Chapter 1

SPOV

I sank down on the floor with the closed door at my back feeling totally pissed off with the happenings of my day. I just didn't feel like moving and seeing the bag now laying between my feet I thought, why should I move when I had the perfect excuse to stay where I was. Leaning forward I opened the bag and saw the foil wrapped parcel so brought it out. As I unwrapped it the smell of chocolate infused the air making my mouth water. I had intended to take small bites in an endeavor to make the cake last longer but best laid plans and all went out of the window with the first bite. As I savored the chocolatey gooiness in my mouth my head went back against the door, and I considered why I was feeling as I did.

I suppose it was a culmination of events that was really responsible, but today, well, I never wanted to experience another day like today any time soon. I know that as a thirty something, nope not going to think of that number any time soon, female bounty hunter my job was never going to be easy. It wasn't always skill that made things happen, it was luck, bad luck and the mindset of the creeps that I had to go after. Okay, so no one wanted to go back to the police station or stand up in front of a judge in court. The exploits that were used to avoid that happening, I could probably write a book about it. Now that was a thought!

Licking the chocolate from my fingers I decided that I really needed to move if only to wash my hands and put the rest of the left overs from my mother into the fridge. A glance inside the fridge showed plenty of space seeing as I had very little food of my own. That had my mind going back to the dinner at my parents. Was that what was annoying me so much? Nah, not really, I think that I'd become immune to anything that was said or done at those occasions. How sad was that. The meal had been the usual pot roast with all of the trimmings. A welcome indulgence after eating only snack food all week. That my mother had invited Joe Morelli didn't really surprise me, after all as far as she was concerned, he was the only eligible bachelor in the Burg who would have me.

Pfft. As if that was going to happen, not after I uncovered all of the lies that he'd been telling me. He may have his own house, a dog and a respectable job as a detective on the Trenton PD and I suppose that he was a very good looking man but that was all that he had going for him. It had actually been quite amusing to sit back and let the conversation drift over my head. I suppose that I'd heard it so often that their words had no effect on me now. Was that a sad state of affairs or what.

Having put my cold left overs into the fridge I turned toward the bathroom, slowly dropping my clothes on the floor as I made my way there. Even as I stood under the hot spray of the shower my muscles may have begun to relax but my brain was going at warp speed as the words from dinner blasted through my head.

"You're not getting any younger Stephanie"

"Joseph wants to marry you"

"He earns enough that you wouldn't have to work"

"He's ready to start a family"

So what if I did decide to have a little fun at their expense, I had to get my kicks from somewhere. Joe had sat there like some brainless nodding dog as my mother had reiterated all of the reasons why I should just fall under that bus.

"Why don't you come with me to Philly. I've been asked to liaise with the department there over a case that looks to cross with one of mine"

"Mmm"

Had both of them smiling as though that sound from me was one of agreement.

"Cupcake, it'll be for about two months. We could get an apartment together and you know, spend time together"

"Philly"

I'd mused out loud as though I might even be considering it. Yeah, I know that I'm evil, but it really made my time sat around the dining room table more tolerable. Especially when Joe and my mother actually thought that I was warming up to the idea.

"You might find a part time job there that you'd enjoy"

Note to myself as I heard Joe say that, the word part time. As if that would ever happen. Nope it wasn't going to be happening but when I left my parents my mother was beaming with the prospect that maybe I'd agreed to go to Philly with Joe. As for Joe, well he looked so smug I could quite seriously have stun gunned him on the doorstep. I didn't though, because in some ways the fact that Joe was going to be out of town suited me fine. I wouldn't have to put up with his constant calls and him turning up at places where I went, harassing me to entertain his boys.

I was still too hyped up thinking to even contemplate using the shower massager and truth be told, I hadn't felt that I'd wanted the release after telling Joe to stay away from me.

The boys miss you. Where once I'd found that phrase endearing and like an idiot had fallen for it, no more. As far as I was concerned his boys could shrivel up and drop off. Joe was a sex fiend, there was no other word for him. Gee, okay, so maybe I'd enjoyed the take outs at his place while watching a game on TV followed by glorious sex. The thing is that was all that we had going for each other. Well, all that I had going. Being the naturally curious person that I am had been a turning point in terms of any feelings that I may have had for the man. Yeah, receipts that I found stuffed into his desk drawer for perfume, lingerie and restaurants certainly had me questioning what the hell he was up to. Especially as none of those items ever came my way. In fact, I couldn't remember Joe ever buying me something like that or taking me out for a meal at a nice restaurant.

So when he informed me that he was at a conference for a weekend a few weeks back, needless to say I was suspicious. It's amazing what you can buy at an electronics shop. To be honest I'd wished that I'd figured out just how useful some of the gizmos being sold could be. Filing that information to one side I'd bought a tracker, or two, and made sure that one was in his truck, and another was hidden in the seam of his overnight bag. I'm a quick learner in hiding trackers, but that's another story. Conference, my arse. I was sat inside a diner just down from the hotel where his tracker was showing Joe to be. I drank a lot of coffee that day, waiting and watching the map through an app on my phone. Was I surprised to see him come out of the front doors with Terry Gilman? No. Was I upset at what I'd seen? No. I was fucking furious.

Then to add flame to the fire I decided to really punish myself. I followed his truck as he drove over to Hamilton and watched as he picked up some big busted blonde bimbo from the hospital there. Maybe I grieved what was then the end of a relationship, no I was upset, though I wasn't sure if I was upset with Joe for betraying me or at myself for being so gullible. It certainly emphasized that I didn't love Joe and probably never had. I missed him as someone that I'd come to know for a lifetime but that was all. I never let on to anyone that I knew of his trysts, certainly not him, because I wasn't prepared to put up with his bullshit lies and excuses that I was sure would come. Now it was just fun to antagonize and frustrate him.

Pulling on some pajamas I lay on the bed in my thinking position trying to determine why I was feeling so out of sorts. So no, I wasn't pissed off with my mother or Joe. I was really pissed off with Lula. Lula, the woman who I'd found on my fire escape years ago after she'd been badly beaten by Ramirez. The woman that I'd managed to secure a job where I worked as a file clerk to help her shake the profession of a prostitute. The woman who had partnered me for years in finding and apprehending skips. I'd spent time with her, told her my feelings and some of my secrets. Put up with her fashion sense and indulged her over her crazy fads. In a month my whole perception of Lula was shot to shit. At first, I'd been confused, then annoyed, and then frustrated which turned to annoyance and now, well she could go to hell as far as I was concerned.

How had that happened you might ask. Slowly which was why I never really realized the insidious way that she was using me. Her using me, hell, I'd always thought that by her helping me that it had me that used her. Whenever Lula came out with me to look and apprehend a skip, I always gave her some of my reward money. I would never take advantage of her as a partner for doing that, so over the years it had become the norm.

Then a couple of months ago we'd been together to bring in Clayton Patrick who'd skipped his court date. Clayton was a young kid who'd been charged with public intoxication, disturbing the peace and assaulting the bar man who'd tried to get him to go home. Not a lot of money for me because it was his first offense and in my opinion if he wasn't drunk then he'd be reasonably easy to capture.

He was as well, in fact the poor kid had seemed embarrassed at having us turn up on his doorstep mid morning on that fateful day. Lula was already in a mood when we'd left the bonds office, though what brought that on I had no idea. She was aggressive with how she talked to him, almost threatening, so I'd spent more energy on trying to calm her down than I did on Clayton. It was as we were walking down the path from the house that he was living in that things turned to shit. A red saloon car had screeched to a stop on the opposite side of the road and Clayton tried to turn away from me. I'd had a firm grip on his arm forcing him to keep walking to my car that was parked in front of us.

"Get your hands off him you bitch"

Had been shouted from the red car and I'd watched as a man had slammed his car door shut. I had no idea who he was, but the sight of a gun being waved around had me quickening my pace. Lula had obviously seen the same as me and as we'd continued to walk, she was rummaging around in her bag.

"No one calls me a bitch and gets away with it"

I'd caught sight of her gun in her hand and told her to put it away, not wanting to be in the middle of bullets flying. Had she taken any notice of me? No, instead I'd heard the deafening retort of her gun being fired next to me. I was sacred shitless by then and had pushed Clayton down on the concrete path with me so as to avoid any return fire. I'd also hoped that my car would give us some cover. So what was the outcome you might ask. No return fire which I was relieved at, but the stranger was still shouting at us and getting closer.

The problem wasn't the stranger though because as I'd looked at my car, I could see liquid dripping out of it down onto the ground and the smell of smoke drifting in the air. That we were already down on the ground was a good thing because the next sound was an umph followed by the sight of more smoke and then the whoosh as the gas tank of my car caught fire and exploded. I was flat on the ground with Clayton next to me trying desperately to crawl backwards away from the heat.

"Holy shit"

Had come from Lula as she'd crouched down, mesmerized with the scene in front of us. I was scared for the other man, wondering if he was hurt or if he was still intent on getting to us.

"Who was that man?"

I'd asked Clayton.

"My brother. I hate him. He was the reason that I got into trouble. He's always been such a hard case"

I knew that I'd frowned at the description but in the end the stranger was his brother and even if he didn't like him much, I was sure that Clayton wouldn't want him to be dead. I'd left Clayton sure that Lula would keep an eye on him and taking a wide birth of the inferno that was my car had looked for his brother. With my stun gun in my hand ready for anything, I spied the man flat on his back with a gash on the side of his head, his gun still clutched in his hand. I'd let out a sigh of relief knowing I wasn't going to have to deal with him. Making sure that he was still alive and after kicking the gun away, I did the only sensible option that I could think of. I turned him onto his front and cuffed him.

The sound of sirens had begun to get louder, so I knew that they were probably headed my way. Not a lot that I could do, so I went back to retrieve Clayton and discovered that Lula had disappeared. Great, she'd abandoned me. I knew that she hated the idea of cops turning up but that she hadn't even backed me up when I'd gone to look for that man had made me sigh very loudly. The fire department had arrived first and were quickly dousing the flames on the car just as the first police car showed up. What surprised me, though it probably shouldn't have, was the arrival of two black SUVs. It was a bit manic with so many people arriving, so I'd stayed sat on the sidewalk with Clayton, just watching. That Joe had turned up had annoyed me and when he walked directly over to me it infuriated me.

"Christ, Cupcake. Another car? How the hell do you manage it? You're a disaster, you should come with a warning sign"

I'd stood up and walked toward Joe, watching as his arms flew around and his face became redder. This had not in any way been my fault, but I wasn't going to say that because he always turned that phrase against me as extra ammunition. Instead, I raised my hand with the stun gun still in it and pointed it toward him.

"No one has died, and you do not have the right to shout and lecture me. If you come anywhere near me, whether because of my work or into my personal space, I swear I'll stun you"

It had probably been a good job that Eddie had interceded and turned me away from Joe because maybe, just maybe I might have accidently touched Joe with the stun gun. As I'd given Eddie a version of the story, I was surprised to see a now conscious stranger being hauled away by Cal, one of the Rangemen. Of course, I hadn't mentioned that Lula was there, I wasn't going to drop her in it for firing her gun and at the time I was annoyed but resigned with the fact that she'd gone. It was what she'd always done before. Eddie had given me a ride to my parent's house so that I could give my version of the incident to my mother before the gossip blew everything out of proportion and she hit the ironing or even her iced tea.

It was a couple of days after that when I checked my account on line that I was aware of what must have been a mistake. $50,000 had been transferred to my account from Rangeman. Huge mistake seeing as I hadn't been near the place since Ranger had left. God Ranger. I'd tried so hard not to think about him, but I suppose it was inevitable as I went through the events since he had left that he would pop into my head. Ricardo Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger, was CEO of Rangeman, a company that he had worked hard with to get it to be the successful security company that it was now. I'd known Ranger for what seemed like years but was probably only about four. He'd agreed to mentor me when I first started the whole bounty hunting thing. The man was sex personified, though at the start of our friendship I'd tried to ignore just how attracted to him I was. He was all cool and mysterious even after our first night of sleeping together. Well, we didn't exactly sleep.

He'd become more than my mentor by being the one person who looked out for me but. Yeah, that was a big but. I'd found myself slowly falling for the man even though he'd told me that a relationship would never happen. Seemed that wasn't in his life plan, and I suppose I'd accepted that all we could be was close friends. If only my heart would catch on to that.

Ranger had been gone for over two months now and much as I tried to ignore it, I was so worried about him. He'd stopped at the office and after a long, breath taking kiss had told me that he was leaving, going out of town. Why worry you might ask. Well he said it would only take two months and I had an active imagination for what he might be doing. You see, Ranger disappeared to do jobs for the government, so I was pretty sure that involved some third world country and people who weren't very law abiding.

I'd lost the flow of my thoughts as I lay there, aware that the room was darkening as the day began to wane. I didn't want any lights on, and the darkness gave me some comfort as I continued my memory trawl.

I'd returned the money to Rangeman straight away which had resulted in a very early morning visitor a couple of days later. Okay 8 in the morning was early for me but probably not for my visitor. I'd been bleary eyed as I'd looked through the peep hole, surprised to see Tank stood there. Tank is Ranger's second in command so was in charge while Ranger was away. My heart had gone into overdrive seeing him stood there with the gut wrenching pain that he was here to tell me bad news about Ranger. I'd opened the door and retreated into the kitchen trying to look busy starting up the coffee machine. No way was I going to talk first.

"Little Girl, why did you return that money?"

Okay, that had surprised me and I'm sure that I'd frowned at Tank.

"Because I haven't done any jobs so it must be a mistake"

Now wondering why Tank was here talking about it.

"No, no mistake. You captured one of our big bonds, so the money is yours"

Yeah right. I knew that couldn't be right because I only ever took the files for low bonds and never any that were earmarked for Rangeman.

"Shane Patrick. You had him cuffed and ready for us, so the money is rightfully yours"

It took me a few minutes to recognize the name, come on I'd only just woken up. I'm sure that my eyes had shot open wide when I remember the whole incident with Clayton and the loss of my car.

"But, well, it just happened. I never planned for that"

"I heard"

Came from Tank as he'd raised an eyebrow at me. Nope, not going there, went through my head. I'd given a statement to Eddie and the case was closed, so no way was I going to retract that story.

"Look, you lost your car and you driving Big Blue isn't ideal. How about you use that money to buy another car. Hell, I'll even go with you so that you get a good deal"

I'd pondered that offer. Tank was right, Big Blue was not an ideal car to use. It guzzled gas, was hard to steer and everyone recognized it as belonging to me. And the idea of having Tank with me to buy another car maybe wasn't such a bad idea. No salesman would try to rip him off, hell he was as his name suggested, a tank of a man and could intimidate anyone with his size.

"Ur, well, I suppose"

It was worth saying that just to see the smile spread across Tank's face.

"Go get dressed"

Three hours later I was driving a Silver 2000 Mitsubishi Montero Sport, SUV away from a garage. I loved it but was so worried how long I'd own it for before it met its demise. This was me after all. A woman who could go through cars like other people went through hot dinners. I'd parted company with Tank promising that I'd be at Rangeman in the morning to run some searches on potential new hires. Something that I could do to return the favor for Tank having to spend his time with me. That afternoon I'd parked outside the bonds office and gone in to see Lula and Connie looking out of the window.

"Nice car Steph"

Came from Connie as she went back to her seat. I'd filled a mug with some coffee from the machine and doctored it with sugar and creamer aware that Lula was still looking out of the window.

"Huh, how'd you afford that? You told me that you were struggling to pay your rent"

How Lula had said that had me looking at her puzzled with why would she sound so bitter.

"An FTA that I captured and who turned out to be a high bond"

Not wanting to give her any details, after all she'd been the one who had disappeared when my car had exploded.

"I heard about that, Shane Patrick. Good on you Steph"

Damn, I hadn't wanted Connie to mention who it had been because what I was fearing the most happened. Lula turned to me, hands on her hips, glowering.

"So where's my cut?"

Her cut? How the hell could she have stood there and expected to get any money from that apprehension. I was actually confused with what she was saying but thinking it through I suppose that she had been there when we'd brought Clayton out of his house. My hand went into my pocket, and I pulled out a $20 bill and handed it to her. Okay, so maybe I was being a bit naive with what I was doing and about to say.

"Clayton only brought me £50 so this is your cut for him"

"You get a new car and expect me to be, what, grateful for 20 fucking dollars. I helped with that other capture"

So then I'd seen red. Up until then I'd thought I was being reasonable with Lula but no way was I going to be giving her a dime for the brother Shane.

"Right. So you getting an illegal gun out of your bag, when I told you to put it away, and then shooting two shots that hit my car and basically destroyed it, means that I owe you. Oh, and let's not forget that you ran off and basically abandoned me to deal with the cops"

Yeah, that had had the desired effect on Lula. At least she'd backed down some, but snatched the money from my hand before stomping out of the office. It left me feeling very guilty and I was in two minds to go after her and apologize with the offer of more money.

"Steph, don't you dare. She doesn't deserve any of that money. Hell, you're always giving her a cut of your reward. She gets a weekly wage from Vinnie for a job that she doesn't do and then she picks her hours to be here that suit her. Lula has more clothes than you and I put together and she's always getting her nails or hair done. Don't feel sorry for her because she probably pulls in more money than you do"

My mouth had opened and closed at hearing what Connie had said to me. To be honest I couldn't understand what I'd just been told. Was Connie right?

The next day I went into Rangeman, a bit worried with how I'd be accepted there, seeing as I hadn't really spoken to any of the men for ages. I should have known that the men that I knew would be forgiving, in fact they were so much more. Hugs were abundant and my coffee cup was never empty. The day was a joy even if I did spend all of my time compiling searches. By the end of the day Tank had used my searches and notes to shortlist several men to attend for interview. Yeah, some of the applicants thought lying about their past would be missed. Hey, what can I say, I love noseying into other people's lives. That Tank then asked me to sit in on the interviews had me feeling, wow. I would never have thought that my opinion was important enough to be asked to do that. I enjoyed the experience, well apart from two of the men treating me like I was some paid bimbo and daring to call me honey. At least Bobby was quick to defend me and let's just say those men weren't offered a job.

The smile that I was sure was on my face having thought about my time at Rangeman slipped as the next name popped into my head.

Darren Rosner. He was what really opened my eyes to Lula. He'd been arrested for possession and selling. It was a decent bond for me because Rosner was a repeat offender, but Lula, well she got so pissy with me, telling me that he wasn't worth going after. Then when she agreed to help me, she came up with leads that had us going around in circles looking for him. After five days of that happening, I'd had enough and decided to do it my way on my own. Rosner was in his thirties, a few years older than me, pale as a ghost, stick thin and one of those people who had an abundance of energy. I'd ignored any of the places that Lula had suggested, okay so maybe a drug dealer might hang around Stark Street or some of the seedier bars of Trenton as Lula had suggested. That didn't sit well with me especially being in the vicinity of some of the low lifes that frequented those places.

Rosner was from the Burg, where I grew up, so I spent an hour at the hairdressers with grandma making small talk with them. Louise made a good job of trimming my hair and by the time that I walked out the old ladies had given me one really good lead to follow up on.

Rosner's mother was a cleaner at a seedy motel over in Bordertown and she would sometimes stay there if it was too late for her to get a bus back home. I squeezed my eyes together as memories of that visit threatened to consume me. The room was at the back of the motel far away from reception, so I decided to look around first. I suppose the fact that the door was unlocked should have forewarned me, the smell as I pushed it open definitely should have had me backing out. Rosner was there, surrounded by rotting food that had attracted flies. My eyes were rivetted on his body as it lay sprawled over the bed, the black stains on the sheets telling a grim story. I'd called 911 and waited for the police to arrive, all of the time taking in the scene in front of me. I honestly thought that he was still alive when I saw movement of his arm and stepped forward. I still have nightmares at the swarm of flies and writhing maggots that erupted. Cause of death was given as an overdose seeing as there was a syringe lying next to him on the bed, along with a bag of drugs.

I know what you're thinking, but after that I tried to cut Lula out from partnering with me. I just couldn't face talking to her. If we'd done the search for Rosner as I wanted to then maybe he'd still be alive now. What really closed the door on Lula for me was when I ended up bringing in a young girl for shop lifting on my own. Man, she was pissed, not at me, in fact she commented that at least the fat black bitch wasn't with me. That led to a conversation on the way to the station. Turns out Rosner was her uncle and she told me that he never injected drugs, so how could he have died. She said that the black woman who was normally with me would know that because they knew each other.

Darren Rosner, why the hell had Lula never mentioned that she knew him? It rattled me, so I spent some time asking around about him. Some of the places that I went to weren't exactly places that I felt comfortable being in. I spoke to men and women that I'd helped when they were FTAs and in general, they were polite if not hesitant to give me any answers. Yeah, maybe I should have heeded those warning signs and thought through why those people were so reticent to give me any information. Hindsight was great. After following up a lead concerning what looked like a respectable town house, I decided to do a late night surveillance. What I thought I would see I wasn't sure about, but this was me and I suppose that I felt that I owed Rosner, him being dead and all. I'd watched from my car as a car had driven down the street and pulled to a stop outside of the house not really sure if the men that I'd seen exit the car were just innocent residents or something else. My spidey senses were screaming at me to get the hell out of there. It wasn't my business to even think about Rosner let alone try to figure out anything about his death, so I decided to give up my quest to find out the truth about Rosner.

The following day I'd seen as a way to relax and forget all about Rosner as I had a regular to bring in. He wouldn't be any problem and no doubt I'd spend several hours with him before taking him to the station. Mooner was the skip that I had to take in, so as we watched some marathon, we got to talking and he of all people knew Rosner. Turns out he was a few years above us at school, though for the life of me I couldn't remember that. Mooner bought his weed from Rosner and as far as he knew Rosner never touched anything that involved a needle, just pot. Seemed that Rosner had a phobia about needles. I totally understood where he was coming from on that. What Mooner did tell me was that Rosner was moving drugs around for none other than Terry Gilman.

I had no idea what to do with that information. Normally I would have told Ranger because he always knew what to do. As I lay on the bed I really felt quite alone. I suppose that I could talk to Tank but with Ranger still away I was sure that he had enough on his plate just dealing with Rangeman business. Besides I had no proof of anything, just what people had told me. No way did I want to approach Joe, someone who in the past I might have shared my story with. Nope, not going to happen, especially as he was still seeing the woman herself. That pissed off feeling that I'd focused on Lula began to fade. She was who she was, and I suppose that I just needed to accept that. She'd had a hard life and protected herself with a brash exterior, not just in the way that she dressed in such bright tight stretchy outfits but with how she vocalized her opinion. I needed to move on and maybe find a way to co-exist with her, try to rekindle some of the friendship that I was sure was there.

The darkness around me was interrupted by the brightness from the screen of my phone as a call came through. Picking up my phone I had no idea who could be calling because the number had been withheld.