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Thank you all for reading and for all of the reviews, I really appreciate them. Also, thanks Harmne and Haleigh.l for your help with this chapter. Other than that, please enjoy!

What Happens in Vegas

Chapter 9

Forcing my eyes to it, I read the loopy script inside. Stephanie, it began, Your marriage to Manoso is not acceptable. He is the man who separated us. Didn't you think I would come back to you when I was free again? Imagine my surprise when shortly after my release the streets are buzzing with the news that the great Ranger Manoso got married. And then to find out that you are the wife and you are a bounty hunter. Don't worry, Manoso will be eliminated and maybe I'll even give you a second chance. Blake

"Definitely not good," I agreed with Tank once I was done reading. "What do we do now?"

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Taking the note and flowers, Tank and I headed back to Rangeman. When the elevator opened to take us upstairs, we found Ranger and Bobby just heading out, so Tank made a 'turn around' gesture with his hand and we joined them in the elevator going to the fifth floor.

"What's up?" Ranger asked, eyeing the massive vase of flowers Tank was holding.

"Harper finally sent a threat," Tank answered.

"Aimed at?"

"You mostly. There's a note," Tank said as we exited onto the fifth floor.

We headed straight for the conference room, where Ranger took the note from Tank. As he read it I watched his face go blank and then grow dark. If looks could kill, that card would have burst into flames.

"Bobby, find Lester. Tank, get Ram and Woody, I want to know if they've found anything yet. Then call in the guys for another meeting."

Once Bobby and Tank left the room, Ranger dropped the note onto the table, let his arm fall to his side and tilted his face towards the ceiling with his eyes closed. He almost looked lost and I had an overwhelming urge to comfort him. I just wasn't sure how to go about doing it.

After a moment, I walked over to him and just stood there. Eventually, he lowered his eyes to mine and then wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me to himself. I wrapped my arms loosely around his waist, still unsure what to do. When he settled his head on top of mine, I heard him take a deep breath, release it and I felt him relax a little. Good.

"I'm sorry for getting you into this, Babe," he said softly.

"Not your fault," I told him, repeating what he had told me earlier.

"I know. I still feel bad."

"Yeah." I knew the feeling since I felt like Harper was targeting him because of me, but in the end it wasn't either of our faults.

We stayed like that, holding one another, until the door opened and the guys started to come in. When Ranger let go of me, we took our seats and I could physically see the change in him as he started the meeting. The lost look was gone and he was back in control.

"What did you find out?" Ranger directed at Lester.

"When we apprehended Harper, he was wanted for assault. His bond was high enough for us because of suspected mob affiliations and five previous murder charges, none of which he was convicted for. He was sentenced to a year in prison for the conspiracy charge, but was released early. According to his probation officer, he hasn't shown up for meetings and now a warrant has been issued for his arrest."

"Ram, Woody, how about you?" Ranger asked after a nod to Lester.

"Pretty much all of Trenton's underbelly knows of you two getting married," Ram said nodding at Ranger and me. "There isn't much real interest, just buzz about Ranger Manoso marrying the Bombshell Bounty Hunter."

"We haven't had a chance to talk to many people, but Harper usually works with the Grizolli family so we talked to some of their thugs," said Woody. "They said when Harper heard about you getting married he was pretty curious, and then he came back later with a bunch of questions about Bombshell."

"Well, that explains how he figured out who Steph is," Ranger said, jotting down a note.

"What's our next move?" asked Tank.

"I think we need to let the police know what's going on. If there's a warrant for his arrest and he's been harassing Steph and me, we can get authorization to apprehend him. Babe, are you okay with making a report?" Ranger asked me.

"Uh, yeah," I said. I knew this meant that Joe would probably find out about the situation and I'd be hearing from him, but I also knew we needed authorization to act if we caught Harper.

"Good," Ranger said, catching my right hand in his left and settling them on his leg before going on with the meeting.

I have no idea where the meeting went after that because all of my attention was focused on my hand, clasped in Ranger's, sitting on his thigh. I could feel his warmth diffusing up my arm and my heart rate sped up. I don't even think he realized that he had grabbed my hand, but the gentle circles his thumb was drawing on my palm were driving me insane.

Eventually, I registered that the guys were standing and leaving, but Ranger was still writing down a few last notes on the meeting. He was completely focused on what he was doing and I was watching him so intently I nearly jumped out of my skin when his phone rang.

He released my hand to unclip his phone from his belt and answer it as he continued writing. While I listened to his monosyllabic side of the conversation, I settled my hand back in my own lap and tried to convince myself I didn't miss the contact. When I found myself loosing the inner debate, I focused on Ranger's conversation, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"Okay," he said, brows drawn slightly together. "Al lright. Yes, tonight. Goodbye." Now I was really curious, because whoever it was merited a goodbye…

"What's tonight?" I asked as he flipped the phone shut.

"Dinner with my family," he said, turning towards me.

"Oh. Well, have fun."

"You're coming too."

"What if they hate me?" I asked. Personally, I felt like that was a very real possibility. I had, after all, married Ranger because I was drunk and I wasn't planning on staying married. It would definitely be easier for his mother to be angry at me than him.

"They won't," Ranger assured me. "They just want to meet the woman who finally got me married again. I always swore it would never happen."

"Okay," I said, trying to look relaxed even though I was still nervous. I tried to tell myself that all of the squishy feelings I had were nerves. But if I was honest, a part of me didn't like hearing that Ranger swore never to get married again. Not that I hadn't heard him say that before, it just confused me.

Ranger must have tuned into my inner musings, because he lifted my chin so I'd meet his eyes and tugged at a curl before reassuring me once again. "Dinner's going to be fine." Thank God his ESP hadn't picked up on my other problem.

I gave him a nod and a weak smile. It wasn't that I was convinced; it was more that I could tell this conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"We need to go make our statement," Ranger said, effectively changing the topic.

"Now?" To make our statement we had to go to the station. There was a good chance we could run into Joe and I wasn't sure I was up for that.

"Yeah, Babe. We need to get this taken care of so they'll give us any information they have on Harper."

"Fine." I sighed and allowed Ranger to pull me out of my chair.

I didn't speak the entire way to the garage. I knew I was pouting and I hated it. I just wasn't looking forward to another showdown with Joe and especially not in front of the entire Trenton PD.

In the garage, I followed Ranger to his Porsche and automatically headed for the passengers side, ready to climb in and continue my pouting. When Ranger put the keys in my hand and pointed me towards the driver's side, I felt myself automatically smile. Damn man knows just how to distract me and cheer me up.

As I pulled into the parking lot at the station, however, I wasn't so sure I liked driving. Sure the car was great, but combining me with Ranger's sports car had gotten us to the station in record time. If Ranger had driven, we would have gone at a reasonable speed and I would have had a few more minutes to put this off.

Walking towards the station, I took a steadying breath and reached for Ranger's hand, clasping it firmly in mine for support. As soon as he gave me a reassuring squeeze, I realized what I had done and automatically let go. Ranger just let out an amused chuckle.

Feeling myself blush a little, I sped up my walk to the station. Might as well escape this uncomfortable situation with another, I thought.

I was relieved to find an officer I was unfamiliar with working at the front desk. When Ranger and I informed him we needed to file a complaint against Blake Harper, he just gave us paperwork to fill out and pointed us in the direction of the lead detective who usually handled Harper's cases. I was just glad to see that it wasn't Morelli.

Down the hall, Ranger knocked firmly on the door the desk officer had indicated. The plate on the door said Dom Catori; I recognized the name and remembered him working with Joe a few times. I didn't know him personally though.

"Come in," we heard from the other side of the door.

"Detective Catori?" Ranger asked, as he opened the door and headed into the office.

"Yeah. How can I help you?"

"I'm Ranger Manoso and this is Stephanie Plum. We're filing a complaint against Blake Harper and were told to talk to you," Ranger said.

"Ah, yes, Blake Harper," Catori said, in a tone a vineyard owner would use for a favorite wine. "I find myself investigating him every few months or so. What's he done now? I know he's missed a few parole meetings and there's a warrant out for him. I was figuring I'd be reassigned to him soon."

"I own the security firm Rangeman," Ranger started. "We apprehended Harper last time he was FTA, along with the help of Ms. Plum. He is now targeting us both and we were interested in getting authorization to apprehend him."

"Targeting, how?"

"He's fired shots at both of us, as well as vandalizing my apartment and Ranger's car," I answered this time.

"And how do you know it's Harper?" Catori asked. He didn't do it in a way to imply he doubted us, but was taking notes and gathering information.

"My firm gathered prints from Stephanie's apartment and my car and they matched those we had on file for Harper," Ranger answered.

"Have there been any threats towards the rest of the apprehension team?"

"He seems to have fixated on Stephanie," Ranger said, "and is targeting me because we were recently married."

"Congratulations," Catori said.

Even if he didn't know me personally, I knew Catori had to have heard all about our marriage because of the gossip around the station. He must have known the circumstances surrounding the wedding, so I was impressed with how he chose to handle the situation… I had no idea what Joe had been telling people, either. It was still odd to receive congratulations. So far there hadn't been many of those. There had been many more reactions of shock…

I was jarred out of my thoughts when Ranger prodded me discreetly in the side. I hadn't meant to zone out, and when I snapped out of it, I noticed Catori writing something.

"All right," Catori said a moment later after looking over the complaint forms we'd signed and placed on his desk. He signed in the appropriate places and then filled out the paperwork authorizing Rangeman to fulfill the warrant for Harper.

"Thank you," Ranger and I said, shaking Catori's hand after he handed over the paperwork.

"You're welcome. Keep me posted on anything you find on Harper."

"Will do," Ranger said as we turned to exit the office.

I was just twisting the doorknob to open the door when I felt someone else doing the same from the other side. I was all ready for that awkward apology and two-step trying to get out of the other person's way, when I looked up into the brown eyes of Joe Morelli.

"Joe," I gasped out, not ready for the encounter.

"Steph," he said, giving me a little nod and then sliding past me into the office. He completely ignored Ranger.

Taking a deep breath, I felt my brows knit. Ranger placed a hand on the small of my back and steered me away from the office as Joe shut the door from within. I had been prepared for yelling, for accusations, for… anything but that. He had pretty much blown me off and it hurt more than I wanted to admit. He had been an important part of my life for a long time and I really wanted to be friends.

"You okay Babe?" Ranger asked softly once we were at the vehicle.

"Yeah," I answered as I handed him the keys. I didn't really feel like driving.

I went around to the passenger's side and climbed in. I was staring out my window when Ranger picked up my hand and gave it a squeeze.

"It'll get better," he said. "You know Joe's at the station now, so when we get back to the building, why don't you call his house and leave a message inviting him to Pino's to talk tomorrow?"

"You think he'd come?" I asked. I really wanted to talk to him.

"I don't know," Ranger said. "It won't hurt to try though."

"You're right," I agreed, and on impulse I leaned across the car to wrap my arms around Ranger. "Thanks."

"Anytime, Babe," Ranger said, giving my back a little rub. Then, he positioned me back in my own seat before starting up the car.

The ride back to Rangeman was completed in the usual silence, but it was a very comfortable silence. For once, I wasn't trying to think of ways to break it or wondering what Ranger was thinking about as he zoned. I was just content to sit back and enjoy.

At Rangeman, Ranger headed to his office and I headed to the apartment to make my call. My first try, I chickened out and hung up on the answering machine. Frustrated with myself, I wrote out what I wanted to say and dialed again. When I got the answering machine again, I was able to spit out a quick 'Joe, can we please talk? Meet me at Pino's tomorrow at one' and hung up again.

Letting out a big sigh, I headed for the bathroom. I was planning on getting one of the guys and going after a few more skips, but when I saw Ranger's bed, it looked so inviting. I was only going to spend a few minutes in my thinking position, reflecting on my call to Joe and lunch tomorrow, but of course, I fell asleep.

I woke up some time later to a beeping and eventually realized it was the alarm clock. Reaching out to shut it off I found a note on the nightstand, but first I had to stop the beeping which was getting gradually louder… Once successful, I unfolded the piece of paper and found it was from Ranger.

Babe,

I hope you had a nice nap. I set the alarm so you would be up in time to get ready for dinner. Don't forget we're going to my parents. Try not to get too anxious and don't worry about dressing up. Dinner's casual.

Leaving the note on the pillow, I climbed out of bed rolling my eyes. 'Try not to worry' he says. He wasn't the one about to meet the mysterious Bat Family. The possibility of this actually happening had always been somewhere between discovering the meaning of life and developing a love of tofu…

Guess there's no getting out of it though, I thought as I stumbled towards the bathroom. A glance in the mirror showed that my nap had completely wrecked my hair, so I decided to wash it and start from scratch.

Once out of the shower, I wrapped myself in a towel and cracked the bathroom door, peeking into the bedroom. Finding it Ranger free, I headed for the closet and pulled on bra, underwear and jeans. Then I unwrapped the towel I had around my hair, and turned to the vanity and got to work. I rubbed some gel through my hair and let it air dry while I applied a light coat of makeup. When that was done, I dried my hair the rest of the way with the blow drier on low power to give me nice, soft curls.

Giving myself a nod of approval in the mirror, I turned back to the closet to pick out a shirt. Problem was I had no idea what to wear. This was supposed to be causal, but I wanted to look nice. I also didn't want to be too dressy either.

I was still standing in front of the closet in my jeans and bra when I heard Ranger enter the bedroom. Turning around in frustration, I beckoned him over to the closet.

"Help me pick out something to wear," I said.

"I like what you've got on now," Ranger said, giving me a low wattage wolf grin.

"I'm sure you do," I replied, placing my hands on my hips, "but I doubt your mother will."

"Babe, I'm the only one that needs to be worried. My mom is going to like you no matter what you're wearing, simply because you got me married," Ranger reassured me, even as he began flicking through the shirts I had hanging in his closet.

"What about when she hears we plan on getting a divorce?" I asked.

"She'll accept it, but hold out hope until we've crossed the t's and dotted the i's on all of the paperwork," Ranger said with a shrug as he held out a simple black, v-neck t-shirt.

Rolling my eyes, I motioned for him to try again. I didn't really want us to match. His second choice was a soft gray scoop-neck tee. I pulled on a powder-blue tank top first, then the shirt before checking the overall effect. Not bad. But just to be sure…

"You're sure this is okay?" I asked, turning to Ranger.

"You look great," he said once again in an assuring tone. "I'm going to get a shower. Go relax."

I tried to relax, honestly I did. It's just that I was finally meeting Ranger's family. Flopping on the couch, I started to wonder if I was at all what they were expecting. Had Ranger told them anything about me? He'd told me his family lived in a Cuban equivalent to the Burg, but I hoped they weren't expecting a Burg wife. And what if his Grandma Rosa had something like the Eye? I would be in big trouble.

"Babe," I heard suddenly, jerking me from my thoughts.

"Oh, hey," I said, turning my head to find Ranger standing in the doorway.

He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt and had his wet hair pulled back. Breathing deeply, I could smell Bulgari. And there go my hormones… They definitely weren't helping my panicked state.

"Looking a little crazy, Babe," Ranger said, pulling me from the couch.

"I'm meeting your family."

"I know. But they don't bite, and my mother doesn't allow weapons at the dinner table."

That made me smile and I felt a little better. A woman that bans weapons from the dinner table can't be that bad, right? Then again, maybe I should be worried about why weapons were banned from dinner…

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out, I took Ranger's hand as he offered it to me. Figuring we might as well get this over with, I kept a hold of his hand and tugged him towards the door. Ranger, however, remained motionless, causing me to jerk backwards when our arms were fully extended.

Taking advantage of my sudden reverse in momentum he spun me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me. Before I knew it, he was brushing his lips across mine.

"They're, not that bad," he said, punctuating each word with another small kiss.

I just nodded back up at him, still unsure and slightly stunned by the light kissing. He must have only picked up on my doubt, because he decided to press his lips to mine in a much more intense kiss. I felt myself relax as I gave into the kiss and melted into Ranger. Minutes later, but much too soon, he pulled away.

"Feel better?" he asked.

I just nodded and let him take my hand and lead me to the elevator. In the garage, we found Cal and Woody waiting for us. They were going to escort us to and from dinner, but wouldn't be coming in, for which I was thankful. I definitely didn't want an audience for this.

Suddenly, Ranger was helping me into the Turbo. I heard doors slam as the guys climbed into a Bronco and we headed out. I just had to breathe.

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A/N: Please review and let me know what you think! I love getting feedback, and I'd love to hear what your thoughts are on the Manoso family dinner, Steph's call to Joe, how the story's going or anything really!