blue, like ice. They hadn't fit with his face at all but they'd been hauntingly beautiful. "I'm telling you to be careful."

He must be deadly serious if he was struggling to keep control of his wolf over this. I'd been pretty upbeat after my confrontation with Morelli since it was obvious that he considered me a joke and I wasn't going to get my brains splattered everywhere for that. But Ranger suddenly had me unsure. Losing control of your wolf was usually a sign of the need to fight or protect, or just plain rage, but I didn't know Ranger well enough to understand what I was missing. Was he warning me off Morelli? That didn't seem right though. It almost sounded like he'd respected Morelli earlier.

Ranger had watched me throughout my silence then finally asked, "So, are you still going to go after him?"

"I-I'm sure." I tipped my head to the side still trying to figure him out. "Is there a reason I should change my mind?"

I could tell he wanted to say yes, but he opted for ignoring the question. "If you give him up, someone else will just be after him. Might as well go for it since you need the money. If things get bad, you bail."

My back stiffened and I felt myself involuntarily grinding my teeth together. It was probably good advice, but it hadn't been advice. It had been an order, one of which he had no authority to give. Being my bounty hunter teacher didn't put him in charge, not really anyway. "Well!, any other thoughts for me?"

"You better hope you can find him just as fast again because word is the judicial system isn't the only one looking for him."

This was totally a 'word on the street' kind of information. Why hadn't he told me this before? If I ever talked to him again, I was brining a pair of pliers to pull teeth with, yeesh. "Are you sure about this rumor? It sounds sorta crazy. Wait, did I misinterpret what you said? You meant a contract right? Like a special early death certificate?"

He just nodded so I had to assume that meant yes all around.

I felt like I was in a movie and I can assure you, they wouldn't have cast me as the heroine for anything other than a straight to VHS spoof comedy. I wished I'd watched more crime TV and less food network. "Do you think I even stand a chance?"

"No."

Asshole. He was supposed to sugar coat it and tell me I could do anything. I wondered if he'd change his tune if he knew I had a furry friend too. I doubted it though, what good could a coyote do against a brain smoothie bullet? It didn't matter though, bullet or no bullet, Joe Morelli was the less frightening future.

"Are you going to train me anyway, sensei?"

He sighed and stood up, nudging me to do the same and move toward the cash register. "Yes, I'll help you. You're going to keep it a secret. I don't want it getting out that I'm saving damsels in distress from starvation or incompetence."

That was fine by me. I didn't really have anyone to tell. If I told anyone if would get back to my mother and she'd lock me away. "Okay, what's first?" I followed him out into the parking lot after he'd paid.

He walked me over to my Nova. "First we're getting you outfitted. While we do that, I'm going to tell you about the law." He glanced down at the oil puddle under my car then gave me a cheerful look. "Should get that fixed."

"How expensive is this lesson going to be? If I'm going to need to tear hubcaps off that to pay for everything, you better let me know now."

He opened the car door for me then stiffened. "You have a pet?"

I was going to make this hard for him. There was no way he'd tell me that he'd smelt something animal if he thought I was human and I was curious about how he'd explain himself. "I do, but he hasn't been in a car since I bought him. Why? There isn't hair or anything in there. I just bought this car this morning."

He actually looked lost for the first time since I'd met him. "It's nothing. I'd just thought that maybe if you had a dog you could bring it with you. A dog would pick up sounds better than you and might keep you safer." Huh, doubtful since dogs can't stand being around me but it was an Oscar worthy cover up. "I won't charge you for my time...or the snack since I like you and this has been an interesting experience for me. You're going to have to buy your own equipment though and handcuffs run about $40 a pair. Can you cover that?"

Oh, sweet Jesus. I was out of things to sell unless I was ready to be bedless. Maybe it was finally time to break out the emergency fund. The money I'd planned on using to keep me fed without eating meals at my parents'. I slid into the car and threw my head back in frustration. The seat decided that would be a good time to break and I was thrown back into a recline position. I groaned, "why me?" before nodding yes to Ranger then following him out of the lot.

RPOV:

IT WAS A few minutes early but I'd become restless with waiting for Connie's mystery man to show up. I kept myself still, stoic and alert despite my inner agitation. Something about the woman who'd entered last had my hackles rising. She'd been normal enough; pretty, a little rough around the edges, human, harmless. I listened to her order and was eased by her smokey voice. Nothing weird there, no slight lisp from fangs, modern speech unlike most fey, no reason to be troubled and yet I was.

Her heeled clicked towards me but I remained focused on the parking lot. He should be here any minute, Vinnie's office wasn't that far from here. A soft hand was suddenly in my line of sight. "Hi. I'm your new trainee." Her? Connie sent me her? A human woman. No wonder she'd been so vague on the phone and told me to play nice. The woman offered me a blinding smile but I could sense her nerves. She didn't want to be here anymore than I did.

I mentally groaned then stood to offer her the seat across from me. I wasn't sure if I was willing to teach her anything. It would make me responsible to any harm that came to her and she certainly wasn't cut out for this job like I was. She was fragile, dainty. She belonged somewhere else, not on the dirty streets chasing after potentially violent criminals. I had nothing against female BEAs but most of the ones I knew were meaner than me.

I sat then decided I could convince her to give it up without making her feel like a failure or quitter. Any type of harm, physical or emotional, was sitting ill with me. "I wasn't expecting...you."

She gave me another nervous smile but tried to cover this one up with a swig of her drink. "Um, this is a pity job that Connie offered me. I'd appreciate any help you can offer. If you can turn me into a badass fugitive apprehension agent, that would be even better."

Dammit, something had to be wrong with me. First she has me at attention from across the room, then I struggle with the idea of her pain and now the sadness in her eyes makes me want to fix her problems for her. I avoided her eyes and took in her appearance; tousled hair, a smudge of dirty on her cheek, a giant oil stain on her breast... Maybe I could make it through this meeting if I kept my eyes focused down there. I grinned, "What happened? You run into trouble already?"

"I'm in a mid-midlife crisis right now. I actually have to contemplate homelessness versus moving in with my parents. And to make everything worse, look at my car!" She pointed out the shittiest car in the parking lot. I winced picturing her under the car when she got the oil on her shirt. My version had the rusted undercarriage crushing her to death. I felt another presence in me stir and immediately tamped it down. "Ouch. Looks like a death trap."

Her look told me the car was probably the least of her worries and I felt the presence stir again. "As long as it takes me with it when it goes and doesn't get me abandoned somewhere I don't mind. That beauty cost me the few joys I have in life and I need them back. I need the money from this job, bad."

She was hiding something, something she didn't want to share with me. Her desperate voice inflection had changed on the word money but only slightly. I was surprised I'd picked up on it. It had taken me years to tune into the people in my life this well. "There are easier jobs to get some fast money from." I gave her a chance to tell me before I asked and pulled it from her.

She gave me a cautious look. "Okay, so it's not just money...I have a personal investment in this as well."

Great, emotional involvement was never good in my opinion. Emotions led to mistakes and mistakes led to... a place I didn't want to return to. Emotions were likely to get this woman killed. You can't go after an FTA with anything other than a clear head or your liable to miss something, like a knife or gun. "Making it personal is dangerous. Unless you're able to set it aside and think, you'll end up hurt."

She gave me a hurt look. Damn, if I hadn't actually felt it cut through me. There had to be something about her that I was missing.

"Do you do it just for the money?"

Do what? Huh? Now I was actually getting lost during a conversation. Something about this has me in the twilight zone because I wasn't acting anything like myself. I tried to focus back on her question. Finally breaking through the fog she'd shrouded me in, "I do it because it happens to be one of the things I'm best at."

What the fuck? The woman did a 180 after I responded to her question. Maybe I'd fallen down the rabbit hole and answered a different question than I thought. A cocky remark from me had suddenly relaxed her and she was all brilliant smiles. Smiles I couldn't have torn my gaze from even if I wanted to. Her ease and happiness had relaxed something in me that I hadn't even noticed was tense until now.

Around a smile she told me, "I just need to be halfway decent this one time, then I can go about moping again for a while."

Brain dead to her smile I said, "Alright, let's get started. Who's your skip?"

Her heart rate picked up and a look of devious pleasure filled her eyes. "Joseph Morelli."

Her, a little timid mouse, was pitting herself against a hard ass potentially murderous cop. And she was excited about it. I was sure there was a story behind it, but right now I couldn't hold back genuine laughter. I couldn't remember the last time I'd laughed, let alone done so around a woman I'd just met. I'd surprised her, hell I'd surprised myself, but she spilled her milkshake all over the table and looked down at the mess like the world had ended.

I could see now why Connie had bullied me into coming here to help her out. She was likable, nearly impossible not to warm up to. "Oh, this is good. No wonder Connie wanted to get you help." I had a feeling she was the type of woman to make men do crazy things. I could hold nearly everyone in my life at arms length and already I was struggling to say no to her.

I pulled myself together but my control slipped for a moment and I finally realized what I'd been sensing earlier. My wolf was pushing to the forefront. He wanted control. He'd sensed the woman as soon as she'd walked into the cafe and felt her like a thunderbolt. He wanted to enjoy her. Her joy had soothed both him and his human companion but now that she was irritated and the topic of her safety up, he needed to be heard. The wolf didn't let those weaker than him walk into danger. The wolf was certainly not going to let this woman get hurt.

I snapped back to the cafe. The wolf had left my mind but he was still upset. A downside to being were was that you aren't really one person any more. You have two haves that often live in peace with one another but they do war occasionally. I hadn't slipped this far into my wolf since I'd been on active duty and needed the protection he offered my psyche. The pull back and forth between myself and my other half left me raw. "You're never catching him. He actually knows what he's doing and he's good. He's not some old lady who forgot to pay her bills and then forgot her hearing date. He's a cop accused of murder. You get why this is crazy, right?"

I hadn't meant to take it out on her but I was walking a fine line. It's not like I could explain to her what had just happened either. It was probably better for her in the long run anyway. I needed to get away, figure out what was going on, why I was losing hard earned control over myself. Pushing her to leave was best.

Instead of leaving or even appearing put off, she dug her heels in. "Connie said you'd help me."

I had to admire her tenacity even if it wasn't working toward my goal. "I'm not a miracle worker, Sweet Thing." Oh, Dios. Now she's getting pet names from me. It fit her, sweet as she was. I could even pick up her own smell of sugar under the oil spill.

Her eyes sparked but she covered up her anger with innocent movements. She gritted out, "Okay, look. I get that I'm not tough and muscular like you. Desperate times makes me a desperate lady though and I'm willing to put my all into this. I've been jobless for half a year. My mother threatened to treat me to daily lunches with her. I lost my hockey tickets and my TV. I can't take much more and I'm hungry as hell. You're more than welcome to keep taking stabs at me but you better be teaching me something while you do."

Thoughts of pushing her away left my mind as I heard about her troubles. She really did sound desperate and I'd rather teach her something than send her out on her own. She would definitely tackle Morelli with or without my assistance instead of just giving in. "Sounds like a deal. What's your name, by the way?"

She looked relived and my wolf settled further. If keeping her happy and safe was what it was going to take to settle my other half, than I was in for a long ride.

"Oh! I'm Stephanie Plum. You can call me Steph. Connie said I was supposed to call you Ranger?" Hmm... Stephanie Plum. A relative of Vinnie's? Now I could figure out why he'd hired her. Vinnie liked money and Stephanie wasn't a sure bet. I'd assumed he'd been desperate after Beyers' hospitalization and I'd refused to go after Morelli. He was a good cop. I was pretty sure he was using his time on the run to clear his name and if I went after him, he wouldn't have the time he needed.

"Yup, that's my street name."

She giggled at my reply. I had no clue why she found my reply funny but I'd been having trouble figuring her out so this wasn't surprising. She gave me Morelli's file and I began flipping through just to refresh myself, make sure Beyers hadn't added anything new since I'd first looked when Vinnie offered me the bond. Beyers had added a few newspaper articles and photos, nothing I wasn't already aware of and nothing particularly helpful.

I'd purposefully ignored Stephanie's presence across the table so when she scooted onto the bench next to me, I'd involuntarily tensed up. I didn't like people in my space. It's better to have your enemy at a distance where you can see a knife pulled. I can read body language, facial expressions and other clues better with her across the table from me but I couldn't force myself to ask her to move or make her uncomfortable enough to move on her own. I liked her next to me. Liked it more than I was comfortable with. I tried ignoring her again and moved my attention back to the file. At Morelli's address, I pointed it out to her. It was an easy place to start. She wasn't likely to run into any trouble there. "You check there yet? It's a decent starting place."

"Yeah, I went there earlier today. Morelli wasn't there but I caught Mooch getting stuff out of his place. I followed him to State Street and saw Morelli before he checked out."

I was surprised to hear that not only had she already tried the apartment, but that she'd gotten lucky. So lucky that she'd seen Morelli. What where the chances of that? Could she really be human? No one is that lucky and it would explain the crazy things she was doing to me. Maybe she was part fey. Some of the fey have odd traits. I'd never heard of one with charisma and luck in abundance but they kept to themselves so it was possible.

Stephanie had taken my silence to mean I wanted her to keep talking. "And, uhh, that's it. He left, like I said."

Part of me was glad that was all that had happened but another part of me had expected more. She was giving me hell yet she'd let Morelli walk away. "You found him and what, let him go? Why didn't you stop him? You could have kneed him or something. That's a pretty good girl move. Effective."

She looked embarrassed for a second. "He had a gun in his pants! I couldn't have done anything, plus it's hard to balance on these shoes. I hadn't planned on finding him so fast." I'd almost growled at hearing Morelli had a gun and she'd been close enough to see it but her indignation over the shoes had me smiling. I'd been waiting for an explanation for her outfit since she'd made it known I was to train her. The heels and skirt weren't going to be an effective FTA hunting outfit but I was glad she hadn't changed before showing up. I would have been disappointed to miss those legs.

Shaking off all thoughts of her bare legs wrapped about me and her heels digging into my back I asked, "Plan on getting a gun?"

Everyone is Jersey already has a gun and those that don't, usually have a reason for not having one. I guessed that she was afraid of them. I couldn't picture her using a gun anyway even to save herself. She didn't want to show me any weakness and it was obvious that she knew the gun to person ratio of the area, "On a scale from one to ten, how necessary is it that I invest in a gun? I don't have much left to pawn off. Could I substitute? Maybe I could work up to one."

Dios, if she was going to be taking on criminals she at least needed to have a gun as an option. A gun was likely to frighten many of the pettier ones into doing as told. Knowing she was going to blow off the idea of a gun, I purposefully pricked her pride hoping that she would want to prove me wrong and just get one, or at least be more willing to carry other weapons. "Usually I'd say a three of four, but for you I'm going to say a ten. You've seen him with a gun, he killed some guy with a gun...I'm not seeing another solution for you."

She wanted to argue so I tried playing on her fear instead. "He used a .45 hydroshock on Ziggy Kulesza's head. Do you know what that does? The bullet went in nice and neat between his eyes then went out the other side making a fist sized hole. His brains would have looked a lot like your milkshake."

Fear didn't seem to be working all that well either. She did look like she was struggling to keep the milkshake from making a reappearance though. "Wow, that's great. Maybe, if you're lucky, when my milkshake comes back up, none of it will get on you."

I wasn't sure if I had won the gun issue but I had no real ammunition to continue with so let it drop for now. "Not my goal. Gotta know your target though, it will help."

She started telling me about Morelli's case and I listened for the most part. When she started blinking heavily and laid her head down on the table, I became concerned. Something wasn't right. Something was off with her. I was missing something. Was she sick? Her face was turned toward me and her breathing evened out and slowed. She was asleep. One moment she was pumped that she'd remembered case facts and the next she was passed out on the table.

I remembered she had been complaining about being hungry and hoped a little sugar might wake her up. When a waitress walked by, I signaled and told her, "Pie. Whichever kind has the most sugar." My expression must have frightened her because the waitress nearly ran to the display case and hurried back with a huge chuck. As soon as the pie was on the table, Stephanie's eyelids fluttered open and all of her attention was on the pie.

A look for pure ecstasy crossed her face and a loud moan followed her first bite of pie and continued throughout the experience. This pleasure wasn't stirring the wolf, it was instead stirring me a little below the waist. I shifted allowing myself a little more space and hoped the scent and obviousness of my arousal would ease up.

Stephanie granted me a man killer smile once the pie was gone. I couldn't think of any supernaturals that had a heart connected to their stomach so I was still confused. The pie had her completely rejuvenated. "Feeling better?"

She gave me a surprisingly simple answer. There had to be more to Stephanie Plum than a rough day and an empty stomach. Hell, she'd just had the milkshake.

I gave up for the moment and moved on, "Let's keep going then. What else do you know?"

Stephanie summarized Morelli's arrest and the circumstances. She had been... politely licking the plate clean as she did so and her previous moans ran through my head easily. If she hadn't noticed my previous interest, she did now. I was struggling to tear my gaze from her mouth as she sensuously lapped her fingers of pie filling. She smiled at me, pleased that I'd been distracted and staring. Women... didn't get them.

I smirked, playing her game right back, and asked, "Know anything more about Carmen?"

I wasn't sure she'd heard me because as I was asking, the waitress walked by with a piece of pie for another table. She was a moth to the pie's flame. The waitress had those flat shoes on that didn't make any noise so I was confused as to how Stephanie had noticed it. Was it possible that she had an extrasensory skill? "Got a food radar in there?"

I'd hoped for a clue because I wanted reassurance that I wasn't just seeing things where they weren't but she easily replied, "What! So I like food! The sweeter, the better."

Maybe her earlier nap had been a reverse sugar coma. "Stuff's bad for you."

She rolled her eyes at me and then steered the conversation back to her skip.

Normally I didn't have much faith in cops but the reason I was sure of Morelli was that Ziggy had a bad news name attached to him. I didn't want to mention him in front of Stephanie. I also didn't want her hearing the name later and foolishly rushing in either. There was an idiom that perfectly described her and that had me worried. She was a babe in the wood; an innocent who would get hurt by others because of it.

"That's pretty good. I have a little more info for you. Ziggy was working for Benito Ramirez when Morelli shot him. Name mean anything to you?" I spoke cautiously hoping that she'd tell me fighting was 'icky' or something else on par with her heels comment.

"He's a boxer."

I groaned. How was I supposed to tell her that his being a boxer was barely the tip of the iceberg? Ramirez was so much more than a boxer. He was a womanizer, possibly a killer and a little something more... but I couldn't think about that. It wouldn't matter as long as he was in the public eye, I could do nothing about it and the babe in the woods would think I was crazy if I told her. I passed on as much information about him as I dared. I wanted her to he wary of him and also not feel like he might be a break in the case that she needed. I finished off with, "Be careful around him, babe. He's not a man to mess with."

She shivered at my tone but otherwise look unaffected. "Do you know anything else? Like maybe what the whole meeting was about. You'd know stuff like that, right? Street name and all..."

Was that what had made her giggle? Dios, definitely a babe in the woods. I bet she'd never even seen the streets. "Nothing. If self-defense wasn't the real reason for the shooting, Morelli probably had a good reason to shoot him anyway. He's levelheaded, doesn't do rash shit unlike some cops."

"Everyone acts stupidly eventually though. It's a natural law or something." I nearly laughed again. There was probably nothing left in this world that was completely natural anymore. Everything moves towards chaos was also surprisingly fitting right now.

Going for simple I said, "No, not Morelli." A flash of images from Benito's latest conquest flooded me. Babe had replaced the brutally raped and beaten woman. I felt my wolf claw to the surface, furious and protective. I let him for a moment and took several sips of water to keep my eyes averted from her. Allowing the wolf out in her presence was dangerous but he needed to see that she was unharmed and safe. Before I was able to completely push him below the surface, I found myself searching out her gaze as she ground out, "You're not telling me something. What is it?"

The wolf did not like her demand. He would protect her. She didn't need to know the darkness he knew so well. "I'm telling you to be careful."

Her wide eyes and startled expression allowed me to rein the wolf in. He didn't want her frightened of us so he gave in easily. I quickly tried to divert her thoughts, hoping that she would just think she'd been seeing things. "So, are you still going to go after him?"

She stuttered, "I-I'm sure." I was disappointed to see that I had frightened and unnerved her. She had been nearly matching me all afternoon and I'd ruined the easy partnership we had. "Is there a reason I should change my mind?"

Not wanting her to high tail it away from me I offered a vague answer, "If you give him up, someone else will just be after him. Might as well go for it since you need the money. If things get bad, you bail."

She stiffened next to me at my last statement and was back to herself. "Well!, any other thoughts for me?"

Now, while she was mad and feisty, was probably the best time to tell her that everything was going to be tougher for her. "You better hope you can find him just as fast again because word is the judicial system isn't the only one looking for him."

She gave me an incredulous look. "Are you sure about this rumor? It sounds sorta crazy. Wait, did I misinterpret what you said? You meant a contract right? Like a special early death certificate?"

I just nodded, enjoying that she wasn't beaten down so easily and always managed to get back on her feet.

"Do you think I even stand a chance?"

I didn't want to disappoint her by letting her get her hopes. I also wanted to prickle her a little more. "No."

The smell of sugar and oil increased as her rage picked up and her blood quickened. If we had been anywhere else, and I hadn't bought her pie, I bet I could have expected a right hook.

"Are you going to train me anyway, sensei?" The last word coming out as a sarcastic growl.

Of course I was, did she really have to ask? I liked her fire enough to continue, simply sighing and moving us to the register to pay. "Yes, I'll help you. You're going to keep it a secret. I don't want it getting out that I'm saving damsels in distress from starvation or incompetence."

Instead of the fire I'd been expecting she vibrated with excitement next to me. "Okay, what's first?"

As we walked to her car, I answered her. The massive oil spill under the car had me picturing her perky breasts again. I smiled at her, sneaking a peak at them, just as a refresher. "Should get that fixed."

"How expensive is this lesson going to be? If I'm going to need to tear hubcaps off that that pay for everything, you better let me know now."

She'd left the car unlocked, not safe Babe, so I opened the door to usher her in. A scent near my own wafted out, fur and the outdoors. There was nothing else like it but I hoped it was innocuous despite this. "You have a pet?"

She gave me a wide eyed, innocent look that told me she knew exactly what I was talking about. Of course she wasn't one to confess though. "I do, but he hasn't been in a car since I bought him. Why? There isn't hair or anything in there. I just bought this car this morning."

I hadn't known the car was so recently hers. Maybe the scent was from the previous owners? Maybe she knew them and that was what the faux innocent look had been about. Covering my tracks I said, "It's nothing. I'd just thought that maybe if you had a dog, you could bring it with you. A dog would pick up sounds better than you do and might keep you safer." It was true. Not my truth, but true. I moved on before she was given another chance to ask questions. "I won't charge you for my time...or the snack since I like you and this has been an interesting experience for me. You're going to have to buy your own equipment though and handcuffs run about $40 a pair. Can you cover that?"

She looked at her car then down at her shirt, looking more helpless than ever. And Dios help me, the more pathetic her look, the more I wanted to hold her.

Ending A/N: Sooo? Was it everything you hoped of and more? Once again, I apologize for sticking to the original so closely. It's hard to mix it up when so many of the Morelli facts are interspersed that actually need to remain the same and there was no space for an extra scene. I hope added Ranger's POV added enough new stuff to make it interesting. I also added as many mini scenes as I could while keeping it reasonable for their first meeting.

In the next chapter you can expect Steph's thoughts on Ranger and their meeting/shopping trip as well as whatever plot we have next. The first A/N note already explains why I didn't include them here. This chapter has a bunch of breadcrumbs in it about where I'm planning to take the main plot, happy hunting.

Also! Like my explanation of 'Babe'? I thought it was very fitting for this Ranger. Sure he's always been physically attracted to her but I felt Babe came from a stronger background than just her appearance.