I don't own them, I don't make any money off of this and I only write for my (and hopefully your) entertainment. I promise to return the characters to the author unscathed. No copyright infringement intended.

Thank you, Kat, for betaing for me. You did an awesome job!

Birthday Surpirses

by Katrin

Chapter 8

I got out of my car and nodded at him.

"Manoso," Morelli ground out between his teeth, "what the fuck happened here?"

"Cut it out. You already took their statements. All you need me for is the paperwork."

"Why isn't Steph here? Isn't it her job? Or isn't she working anymore? Got her knocked up already?"

"I said it once and I'm not gonna repeat it. Cut. It. Out. She's got the afternoon off, and so had I until I got a call from Woody. So take a look at the papers and then move on with your life. Steph doesn't need you to complicate things and she isn't going to come back to you. We got engaged two days ago. So just move on. Find someone else to love and leave Steph alone."

"Wow. The mighty Manoso is capable of talking. Never thought I'd see the day."

"Just admit defeat and start looking for a wife. But keep in mind that Steph won't be the one."

"That won't be the end of it." He turned around and walked to his rusty, police issued Fairlane.

I got in my car as well, on my way to the hospital to check up on Ram. I wasn't really interested in the skip's well being. Sure, unhurt is a lot easier, but he'd started shooting. And people knew that I didn't take kindly to one of mine getting hurt. That went for Steph, as well as all my employees. Most skips took thati nto account before they did something stupid like shooting at one of us. And Steph could be even worse than me when it came to taking care of what's hers. The guy could be happy that Steph wouldn't get her fingers on him or he'd be in much more pain than he was now.

At the hospital I got a parking space right next to the ones reserved for handicapped, got out and walked into the hospital. Various trips to St. Francis, most of them involving Steph, have made me familiar with the floor plans. I walked into the walking room to find Woody waiting. Without a word from me he started talking before I even sat down.

"We went to pick up Rockolls over on Stark. I went around the back and Ram took the front."

"Were you wired for sound?"

"No. Anyway, I was about to go in when I heard gunshots and screaming, so I raced back to the street. Ram already had him on the ground and in cuffs."

"Did you hear anything else?"

"No. The gunshots really surprised me."

"Okay. Any word on them yet?"

"Ram was taken back to get stitches. They threw me out when the doc got the thread ready and Rockolls was taken into surgery to clean up the wound but he'll be fine as well. I already arranged for custody and talked to the doc. If there aren't any complications we can deliver him to lock up tomorrow."

"Good. Can you take it from here?"

"Yes. You aren't mad at us?"

"Why should I be mad at you? You did nothing wrong. I'll decide if I'm mad at Ram when I talk to him. But that's gonna have to wait. Steph's waiting for me at the mall."

Woody chuckled and I left.

I was on my way to the mall when I got another call.

"Yo."

"Tank here. I need you to come back. Problems with paper work I can't take care of."

"Be there in ten."

I hung up only to call Lester.

"Santos."

"I won't make it. Tank needs my help at the office. I expect a detailed report on my desk at lunch tomorrow. From both of you."

"Done."

I hung up again when I was already in sight of the office building.

I spent the rest of the day helping Tank sort through tax paperwork.

"What happened to the accountant?"

"Called in sick, but we need to have those papers ready in three days, so I figured better start early."

We got back to work and before I knew it, Lester and Zip were walking in with all the women save Val in tow. Thank God for small favors. Les took them into the break room and, glancing at the monitors in the control room, I saw that Cal and Hal were busy taking several bags up to the apartment. At least a quarter of them were the telltale pink.

I made my way into the break room, curious. Before I could say anything Steph spoke up.

"How's Ram?"

"Barely needed a band aid. Woody brought him back about two hours ago. Bobby already tucked him in, so no need to worry."

"Good. Painkillers knocked him out, huh?"

I made my way over to Steph to stand beside her. It was actually pretty funny. She was sitting with her back to a corner, the door right in her sight. I didn't think the girls noticed, but I did.

"Yep."

"He gonna need PT?"

"No. Just got scratched. Skip was a lousy shoot, Ram wasn't. Even injured."

"Good. Guess what?" Steph was beaming at me, like she knew the mysteries of the world.

"You bought half of Victoria's Secret?"

"Damn. Just how did you know that?"

"Cal and Hal are carrying it all up to the apartment as we speak." I dropped a kiss on her head before I decided we'd be more comfortable with her sitting on my lap.

"Tell me about your shopping spree."

They all started giggling and Les turned a crimson red. Wonder what's up with that.

"Les, you gonna tell me, or do I need to ask someone else?"

Before he could talk Steph started although laughter was shaking her body.

"Les was very interested in what Connie was trying on."

"Yeah, tried peeking around the curtain all the time." That from Lula.

"He tried to help me get into the lingerie I was selecting, but I tried to shove him out."

"From the look on Lester's face I'd say there's something else you're not telling me."

The laughter got louder and Bobby and Lil walked in, intend on finding out what was going on.

"Yep. The sales lady, who was making goo goo eyes at Zip by the way, threw him out of the store. Told him to satisfy his needs elsewhere."

By now Steph was laughing so hard I had to be careful or she'd fall to the floor in laughter.

"Les, I didn't think you'd want to get your ass kicked twice in one day."

Connie's head whipped around. "Twice. Just what did he do to get it whipped the first time?"

Steph chose to answer her. "I won't tell you why, but I can tell you I did it properly."

"You kicked his ass."

Steph just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. Les wasn't the first person whose ass she'd kicked and he probably wouldn't be the last one either.

They continued teasing Lester, but I wasn't really listening. I was busy making plans on what we needed to do before we went on the cruise. One of the things to discuss was certainly how we wanted to get married, when and where. And we needed to pick up our workouts again. I'd a feeling the government would call us in sooner rather than later and for that we needed to be prepared. We should probably practice packing our backpacks as well. It was extremely important to be able to put it all together in well under fifteen minutes, but Moxie wasn't that fast yet. Something to keep in mind.

At one point Ella came down with dinner, grilled chicken breasts with brown rice and grilled vegetables in a light sauce. The women were a little skeptical at first but when they saw how Steph was digging in they followed suit.

Steph's moans of delight filled the room and my men were looking pained. I could feel my pants getting tighter than usual and if I had to guess I'd say my men had the same problem. Hopefully they knew better than to ever act on it, because I'm sure Moxie would hand them their balls on a platter.

That reminded me that I still needed to watch the footage on Les' ass kicking, but there would be time for that tomorrow.

When I zoned into the conversation again the ladies were planning a night out on the town and discussing who would be the designated driver. Knowing Steph she wouldn't want to go into a bar without backup.

"Steph, pick one to drive you." Her head swiveled around to look at me.

"Just how did you know?"

"I know you."

"So girls, who do you want to drive us?" She spoke to the room at large.

Just as Lula set out to answer Hal burst through the door. "Moxie, we've got a line on one of the high bonds. He's holed up in a bar. Can you do a distraction?"

"Sure. When and where?"

"Blue Moon Bar, twenty minutes ago."

Already in motion she tossed "Give me twenty." over her shoulder and raced up to our apartment to start the beautifying process. I stayed where I was, knowing I'd only distract her in her preparations.

The girls were busy discussing who to pick for a driver for their night out, so I got up and got the equipment ready. I told Hal to get a file ready for Moxie to look over and went back into the break room. Just as I was about to enter, exactly twenty minutes after Steph left, the beep of the elevator signaled her arrival.

I turned around and as the door opened my breathing ceased. She looked stunning, dressed in a black skirt that stopped about half thigh, just long enough to cover a thigh holster even when she was sitting, and swirled around her legs, together with a light blue neck holder top the same color as her eyes that revealed just enough cleavage to make any man drool. She'd topped it off with incredibly high black pumps that made her legs seem endless. Her hair was hanging loose down to her shoulders and her make up was light, just enough to make her eyes stand out.

It might have not been visible to the casual eye but I could see that she was carrying at least part of her usual hardware. One of her guns was in a thigh holster and a second gun was tucked into her clutch, together with a pair of cuffs and a stun gun.

Lester whistled when he saw her, but the look she threw him obviously reminded him that she wasn't afraid to throw him on his ass. Grinning sheepishly he offered her his arm to lead her into the break room. I went ahead of them, curious to see the women's expressions when they saw Steph in her usual distraction attire.

I had no idea how much they knew about this job of Moxie's, but they were about to get the crash course.

Upon Steph entering the room several jaws dropped and eyes bugged out.

"Wow, you look gorgeous."

Steph blushed a nice crimson red at the compliment. No matter how often I told her how gorgeous and desirable she is, she always blushed. At least she didn't doubt it anymore.

"Thanks, Mare."

"It's the truth. I have no idea how these distractions of yours work, but from looking at you I'd say it's something like go into a bar, have the guy drool at you and get him out with promises?"

"Something like that."

"Thursday still group sex night, Bombshell?" Bobby grinned at her.

"Ungh, guess I'll never live that down."

"What's up with that, Steph?" Lula wanted to know.

"That's a story for another time. We need to get a move on."

"Can we come and watch the show?" Connie wanted to know.

Steph turned to look at me. In the end it would be her decision if she was comfortable with three of her friends watching her. She got the gist from looking at me.

"All right. You can come, but under no circumstances are you to approach me, to indicate that you know me or otherwise interfering. Who's on the inside tonight, Ranger?"

"Lil and I."

"Okay. Let's go."

We made our way down to the garage, where everyone gathered around Steph and me for a last time.

"Ladies, you go in as soon as we arrive at the scene. Don't forget that you don't know Steph. Don't go near her or I'll make sure you never contact her again. Lil and I'll go in shortly after that."

"Let's head out."

Steph's friends got into the car with Bobby and Lester, Tank and Lil took another truck and Steph was riding with me. On the short ride over to the bar I handed her the file on our skip, Walter H. Covington, convicted for attempted rape and manslaughter. The cream of society.

"We'll all be wired for sound. Just say the word and we'll get you out."

I pulled into the parking lot at the bar.

"Need to wire you, Babe." Before I could say anything else she had moved over and sat in my lap, grinning at me.

"Need to get the mic out of the glove compartment."

She held her hand out, grinning triumphantly. In her hand were the sound devices for both of us. "Already got them."

"Just how did you do that?"

"If I told you..."

"Okay, I get it. Let's get you wired."

I took the wire out of her hand, trying to decide how to wire her and get as much skin contact as I could at the same time. It was a game of ours. I'd make her hot and bothered before she went in, she'd get the skip out in no time and then we'd enjoy the main course in our apartment.

Just the thought of what would be in store for me later got me hard.

"Already thinking about later, huh?"

She wiggled her cute little ass in my lap, doing nothing to improve my state. I pulled her flush against me and kissed her with all I had. Her eyes glazed over and I took the chance to secure the mic under her breast, straying left and right to excite her nipples. She was moaning, her head thrown back. Perfect, just the state I wanted her in.

While she was still dazed I put her back into the passenger seat and made my way into the bar.

It was a darkly lit place, music pouring from the speakers There was a small dance floor, but only a handful of people was dancing. The majority of people was scattered throughout the room, sitting in booths or on round tables. It seemed like a place for the after work crowd, but the few women present were dressed similar to Steph. I looked around, taking notice of exits and hidden places, then took a sweep to seek out the skip's position. He was seated at the bar, a dark drink in hand, looking well on his way to being drunk. The ladies were seated in a booth, no doubt instructed by Lil, who was only sitting two booths down, obviously so he could control them.

I took a seat at the other end of the bar from Covington, so I could easily watch him and all the exits that Lil couldn't see.

"Moxie, he's seated at the bar. Right side as you come in. Time to get started," I murmured into my mic.

Getting a Corona from the bar tender, I waited for Moxie to make her way in. Despite the play in the car earlier we were all in work mode now. There was no place for failure or mistakes. The skip was a seriously bad guy, and having Moxie's friends here didn't make things easier.

Just then Moxie walked in and I became aware of the music playing in the background as she sought me out in the crowd.

If your body matches
What your eyes can do

Oh yeah, the heat in her eyes was scorching. Looked like I was in for some serious punishment later on, but I was sure we'd both enjoy it.

A dark lit place
Or your place or my place

She made her way over to the skip, faking a stumble so she couldn't help but drape herself all over the skip who in turn dropped his glass and spilled the contents.

"Oops, I'm so sorry. How can I make it up to you?"

I couldn't see her face, but I could tell she wore her sex kitten look. Nobody has yet to be proven unaffected by this look of hers, but when the skip looked up at her it looked like her luck was about to change.

"Fuck. You're that bounty hunter bitch."

"What?"

I made eye contact with Lil, he looked as unsettled as I felt. Damn, this job seemed to be doomed.

"You're the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. I know you. I know you're here to take me in, but I'm gonna tell you now you won't take me in. You'll rot in hell before you get me back to prison."

"You have two possibilities. One, you take the easy way and give in, or two, you struggle and I'll show you why they call me Moxie now. Or do you prefer Dragon? Both of them are justified and I'd love to give you a demonstration."

He sneered at her and before he could blink he was face down on the bar, hands behind his back and cuffed. Just how had she done that? I hadn't even seen her reach for her clutch.

"You can walk out with me, which wouldn't attract much attention, or you can put up a struggle which might encourage me to leave a bruise or two. But either way, you're going to jail tonight."

"I give in."

"Smart guy. Now get up so I can drape your jacket over your hands."

"Lil, wait a few minutes, then collect the ladies and come outside."

Moxie and Covington were almost to the door when I got up to follow them. When I got outside Moxie was leaning against the car chatting with Bobby, Lester and Tank, the skip secured in Tank's SUV.

When she noticed me coming she looked up and grinned at me.

"Babe."

"What? If I hadn't done anything we'd have gotten a first class bar brawl. Pretty sure that wasn't what you wanted."

"Babe."

"Can you say anything else?"

"Babe."

"Guess I'll have to check you over thoroughlyto make sure everything's okay with you." As she said that her eyes got dark. The guys were snickering at her comment.

"Just what's so funny here?" Lil wanted to know. He'd brought out the ladies and wanted to join in on the fun.

"Later."

"Just what did this guy say to you to get you to react like that?" Lula wanted to know.

"He knew who I was. Doesn't happen often, but if they know me it gets really ugly really fast. Best course of action is usually to threaten them a little."

Mary Lou spoke up. "A little? He was white as a sheet when you dragged him out."

"Guess he heard of Moxie but didn't know it was me until I told him."

"How come you're still doing these jobs, Steph?" Connie was apparently back from her chat with Lester.

"Well, we tried Tank, but him in a skirt just wasn't the effect we were going for." She said it nonchalantly, like it was the natural thing to do for Tank. The guys broke out in a full belly laughter and her lady friends were watching with bewildered expressions.

Tank blushed, a hard feat for a man with his skin tone. Had me wondering just what he and Lula got up to. Probably best I didn't know.

"Babe."

"What. I love the mental image. Maybe we could try Lester next. Don't you think he's got quite female features?"

"Bombshell."

"What Les, don't you want to look pretty?"

Les took a playful swipe at her, but Steph was too quick and he grabbed nothing but air. His training prevented him falling over, but Steph was laughing nonetheless. He set out to chase her and she went to hide behind Lil. Problem was, Lil decided to take sides with his brother instead of his partner.

Lil held her, waiting for Lester to come and get her. As soon as he reached her Les grabbed her and tried to get her into a fireman's carry over his shoulder.

"Stop that," Steph screeched, "you'll flash everyone."

"It's not my ass that's being flashed," Les teased her.

"Do you want to get into trouble?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Bombshell?" He'd put her down again and turned her to face him.

Steph looked up at him, clearly daring him to put her over his shoulder if he wanted to deal with the consequences. It wouldn't be the first time she took one of my men to the mat because of some stunt one or the other had pulled.

He raised a brow, barely visible in the dim light.

"Yep."

Mary Lou spoke up. "What just happened here? She didn't say a single word, but they held a whole conversation."

Bobby turned to her. "That, my friend, is called ESP." He left it at that.

"By the way, Lil, meet me at the gym when Les takes Grandma to her viewing. Or do you prefer accompany them? You're supposed to have your partner's back, not leave her to the enemy."

"Gym sounds fine." Lester looked like he'd give everything he owned to trade places with his brother, but I knew Steph was serious about his assignment. And Les knew better than to try and argue, as it would only make it worse for him. Steph was creative when it came to assignments.

"I hate to break this party up, but there's a skip that needs to be booked."

"Yes, boss."

Tank and Lil mock saluted before getting into the truck with Covington.

The ladies did the female group hug thing before they got into the car with Bobby and Lester. I guided Steph over to my car.

I helped her in and we were on our way. The ride home was silent, and what really surprised me, Steph didn't try and cop a feel or two. Had me seriously wondering what was up with that.

I pulled into the garage, we got out and made our way up to the apartment in silence. Steph had a stern look on her face.

As soon as we'd cleared the entryway her mask dropped. All I could see now was feral desire and arousal.

"Strip!"

"What?"

"I want you to strip, Ranger! It's time for your punishment."

I definitely enjoyed her punishment that night.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions? Please let me know and thanks for reading.