"Dude!" Zero slid behind the wheel of the Escalade and looked over at me. "What the fuck was that back there?"

"What?" I wasn't sure if he was talking about the ring or the takedown.

"You bought Casey an engagement ring?"

Yep, it was the ring that caught his attention. "Oh that," I replied and reached for my seatbelt.

"Oh that," Zero echoed. "You say that as if it's not the biggest fucking thing to happen at Rangeman since Ranger proposed to Bomber." He paused, then shook his head. "Actually, I think this is bigger than Ranger getting married."

I shot him a skeptical look as I settled into my seat. "Aren't you being just a bit dramatic?"

He rested an arm on the steering wheel as he shifted to face me. "Dramatic? I think you're understating how huge this is. The self-proclaimed forever bachelor has finally been tamed by a woman." He shook his head. "It's a sad, sad day my friend."

With how over the top he was being, I should have been a lot more nervous about what I'd done. Instead, I chuckled at his theatrics. "You should be thankful she tamed me."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because now when you go out with the guys, you might have a chance at getting laid."

He scoffed as he turned to face forward and started the engine. "I get laid plenty."

"Right," I challenged. "I forgot all about the fictitious girlfriend we just bought a ring for back there."

"That was all you, pal." Zero put the vehicle in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. "I haven't had a steady girlfriend for six months."

"What about Kimberly?" I asked.

"What about her?"

"I thought you two were exclusive now?"

He shrugged. " We're sort of seeing each other."

"Now who's downplaying the situation?" I asked. "You've liked her enough to have been talking about her to Casey, a lot." I angled a thumb back toward the mall. "Which is why I was able to get away with perpetuating that ruse back there.

He glanced at me. "Which, by the way, was brilliant."

"Thank you."

"What in the world possessed you to do that today?"

"I don't know. I guess I was still a little pissed about the clerk at Macy's hitting on me right in front of Casey."

The light changed to green, and he turned onto Route One in the direction of Rangeman. "A year ago, you would have gotten both their numbers, wined, dined, and fucked them both before the week was over."

"That was a year ago," I said as I considered the situation with Casey. "I guess I'm finally lucky enough to have found the right woman. Putting a ring on her finger will let the world know she's mine. Plus, I know she'll like it since she picked it out."

"It's still kinda sad though. I mean, you and the boss man used to be the two biggest players in the company. Now you're both whipped."

I grinned at his choice of words. "I'd love to hear you tell Ranger that. Especially in front of Stephanie."

He grimaced. "No way. She'll cut off my balls and hang them from her rearview mirror as souvenirs."

His vivid description probably wasn't far off from what would really happen if Steph ever found out he called Ranger whipped. I winced just thinking about it. "Give Casey a little more time and she might do the same thing."

He grinned. "Today was the first time I'd had the pleasure of seeing her argue with anyone. That girl has some spitfire in her."

"She does." I nodded. "I love it. I just wish she'd argue with me about something other than her self-esteem issues."

"Still," Zero pressed. "Six weeks ago, she was depressed and withdrawn. She's come a long way."

"She has," I said as we drove through the interchange for I295. "I just hope this incident today doesn't cause her a setback."

"Well, maybe we'll finally be able to get some answers from this schmuck. Bobby said he and Binkie would take him down to one of the holding cells in the sub-basement. So, when we get back, hopefully, we can learn why and who is targeting Casey."

Once Bobby had placed Casey in the SUV with Hector and Ramon, he'd returned through JCPenney to join us.

Despite the four very large men dressed all in black congregating outside of the JCPenney with me and Zero, the dumbass didn't move from his post. Honestly, I expected him to either try to follow them out or to disappear completely when he realized Casey was gone. The man wasn't too bright.

Zip and Slick, being the youngest and fastest of all of us, made a quick exit through the main mall corridor, then doubled back through the Macy's to return to the center of the mall, cutting off one potential escape route.

Binkie had Hector drop him at the mall entrance on the far side. Bobby stayed in front of the JCPenney while Zero and I meandered our way to the exit corridor nearest us.

With all the exits covered, Zero and I turned back and headed for the man, who still hadn't moved. Just as we expected, the moment the man realized he'd gone from predator to prey, he rabbited.

I guess he thought he could make a break for it because he cut to the right, then immediately cut back to the left and ran straight across to the corridor leading to the exit. I guess Zero's knee was in better condition than we all knew because he took off at a run and tackled the guy before he made it past the window displays for Ann Taylor.

Knowing Bobby would kick my ass if I injured myself any further, I slowed and stepped to the side to let him sprint past me and help Zero secure the man. It didn't take long for Binkie, Zip, and Slick to appear and assist.

Over the years, and mostly because of Stephanie, Rangeman had developed a good working relationship with mall administration and their security team. So, despite the man yelling that we were kidnapping him, the mall security guard never asked for our FTA paperwork. With mall security's assistance, we were able to stuff him in Bobby and Binkie's vehicle a few minutes later.

After making it back to Rangeman and checking in on Casey, I headed down to the sub-basement. Ram was there with Hector, Binkie, and Bobby. "I hear you had an adventure today," my partner said as I walked up.

"You could say that." I nodded toward the cell area. "Has he said anything?"

They all shook their heads. "We were waiting on you before we talked to him," Binkie said.

"Let's go."

Before I could take a single step, Bobby moved to block me. "You're still on restricted duty."

Anger flared through me at the idea that he was going to try and bench me for this interrogation. No fucking way was that going to happen. I lifted a hand to point toward the cell. "That little prick was stalking Casey. If you think for one second that I'm going to leave questioning him to someone else, you're out of your fucking mind."

Bobby held up both hands, palms out as if he was trying to calm an enraged animal. Right at the moment, I felt like one. "Just hold on, Les. I'm not going to try and bench you. I just wanted to remind you that you're still injured and we're here to do the heavy work for you."

I nodded at his statement, then walked around him. Binkie opened the cell door, and I stepped in with Hector, Ram, and Bobby right behind me. Without the hoodie half covering his face, we could all see that the man wasn't much of a man at all. In fact, I wasn't all that sure he was an adult. He jumped to his feet when he saw me. "I wasn't doing nothing. This is police brutality."

I smirked as much at his lack of correct grammar as I did at him thinking we were the police. "You were stalking my girlfriend. Which makes you doing something, and newsflash, genius, we're not the police."

I reached out and grabbed his scrawny ass by the front of his hoodie, then proceeded to slam him against the cinderblock wall, knocking the air out of him. "Now, we're going to have a little chat. If I don't like what you tell me, I'm going to let my friend Hector here work on his carving skills."

I didn't have to look back to know Hector was brandishing a large hunting knife. The kid's eyes went wide with fear. "W-what do you want to know."

I shoved him down into the chair. "Let's start with something simple. How old are you?"

"Nineteen," he replied without hesitation.

"Good. Now, what's your name?"

"Byron." Again, he answered right away.

"Okay, Byron. Why were you at the mall stalking my girlfriend?"

"I wasn't," he said.

I shook my head and took a step back. "Wrong answer." Then I turned to look at Hector. "You want to start with the fingers and work your way down or toes up?"

Hector grinned. "Dedos"

"Fingers it is," I said then nodded to the guys. They flanked me, then snared Byron by his arms and dragged him back to the chair. Binkie slid into a position behind Byron and held him in place. Then Bobby walked around me and grabbed one of Byron's hands. Ram grabbed the other and then held them to the table.

I leaned forward and pressed my hands down on the edge of the table. "So, Byron. This is how it works. Every time you give me an evasive answer. Or if I don't believe you're being honest, Hector here is going to cut off a finger, starting at the tip and working down through each joint. If we run out of fingers, then we'll move to your toes. If, by some miracle, you're still conscious and not talking then you'll leave us no choice but to take your nuts and dick."

The terror in his eyes almost made me feel sorry for him, but then all I had to do was close my eyes and picture Izzy floating in the Delaware. "Since I know you're lying about not stalking Casey, we're counting that as lie number one."

Hector held up the knife and grinned. "Donde quieres que empiece?"

I shrugged. "Dealer's choice. Start wherever you want."

"You can't do this," Byron shrieked. "You won't get away with it. People will hear me scream."

My smile turned evil as I leaned into him again. "Son, you have no idea of who you are dealing with. The walls down here are soundproof and even if they weren't, no one in this building is going to come running to your rescue."

Byron's petrified gaze darted from me to Hector and back. He swallowed hard, then whimpered. "Please don't do this."

Binkie tightened his grip as Hector grabbed Byron's index finger with his free hand. He lifted the knife with the other. "No, no, no!" Byron squealed. "Please, don't." Hector was slow, exaggerating his movements as he lowered the knife toward Byron's finger. "Okay," Byron acquiesced. "Okay, I'll tell you everything I know. Just please, please, please leave me intact."

Hector paused. He looked from Byron to me and arched a brow.

"Since I'm feeling generous, let's give him another chance," I said and had to fight back the smile at the appearance of Hector's pout. There's a good reason why we're all scared spitless of him. He sheathed his knife and took a step back, but we all knew, including the kid, by Hector's expression that he wasn't happy he didn't get to play.

"Okay, kid," I said, drawing his attention back to me. "Start talking and it better be good."

Byron swallowed hard again and nodded. "I owed my bookie a lot of money that I didn't have. He said I could work off my debt with him."

"Doing what?" I asked.

"He gave me a list of people I needed to track down and bring to him."

"Why?" I prompted.

Byron shook his head. "I don't know why. He didn't say and I didn't ask. I-I figured I was in enough trouble as it was. I didn't need to piss him off by sticking my nose in where it didn't belong."

"Your bookie gave you this job to do alone?" Bobby asked, causing Byron to jerk his attention in Bobby's direction. He nodded.

"Guess that explains why I found this in his pocket," Bobby said as he pulled a syringe from his cargos and set it on the table.

My attention tracked to the syringe before I narrowed my gaze back on Byron. "You were going to use that on my girlfriend?" I didn't bother to hide the threat in my voice. At this point, my level of pissed was completely off the charts and getting worse with every question.

He visibly paled and tried to shrink into the chair. "Is that what you did to Isabella Sanchez?" I asked. "Did you drug her, then slit her throat and toss her in the Delaware?"

Byron's eyes widened in horror, and he began shaking his head. "I didn't kill anyone."

"But you do admit to stalking, sedating, and delivering her to someone else?"

"Well, yeah," he replied. "That's what I was supposed to do."

"Who is the bookie and who did you deliver Isabella to?"

Byron looked from me to Hector, who had once again pulled the knife from its sheath and was pretending to check its sharpness. He swallowed audibly. "If I tell you I'm a dead man," he finally said.

Ram tightened his grip on Byron's arm, catching his attention. "Newsflash, asshole. You're a dead man if you don't talk." The look in Ram's eyes caused me pause. The last time I'd seen that exact expression on him we'd still been deployed, and he was preparing to take out our target.

Byron held Ram's gaze for only a moment before he sucked in a shuddering breath and turned to look at me. "Broaddrick Pfeiffer," he said. "My bookie is Broaddrick Pfeiffer."

Ram swore under his breath. "That's Elliott Pfeiffer's brother."

My stomach churned with this new information. "When you kidnapped Isabella, where did you take her?"

"A-across the bridge into Pennsylvania," he replied. "I took her to this house about a half mile North of the Morrisville Water Works plant."

"What did the house look like?" Ram prompted.

"I don't know," Byron replied. "It was dark when I made the delivery, but I do remember that you couldn't see it from the road. I know because I missed the turn for the driveway and almost shit myself. When I found the driveway, I remember it felt long, like it was leading deeper into the woods. It circled at the end of it, placing you right in front of the house."

I exchanged a look with Binkie, who gave an almost imperceptible nod. We'd be deploying teams and using our search programs to find the house and who owned it.

"What about Madeline Mason?" I asked.

"I haven't found her yet," Byron said, and I think we all let out a sigh of relief. "I've been working my way down the list I was given, and I hadn't made it to her yet."

"And you're not going to," I replied. "Your kidnapping days are over."

"I-if I don't do what Broaddrick demanded, I'm a dead man," Byron said, his voice raising with panic.

"I hate to tell you this, Willy Witless, but the moment you finish that list you're a dead man."

"What do you mean?"

I thumped him on the head. "Hello, Captain Cranium, is anyone in there? I mean you can't seriously be that obtuse."

"He could be," Ram replied. "Especially considering he thought he'd be able to get to Casey when she was under our protection."

"True," I agreed, then turned my focus back on Byron. "I guarantee that every person you kidnapped for him is dead now. Which means leaving you alive is a liability for him."

When I finished spelling out the situation to him, his fear ratcheted up a notch. "Oh God. What am I going to do?"

"You'll start by helping us set up a sting to catch Pfeiffer."

Byron nodded. "Okay, but what happens to me after you catch him?"

"Then we'll decide if we're going to let you live to regret what you've done by rotting in prison, or if we'll just put you out of your misery. Until then…" I grinned. "Welcome to Hotel Rangeman." I motioned to the room. "Make yourself comfortable, because you're going to be here awhile."