Chapter 2
"Plum, the Unit Chief wants to see you now," Penelope tells Stephanie. She is startled and nervous. Stephanie likes to fly under the radar, stay in her tiny office, and work behind her monitors. Yes, she could be a field agent. Stephanie passed all the exams with flying colors and is one of the few techies who can pass their weapons exam without batting an eye. She needed to survive. But she prefers to be behind the scenes, to remain anonymous. Agent Plum quickly got up from her seat and straightened her dress. It's a warm April day in Virginia, and she took advantage of the nice weather to break out one of her favorite sundresses.
Plum walks down the hall to Chief Wilson's office. She knocks on the door and waits for the chief's response. Once given, she enters the office, addressing her boss.
"Sir, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, have a seat, Plum."
Stephanie sits down and crosses her ankles, mindful of how to sit like a lady. It's an automatic response that her mother ingrained in her from her childhood. Chief Wilson looks at Stephanie and observes her. He can see that his summons made her nervous and curious. Wilson can also sense fear. He knows his agent won't be happy with her assignment, but she is the best they have now that Agent Quinn is retiring. She is the only one who can do the job. However, he is one of a handful of individuals who know Stephanie's secret and why this assignment may break her.
"I have an assignment for you. It is in the field. You will work with one of our contractors to take down a gun-running ring we think is also involved in the disappearance of several women. You must relocate to another city for the duration of the case."
While Stephanie felt out of her comfort zone, she was excited to see another part of the country. She always wanted to travel, but she hadn't been anywhere other than visiting her sister, brother-in-law, nieces, and grandparents in California. She hoped the assignment would be in a warm-weather region near a beach. "Where will I be assigned?"
"Trenton, NJ."
Stephanie's head spun; her heart raced. She felt her breathing become shallower before her boss pushed her head between her legs.
"Relax, Stephanie, breathe."
She heard his order and concentrated on her breathing, counting ten seconds for her inhale and exhale and quickly bringing her heart rate back to normal.
"I'm sorry, Sir."
"Don't be. I'm not surprised by your reaction. I would have been more surprised if you didn't react." He paused, trying to find the right words. "Stephanie, I know Trenton is not a good place for you. I am aware of your history. But we need our best technical analyst, and you are that person. Quinn practically demanded that we give you the position despite everything. You will work with the number one security company in the country. They can and will protect you. However, you will need to win them over. They don't usually work with women, and a few men believe women are incapable of doing the job. If you accept this assignment, and yes, you can say no, then I will call the owner and inform him of your security needs. I will tell him as little or as much as you want. But I need to give him something."
Stephanie is sitting in the chair, trying to process everything. She knows this is the opportunity of a lifetime and her career. Steph can't turn it down, though every bone in her body tells her to do so. But, somewhere in the deep recess, in her gut, her sixth sense, or Spidey sense, as she likes to call it, is telling her it's time to go back to Trenton, to face the demons that live there.
"Okay, I'll go. However, I want to leave if things get too overwhelming for me and work from here, if possible. Also, I want to tell them my story on my terms. If they hear it from me, they will probably be more willing to give me what I am asking for regarding security."
"Okay. I want to warn you that Rangeman Securities will discover everything they can about you before you arrive on Thursday. They may already know."
Stephanie smiles, "Trust me, they won't find anything."
With a nod, Agent Wilson dismisses Stephanie. She heads back to her office, intent on calling Jeanne Ellen to get the insider scope. Steph knows that Jeanne Ellen has worked with Rangeman before and can advise her on how to deal with them, so Steph texted her to see if Jeanne Ellen was free for lunch. When she received that affirmative, she returned to work, clearing whatever assignments she could before heading back to Jersey. She would pass some of her jobs to other analysts, but there were a few cases she wanted to tie up herself.
Jeanne Ellen Burrows was wondering why Stephanie Plum, of all people, wanted to meet with her. As far as she knew, Stephanie was not involved in any of her active cases. None of her closed cases were up for review or trial. She headed to the locker room and changed into something that would blend in more than the black leather pants, tight black tank, and black leather jacket with stiletto boots. She was in "bounty-hunting Barbie mode," as that prick Lester Santos calls it when she dresses like this. Instead, she wore designer dark wash skinny jeans with an emerald green button-down blouse. Jeanne Ellen kept the boots and jacket, which didn't seem so in your face with this combination. Her blonde hair was down, and she grabbed her purse.
Stephanie saw Jeanne Ellen arrive and could see her wondering why Steph invited her to lunch. They were acquaintances and occasional colleagues but not friends. The only time they ever met up or talked was work-related. Technically, this was work-related, just not in their usual manner.
Jeanne Ellen walked into the small café, quickly spotting Stephanie. She walked over and took her seat opposite her. "Do they have good desserts? I'm craving something sweet," Jeanne Ellen asked.
"Hi JE, they have fabulous cakes. I'm getting a slice of apple pie a la mode. I feel like fruit."
Jeanne Ellen laughs, "Apple pie doesn't count as a fruit."
"In my world, it does." The waitress comes over, and Stephanie and Jeanne Ellen order coffee and dessert. Once the server leaves, Stephane gets to the point of the meeting.
"What can you tell me about Rangeman?"
Jeanne Ellen didn't expect that. She never thought Stephanie would ever work with them in a million years. Not that she isn't the best, but Rangeman has views on women, and they are not too complimentary.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I'm being assigned to work with them on a big case I must go to Trenton for. I want to know what I'm getting myself into."
Jeanne Ellen sat back and looked appraisingly at Stephanie before smirking. "Steph, you're in for hell and the fight of your life."
"What do you mean?"
"Their reaction, right now, is that you are not good enough and will not find out what they need. I'm sure they have their computer whiz looking up anything and everything they can find out about you. You need to go there and impress them off the bat. Now, I have an idea, but you need to go along. It will win over most men there, but one or two will probably never warm up to you."
"Okay. What do you have in mind?"
"First, you must do your thing and make dossiers on the primary team. Find out who you will work with, and dig. Then, you need to find your most bimbo-esque ensemble and wear it, but make sure you can move enough to take someone down. They won't know what hit them when you finish with them."
"I can do that. Are you sure that it will work?"
"Definitely. The head guy, Ranger, is a good person and man. I believe he's happily married with kids, two girls and a boy. He will be the easiest to win over. It's the others. Now, I don't want to influence your search. I was hoping you could go there and get your impressions of them. I don't know how they will react to you. They look at me and see my outside façade, my femininity, but they also know my background, that I was Army and can kick their asses if I want to. But you, Plum, are soft. You don't look lethal. You look like the type of woman they would pick up at the club for the night. That's how they will treat you. Be prepared to prove yourself repeatedly. It'll be annoying, but they will love you once you show them everything you can do."
"You think I should run a background on them? Isn't that a violation of their rights?"
"Technically, it is, but it is the best way to prove yourself. Ranger has many safeguards to hide his information and that of his company. He's neurotic about an enemy, finding out about him, and going after him or his family. You will prove yourself if you can get the information he guards so strongly. Getting in with Hector, their IT guy, will go a long way towards having the rest of the company accept you."
Stephanie bit her lower lip. She hated being invasive and going into someone's background just for the hell of it. Steph has a moral code that points to the north and has never researched other agents or civilians. The only checks she ever ran were part of a case she was working on, which was for the greater good. She was having difficulty aligning this with her ethical stand.
"JE, if I find the information that… Ranger… has buried; won't he be pissed? Wouldn't that kick me off the team?"
Jeanne Ellen found Stephanie to be such a dichotomy. For a case, she left no stone unturned and was like a dog with a bone, getting the details and digging up every morsel of information without qualms. However, her ethics and moral compass are pointed due north, rarely wavering, and usually only under the direct order of her supervisor or unit chief. She couldn't understand why Stephanie was so hesitant. In Jeanne's world, when men challenge you, you conquer them. That's the only way to win their respect, or at least that worked for her.
"Stephanie, if you find what he has buried, Ranger and his team will know what the rest of us already know. You are the best of the best. You will be the biggest asset to this case and team. It goes against your instincts and moral code but is the only way they will consider you an equal."
As much as Stephanie wasn't happy, she trusted Jeanne Ellen. JE has never put Stephanie in harm's way before, which is why Stephanie made it to be an agent at all. She was ready to quit and go home, but Jeanne Ellen saw something in Stephanie and made it her mission to get her to succeed. So, if Jeanne suggested she dig into Rangeman, then she will.
"Okay, I'll take your advice. But if it bites me in the ass, I'm coming after you."
Jeanne Ellen laughed, but on the inside, she was scared. While Stephanie could never hurt her physically, her sleuthing could get Jeanne Ellen in trouble. So, as they parted ways, Jeanne Ellen silently prayed that this was the right move.
Stephanie waited until she returned home. If she had to do any severe hacking that wasn't approved, she would have to do it from home. Stephanie first ran the basic search, Rangeman Securities, LLC. She determined that Ranger Manoso, Lester Santos, Pierre DuPont, and Bobby Brown were the owners. All their addresses were the same: the Miami building. She also discovered two other branches: Trenton and Boston. But that is where she hit the wall. She could find nothing else on the primary public search, not even a newspaper article. With a sigh, Stephanie took out the big shovels and dug.