Chapter 13

Six months ago, Mary Lou called and said Rex had gone to hamster heaven. I cried, but I knew he had lived a very long life. She said the vet had told her he had never heard of a hamster living for five years. Her kids were devastated. She bought the kids another one because they loved him so much. I wasn't sure I could replace Rex. I didn't know if I wanted to. She had his cage and his supplies. I could pick them up when ever I wanted to. When I called her to let her know I was back in Jersey, she was so happy to hear from me, she dropped the phone. Mary Lou asked me if I wanted to go out for some coffee and talk. She said the kids were in bed, Lenny was home. She would meet me at my apartment. I needed to go there anyway. I had to decide if I wanted it back, or if I wanted to find a new place to live.

I parked the Jeep in the parking lot, and went upstairs to see if I could get in. The door opened with my key, the locks never had been changed. I walked in, instantly surrounded by the ghosts of my past. Joe's conversation, the dead guy on the couch, Benito Ramirez. Lula, beaten half to death on the balcony. Stiva, holding me at gunpoint, and Ranger getting shot to save his daughter and myself. Not to mention the countless lost souls who have spent the night on my couch. Or the calming effect of Rex's wheel turning in the darkness. It all came rushing at me. So many memories were here. It wasn't always safe, but it had been mine. Everything had changed. I felt sadness in the pit of my stomach. It was time to move on. I didn't own one-third of a cop, half a dog, or a hamster anymore. Fuckinshitsonofabitchmotherfucker.

I would let Dillon know I wasn't coming back; I'd look for a new place. I closed the apartment back up. I took one last look, leaving the memories behind and locked the door. I sat outside and waited for Mary Lou. We decided on the bowling alley coffee shop. She got in the Jeep, and we drove over. Lenny and Mary Lou bowled every Thursday night. They were in a league. Her life was a lot different from mine. I envied her sometimes.

"I think Trisha is a bitch." Mary Lou said after I had told her about what happened at the house, and crashing her party. "You know, Joe was a wreck when you left. He would come over and hang out with us all the time. I felt so bad for him. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to call you, but I think he knew it wouldn't change anything. He wanted you to be someone you couldn't be. It was a tough time for him. When he met Trisha, things got better for him. I think he is happy now. Who cares what she thinks about you."

I thought about what she said. She was right. I couldn't be what he wanted me to be, and if I tried to change, I would be unhappy, and so would he. I needed to let go.

"I don't think there are many people thrilled that I am back in town." I said.

"The only people upset you are back, would be Trisha and Joe. She is probably just worried you will come in and change everything. She is insecure, and she is pregnant. You have no idea just how insecure you feel knowing you are going to blow up like a balloon. It's scary. So, what do you want? You want him back?"

I shook my head. I wanted him to be happy.

Mary Lou listened as I went through the last year of my life. Her eyes bugging out when I told her I had gotten shot. She made me show her the wound on my leg. It was healing, and looked a lot better than it did a week ago. I told her Ranger had Tank come get me. Then, I had to explain Tank. She got very interested.

"Ranger? You mean that guy that came over the night I stayed up with you?"
I nodded.

"Holy crap, Steph. Are you serious? I forgot about that guy. He is pretty scary, right? He makes me nervous."

When I first met Ranger, I suppose I felt the same way. He was unapproachable. He looked like someone you did not want to tangle with in a dark alley, or anywhere else.

"He doesn't really scare me anymore."

She looked at me, her eyes got wide. "What do you mean? You're not seeing that guy, are you?" She stopped herself from taking another drink of coffee as the question just hung there.

I ate a French fry, looking at her. I just smiled. She already knew.

"You are!" She said. "Omigod!"

Mary Lou sat there for a moment, staring at me.

"Wow. He's really cute. Like, scary cute." She said finally, taking a drink of her coffee.

She wanted details. How we met, how long I had been seeing him, how it happened that we finally got together. I gave her the whole enchilada.

"Do you like him a lot? Is it a serious thing, or just a casual thing?"

I took another French fry, and ate it, taking a really deep breath. "It might be getting serious."

We stayed for midnight bowling. It was fun. It had been a long time since I had hung out with her. The alley closed at two. We walked outside. No Jeep. I looked around to make sure I hadn't parked someplace else. Nope.

"Does this happen a lot?" Mary Lou asked.

I took a deep breath. I called the third floor at Rangeman. Hal didn't act surprised. He said Ranger would call me back. Why would Ranger be awake? I was getting a bad feeling about all of this.

He called moments later.

"I've already located the Jeep." He said. "Someone will come pick you up. This is something I need to deal with; I might as well do it now. I love you."

He hung up. I looked at Mary Lou.

"What?"

"He said someone will come get us. Then, he said "I love you".

Her eyebrows rose. "Is that weird for him?"

"Yeah. He never says stuff like that."

I was not expecting it. It made me even more nervous.

Hal picked us up in one of the big SUV's. After we dropped Mary Lou off at her car, we drove back to Rangeman in silence.

"Jeanne Ellen is a thorn." I said, as we pulled in the garage.

"You're telling me. She screwed with our security system tonight, and stole your Jeep. I think she is making a fool of herself."

"Can Ranger handle this?" I asked.

"I think you should trust him."

Trust. That is a big, scary word for me.

"Ok." I said. I would trust him.

I went up to the third floor with Hal. It was late, but I wasn't tired. I was uneasy. I was having trust issues. I was jealous. I was upset that I was jealous. I did Edward Montoya's old job for a while, doing searches, and some data entry. I was finished with all the reports by 5am. Ranger wasn't back yet. I changed clothes, went down to the gym and ran on the treadmill. I had a terrible feeling. It wouldn't go away. I went to the gun range and shot my gun until I couldn't hold my eyes open any more. I fell asleep on the bench with earphones and safety goggles still on. Ranger woke me up. He was sitting next to me.

"Are you going to stay down here all day?"

I tried to get up. My legs were sore, my arms were worse.

"Come upstairs with me, I really need to talk to you."

I started limping towards the elevator.

"You need to stretch before you do that next time."

Yeah, like there is going to be a next time. I thought.

"What time is it?" I stretched out my back, trying to get the pain to go away.

"Noon."

"Noon?" I had slept on that bench for 6 hours. No wonder I was sore.

"Everyone is behind on range practice because of you." He smiled. "I watched the monitors. You ran for thirty-eight minutes before quitting. That's a record."

He went into the kitchen. "I want to talk to you about last night." He opened a bottle of wine, poured two glasses, handing one to me.

"I went to see Jeanne last night. She disabled our security systems and stole the Jeep. When the systems came back online, the Jeep was exactly where I thought it would be. She owns a building down by the docks. She stays there when she is in town. I knew she would be waiting for me to come to her. So I did."

He watched me as he spoke. I crossed my arms, I was getting defensive. Why did I believe he would stop seeing Jeanne? She was a huge part of him.

"I took out her security. I went into her apartment. She was there, like I knew she would be, and she was naked."

I thought my hair might have burst into flames. I had to check. I put my hand on my head to be sure it wasn't, then took a deep breath. "Look, you don't even need to tell me anymore, Ranger."

"Just hear me out, Stephanie." He said. "I told Jeanne she needed to stop playing games with my life. I am done. I said that if she didn't quit, I would make sure her extracurricular activities with young boys was in the news." He smiled. "It felt good telling her to fuck off. It really did. I walked out on her. I think it surprised her, too. When I left, I drove through to New York. I wanted to just drive. It felt good to end it with her. I got this for you."

He took something out of his pocket. It was a small gold heart with a diamond in the middle. It hung from a gold chain. It was delicate and beautiful.

He had bought something for me. Wow! Ranger bought me a gift. It was so out of character, I had no idea what to say. He put the necklace on me. His lips were close to mine and he whispered "Eres el amor de mi vida." He slid his hands around my waist. "You are the love of my life".

To say this was incredible would be putting it into too small of a category. I chose not to label it. Ranger picked me up. He grabbed the wine and walked into the bedroom, tossing me on the bed.

We woke from a deep emotional sexual love fest. Time kept moving around us. Night had fallen. Ella had left dinner by the front door. It was already cold. I had to reheat everything. We ate in bed. I don't think I can ever remember a time I was happier than I was at this very moment.

"I'm not going to renew the lease on my apartment." I said. We were finishing dinner, taking plates into the kitchen and cleaning up.

"Are you moving in? 'Cause if you are, Ella will need a raise. Lots more sheets to wash."

I just smiled. I was happy that it wouldn't have surprised him if I said I was.

"I think we would never leave the apartment if I did that."

"You're probably right. You're pretty distracting. The place would probably collapse, and I wouldn't even notice."

I went to Vinnie's early the next morning. I knew the office was still in turmoil from Connie and Lula's loose bonds give away. Even though we had picked up most of the FTA's, more would be coming in. Vinnie's car was parked out front. My blood boiled over the incident with the website. I would have to deal with him if I wanted to keep my job. Since I wasn't here to fight; I needed to control myself. Vinnie looked up when I came in the door.

"Stephanie, nice of you to finally join us." I ignored him. I didn't want to talk to him just yet. I was afraid I would shoot him in the balls if I had the chance.

Lula saw me. Her eyes went straight to my necklace. She was good.

"You are telling me who gave you that." She said, getting up and walking over to me. "That is a present." She said, picking up the necklace. "That's not something you wear unless there is a person behind it. It means something. You better spill."

Connie smiled. "Mmm. I know who gave her that." She said fanning herself. "That man just keeps getting better and better."

"Damn skippy." Lula said. "He knows how to treat a woman." She looked at Vinnie, like he was a disease.

He looked at her like she was nuts. "Men who give women presents are saps. I learned my lesson. I am not gettin' involved anymore." He shook his head. Trying to convince himself that what he said was the honest to God truth. "Can we get back to separating these? Five more came in this morning, MIA at court. Connie, you've got to field these better. You're making me feel like I was a vital part of this organization. We gotta get back to running this joint, or it is going to go down the crapper, and soon."

It was hard to believe we had this many skips over the course of a few weeks. The files were in four piles. One set would go to Ranger's team. Tank was coming in this morning to pick them up. As we separated the rest, I casually placed Bernie in with Vinnie's pile. I didn't want to tangle with Grandma or Bella over that one. When it was all said and done, we had twenty-five more people to find. Lula and I took twelve; Vinnie took the last thirteen. He would work with Santos and Nick. They seemed to work well together.

I grabbed my keys to the Jeep and we walked out the door with our list. Lula was dressed like she meant business.

"Are you ready?" I asked her, after we buckled in.

"I am more than ready. Look at me. Pierre made me wear all this stuff."

I almost choked. "Pierre? He told you his real name?"

"Well, not exactly. His mama told me his real name. So he will just have to deal with it. Plus," she said. "I think Pierre is a very sexy name. I use it all the time now. I'm not really supposed to use it outside my apartment, those were the rules. Don't say anything."

"My lips are sealed." I did the little zipper lock thing over my mouth.

Lula had on military style cargo pants, and a stretchy top tucked into her pants. She was dressed in all black. Her handcuffs and pepper spray attached to her belt. A smaller, meaner looking stun gun hung at her side, next to her gun. Lula had gotten a permit. I was impressed. She accessorized the ensemble with silver sparkle hoop earrings and bright pink nail polish. She was completely out of character. And extremely close to looking like an employee of Rangeman. Ranger would shit if he saw her.

"He bought me all these clothes. He said if his woman was going to go chasing after bad guys, she needed to look like she meant business, or no one would take me seriously. He said I looked sexy. What do you think? Will people take me serious wearing these clothes and these big ol' boots?"

I hadn't noticed the boots. I had never seen Lula in boots. They were black steel toe work boots. They looked like they could kick some ass.

"I think you're going to roast, Lula."

"If I get too hot, I have some of my own clothes." She picked up her bag and brought out a black pair of spandex shorts, a bright yellow tank top, and some running shoes. That was more like it. I knew within the hour, Lula would be wearing those clothes instead of the ones she had on.

"I think Tank is starting to really get attached to me." She said.

"I think your right."

It was nice that Tank liked Lula. She needed someone to watch out for her.

Lula picked up the files, and opened the first one.

"I swear, didn't we have to do all this the other day? What is wrong with these people? They are making us look bad by not showing up to court."

"So, who is our first contestant?" I asked Lula.

"The one that is closest to a McDonald's would be the perfect one." She said.

She thumbed through the files, looking for addresses close to places to eat.

"Ok, here's one. He lives two blocks away from "Maple Donuts and More." They even have a drive-thru. Let's go after that one first."

"Who lives closest to Maples Donuts"?

"Michael Jackson Miller. He was caught with his pants down in a school yard." Lula Said. "We thought that maybe he would go to court. With a name like Michael Jackson, we just thought he would be ok."

I had to roll my eyes. "You guys are not good at picking and choosing who to bond out, are you?"

We headed on over to where Mr. Miller lived.

Our day began easy. We got Michael out of bed. He didn't have much of a chance to run. We took him with us to buy doughnuts because he was being so cooperative. Lula and Michael were singing to a Michael Jackson CD, as we ate.

"You're pretty good!" Lula said. "You should join our band!"

Before I could stop her, Lula was having Connie come bail him back out, so he could meet the band. He said he really didn't drop his pants at the schoolyard. It was late at night, and it was summertime. No kids were there. He just had to pee really badly. I guess I can relate to that.

I pulled the Jeep to the curb, and checked out the files. Walter "Moonman" Dunphy and Randy Briggs were both on the list. Walter was easy. I have known him since high school; Connie would need to bond him out again. Sometimes he forgot court dates. I also knew Randy Briggs. He was a little more difficult.

Walter was next in line. We stopped by his house, and picked him up. He had forgotten what day it was. We gave him a doughnut and brought Michael and Walter in together. Connie could get both of them out at the same time. It would save her some paperwork.

We were all out of doughnuts. I was feeling the sugar rush. I looked at the list. Kevin Nolan was next. He was twenty-four years old. He was picked up for hustling an undercover cop into buying him a bus ticket to California. He was also fined for being drunk in public. He hadn't listed any work history. Great going, Connie.

I knocked on his door. He lived in a small, low rent apartment building . I could hear music coming from inside. A girl opened the door and peeked outside. A rush of cigarette smoke escaped out the two-inch opening. She opened the door a little further when she saw it was just two women. Maybe she was dodging someone, like a landlord. She stood at the door with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, dressed only in a football jersey and a pair of boxer shorts. Her blond hair cut in a pixie. I decided to throw her off with my "stupid girl" act.

"Like, um. Is Kevin here?" I stood fidgeting, like I needed to use the bathroom. I pulled my fingers back, as if I was nervous. "I REALLY need to talk to him." I barked out a laugh. "Omigod. This is so embarrassing!"

"Yeah?" She said smiling. Thinking she had caught him doing something wrong, again. "Let me just go get him for you. "KEVIN!" She screamed. "Door! It's for you. Some GIRL, you asshole." She believed me. I looked back at Lula. I was ready with the cuffs. Lula had her hand on her pepper spray.

After a couple of minutes, a young man stumbled out of the back bedroom. He was buttoning his pants and spitting into a cup. He had no shirt on, and his pants rode loosely on his hips. His hair was disheveled, as if he hadn't slept very well in a few days. He leaned on the door and looked out at us.

"Yeah, what?"

When he got close enough, I asked. "Are you Kevin Nolen?"

He leaned father on the door, relaxed.

"Yeah. Sure. Why?" He smiled. "Do I know you yet? Are you that chick from the club? Cause," He paused, looking back to see if anyone was watching him. "Maybe I could meet up with you later."

I smiled, happy this jerk was on the list. It would be satisfying picking up someone like him. He had no respect for that girl in there, even if she was dumb. He was a real ass.

"I'm Stephanie Plum," I said. "I represent Plum Bail Bonds, Mr. Nolan. You missed your court date. You will need to come with us, so you can reschedule."

Realization swept over his features.

"Oh. I did? Well, can I go do this tomorrow? I got this chick in here. Come on, please?" He begged.

I slapped a cuff on one wrist, then the other as quick as lightning.

"Come on." I said, pulling him out the door. "This won't take long, I promise."

We walked him down the stairs. I held on to his cuffs tight. He looked like a runner to me. He started to walk faster, until he was almost at a jog. He tried to knock me into the pool, but Lula hit him with her new tiny stun gun, and he went down.

"Look at that! The baby stun gun works excellent." Lula said as she hooked it back onto her belt.

Together we got him into the Jeep and motored over to the cop shop for the second time in two hours. I do believe we are getting the hang of this.

By five, we had our hands on William Shinkle, Dale Madrid & Adrienne Luna. They weren't bad people, they just thought that a bunch of girls running a bonds office was no match for them. Lula told them all were to stick it.

"Lula, these guys aren't bail jumpers. They just don't have any respect for you guys. Maybe partnering back up with Vinnie is a good thing."

The pile of folders was going down quickly. We had six to go.

Carl Smith worked at "Cluck in a Bucket." Lula decided he needed to go next. We had Carl in the Jeep and had a free bucket of chicken to go with him. We motored over to the station to drop him off and call it a night. We had caught seven people in one day. It was too easy. I wondered how many new video uploads I would find on that website after today. It was clear that a few of these people skipped out of court just to see if I would screw up, and they could catch it with their iPhone. I needed a true computer hacker to fix this for me. I thought I knew just the guy. Randy Briggs. And, he was FTA. I would need to find him next.

I parked in front of the bonds office. Lula was getting her things out of the Jeep and I grabbed the paperwork we had finished for the day. Connie's car was parked out front. I would get my capture fees and pick up a newspaper. It was time to find a new apartment.

My phone started to ring, it was Tank.

"Something has happened. You need to be here. ASAP."

Tank hung up. I didn't like the sound of his voice, and my stomach started doing flips. I looked over at Lula.

"I have to meet Tank at RangeMan. Something happened."

"You want me to go with you? I'm good with situations involving Tank." She gave me a knowing smile.

"You're nuts." I smiled. "I will call you later."

"Sounds good." Lula said. "I'm supposed to have dinner with my man later anyways."

Lula's phone rang. She was on for a minute with a lot of "uhuh" and "yeah oks". She hung up.

"Shit. Tank just canceled." She said. "He told me he would tell me about it later. He didn't sound very happy."

I headed over to the RangeMan. I went into panic mode when I drove up to the building. At least twelve police cars were in front of Rangeman Headquarters. They all had their lights and flashers going. SWAT was on scene. What the hell was going on? I parked up the street and walked back.

I saw Tank standing at the lobby door surrounded by cops. His arms folded. He looked very pissed off. I watched as Joe walked out of the front door of Rangeman with another cop. He had Ranger in cuffs. My heart was beating fast. Ranger was looking down, clearly upset. He saw me. Before I could say anything to him, one of the guys in SWAT blocked me from coming any closer.

"You can't go over there. You need to stay back."

Joe was standing with Ranger. They were patting him down. I couldn't believe this. Ranger was being arrested. I didn't know what to do. Joe opened the door and put Ranger in the police car.

This can not be happening!

Joe closed the door. He looked like he was trying to figure something out in his head. He saw me. I was flailing my arms trying to get his attention as the cop in front of me looked at me funny. Joe walked over.

"I can't talk to you now, Stephanie. Your big friend over there, Pierre. He knows what is happening; you will need to talk to him. I have to go." He paused before walking away. "Believe me; I am as perplexed as you are."

He walked away from me, angled into the car and drove away with Ranger.