Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum Series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Making Memories
By TT
Stephanie, having made sure she was well covered in sunscreen, put her sunglasses on, looked at the others and smiled.
It had been gloomy, gray and damply cold when they had flown out of Philly yesterday morning (at far too early an hour), but here in Florida it was bright, sunny and wonderfully warm.
Of course, there were many other reasons she would wish to be spending time at the Disney resorts and theme parks, but she would enjoy what she could.
The reason for her appearance here had started ten days ago when Connie handed her a file.
With Ranger spending more time on his business and less time bounty hunting, as well as Stephanie’s skills increasing and Mo Barnes retiring, Vinnie was left with Stephanie and Lula as his primary bounty hunters. Oh, Ranger would still step in for any large bounties and was always willing to help if Stephanie felt her bounties to be dangerous, but he had stepped back from the business. So, Stephanie was taking slightly higher-bond skips and Lula had taken over most of the lower-bond ones. The two women worked together on the difficult ones and Alan Green had been one where teamwork was a necessity.
Somehow the paperwork had gotten lost and by the time it was given to Stephanie, there were only two weeks left to bring him in.
Ten Days Before
“Connie!” Stephanie shrieked. “There’s only two weeks left on this guy!”
“Don’t complain to me about it,” Connie snapped back, extracting a cotton ball and dousing it with nail polish remover to remove the color from her finger. Stephanie’s shriek had startled her. “Vinnie just gave it to me this morning.”
She missed the look of horror that crossed her friend’s face as Stephanie suddenly held the file folder only with her fingertips on the extreme edges of the folder. “Vinnie?” she squeaked.
“Yeah,” Connie confirmed, throwing away the now-dirty cotton ball. “He left it in Lucille’s car and she just gave it back to him.
“Oh,” Stephanie said, relaxing slightly. She wandered over to the couch and sat down. It didn’t take her long to figure out she would need Lula to go after this guy. He wasn’t all that great, but wasn’t bad enough to involve Ranger. “Do you know when Lula will be in?”
“No clue. She said she had a big date with Tank last night,” Connie informed.
Stephanie snorted, “When doesn’t she have a hot date with Tank.” She couldn’t help smiling, though. She was very pleased for her friend.
Present
Of course, that had only been the beginning. She and Lula had set out and managed to track down Alan Green with little trouble. They even managed to find him at home alone.
They had just failed to factor in the shotgun he kept behind the door and had no trouble firing at people.
Still, they had been relatively undeterred and tried to take him when he left his house.
They hadn’t done too badly considering that both his file and the research they’d done failed to mention he had martial arts training.
Stephanie had ended up with a mildly sprained wrist and Lula had to get five stitches where her arm was cut on the side of the dumpster into which Green had thrown Stephanie.
The ladies were both determined to get Green and bring him in, but, when they walked out of the exam rooms at the hospital and saw Ranger and Tank waiting for them, they knew they wouldn’t be doing this alone.
Seven Days Ago
“Babe,” Ranger greeted.
Stephanie nodded and watched as Tank wrapped Lula in his arms and spoke quietly to her.
She and Joe had broken up five weeks before and she knew this time it was going to stick. She wasn’t quite ready to start anything with Ranger, though, especially when he didn’t want anything serious with her.
It wasn’t that Stephanie wanted to settle down and get married, but her love for Ranger was deeper than anything she’d felt before and she knew there was no way she’d be able to handle a casual relationship with him.
“Green knows martial arts,” Stephanie explained.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ranger asked, his voice grave.
“I didn’t know,” Stephanie replied. “It wasn’t in any of the searches I did.”
Reaching out, Ranger rested his hand on the back of Stephanie’s neck. “Do you need help?” he asked.
Meeting his eyes, Stephanie knew it wasn’t so much a request as it was a warning that, whether they wanted it or not, there would be a Rangeman with them next time they went after Green. “Fine,” Stephanie signed. “But whoever it is will be riding with us, not following along behind.”
“Deal,” Ranger replied.
Present
It had taken a few days to track Green down again. As soon as they had a line on him, Stephanie had called Rangeman and asked for backup. Hal showed up, ready to go.
Making their way through the rougher part of town, they soon found themselves outside Green’s friend’s house.
Everything went smoothly. They identified themselves, went in and found nothing.
Somehow, Green had slipped out of the house without them knowing about it.
They were just leaving when Hal’s Explorer exploded. That hadn’t been so bad.
Tank and Ranger had shown up looking grim. Before they could get into it, though, another explosion was reported over the police band. It was at the Bond’s office.
The quartet rushed over to the office only to find smoke curling upward from the water-logged remnants of both Stephanie’s and Lula’s cars.
Both women had hit rhino mode in less than a second.
Three Days Ago
“Babe,” Ranger said, doing his best to calm Stephanie down. “Stephanie!” he called again, his voice raised slightly to penetrate the rage and angry words.
“What?” Stephanie snapped at him, turning her eyes to see who was speaking. When she saw it was Ranger, she felt her anger leave and an embarrassed flush stain her cheeks. “Sorry,” she apologized, taking a deep breath to try and get herself under control. She could hear Lula still ranting over by the remains of her Firebird.
“I think you should grab a few clothes and stay at Rangeman until we get him,” Ranger advised.
“I’m not going to hide, Ranger,” Stephanie informed, crossing her arms in front of her and setting her jaw. “I won’t let him win.”
Ranger sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It wasn’t completely unexpected that Stephanie would refuse to move to Rangeman, but he was hoping she would see reason. He hated when there were threats to her. Glancing over at Lula and Tank, he wondered if he could use Lula moving into the building as a motivating factor.
Stephanie was frightened by how much she wanted to move into the building, into his apartment. But she was more frightened of losing control of her life – again.
Ranger could read each thought as it passed through Stephanie’s head. He knew she was going to refuse. Much as he hated that she wouldn’t lean on him, he appreciated her stubbornness and independence. Breathing out a sigh, he said, “Fine. Let me drive you home.”
“What about Lula?” Stephanie asked.
“Someone dropped off Tank’s truck,” he replied.
“Oh.”
It didn’t take long to get to Stephanie’s apartment. As soon as Ranger opened the door, however, he stopped dead and turned. His face serious and his tone of voice immovable as he commanded, “You’re staying at Rangeman.”
Stephanie pushed past him and gasped as she discovered her apartment had been trashed. There were few things that weren’t broken or slashed, food had been tossed around the kitchen, rude words had been scrawled across the walls in ketchup. Pushing through the debris that had been her things, she made her way to her room only to find her clothes strewn about.
She heard the murmur of Ranger’s voice while he spoke on the phone and felt an odd comfort from it.
Grabbing a bag, she sorted through her clothes and finally found a few that hadn’t been destroyed or thrown on the ground.
Moving to her bathroom, she was relieved to find it more or less intact. Anything that had been set out on the counter or around the bathtub had been knocked over, but none of the bottles opened or makeup destroyed.
Gathering her necessary supplies, she decided she had everything she needed except for Rex.
Heading out into the main part of the apartment, she spotted Ranger by the door, Rex already tucked under his arm with a bag of Hamster nuggets on top of the cage.
“I’m ready,” Stephanie informed, her voice subdued.
Present
Ranger stepped up next to Stephanie and put a hand low on her back. He walked beside her as they headed for the security building.
Stephanie had been amazed the day before when they arrived at Disney and were first shown to the area.
She had been to Disney world several years before and never once thought about any of the day-to-day practicalities of the part – garbage disposal, employee punch in/out, security – but, upon arriving yesterday morning, she had been given a crash course and was quite impressed.
Ranger had worked with the head of security several times before. Who knew that so many skips would go to Disney?
The new face recognition software they used had been fed an image of Green and by the time they had gotten there, they could report that he had just gone into Space Mountain.
The two couples had spent a few minutes learning more and more about layout of the ride, where they could get in and out and the fastest way to get Green out of there.
Disney Security offered to assist with the apprehension, but this capture too personal to both Lula and Stephanie for them to allow unknowns to assist.
With one last check that Green hadn't come out, the two couples set off for the Magic Kingdom.
As they walked toward the park, they planned out what they would do. Lula and Tank would take the side exit while Stephanie and Ranger would take the main exit where everyone left. They would each approach the ride from a different direction.
The two couples split up.
In the past Stephanie had seen women walk into walls, drop what they were holding and stop dead in their tracks at the sight of Ranger.
What neither she nor Lula had counted on was how this effect would play out in an open area with thousands of people around them.
As Ranger and Stephanie headed toward Space Mountain, Stephanie could see women, girls and even some men walk into each other, garbage cans and benches.
Glancing over her shoulder there was a huge group of vacationers and workers alike staring at and following Ranger.
They hadn't come close to reaching the ride when the crowd was so intense they could barely move. It got to the point where even Ranger was beginning to feel claustrophobic.
So, for today, Stephanie and Lula had a new plan. When Green was spotted, they would split into two groups again, only this time, Ranger and Tank would go in a direction away from Green, taking the majority of the people in the park with them, while Lula and Stephanie went after Green.
When they had discussed it that morning over breakfast, Ranger and Tank had thought the idea ridiculous and refused to believe that they would have any effect on the group.
To prove it to them, Stephanie asked Ranger to walk to the front desk and back, instructing Tank to pay attention to the women in the room around them.
Sure enough, as Ranger crossed the room, almost every female eye in the place traced his every step. There was a loud crash as a waitress walked into the wall next to the door to the kitchen, having been engrossed in watching Ranger.
When he returned, Tank was laughing and informed his friend that women, indeed, did watch him.
Lula then insisted Tank take the same walk so Ranger could see.
Sure enough, every female eye watched Tank as he crossed the room. One woman lost her grip on the fork in her hand and it fell to the floor. Another had her glass slip out of her hand and crash on the table.
By the time Tank returned and was informed by Ranger of the effect he had on those around them, both men were looking slightly disturbed.
The activity, though, had been successful in convincing them that Stephanie and Lula's plan did have some merit. The ladies then asked the two men to change into their tightest jeans and white t-shirts if they had them, knowing how much more delectable the men appeared out of their standard black.
As they arrived at Security Headquarters, they settled in a conference room and waited.
They hadn't waited long before the head of security came in and sat down.
“We've located Green. He, a woman and two children have just entered the Disney Hollywood Studios. They were headed off to toward The Tower Of Terror. I have a man on them, following them at a distance and all security personnel have been made aware of your presence as well as to keep an eye on him.” At this point, he handed out maps of the park. “Here is where he entered and here is the Tower Of Terror. If you can give us about ten minutes, we'll have ear pieces and microphones we can use for communication with you. That way if we spot him heading somewhere else, we can let you know. Is there anything else we can do?”
“No,” Ranger assured. “Thank you for your help with this. We'll be leaving as soon as we have him custody.”
“Great,” the head of security replied. “We're here if you need us. Good luck.” With that said, he rose from his seat and left the room.
Each of the four left in the room studied the map.
Though she didn't mean to allow it, a sigh escaped Stephanie.
“Babe?” Ranger asked.
Startled at hearing her name, Stephanie looked up from her map. “Huh?”
“You OK?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Stephanie assured, her eyes drifting to the map again.
“Babe?” he questioned again, softly.
Stephanie let out a sigh, glanced at his eyes and then focused on a spot just beyond Ranger's left shoulder. “I was just remembering the last time I was here, the fun I had and...” Her eyes drifted back to the map.
“And...” Ranger prodded.
Color began to seep into Stephanie's face. Her voice was nearly silent as she admitted, “And I couldn't help thinking how much more I'd rather have memories of this place made with you.”
Silence fell between them as heavily as night on a gray Winter day.
Slowly Stephanie dragged her eyes up from the map to meet Ranger's. She wasn't certain of the emotion she read there and before she could begin to decipher it, the conference room door opened and a woman walked in carrying a small box, obviously containing their communication devices.
It only took them a few minutes to gear up and head out.
Spotting the head of security in the hall, Ranger stopped, but indicated that the others should continue on their way.
It wasn't long after the trio left the security headquarters that they entered the park. Heading toward The Tower Of Terror, the foursome split up into two group.
Sure enough, as they began walking, more and more people seemed to either lose track of their surroundings or just blindly followed after Ranger and Tank, enjoying the view.
“Park workers are going to have a lot of drool to clean up today,” Lula observed.
Stephanie laughed. “True,” she agree. “Can't blame them though.”
“No, ma'am,” Lula agreed. “Mm-mm-mm. All that and he's all mine.”
Stephanie didn't respond to that statement, but placed her hand on Lula's arm. “Let's go get him,” she encouraged, heading off once more.
With such a large group of tourists distracted by the sight of Ranger and Tank wandering around, Lula and Stephanie reached their destination in almost no time. They had just gotten to exit of the ride when Green, his companion and the children came out.
Losing themselves as best they could in the crowd, Lula stood just a few feet away from Stephanie and signaled to the nearby security person that they were on the job.
Stephanie prepared her stun gun. As Green reached where she was standing, Stephanie reached out and shocked him.
Alan Green went down faster than the ride he'd just ridden.
The security person stepped in at that point and assured the crowd that everything was fine and the gentleman would be taken to receive first aid.
By that point, several other security personnel had arrived with a golf cart. Green was loaded up on the cart, along with Stephanie and Lula. The vehicle then drove away.
As soon as it was out of sight of the tourists, Stephanie slapped her cuffs on Green's wrists and asked, “Where are we going?”
“Back to headquarters,” the driver informed. “You can let Mr. Manoso know that everything is set.”
“OK,” Stephanie agreed, assuming that Ranger and Tank would meet them there and then they would leave.
Speaking into her microphone, she let Ranger know that they had gotten Green and to meet back at the headquarters.
Ranger confirmed the message.
Within twenty minutes, Stephanie and Lula were welcoming Tank and Ranger.
“We got him,” Lula said, her voice filled with satisfaction. “He's going back to the clink and he best pray they throw away the key or he's going to have to deal with an angry Lula.”
“That's my woman,” Tank responded with pride and he draped his arm around Lula's waist.
“He's still unconscious,” Stephanie informed Ranger. “They took him to a holding cell until he comes to.”
Ranger smiled, reached out and tucked a stray curl behind Stephanie's ear. “They'll hold him a little longer than that for us, Babe.” Seeing the questioning look on Stephanie's face, he grinned and said, “It's the Magic of Disney.” Slinging an arm around her shoulders he added, “Let's go make some memories.”
End