A/N: Hey, two years to the day that I started writing this (or at least, it is here in Australia). I know I'm taking my sweet time, but think of it this way: TWO CHAPTERS IN TWO DAYS! A record for me, no? So, it's happy time. I've got sudden writers anxiety, where I want to write as much as I can for my readers, who I am happy to note actually want me to continue. I've already started rewriting the beginning chapters and will repost them when I am done rewriting what I want rewritten.

A huge thanks to Amers3 for giving me the idea later in the chapter – if you read her review you'll know what I'm talking about. I thought it was an excellent idea, and I'm extremely grateful because I had no freaking clue how I was going to get Steph to talk to Ranger. So thank you!

Well, here it is:

Chapter Thirteen – The Foxes Cage.

Jackie was fine, a mild concussion which he decided to dramatise and remained home 'sick' for the next few days. I'd dropped by a few times, just to make sure he hadn't eaten himself into a sugar coma. That boy has more chocolate than I have seen, and that's saying something because a third of my diet is chocolate.

Everything as normal as it got in Hervey Bay. Lester has decided that every Tuesday night is Trenton night, where he fills me in on all the news in Trenton over Thai take-out. I'd decided to shorten it to T night, being a Tuesday with Thai food and Trenton information. Besides, it's less suspicious if I say I'm having a T night instead of a Trenton night – there were bound to be questions about what I meant by "Trenton".

Last time he came over, he explained how Tank was going steady with Lula. Lucky guy. Morelli was on a war path, happened the same time every month. People had started joking around that he had PMS. The funny thing was, it was around the same date I'd left for Australia. Okay, maybe not so funny… My family was getting ready for Valerie's, my older sister's, birthday. She wanted a big party, with an Egyptian theme apparently. And Ranger… well, Lester never told me much about Ranger. And I didn't ask.

Dani has gone out every night that week with Gavin. They were getting really serious, and I'd spotted Dani more than one time with a dreamy expression on her face.

Me? I was having a great time. I'd had some interesting skips like Tom Kaday – an ex-pilot who smoked one too many pots of marijuana and lost most of his thinking capabilities (when he tried to run away, he ran face first into his front door), and Kyle Stranosky – a computer geek with the knowledge of… well, everything (except perhaps the smarts to not walk by the police station just when I was coming out). Remy had become a repeat offender, but this time it was her sister's house she'd vandalised (though it wasn't her sister who reported her. Her sister was not the smartest cookie, didn't even know who had vandalised her house when it clearly stated "Love Remz" in purple spray paint).

I'd gone out to lunch with Callen, the explosive unit guy. He was actually pretty amusing. He'd taken me out to a few of his favourite places, which included the Boat Club down at the Marina. It was quickly approaching whale season, and he promised to take me out to see them along with Dani and Jackie. I thought it was pretty amazing that the whales came so close. He told me a story about his first time seeing the whales. He'd went on a boat with "underwater viewing" (glass windows underneath the boat), and saw a whale about a foot from the boat.

So, it was with this knowledge that everything was normal that my heart didn't start racing when I noticed a box of chocolates sitting on my letter box. The day was overcast, rain clouds turning darker by the minute – Queensland was known for its tropical storms after all. So there was no sunlight for the sparkly red paper to reflect. I had to get out of my car to get it, and put it on my passengers seat.

I didn't open it, I was smarter than that. There was the chance that there was a bomb in it, but it wasn't until I was half way to the office that I realised that. So, maybe not so smart? Didn't matter, I was taking it to Lester to have checked out anyway.

Locking the car and leaving the chocolate box inside also wasn't a good idea. I mean, there's the heat inside a car that tends to melt chocolate, but there's also the fact that if a bomb went off it would hurt my mustang. I quickly rushed back to the car, unlocked it, and opened the door in time for a small sizzle sound and a slight poof. Smoke seeped out of the box, and I squealed. Without thinking, I grabbed it and flung it into the car park.

I check the car seat over. Nothing wrong with it, so I closed the door. I turned back to the box to see it in flames when Dani came out the office door with two glasses of water.

Sighing, she poured them slowly over the box, putting out the flame. She looked at me after she was done, and I shrugged.

"Don't blame me! I didn't know what was in it!"

"Well, of course you didn't. The thing I'm wondering is… Why the hell did you bring it in the car with you?! Are you insane?!" I didn't answer the question, as it was one I asked myself often.

"I forgot?" I asked. I wasn't sure of the correct answer. I think anything that I answer, Dani was liable to hit me for.

"You forgot? You forgot about the fact that you have had stalkers in the past and probable stalker now? How can you possibly forget the price of having that pink paint cleaned off your roof? You fainted when you saw it, and that was after saying what a funny phone number it was!" Dani huffed. "You didn't stop to think: 'Hey! It isn't Valentines Day! Why do I have a Valentines chocolate box?' Hm, I wonder!"

I rolled my eyes, "It's not such a big deal, Dani. Look at it this way, it didn't actually blow up! Just started a little fire…"

Dani looked at me incredulously, and shook her head. "Only you, Lee, only you. Are we at least going to tell Lester?"

I thought about it. It's what I was planning to do. But would he go into overprotective mode? Lock me up? Or worse, tell Ranger? I sighed. No. I wouldn't tell Lester.

"No. I'll do a little recon, search up any possible leads, but I don't think we need to tell Lester yet."

"Are you sure that's smart? Lester could probably get more done faster than you can," she said, biting her lower lip. "I mean, he has the company sources, shouldn't he be the one to look for leads? Plus, he can be scary."

"And I can't? Deny me my donuts, and I'm a monster." I grinned, but her worried look didn't fade. "Look, I know that telling Lester would be best in the short term, but think of it long term. Long term would mean that if this carried on, he would involve others and others means more people who know of my past so they can search it, which would eventually leak – because, let's face it, everyone gossips – and then it would get back to Trenton, and… do you see where I'm going? I think I should just do a little bit myself, and if it gets too bad I'll call in back up."

She sighed, "I get it, Lee, but I'm worried. This person obviously knows your past – otherwise they wouldn't know… well, your name. It's why I think Lester needs to be in on this," she held up a hand to forestall my next sentence, "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do it on your own as long as things don't get worse."

As long as things don't get worse. Jinx.

&&&

"Hey Tim. It's Lee. I was wondering, do you know if any of my skips have it in for me?" Probably wasn't the best way to start that conversation. It got a little awkward.

"Uhh… Lee, they're skips! You chase them, beat them, then cuff them and drag them to the cops. Of course they're going to be angry."

"No, I mean like, homicidal, let's dig into her past and make her pay for what she did to me, kind of have it in for me."

"In that case… no. The only one who would actually kill you is dead. The one that got whacked over the head with a breadstick." I didn't know he'd died. Hunh.

"Oh, okay then. Nice talking to you!" And I hung up.

This is where the hard part came in. I had to find out if any of my old, old skips, say old enough to be from Trenton, have decided to stalk me. I talked to Dom about it, since he was in Point Pleasant and had some access to my old files – at least the ones that weren't thrown out. There were a few possibles, but nothing my spidey sense went haywire about. So I had one more option.

I had had stalkers that weren't FTA's. I just hated that fact. That fact made me have to contact someone who had been there for all my non-FTA stalkers. I had limited sources for that, and even less of those sources that I would actually want to contact. Ranger would have been the best bet, but he was the second worse choice. There was also Joe Morelli, but he was the worst choice. My family was out of the choice – they tried not to remember my stalkers because my mother would start ironing at the mention of the words 'gun' or 'stalker'. Vinnie wouldn't care less about my situation, and Connie wouldn't know enough though she was my second choice. I called Lula.

I stared nervously down at the phone, the number already punched in and my thumb was over the call button. Nervous didn't even cover it. Sure, I'd called her before, but there was a (rather large) chance that when I told her about my newest acquirement (A Brand New Stalker! Comes with his own Chocolate Bombs!) it would soon be in the rumour mill.

With a heavy sigh and a roll of the shoulders, I prepared myself and pressed down. The dial tone was a loud noise in my ear.

"Yo, this is Lula, speak up!" I sighed.

"Hi Lula. It's me."

A sharp intake of breath, "Girl, now's not the best time, if you know what I mean."

"No… I don't know what you mean."

"I just mean that the bird is in the nest. You know, the bird?"

I puzzled over this. What bird? When did she get a bird? And why is it in a nest instead of a cage? "I didn't know you had a bird."

"No! The fox is in the den, girl, the fox is in the den!"

"Wait, what happened to the bird then?"

I heard an EEP! in my ear, that was rather loud. I cursed, and almost dropped the phone. "What the hell was that, Lula?!" She didn't reply. "Lula?! Answer me! What's this about a fox in a cage. I mean, a bird in the den. Argh, I mean the fox in a den and a bird in the nest!"

A moment of silence, then, "Babe."

I wasn't sure I heard that right. It sounded an awful lot like Ranger. But, if he was really there, wouldn't Lula have told me, instead of going on about foxes and nests? Oh… wait…

"Fuck!" Damn, am I slow.

"Steph, is that you?"

I gave a squeak that should have been a yes. I heard heavy breathing, and then the sound of traffic. He must have stepped out from where he was – I'm guessing the Bail Bonds office.

"Steph, talk to me. Please."

I gasped and exhaled, trying to do both at once. "Hi, Ranger, long time no see!" Oh shit, wrong thing to say. "I meant, long time no talk."

"Months."

I cleared my throat. "Yeah. Months."

Silence. I gave a quick thought to him tracing this call.

"Ranger? I'm going to have to stop before this minute is over. Can't risk being traced." I said, nervously.

"I miss you, babe."

Tears gathered, unwarranted, in my eyes. "I… I miss you, too."

"Come back, babe. You don't have to be in a different state to get away from things."

"No… I do. I do need to be out of the sta… how do you know I'm not still in New Jersey?" I frowned.

"Tank led me to believe so."

"Oh…" I exhaled. "Time's almost over, Ranger."

"Let me find you," he said, firmly. I rolled my eyes at the tone in his voice, like he really believed I would let him.

"I'm sorry, Ranger. It's time for me to hang up. I'll talk to you later." And hung up on him. I'd pay for that if I ever saw him again, but that wasn't much of a chance for the next few months.

I leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. Shit. I had tears in my eyes, and my throat closed itself. I hadn't bargained on talking to Ranger. Now I think about it, it would have been smarter to call Lula at night… when there were no chances of anyone but her (and maybe Tank) around. I mentally slapped myself. I would have to get a new phone number. Good thing I had used a spare SIM card from my time in Trenton. I went through so many phones there, I bought spare SIM cards when I wasn't strapped for cash – so as to save money when my car, inevitably, blew up with my phone inside.

I scolded myself, Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie, what were you thinking? It's working hours! Any dumby would know that Lula was in the office!

I pushed myself off the wall in the storage room of the office. I had shoved my way through to accumulated stuff to have some privacy. I was touchy when it came to talking with my old friends, so Dani offered me the use of the room.

"How did it go?" Dani asked as I stepped out.

"Not well at all. Somebody answered when I didn't really expect them to."

Dani blinked, "What?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm fine, really. Just a little shaken," not stirred, my mind said. "Just going to run down to the bakery for some donuts and head home." To my bed, where I can flop down face first and think over my life.

"Okay. You going to come in tomorrow? There's some FTA files being faxed over later, so I can give them to you tomorrow if you're coming."

"Yeah, I'll be here. Just need to… you know, just, think. Watch Ghostbusters. Talk to Rex." I said, grabbing my bag from behind the front desk where Dani sat.

"Do you want me to stop over on my way home? I can bring some take-out for dinner if you want," she suggested.

I considered it. It would mean I wouldn't have to bother with dinner. But I also wasn't in the mood for company.

"How about I call you at five with my answer?"

"I guess that would be okay."

I smiled and started walking. Just as I was about to exit, Dani called to me.

"Don't forget that I'm here to talk to, if you want Lee. You have friends here, too."