A/N not mine, I own nothing but the plot.

Kiddie Games

"What the hell is ths guy doing?" I quietly asked myself. I am currently sitting on a park bench watching my querry, trying to figure out the best way to capture him.

Who am I, you may be wondering. Well, I am Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter extordinaire. Okay, you can stop laughing now. I may be unconventional, but I always get my skip. This one seems to really take the cake though. He seems like he's trying to get othe adults to play games we played on the playground at school. This time it seems to be Famer in the dell. I'm not really sure. Especially since last time it was double dutch. I'm so confused. I know that if I call Ranger he'll just 'Babe' me and hang up after I explain it to him.

Lula would just tell me that she ain't playing no games and she'd just shoot him. She's definitely out. Mooner would be to high to be of any help. I can forget my grandma, she'd go the Lula route. Joe and I aren't even talking, and I'd rather shoot him after catching him playing hide the salami with Joyce "the blowup doll bimbo" Barnhardt. I'll also never have a pineapple upsidedown cake from my mother again. Since I'll never visit THAT house ever again.

This guy, Mike "The Kid" Josephsons, bail was extremly high, but it was because of the damage he caused at the toy store he robbed in the middle of the night. He wasn't considered armed or dangerous, but the 20 million bond he skipped out on would be extremly helpful in my future plans. Such as getting the hell out of Trenton and making a quiet life for myself away from here and maybe going back to school.

I'm not asking for help. I can do this on me own. I can get him to play a game where he has to chase me and I'll take him down as soon as he touches me. I can do this. I check my pockets and go through different games from my childhood through my head. I notice people sitting and hit upon a perfect one. The smile on my face can't go away. I check my pockets, and for once I am completely prepared. My taser is even fully charged. I know better than to even think the question of what could go wrong.

I slowly make my way over to the grassy area, making sure I have my skips attention. I'm not a master at distrations for nothing. I gently touch a nearby strangers head and loudly say, "Duck!"

I walk to the next person, all while keeping a weary eye on my target, and tapped the next person sitting. When I did it to a third person my skip grinned and sat next to the third person. I hid my smirk and yelled, "Goose!"

As I slowly ran away he gave chase, I was trying not to laugh as I palmer my taser. I quickly made as though I was sitting down, instead turned around and tased "The Kid". He landed on his face and I had him trussed up as the criminal he was faster than you could say boo.

When he came around and I told him what was going on, he hung his head and allowed me to march him to my vehicle of the week. I got him in the station and processed without seeing Morelli and made it back to the office. Lula's firebird wasn't there and neither was Vinnie's Caddy. I was counting my blessings.

"Holy Shit, Steph! Did you really bring your skip down with a game of Duck Duck Goose?!?!" yelled Connie.

I smiled and said, "Sure did, here's the body reciept. I want my check now please."

She looked at me in shock and quietly told me that we would have to go to the bank together so she could do an transfer due to the large amount. I shrugged my shoulders, grabbed my bag and followed her to her car.

The bank manager spoke with us and was very acommodating and my transfer would be available in 5 days. I was honestly surprised by that, but he said, "As a Rangeman emplemployee, you get special perks. Weren't you aware of that Ms. Plum?"

"No, no I wasn't. I'll have to speak with Ranger or Tank later today I guess."

"Ms. Plum, I would speak with Mr. Santos, as he is the one who handles the finacial side of Rangeman as well as Mr. Manoso and Mr. Sherman."

"I'll do just that," I replied while pursing my lips. Something fishy was going on and I didn't like it one bit. I'm not a Rangeman employee, maybe an occasional contract worker, but not an employee.

Connie and I went back to the office and before Vinnie or Lula came back from whatever they were doing I spoke up, "Connie, I'm sorry to do this to you, but I quit. Even once I pay my taxes on what I made today, I'll still be able to move away and live comfortably while looking for a job away from this town and these people."

"What about Ranger? Everyone knows you're in love with him. Why won't you say for him?"

"He doesn't see me or want me that way, Connie," I said softly closing my eyes. "Does he love me? Yes, but not enough for any kind of relationship beyond occasionally sharing a bed. I may not want a ring, but the option of one would be nice. So would the option of a child, even though I am probably the worst person in the world to be anyone's parent. Just the thought that maybe someday it could happen makes me grin a little inside. We both know, that even that will never happen. There is no such thing as someday. It's just like a fairy tale.

"So, I've got to walk away before I waste my life or die doing this stupid job. Having to playing a stupid kids game to earn 2 million was my signal to relize that my life is shit and it's time to walk away and start over. Have a good life Connie."

I turned and walked out, never noticing that Vinnie's office door was cracked open.