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Not mine, all Janet.


I talked to every one of the workers and all they could say was they didn't know or that it was some guy that may have been named Mark. That wasn't a lot to go on, but I continued my search.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tank asked me. The waitress I was grilling froze. He glared at her. "Go," he growled. She squeaked and ran away.

I sighed. "I want to know. You guys know how much I hate surprises!"

"Bombshell, you're not going to get anything out of anyone here."

"A girl can't try?"

He just shook his head.

Lester came up and patted me on the shoulder. "Beautiful, I guarantee that you'll want to be surprised by this one." He led me to the car.

"Wait! I'm not ready to go."

"Too bad." Tank said from the front seat.

I shut up and crossed my arms as we drove to my apartment. Tank and Lester checked my apartment, then kissed me on the forehead as they practically skipped out the door.

I checked my machine. There were about a dozen from my mother, two from Joe and two from Lula.

I went into the kitchen and that's where I saw the box. What the hell?

I wanted to call the guys, but they checked the apartment. Clearly they were in on this and wanted me to figure this out for myself. That or they hated me and it was a bomb.

I doubted the bomb.

I opened it and looked in. Inside there was a note and a pair of shoes. Really nice shoes. I drooled on them. I read the note, hoping for a clue.

Stephanie-

Enjoy the shoes. You'll need them at a later date. Please accept all of my gifts. I have picked them out especially for you and only you. You've been hurt in the past, and I plan to reconcile that.

Tomorrow, wear your sweatpants and a sweatshirt. There will be a man at your door to take you to your first stop. Don't worry about what you'll look like. Tomorrow is about you.

I'll be seeing you soon.

There wasn't a name at the bottom. Okay…

So what do I know: 1. it's some guy that may or may not be named Mark. 2. He has great taste in shoes. 3. He's going to repair all the damage from my past relationships.

Well the third one won't be too hard. I've had three relationships that were damaging. One was to my ex-husband who's an ass named Dickie. He cheated on me with Joyce "Skankho" Barnhardt before the license could be filed and we were divorced shortly after. My mom blamed me because I couldn't keep him happy, but I think that Dickie just lived up to his name as a dick.

Next came Joe. I guess he actually came first, but he was the second serious relationship I had. He was a failure because we couldn't see eye to eye. He wanted me to be a Burg housewife and I wanted to be Stephanie Plum: Wonder Woman. That didn't go well with his plans, but we always seemed to get back together when neither of us wanted to be alone.

Last but not least, came Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger. He was a one night stand that I'll never forget. He said that he would ruin me and he nearly did. After that one night, it was never the same with Joe. I never went back to Ranger because I was afraid that he would completely ruin me, which wouldn't be a bad thing, that is, if he actually did relationships. His life is too dangerous for us to be more than friends, but I always have a nagging feeling that we could be something great if that ever changed.

I had no idea who my mystery man was, but I was excited to find out.

The next morning, dressed in sweats, there was a knock on my door.

"Miss Plum?" A man asked. He was tall, lean and had a slight British accent.

"Yes, are you my ride?"

He smiled. "Indeed I am, miss."

"I'd feel more comfortable if you called me Stephanie."

"How about we compromise and settle on Miss Stephanie."

I thought about it. Shrugging, "I guess that could work. What should I call you?"

His smile widened. "Mark. Mark Pardo."

I was stunned silent. "Are you…are you…"

"No, Miss Stephanie, I'm not. I only work for the mystery man."

"I'm guessing you can't tell me who that is."

He just shook his head. Either his name by complete coincidence was named Mark Pardo or this is some cruel joke. For anyone who doesn't know, Mark Pardo was one of the fake names that Ranger used to keep his enemies off of his trail.

Wait, he said mystery man.

"Is it my man of mystery?"

He shook his head. "I'm not supposed to give any details. Everything will be revealed in good time. You just need to relax. He's not a stalker."

I was getting really tired of everyone thinking that I only attracted stalkers. My left eye twitched.

"Okay, Mark Pardo: worker of the mystery man, where are we headed?"

"The spa."

Oh boy! I hadn't had a spa day in forever. I guess that's why he had me dress for the occasion. I always went to a spa in my dumpiest clothes.

This day is about you, rang in my head. I guess it truly was.