Disclaimer: All characters are borrowed from JE, the title is borrowed from Bon Jovi

Warning: Bad language and adult content

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, I really appreciate it and I apologoze if I didn't thank you individually.

Muchas, muchas gracias to Stayce for always helping me no matter what time it is, no matter how much I bug!

Keep the Faith

Chapter 16

Ella had deposited the medication Dr. Mahoney had prescribed on the kitchen counter. I didn't really feel dizzy or nauseous anymore, but I figured they couldn't hurt, so I took a pill and washed it down with some water before I grabbed my shoulder bag and left Ranger's apartment. Maybe the whole thing had been my imagination, like my body had reacted to my emotional stress or something. I decided not to think too much about it, because probably that could bring it back.

Instead of going straight to my desk, I decided to go down to the garage first. He'd mentioned it so casually that there was a new car for me, I forgot to ask him about the details. I told myself I was going to the gun range, but really, I wanted to find out what new company car Ranger had assigned to me.

My car karma hadn't been too bad lately, I'd driven the black Explorer for months, half a year almost, a new record for me.

I knew it would be easy to find 'my' new car. We all had key rings with our names on them. Usually, they were only on the board outside the control room when we were 'between' cars or out on vacation (or the hospital), and the cars were technically available.

Today, there was only one set of keys. Some smartass had attached the label 'Bombshell' instead of my name, and I had a good idea that smartass had shared a bed with me the night before. I grimaced and grabbed the keys, then went down to the ground floor.

When I stepped out of the elevator, I pressed the keyless entry button and followed the 'beepbeep'. I knew it was going to be black, I didn't know my new company car was going to be an H3. I smiled. A long time ago, Ranger had told me I was more the HumVee kind of person, and obviously, he'd remembered it, too.

I hoisted myself up into the driver seat and ran my hands over the steering wheel. The Hummer had that nice new car smell and I closed my eyes and inhaled. I knew it wasn't my car, per se, but I'd be the only one driving it and I was allowed to drive it for personal use. Plus, I didn't have any other car, so, really, this was my new car.

The car phone rang and I almost jumped in surprise. What car has a car phone nowadays?

"How do you like it?" Ranger asked when I picked up.

I smiled. "I love it."

"They guys told me you were downstairs, I tried your cell first. I figured you'd be in your new car by now."

"Is that why it has a phone?" I teased him. I could feel him smile on the other end. It was sort of a private joke between us, Ranger often tried to call when my cell phone's battery was dead or I didn't have the phone with me. He once suggested buying me a chain so I could wear it around my neck at all times. I think that was a joke though.

"Car phones have better reception," Ranger just said. "I have to go, I'm still in the meeting, just wanted to make sure you're okay."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I'm okay!"

"You could go to the gun range while you down there…" Ranger suggested and disconnected.

He had a point there, I hadn't practiced in a while, and I was down here already, so I reluctantly left the Hummer and took off for the gun range.

As usual, I felt very bad-ass and somewhat satisfied after firing round after round at some paper guy. It wasn't as much fun alone as it was with Ranger or one of the Merry Men, because it was always fun to watch them cringe when seeing that I shot my paper man's crotch out.

I grabbed a box of ammo on my way out and finally headed up to the control room and my desk. I figured in addition to locating my skips, I also had a ton of searches to run, since I hadn't been in the office in a couple days.

Lester got up as soon as he saw me and pulled me into a bear hug, Junior waved from the monitors and for a minute, the whole control room erupted in a 'Welcome back' cheer as if I'd been gone for months, not days. It felt like coming home.

"Long time no see," Lester said as he put his head on my shoulder still holding me tight.

"You saw me two days ago," I informed him laughing.

"Yeah, but that wouldn't give an excuse to cop a feel now, would it?" He pulled away and waggled his eyebrows at me.

"How's your arm?" I asked before he said something that would make me blush.

"Much better," he said touching the bandage on his arm. "I should be back on active duty by next week. I can't wait!"

That made me feel a lot better since I still sort of blamed myself for him getting shot. "What's the matter, you don't like the office?" I joked as I turned towards the break room. Everybody at RangeMan knew Lester needed to move constantly, that he felt like a caged animal at a desk.

"Yeah Santos, something wrong with the office?" Bobby chimed in, having heard the tail end of the conversation when he entered the control room. Lester flipped us both off and sat back down, Bobby followed me into the break room.

I got a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. "Something wrong?"

Bobby scoffed, pretending to be offended. "Can't I just be happy you're back and decide to have a cup of coffee with you?"

"My life is never that easy," I said and did an exaggerated sigh.

He poured himself a cup and turned to me. "Actually, I have good news. Or in this case, no news, which is good news, because we haven't heard anything from or about your friends DalBo and Guzzarella in days." He grinned. "So all is quiet on the Western front and we no longer need to shadow you."

He leaned down. "Unless you want to be shadowed. In that case, I'd be happy to follow you to the ends of the world." His grin got wider as he winked at me.

"You know, I am actually able to take care of myself at times," I said and attempted a pout. I couldn't pull it off and we both started laughing.

"Okay," I admitted, my hands in the air, surrendering. "But this time I'll be fine. Plus, I have my GPS in the car, and one in my purse. You'll know where I am at all times."

"Just the way I like it," Bobby smiled and punched me in the shoulder. I rolled my eyes and left the kitchen. I laughed about it, but I was actually a little choked up by how much 'my boys' cared. As often as they displayed it, I'd still never get used to it.

As soon as I sat down in my cube though, the 'good times' were over. Search requests had been piling up, my inbox was overflowing. I sighed and decided to do a few of them before I started the search for my own skips.

"Holler if you need help," Lester yelled over from his desk.

"Be careful what you offer," I said on a sigh and got started.

By noon, I had worked off half of the search requests and took a break to grab a sandwich and some water. Ranger still hadn't returned from his meeting, I would have heard it because the control room always goes quiet when he's around. 'Officer on deck', as Lester calls it.

I hadn't seen Tank either, so I figured he was with Ranger. Of course I could always just ask or try and call Ranger, but I'd talked to Ranger a few hours ago and he'd sounded fine, not like this meeting he was at was anything he hadn't expected. He'd be back when he'd be back, I told myself.

I took my lunch back to my desk and checked my email. After I deleted about a hundred ads for penis enlargement and mortgage refinancing, there were only a few messages left. One caught my eye because I didn't recognize the sender. I almost deleted it as spam, but then my curiosity won out.

'Gr8KissR' was the sender, and the subject was 'Be Aware'.

The message was short, all it said was, 'I'm watching you'. My stomach clenched immediately. I'd thought maybe Gr8KissR was a friend's online name, but my friends knew me too well to consider this message a joke.

Or maybe I was just overreacting. Maybe Mary Lou's husband Lenny thought it was a good way to get my attention. So before I alerted the troops, I wanted to find out for sure. I replied 'Who are you?', thinking that didn't give away that I was scared, just that I was curious.

My email address was on my business card, and really anyone could have sent the message. It was too early too panic, I decided.

With that settled I took care of my other emails and started searching for my skips. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I should mention the email to someone, but I told myself I'd wait until I heard back. If not, it was probably just a prank.

Since Lula and I had tried the FTAs' home addresses and last known work addresses without luck, so I typed their names into one of RangeMan's background check programs and printed out the results. I was going to go visit their parents, best friends and even ex-spouses if I had to! Look out, World, bounty hunter Steph was back!!

I dug out my cell phone and wondered if I should turn it on. If Ranger called and got voicemail, I figured he'd try my desk phone. On the other hand, Harry only had my home and cell number, and he would definitely call. Missing a call from Ranger seemed like the smaller problem, so I left it off and dropped it back into my purse as I logged off my computer and pushed my chair back.

My new SUV had a GPS tracker anyway, RangeMan didn't need my cell phone signal to know where I was, and there was always the car phone, so I was covered.

I grabbed my print outs and put them in order. Tanya Zabitzky was first on my list because she had been last yesterday, I wanted to work the skips off in the opposite order.

So I really thought about the order I wanted to find my skips in for a while because it gave me something to think about besides the email. It was ridiculous to still be thinking about a stupid prank.

I gave everyone a finger wave on my way out and stopped by Lester's desk to tell him about my plans.

"You want me to ride along?" he asked, winking.

"I thought you were still on desk duty."

He sighed and gave me his best puppy dog eyes. "But if I were on Steph duty, the boss wouldn't mind…"

I laughed and slapped his shoulder lightly as I hoisted my bag up and left the control room.

"He wouldn't even know, he's at an offsite meeting," Lester called after me. I waved over my shoulder without looking back, but I was still smiling. Good to know Ranger was still at his meeting.

I took a moment to familiarize myself with the controls in my new car, there were several lights and buttons I didn't recognize and I didn't want to explode it on its first day if I could help it, and then I took off. I realized I half expected another RangeMan car to follow me, that's how used I'd gotten to being shadowed.

It felt like the right thing to do to drive to Tanya's house first, since if she was home, it would save me a lot of time. I had four addresses to check for her parents, her brother, her best friend and her ex-boyfriend, and the latter lived in Philly.

Tanya wasn't home. I looked up her parents' address. Newark. I didnt' want to go to Newark by myself, I needed Lula. And I didn't even have to turn on my cell phone which was off to avoid Harry's calls, I had a car phone.

I sat in my car in front of Tanya Zabitzky's house with the phone in my hand and a funny feeling in my stomach. Not funny-nauseous, funny-weird. I looked around to check if there was anyone watching me, but I couldn't see anyone. Clearly, I was freaking over nothing.

First I called my voicemail to find out if I'd missed any important messages.

"Stephanie, this is your mother…" Oh damn. I really had to call my mom.

I called Lula next.

"Girlfriend, about time you called," she said by way of greeting. "I've been dying to find out how you made out with Batman!"

"Funny you put it that way," I told her. "It's all good. We, uhm, kissed and made up." I knew I didn't have to be more specific for her to get my meaning. I couldn't help smiling at the thought of last night.

"Finally," Lula grunted. "So I get to have my man all to myself again." I could feel her grin and I knew she was kidding.

"Actually, I have Tank to thank for it. I'll tell you all about it. Are you up riding shotgun to chase some skips?"

"Dayum. Wish I could. Raincheck? I've made an appointment at Le Sol Spa and I've been waiting weeks for it."

"Will you be long?" I asked. I could always wait to start my big skip search.

"I sure hope so," Lula said. "I'm getting my hair done. Then I'm gonna get all my nails done, and you know, get smooth for my man from top to bottom. Well, maybe not in that order. But I'll be here all afternoon."

"Okay, raincheck then. Have a good time." I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice, although I didn't know if I was disappointed because Lula couldn't join me or because I couldn't join her.

"And don't forget you owe me the details," she reminded me and we disconnected.

Of course I could take Lester up on his offer, or ask any other Merry Man to ride shotgun for that matter, but I was afraid it would make me look weak. I'd been protesting for so long that I could do my job on my own, here was an opportunity to prove it. Besides, I didn't know if Lester had been telling the truth when he said riding with me would be acceptable.

I mentally rolled my eyes at myself. What the hell was I doing? I'd been a bounty hunter for years now and in the beginning, I always did everything myself. And now I needed company to drive to Newark!

'Get a grip,' I told myself and started the car. Maybe I'd learn to find my zone on the drive, like Ranger. Now I knew what he was doing when his mind seemed to be on another planet, and I wished I could put time in the car to good use like that. Mostly, I spent my time finding the right music on the radio and flipping off other drivers. Hardly productive, but very entertaining.

I looked the parents' street up in my road atlas and got on my way. I'd call my mom from Newark, I decided. Then I could pick up Bob and mooch dinner at the same time.

I got on Route 1 and 'I Got You Babe' played on the radio. That song always reminds me of Ranger and I smiled at the memory of the night before. The last 24 hours had turned my life around yet again. If I stopped to think about the ups and downs, I'd probably get dizzy again.

After a couple wrong turns, I found Tanya Zabitzky's parents' house. It was a white clapboard on the outskirts of Newark proper, the Garden State's compost heap, as some people called it. The neighborhood seemed blue collar middle class, properties were small and trees had matured, cars were medium-sized.

I did a drive-by first to see if I could spot Tanya's car, but no such luck. I turned and parked directly in front of number 238.

A long melody played when I pushed the door bell, and in hindsight, it was a sign of things to come.

A woman dressed in a light pink chiffon nightgown answered a minute later. Maybe nightgown wasn't right, it was more of a negligee. She had her brown hair in an elaborate updo, and the material of the negligee left little to the imagination. I figured she was just this side of legal, both in age and attire.

"Help you?" she asked as she popped her bubble gum. I cleared my throat and glanced at the file in my hand.

"I'm looking for Mr. or Mrs. Zabitzky?"

She nodded and turned, leaving me standing at the open door. "Caaaandy! It's for you," she yelled as she treated me to a view of her toned backside.

'Damn,' I thought, 'I should work out more.' I was suddenly glad Lester hadn't come along, he'd be drooling at this point.

The file said Tanya's parents' names were Douglas and Marie, but when the woman showed up moments later, I easily guessed Candy wasn't her real name.

She looked to be in her late forties, her hair dyed candy-apple red, her lips and nails painted in the same color. She wore skin-tight leather pants and a black leather bustier that looked painful as it tried to hold back her D-cup breasts and slight belly. I couldn't help comparing her to Joyce Barnhardt, the woman could have been her much older sister, except Joyce usually gunked her eyelashes up even more than Candy.

"You here for the job?" she asked me in a 2-packs-a day voice as she looked me up and down slowly.

After seeing the girl who'd answered the door and her, I had a pretty good idea what said job would be, so I quickly shook my head. "No, I'm here to talk to Tanya's parents."

She looked around as if to make sure no one had heard me. "What's she done now?" she stage-whispered.

So I'd been right, I was looking at Tanya's mother. I'd seen Tanya's picture in the file Connie had given me and I'd gotten the impression Tanya was a step above trailer trash. If the woman in front of me had been her role model, she'd actually come pretty far.

She took a step back and waved me in. "Doesn't do my image any good if customers know I have an adult daughter," she explained. I wasn't so sure Tanya would want people to know this was her mother either.

"What exactly is your image?" I couldn't help it, I was curious.

"Candy's Close Encounters," she said immediately. "I run a…an escort service."

Translation: She was a madam. I knew right then she wouldn't help me find Tanya, but I had another idea.

"Do you do kinky?"

Candy didn't bat an eye. "Honey, we do everything if you pay the price."

I chewed on my lip thinking. If I got one of Candy's girls over to Vinnie…Harry hadn't mentioned anything about turning Vinnie faithful, he'd just asked to get him away from Joyce. I knew it was cheating but I had a feeling Harry wouldn't hold it against me and consider our deal done.

"Do you charge by the hour?"

Candy raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure you have the right idea 'bout Tanya…"

I rolled my eyes and laughed. I could see how Candy was confused, so I hurried to explain that my question and my search for Tanya weren't related. Then I hurried to explain I wasn't asking for me but for a 'friend'. I'm pretty sure I didn't blush too much when I explained what kind of…escort I would need.

Candy gave me the prices and I swallowed. Did men really spend this much money just to get laid? I needed to check my finances before I put in an order.

I gave Candy my card and told her about my reason for ringing her doorbell. She assured me she'd talk to her daughter, but I had a feeling she was just telling me what I wanted to hear as a potential customer.

That was okay, my FTA was suddenly less important than getting my end of the deal with Harry done. When I'd ask Ranger to step in, I only did it to get a rise out of him. I'd kill Joyce and bathe Ranger in Lysol if he ever touched her. But this had potential.

I thanked Candy and she assured me the pleasure had been all hers as I closed the door behind me, wondering if this was their 'base of operations', a brothel disguised as a middle class home. Anything was possible in Newark after all.

I turned my cell phone back on to call Ranger, since I hadn't gotten a chance to tell him I was going to Newark, but I got his voicemail and left a message for him to call me back. Lester hadn't asked me to, but I knew he'd be waiting for me to check in, so I called him next while I unlocked my car and threw my purse on the passenger seat.

"Causing trouble yet?" he answered his phone.

I smiled and I knew he was only half-kidding because more often than not, I called when I was in trouble.

"Everything's okay here," I told him as I got into the car. "Ranger back yet?"

"Lemme check."

I assumed he was checking the GPS for the location of Ranger's car, which meant he hadn't seen him. Since Ranger always checks in with the Control Room when he gets back, I pretty much had my answer.

"He's still downtown," Lester confirmed when he got back. "Anything I can help you with?"

"I told you I didn't need help," I teased him. "Just wondering how long that meeting was that Ranger went to."

"Potential client," Lester said. "Potential big client. They probably do the whole song and dance for them."

I grinned at the mental image Lester's words gave me. I'd never seen Ranger negotiate with clients, I couldn't imagine him schmoozing anyone.

We disconnected and I pointed the car back to the highway. The trip hadn't been a complete waste of time thanks to Candy. But I still needed to find at least one of my FTAs if I wanted to call the day a success. Now I had to figure out if I wanted to follow another lead for Tanya or put her at the end of the list and proceed to the next skip in the pile.

To be honest, my bounty hunting was only half-assed anymore since I received a steady paycheck from RangeMan. I could choose my skips. But I still had to bring them in before the deadline, before Vinnie forfeited the bail money he lent them.

And I've had the files I was working on for a few days now, which meant Vinnie had probably already left messages to get a status report.

It used to be I avoided phone calls from Repo men and credit card companies; now I was dodging calls from a Mafia boss and a bail bondsman.

I sighed and switched the radio to heavy metal, I needed a distraction. That funny feeling in my stomach hadn't gone away and I didn't want to think about what it meant. I usually only felt this way when I was being watched, but I couldn't make out anybody that was following me.

Probably I was just hungry, I decided, and took an exit promising the Golden Arches around the corner. I got my usual value meal with a milk shake and an apple pie at the drive thru and parked, studying the FTA files again while I ate.

I hadn't gotten anywhere with Tanya, and I felt I'd spent enough time on her for the day, so I went on to Mark Wagner. Mark's bond was lower than Tanya's, but then he hadn't held up a Victoria's Secret store at gun point, he'd only driven away from a gas station with a full tank and a full wallet, either forgetting to pay or forgetting all gas stations had cameras that monitored the pumps. There was no mention of any weapons on him when he was arrested, so he should be easy. He hadn't been at home the day before, but now I had his ex-wife's address to check out. The fact that her address was in Trenton as well made the decision easier.

Now that I was full and I had a purpose, I felt better.

I knew the way from Newark to Trenton by heart so I had time to think about my plan some more. If Candy's Close Encounters could buy me out of this mess, I was willing to pay. I'd have to talk to Lula, time it right, maybe I could send Joyce running once and for all if she happened to walk in on Vinnie and one of Candy's girls. I also needed Lula to give me some advice as to how to talk to Candy, there were probably some inside tricks when negotiating turning tricks.

I'd already decided to keep the escort's profession to myself, I'd get Connie to tell Vinnie she was a new office help or something.

I made a mental note to call Candy as soon as I had the time. Maybe she also had male escorts who could take care of Joyce, in case jealousy wasn't her thing. Maybe I'd get a two-fer discount? I didn't know how these things worked, but I'm sure I'd figure it out with Lula's help.

The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced this plan could really work. I still wanted to discuss it with Ranger, maybe he'd give me an advance on my paycheck so I could get started right away. For the first time since my stupid promise, I felt like I could handle it.

I was two exits away from Mark's ex-wife and just one from my apartment, so I decided to make a small detour to check in on Rex and mail and such and took the Hamilton Ave exit off Route 1.

It was afternoon and most of the seniors who lived in my building were out doing their senior things, so I was able to snag a parking spot right next to the handicapped spots, really close to the building. Of course I'd have this luck on a bright sunny day, not when it was pouring rain, but I enjoyed it anyway and smiled all the way to the back door.

I got my mail and took the elevator upstairs, I even remembered to be careful when I got to the second floor. I put my hand in my purse and closed my fingers over my gun. There were no bullets in it, but it could still intimidate, I figured. I stopped and listened at my apartment door, not because I thought someone was in there, but because I'd promised Ranger I'd do it.

When I didn't' hear anything, I fished my keys out of my purse with my free hand and unlocked the door. All was quiet inside, except for Rex running on his wheel.

I apologized to Rex for leaving him alone overnight, but when told him the reason for it, I was sure he smiled at me. I cracked a walnut for him and dropped it in his food dish along with some raisins and he almost somersaulted off his wheel in an effort to get to the food.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the light on my answering machine blinking furiously and I knew I was going to be too curious to ignore it much longer.

Since Rex stuffed his goodies into his cheek and disappeared into his soup can, I had no excuse to watch him any longer and turned to the dreaded machine with a sigh.

My mom had left two messages since the day before and I immediately felt guilty. Lula had called for an update, complaining that my cell phone wasn't on, but since I'd already talked to her, I deleted her message right away.

"Hi Mom," I said, holding back a sigh.

"Stephanie, you know better than not to show up or call in over a day," my mom said.

"I'm sorry I didn't pick up Bob…" I started but Mom cut me off.

"It's not about Bob. I heard sirens. You could have been in an accident."

"I wasn't. I'm fine, Mom. I'm sorry I didn't call, I was busy."

"Well. Why don't you come over for dinner tonight so we get to see you?"

Actually, that didn't sound like a bad idea. I did want to see Grandma Mazur and my parents.

"Okay. I'll see you tonight," I said and we disconnected.

I deleted my mom's messages and continued listening and deleting.

And then there were Harry's messages, two of them, interrupted only by a phone solicitor. He was his usual polite self, reminding me that he hadn't heard from me, but I could tell he was getting impatient. Or maybe I was just getting impatient to get him out of my life.

I reminded myself that I had a plan now and deleted his messages. That left an ominous breather, followed by a message that had me trembling.

"I'm watching you", a male voice said, except he had a heavy accent and it sounded more like 'I'm vatchink you.'

So the email hadn't been just a prank. Some psycho had my email address, my home phone number and an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.

Probably I should check my caller ID for a number, I thought, or check with RangeMan to see if they had the number of the caller. I wanted to call Ranger, just to ask him to come over as soon as possible.

I yelped when the phone rang in front of me. Trying to decide if I should answer or not, I checked caller ID, and when I saw the RangeMan name I almost knocked the phone of the counter trying to pick it up.

"Steph…"

I almost sobbed when I recognized Lester's voice. "Is…Is Ranger in?" I managed to ask.

"He's on his way over," Lester said. "That's why I'm calling. We got some…uhm…new intel and it'd probably be better for you if you stayed here for a while."

"I…got a phone call," I almost whispered.

"I know. Just hang on a few more minutes, boss is gonna be there in a few, kay?"

I disconnected, my purse in hand. If Ranger was on his way over, I was going to save him a couple minutes and meet him downstairs.

I didn't bother to lock the door, I just slammed it shut behind me as I rushed out, I just had to move. I almost tripped and fell down the stairs, that's how fast I was going.

My only thought was that everything was going to be okay once Ranger was here, nothing had happened yet and I'd be able to think clearer when he was with me.

My mind was already outside so I totally missed the two suits waiting in front of the elevator and plowed right into them. I went down and took one of them with me when I lost my balance.

"Excuse me," the guy still standing said and I felt his hand on my elbow as he tried to lift me up.

"Sorry, my bad," I said and was ready to hit the ground running to get to the parking lot.

The suit still had his hand on my elbow and I was about to yank it away when I realized he was holding a stun gun in his other hand.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guy I'd brought down with me get to his feet and I knew I only had a few seconds, so I took a deep breath in an effort to scream my lungs out.

I never got that far.

I heard a short electric fizz and the unfortunately familiar tingle right before everything went black.

TBC

A/N: You knew it was too good to last for long, didn't you? How close do you think Ranger is? Can he make it in time??