The tension in the air was palpable. I'd never seen Ranger this angry.
"Zip will be ok, right?" I asked quietly, risking a sideways glance across the car.

"Bobby will know soon," he gritted out.

I'd gotten in over my head again. I know – déjà vu. I'd tried to bring in Marlon Daniels, FTA for drug possession and distribution. Usually he would be a Rangeman bond, but I'd needed the money so I had twisted Connie's arm for the file. I thought it would be fine. It was drug charges only, not weapons charges. Not only had I failed to bring him in – in spectacular fashion – green jello and a live duck were involved, but in doing so I'd attracted the attention of Trenton's newest gang, the Reapers. It turns out they didn't have anything against me particularly, but they knew I was an 'associate' of Ranger's and they figured that getting their hands on me would get them noticed. Given Ranger's face when he heard the street chatter, I thought it would more than likely get them dead. I'd behaved for the first few days, staying close to Rangeman, working at Haywood running searches. I'd still needed the money, and writing reports seemed like an easy way to get it and also avoid being kidnapped and possibly raped, tortured or killed. I remembered the Slayers and Junkman and I wasn't keen to repeat the experience. By the fifth day though, I was going stir crazy. I couldn't eat another salad for lunch. I'd grabbed my phone and keys to head down the block to the deli. I was going to get a meatball sub, with extra cheese. It wouldn't be as good as a Pino's sub, but the deli was close enough to the building that there was no way anything could happen to me in the two blocks it would take to walk there. And I thought I could get out and get back in without my absence being noticed. I even left my bag at my desk so if someone saw that I wasn't there, they might just think I was in the bathroom. I'd technically already been to lunch – I'd picked at a salad in the breakroom – and as an office manager, Tank was a hard taskmaster.

I snuck out main door, while Hal was occupied with a courier. I was a block away when I was grabbed.

What happened next was harrowing, terrifying, mortifying and several other multiple syllable –ing words Mrs Brewster had taught me how to spell in middle school. I was pistol-whipped and knocked out. When I came to, I was tied to a chair in a tumbling down row house. Luckily for me, a few of them seemed to be getting cold feet. After the initial bravado had worn off, they'd seemed to realise that if normal, everyday Ranger could make them wet themselves, a pissed off Ranger might be another matter entirely. They went back on forward over the merits of killing me or letting me go and leaving the continental northeast. They were still arguing about what they should do with me when the flashbangs went off and Rangeman stormed the building. In the ensuing chaos, Zip was shot. The bullet went under his arm, under the vest. He'd been conscious when the medics arrived, and they'd taken him to St Francis.

After I was checked over and it was agreed I didn't need to go in for monitoring, Ranger led me to his Cayenne. The anger was radiating from him in waves. I saw Lester move forward to intercept us, but at a look from Ranger, he backed down.

I could tell from the way we were going that Ranger was driving me to my apartment. I felt terrible for what had happened, to me, to the team and especially to Zip. I'd thought they'd never find me in time. My trackers were in my bag and my bag was at my desk. Sensible Stephanie might have decided to stay quiet given the energy in the car but Curious Stephanie won out.

"How did you find me?" I asked as we pulled into my parking lot.

"Hector was able to track your phone. It took longer than I would have liked," Ranger all but snarled as he swung the car into a spot near the door. He turned to me and I saw the fury on his face "WHY THE HELL DID YOU LEAVE THE BUILDING?"

I froze. Ranger had never raised his voice to me before. Not when his BMW was stolen. Not when his cars blew up or were flattened. Not when my actions caused his men injuries.

I didn't think it was a good idea to say I left because I wanted a sandwich. Thankfully, something in me flipped. I couldn't deal with cold fury, but hot, emotional yelling? That was my speciality. In truth I needed something to get the embarrassment and shame out and this would do nicely. I even had the hand gestures to go with it.

"I'm sorry, OK!" I yelled back, not sounding particularly sorry. "I couldn't live another day in a cage! I needed air!"

'You needed air?" He said incredulously. "And you couldn't ask me, or Tank, or literally anyone in the building to go with you?"

There was silence. There was no good answer to that question and we both knew it.

"Christ, Stephanie. I can't be there all the time to protect you! And God knows, you can't protect yourself. Do you even like your job? Do you want to be good at it? You don't train, you don't carry any weapons, and you don't take your safety seriously. What is this really? Are you rebelling against your mother? Is this just fun to you?!"

Fun? Did he think I thought getting kidnapped and almost murdered was 'fun'? That falling down in garbage was 'fun'? Ok, so I made some mistakes and I'm sorry I couldn't be like Mr Perfect next to me, but there would be a very short list of people who could be as good as him. It was my turn to be furious. I was used to these kinds of comments about being a bounty hunter, but never from Ranger.

"You sound just like Joe!" I spat out. Joe and I had finally broken up over his inability to accept my career choice. "I thought you supported me!"

"I DO support you! Cars, money, men, whatever you need. And it just feels like it's never enough!" Ranger took a deep breath and put his hand to his face, trying to will himself to be calm. When he spoke again it was in a far more measured tone, "Did you ever wonder why Joe couldn't cope with you being a bounty hunter? It's because he knew if something like this happened, he wouldn't have the resources or the contacts to get you back."

I didn't want to think about that. I yanked open the car door, slammed it behind me and stalked towards the front entrance. I heard Ranger peel out of the lot, clearly not as calm as that last statement had made him seem. I knew the guys in the control room would be able to see the expression on my face in the camera above the entrance door. I hoped they were enjoying the show. I still had my keys on me, so I let myself in. It was quiet without Rex (he was still at Rangeman) and there was no food in my fridge, but the place was familiar and cozy and mine. I took a hot shower and fell into bed, so emotionally spent that I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.