I sat in the moonlit darkness of the strange kitchen, fork in hand, birthday cake before me, thinking about the horror that had driven me to this place.

My name is Stephanie Plum. I'm a bounty hunter, which means that I've seen and experienced my share (some would say more than my share) of scary events.

I've been stalked, bombed, shot, kidnaped and terrorized in almost every way you could imagine. I've been targeted by psychos, murderers, a gang and my mother, all of whom want to make drastic changes in my life.

None of that, however, prepared me for the sheer terror I felt tonight.

It had been another average day of bounty hunting for me. Yes, that means at least one change of clothes at some point mid-day, but I still brought in my skips. I had no plans for the evening, so I called a pick-up order from Pino's. Knowing it would be ready by the time I got there, I left my apartment and drove to the restaurant, my mouth watering at the thought of dinner.

Arriving at the restaurant, I quickly walked to the counter and retrieved my food. As I was turning to leave, the sound of laughter caught my attention. Or, more specifically, the sound of three very familiar laughs caught my attention.

My brain froze momentarily and I'm pretty sure that panic set in. What in the world were they doing here and why would they be laughing like that?

A few steps backward allowed me a view of the dining area. Scanning the crowd quickly, I couldn't help the fear that overcame me.

It felt like I had a vise squeezing my chest and something stuck in my throat.

Before me was a sight I had never contemplated and it terrified me more than my nightmares.

A sense of foreboding swamped me and fear built within.

There, in Pino's, for the whole burg to see, sat the three most important men in my life eating, drinking and laughing.

It was just wrong.

I knew Ranger and Joe could be civil to each other and work together. I'd seen it first-hand in the past. I had never seen, never thought to see, the two of them laughing it up like the best of friends.

What added the surreal, nightmare quality to the scene, however, was the fact that they were sitting there drinking, eating and laughing with my FATHER!!

As another burst of laughter filled the room, my fight or flight instinct kicked in.

I ran.

I drove.

I got birthday cake.

Then I knew I needed to find somewhere to be alone to think about things. But it had to be somewhere no one would think to look for me. Glancing around my surroundings, I noticed that I was at my alma mater.

That's when I struck upon the idea of where to hide.

My first year of college, my roommate had inherited a cabin on a lake from her grandparents. We went there occasionally on the weekend and she had made a point of saying it would always be available.

Of course, that was more than ten years ago, but I was sure the offer was still good. That is just the type of person she is.

So, taking off for the cabin, and giving thanks that I actually remembered the way, I found myself parked outside a little, wooden cabin several hours later.

Dismissing the momentary doubt I had about staying here, I got out and quickly found the key, exactly where it had always been.

I grabbed my food and let myself in, settling in the kitchen.

As I prepared to dig into the birthday cake, the memory those three men laughing in Pino's caused me to stop mid-motion and shudder in fear.

Whatever they were doing together, I knew it did not bode well for me.

Shaking off the feeling, I was about to dig into the cake once more when my phone rang.

A quick check of caller ID revealed it to be from my parent's house. It could just be my mother or grandmother, but somehow, I knew it was my dad.

I contemplated answering the phone. Really. I did. But I just wasn't ready to face that music.

Soon enough, the call rolled to voice mail and I turned my phone off. If I was going to face the three of them on my own, I was going to need time to build my defenses - and eat my cake. A girl has to have her priorities after all.

Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with whatever mayhem they were planning to inflict upon my life. Tonight I could only hope that I didn't dream of the possibilities.

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