Thank you for all your patience and your wonderful reviews, support, encouragement, faves and follows. There is one more chapter/epilogue to go. This has been an exciting journey as my first venture into FanFiction Land and like Stephanie, despite the knock downs and set backs of RL, I have overcome these and soldiered on. And just so you know, I don't make any money, just playing with these wonderful characters as we get closer to a Babe HEA.

…ooOoo…

"Jimmy Alpha has placed a bounty on Stephanie's head."

"Fuck!" We all said it in unison. Fortunately, Stephanie had fallen asleep.

"His Cash Cow is not able to compete. Word is out that Jimmy has some major gambling debts and he's in deep. He needed Ramirez to get him out. Ramirez was his golden boy, his retirement fund. Between some match fixing and turning a blind eye to his girly indiscretions, Jimmy Alpha is now a desperate man."

….oOo…

Chapter 8

Ranger's POV

While Stephanie slept, the Rangeman team went into action as Tank barked out orders on his phone. Bobby and Lester went downstairs to the basement armoury and prepared. The plan was to meet in the sub conference room to coordinate our strategies and track the Intel. I quietly took my Babe upstairs and gently tucked her in with a little kiss to the temple. She murmured sweetly as I crooned reassuringly to her. Seems she likes the Spanish. Good to know. It calms her and at the same time it centres me. I have a mission to clear her of any target hits. She looked so peaceful lying there in my bed. I made a vow to her and I aim to keep it. I will keep her safe, warm and safe.

In the sub conference room all was at the ready as our HQ base or rather, the EOC with multiple monitors, whiteboards and virtual screens in this recently new state of the art Emergency Operations Centre. Hector was in his element and already had the computers, the collaboration screen and the big screens up and running. Multiple images were coming in from various surveillance locations and security cameras on the large screens and the big screen was already linked to Rangeman. The tension was tangible in the room but everyone knew what was at stake. We were primed as we would for a military mission.

"Tactics at the table in 5!" Commanded Tank. Lester, as our strategist, was humming as he often does with the euphoria and adrenaline.

"This will be like Dam Busters and Operation Chastise. Bombs away!" And he made the unmistakable bombs away whistle fading into multiple gleeful and animated explosions.

"Beautiful, we're makin' like Dam Busters. We are gonna blast those mother fuckers away!"

"Dam Busters? Operation Chastise?" Bobby chuckled inquiringly.

"Yeah … Dam Busters, more like Ball Busters. You know, World War Two with those bouncing bombs from the planes. Dam Busters. Your Babe, my Beautiful, Tank's Little Girl and your Bomber, Bobby, is worthy of a significant title. Bombs away! They called it Operation Chastisement," Lester responded with animated gleaming eyes as he keyboarded the details and swept them up to the main screen. With a sinister chuckle he added, "And chastisement is exactly what we are gonna do, you know, punishment, reprimand, but less gentle." He selected a clip from the interactive whiteboard and we watched as the Lancaster bombers cruised low over the Ruhr River and the bombs were released bouncing along the surface and shattering the dam walls.

"Hooah!"

Tank growled and added, "Well, those Mother Fuckers will be finding out pretty soon. There's not much gentling involved here on this, so Dam Busters it is. Bombs away as you say and heads will roll. Damn that fucking little shit Alpha! My Little Girl don't need this kinda shit. Get your shit kickers and be ready to rumble!" Tank was in command calling further orders to the Rangeman Command Centre, patching in Sylvio in Miami and Julio in Boston while we all changed into our ghetto gear ready to rumble the hood, armed and dangerous.

The men knew the drill. With Zero, Vince, Manny and Ram already out on the streets shaking up the hood, the message was decisively sent. "Stephanie Plum is Mañoso's Woman. Anyone who harms Mañoso's Woman will not be able to breathe nor collect. The only thing you'll collect is a coffin fee. The bounty, the mark, whatever it is, is no longer available. There. Is. No. Bounty. Only genuine information about Jimmy Alpha or Ramirez or even that fucker Morelli will be rewarded. Anyone who wants to play for the other side or take a pop at Stephanie was in for a surprise. Retribution would be swift and final."

Stephanie had worked her way into the hearts of my men so deftly and had humbled them with her friendship and loyalty. The Merry Men, her noble knights in shining armour, as she called them, went out to protect and clear her name and "cleanse" the streets. Stark Street was just the starting point.

The night was young. Intel was initially slow but the word then spread rapidly as the streets' night life came alive. The team rotated with Zip, Junior, Woody and Cal and every rotation there after shook the hood some more. A few stubborn smart ass fucking wannabes needed some firmer reminders it seemed. Multiple teams worked the streets throughout the night as the main activities of the night emerged and increased. Tank, Lester, Bobby and I took our shifts overnight on different team rotations so that there were at least four men at the house including two from the core team as well as two men on the gates at all times. Rotations were smooth and slick. In the meantime, Hector disappeared like smoke into the shadows as only he can and worked his gangbanger connections. Word spread." Heads will roll. Bodies will disappear, without trace."

Intel indicated that Ramirez had not done any favours for Jimmy Alpha and the man himself was dabbling in other domains where he was not wanted. Ramirez had enjoyed swinging his weight around brutally and carelessly and had instilled fear with his superior strength and that fucking freak factor. Since the episode in the parking lot, Ramirez had been in hospital for treatment and had escaped custody and discharged himself in a fit of vengeful rage. The girls on the street were particularly helpful and sourced a lot of traceable information for the men. Some of their girlfriends and co-workers had already had encounters with that psycho fucker. They were more than happy to assist with the clean-up and in return we made sure they had protection until Jimmy Alpha was deposed and Ramirez was disempowered, disembowelled, (meh), whatever, for good.

The Beast within was raging and I recognised the familiar gleam in the eyes of my men. So we cast our notorious net over Trenton and surrounds with controlled and fervent finesse, feeling empowered to let loose some of the tension but not relinquishing control to our inner Beast completely.

My phone vibrated on my way back to the house. Rodriguez had traced the debts of that little fucker Alpha. Fortunately, the Russians were not involved and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The Mob was, however, which was a considerably more manageable option. Regardless, dead or alive, Alpha still owed and the debt was expected to be paid. So even if we, or someone else, did dispose of Alpha, the debt would have to be settled with the bounty on Stephanie's head. By locating Jimmy Alpha we could "assist" his memory with clearing his debts. I wanted this situation sorted and cleaned before sun up.

Once again I am floored and amazed at the following and the degree of allegiance Stephanie has unwittingly and unknowingly accrued. Social media was also a powerful and formidable force which Hector and Sylvio together had personally harnessed and scrutinized its discourse in cyber space. Sylvio continued to monitor the feed throughout the night while Hector scoured the darker recesses of Trenton from the more impenetrable and shadier areas. My Babe has an immense following and the tendrils of her loyalty and her exploits have reached across the New Jersey Tri-State area and beyond. Of course, the car tally was well documented with its own photo gallery including the demise of the pancaked Porsche in a series of successive still shots. Quite impressive, really.

Hector found the ferreted Jimmy Alpha hiding in a sleazy dive at the back of Comstock and he was very agreeable to removing the bounty off our girl. Tank and Hector together can be very persuasive. He had a choice: to be brought in to Rangeman to visit our holding cells or sort his debts right there, permanently, while Tank watched and Hector sharpened his blades. He chose the latter and was able to miraculously source the hidden funds after some fast talking on his phone and moving a hidden cache to cover the rest. Apparently he tried to redeem himself by asking for protection. Tank told him that he couldn't afford our rates especially after what just transpired. He photographed all the details from his books, including the phone numbers and with a final warning and some not so subtle, sharp, reminders, they left.

….oooOooo….

After showering off the filth of the streets, I crawled into my warm bed and Stephanie immediately rolled towards me, murmuring sweetly. I could make out "Ranger" and "Batman" and my heart swelled with her contented sighs as she snuggled into me with her warm body and that luscious sweet smell of Stephanie sleepiness. I slept for a couple of hours waking to find her beautiful blue eyes watching me. She smiled coyly and blushed, bit her lip and twisted it in that cute way and then nibbled on her index finger knuckle with a cute little grin avoiding direct eye contact.

"Oops. Sprung, eh?" She tucked her face under my chin, snuggling warmly and deliciously, her knee brushing the length of my thigh. It felt so good. "Hmmm-Mmmm …"

Fuck! That sexy hum went straight to my cock which was already sporting its usual morning wood and I watched as her eyes widened in recognition of the tenting sheet precariously poised just below my waist.

"Babe." I pulled her face to meet my eyes with one finger under her somewhat reluctant chin and her very distracted eyes. I kissed her with a lot of desire and she responded, opening her mouth and taking control. "Whoa! Babe!" I said before I completely lost control myself, so tempting as it was. I really just wanted to take her, now and make love to her and fuck her deliciously warm enticing body. My Temptress, indeed. Oh, man. I want her, so bad! But now is not the right time.

"I know. I am getting way too comfortable in your bed with these luxurious sheets … and your sinfully beautiful body, I might never want to leave," she purred unwittingly... "Mmmm … You smell so nice. Intoxicating … Such a nice, yummy way to wake up. You feel so warm and safe and … hard ... MmmMmm …" Her voice now seductively low and husky and wanting. "Babe!" I raised my eye brow at her and realisation made her hide her face and groan in embarrassment. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hold that thought, Babe. I really need you to hold that thought. Now is not the time in lieu of recent events. But …," I kissed her deeply with lots of heat and promise, "I want to be right back at this moment, very soon and really show you *kiss* intoxicating, *kiss* warm, *kiss*sinful,*kiss* and *thrust* … hard." I rolled her onto her back and looked her square in the eye. "As much as I would really love to take you now, make love to you in my bed, I need you … in other ways. Please?"

She groaned sexily and lazily rolled onto her tummy. "C'mon, Babe. It's a new day. Let's get some breakfast and see what's out there in the 'Burg. I'll be downstairs. When you're ready come on down." I swatted her sweet little ass and then bit her on one irresistible uncovered ass cheek that was brazenly peeking out at me before kissing it chastely. I growled in forcing myself to extract myself from this vision of seduction and desire. Ahh! Fuck! Dios. What she does to me!

I left her to it as I dressed quickly in my Rangeman black gear as best as I could, in my current engorged state, to shower in the guest room down the hall, a cold shower. We were all meeting in the sub conference room shortly.

….oooOooo….

"That little pipsqueak bastard! Who does he think he is putting a price on my head? My head! I'm not some prized heifer or … Urgh! So what now? I still can't go home? Oh. Wait. Yeah, that's why I'm here. Thanks to that psycho creep, Ramirez. Okay, pull up your big girl panties, Stephanie. I can do this. I can. I know I can. I've got the best looking protection detail any girl could wish for. Well, die Bitches of the Burg! They're mine! Ha! Take that!" And with that said, a fine strong Italian full arm gesture had Lester falling off his chair laughing. I must admit, it's cute watching her talking and thinking, flitting in and out of internal and outwardly spoken thoughts. I just grinned. Bobby ruffled her hair and gave her a side arm hug with a little kiss to her temple. "We've got your back, Bomber."

Tank chuckled with a deep rumble. "Little Girl. You're something else. Best looking protection detail, huh?" He winked at her and we all laughed.

"Oops. Out loud, eh? Oh well. It's true. Have you seen yourselves lately? Well? Have you?" Stephanie joined in the laughter and then squared her shoulders, looked at me and said, "Okay, Ranger. What do you need from me?" She paused as if to add something else but instead she smiled and winked slyly. This did not go unnoticed by my cousin as he sat there with a huge shit eating grin looking between us like he was at a tennis match. I just raised one playful eyebrow at her and winked. "Later, Babe."

"Santos!" barked Tank with another clip upside to his head. Tank cleared his throat commanding our attention his way and brought us back to the present pressing situation.

"We have eyes on all three, Alpha, Ramirez and on Morelli," Tank began. "By the way, Sylvio reported a lot of support for the, quote, "Bountiful Bombshell Bounty Hunter", unquote. Ramirez is not happy with Alpha for putting a bounty on Stephanie. His Godly messages are sinister and definitely obsessive about you, Stephanie and full of hatred and vitriol for Alpha. We may have stirred him up a bit more, not unintentionally, to direct his fanatical attention to Jimmy. Sorry, Little Girl. His fixation with you has been very disturbing as you well know. A bit of psychology here, by momentarily distracting Ramirez to what Jimmy Alpha threatened to have done to you has had the desired effect. Ramirez has made Jimmy Alpha his number one target and little Jimmy is shitting bricks. Our hands remain clean and we can watch it all play out from the sidelines." He paused. "Jimmy is a very popular guy. It seems that Morelli too is after Jimmy."

"Morelli?" Stephanie piped up. "Now that's weird, you know. I mean, he was near the gym when I naïvely and stupidly went inside following a lead, you know, when Morelli was my FTA. Remember how I said he saved me, from Ramirez the first time? Well, he was hanging around there a fair bit. Strange, don't you think? There was something hinkey about that whole situation. I couldn't work it out and it still feels off to me."

"Hmmm, interesting. It's curious, you know," Tank remarked thoughtfully. "Alpha kept very detailed records. Have a look." He took the data from his phone and in moments had projected it onto the collaborative screen. "As you will notice, it's a very comprehensive list of transactions, all neatly dated and timed, in multiple columns and coded, presumably for names." Stephanie suddenly shot up from her chair causing it to tumble backwards as she dashed up to the screen.

"He must have been an accountant or something before getting involved in boxing. Very neat … organised … efficient book keeping skills. Didn't expect that. Hmmm. Codes for names obviously, some repeats … perhaps initials. JR, lots of JRs. I bet that's for Justin Roberts. He's a known gambler in the 'Burg. I've had him as an FTA for various money handling things a couple of times. See, BR, more BRs, maybe that's Ramirez, B for Benito and - Omigod! Look at this! JAM. Here, and here, and here again! And there's more. JAM, J-A-M, … Joseph. Anthony. Morelli!" She looked at us triumphantly! Fuck! How does she do that? Her eyes were gleaming.

"Proud of you, Babe."

"Little Girl! You are something else. That was one of the phone calls he made on the list when he was 'manoeuvring' his funds and that someone was very loud and extremely agitated on the other end. But that makes this all the more interesting."

Just then my phone rang and I watched all their expressions go to blank faced. I listened, acknowledged the information and told them to keep me apprised of the ensuing events. My men were stoic until Tank raised one eyebrow. Stephanie's curiosity was the first to break. "Well?"

"It appears that there is a situation on the street. Alpha has been cornered by Ramirez. Ramirez is a raging bull full of revenge directed at Alpha for daring to harm you, Babe."

Another interruption as my phone buzzed again. Now that's interesting. I hear him out. I grin wryly inside but not outwardly, keeping a grim demeanour. This is most unexpected and, dare I say, convenient. I contemplate how to break the news.

…ooooOoooo…