This is my first fanfic story so go easy please! :)

The characters are not mine. Everything familar belongs to Janet Evanovich.

There are some days that you just know are destined to be bad. For instance when you wake up in the morning and the first thing you see is a spider on top of your nose staring at you. My name is Stephanie Plum, I live in Trenton, New Jersey, and that is how my day started. So I jumped out of bed and flailed about trying to get the spider off of me, and in the process I stubbed my toe on my nightstand. Once I was sure I was spider free I jumped in the shower and cut the water up as hot as possible to kill any residual spider cooties on me. I was in the middle of shampooing my hair when the water turned ice cold. Great! Considering how my day started I just knew it was going to be one of those days. I considered just crawling back into bed and hiding from the day, but that wouldn't earn me a paycheck. Plus, the spider was probably still in there. So I got dressed in my usual jeans, stretchy t-shirt, and boots, threw my hair up in a ponytail and swiped on 3 coats of mascara. I had a feeling I'd need the extra coats of mascara today. I checked my appearance in the mirror. As appearances go, I'm not horrible to look at. I'm 5'7", 130 pounds, blue eyes and shoulder length brown unruly curly hair with a not that impressive 34B sized chest. I said hi to Rex, my hamster, gave him a grape and a few hamster nuggets, grabbed my purse and headed out the door. I got into my current POS car, a blue Honda CRV. As POS cars go, this one wasn't all that bad. It almost always started, didn't have a weird smell, and I've actually had it for longer than 2 months! I drove on auto pilot to Vincent Plum Bail Bonds office where I work as a BEA, bond enforcement agent, or bounty hunter. I've worked there for 3 years, and depending on who you ask, I'm actually pretty good at my job. I mean yeah I roll around in garbage a lot, get groped by half naked men, get stalked by crazies and have a knack for getting cars blown up, but I always get my man. Sure I'm mostly lucky, but I have a 99% recovery rate so that's what counts right?

I park in front of the bonds office, notice the shiny black Porsche Cayenne, and walk inside. Connie and Lula are in a fight over who gets the last donut, no surprise there. Connie is the office manager and looks like Betty Boop with a mustache. She has a lot of boobs, a lot of attitude and always has a perfect manicure. Technically Lula's job is filing, but Lula does what she wants. She's an ex-hooker who credits me with saving her life and while she gave up the profession she didn't give up the wardrobe. Today she's wearing a too small lime green spandex tank top, with spandex leopard print pants, 3 inch lime green heals and matching lime green hair. Lula is also my sometimes partner.

"Hey guys" I said.

"Hey girlfriend" said Lula.

"I take it Ranger is in with Vinnie?" I asked.

"Yeah he's been in there a while too" said Connie.

Ranger is also a bounty hunter, well he used to be, he now owns a security company called Rangeman. His company handles all of the high money bonds for Vinnie. Ranger is my friend, mentor and sometimes lover. His real name is Ricardo Carlos Manoso, he's Cuban with mocha latte skin, a perfect body and is sexy as hell. The only word to describe Ranger is YUM!

"So, any new files for me?" I asked Connie.

"Yeah, here's two." Connie said as she handed me the files.

The first one was Mooner, a regular who went to high school with me. He would be easy to pick up. The second file was a guy named Brad Russo, a 28 year old guy arrested for shop lifting a mini mart. He's from the Burg so he shouldn't be too hard to find. The Burg, or Chambersburg, is a chunk of Trenton where I grew up. Everything is perfect in the Burg, windows are clean, yards are well manicured, cars are American and dinner is ready every night at six o'clock. There are no secrets in the Burg, everyone gossips about everyone. Someone was bound to know where Russo was hiding.

"Okay, I'm out of here. I'm gonna grab breakfast then go after Mooner. You coming Lula?"

"Hell yeah girlfriend. I could go for a breakfast sandwich and a milkshake"

"You just had 6 donuts" said Connie.

"Yeah but I'm a full figured woman and if I'm gonna go chasing after bad guys I gotta keep my strength up" said Lula.

We were about to walk out of the door when we saw two cars come racing down the street towards us, they both slammed on the breaks for the red light and someone in a hot dog costume jumped out of the second car and ran to the first car and threw a Molotov cocktail in the driver's window, but the window was open so it didn't explode. The driver caught it and threw it back towards the other car but missed it and the cocktail went through my car window. KABOOM! The hot dog ran and jumped back into his car and both cars speed away. I just stood there with my mouth wide open then I felt a tingle on the back of my neck.

"Babe" said Ranger. Ranger doesn't have a big vocabulary and he used babe for a whole lot of things, a greeting, a warning, that he amused, or whatever. I took this babe to mean, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

"Damn girlfriend that was awesome!" said Lula.

"Need a ride babe?"

"No thanks Ranger, I should probably wait for the police."

Ranger gave me a nod and he was gone. A fire truck pulled up followed by two police cars and Morelli's POS cop car. Joe Morelli is an Italian cop, and my on-off boyfriend. He's 2 years older than me, brown eyes, has a lean hard muscular body and has the best ass in Trenton. He's been in and out of my life since I was 6 years old and we played choo-choo in his parent's garage. We are currently in an on phase, and right now he looks pissed.

"Jesus Steph, what the hell happened now?" he yelled as he reached me.

"It wasn't my fault this time. My car just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It's never your fault Cupcake. Destruction just follows you around. I can't take this anymore and I'm out of Rolaids."

"Take it easy Joe. Look I have skips to catch, I gotta go."

"Fine, I'll stop by your place tonight with Pino's okay?"

"Okay, bye."

Joe left and I finished my report with the police.

"Alright Lula, ready to go? We'll have to take your car."

"Yup let's go, I really need that milkshake now."

We got into Lula's car and drove to McDonalds and ordered 5 breakfast sandwiches, 3 hash browns and 3 milkshakes. Lula ate 2 sandwiches, 2 hash browns and drunk a milkshake. I nibbled on my sandwich and drunk my shake while I called Grandma Mazur and asked her to find out some info on Russo for me. We saved the rest of the food for Mooner and drove to his house. Mooner was my age, and a complete stoner. He reminded me a lot of a dog, loveable in a weird sort of way. We knocked on his door but he didn't answer so we decided to go in and check on him. Mooner never locked his door. We found him asleep on the couch so we woke him up.

"Hey Mooner" I said.

"What?" Mooner said opening his eyes.

"We got you some breakfast, and you missed your court date again." I said.

"I don't care, go away dudes!" said Mooner.

Then he grabbed the food and threw the milkshake at us, it completely missed Lula but I was covered in a chocolate mess.

"What the hell?" said Lula.

"Leave me alone, man!" said Mooner and he went upstairs.

We walked outside and ran into Dougie.

"What's going on with Mooner?" I asked. "I've never seen him like that."

"Uh oh sorry guys, our supplier disappeared and I haven't been able to find any weed. Moon-Man's going through withdrawals and he isn't happy. Don't worry I found some now. He'll be happy again soon." said Dougie.

"Okay Dougie, we'll come back for him later." I said.

Lula went back inside the house and grabbed some trash bags and we went back to the car. I sat on the trash bags so I didn't mess up her car. Grandma called and said she had some information.

"That was Grandma" I said as I hung up the phone, "She said she has some info on Russo, let's head to my parents house and I can clean up and talk to Granmda."

We pulled up to my parents' house a few minutes later, and my mom and grandma were already waiting outside for us.

"Look at you," said Grandma "You're covered in chocolate milk. Is it something kinky? I bet it's a pip of a story!"

"Why me?" said my mother, "Come on in and have some coffee cake with us."

"Fuckin' A" said Lula.

They sat down at the kitchen table and I went upstairs and took a quick shower and got dressed in some clean clothes I had left here that time I spent the night. I went back downstairs and sat down to eat some coffee cake.

"So Grandma, what do you have on Russo?" I asked.

"Well I talked to Suzy who lives next door to Brad's parents, and she said she heard he was shacked up with Carol Ritti's daughter Sarah. Sarah lives over on Allen Street."

"Thanks Grandma!" I said.

I got Carol's address, declined my mom's dinner invitation and said goodbye. We drove over to Carol's and knocked on the door.

Brad opened the door, "What?"

"Brad Russo?" I asked.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" he said.

"I'm Stephanie Plum, I work for Plum Bonds and you missed your court date. I need you to come with me so you can get your court date rescheduled." I said.

"That's funny, and you think you're gonna make me?" he said.

He tried to slam the door shut but I had my boot in the way. He turned around and ran through the house and out the back door. I was right behind him. I tripped over the water hose and tumbled into him knocking both of us into the trash cans. He threw trash at me as he got up and ran away. He didn't get very far when Lula slammed into him and sat down on his back. I finally got out of the trash and walked over and cuffed him. We got him into the car as my phone started ringing.

"Yo" I said.

"Hey Steph, this is Dougie. Mooner's happy now if you wanna come by and pick him up."

"Okay thanks." I told him and hung up. "Lula, let's pick up Monner on the way to the police station".

We drove to Mooner's house and he was waiting on the sidewalk for us. He got into the back seat.

"Sorry about earlier dudettes. I like wasn't myself ya know." said Mooner.

"Dang girlfriend, you've had a hell of a day. Your car exploded, you had a fight with officer hottie, got covered in milkshake and then in garbage. You should have just stayed in bed this morning." said Lula.

No Shit, I thought! We got to the police station and I got out.

"You'll be here when I get back right Lula?" I said.

"Damn that's insulting white girl! Have I ever left you?" said Lula.

"YES!" I yelled.

"Hmph" said Lula.

I took Russo and Mooner inside, got my body receipts for them, got laughed at about the garbage on me and walked outside to the parking lot. No Lula! Great! I pulled out my phone and called her. No answer. So I called Ranger.

"Yo" he answered.

"Yo yourself" I said, "I need a ride, Lula abandoned me at the police station."

"Be there in ten" he said and hung up.

He may be hot but he has no phone manners. Exactly ten minutes later he pulled up and I hopped in.

"Nice look babe."

I flipped him off. His lips turned up to an almost smile.

"Where to?" he asked.

"My apartment please. I'm calling it a day."

We got to my apartment building and Ranger followed me up. I fell down on the couch and Ranger disappeared into the kitchen. He came back with a beer and a bottle of water. He handed me the beer.

"Thanks" I said.

"I've got a distraction job for you tonight." He said, "You interested?"

"Sure" I said.

"It's at Shooters Bar. I'll pick you up at 10" he said as he stood up.

He kissed me on the forehead and left. I drained my beer, then got up and took a shower and washed off the garbage stench and put on some sweats and t-shirt. I took the time to blow dry my hair so it fell into soft curls around my face since I was doing the distraction later. It was 3 and I was starving so I went to the kitchen and made a peanut butter and olive sandwich and washed it down with a bottle of water. I checked my answering machine, only one message from Joe, saying he'd be here at 6:30 with pizza. I sat on the couch to watch tv and fell asleep.

I woke up when I heard my door opening and smelled pizza. Joe. I got up to meet him.

"Hey" I said.

"Hey Cupcake" he smiled at me but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He's probably still mad from earlier I thought.

We sat at the table and ate our pizza in silence. We were just finishing eating when my phone started ringing. I decided to ignore it and let the machine pick up. Big mistake! We heard the message.

"Babe, change of plans. Lester going to pick you up at 9:30 and bring you to Rangeman first." Click.

That's when the fight started.

"Got plans for tonight Cupcake?" Joe said through gritted teeth.

Joe hated my relationship with Ranger. He thought Ranger was dangerous both professionally and for mine and Joe's relationship.

"It's just a job Joe."

"Don't get me started on your job Stephanie. You constantly get hurt and you have things blow up all around you. I get about 30 calls a day about something you've done. Plus, you spend way too much time with Ranger. That man's a mercenary and he looks at you like you are lunch! Geez Steph when are you going to quit your job and marry me?"

I just sat there. We've had this argument a million times and I didn't have anything new to add.

" What you have nothing to say Steph?" he asked. "That's it. I'm done. I don't think you have any intention of ever marrying me and I'm just wasting my time here. I think you're in love with Ranger but won't admit it and it's not fair to me Stephanie. I have to move on."

And he got up put my apartment key on the table in front of me and he left. I just sat there stunned. I couldn't say anything. Besides everything he said was true. This wasn't how our fights normally went. This was really the end of our relationship, I knew it. I was so stunned, I didn't even cry. I just got up and got ready for the distraction. I fixed my hair a little, did my make-up, with extra mascara, waterproof in case I started crying later. I went to my closet and picked out a short tight black skirt that ended a few inches below my ass and a skimpy light blue halter top that showed a lot of cleavage, well as much as my 34B chest could show. I finished it off with 4 inch black FMP's and a black clutch that I put my pepper spray, taser, and cell phone in. It was 9:15 so I walked to the kitchen, fed Rex and told him to have a good night. I heard a knock on the door and went to answer.

"Hey Lester" I said. Lester was Rangers cousin and he worked at Rangeman. He looked similar to Ranger, but not quite as muscular and he had green eyes. He was a player and a jokester, but he was also a sweetie at heart.

"Hey beautiful! Damn you look good. We could stay here and just let you distract me" Lester said as he waggled his eyebrows at me.

I rolled me eyes. "Sorry Les, you're too much of a player for me" I said.

"Aw that hurts beautiful" he said.

"Come on Les, we don't want to keep Ranger waiting" I said as I shut and locked my door.

We got to Rangeman and everyone was already waiting for us in the garage. All eyes were on me as I got out of the car. I guess I looked pretty good I thought to myself with a grin. Ranger gave a growl and put his arm around my waist. Everyone quickly looked away and went back to business. Ranger handed me a file.

"Babe, Elliot Lipinski arrested for drug trafficking and beating and raping his ex-girlfriend. Holes himself up in the bar every night from 10:30 till 1:30. Lester and Hal will be inside with you, Cal will be the bouncer and Tank and I will be waiting outside."

Everyone piled into vehicles and headed out. I was alone in Rangers car with him. We got to Shooters at 10:15. Cal, Hal and Lester got into place and we waiting outside until Lipinski showed up. Ranger's phone rang at 10:40 telling him the skip was in place. Ranger turned to me and went to put the mike into place on me. He reached up under my shirt and attached the mike to the bottom of my bra and ran his thumbs across my nipples which sent a spark of fire straight to my doodah. He gave me a quick kiss and said "Go get em' tiger."

I walked into the bar. Cal was standing by the door, and I spotted Hal and Lester in the back playing pool. My skip was a sitting at the bar near the middle. I sat down a few stools down from him and ordered a drink. I then "accidentally" dropped my purse said "Shit" rather loudly to get his attention then bent over to pick it up, giving him a pretty good view of my ass. I sat back on my stool and looked up to see if I got his attention. He was staring at me smiling. He got up and sat on the stool right next to me.

"Hey" he said.

"Hey back. Sorry if I disturbed you, I'm a bit of a klutz." I said with a flirty smile.

"Not at all" he said, "I was just admiring the view". Perv!

"I'm Lisa" I said.

"Elliott, nice to meet you."

"You too" I said.

"So, wanna come home with me?" he asked. He must be mighty confident of himself I thought.

"Sure" I said.

We got up and headed to the front door. As soon as we got outside he pulled a knife out and held it to my throat.

"Bitch, you think I don't know who you are. Bombshell bounty hunter." He said.

Ranger and Tank were just standing there wearing blank faces. Ranger gave me a barely recognizable nod and acted like he was about to run towards us. This distracted Elliott long enough for me to ram my spiked heel into his foot and elbow him in the stomach then run away from him. He did however manage to cut my arm with his knife in the process. As soon as I was away from him, Tank tackled and cuffed him and Ranger grabbed me and led me back to his car.

"You okay babe?"

"Yeah fine, just a little cut. No big deal."

Ranger drove me back to my apartment and followed me up. He checked for bad guys while I went and sat on the couch. Everything that happened to me today had finally caught up to me. Ranger sat down next to me with a first aid kit and cleaned up my cut and put a band aid on it.

"Looking a little scary babe."

At that I burst into tears. I started rambling about everything that happened to me today. When I was finished Ranger was just looking at me, his face expressionless.

"So you and Morelli broke up" he said.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll get back together." He said.

"I don't think so" I said, "not this time. It felt like the end. He told me he thought I was in love with….well he just said he was done and it was time to move on." Shit I didn't mean to say that.

"He thought you were in love with who babe?" Shit I was hoping he would ignore that.

"You" I said.

"Babe"

"I know it's stupid. We're just friends and you're not in love with me. You don't do stupid things like love and relationships. But the thing is, I'm not that sad that Joe and I broke up. We weren't right for each other and he's right I am in love with you Ranger. I have been for a while." I can't believe I just told him that. I felt relieved and sick all at the same time.

"Stephanie" Ranger started. Great he's using my full name; this isn't going to be good. "You know I love you , in my own way, but I can't give you any kind of life or relationship.."

Then his phone rang. "I'm sorry babe, I have to go. Can we finish this later?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever" I said.

He left and I cried. Maybe it was a good thing his phone rang. At least I didn't have to sit through another rejection speech from him. Why did I tell him I loved him? I know he's never going to feel the same. I got up and went into my room to go to bed and the spider was sitting on my pillow. The sad part is, that the spider was the best part of my day. I really shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning. I took my pillow and threw it out into the hallway, then went and crawled into my now spider free bed. I couldn't sleep so I just laid there thinking. I feel like I had finally hit rock bottom. It was time to make some decisions. I can't keep living my life like this. I had to make some changes. Big changes. I had to figure out who I really am and what I want out of life. I knew the only way to do that was to get away from my life, away from Joe and Ranger and the Burg. So I decided it was time for me to leave Trenton.