Eliza Higgins and Henry Doolittle

Christ! Ranger turned and grabbed the edge of the table thinking he might pass out. "Babe, I wasn't going to say anything since we just met, but ... I think I'm falling in love with you and you're killing me here."

Stephanie turned and grabbed the edge of the table thinking she might faint. This man had plans to blow her whole no relationship status to smithereens and some traitorous part of her didn't want to stop him.

Chapter 5

Neither of them moved or even breathed for several seconds. Finally, Stephanie released her hold on the table and stepped back a bit. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," she told him with a squeaky voice.

"Why would you do that? I'm the one who should pretend I didn't say it."

Stephanie's eyebrows shot up as far as they could go. "Oh, so you didn't mean it? Isn't that just freaking typical of a guy."

Ranger squeezed his eyes shut for a moment trying to figure out how to come out of this with Stephanie still speaking to him. "Babe, it's not that I didn't mean it, I did. It's just too soon and I know that. Plus, you've already made it clear you're afraid of relationships."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him. "Afraid? Afraid? I never said I was afraid of them, I just said I don't do them. There's a difference. And speaking of being afraid, who's still hanging on to the table for dear life? Not me, Mister." She choked out a laugh. "The big badass bounty hunter is the one hanging on for dear life."

Ranger glanced down at his white knuckles and told his brain to send a signal to his hands telling them they could let go now. He took a deep cleansing breath and released the edge of the table. He looked at Stephanie standing there with her hands on her hips. He stepped closer so that he was only a few inches from her and put his own hands on his hips. "I freaked out when you said he shot you. I don't want you to put yourself in that position again. Why don't we flip a coin?"

"Flip a coin to see if I'm going with you? No. But, maybe you're right. I'll call Vinnie and send him with you."

"Vinnie? You're kidding, right?"

Stephanie shook her head. "No, I'm not kidding. Vinnie has brought in his share of skips over the years. He knows how to use a gun too."

Ranger blew out a loud sigh. "Let's sit down for a minute and talk about this." He pulled out his chair and sat and watched Steph do the same.

"Okay, Babe, how come one minute you were determined to go with me, now you want to send Vinnie with me?"

"Because I'm reasonably sure you're not falling in love with Vinnie. I think you and I should probably not hang out together more than we have to."

Ranger leaned forward and banged his head on the table a few times. "Steph, can you just forget I said that?"

"Not likely."

Ranger drummed his fingers on the table. "Okay, can you tell me why you don't do relationships?"

"I already told you. They never work out for me."

"You mentioned two that didn't work out. Are there more?" Ranger asked.

"No, but those two were enough. You're so interested in knowing more about this subject? I'll tell you. Whatever it takes for a woman to hang onto a man, I don't have it. They both cheated on me and I won't put myself through that again."

Ranger's eyes got so big, Stephanie thought they were going to pop out of his head. "No reply for that one, eh?" she asked, unable to keep the sarcasm from her voice.

Ranger shook his head and looked at her sadly. "I'd have plenty to say if I could figure out how this beautiful, smart, savvy, successful business woman in front of me could possibly blame herself because two stupendous idiots couldn't keep their dick in their pants and lost the best thing that probably ever happened to either of them."

There was a long pause while Stephanie studied his face to try to determine whether or not he really meant what he said. "You really think I'm all those things?" she asked softly.

"I wouldn't have said them if I didn't mean them, Babe."

Stephanie slapped her hand on the table. "Okay, then, let's strap on our big kid pants and go catch ourselves a skip."

"You're not still upset about ... the other thing I said?" Ranger asked cautiously.

"Stephanie scooted her chair back and stood. "I told you, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

Ranger sighed. First she said she was going to pretend he didn't say it, then she said it wasn't likely she'd forget, now she was back to pretending he didn't say it. How did that work when they both knew he said it? At least she was still speaking to him, but now he was back to taking her down to Stark Street to face a man who once shot her.

She walked over to the counter and reached in the cookie jar, then came over and handed him a key. "This is for my front door. I may not be here sometimes when you come over in the morning. Just let yourself in and you can do the searches on your skips."

"Thanks, Babe." He took out his keychain and added her house key. He guessed she couldn't hate him too much if she was giving him a key to her house.

Next, she opened her purse and took some tens and twenties from her wallet and stuffed them into the front right pocket of her jeans. When he raised an eyebrow at that, she explained. "I don't want to take my purse with me, but we'll need money to pay for information. We'll start with the hookers on Shaw Street. The hookers always know at least a little something."

Ranger pulled his wallet out of one of the many pockets on his cargo pants and took out some tens and twenties. He tucked them into a separate pocket then returned his wallet to its original pocket. "My skip, so we'll use my money first," he said.

"Whatever. We can always work that out later."

Ranger gave a nod. "What's the plan if the hookers can't help pin him down?"

Stephanie shrugged. "We just keep asking around. If we get desperate, there's a psychic off Stark Street named Stella. I've heard she's really good."

Ranger didn't miss the amusement in her eyes when she talked about the psychic. His Babe was an interesting woman. Telling him she doesn't do relationships one moment and kissing him the next. All jacked out of shaped one moment and teasing him the next. "Have you ever been to a psychic, Steph?"

"Sure. My best friend, Mary Lou, and I went to one at a carnival one year, and a few years ago, we actually drove down to the hood and consulted with Stella."

"And?"

"And what?" she asked innocently.

"And so you have first hand knowledge of whether or not Stella is accurate."

"You're taking this seriously, aren't you? Do you believe in psychics, Ranger Danger?"

Crap, she had a new name for him, but maybe Ranger Danger was better that Sweetie and Sugar, though it sounded sort of like an action figure. He leaned back in his chair and gave her his blank face look which caused her to start giggling. Not the reaction he was going for. "I got some very accurate information from a psychic one time on a mission," he told her. "However, I was never able to determine if the woman had psychic abilities or if she just knew the information beforehand."

Stephanie nodded and still had a grin on her face from giggling. "Did you show her your blank face? I'm thinking even a psychic can't read that thing."

Ranger struggled to not smile, but couldn't quite pull it off and his blank face disappeared. "You ready to go, Babe?"

Stephanie stood and adjusted her clothing and belt. "Ready as I'll ever be. And, just so you know, Stella warned me not to marry Dickie. She said he was a asshole and couldn't be trusted."

Ranger followed her as they headed for the front door. "So, you didn't listen to your gut and you didn't listen to Stella."

"What can I say," she replied with a huff. "Some of us are slow learners."

They took Ranger's SUV and on the way to the hood, they discussed take down methods, use of force, and signals they could use if either of them were in trouble and needed help. Stephanie picked Rex as their alert word causing Ranger to give her a warm smile. She must have loved that hamster a lot. Maybe he should buy her a new one, but first he needed to find out if she wanted a new one.

When they reached Stark Street, Stephanie directed him to the corner of Stark and Shaw where she was familiar with some of the hookers. She hadn't been down here in over a year so she wasn't sure she'd see anyone she knew.

She motioned for Ranger to pull over as they neared two women who looked familiar. Sure enough, when he rolled to a stop and she hit the button to lower her window, one of the women hurried toward truck yelling, "Stephanie! Where the hell you been, girl?"

Lula was a large black woman who had been working Stark Street as a hooker for at least six years that Stephanie knew of. She was currently wearing her hair in a pink afro. Her outfit consisted of leopard print spandex shorts and a pink and gold print spandex halter top, both two sizes too small. To complete the outfit, she was wearing hot pink and lime green flip-flops and had a pink feather boa tied around her ample waist. Stephanie smiled to herself when Ranger's eyebrows shot up his forehead at the sight of her.

"Hey, Lula." Stephanie greeted her with a big smile. She'd always liked Lula and the woman always seemed to know the latest happenings in the hood. "How have you been?" Stephanie asked her when she leaned against the frame of the open window.

"Mmm, mm, mm," Lula said, her gaze fixed on Ranger. "Girl, you sure never had a problem findin' yerself a good looking man. This has got ta be the hottest one yet," she declared.

Stephanie glanced over at Ranger to find him actually blushing. She barked out a laugh and turned back to Lula. "He's not mine, Lula. He's a bounty hunter and I'm showing him the ropes a bit."

Lula put her hands on her ample hips. "Well don't be showin' him how ta blow up his cars 'cause this one is a lot nicer than those buckets of rust you used ta drive."

Stephanie laughed and looked over at Ranger again. "Did you get that? No blowing up cars. Even if it isn't your fault," she added.

Ranger had no idea what they were talking about, but laughed along with them and nodded his head. "Got it," he agreed. He leaned toward Stephanie. "Ask her about Pete," he said, trying to get her to hurry things along.

Stephanie had to lean back as Lula leaned in the window. "Did you say you was looking for Pete and by Pete do you mean Pete Saffron 'cause that motherfucker has been stirring up shit down here da past three nights in a row."

"Is that so?" Steph asked with interest. "You don't happen to know where he's been staying, do you?"

"Nope," Lula said, shaking her head and causing her afro to shake in time with her head. "He use-ley spends most of the night in the old concrete warehouse where all them assholes go ta shoot up an smoke dope, but he seem diff'rent this time. He actin' all like a big shot and hangin' out wit two new guys not from around here. They been struttin' round actin' like they own the place, but as soon as a cop car come through here, they disappear faster than a dollar bill at a gas pump."

Stephanie reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty, handing it to her. "Thanks, Lula. Don't get yourself in any trouble, but keep your ears open for news about Pete. If we don't find him today, I may check back with you in a day or so."

"You got it, White Girl, but if you want info about Pete, you should be asking Stella. You know who I mean?"

Stephanie shot her a look of surprise. "You mean Stella the psychic?"

"Mmm hmm. Word down here is, Pete was arm wrestlin' with Stella's nephew and broke the kid's arm. Then, when the kid was holdin' his arm in pain, Pete reached in his back pocket and lifted his wallet. Stella said she was gonna do a readin' with her cards and track his sorry ass down."

Holy shit, thought Stephanie. What the hell was she thinking? Stella was no match for Pete Saffron. She reached in her pocket and pulled out another twenty, handing it to Lula. "Thanks again and take care of yourself, Lula."

"You too, girl," Lula said with a smile as she backed away from the truck and stuffed the two twenty dollar bills inside her halter top. She then looked up and pierced Ranger with her soulful dark eyes. "Take care of my girl," she instructed him.

Ranger smiled and gave her a quick salute even though he knew Stephanie would object to being called his girl and object to the fact that she needed to be taken care of by him or anyone else.

As he pulled away from the curb, he waited for her rant to start, but nothing happened. He cut his eyes over to her, but she appeared deep in thought. "Babe?"

She turned in her seat to face him a bit. "Yes, Ranger Danger?"

Ranger sighed. "Babe."

"You ready?" she asked.

"Ready for what?" Ranger asked warily.

"Ready to visit Stella to see if she knows where Pete is. Maybe she'll even throw in your loooove horoscope," she teased.

"And maybe she'll throw in yours," Ranger returned with a smirk. "How do we get there, Babe?"

A/N - Hope you like the update. I had a ridiculously frustrating day at work today and just got this chapter finished. It hasn't been proofread so I apologize in advance for any glaring errors.
Thank you all once again for the wonderful feedback. You ladies make my day/week/month.