Plum's Payoff

by FonzFan82

Stephanie Plum was broke so when her boss gives her a job she jumps at it. Perhaps she could have looked first. It had strings attached, but first, Ranger is assigned to go with her and second, it's not in New Jersey as usual. When they get to Milwaukee they find their FTA looks the fine, upstanding citizen that reported the case. Or is he upstanding as he appears.

3. Chapter 3

The very next day, Stephanie sat in the Rangeman waiting room. She wanted to see what Ranger thought of the latest FTA job. It did sound a bit strange just to go to Milwaukee and catch this latest subject – Clayton Morgan. Ranger came out less than ten m,minutes. Once he walked in, he looked immediately at her with a smile on his face.

"Babe."

Stephanie didn't bother giving this handsome man a hug. Ranger was her mentor when she first joined Vinnie's business. Of course Ranger was all business, but he never really was the type of person to marry.

"Should we go into my office?" Ranger asked.

"Okay. I wanted to talk to you about this strangest case."

After she followed Ranger into his office, she sat at his desk, facing him. He closed the door behind her and took a seat behind the computer. Tank, who was one of his top men was out-of-town for another two weeks. He was taking a break in Colorado.

Ranger was eating some carrots and an apple as they talked. Stephanie wasn't too sure if there were any places for Ranger to eat since he was never a fan of junk food.

"I'm sure you have already looked at Clayton Morgan's case file," Stephanie began.

She watched as Ranger finished chewing a bite of his Granny Smith apple. He nodded as he began to swallow the last bite.

After finishing, he said, "Vinnie told me about this Morgan character just a couple of days before you came on the scene. I'm not sure why he would be spending time out in Milwaukee, either."

"I hope we can catch him fast enough to put him behind bars," she said.

"We'll see, Babe. I'll ask Vinnie if I could pay you this time."

She nodded. In her last case, she didn't get paid from Vinnie.

"I like the idea. This is my first time in Wisconsin."

"Been a few years for me, Babe. I looked up the weather. It's supposed to be nice and sunny, so no need for a jacket."

"When do you want to leave?"

"Maybe early on Thursday," he said.

"So you should get started on your packing early."

"Lula asked if she could come along."

"Tell her no. I only have two tickets. Vinnie said to arrive by plane instead this time."

"He didn't say anything to me about it."

She stood up.

"I'm going home and feed Rex."

"I will come by Vinnie's office tomorrow morning or afternoon to give you your ticket."

"Okay," she said and was out of the door.