Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Challenge: Audrey's Saturday Challenge. Using the phrase, “Ranger went WHERE???!!!” with an optional number of ? And ! :-)
Where, Oh, Where Has My Ranger Gone?
By TT
Stephanie shifted in the driver's seat, trying to get comfortable. She hated stakeouts, but she didn't really have a choice. There were only three days left to get her skip and all of her information said that he would be showing up at his girlfriend's house today sometime before dark.
The only drawback of this particular stakeout was that it was in a family neighborhood. She'd already had to speak to three neighbors and a number of children.
She watched as a little boy came strolling up the sidewalk, a black lab puppy on a leash half-dragging him along. The dog was cute with his oversized ears and paws and his happy smile, tail wagging as he walked. The little boy looked like he was having a time trying to control the puppy.
“Come on boy,” he encouraged turning up the sidewalk to the house outside of which Stephanie was parked.
She saw the boy's mother come to the front door. “Did he take care of business?” the mother asked as she opened the front door for her son.
Stephanie missed the boy's reply, but not the mother's response.
“Ranger went WHERE?!” she screeched.
Eyebrows up around her hairline, Stephanie stared at the family. This time she heard the boy's explanation.
“It wasn't like he meant to, but Mr. Stanton has a broken leg and needed me to get his paper which was in the front bushes and, well, Ranger really had to go, so he found the best place and it just happened to be in Mrs. Markowitz rose garden,” the boy explained.
“Oh, Lord. Not again. I'm never going to hear the end of it now,” the mother muttered.
A clicking sound further down the sidewalk caught Stephanie's attention. Turning her head, she spotted a small, white-haired lady making her way toward the house the dog and boy had entered, her cane clicking on the concrete with each step.
Eventually, she made her way up the walk. The mother stepped outside and greeted her with a smile. “Mrs. Markowitz, what a pleasure to see you,” she said.
“Don't you tell me it's a pleasure. Your Ranger has filthy bathroom habits. Do you know what he did in my garden? In front of my prize Queen Elizabeth? Do you?” the old lady demanded.
“I can suspect,” the mother murmured quietly. Smiling, she spoke louder, “Why don't you come in so we can discuss it.”
Mrs. Markowitz grumbled her reply, but they disappeared into the house.
Just after the front door closed, Stephanie spotted her skip pulling into the house she'd staked out.
Stephanie was exhausted after a late night on a distraction and it was far too early to be in the bonds office, but, the building management at her apartment had decided seven o'clock was an appropriate time to begin loud construction.
Unable to sleep, she had dragged herself out of bed, gathered her things and headed to the office, arriving just as Connie did.
Flopping on the couch, she let her tiredness lull her into a semi-conscious state.
“I put the Franklin receipt on your desk,” she mumbled to Connie.
“So he showed up at the house?” Connie asked as she wrote out the check.
“Yeah,” Stephanie yawned.
“Here you go,” Connie said, holding out the check.
Forcing herself off the couch with a groan, Stephanie made her way over to the desk to claim her check.
“So, anything interesting happen while you were watching the place?” Connie inquired.
“Nah,” Stephanie denied, reaching up to rub the sleep out of her eyes, thus missing the way Connie froze and stared at the door. “Just heard about Ranger's bad bathroom habits,” she informed.
“Babe,” said a deep voice behind her.
End