In honor of the upcoming 30 year anniversary of One for the Money, this short along with trying to tie off and finish as many pending stories as possible is my way of celebrating S&R.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. Typos are my bad.
With staggering steps, I crossed the street towards the small restaurant with outdoor seating. Somehow, I made it just as my vision was getting dangerously blurry. Spotting a woman sitting with her back towards the building's glass windows, I approached with the little energy I had left.
Almost there, I told myself.
"Can I have your soda?" I slurred, my manners still intact in the face of an emergency. I wouldn't want to be rude and just snatch the drink out of her hand. No, no.
"Uhm…" Hesitant, the woman handed over the cold bottled drink as she flashed me a look.
Grateful, this time I did allow myself to snatch the glass bottle out of her hand as fast as I could. "Low…sugar…" I croaked as I chugged the cola, no longer caring about proper etiquette.
"Oh shit." The woman shot to her feet, urging me to take a seat.
What felt like an eternity later, once I began feeling like my normal self again, I made a move to acknowledge the woman's kind act. She didn't have to stay and keep an eye on my getting better. She could have left me to fend for myself. Someone else likely would have. In a heartbeat.
"Thank you." Tilting my head up, I squinted as I verbalized my gratitude. Staring up at her, I was awestruck at the way the sun gave her curly hair a halo-like effect from my position.
Breathtakingly beautiful.
As my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, I finally took in her appearance in full detail. Luscious brown curly hair and striking blue eyes.
Gorgeous.
Winsome, in every sense of the word.
Absolutely gorgeous, with those impossibly dark blue eyes captivating my attention like a hypnotic trance.
"Would you like me to call someone?" My angel asked, her voice just as immaculate as the rest of her.
Shaking my head slightly, I assured her I'm better now. Besides, there's no one for her to call.
"Okay." With a jerk of her head, she took the seat opposite mine and told me that she'd sit with me until I was ready to return to my day.
"Thank you." With a weak smile, I was extremely grateful for her continued kindness and generosity. It's not something you see often in Jersey, much less a city with one of the highest murder rates in the country like Trenton.
The restaurant staff was amazing as well, bringing out some food for me and a new drink for the kind stranger. When I finally felt like I could continue on my way, I regretted not exchanging names before she left.
Luckily for me, I was able to track down her identity online within hours of our chance meeting.
My angelic heroine: Stephanie Plum.
One would think that my memory of such a goddess would be skewed by my fuzzy memory after such a health scare, but no. Stephanie Plum is exactly what I remember and more.
From that fortunate encounter and on, I knew she was the chosen one for me.
Stephanie Plum and I are destined to be together! Till death do us part.
Although come to think of it, Stephanie Vultaggio has a way better ring to it.
Mrs. Dante Vultaggio is her hereafter!
Except, I was unprepared to find through my research that she's been a bad, bad girl. I guess it's true what they say, there's angels in both heaven and hell.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
I was with Lula staking out the food court at Quaker Bridge Mall to keep my eyes and ears open for one slithery, though, low level FTA.
"Think he coming or what?" Lula asked once she finished all the snacks we scored.
Glancing at the time on my cell lock screen, I shook my head. It's unlikely that our man will make an appearance after all. It's getting late in the afternoon and by this time he's likely gearing up to post up somewhere on Stark to start slinging his product. I can be patient, nabbing him when he's not in his territory or with potential allies nearby. See, I've matured and now strategize way more when it comes to a capture. That's me, full blown adulting.
After dropping Lula off at the Bonds office, I drove to my parents house for dinner. Luckily, my nieces made the time fly. Both Mary Alice and Angie shared what they've been up to, saving us all from awkward silence or uncomfortable conversation starters.
Grandma Mazur was eager to make it out to tonight's viewing, so I had a speedy escape as soon as we finished our meals. Valerie said she'd help clean up as I offered to drive and chaperone Grandma Mazur. Aside from a little disturbance at the refreshment table when the last cookie was up for grabs, the viewing went pretty smooth.
"Have a good night." I said to Grandma once I dropped her back off at my parents' house. I didn't stay or go inside as I know my mother's probably already received a call or two handfuls regarding the cookie incident. Oops! Hey, at least no caskets were tipped over.
My bedtime routine was done on autopilot after I gave Rex a little snack and filled him in on how I resolved the conflict by eating the last cookie. It wasn't very good, dare I say a little stale even, but it was a sacrifice I had to make. The little old ladies in the Burg can be quite vicious when it comes to the refreshments. I had to do what I had to do to keep the peace.
I didn't know how long I'd been asleep for when the overpowering smoky scent of burnt meat hit my nostrils. Confused, I had a brief moment of panic wondering if I accidentally left something on the stove. I'm not the best cook out there, yet burning down my kitchen has never happened by my hand. Let's not talk about how I have fried a microwave or three over the years. There is such a thing as overuse, I'll say.
In my dazed state, I groggily attempted to sit up to be able to investigate the source of the overwhelming smell.
"Ungh." I groaned when a heavy weight settled on my chest, pinning me to the mattress. When I tried to lift my arm up to rub my chest, thinking that maybe I did accidentally leave something on the stove that's burning and is making it hard for me to breathe, I found that I couldn't move either arm.
What the hell?
Finally snapping my eyes open, I was greeted by near total darkness. The light spilling in through the cracks of my curtains from the parking lot below, gave me just enough visibility to make out a dark blob hovering over me.
No, the shadow wasn't hovering over me. They were straddling my torso, immobilizing my arms at my sides and putting incredible pressure on my chest to constrict my breathing.
"Get off me!" I growled with a ragged breath, doing my best to squirm out of the confinement.
"Argh!" A moan escaped on an exhale when I managed to tuck both legs up and knee him as hard as I could on his lower back. Repeatedly. Those Rangeman mandatory exercise regimens can come in handy after all!
How did I know my latest intruder was a man? Well, I could feel his excitement pressed against my chest, right smack between my boobs. Eeww.
Despite my limited mobility, I fought him as hard as I could. Squirming, kicking, screaming… it all seemed futile until I somehow managed to get one arm free. Punching him right in the throat had him rearing back and moving off of me for a split second. That was enough of an opening for me to attempt to scramble off the bed and make a run for it.
A thick, heavy hand snatched my left ankle, leaving me to slam heavily against my carpeted bedroom floor. Wheezing as the air was further knocked out of my lungs, I kicked at him while turning onto my back. If he straddles me as I'm facing down, it's over!
"No, nonono…" I gritted my teeth when I felt the unmistakable crackle of electricity shoot straight through me, followed by the zap of darkness.
Fuck!
I really do hate being stunned!
S&R
Ranger's POV
Tank gave an imperceptible nod when I told him to drop me off at Babe's apartment as we angled into his truck.
We just finished a takedown that allowed us both to expend some energy beating the scumbags that tried to ambush us as we picked up their wannabe tough thug boss. Dropping the scum off at the TPD took a little long as there's some sort of issue with their online systems. I'd like to say that the tech issue is only causing a delay in booking, but it's evident that there's more going on. Hector sent out a company wide alert earlier to inform us that dispatch of emergency services in our area has been impacted by what Hec suspects is some sort of cyber attack plaguing the TPD system. For that reason, I brought in contract workers to work monitors so that I could have more boots on the ground. This is a golden night for criminals to crawl out of the shitty holes they hide in, itching to unleash havoc.
"You two been spending a lot of time together lately." Tank's ribbing was interrupted when the control room issued an alert for Babe's building. Not wasting time, Tank used his big foot to really step on the gas.
"ETA one minute." Ram and Cal shared. Thankful that they'd make it on scene pretty fast, Hector chimed in that emergency services have been dispatched.
"Fire, EMS, and police are en route." Control room shared their ETA, as I practically bounced in my seat. If the ETA is right, Tank and I will somehow arrive just after first responders.
With a big rig blocking the small intersection, I jumped out of the truck before it stopped moving. As soon as my boots hit the ground, I hauled as towards the apartment building. Firefighters were aiming their hoses at the building, soaking the parking lot below as the powerful water streams hit directly at Babe's bedroom window.
Some rookie cop was trying to cordon off the scene, but I didn't stop moving. Ignoring the protests and orders all around me, I upped my pace as I crossed into the lobby. Knowing this place by memory, the smoke partially impairing my vision wasn't enough to derail my purpose.
"You can't go in there!" Multiple suited bodies tried to stand in the way, yet they were no match for me.
There's nothing, or no one, that can keep me from entering Babe's apartment, especially after that unmissable smell of charred flesh filled my nostrils.