Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I profit from Janet's characters.

Chapter 4:

Previously:

I dialed the all too familiar number into the phone and hit send. "Yo, Beautiful. You headed over yet?" He asked, seeming a little sure of himself.

"Uh..." I froze momentarily, until I envisioned torturing Lester. "Lester! You asshole! You can keep those crappy ass shoes. As far as I am concerned you are dead meat! You hear me? You better run you little prick! I have plans to torture you, so you better head for the hills. RUN, SANTOS, RUNNNNN!" I snapped the phone shut and laughed maniacally, until it was cut off by a possessive kiss from Ranger.

Oh, Boy!

RPOV

Wow! I can't get over how hot it is to listen to my Babe tell off Santos. My body is responding and I'm relieved that we're laying here in her bed. Earlier when she started to rant about the different things she could do to torture Santos, Little Ranger decided to stand up and pay attention. Dios mio!

Buying her shoes was the least I could do for her, after what Santos has put her through. Speaking of Santos, as far as I was concerned, he was on my shit list. Sending him to the middle of a third world country, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a toothpick, was probably too good for him. No. He had gone too far, crossed the line, made his choice. He was going down. Rangeman style. It would probably involve various weapons and possibly some type of serious bodily harm. Good for me, not so much for him.

I swept her mouth up in a possessive kiss, cutting off any chance she may have had to escape this bed for the rest of the night. "Babe." I was grinning, and I don't usually grin.

"I think he just crapped his pants." She giggled, running her hand through her wildly curly hair. "I don't think he expected me to give up like that."

"Probably not. He counted on your attachment to the shoes."

"A bond between a woman and her shoes... it's a beautiful thing."

I chuckled and nuzzled her neck, wrapping my fingers in her hair. "Babe." I lowered my lips to hers, capturing them in an intense fiery kiss. A low moan escaped from her throat as I pulled back, breaking contact. Both of us were breathing heavily, I tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "We have to plan your revenge."

Both her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "We?" She seemed surprised I would even mention my involvement. "You want to help me get back at him?"

"Babe. Not just me. Tank, too." She grinned and hugged me fiercely.

"Thank you." My arms snaked around her, drawing her close.

"Anytime, Babe."

My Babe and I made love until the wee hours of the morning. In between rounds, we shared ideas of revenge until we had formed a plan, a devious and evil plan.

SPOV

I decided to take Ranger up on his offer to replace my shoes, they may not be the exact shoes I once had, but they would be beautiful shoes. I was bummed out that I had to give up the pair of Jimmy Choo's, but knowing Ranger, he would probably find the same exact ones for me. Now with the shoe situation taken care of, I can now focus entirely on my revenge. Les is going down!

In the morning, Ranger and I made our way back to Haywood, by a way of a quick detour by the Tasty Pastry. We carried the six huge boxes of sugary goodies into the break room. The sight of the guys watching us made me laugh. They seemed totally surprised that Ranger was allowing contraband donuts into the building, and were leery of the reasoning behind it. I smiled and we set them onto the table in the break room and I snagged a Boston Creme, filling my mouth with sugary goodness.

"Bossman. Bomber." Cal, Hal and Ram greeted us. Hal eyed the boxes, a slight twitch in his left eye.

"Hey, guys. Thought we'd bring in a treat." Ram and Cal glanced at each other, weary of the offering. Hal just nodded, entranced by the sugar bombs in front of him. "Hal would you like a couple?"

His eyes flicked from the donuts to Ranger and back again. Ranger gave a quick nod and the feeding frenzy was on. In the matter of four minutes, all six boxes were empty, not even crumbs remained. Ranger managed to save me a Boston Creme. He escorted me to my desk, to wait for the morning staff meeting at 0800. Licking the remaining icing off of my fingers, I heard Lester's voice cut through the noise from the other men on the floor. My phone beeped and I glanced down to see a new text message from Tank. Target acquired.

I turned towards my desk pretending to look over a file, as I listened to Lester make his way to his desk, across the aisle from me. I heard him the moment he saw me, his steps faltered slightly and he immediately turned around and fled the area. I grinned to myself and sent a text back to Tank. Target fled area. Standing on my feet, I walked into Conference room A and sat in my usual seat, in between the left side of Ranger and the right side of Lester. Tank entered the room and closed the door behind him, as he carried a small bag in his hands.

"Morning Babygirl." He greeted with a wide smile.

"Morning Big Guy." I reached up and rubbed his bald head. "For good luck." He grinned and he shook his head slightly.

"If Ranger has anything to do with this, luck has nothing to do with it." I rolled my eyes and eyed his bag.

"You brought everything?" He nodded and tapped the bag with his fingertips.

"Plus a few extra surprises." An evil grin spread across my face, making one of the biggest bad asses I know, shiver in his boots out of fear.

TPOV

Holy Shit! Does my Babygirl even know how scary she is when she's driven by revenge? I know damn well she saw me shiver, and about now, I could care less. We're getting Santos back for the evil prank he tried to pull on her with the shoes. To think, he stole every last shoe she had in that apartment. He even went into the bathroom and took her slippers! WTF? Knowing Babygirl, like we do, I'm surprised Santos was suicidal enough to try something so daring and stupid. We have all seen her when she gets mad. She's like a bulldog, she grabs a hold and doesn't let go until she's satisfied she's got what she wants. Right now, Santos is in her sights, and I don't feel a bit sorry for him.

I brought my kit with me. Ranger called me last night and explained what had happened with Babygirl's decision to give up her shoes. To say the least, I was shocked, but proud all the same. She has grown emotionally so much over the last few years she's almost not the same person. She's given up a lot of herself these last few years, and to think Santos was trying to put her through more mental anguish was almost too much to bear.

I slid the bag across the table to where I was standing next to Santos's chair and unzipped the bag, revealing my goodies. I first began to rig a flattened piece of cordite around the bottom Santos's chair, attaching a receiver and ignition cap. Several rolls of duct tape were stashed behind the podium we used during official tele-briefings with our government handlers. Syringes filled with Bobby's custom blend of sedatives were taped to the underside of the table next to where I sit, allowing me quick access to them when needed. I gave a near silent chuckle, as Babygirl watched me in fascination. The coil of rope, permanent markers, and assorted pieces of clothing I procured from Lula remained in the bag I set onto the floor. I nodded and gave her a wicked grin.

I flipped out my phone and sent Ranger a text. Ready. Awaiting target. I showed it Babygirl before I sent it, her giggle filled the air. I flipped the phone shut, stuffed it into my pocket and sat in my chair, awaiting the inevitable.

LPOV

When I received the phone call from Beautiful last night, I was prepping for her next task from my ransom note. I had planned on sending her to a park near her parent's house for a picnic and an apology. I had felt bad for taking her shoes, and watching her reaction on the monitor was not as satisfying as I had anticipated. In fact, I felt ashamed and like a dumb ass for what I did. I only hoped she would forgive me. I had taken her shoes to a friend of mine who owned a shoe repair place in town. He had cleaned, repaired and touched up all her shoes. After I received them back, I wrapped them in tissue and placed them into new shoe boxes. They all looked great and I knew that Beautiful would appreciate that.

When Beautiful screamed for me to keep the shoes and that I was dead meat I knew things had gone horribly, horribly wrong. I felt sick to my stomach and couldn't understand what was going on. Before I could ask her what was going on, she hung up. I dropped to my knees, staring at the phone in my hand. What have I done? Shit! I am so dead. Beautiful had called me a prick! She told me she was going to torture me, then she told me to run like Forrest Gump. RUN, SANTOS, RUNNNNN! I am soooo dead! And I pray to God, that Ranger doesn't find out. Crap, I'm a dead man if he finds out about the camera in her bedroom. I better find time later tomorrow to retrieve the camera and sensors before their found.

I glanced over to the picnic basket and my heart sank. I am so dead.

Waking early this morning, I ran and worked out alone. My thoughts centered around what I had done and how I was going to make it up to Beautiful. Maybe I could be her slave boy for a day. Hmm... no. Maybe not. I would probably end up spending the day with Grandma Mazur and I don't think my sanity could take that. I don't know... I guess I'll have to think about it. I walked back to my apartment, showered and changed into my uniform for the day. Sighing, I decided that I had better go up to 5 and wait for the morning meeting.

I walk onto the floor on 5 to see the guys stuffing themselves with donuts. WTF? I thought donuts were on the contraband list sent out by Ranger, and to find out that he and Beautiful were the ones that brought them in, made no sense. I was highly suspicious, what on earth could have prompted Ranger to cave and provide the sugary treats to his men? Ram handed me a chocolate donut, I gave it a quick once over before I bit into it. Three bites later it was gone and I downed the last of my coffee. Mmm. I love donuts. Before Ranger hired me at Rangeman, I had a serious addiction to donuts. Let's just say, it was an unhealthy relationship, I loved them too much and they made me fat.

I joked with Binkie, Zip, Junior and Diaz, laughing about the picture of Beautiful I had sent the entire office via picture text. It had been a complete hit yesterday, I had even downloaded it to my computer to use as the background image on my computer desktop. Walking to my desk to prep myself before the morning meeting, I sensed a 'disturbance in the force' and noticed Beautiful sitting at her desk already at work. Not wanting a confrontation, I slowly backed away and headed to the control room to hang with Manny and Bones before the meeting started.

As soon as my watch hit 0759, I breathed in deeply, let it out slowly and walked to the conference room. I noticed Beautiful and Tank were already seated, so I quietly slid into my seat. Beautiful didn't even notice me at first, she was so absorbed in the file in her hands. It wasn't until just before Ranger walked into the room, that she saw me sitting next to her. She turned to me and smiled. I paled slightly and smiled back not wanting her to think I was nervous. Thank God! Ranger just walked in, that means that the meeting was going to start.

"Report!" He barked, surveying the group of men and the one lady sitting in the room.

"Break in at Heckley's Meat Market, Chester and Ramon apprehended the suspects as they exited. Three false alarms, one repair request and one boyfriend breaking into a client's daughter's room. But other than that, it's been quiet." Manny reported, as he read from a file in his hands.

"Schedule for today." Ranger stated, watching the men around the room carefully. I noticed he was on edge and it made me nervous. When ever he was like this, it made the rest of us a little nervous, no one knew exactly what to expect.

Tank stood at the table and read off of a master list, the assignments. I rolled my eyes, as he read. Things never changed around here. I was always partnered with Bobby, not that it was a bad thing, but that's just the way things are around here. He finished reading and I watched Ranger sit in his chair, leaning back watching us again.

"It has come to my attention, that a certain employee here at Rangeman has taken it upon himself to take unsanctioned actions against another employee. I find this behavior unprofessional and this employee should understand that it is now highly dangerous to his health to continue. It is my suggestion that said employee cease and desist immediately upon the penalty of being called to the mats. Am I understood?"

A chorus of "Yes, Sir!" was heard around the room and it seemed that the meeting was over. But before anyone could move, Beautiful stood and held up her hand as she spoke, "I have something before you all leave." She waited for the guys to resume their seats, before she continued. "I know that someone sent out a picture text of me yesterday." I grinned as most of the guys glared at me. What? The picture was hot! It showed Beautiful standing in nothing but an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini and a pair of 4 inch black patent leather FMP's. GOD THAT WAS SO HOT!

"I wanted to let you all know, any copies of those pictures that I find in this building after this meeting are to be either erased or destroyed. Am I clear?" The tone in her voice stated clearly that she did not want to be messed with. It made me not only nervous, but it turned me on all the same. Damn! I needed to get Little Lester under control.

A chorus of "Yes, Ma'am!" was heard. Before I could turn my head to look at her, I heard a loud bang and I fell over in my chair. A sharp pain in my shoulder made me wince, even before my chair hit the ground.

"What the hell?" I asked, as fog crept into my vision and I blacked out.

SPOV

It was on! I had ordered the men to destroy the pictures of me from yesterday, and had also set the plan in order. I uttered my code word, 'destroyed' and watched as Tank stealthily exited his seat, pushed the remote trigger, effectively blowing the bottom of Les's chair to bits and stuck Les with one of the syringes. It was great! The look on the guy's faces while it happened was priceless.

I turned to the guys surrounding us, giving them a stern warning. "This is what happens to people who steal ALL of my shoes, install a motion sensor camera with a live feed in my BEDROOM, and attempt to humiliate me in front of the entire Berg." I stood there staring them down, hands on my hips, Berg glare in full working order. "Anyone else want to join him?" The odd mix of horror, humor and fascination covered the faces of the men in front of me. I turned to Tank, "It's time."

Tank just grinned and reached behind him pulling out his knife from it's shieth. The sound of ripping fabric permeated the air as I retrieved Tank's bag off of the floor. Soon a nearly naked Lester lay before me on the floor. Thankfully, Tank had left a scrap of fabric covering his doodles. I giggled and was tempted to look. Okay, so who wouldn't want to see Lester's doodles, but I quickly decided against it when I saw a raised eyebrow from Ranger when I glanced at him. Damn! A girl never can have fun around here.

"Babe." I closed my eyes knowing full well, I must have said that out loud. "You're getting revenge, not checking out a Chip and Dale dancer."

I giggled and asked Ranger, "You sure we can't get him signed up for that? I'm sure I could get him booked for a solid eighteen months around here."

"Babe." I frowned and resumed my task of helping Tank.

We redressed Lester in the clothing Tank had in the bag, handcuffed his hands behind his back, slapped a piece of duct tape over his mouth, slung him over his shoulder and carried him out to the waiting SUV. I waited patiently as Tank loaded Les into the cargo hold and slammed the truck shut. Ranger slid into the driver's seat, Tank took the front passenger seat, while Hector and I slid into the rear bench seat. Ranger pulled out of the garage and onto the busy streets of Trenton.

After a quick trip down North Clinton Ave. we came to a stop in front of the building housing Trenton's Police Department. I watched as the Carl and Big Dog flagged us down. I powered the window down as our SUV came to a stop at the curb directly in front of the building. "Hey, Steph. Ranger. Tank. Hector." Carl greeted each of us with a smile. Big Dog waved as he kept an eye on those exiting the PD side of the building. We exited the SUV as Tank popped open the rear door. A gasp and peels of laughter filled the air as Tank and Ranger pulled the still unconscious Lester out of the truck.

Carl cringed as he got a good look at Les. "God! He's the ugliest woman I've ever seen!" I giggled at his observation and took a good look myself. Tank had dressed Lester in an outfit borrowed from Lula. The bright neon green spandex skirt was stretched over his lower body, just barely covering his doodles. The matching spandex tube top covered a narrow strip of his well muscled chest. He feet were still clad in his work boots, so I discarded the sandals I was quite sure would not fit. I dug around in my pocketbook and brought out my mascara, blush and eyeshadow. Giving him a quick makeover, I swirled in a generous amount of gel into my hands and styles Les's hair into a mohawk. I stood back and admired my handy work.

"Steph, you are an evil genius." Big Dog stated, as his arm slid over my shoulder. "You ever need a henchman, I'm your guy."

I giggled and shook my head. "Big Dog, I'm not planning on it anytime soon. But you'll be the first one I call, if I do."

"Babe." Ranger raised his eyebrow ever so slightly, in amusement. "The sedative is going to wear off soon." I dropped my pocketbook into the SUV and watched as the guys dragged Lester toward the center of the courtyard. I secured the harness around his ankles, as they held him up. Carl handed Ranger the clip, and Lester was soon attached to the rope for the flag pole. A few on lookers stopped at watch us, but the majority of people walked on by as if nothing was happening.

A few seconds later, Lester's eyes began to flutter open. So, before he could struggle against his bindings, Ranger and Tank hauled him up to the top. Looking up, I watched as Lester swung in the breeze, twisting slightly. A muffled scream came from his now struggling body, due to the fact his mouth was still taped. I giggled and leaned on ranger for support. I cupped my hands and shouted up to Les, "What's the matter Lester?"

He soon sighted me below him, and shot daggers at me with his angry green eys. Ranger raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "He's going to be pissed once he gets down from there, Babe."

I shrugged my shoulders and said in a relaxed voice. "I don't think he's going anywhere for a while." I leaned into Ranger's ear and whispered, "Besides, wait until he finds out what the distraction was last night." Ranger kissed my temple and I could feel him laughing lightly.

"Lester! We'll be back in a little while. We'll let you think about what you did to deserve this." I made to turn around but a familiar voice stopped me.

"Cupcake. What the hell are you doing?" I spun around to see none other than Trenton's own Joseph Morelli, standing behind us, hands on his hips, his face looking up at the hanging Lester. "What the hell did he do to piss you off?"

I grinned and rolled my eyes. "Hey, Joe." I felt Ranger stiffen slightly and patted his arm to reassure him. Walking over, I gave Joe a quick hug. "Like my handy work?"

"It's interesting. I'm guessing he really must have done something bad." I nodded and looked up at Lester.

"You want to tell Joe what you did? Or shall I?" I heard Les's muffled screams and watched him struggle some more. I lowered my gaze back to Joe. "He stole all my shoes and held them for ransom."

"That's it?" He asked, a little surprised.

I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned. "No. He tried to make me earn them back."

His voice became deep and angry. "How?" His caramel colored eyes flashed with anger.

"I had to wear a bikini and FMP's standing on the corner of Hamilton and Chambers last night holding a sigh that said 'Lester Santos is King'." Joe burst out laughing, doubled over and turned red. I stood there giving him my best Burg glare until he collected himself.

By this time, the majority of TPD were outside watching the scene unfold. As it was, a few of them seemed surprised that I wasn't the one strung up on the flag pole.

"What else did he have planned?" He asked, wiping tears away from his eyes.

"I don't know. I gave up. I told him it was on. I was going to get him back." I toed a pebble with my shoe. "Funny part is, this is only the beginning." Joe paled and patted Ranger on the shoulder.

"Dude. She's all yours now. Your girl, your problem." He chuckled and added, "Be sure to get him down before the chief gets back from his morning meetings. You have until noon." I glanced down at my watch and grinned. It was only 0840, we still had plenty of time.

"We'll have him down and out of here before then." Ranger answered, his normal blank face in place.

With a large group watching Lester twisting in the gentle breeze, I once again cupped my hands and shouted up to Lester. He wriggled himself around so he could see down at me. "Hey Les. Paybacks are a witch!" I gave him the universal sign of 'screw you', a stiff middle finger.

A/N: So any ideas for a second round of payback against Lester? I'd love ideas, I'm running a little low here. Sorry it took so long for a new chapter. I've been fighting off the flu, besides working long hours everyday. So, I've really been too tired to do much of anything. Hope you like it.