Chapter 5

         Connie Roselli, office manager for the Vincent Plum Bonding Agency, looked up from filing her nails when she heard the door slam. “Uh oh, you’ve got that ‘I’m pissed off at the world’ look.  Who was it this time?  Morelli? Ranger?”

         Stephanie Plum, bail enforcement agent, or as most people preferred to call her, bounty hunter, shook her head. “Is he in?” She pointed at the office door behind Connie.                                                      

         “Yes, he’s in, but he’s with some people right now.  Ranger’s in there, too.” Connie resumed working on her nails. “I wouldn’t recommend going in there right now.” She added as she noticed Stephanie beginning to head for the office door, “his guests are feds.”

         “And not just any feds,” Lula, file clerk and one of Stephanie’s closest friends, said as she closed the file drawer she’d been working in, “they’re straight from D.C., you know the nation’s capital.  And the guy,” she fanned herself with the folder in her hand, “honey, if I was still turning tricks, rather than trying to make something of myself, well I’d do him for free.”

         “So what did your cousin do now?” Connie glanced up from her nails and stared at Stephanie with extreme curiosity. “Did he do something unspeakable with the neighbor’s cat or is it Miss hoity-toity ‘I’ll sleep with anyone, including your husband’, Barnhardt again?” 

         Stephanie shook her head and made a choking sound. It was no secret in the part of Trenton where she lived, and everyone referred to as the burg, that Joyce Barnhardt, who had been her rival all through school and most of her life, had slept with her husband, Dickie Orr.  Although she would never admit this to anyone, ever, and would take it to her grave, Stephanie was somewhat grateful to Joyce for having opened her eyes to how much of a sleaze her ex-husband had been.  However, Joyce had used sexual favors to get Vinnie to bring her on as bounty hunter, adding more stress and headache to Stephanie’s already complicated life. “No, it’s not about Joyce, actually I haven’t had to worry about her since Vinnie was forced to give her only insignificant cases after she was arrested for using that police strobe.” Joyce had muscled in on one of her FTAs, letting Stephanie do all the legwork, while Joyce just followed her around waiting to pounce.  Joyce had stopped the FTA from getting to the airport by using an illegal police strobe on her car.   When she and Lula had reached the scene, they had stun-gunned Joyce, taken back the FTA and left Joyce in her car, for the police to find.  Since half the police force knew and liked Stephanie, they had not only fined Joyce for the strobe, but made her spend a whole night in jail. Stephanie smiled at the memory.  “I must say, that it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.”

         “So, then what did he do?” Lula was now perched on the edge of her desk, anxiously awaiting Stephanie’s answer. 

         “I was this close,” Stephanie pinched her thumb and forefinger together, “to bringing Tommy the Sleaze in and my damn cell phone starts ringing.  Ruined the element of surprise, not to mention my pants. Chased him three blocks, tripped over a raised sidewalk block and skinned my knee.” She motioned to the huge rip in her jeans. “I barely make enough to pay rent and I can’t afford to keep replacing clothes.  So now I’m gonna have to go back and retrace all my steps and pick up a lead on where Tommy’s hiding, all because my no-good cousin had to call me, telling me to get my ass down here on the double.”
         “Why didn’t you just shoot him in the knees?  That would have kept the sleaze from getting away.” Lula glanced down at Stephanie’s belt. “Oh, I see. You didn’t have no gun on you. Girl, when you gonna realize that you catch more baddies with a gun?”

         Stephanie rolled her eyes. “I hate using my gun. Besides, even when I do carry it, and attempt to use it, I always manage to fumble things.  Safer for everyone if I keep it hidden in my cookie jar.” She glanced back over at Connie. “So what’s going on? He never calls me.  Does it have to do with the feds in there?” She pointed towards the door.

         Connie shrugged. “Beats me.  I only run the office, I don’t claim to know what your cousin’s up to every second of the day, nor do I want to know, either.”

         “Well if they brought hunka hunka burnin’ love Ranger in, then it might have something to do with one of our still open cases.” Lula’s cornrowed black hair swished as she fanned herself. “Have I told you how lucky you are to have not one, but two studs chasing after your ass.” She looked directly at Stephanie. “If only I was that lucky.”  She looked over in Connie’s direction. “Isn’t that low-life with multiple wives, Benjamin Adams still at large?”

         Connie snapped her fingers. “You could be right, he’s our only long standing FTA at the moment.”

         “It’s not my fault the trail ran cold at the Delaware Bridge.  Vinnie doesn’t pay me enough to go chasing across the country for his FTA’s.” Stephanie began walking towards her cousin’s office door. “Only one way to find out.”  She turned the knob and unceremoniously pushed the door open.  It slammed against the inner wall, and four pairs of eyes turned in her direction.

         “Didn’t get Tommy the Sleaze, did you?” Vinnie stared accusingly at his cousin.

         “I would have if you hadn’t called me.” Stephanie stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

         “Hey, don’t go blaming me if you forgot to put your cell on vibrate.” Vinnie glared at Stephanie.

         Stephanie moved into the room and, aware of the audience listening in the other room, closed the door. She then turned back towards her cousin, her palms raised slightly and shrugged. “Hey, it’s your money. If I don’t catch him, you’re out the twenty thousand.”

         “Yeah and you don’t get your ten percent.” Vinnie turned his attention towards the other people in the room. “I apologize for her,” he motioned towards Stephanie with his thumb. “I regret the day I hired her.”

         “So what if I wasn’t exactly qualified and you didn’t want to hire me at first.” Stephanie fought the urge to jump onto her cousin’s desk and strangle him.  “You can’t deny the fact that I’ve made some damn good captures for you.”

         “No one’s saying you don’t get your man, but your methods leave a lot to be desired.” Vinnie scowled at his cousin. “How I ever let you talk me into hiring you…”

         “Connie was the one who suggested you give me a chance.” Stephanie shot a mock hurt pout at her Vinnie.

         Ranger let out a low rumble of a laugh as he rose from his seat. “It’s no secret you blackmailed Vinnie into hiring you, Babe.” He commented as he walked over to his protégé.

         “It wasn’t exactly blackmail,” Stephanie replied in a quieter voice, not wanting the three federal agents to get the wrong idea about her. “I needed a job,” she softened her expression as she looked at the feds sitting on the couch in her cousin’s office. Her gaze immediately fell on the agent in the middle.  Lula wasn’t kidding, the guy was a definite piece of eye candy.  Sandy brown hair, hazel eyes and features that, if she didn’t already have enough man problems of her own, she’d be drooling over.  Though, the fact that he reminded her of Joseph Morelli, when he was in cop mode, didn’t sit well with her.  His eyes held the same serious, get down to business glint, and the rest of his expression was neutral. However, she’d noticed that his features softened slightly whenever he glanced at the brunette beside him.  She’d seen that look before, usually on happily married men, a clear indication that the guy was clearly taken. In fact, she’d even seen that look on Joe Morelli when he looked at her, and she knew that Joe loved her, because he’d actually told her so. 

         Stephanie glanced to the hunk’s right side and noticed a blonde woman, who was wearing an expression that clearly said she was a woman scorned.  The blonde had the same look that she’d had after she had caught Joyce doing the nasty with her ex-husband on their brand new dining room table.  It was the look that said, ‘just give me a really good reason and I’ll rip your nuts off with my bare hands.’  Not wanting to dwell on scumbag men, she looked over at the brunette sitting on the hunk’s other side.  The first thing she noticed was the fact that aside from the brunette having brown eyes, to her blue ones, the brunette’s coloring wasn’t far off from her own, so much so, that she could almost pass for her sister. Not that she was looking for another sister, she already had one, the good daughter, with the perfect marriage and perfect kids, who was also the smart one – she lived in California. The brunette’s mannerisms were somehow softer than one would most likely find in the greater Trenton area, in fact they seemed quite friendly; she probably wouldn’t last a day in the burg, but then again, looks could be deceiving. After all, never in a million years would she have pictured herself carrying a gun, being shot at and having her cars destroyed by nut cases on a regular basis. 

         The brunette smiled as she swept a few strands of hair behind her ear, and Stephanie caught the glimpse of a diamond ring. She mentally grinned to herself; did she have them pegged or what?  Turning back towards Ranger, she shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, so I did sort of blackmail Vinnie. I know dirt on him that his wife and father-in-law would not want to know about.  So sue me, I was desperate, and then when he tried to fire me, I threatened to get my great-aunt, his grandma, on his case if he did.” She saw Vinnie shiver and smiled to herself. Only one other person in the burg was scarier than Vinnie’s grandma, and that was Joe Morelli’s Grandma Bella. Grandma Bella was as Italian as they come, crazy, and also known for putting the evil eye on anyone who crossed her. Whether she really had the gift or not didn’t really matter, what mattered was the fact that she was one scary woman.  Stephanie noticed the slightly befuddled looks on the three agents’ faces and shrugged apologetically. “It’s a family thing.”

         Amanda was a pretty good judge of character and she had immediately sensed that Stephanie was putting up a brave front, but on the inside, she really wanted to feel accepted. Rising from her seat, she approached the woman. “I’m Amanda King, and this,” she turned towards her husband, “is my partner, Lee Stetson.  The woman next to him is Francine Desmond, a fellow agent. We’re from the Agency in D.C.  We came to talk to your cousin about someone named Benjamin Adams.”

         Stephanie reached out her hand and when Amanda took it, she shook it gently. “Stephanie Plum.” Releasing the brunette’s hand, she turned her gaze on Ranger, who was still standing extremely close to her. “Adams resurfaced?”  She was trying very hard not to melt on the spot from the essence that was Ranger.  The hard, muscular bodied bounty hunter was one of her man problems.  He was Cuban-American, dark-skinned, but he looked more like he spent hours at the beach getting a tan, than he did Latino.  His silky black hair was pulled back in the usual ponytail, and aside from being a kick-ass bounty hunter, he was extremely secretive, always managed to have a very expensive, black vehicle at his disposal and was just about the sexiest man in Trenton, apart from Joseph Morelli. 

         “Down in Virginia.” Ranger nodded. “Vinnie called us in because we were the last ones on Adams’ trail.”

         “But that trail ran cold five months ago.” Stephanie looked from Ranger to the other agents. “You don’t think he’d show up back here do you?”

         Lee shook his head. “We don’t think so, but he does have family here, so it’s not something we wanted to rule out all together.” He rose from his seat and stood next to his wife. “The other reason we came here is because this was where he had been arrested and held before he jumped bail.  Mr. Plum informed us that you, Miss Plum, were given the task of tracking him down.  We understand that Ranger,” he nodded in the other man’s direction, “was assigned to assist you in the capture, so we figured we could talk to the two of you and get some background information.  Maybe even visit some of the places you visited before when you tracked him down the first time. You never know, perhaps someone’s seen him recently.”

         “I suppose we could do that.  I don’t really think I’m going to have much luck with Tommy the Sleaze today anyway.” Glancing around the room, she wondered exactly how she was going to fit in with all these professionals. She knew she was a joke of bounty hunter, she might even go so far as to agree with the description that she was a bumbling buffoon.  Not only did she end up in the stickiest of situations, but she could scarcely manage to hold onto a car, unless it was Big Blue.  Big Blue was a 1953 Buick that once belonged to her uncle Sandor. Lula had fondly dubbed it the pimp-mobile which wasn’t far off the mark, and aside from feeling embarrassed to be behind the wheel of it, Big Blue was the only car she seemed to be able to drive anymore that never managed to get a dent or scratch on it. Deciding not to dwell on things beyond her control any longer and just go with the flow, she turned and leaned her back against Vinnie’s desk. “Are you guys hungry? We could pop over to Pino’s and grab a bite to eat. It’s a local cop hang out, but they have the best pizza in all of Trenton, probably along the entire East Coast.  We could put a plan of action together over food and then maybe check out one or two places.  Or do you need to check in somewhere first, like a hotel?”

         “We didn’t actually arrange for a place to stay yet.  We were sort of in a rush and just jumped in our cars and drove straight here.” Amanda could feel Francine’s eyes boring into the back of her head.  She hadn’t meant her comment as a dig at her friend’s expense. She was merely speaking the truth.  Francine had been so angry and eager to track Adam, or rather Benjamin, down that she and Lee had to practically cuff her to one of them to keep her from bolting while they packed.

         “Well Trenton doesn’t have any hotels, and the one or two motels we have, aren’t really fit for the cockroaches.” A grin spread across Stephanie’s face as a perfect idea popped into her head. “You know what, I happen to know someone who has a house with a spare bedroom.  And I might be able to scrounge up a cot from someone, so you,” she turned to look at the blonde, “are more than welcome to stay with me.” She hoped the blonde wouldn’t object.  Ms. Desmond looked like she could hold her own, and it couldn’t hurt to have someone staying with her who didn’t mind shooting people.  Lately, the strangest characters had a habit of tracking her down and breaking into her apartment.  A federal agent would most definitely be welcome company.  “I know I wouldn’t mind the company, and it’d do Joe good to have a few out of town guests as well...just don’t try and steal the remote from him, he’s very territorial about it.”

         Ranger shot a knowing look in Stephanie’s direction. “The remote’s not the only thing he’s territorial about, Babe.”                                                            

         “Tell me about it,” Stephanie muttered as she rolled her eyes.  Then, as the perfect idea began to form, she snapped her fingers. “I bet Joe’ll be at Pinos,” she smiled conspiratorially, “we can tell him about his houseguests then.”

         “Miss Plum, we don’t want to impose on anyone.” Amanda glanced over at Stephanie. “Besides, you said that your friend only has one guestroom…”

         Stephanie waived her hand in the air, dismissing the whole thing. “First, please call me Stephanie and secondly, you’re not putting anyone out.” Truthfully, she was protecting her own virtue.  With Francine staying with her, and Lee and Amanda staying with Joe, she didn’t have to worry about fighting off her own lustful urges towards Joe Morelli. Joe was her other man problem.  He was Italian to the bone, with dark eyes and dark hair, an eagle tattoo on his chest, and the best ass in all of Trenton.  He was a well-respected vice cop now, but he had been a wild youth with a reputation for having very fast hands, who every girl dreamed of catching; herself included.  Twenty-some years later, and she had finally succeeded in that, although who had actually caught whom was still open for debate, as was the actual status of their relationship. One minute Joe could look at her and make her melt into a puddle of mush, turning her on and making her throw all good sense out the window, and the next, he could aggravate the hell out of her.  “Joe kind of owes me, anyway.” Of course, she realized, he’d somehow find a way to make her owe him when this whole case was wrapped up. “And third, I didn’t mean to be presumptuous, but I saw the engagement ring, and I assumed that you and Mr. Stetson were together.”

         “You’ve got a good eye.” Lee laughed and wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist. “And you weren’t assuming wrong.”

         “Well congratulations.” Stephanie gave the couple a genuinely happy smile. “When’s the happy day?”

         “Less than two weeks from today, Saturday the 13th, that is if we can track down Benjamin Adams by then.  And please, call us Lee and Amanda.” Amanda was anxious to change the subject back to the case at hand.  Knowing that Francine wasn’t really in the mood to talk about weddings, considering recent events, she felt they should move on to a safer topic. “Why don’t we go with your suggestion and get something to eat.  It’s been a long drive and I for one am quite hungry.”

         Stephanie turned to look at the blonde who hadn’t said anything since she walked in the room. “Is Italian okay with you Ms. Desmond?”

         Francine shrugged indifferently. “I don’t care where we go as long as we talk shop.” She was tired of waiting and wanted to get right down to business.  Her only care right now was to find a lead that would take her to Adam so she could tie him to the bumper of her car and drag his ass back to court, and watch while the man was tried and hanged.

         Amanda shot Francine a warning glance and then turned towards Stephanie. “Please excuse Francine, she tends to get a little too wrapped up in her cases sometimes.”

         “I know exactly what that’s like, well sort of.” Stephanie chuckled. “At least I enjoy trying to track my man down, I’m not always successful at the actual capture part, but I am pretty good at finding them.”

         Francine was about to comment further when her eyes caught sight of the black utility belt around Stephanie’s waist. “Is that a new fashion trend that you New Jerseyans are trying to get started?”

         Stephanie looked down at her waist and laughed. “Standard attire for bounty hunters who don’t want to get arrested for carrying concealed.  It’s one of the many tiny misdemeanors that can get you locked up for a night or two, and it makes it easier for me to find my ‘weapons’. You know pepper spray,” she pointed to the can in one of the loops, “stun gun…”

         “Don’t see your .38 on there, Babe.” Ranger raised his eyebrows ever so slightly.

         Stephanie sighed, knowing full well that she’d be getting some sort of reprimand from Ranger for not having her gun with her. “I forgot to grab it this morning.”

         “So it’s safe and sound in your cookie jar, rather than on your person, where it can better protect you.” Ranger tried unsuccessfully not to smile. “I’m sure Rex is doing a wonderful job of keeping watch over it.”

         “Rex is my hamster,” Stephanie explained to the rest of the group in the room.

         “How can you apprehend anyone without a gun?” Francine asked with an expression of shock mixed with confusion.

         “I hate guns, and whenever possible, I prefer not to use one.” Stephanie shrugged lightly. “The one time I actually used it, I killed someone, and I’m not proud of that.”

         Ranger put a hand on Stephanie’s shoulder. “It was in self-defense, Babe, and think about what could have happened if you didn’t have it.” He felt her shudder slightly under his touch. “They’re designed to keep you safe.”

         “Ha!” Vinnie hit his hand on the top of his desk in a gesture of humor. “The only way she’d be safe is if we locked her in her parents’ attic, or better yet, the basement, no doors and windows to sneak out of.  In fact, that’s not such a bad idea, my business wouldn’t get such bad press if I didn’t have to worry about the Bombshell Bounty Hunter from Hell.” Ranger shot him a look and he instantly recoiled and cleared his throat. “Weren’t you all just talking about getting something to eat?  Why don’t you go and do that and let me have my office back.  I do have work to attend to.”

         Stephanie opened her mouth to comment but stopped herself.  If Ranger were the only person in the room, she would have had no problem saying something about the fact that Vinnie didn’t do any work, Connie did it for him, and that he really wanted his office back so he could get back to making those 1-900 phone calls and renewing his relationship with his Johnson. Instead she smiled sweetly. “Aye aye boss, we’ll just clear out now and let you get back to your business.” She stressed the word ‘business’ and then turned.  Ranger was already one step ahead of her and had the door to the office open, shaking his head. 

         Lee put a hand at the small of Amanda’s back as he led her out of Vincent Plum’s office.  He mentally chuckled to himself as he thought about Stephanie’s comment about her gun.  He didn’t think he’d ever meet anyone else in law enforcement who had the same aversion to guns as his wife did.  He chanced a brief glance at the bubbly brunette’s utility belt and a thought occurred to him. Since his wife wasn’t big on carrying a gun, maybe a can of pepper spray wasn’t a bad idea, even if his wife could wield a mean can of hairspray, pepper spray was much more effective.  He’d have to look into the legalities of something like that when they got back home, and if everything checked out, he’d suggest it to Amanda. 

         “Party over already?” Lula asked, looking up from the magazine she was reading as Stephanie stepped out of Vinnie's office. 

         “Yeah, we’re heading over to Pino’s to talk shop and get some dinner.” Stephanie glanced at Connie’s desk and noticed it was empty. “Why didn’t you go home when Connie left?”

         Lula rose from her position on the couch and quickly moved to stand next to her friend. “She had to go home, some family thing, so I told her I’d stick around and find out the dirt on what went on in there.” She nodded with her head. “So, what’s the deal with the feds?”

          “You don’t have to whisper.” Stephanie smiled. “You were right, they’re trying to track down Benjamin Adams and want our help.”

         Lula’s eyes went wide. “Wonder what that that three-legged dog did now to warrant federal involvement.  He would have been a lot better off if he had just married one woman and kept the others as mistresses, but no he had to have his cake and eat it too.”

         Stephanie shrugged. “I suppose we’ll find out at dinner what the feds want with him. Want to come?”

         “Oh darnn, look at the time.” Lula made a show of looking at her watch. “Thanks but I forgot I gots me a date with a real hottie.” She moved over to what was technically her desk and retrieved her purse.  “You’ll have to call me later and fill me in.”

         Stephanie smiled as she watched her friend quickly move towards the exterior door before anyone else could ask her to join them. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” She called to her friend’s retreating form.

         “I have a feeling we make your friend nervous.” Amanda commented as she watched Lula jump into her red Firebird.

         Stephanie shook her head. “It wasn’t you. If we were going anywhere but Pino’s, she’d have jumped at the chance to come along.  Pino’s is a cop hangout, and cops make Lula nervous.  She used to be a hooker, and although she’s cleaning up her act now by working here for Vinnie, sometimes she gets flashbacks to times she was arrested in the past.”

         Amanda nodded in understanding. “Since you know the way, we’ll just follow you.” 

         Stephanie nodded. “It’s not that far really, but that’s probably a good idea.”  She headed for the door ready to lead the parade of cars to the best pizza joint in town.

         Francine trailed along behind Lee and Amanda feeling like she had just stepped into an episode of the Twilight Zone.  She had grown to consider Amanda a true friend, even if her methods were somewhat quirky, and had even admitted that perhaps it was best that the brunette didn’t carry a gun; however, to find someone else who constantly found herself in danger, and refused to carry one, was just unfathomable.  Imagine an inner city bounty hunter who didn’t carry a gun; either she was very stupid, or like Amanda, extremely lucky. What made it even worse, was the fact that Miss Plum sort of resembled Amanda.  Sighing, she followed the rest of the party out of the office, wondering whatever had possessed her to take up this hunt in the first place, and chided herself for being so wrapped up in the pain of being jilted that she had never stopped to realize that she was lowering herself to ask for help from people who so obviously had no idea what the hell they were doing.  Well, she'd do what she did best; she’d gather intelligence and then use that information to find what she wanted.  She knew one thing for sure, though, Benjamin Adams was going to regret the day he came into her life.

*****     *****

         “Didn’t see Morelli when we came in, Babe.” Ranger looked directly at Stephanie after the waitress had finished taking their orders and left. “How did you plan on telling him about his houseguests?” He leaned forward and stared at her intently from his seat across the table. “You do plan on telling him before you escort them back to his house, don’t you?”

         Stephanie smiled. “Not to worry, he’ll be here soon.  As soon I walked in with you, I saw Bobby at the bar pick up the phone.”  She caught the curious expression on Amanda’s face and chuckled. “Since this is a cop hang out, nothing gets past them, especially where I’m concerned.  I just entered the restaurant with Ranger and three strangers,” she glanced back at Ranger with a knowing expression on her face, “trust me, he’ll be here.” She shrugged slightly and chuckled. “Nothing like having a girlfriend who can’t stay out of trouble.”

         Francine glanced over at the bounty hunter. “Where do we start looking for Adams?”

         “You feds really don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Stephanie looked over at Francine. “I have to tell you, it’s so refreshing to be aware of the fact that I’m working with you guys.  Normally you types like to try subterfuge, instead of good old honest truth.”  The last fed she’d met had tried to convince her that he was a bookie, when in reality he had only been tailing her because of something her uncle had stumbled upon and figured she was more likely to find out the answers and he’d just be able to sit back and watch.

         “We only use secrecy regarding our identity if we’re going in undercover.” Amanda took her focus away from the file on Adams that Stephanie had grabbed before leaving the bond agency office, and turned her head to look at the brunette beside her.  “There was no reason to do that here, especially since we need your help.”

         “And speaking of help,” Francine glanced impatiently at Amanda, before turning her attention back on Stephanie, “what is the plan for tracking Adams down?”

         The blonde’s acid and direct tone were beginning to make Stephanie regret offering up her apartment.  There was something about the blonde, however, that really reminded her of the way she’d carried herself during the whole Dickie affair. “So why are you guys so interested in finding this guy? Seems like this agency of yours sent a lot of muscle out here to track down one guy.”

         “Adams became involved with a friend of ours, and then when I discovered that he was already married to a woman my mother knows near Baltimore,” Amanda took a slice of bread from the basket in front of her and began to butter it, “we did a check on him and discovered the truth about him.  We attempted to apprehend him back in D.C., but he caught onto us and gave us the slip.”

         Francine glared as she angrily broke the breadstick she was holding in half. “He deserves to be caught, handcuffed by his hands and feet, tied the bumper of my car and dragged painfully back to court”

         Stephanie’s eyes grew slightly wider as realization dawned and she mentally slapped herself on the head for being so dense. “Oh boy. Let me guess, you’re wife number five?”

         Francine stabbed the breadstick with her knife. “I was almost number five. But never again,” she stabbed the defenseless piece of dough once more, “never, ever again will I let myself be duped by any man.” She glanced up and pointed her knife in Stephanie’s direction, “Let me give you some unsolicited advice.  Men are good for one thing, and one thing only…sex. Don’t bother getting emotionally involved with them. In the end, they’re all liars and cheats and will tear your heart to shreds.”

         Lee reached across the table and gently grabbed Francine’s wrist.  He then removed the knife from her grasp with his other hand. “I know you’re upset Francine, but being a guy, I’m taking a huge offense to everything you just said.  Benjamin may have hurt you, but lay off the rest of us, okay?

         Francine glanced once at his hand still on her wrist and then turned a cold hard stare in Lee’s direction. “Remove your hand…now, Scarecrow.” She said between clenched teeth.

         Lee removed his hand but kept his gaze on his friend. “Just because you don’t have a great track record with men, Francine, doesn’t give you the right to bash all of us. And remember, I wanted to run a security check on him from the start. But, no - you both,” he pointed towards his wife beside him, and then back to the blonde, “told me not to.”

         Francine fixed Lee with a glare, that if looks could kill, he would have stiffened and fallen dead to the floor immediately. “Oh, so this is all my fault then.  If I had let you run that check, then we would have what, used me as bait to catch the guy before he asked me to marry him? Before I made a complete fool of myself? Tell me how does that make me feel better?”

         Amanda noticed that Ranger’s face had gone devoid of emotion, as if he was planning on intervening. She placed a gentle hand on her husband’s arm and then gave Francine a motherly glance. “I think that’s enough.  Getting into a fight here isn’t going to help us track down Benjamin.  Stephanie said this is a cop hang out, and we won’t be able to do any investigating if the two of you land in jail. Now,” she turned back and glanced from Stephanie to Ranger, “this is your town, and you’ve dealt with Adams before, so what would be the best way to start?”

         Stephanie was glad that Amanda had intervened. She had a feeling that either Ranger, with his scary silent tactics would have done something or they would have had half a dozen cops surrounding them any moment. “The best place to start would probably be with his grandmother.  She put up her house as bond, and when Benjamin skipped, the bank was forced to foreclose.  I’m not sure where Mrs. Adams is living now, but my Grandma Mazur might.  We can stop by my parents’ house after we finish eating.” She glanced around and tried to catch Bobby’s eye. “What is keeping that waitress anyway? I’m starving.”

         “There’s more to life than food, Babe?” Ranger shook his head. “If you’re going to go talk to your grandma, you probably don’t need me to tag along.  I have to check in at Rangeman anyway.  Do you think you can handle things by yourself for awhile, keep out of trouble?”

         “What kind of trouble can I get into with three federal agents watching my back?” Stephanie rolled her eyes.  It was bad enough that she constantly felt like she was a walking disaster, and it only made matters more depressing when the men in her life kept reminding her of that same fact.  Then, as if sensing her thoughts were partially on him, she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.  She looked over at Joe and smiled. “Took you long enough.  Bobby made the call to you, like ten minutes ago.”

         Joe cocked his eyebrow slightly. “I’m not sure I follow you, Cupcake. I called in an order for take out and when I came in to pick it up, I saw you here.”

         “Oh, thought you showed up ’cause one of your network of cop spies called you.” Stephanie motioned around the room with her hand. “You know the ones that tell you where I am, who I’m with…”

         Joe let out a small laugh. “What can I say,” he shrugged his shoulders slightly, “we took an oath to watch each other’s backs, and each other’s girls, when we took our oath of office. But seriously, I’m not here because Bobby or anyone else called me, I really did have an order to pickup.” He then turned and nodded cordially at Ranger. “Mañoso.”

         “Morelli.” Ranger leaned back slightly and put his hands behind his head.

         Stephanie watched as her Italian stud and the Cuban sex god stared at each other, having either a mental conversation or battle of wills. Whatever it was, it pissed her off to no end, since she could never make out what it was that they were doing with their silent communication, but she did know that it had something it had to do with her. Crossing her arms, she rolled her eyes. “Oh will you two cut that out. It gives me the creeps.” Both men turned to look at her.  “You’re having that silent conversation where you try and come up with some way to keep me out of harm’s way.  I’m a big girl and am more than capable of taking care of myself.” She watched as Morelli raised his eyebrow and didn’t have to look at Ranger to see an even more knowing look on his face. “I’m glad you’re here, though, Joe, I wanted to introduce you to your houseguests.”

         Joe narrowed his eyes slightly. “Houseguests?”

         Stephanie pointed to Amanda and then to Lee, who she noticed were both watching the banter between the three of them with quiet amusement. “These federal agents have come all the way from D.C. to track down Benjamin Adams.  They left in such a rush they didn’t have a chance to make arrangements to stay anywhere.  I told them you’d be more than happy for them to stay with you, after all you do have a spare room.”

         “How very thoughtful of you.” Joe glanced over at the blonde, and then looked back at Stephanie, a teasing grin on his face. “And since I only have one guest room, and there seem to be three out-of-towners, does that mean I’m moving in with you? Or am I sharing my bed with the blonde?”

         Stephanie narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her nose. “Francine is staying with me.  I need someone to protect my virtue.” She glanced over at the blonde, whose eyebrows were now aligned with her hairline.  She shrugged and smiled, before turning her attention back to Joe.

         Joe threw his head back and laughed. He then pulled up a chair from the neighboring table and sat down at the head of the table between Stephanie and Ranger.  He smiled at Lee and Amanda. “I’d be happy to let you stay with me, but I only have one spare room.  The couch is pretty comfortable if you,” he looked at Lee, “don’t mind sleeping on one.”

         Stephanie cleared her throat and leaned closer to Joe. “It's okay Joe. They're getting married in a couple of weeks. The guest room is all they need.” She noticed a hint of almost fear cross Joe’s face briefly and, even though she knew the idea of marriage scared the hell out of both of them, she decided to have a little fun at his expense. “It’s so nice to see people in love settling down to spend the rest of their lives together, isn’t it?”

         Joe noticed the hint of excitement for this couple in Stephanie’s voice and he wasn’t sure if he should be extra worried because it would mean she expected something from him, or if she was just toying with him.  He looked into her eyes and saw a hint of humor in them, and let his features relax.  Marriage was just not something he was ready for, nor did he think Stephanie was ready for it, either. Living together was one thing, but after awhile, they both yearned for a little bit of space. “So, you guys are here looking for Adams. Is this because of the guns that were found in his trunk?”

         “No, a background check run on him uncovered some very interesting facts and we tried to apprehend him in D.C…but he got a way.” Lee extended his hand towards Joe. “Lee Stetson, and this is my partner and fiancée, Amanda King,” he wrapped his free arm around his wife’s shoulder.  He knew it was silly to be territorial with his wife, but members of the opposite sex always seemed to enjoy flirting with her, and he wanted the men at this table to know that she was well spoken for.  Ignoring the slightly chastising look on his wife’s face, he turned his gaze to the blonde across from him.  “And this is Francine Desmond, a fellow agent.”  He grasped the other man’s extended hand and shook it firmly.  Even he hadn’t already known that Joe Morelli was a cop, he would have been able to tell from the strong grip and no-nonsense air about him.  He’d been around enough undercover and plain clothes cops to able to pick others out of a crowd, and though he might feel bad about imposing on a basic stranger, he felt better knowing that their host was a respected lawman. “Thanks for agreeing to put us up. We’ll try not to be in your way.”

         “I work vice, so my hours are kind of erratic. We’ll probably barely see each other.” Joe glanced over at the bar and nodding to Bobby, gestured towards the table.  He figured that since he wasn’t going to leave until he found out more about these agents and their interest in Stephanie, he might as well eat.  “I have to ask,” he turned and looked back towards Lee, “if you aren’t trying to track Adams down because of the guns, why are you interfering with state jurisdiction in trying to apprehend a known bigamist? Wouldn’t it just be easier to let the police stay on it?”

         Francine shook her head. “No, it wouldn’t, because when it becomes personal, I prefer to deal with the one who made me look like a fool, myself.”

         Joe cocked an eyebrow at Francine. “Revenge or not, you really don’t want to go interfering in police business.” He glanced sideways at Stephanie. Being around the bubbly brunette the past few years had given him a whole new insight into the fact that no matter what he said, stubborn women had a way of ignoring common sense and getting involved anyway.

         “She’s got a personal stake in this one Joe.  Besides, you work with feds all the time, what’s one more time?” Stephanie tilted her head and gave him a small, condescending smile.

         Joe shrugged. “Regardless of your reasons,” he looked from Francine to Amanda and let his gaze fall on Lee, “why didn’t you just come to the police station.  We would be more than happy to share our information with you.”

         “Our information showed that the Vincent Plum Bonding Agency was the one who posted Adam’s bond, and we figured that they had a bigger stake in wanting this guy found.” Lee leaned forward in his chair and focused his attention on Joe. “I know from experience that most police stations don’t have the kind of funding it takes to spend countless hours trying to track down one suspect.  Isn’t that one of the reasons bond agencies were started?”  He watched Joe reluctantly nod, and then turned his attention to Ranger. “There’s something that’s been bothering me,” he waved the file folder between him and his wife. “Your research on Adams is pretty thorough, but how come his marriage to Sally Thompson didn’t turn up in your records? After all she appears to be his second wife?”

         Ranger shrugged noncommittally. “Been puzzling over that one myself. Obviously if she had, I would have taken my men down there to apprehend him. That’s one of the things I want to do when I get back to my office. I’m going to have my research guy do another search and see how Adams managed to keep his Thompson alias hidden.”

         Amanda looked curiously at Ranger. “I thought you worked for Mr. Plum?”

         “Only part-time.” Ranger gave her a smile that reached all the way to his eyes. “I run a security and clean-up business.  Vinnie only calls me in for the more dangerous and difficult skips.”

         Amanda smiled as she felt Lee’s arm tighten even more possessively around her shoulder. She leaned her body closer to her husband’s giving his leg a gentle squeeze, hoping the simple gesture would warn him to stop being so jealous. She then tilted her head slightly in Ranger’s direction. “Clean up?”

         “A lot of landlords in the seedier part of Trenton need assistance expelling junkies from their buildings.” Ranger looked at his watch and then glanced around looking for the waitress. “It’s not fun work, but someone has to do it.” He glanced down the table at the blonde. “You mentioned back in Vinnie’s office that you ran an APB on Benjamin’s car.  Where did they find it?”

         Francine turned towards Ranger. “How do you know they found it?”

         Ranger shrugged. “Educated guess. If they hadn’t found it, you wouldn’t have come straight here.”

         “It was found in a Park and Ride lot off of I-95, just outside of Baltimore.” Amanda had heard the dangerous edge in Francine’s voice, and she didn’t want to alienate these people so early in the game, especially since they were going to need their help.

         Lee leaned forward slightly and caught Ranger’s eye. “We believe that he hopped on one of the local trains headed into Baltimore, or he stole a car from the lot.  Since no stolen vehicle reports have cropped up since last night, we’re assuming he took the train.  Presuming he went into Baltimore, he’d have access to various modes of transportation and could have headed anywhere.  After the APB was issued, the FBI stationed men at various train terminals and airports along the east coast.  They promised to let our boss know if Benjamin’s sighted anywhere.”

         Ranger nodded, then, not seeing any indication that their food was arriving anytime soon, he pushed himself away from the table. “I apologize, but I have a few things that I really need to take care of.  I’ll leave you in Stephanie’s capable hands.  We’ll touch base tomorrow.” He stood up and locked eyes with the spunky blue-eyed brunette. “Babe.” He then turned and headed towards the door.

         Joe narrowed his eyes and then turned towards Stephanie. “I thought Ranger was going to be the one helping them.” His voice was even, but his eyes held a slight challenge.

         Stephanie narrowed her eyes at the dark haired Italian. “Don’t start, Morelli.” She leaned closer to him. “I did most of the leg work on the Adams case to begin with. Vinnie only called Ranger in when it seemed I wasn’t getting anywhere.  I know what you’re doing,” she crossed her arms defiantly across her chest, “we may be dating, but you do not have any say over what I can and can not do.  I happen to like being a bounty hunter, so get over it.” She kept her eyes locked with Joe’s even though she didn’t really feel that strongly about her conviction.  Truthfully, her job was dangerous, and even if it was exciting at times, she constantly found herself wishing that she could find another, safer profession.  And, aside from the thrill of it all, the fact that it drove Joe crazy was enough to keep her working for Vinnie. “Besides, you see these three,” she motioned towards Lee, Amanda and Francine, “they’re federal agents, and they’ve asked for my assistance.  So you don’t have a leg to stand on.” She had a strong urge to stick her tongue out, but in the presence of practical strangers, she opted for keeping her arms crossed and simply glaring at the Morelli.

         Joe clenched his teeth as he felt the color rising in his cheeks. “You are the most frustrating, stubborn woman I have ever known. I’d cuff you to the bar over there if I thought it’d keep you out of trouble, but no matter what, Cupcake, trouble always manages to find you.” The waitress arrived with their food and, taking the bag with his meatball sub, he rose from his seat. With Ranger gone, and his blood pressure now at a low boil, he decided it was best not to stay here and eat. Taking a deep breath to keep his anger in check, he turned towards Lee and Amanda. “Steph’s got a key and can let you in.  I’m working a stake out and probably won’t roll in till late.  Just make yourself at home.” He then bent down in front of Stephanie and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Just be careful, ’kay?  I’m getting tired of everyone down at the station placing bets about what disaster they’ll find my girlfriend in the middle of next.” He turned and headed for the door, nodding at Bobby as he left.

         As the waitress passed the food around, Francine glanced over at the bounty hunter. Her first impression of the brunette might have been a little off.  At first glance, she might pass for Amanda’s sister, which in itself was disturbing.  The protective air and comments about her from both Joe Morelli and Ranger, seemed to suggest that Stephanie definitely had a knack for finding trouble, just like Amanda.  However, the brunette obviously had a fiery passion and hardcore stubbornness that was nothing like Amanda; in fact, Francine found herself admiring the bounty hunter, despite the fact that she knew she was going to have to keep a very close watch on her.  Amanda had common sense, but Stephanie Plum, it appeared, went charging into situations like a raging Spanish bull.  As she dug into her salad, she had a feeling that the next few days were going to prove to be anything but dull.