Hello all. Thank you always for your wonderful reviews and for reading my stories. Sorry for the small hiatus. I was sick for about ten days, and then my muse was very sluggish and uncooperative. But here we are again! Time to meet someone new! :)

Rising Up

Tricia and I looked around the bar as we walked in. It was a typical college bar; casual, relaxed, a tiny bit dingy. We each got a beer and sat chatting casually with a few other people. We were all relieved to be done with the assessment. The eleven people there were an eclectic bunch, but I made a mental note of a couple of names that I thought might be good contacts for the future of Rangeman. There was a man who owned a jewellery store, who I thought might be a prospective client. The most interesting man was a former paramedic with the fire department in New York City. He had left to move back to Trenton when his mother fell ill, and he didn't want to work for TFD because he needed to be able to keep regular hours to look after his mom. He had done the business computer course to improve his ability to change careers. His name was Robert Brown, he told us all to call him Bobby, and he was nearly six feet, African American, and obviously very fit and well-muscled.

After only one beer I was feeling a bit done in, and I was just about to tell Tricia I was planning to go when my cell phone rang. I stood up, excusing myself, and moved away to answer it.

"Hello?" I said tentatively.

"Steph, it's Les. We've finished the pickup. It went pretty smoothly. His cousin didn't want to cooperate, but I pointed out he was harboring a fugitive, and his wife made him let us in. We just dropped Lacosa off and I have the receipt."

I heaved a sigh of relief that it had all gone so well. "And you're both ok? No injuries?" I asked.

"Nah, we're fine. Didn't get shot; didn't even get to shoot anyone!" he replied cheekily. "Where are you? You sound like you're in a bar."

"Yeah, I am," I confirmed. "After we finished our tests, a group of us came out to a nearby bar for a drink to celebrate."

"So, while I was slaving away, taking on the dregs of Trenton, you're out drinking? I'm hurt, Beautiful. I feel so rejected." He teased me. "How did your tests go, did you pass?"

"We don't know yet. We don't get the results for a week or two. But I think they went really well."

"That's great. Where are you anyway? I wouldn't mind a beer myself, and if I meet up with you, I can hand over the body receipt for Lacosa."

I hesitated a moment; I hadn't been planning to stay, but Les had a good point and he deserved to relax too. I gave him the address of the bar, and general directions to get here. After I hung up, I moved back to the table we were sharing. A couple of the people had departed while I was on the phone, and as I sat back down, Bobby Brown moved over to sit opposite Tricia and me. I smiled at him as Tricia murmured for my ears alone, "Everything ok?"

I nodded, "Yeah, no problems," I replied quietly. "Les and Hector just finished a pickup and Les is coming to join us to have a beer and hand over the receipt."

"I get to meet Lester? Cool!" Tricia chuckled. I grinned.

Although we spoke quietly, Bobby seemed to have overheard me. He smiled kindly, "Is Lester your boyfriend?" he asked.

I shook my head, "No Les is a colleague. We work together. I work for a company called Rangeman. Currently, it operates mostly out of Miami, but we're hopefully about to open a branch here in New Jersey. Les came up to Trenton to do some work tonight. Rangeman Miami does commercial and private security and bond enforcement for felons who fail to appear in court. At the moment, we're just doing bond enforcement in Trenton, but we hope to open an office for security services as well before the end of the year."

Bobby looked intrigued, "I thought about going into the police force myself. I like the idea of making people safer and helping people," he explained. "But I decided my passion was more in the medical field, so I decided to use that to help people. I did love being a paramedic, but right now I have to be able to be home at night with my mom. I hope I can go back to it someday, though."

I nodded in sympathy. Bobby went on to explain his mom had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, and he was reluctant to put her into a nursing home. He had no siblings and his dad had died a couple of years ago. He was relying on his mom's sister and niece to help him out when he couldn't be at home, but he hoped to get a job that would allow him to employ a carer during the day. It sounded like a really difficult time for him, and I was impressed by his determination to help his family, while still trying to better his own life.

I jotted down my name and the contact number for our Rangeman office. "I hope you find something soon," I told him, "But if you are interested and available when we open the office, you should contact me. You look like you could do well with security and, so far, we only have one other employee identified for Trenton."

Bobby grinned at me, "Why do you think I look like I would do well in security?" he teased me a little. Although Bobby was flirting a little with me, I could see the looks he was throwing Tricia. Tricia was a brunette, with hazel-green eyes, and in her early thirties. She was very attractive, and I suspected Bobby was more attracted to her.

I decided I would tease Bobby right back, "Well, you have that mall-cop look, you know? Paunchy middle, balding, going to seed." Bobby's expression of horrified disbelief was hilarious, and Tricia and I both cracked up. Bobby shook his head at me. Bobby was anything but paunchy and his long hair was braided into cornrows.

I sobered a little, "Seriously, I wouldn't get to make the final decision about hiring you if you apply, but your overall level of fitness and your skills would make you an asset. So, think about it." Bobby smiled and nodded, taking the piece of paper, and slipping it into his pocket.

A couple of minutes later, the force of personality known as Lester Santos breezed into the bar. He looked around and strode over to me to lean down to place a sloppy kiss on my cheek. "Beautiful!" he exclaimed, "You waited for me!"

I rolled my eyes at him. As he took a seat beside me, I introduced him to Tricia and Bobby and a couple of other people around me. He greeted everyone happily, ordered a beer, and slung an arm around me as he asked everyone how they went on their tests. There was a happy chorus from most people, as they replied. Tricia leaned over the table to say something to Bobby, which I did not catch, and I could see his face light up a little as they chatted. I thought they might make a nice couple if they decided to try.

After a few minutes, Bobby caught Lester's eye and asked him about his job tonight. Lester promptly began to chat intensely with Bobby about security, Rangeman Miami, and what he had been up to tonight. He asked Bobby about his background and seemed both interested and sympathetic as Bobby explained. The two men seemed to hit it off immediately, and it strengthened my feeling that Bobby would be a good recruit to Rangeman.

After another hour, I was beginning to flag. I made eye contact with Tricia, and she nodded at me to indicate she wanted to leave as well. I nudged Les to get his attention and he cocked an eye at me with a grin. "I'm pretty tired Les," I told him. "I'm gonna head out. Are you staying at Ranger's place tonight?" Les nodded. He pulled the body receipt out of his pocket and handed it to me. I tucked it into my bag and stood. Tricia stood with me, and we told the others we were fine to walk out together. Les looked like he wanted to argue, but I reassured him with a hand on his shoulder. I leaned down to whisper, "I have my spray and my stun gun in my bag. We'll be fine." He relaxed a little. I saw Bobby lean over and hand Tricia a piece of paper; I suspected it was his phone number as Tricia blushed slightly and nodded at him.

We said our goodbyes to the others, and I reminded Bobby not to lose my contact information if he was interested in a job. Lester's eyes sharpened at this, and I suspected Bobby was about to be interviewed after I left. I dropped a kiss on Lester's head, and he grinned up at me as everyone left waved us out the door.

Tricia and I split up at our cars with the promise we would get together for lunch next week. I was going to miss seeing her as often, but we both knew we would stay firmly in touch; we had become good friends. I sighed as I drove home. Despite the niggle still at the back of my mind, today had been a good day.

Over the next week, I worked on tidying up the building purchase plans and continuing to develop a marketing plan for Rangeman Trenton. I was starting to get a little antsy, since there was only a limited amount I could do until Carlos returned home and we could move forward on the building purchase and refit. I had started drafting some marketing materials, including a telephone campaign to small, local businesses, and plans for some hosted events for business owners and political dignitaries. I was also developing the training plan and materials for Rangeman, based on the business computing course I had finished.

On the Monday, ten days after our college tests, I received a letter from the college. It included my certificate and results; I had aced it! I was so thrilled. For the practical tests, I got full marks across all of the tests, plus bonus points for additional items I had included, such as the background on the PowerPoint slideshow and the additional content in the spreadsheet. I had also got extra credit for the PowerPoint slideshow I had submitted earlier on bail bonding. The written test I had received ninety-six percent. Overall, it was extremely satisfying.

I immediately called Tricia and asked her about her results. Tricia told me she had done very well herself. Her marks were not quite as high as mine, but she had definitely achieved an A on both the written and practical tests. We agreed that we would go out on the Friday night to celebrate with dinner and a drink at the Ivy. Tricia shyly asked me if I would mind if she invited Bobby to join us, and I had to stifle a snicker. Tricia said she had talked to Bobby twice on the phone and they were planning to go to a movie Tuesday evening. Of course, I said I would be happy for Bobby to join us on Friday; no doubt he would be celebrating success on the course as well. I was happy for Tricia but could not help a twinge at the thought that I would love to celebrate with Carlos as well.

On the Tuesday morning, I got a call from Connie Risolli at the Bond's office. She asked if I could drop by and pick up another file. I was happy to have something to distract me, so I left to head into the Burg. I drove to the Tasty Pastry and, this time, managed to buy some donuts and coffees unmolested by Morelli. I took the donuts and coffees to the Bond's office and shared them with Connie, who was delighted to have them. We chatted for a while about mutual acquaintances and friends, and she caught me up on some gossip from the Burg grapevine. After about a half hour, Connie handed over a file which I perused with interest. Kenny Stiles. I didn't recognise the name; his file said he was fifty-three, owned a car wash in South Trenton called Wet Brushes, and was accused of trafficking.

I asked Connie what he was trafficking, and she shrugged, "What isn't he accused of trafficking?" she returned. "Drugs, guns, girls, you name it. He uses the car wash as his legitimate front, and he is pretty good at not getting caught. As far as I know this was his first arrest that stuck all the way to being indicted. Normally witnesses disappear and evidence vanishes. Not sure how it made it all the way to court, to be honest. But the judge had to grant bail, since technically it is his first offence; all the others being dismissed. But the judge set bail at one point five million as a result."

I considered this. I was not sure how I would go about tracking this guy down. I didn't want to use any kind of direct approach since I definitely did not want to get onto his radar. Still, it would mean two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars for Rangeman, and that kind of cash injection would be amazing. I asked Connie, "Any thoughts on how to track this guy down? Any ideas where to look?"

Connie shrugged again, "I doubt he's gone far; he's probably just doing business as usual at the car wash. While he tries to get rid of the charges."

I thought some more and decided to try surveillance on the car wash. I thought about some things that Lester had said when he was here picking up skips and decided I would drive up to Newark and swap out my cherry-red Miata for Carlos' more inconspicuous Ford Ranger truck. I would take it through the car wash as a first step, just to check the place out and see the lay of the land. I headed out to the car and took the Turnpike up to Newark. I stopped in Carlos' apartment to pick up the Ranger keys that Lester had left on the counter, and also to grab Carlos' black windbreaker to wear doing surveillance at night.

I drove back to Trenton and stopped at my apartment to change my casual business attire for jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. The area where the car wash was located was not a great area, and I did not want to stand out or draw attention. I drove slowly past the car wash; it looked pretty much as I expected it to look. There were several girls in short shorts and tank tops working to take people's money, bend over buckets low on the ground to scrub the tires and press their breasts onto the windscreens as they washed them. The place looked sleazy, grimy, and a bit foreboding. Still, I doubted I would get into any problems just getting my truck washed, so I drove up and handed over my ten bucks to the bimbo falling out of her tank top. I ignored the girls circling the car, pretending to talk on my cell phone while they did their thing. Then I moved the car up to the automatic wash and tried to look around casually as the truck passed through the wash.

I couldn't see much of the back-office area, but I felt ok that I was at least able to get an idea of the layout of the business and see places where I might spot Stiles coming or going. I had an idea and parked the car on the other side of the wash area and jumped out to walk around the building back to the girl taking the money. I asked her about getting the car dried off and she told me I could only do that if I got it waxed. I declined, and walked slowly back around to my car, trying to look uninterested, while also trying to see the best angles for observation from the street.

I noted there was an alley across the busy street that looked like it would have a good angle to view the activity at the car wash. I drove out and circled the block to drive past the alley and confirmed that I could park there to watch out. There were a couple of cars parked in the alley and I was confident I could be inconspicuous. I decided to wait until later and come back at dusk to get set up and begin surveillance. I made a note to bring grandma's binoculars. Then I thought I should probably get some of my own, and maybe even a night scope.

But where do you buy something like that? I wondered. I made a call, "Yo," came the Louisiana-toned reply.

"Hi Tank," I replied. "I've got another skip up here in Trenton and I'm setting up to do some discreet surveillance tonight. Can you tell me where I would go to buy some binoculars or something with night vision?"

Tank appeared to think for a moment. "Well, Steph, I don't really know specifically in your area, but your best bet is some kind of hunting suppliers. Can you look it up and find one nearby?"

"Ok, yeah. Thanks, Tank. I'll head back to the office and try and track it down. I appreciate your help."

"How much is the skip worth, Steph? And what are the charges?" He asked.

"One-point-five million bond. And the charges are trafficking and a bunch of weapons possession. I don't know specifically what he was caught for, but Connie at the Bond's office said he's known for all kinds of trafficking; guns, drugs, even women." I couldn't help the disgust colouring my voice.

"Wow, Steph. Are you sure you should be going after this guy? Especially alone?" Tank sounded concerned.

"I won't go after him, Tank, I promise. And I'm being really careful. I got Carlos' truck and will dress to blend in. And I'm just going to do surveillance from a distance; I'm not going to approach him."

"Ok but be really careful. Do you want me to send Les up to you?" He asked.

I hesitated. Les would need to come up for the pickup, but he must have work to do in Miami too. "I just got the file this morning, Tank. Let me do some surveillance and see if I can track this guy down. If I find him, I'll let you know immediately, and Les can head up."

Tank agreed and we disconnected. I headed back to the office to look up hunting supply stores and go buy myself some binoculars with night-vision. I was hunting another skip!

A couple of people guessed Bobby as the new person. But I hope the intro was fresh and a little original. So, her spidey senses are still tingling. What is on the horizon...? Please review.