152HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?! I am so, so incredibly sorry. Kiel and I broke up, I met an amazing man (Morgan :3) in November and we started dating 'officially' in December last year, who's in the Australian Army, which is just one more tie for me to the Defence Force. Great. 98% of my friends are AJs (Army Jerks), and my poor heart can't take the stress of their field exercises, deployments and the little tidbits I am sometimes privy to.
Long story short, Stayce and I have only gone through two thirds of this chapter, but I just wanted to get it up to you guys, because you've all been so, so amazing for sticking with me for such a long time. Once it's up, and the next chapter is up, I'll probably go through this one, edit it, and then replace the chapter, just so it's all nice and neat. :)
You have no idea how much your kind words, thoughts and encouragement means to me. I feel like I have so many new friends through all of you. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
To Stayce, the Slim to my Shady, thank you for being a mentor, a friend and sometimes a mother figure. Whether it's advice for my writing or my personal life, you're always up for a chat and to help me wade through American slang, which is completely and totally different to ours.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Janet Evanovich characters or story lines and I am not making any profits. Any new characters/story lines are mine.
RiRi17
It was eleven o'clock at night. I'd been staking this stupid building out all day. I wanted nothing more than the miracle I'd been praying for to happen, which was the FTA falling out of one of the broken windows of the ruined high rise I was currently sprinting through.
I stopped to catch my breath, bending over, knowing that my new partner was already taking my place in the chase of our newest FTA. I glared at the next set of stairs that he'd flown up only seconds before me. I preferred stunning a skip to running after them.
My new partner, Nick Hamilton was ex-Special Forces, just like the core team and Ranger himself. He was a year older than my twenty nine and a half years and was absolutely gorgeous. He could rival Ranger any day of the week, with piercing green eyes and dark brown hair, with light caramel skin to match.
But Ranger wasn't aware of this. He'd been gone a week, with no communication with anyone from any branch of RangeMan. Tank just told us he was using this time to calm himself down and get back into the groove of things, but even Bobby was making more and more reappearances to the floor, if only brief ones.
Lester was instrumental in the comeback of one of the most respected men at the Trenton branch. He spent hours upon hours in Bobby's fourth floor apartment, listening, talking and fighting out the problems. The number of times I walked past the control room to see them sparring on camera in the gym was astounding. Bobby was thinner than before he went in the wind. He was jumpy and constantly looked exhausted, but Tank and Lester made sure he had everything he needed. He needed someone to fight. To take his hits and give some back to him. I watched them while I was on the treadmill sometimes. The look on Bobby's face would have been enough to make lesser men soil themselves, but Tank and Lester refused to back down.
But I digress. Nick's original partner asked to be transferred back to Miami to be closer to his family. His wife was pregnant and wanted the support network of their combined families, so Tank gave them his blessing and even helped to arrange the move.
So when I gave Tank the rundown of the conversation I had with Ranger a week ago, he solved the problem by pairing us up. Even though it had only been a week, we figured out our own dynamic and I finally understood what Ranger meant about the importance of having that one person you worked with consistently. Nick and I fell into an easy rhythm, even within a week.
I'd taken the file provided by RangeMan's research department and performed my own searches on our skip. Johnny Mastrano was arrested for armed robbery and skipped out on his court appearance, which forced his poor mother to pay up $70,000. His mother was the one who re-mortgaged her house to bond him out and was pissed that he didn't show. She was the first person I spoke to, and was pretty much my main source of information.
Apparently, Johnny and his friends collected all kinds of knives and considered themselves experts with their blades, which could be as lethal as a gun. They liked to hang around places they could practice their knife throwing. The more rundown area of Trenton was perfect for that. I spent a couple of hours watching Mastrano throwing his knives at wires, walls, soft chairs and anything else he could find. His accuracy with the blades was frightening. Nick and I observed them when we staked the place out the other night.
Against Nick's better judgement, we'd split up to cover more ground. The Intel that RangeMan had collected before Tank put Nick and me on the case told us that little Johnny was taking full advantage of the plastic sheeting hung between the floors. By moving them around to cover as much as possible of where he was staying, he'd made himself a nice little hideaway. What the Intel didn't mention that the building still had electricity. Both Nick and I had seen the multiple cables when we'd staked it out the first night. They were hanging through the broken windows, exposed to the elements, which made us nervous about puddles on the floor and exposed wires.
Because I was more hesitant about the electric cables all over the place, I was slow on spotting the skip running in the opposite direction towards where I knew the staircase was. I took off after him in an attempt to herd him towards Nick.
Needless to say, it didn't work. Our skip was, unfortunately, smarter than that. Whereas I was used to the wily but most of the time, dim witted, skips, this was basically my first high bond FTA since I took down Morelli. The higher bonds are usually smarter and more determined to stay the hell away from prison.
"Jesus," I muttered to myself.
"You okay, Steph?" Nick asked through the comms device in my ear. I could hear even through the earpiece the crashing and banging of Johnny Mastrano on the floor above me. We'd cornered the skip, who was wanted on a bank robbery and assault with a deadly weapon charges, in one of the more rundown areas of Trenton. The scaffolding of the high rise looked like it had been in places for months. No one was quite sure about what was going to happen to the building. The support beams and electric wires suggested that the building was about to be fixed up, but it'd been sitting like that for a while.
I swallowed down the bile that was threatening to come up and stood up straight, determined to not let anyone down this time. And even though the RangeMen had been making me run, I still wasn't anywhere close to their standards. A quarter mile was pretty much my limit. "Yeah," I ground out, picking up the pace to where the noise was originating from. "I'll be there in a second." I started picking my way through the debris, glancing nervously at the electrical wires all over the floor. Surely they'd have no need for them. My spidey sense started tingling and I sped up in response.
"Take your time." Nick sounded amused. He knew all about my exploits as Trenton's Bombshell Bounty Hunter and made sure to inform me repeatedly that his unit were all aware too. Zero, the asshole, knew him from high school and sent him all the newspaper clippings. Nick said it was one of the things that kept him and his unit going when they were in hell.
So glad I could entertain him! And his unit!
I had just reached the top of the stairs and had Johnny in my sights when my phone started vibrating in one of the pockets of my cargoes. I cursed mentally and stepped back into the shadows to look at the display.
Ranger.
My heart was pounding double time in my chest from the running, but when I saw that, I just about keeled over. No contact, no alleyway, no visits for a whole week. Hell, even Tank didn't know where he went this time. And he chooses now of all times to call? I was torn, biting my lip. Get the skip, or call the man who had me panting with a look?
"Hello?"
"Babe."
I felt my whole body sag against the crumbling wall when I heard that. Damn him for making me have that reaction. I had things to do. "What's up?"
"Where are you?" Again, indecision. Tell him I'm running after the highest bond I've ever had before or lie and say I'm home with Rex? I opened my mouth to reply when he cut me off. "Don't even think about lying. Your tracker says you're near the Delaware."
Oh. "I'm chasing a skip. I'll call you later," I said, hanging up.
I almost dropped the phone in shock. I, Stephanie Plum, had a death wish. That was the only explanation for hanging up on Ranger Manoso. You couldn't do that without getting sent to Uzbekistan or someplace.
As I shoved the phone back into my cargoes, it started buzzing again. I ignored it and rounded the corner to see the skip gone. "Shit," I muttered, shaking my head ruefully.
"He's on the next level up," Bobby's disembodied voice said in my ear, making me jump.
I spun around, trying to spot him. He hadn't really left Haywood since they got back. He was starting to make a habit of being alone as much as possible. Even my persistence couldn't make him come out of his apartment on four. His time was split between the gym and his apartment.
"I'm positioned on the roof of the building opposite you," he told me quietly. "One of my contacts called and told me the building is still live. All the wires you might have seen are the electricity cables."
Nick had already made me well aware of that. "Why didn't you just call?"
"I'm a sniper. If Johnny decides to make you acquainted with his knives, or you lose control of the situation, I'm here to make sure you don't get hurt."
"Thank you, Bobby," I said sincerely, feeling a flutter of hope. Maybe he would be okay after all.
I felt Nick's presence behind me as he rested his hand on the base of my neck, squeezing gently. "There's a stair case that isn't caved in. We can easily get up them and then split up to take him down with no problems."
"I want to go first," I said with a nod, remembering the promise I'd made to Joe before he left town. I was determined to get my man.
After Joe and I ended things, we sat down and had a really long talk. He told me that he felt he needed to be away from Trenton – the Burg, in particular – for a while, just because of how negative his job was. Being followed everywhere by the gossip hounds just made it worse. It was getting to him.
Johnny was his last case before he went away on a vacation. I owed it to Joe to drag his ass back to jail for good. He'd started to turn to alcohol so he could get to sleep at night, and all the effort he'd put into not turning into his father was starting to unravel. My heart broke when he told me.
The two men in my life were lost. They were the men I turned to when I was in trouble, needed support, a job or love. I relied on them more than anyone else.
"Remove your hand, Hamilton, before I remove it for you," Bobby said in a low voice. The hand on my neck disappeared instantly. I looked behind me to see a small red dot, indicative of Bobby's sniper scope, move from Nick's chest to the wall beside us. "Good choice."
I rolled my eyes so far back into my head they almost fell out while Nick took a step back from me. "I didn't realise you were here, sir."
Bobby made a low noise in his throat. "Doesn't matter. Get up onto the next level. I'd rather not do the paper work for killing an FTA."
Nick looked at me for confirmation. I shrugged. "Might as well. I don't feel like getting electrocuted tonight."
He made a face. "Good idea. Let's go." He led me to where the stair case was. "I'm not so sure about the stability of the actual steps, so stay low and go quickly, okay?"
"All good?" Bobby asked.
I could see the small red dot next to me, following me up the stairs, as if to remind me that Bobby was close by and ready. It made me feel more secure, except when it got cut off due to support beams and walls.
From the bottom of the stairs Nick whispered, "At the top, you go left, I'll go right. We'll come at him from both sides. You okay with that?"
"I'm the Bombshell Bounty Hunter," I informed him snottily. Snickers from both men reached my ears, making me grin in triumph. I got Bobby and one of the most badass guys at RangeMan to laugh!
Footsteps at the top of the stairs brought me back to the situation at hand, and we crept up them slowly. We were after a skip. An extremely dangerous skip, who would aim to kill with no hesitation at all. He didn't want to go to jail and I didn't want to get a knife through my chest.
I was wearing Kevlar, but still. Mastrano had a strong throw.
Mastrano was pacing around the room, tense and ready for us, it seemed. There was a knife clenched tightly in his right hand
I stepped back into the shadows, willing him to turn his back again. My boots didn't make a sound as I crept through the darkness. Grudgingly, I admitted that the training I'd been doing with the Merry Men was definitely helping. I could move almost as silently as Ranger could, which was no small feat.
Johnny was moving almost as quietly as I was, but he wasn't used to the torture the Merry Men inflicted upon me. He also wasn't as adept as sitting in dark spaces, patiently waiting, as I was. I'd spent enough time sitting in cars or behind bushes in the dark, and the rain, to be able to know when not to move. The skip was bumping into almost everything there was to hit. He knew I was there. "C'mon, Plum. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," he called, whipping his head back and forth in an effort to locate me.
My heart was pounding as I tip-toed closer. I had no intention of becoming The Joker tonight. The pictures Joe showed me were more than enough motivation to stay well out of arm's reach of Johnny. He could throw his blades, but he was better up close.
"Come out and play with me," he crooned. Goosebumps made their way down my body. "I promise I'll play nice." Bobby fired off a warning shot. Johnny flinched as it zinged past his ear, dangerously close. "So you brought your friends," Johnny growled, pulling another knife from his waistband so he was now holding a knife in each hand. "I'll hear you when you move, Plum. You make noise wherever you go. You're hopeless."
"I'm in position, Steph. You take him and I'll step in if you need help." Nick whispered into the comms unit.
I disregarded Nick. Well, that was just rude. I wasn't hopeless. I was getting better. I'd set goals for myself and I was exceeding them. By this time, I was almost directly in front of him. All I had to do was stun him or shoot him. It would have been easy. Except I wanted him to see who shot him. I wanted him to know it was me who took him down, singlehandedly. No help from the Merry Men. No help from Ranger. All Stephanie Plum. There was to be no more betting on my life, how long it took to bring in my FTAs or my relationships. Granted, a lot of the legwork I'd done was courtesy of Nick and his skills as a tracker. He was almost like a dog.
I was done.
Pulling my 9mm Sig from the holster on my utility belt, I stepped out from the shadows, aiming it at his chest. "Johnny Mastrano, you're in violation of your bond agreement. I'm here to escort you back to the Trenton Police Department for holding until your court date." The moment I'd started speaking, he'd spun around, knives ready.
He smirked and relaxed when he realised it was me. "You look like a miniature Manoso, Plum."
"Thanks for the compliment. Now drop your weapons." I refused to be insulted. Ranger was the best at everything he put his mind to and I wanted to have that mindset too.
I wanted to draw him away from Nick so he had a chance to position himself safely. Even though he was my skip, the Merry Men would be pissed if I took Mastrano down by myself. If Johnny heard Nick, he'd be on him quicker than I could pull the trigger to take him down.
Mastrano laughed, mean and mocking as he looked me up and down.
Bobby started muttering under his breath something I didn't quite catch and my phone started vibrating incessantly against my leg once again.
Mastrano took a deep breath, eyes wide with mirth. When he realised I was serious, he stopped laughing. He stared, shocked and slack-jawed. "Wait, what? You think you can actually take me in?"
Buuuuuuuuuuuuzzz. Buuuuuuuuuuuuzzz. Buuuuuuuuuuuuzzz.
I held back a groan. Of all the times for my phone to be against something solid in the pocket, it had to be this one.
"I'm almost in position," Nick said softly. I didn't dare look around for him, in case I gave him away. Look at that; the training was finally showing.
I also didn't answer the phone.
"If that's your phone I can hear vibrating, it's probably Ranger," Bobby said. "Let me call the control room so he can be patched into the comms. It'll be less distracting that way."
I narrowed my eyes at Johnny when he feinted left. The barrel of my gun followed him. I was dragging his ass back to Trenton PD no matter what, even if it was in an unorthodox way. I owed it to Joe.
"Stephanie," Ranger growled into my ear. "You'd better have someone with you on this. I read his file. He's dangerous."
"She's with her partner," Bobby supplied, because I wasn't about to let Mastrano know that I had three very badass men just waiting for him to make the wrong move.
A slight exhale was the only indication I received that this was a surprise to him. When Bobby didn't say anything else, he spoke. "Which is?"
"He's been with us for almost a year now," Bobby answered. Johnny looked like he was going to make a run for it, so I moved my finger to the trigger. He paused, watching me warily.
"I'll be there in five." I could hear the high performance engine roar as he pressed the gas pedal.
I ignored him and shook my head in frustration. "Let's go, Mastrano. I've got an appointment." Yeah, real convincing, Plum. 11 o'clock on a Saturday night and I had an appointment?
He wasn't really paying me any attention. Unfortunately, Nick's boot had caught on a pipe and made a loud scraping sound that echoed through the floor. He'd spun around, holding his knives in a way that made me nervous.
"Be ready, Bomber," Bobby cautioned in my ear gently. "If he makes a move towards Hamilton, take him down."
I bit my lip. While I wasn't too keen on killing someone, the Merry Men had drilled into my head that you don't always have to shoot to kill. Aiming for one's knee cap, for example, was an excellent way to bring someone down. I was prepared to do that. I could only hope that it would distract him enough and keep him from throwing one of his knives.
Johnny stared into the shadows where Nick was standing, completely frozen. It was hard to believe he'd hit the pipe in the first place, but even the Merry Men make mistakes. Although they didn't happen often. The tension in the air was so thick I felt like I could slice it with a knife. All was silent except for my breathing. Neither Johnny nor Nick was making a sound.
"I'm with Bobby," Ranger said suddenly.
I almost screamed, coming damn close to dropping my gun.
Even Nick seemed to be surprised. "Jesus, Ranger, you can't just do that," Bobby scolded. "They're in a standoff. She has a gun pointing at her skip. Christ."
"Sorry, babe." He didn't sound at all sorry.
"Be quiet for a second," Bobby muttered, sounding disgruntled at losing his focus. Hell, I was pissed at losing my concentration. I'd lost where Nick was standing too, now that my eyes weren't on him anymore. At least Mastrano couldn't see him either.
The sudden twitch of Johnny's knives made me freeze up again, tightening my grip around the gun. "C'mon, man, I don't have all night," he almost whined, but I could detect the hint of malice in his voice. He was trying to draw Nick out.
Luckily, Nick didn't make a sound. I didn't even know if he was still in the same spot or not anymore. I squinted into the darkness to try to make out something, anything, but he was either too far in the shadows or gone. "Johnny," I started, refraining from flinching when he whipped around, twirling his knives menacingly. "You can put those down now. You're coming with us to the station whether you like it or not." I clamped my mouth shut. I wanted to smack myself in the face for letting slip that there was an us out to get him tonight.
Luckily, he didn't pick up on it.
Johnny's eyes narrowed at me, spinning his blades again. "I bet you're one of those women who like a bit of pain."
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I swallowed, disgusted. Why did it always have to turn into something sexual? "Not really," I answered, refusing to break eye contact. I saw movement in the shadows out of the corner of my eye, which could only mean that Nick was getting ready to move into position.
"Be careful with him," Ranger breathed, and it was almost like he was standing right next to me, talking me through the situation. Nick and I hadn't moved it, out of fear that Mastrano would hear it. Ranger didn't have that worry.
"Looks like you've almost got it, Bomber," Bobby said, just as softly. "Keep him talking."
I nodded my head infinitesimally, which was a big mistake.
"Who is that?" Johnny demanded angrily. "Who are you talking to?" He raised his right hand, the hand I knew for sure he favoured, curling his fingers over the end of the blade.
"Drop the knife, Johnny," Nick ordered, stepping slowly out of the shadows to my left, on the complete opposite side of the room he started from. His gun was held chest height, trained on Mastrano's forehead. Mastrano whipped around, trying to keep both of us in his sights. When he didn't lower the knife, Nick stepped closer. "I'd hate to think of what the rest of the RangeMen would do to you if she went back with even a scratch. But I'd get to you first."
The grin that crossed my partner's face was so dark, it made me shudder. It was full of malice and a barely controlled rage. Obviously, Nick still had some problems from his service days. I'd heard rumours he was honourably discharged for medical reasons, but only Ranger and Tank were privy to that information, and there was no way they'd ever betray an employee's confidence that way.
There was a reason I was on their side all the time. The face Nick was making was not a face you wanted to mess with.
The back of my neck tingled. Ranger made a low noise in the back of his throat through the comms.
Johnny glanced between Nick and me, his face taking on the appearance of a cornered animal. It was an expression I'd seen many, many times before. Usually before I got food tossed over me. Only in this case, it was a knife, instead of a bowel of pasta. Apparently deciding that I was the lesser threat, Mastrano turned and stalked towards Nick, knives at the ready.
I bit my lip, unsure. I made up my mind when I saw Johnny's foot angle in a different direction to where it should be pointing and he started to raise both knives; one aiming at Nick and the other at me. I shouldn't have been surprised, really. He was an asshole.
He raised his right arm, spinning to face me, the same time I pulled the trigger. It threw off his aim entirely and the knife went sailing to the other one dropped to the ground with a clatter. I barely heard the quiet exhale in my ear as Nick pounced on him, giving him a swift uppercut, yanking his arms behind his back and slapping on the handcuffs. "Motherfucker, cocksucking bitch!" Mastrano groaned at me, glaring up at me balefully.
Nick grabbed his arm and hauled him up, none too gently. "Stupid," he muttered under his breath, kicking the knives away from Mastrano. "Boss," he said in acknowledgement of Ranger.
"Bring him down to the car," Bobby said, and I could hear him packing up what sounded like a rifle. "I have some more paperwork you two will need to fill out because of the shooting."
Nick waved his arm for me to go first, which I did, giving Mastrano a look full of contempt. "And you said I couldn't take you down."
He lunged at me, but Nick held him back easily. "You always have to have the last word, don't you, Plum?"
I threw a smile over my shoulder at him as I headed down to the parking lot where our SUV was. By the sounds of it, Nick wasn't giving Mastrano much time to get his footing, because there were scuffles, grunts and a whole lot of swearing. When we got to the car, Ranger and Bobby were waiting for us. "Nice to see you out and about," I said to Bobby with a grin.
He smiled back. "Thought I would come and have some fun too." The smile didn't reach his eyes. He may have left Haywood for the night, but he wasn't anywhere close to being better. My eyes raked over his face and arms, looking for visible signs of the mission. I couldn't see any, but they were there, of that I was sure. "You did good, Bomber. He's not even bleeding that much."
Nick opened the back door of the SUV, shoving Johnny into the back and shackling his feet to the floor. "Where's his paperwork? I want to get this handled ASAP so I can take Steph home and go to sleep." He slammed the door shut on Johnny's swearing and struggling, leaning against it casually.
Ranger went rigid next to Bobby, his eyes darkening to pitch black. "What?"
Nick looked between Ranger and me, curiosity all over his face. Bobby stepped in quickly. "Come with me, Hamilton. I'll run you through the paperwork you'll have to take to the station." He grabbed Nick's arm and led him to the Explorer I didn't notice behind our car.
I turned to Ranger. "Where were you?"
Ranger's eyes flicked to my partner, who was standing with Bobby, going over the paperwork. I could see the curiosity in his eyes at our exchange. "How long has he been your partner?" Ranger asked quietly, reaching up and settling his hand at the base of my neck, squeezing gently.
"One week. His partner moved back to Miami to be with his family," I explained, revelling in the feeling of his warm hand on me again. He'd pulled another disappearing act, although Tank knew where he was this time. At least it was only a week, as opposed to six long months.
Nick glanced over his shoulder at us, obviously confused as to why the owner of the company would show up for a simple take down. He hadn't been around long enough to know how much chaos I caused, even with the easiest of things.
Ranger turned back to me. "What do you think?"
"About Nick?"
Small nod.
"He's a good guy, an even better RangeMan. I can see us working really well together." He raised an eyebrow. "I know, I know, it's only been a week. But we definitely get along okay." I offered a tentative smile, unsure about his line of questioning.
"You live with him?"
My mouth dropped open in shock. "What?" I demanded in a high pitched voice. Then I remembered what Nick said. "No, he picked me up from my apartment tonight on the way here. He's dropping me home, and then going back to RangeMan."
Ranger raised an eyebrow dangerously. "You're not staying at RangeMan?"
Oh, no. "No, I've been staying at my apartment." I crossed my arms over my chest defiantly, waiting for him to explode again like he did a week ago.
He took a step towards me, fists clenched. I stepped back automatically. The look on his face was the look he gave the Trenton PD when they managed to push all his buttons. How I'd managed to piss him off after I'd just successfully taken down my skip, I had absolutely no idea. "Why haven't you moved into RangeMan yet?" he demanded, stepping forward again.
I gulped. "Because I like my independence, Ranger. I like being able to come and go whenever I want to. I like being able to have my friends over without the hassle of security checks and sign ins every time we go to a different floor. And this may as a surprise to you, but sometimes, just sometimes, I like to separate my personal life from my work life!" I stopped, my chest heaving, glaring at him.
A hang settled on my shoulder, making me jump. "Nick's going to drive you home, bomber," Bobby said with finality, his face set in a grim expression. He was staring at Ranger, conveying a message with his eyes.
Well, I wasn't about to let Ranger be the first to walk away again, so I turned on my heel and walked away, towards the SUV that Nick sat in. When I was buckled in, ignoring the still protesting Johnny, I leaned my head agains the cool glass of the window.
"What was that about?" Nick asked quietly, putting the car in gear and directing us towards the Trenton precinct.
"It's a very long story," I replied, closing my eyes. I was exhausted. I'd been up since 4 the previous morning and it was now bordering on 1am.
"I know a lot about those," he mused, a look of pain flashing across his face when I turned to look at him.
My mouth quirked up in a half grin. "Wanna trade one day?"
He looked at me appraisingly. "One day, Steph, we will."
Okay! I didn't really know how else to end it without the chapter turning into something that was just too long. Any mistakes for the last little bit are mine and mine alone.
Again, I'm so sorry for the year long wait, and thank you for sticking with me!
Let me know what you think!
RiRi17