A/N: A shout out to those living in the UK: Liam Flint is named after members in the band Prodigy who sang the song, "Firestarter".
Chapter 4
Rangeman was housed in a non-descript seven story brick building on a quiet side street in downtown Trenton. I entered the front door at six am and found Tank waiting in the lobby for me. We took the elevator to the gym.
"You were on Stark Street after dark with no backup," Tank said.
"What's your point?" I asked, feeling a little cranky from being awake so early and having nightmares the night before.
"It was careless," Tank sighed. He turned and looked me straight in the eyes. "When someone close to you dies, you can either go on a self-destructive rampage or you can choose to live an honorable life."
We entered the gym. "Let's get to work," Tank said.
After two hours, Tank had shown me some basic self-defense moves, including how to flip someone who grabs you from behind. He also showed me how to pick open a pair of handcuffs.
As I was leaving, he handed me a panic button.
"This is a tracker and a panic button," he said. "We'll respond to it as soon as we can. I expect you to carry it at all times along with your gun."
"I will," I promised. I didn't want to think what would've happened with Isiah Malone if Tank hadn't been there. I was used to jumping into dangerous situations without thinking, and that was going to change.
We got into the elevator.
"There's something else," Tank said. "Ranger left you something in his will."
My breath caught and I swallowed down something tasting like sorrow. Tank reached into his pocket and pulled out three sets of keys. "He left you the Mercedes, the Porsche Cayenne, and the 911 Turbo." In other words, about a quarter million dollars in cars.
"Did he leave any notes? Letters?" I asked.
"No," Tank said. "He wasn't really planning on dying. This was a big shock to all of us."
We rode the elevator down to the garage. I needed a car. The Buick was okay but wasn't a good car for surveillance since it was the size of a medium sized boat. I looked at the keys in my hand. In the past I had borrowed Ranger's vehicles and most of them I subsequently destroyed in one way or another. I looked at the three vehicles parked along the wall by the elevator. If these were the only things I had left of Ranger I couldn't risk them.
After a few minutes, Tank spoke. "You can borrow a fleet car if you want."
"Thanks Tank," I said.
I went home and took a shower. I took my gun out of my bear cookie jar and checked it for bullets. Ranger tried for years to get me to carry it. It was tragic that his death was the turning point for me to get smart and protect myself. I tucked it into the back of my jeans and headed downstairs. I got into the black Rangeman SUV and drove to the bonds office.
When I got out, I had that feeling again that I was being watched. There was a guy across the street walking his dog and picking up poo in a doggie bag. Another man was washing windows a few buildings down. And there was a lady waiting for a bus that had come five minutes ago. Bingo.
I walked past the bonds office and ducked into the alley that ran alongside it. I backed up against the wall and waited a few minutes. Sure enough, the bus lady walked past and entered the alley. I grabbed her, turned her around, shoved her against the wall and put a gun to her head.
"Who are you and what do you want?" I said.
"Karen O'Reilly. FBI." She said. "I want to offer you a job."
My eyes narrowed. I instantly didn't trust her.
"I'm serious," she said. "If you take your hands off me, I'll show you my badge."
I backed off but kept my gun trained on her. "No funny business."
She turned around, fixed her shirt, and showed me her badge.
"Why are you following me?" I asked, lowering my gun slightly.
"We've been chasing Nicholas Jones up and down the eastern seaboard for over three years," Karen said. "You caught him in under two weeks."
"I got lucky," I said.
"You've been on our radar ever since Ranger Manoso's daughter was kidnapped," Karen continued. "Over the years, we kept hearing the name Stephanie Plum pop up. You helped us take down a Bulgarian mobster, got caught up in a cyber crime murder mystery involving a photograph, and most recently, you stopped a Russian spy from poisoning hundreds of people in Atlantic City."
I guess when you look at it that way, I did do all that.
"We need your help," Karen continued. "We're investigating drug activity spanning Trenton, Newark, and Camden. We think the base of operations has moved to the Trenton area. You stumbled onto it when you witnessed Cruise Mendez get murdered and I've been following you ever since."
"I don't think the FBI is a good fit for me," I said. Plus, I don't want to wear pantyhose.
"Then come on as a contractor," Karen said. "The pay is good."
I considered this. With no one jumping bail with Vinnie, I don't make any money as a bounty hunter and my rent is due again.
"Fine," I said. "But if I don't like it, I'm out."
"Come meet our joint taskforce team," Karen said. "We have a meeting this morning at eleven at the FBI office."
I drove to the FBI building and parked on the street. I was once attacked in the underground parking lot and I didn't trust it. I walked into the lobby and took the elevator up to the sixth floor.
Karen met me once I got off the elevator. She had changed into a navy power suit that complemented her straight auburn hair with perfect highlights. I decided I didn't like her. She led me into a conference room with a large table filled with coffee cups, papers, and people I didn't know. That is, except for one.
"Steph? What the hell are you doing here?" It was Morelli.
The room fell silent. I narrowed my eyes at him and felt myself go into rhino mode. We could either do this in public or private.
"Why don't we take a break guys," Karen announced.
Morelli got up, took my arm, and dragged me into the hallway. I could tell he was sorting out his thoughts by the way he was looking at his shoes and how his face was going red. I decided to go first.
"Karen invited me on as a contractor," I said. "I didn't go looking for this."
"You never look for trouble," Morelli countered. "It finds you. This is the biggest case I've ever worked on and now you're dragged into the mix. Karen O'Reilly is legendary for assembling taskforces to take down massive crime rings leaving only craters behind. Look Steph, these guys are dangerous."
"I've been taking self-defense lessons," I argued.
"Hah," Morelli said. "Self-defense isn't going to help you. Neither will Kevlar vests. They take out anyone in their way with armor piercing bullets. And they don't ask questions first."
I stood there with my hands on my hips. I wasn't going to back down because Morelli told me so. Joe was in the same stance, probably thinking the same thing.
Karen came out of the conference room and interrupted our standoff.
"We're ready to start up again," she said.
Once we sat down at the conference table, Karen started talking.
"Let's review what we have," she said. "We have a drug ring characterized by large volumes of cocaine coming out of the Caribbean and a large number of murders. For the last year, it was centered out of Camden and has recently moved to Newark and now, Trenton. We've been unable to track the cocaine shipments before it's divided and shuttled down to mid-sized dealers."
"From there, the trail gets lost because we can't distinguish between the Caribbean cocaine and the other types out on the streets. These dealers are Hispanic and if they are suspected of redirecting the drugs or talking with the police, they get shot dead with armor-piercing bullets from a distance."
"Everyone, meet Stephanie Plum," Karen said, motioning at me. "I've brought her on as a contractor. She's linked to four of the murders through being a bounty hunter, and word on the street is that she's doing the shooting."
"I hardly ever shoot people," I said to everyone in the room.
Karen continued. "We need a sample of cocaine for chemical analysis in order to track the drugs and we need to find the person or people behind this. The only lead is that he is called the Boss. It's a tight operation and no one is talking."
"I can get you a sample," I volunteered. The room fell silent.
"How?" Karen asked.
"Um…" I thought about how to explain finding a kilo of it in a church and giving it to Mooner and Dougie.
"It's impossible," Morelli said. "Every time we get close to finding the cocaine, it disappears into thin air."
"Don't worry," I said. "I can get it."
After two hours in the FBI meeting, my leg was bouncing up and down and I was clicking my pen incessantly. Karen called a break.
"Maybe you should hit the streets and I'll organize the logistics," she said. "You can partner up with Morelli."
Joe smiled at me. "This will be fun. The last time we worked together, I got shot in the leg and shoved into a commercial freezer."
"Why doesn't Karen have a guy working undercover?" I asked Morelli as we waited for the elevator.
"She did, but he died in a warehouse explosion," Morelli explained. "No one knew who he was."
"I thought you were out of town," I said to Morelli as we rode the elevator down to the ground floor of the FBI building.
"We were working out of Camden for a while," he explained, "so I was technically out of town until today." He glanced at my left hand.
"I see you're not wearing my ring," Morelli said. "Have you made a decision?"
No, and I've been avoiding thinking about it at all costs. "I thought I had more time to think about it."
He put a hand on the back of my head and gave me a kiss that made me want to say yes.
"I missed you," he said. "I can give you more time."
We got off on the ground floor and he walked me over to my black SUV.
"Why are you driving a Rangeman vehicle?" He asked.
"It's a loaner," I said.
"But Ranger's dead," he said.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"The whole town knows."
"Tank lent it to me," I said. "I have some things to take care of before we hit the streets." Like grocery shopping and visiting Mooner and Dougie.
"No problem," said Morelli. "Let's meet up for dinner."
I drove to the bonds office. Connie, Lula and Vinnie were there.
"I saw you walk past a few hours ago, where did you go?" Connie asked.
"I'm now working for the FBI," I said.
Vinnie started laughing. "Yeah right. That's the funniest thing I've heard all day."
"I'm serious."
"Whatever," Vinnie said, "Just don't let your moonlighting interfere with getting Liam Flint and Isiah Malone."
I gave Connie my body receipt for Nicholas Jones and she wrote me out a cheque. There were no new skips.
I went grocery shopping and decided to go past Liam Flint's house since I was in the neighborhood. Sometimes, persistence paid off. I knocked on his door and unsurprisingly, no one answered.
I drove home. It took two trips out to the SUV to get the groceries inside. After the second trip, I entered my apartment and found Liam Flint was standing in my living room wearing his red onesie pajamas holding a zippo lighter.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I followed you home," Liam said. "Your door was unlocked. What idiot leaves their door unlocked?"
I dropped my groceries and reached into my handbag for my handcuffs.
"Don't move," Liam said. He was holding his zippo over my couch and I smelled gasoline. "Don't move or I'll burn your place down!"
I had just gotten my apartment repainted and recarpeted from the last firebomb and I was getting really tired of it.
"Liam," I said calmly. "You missed your court date and I need to take you in to get rescheduled."
"You're lying," he said nervously. "You're the evil bounty hunter that wants to take away my super powers."
"You're an arsonist," I said as I took a slow step towards him.
"And I always will be!" Liam said. And he dropped his lighter onto the couch, igniting the cushions instantly.
My couch was on fire and was spreading to the coffee table. Liam was making his way to the door, yelling, "I am the Firestarter!"
I remembered my fire extinguisher under the sink. I grabbed it with both hands and hit Liam across the side of his head with it. Liam went down and I dragged him out of the apartment. I got my handbag and put Rex inside of it. I pulled the fire alarm on the wall in the hallway and dragged Liam into the elevator. I put cuffs on him and got him outside.
By the time the firetrucks and police arrived, I had Liam in the backseat of the Rangeman SUV and secured to the leg shackles bolted to the floor. I gave my report to Carl Constanza, the cop on duty.
After a while, the fire was extinguished and Carl and the fire chief were done with their walk-through of my apartment.
"The damage was limited to your living room," said the fire chief. "But there's smoke damage to the rest of the apartment. But when the restoration company is done, you just need a fresh coat of paint and you can move back in."
"We searched for valuables left out in the open and found this." Carl said. It was Morelli's engagement ring. "Is it from Joe?"
"Yes," I said.
"Woo-hoo!" Carl exclaimed and punched the air. "I won! This is great. There's been a betting pool on you two getting married for like, ever. I chose this month for the engagement. It's up to $6000. Just wait 'til I tell the guys."
As Carl called police dispatch on his cellphone, I sighed. Word was going to travel quickly. I needed a place to stay and I couldn't stay with my parents once they found out from the neighbor's niece that I was engaged. I hadn't even decided to say yes. Just then, Morelli pulled up in his Jeep Cherokee.
"Congratulations on your engagement man," Carl said to Morelli, slapping him on the back. "Stephanie just told me."
Morelli walked over and put his arm around my shoulders. He looked up at my apartment windows which were black with smoke. "Cupcake, I hate to say this, but you've done worse."
A tear rolled down my cheek. Things were getting out of control.
"Oh crap," Morelli said. "It's just an apartment. And you're in luck. Because we're engaged you can stay with me."
I looked at him suspiciously. "I thought I had more time to think about it."
"Let's make a deal," he said. "Move in for a week and see what happens. If we don't drive each other crazy, think about saying yes."
A/N: Reviews?