686A/N: I decided to propose the challenge to my yahoo group to write 'Ranger if he'd never clean his act up and joined the army,' and then my damn muse started coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas, despite the fact that I wasn't going to play, as I had Cake and AFILAW to write. So this is my take on bad Ranger.
Trenton and the Plumverse is as we know it from the books, except for Ranger. It gets explained in the story, but it is totally and utterly AU. If you don't like angst, violence, or any of my other dark writings then I'd suggest that you bugger off now. On a side note, Black Hawk Security is my baby, but everything else belongs to JE.
The Dark Knight
Part One of Two
My name is Stephanie Plum, and I'm a Bond Enforcement agent for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. And when I'm short of cash, which is most of the time, I run searches for Black Hawk Security. Black Hawk is run by Pierre Thibideaux, a mountain of a guy from the deep south, who thankfully goes by the street name of Tank. Tank helped me out when I first began bounty hunting, seeing as I had no clue about what the heck I was doing. He still helps out when I find myself neck deep in crap and sinking fast, which is unfortunately more often than I'd like. He's a decent guy, and also the long term boyfriend of Lula, my sometimes bounty hunting partner and office file clerk down at the bonds office.
Black Hawk handles the high bonds for Vinnie, leaving me with the middle and chump change stuff. To be honest, I think that the guys at Black Hawk have an easier time at it than I do. The majority of my skips are total and utter lunatics, and I spend a lot of time chasing half-naked fat guys down alleys or crawling out of garbage. Still, it pays the rent, mostly, sometimes.
Today I found myself parked on Stark in my POS Chevy Nova with the one and only file I had right now. If I didn't bring this guy in then my rent would be late again and I knew that I'd lose my lease. I glanced back down at the file and shuddered. Ricardo Carlos 'Ranger' Manoso was wanted for nothing more than speeding a few too many times, but that wasn't even the half of it; the guy was serious bad news. Ranger ran a huge operation down here on Stark, it didn't matter what you wanted, Ranger could get it for you; fast cars, guns and munitions, drugs, or a woman for the night. Nothing was too big or too small for Ranger to deal in, and he was extremely territorial. The Trenton PD had never been able to get anything to stick to this guy; witnesses had a habit of vanishing or turning up dead. Even the guy that the Feds stashed in a safe house ended up vanishing off the face of the earth. Ranger was just too good, the man was like smoke.
And now I had the daunting task of trying to get him to come down to the cop shop with me to get re-bonded. Shit, Tank would have a fit if he knew where I was today, which was why I'd left Lula back at the office so she wouldn't blab to him, and sworn Connie, the office manager, to secrecy, telling her that if she let slip to Tank that I had this file, that I'd tell everyone about the time Joe Morelli gave her herpes in High School. Besides, I didn't want Black Hawk muscling in on my take down, as that meant I'd have to split the measly $2,000 cut from Vinnie with them. Tank may have saved my ass a number of times over the years, but there was still a price to pay for having his men ride to my rescue, and even with my 'you're pretty cool and we like you' discount, I knew that I'd be splitting the cheque at least four ways. 25 percent for me, 25 percent for Black Hawk and 25 percent each for the two guys he'd send over, and even less if he sent more of his crew to help out. Shit, in fact when Tank found out that I had this file he'd just take it off me, and I'd have to go and crawl for a cash advance from him to pay my rent. Yup my life royally sucked.
I studied the picture of Manoso; it was a few years old now, he looked around eighteen when it was taken. His soulless black eyes glared at the camera, his mouth was set in a sneer and he radiated serious bad attitude. I doubted that he'd changed much in the last twelve years; once a punk, always a punk. The bond paperwork gave the barrio just down and opposite me as his address, but so far, after two hours of staking the place out, I'd not even seen a glimpse of the guy. Plenty of heavily muscled guys had come and gone, but I really didn't want to go knock on the door until I was sure that he was in there. Not even I was that dumb.
After four hours, my ass had finally fallen asleep, and I needed a bathroom break. I turned the struggling engine over, and it coughed to life on the third attempt, damn fucking thing. Just as I was going to pull out, a black Porsche Turbo rolled down the street and slid to a stop outside the address in the file. What on earth was a car that expensive doing down here? Maybe it had just been boosted and was on its way to the chop shop. The driver's door swung open, and six foot of solid mocha latte muscle unfolded himself from the car, tossed his long hair over his shoulder and slid a pair of shades on. Shit! It was Manoso, and he was drop dead gorgeous. What the hell was I going to do now?
I decided on an emergency potty break so I could re-group and calm my raging hormones and nerves. I was back within ten minutes, and the Turbo was still parked at the curb. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans and had another go at drumming up the courage to go knock on the door. The horrid vision of me moving back into my parent's place was all it took, and I checked my gun over and slid it at the small of my back, stuffed my cuffs in my front jeans pocket, and put some pepper spray in the pocket of my hoodie. It was now or never, and I didn't want to have to tail this guy around town all day. I didn't want to do this, the stories I'd heard about this guy made me want to vomit, but I really needed the money.
I strode purposely up to the front door and banged on it loudly, trying my best to look more calm and composed than I felt. No one answered, so I thumped against the aging wood again with my fist. "Bond Enforcement, open the door," I yelled. Nice going Steph, just draw the attention of the whole block to you.
The locks tumbled and the door was yanked open by a tall Latino guy that could possibly be related to Ranger. "What the fuck do you want, bitch?" he spat. I heard the click of a gun being cocked, and glanced down as I felt something being pressed to my side. Great, now I had a Glock aimed at my gut. I really did not want to get shot today, or any other day for that matter.
I took a deep breath in an attempt to keep myself calm and hoped that my voice didn't waiver. "I'm from Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. Mr Manoso missed his court date and I need to escort him to the station so I can get him re-bonded."
The guy snorted. "You think that Ranger'll just go with you to the station? Man, you're one real dumb puta."
"Hey!" I snapped, beginning to fell just a little pissed, despite the gun trained on me.
Latino guy grabbed me by the arm and propelled me into the entry way, where I bounced off the chest of some huge black guy with bead tipped cornrows, and landed flat on my ass on the dirty floor. Certainly not the ideal position to be in. He reached down and jerked me to my feet by my ponytail, causing me to hiss in pain as fire shot across my scalp. Fuck the money, I really didn't need this abuse. I really, really should have given this file to Tank.
Should I go for the pepper spray in my pocket, or would that just get me a bullet in the back? The black guy tugged harder on my hair, forcing me up onto my tiptoes and I stifled a gasp. He leered at me and looked to the other guy. "Pretty little thang, ain't she? Reckon the boss will let us keep her?"
Oh no, I was not going down that road. I lashed out and managed to bury my knee firmly in his balls. He let out a low moan, let go of my hair and slid to the floor. Just as I was about to pull my pepper spray on the other guy, I was slammed roughly into the crumbling plaster work of the wall. My forehead and nose took the brunt of the impact, and I was left seeing stars, with blood trickling down my face and over my lips. Fuck, that hurt. The Latino pressed himself up against me from behind and ground his crotch against my ass, while forcing my arms up over my head. "You're carrying," he hissed in my ear.
I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound would come out.
He slammed me into the wall again and I felt my knees give way. He stopped me from falling and pressed me against the wall again, using his body weight to hold me up, and his hand went to the small of my back, extracting my Sig. "Anything else?"
I shook my head slightly and he laughed. "Don't belive you, chicka. Think I better strip search you."
Without warning he span me around, tossed me over his shoulder like a rag doll, and cold cocked me with the butt of his gun. The world swam for a few seconds and then my brain gave up and everything went black.
I came to slowly, pain radiating across my face from my broken nose. My head was throbbing from where I'd been hit too. Thankfully I was still fully clothed, but my hands had been cuffed behind my back, no doubt with my own cuffs and I was sat on a ratty armchair. I looked up slowly; every little move made my head throb even more, and I stamped down the urge to vomit. Great, add possible concision to the list of today's injuries.
Manoso was sitting opposite me. He was slouched back, long legs stretched out in front of him, and hands behind his head. He looked relaxed and certainly not like a thug. Sure he had the trademark skate shoes and baggy jeans, but his black t-shirt looked like it was silk and the shades holding his long hair out of his face looked expensive, and then there was the huge diamond stud in his ear.
He caught me looking at him and smirked slightly. "Nice of you to finally rejoin us, babe," he said with a strong Spanish accent.
My inner Burg girl finally found herself, and roared to life. "Un-cuff me, you bastard," I spat.
Ranger shrugged slightly, "As you wish."
He got to his feet with cat like grace and strode over to me, pushing me forward and swiftly removing the cuffs. I massaged my sore wrists and tried to get some circulation back into my fingers while he sat back down.
"So, Santos and Brown tell me that I need to go with you to get re-bonded, is that right?"
The accent was still there, but there was no sign of the ghetto speak that I was expecting. I was well and truly baffled by this guy. Eventually, I nodded in answer to his question.
Manoso studied me for a few beats. "Why didn't you give this file to Tank?" he asked finally.
"Excuse me?"
Ranger sighed. "Why are you even here? This file should have gone to Black Hawk, so care to explain why some little white chick is here and not them?"
How the hell was I supposed to answer that question?
"Did Lester knock all your brain cells loose?" he asked after I'd been silent for apparently too long for his liking.
"What? No! Look, I'm a bond enforcement agent, and I have a job to do, so here I am. I need to take you in to get you re-bonded." Maybe if I repeacted that enough times someone would listen to me.
"Oh Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie, you are so out of your depth here, babe," he said with a laugh.
"How do you know my name?" I demanded.
He shrugged. "Everyone knows about the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. You've brought in enough of my organization over the years to bring yourself to my attention, but like I said, I'm still amazed that you came after me. Which makes me wonder if you are stupid or have some other reason; my money is on some other reason for you being here.
What the hell was I supposed to say? That I'm broke, about to get evicted and really need the money from your bond, so let's just jump in your Porsche, seeing as I'm now not fit to drive, and zip down to the station so I can collect my cash. I opted for the lie. "I'm just doing my job."
"I see."
He crossed the room again in three long strides, put his hands on the chair arms and leaned down to look me in the eye. "Care to elaborate?" he breathed.
My hormones went crazy, setting off a defcom five alert, and I tried to look anywhere but at him or in his eyes. He was beautiful, deadly and probably crazy.
"I know all about you, Stephanie plum," he whispered, his breath hot on my neck. "And I think you're here because you need the money. Is that correct?"
How the hell did he know that?
The slight smile was back again. "I have my ways. But tell me, is this about the money?"
I caved and nodded slightly, and a 100 watt smile lit up his face. "I see. Well maybe, Ms Plum, we can come to some arrangement. See, I'm in the process of making those charges against me go away, but I can't have you following me around and disrupting my business while I'm getting things sorted, so I'll make you a deal. I'll give you $5,000 if you stop staking out this place, or turn the file over to Black Hawk, so I can sort this mess out."
"And?" I pressed. What on earth could this guy want in return?
"And," Ranger smiled again, though this time he looked more like the cat that got the cream. "You agree to spend twelve hours with me, babe."
I put my hands on his chest and shoved him away from me. "No! No way in hell, Manoso," I yelled angrily.
"It's just twelve hours, Stephanie," he purred.
"I am not a whore," I snapped.
"I never said that you were. Your words, not mine. It's simply a business transaction. I get what I want, and you get what you need,and I guarantee that everyone will be happy."
"And what if I say no?"
Ranger's face went blank in an instant. "I'm a very busy man, so let me make this clear, I will let nothing get in the way of my business. Nothing. Do you understand what I'm saying here?"
I nodded and fought back the bile that was rising in my throat. What the hell was I going to do? Did I have any choice in this matter?
"So, do I need to reacquaint you with Lester and Bobby, who I understand would like to have a little talk to you about some incident concerning you knee and his balls, or are you going to take the money and my offer?"
I really didn't want to meet those two thugs again anytime soon, God only knows what they would do to me. "Can I just take the money?" I choked out.
"But what do I get out of that?" he asked huskily.
"Your freedom," I responded quietly.
"True, but I'll have that either way."
I was getting desperate here. "Just give me the $2,000 like I'd get from taking you in, and let me walk away. I won't come after you and I won't pass your file over to Tank. I promise."
Ranger leant back down again, invaiding my personal space. "$5,000 and twelve hours of your company, and I let you walk away now, or I pass you over to Santos and Brown and they can keep you as long as they like."
I closed my eyes and bit my lip. I was fucked. Totally, and utterly, whichever way you looked at it, and quite literally too. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The only option I had was to negotiate. "$5,000 and twelve hours. I will go with you when and where you choose, but only on the condition that I am not hurt or drugged, or forced to do anything against my wishes."
Ranger held out his hand. "We have a deal, Ms Plum."