Author's Note: And just think... This is ONLY the beginning...

Oh and for the one who reviewed but I couldn't reply... She does get stronger.. I promise. :-)

Chapter Five

Lester was a busy little –nope, scratch that– he was a huge muscular busy bee. She had spent the last week watching Lester and she was now positive that he was in something violet and ugly and he was in deep. In the past seven days she had been watching him and that didn't include the first three days, two more men had been murdered. And both times Lester had been in the vicinity of the murders. And both times, he disappeared without a case and reappeared with a case. It was creepy.

And she had done a lot of research on all the past victims and all of them were pretty much criminals in some form or another. Embezzlers, money laundry, extortion, rapists, thieves, child molesters, spouse abusers, drug dealers, gun runners, and the list goes on and on. Steph couldn't believe the rap sheet on some of these people. Male, female, young, old, fat, thin, teachers, construction workers, religious leaders, lawyers, and again the list goes on and on.

She had also received three more threats warning her to either stay away or to keep her mouth shut. The one she was holding in her hand was threat number five and it was by far the creepiest and the scariest.

Last warning… stop following him or I'm gonna slit your fucking throat.

Steph gave a shudder of horror before shoving in the same drawer where she put the others. She wasn't letting that stop her. Whoever was sending her these threats was the same person that was blackmailing Lester. Yes, she was scared shitless but she wasn't abandoning Lester when he needed her.

Today was going to be different, she could feel it. Today, she was going to get out of her borrowed soccer mom white mini-van and follow him on foot before he disappeared. Well, she was going to try. She was dressed in all black; black cargo pants, black long-sleeve t-shirt, and black combat boots. Her curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she tucked in under a black ball cap. Grabbing her handbag, she walked out the door and to white mini-van. Thinking about her day and following Lester, she drove on auto pilot to RangeMan.

Following him was the easy part. She could already imagine telling him to be more aware of his surroundings. Not to mention Ranger calling him to the mats because he wasn't paying attention to those surroundings. It was like he went into a zone. Like Ranger's driving zone or the Merry Men's surveillance zone or something. Steph was honestly surprised he hadn't gotten caught by someone by now. It was almost as though he was deliberately being careless just so he would get caught. It didn't make any sense.

Steph slowed down as Lester turned down a deserted gravel road. Steph pulled over, locked Mooner's mini-van and began to follow Lester's truck on foot. She stayed behind trees and foliage so Lester wouldn't see her in his rearview mirror. She stopped walking, ducking behind some huge bushes when she came to Lester's parked truck. She glanced around but she saw no one and heard nothing. She peeked around the bushes and came to face to face with one very pissed off Lester.

She let out a shriek of surprise and shrunk back from the menace shooting from Lester's very dark green eyes. He didn't let her get far. He grabbed her upper arms and pushed her against the nearest tree. His grip was hard and unyielding. Steph was positive she would have bruises later. She just hoped she lived through this. And she couldn't believe she was afraid of Lester. And she couldn't she actually thought he would kill her.

"What the fuck were you thinking, Stephanie?" He growled angrily, giving her a shake.

Steph tried to wrench away from him but he only tightened his grip. "I was thinking of you. You're not…" She stopped, trailing off and shaking her head.

"I don't need a fucking babysitter, Stephanie."

She sighed and wiggled against his grip. "That's not what I was doing."

Lester looked around all the while keeping his grip firm on Stephanie. At her comment, his head snapped back to send her a glare. "No, what you've been doing is fucking everything up."

"I was worried about you. I still am."

Lester rolled his eyes in contempt. "No, you're just fucking nosy as hell and can't mind your own fucking business." He hissed in her face.

Lester once more looked around, taking it all in. Suddenly, he let out a roar of rage and yanked Steph down to the dirt floor.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He growled.

"What?" Steph winced as they slammed into the hard ground. Her arms were already aching and now her entire body was throbbing in protest.

"You just put a fucking bounty on your damn head, Stephanie. All because you couldn't mind your own damn business."

Steph swallowed down the vomit in her throat and looked around, trying to follow Lester's gaze. "I don't see anything." She whispered softly.

Lester's eyes met Steph's and she gave an involuntarily shiver. His normally warm, inviting eyes were cold and hard. Before he could comment, his phone went off twice in a series of random beeps. He growled again and answered.

"What?" He hissed into the phone.

Steph couldn't hear anything from the other end, but Lester's face hardened to stone in the blink of eye.

"Mission failed. Restrategized at oh eight hundred. Wait further instructions."

Lester lowered his head and took a deep breath.

"No, Sir. No problems." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "I'll take care of it." He let out a growl. "I've got it under control… Sir." He grit through clenched teeth.

He hung up, put the phone back in his pocket and stood up, dragging Steph up with him. "Where's the fucking van you've been driving?" He snapped.

She flinched, taking a step back or she tried to. His grip had yet to loosen. "At the end of the gravel road, parked."

He pushed her in that general direction. "Go the fuck home, Stephanie. Straight the fuck home. I'll be right behind ya."

Steph didn't argue with him. She took off the down the gravel road and jumped into the mini-van. She drove to her apartment and went inside. She locked the door, although she didn't know why. Lester could break in like it was a child's toy, but she did it anyway. She walked numbly into her kitchen and screamed. There was a strange man in her kitchen. A strange man in a ski mask. A strange man in a ski mask holding a giant ass butcher knife and he just took a step in her direction.