The following story is a work of fiction that features characters developed by Janet Evanovich. No money has been earned through writing this story. Any similarities to real events or persons are entirely coincidental.

Although a stand-alone, this book builds upon the previous books in my series. Because it is a stand-alone, however, there is a lot of review in the first chapter and a lot of explanation of how I have changed the characters and storylines from JE's. I know some people find that a bit tedious. If you are sensitive to that and don't want the review, feel free to skip reading the first chapter.

Out of the previous books in my series, the first one is a bit cupcake-y, but the rest are pure babes and develop the relationships between the characters. For maximum enjoyment, I suggest that you read them in the following order:

22 Caliber

Trigger Happy 23

Morelli's Argument 23.5

Ranger 23.75

Threatening 24

Fixation 25

Security 26

Sneaky 27

Date Night at the Movies 27.1

Meeting Maria 27.2

The Intervention 27.3

Envious 28

Dickie's Demise 28.1

Mob Matters 28.2

Altercation at Giovichinni's 28.3

Numbskull 29

Toxic 30

Obit 31

Tamper 32

Theft 33

Forced 34

In recognition of the fact that I'm a binge reader and don't personally like to wait for updates, I will try to post twice daily, barring unseen life events.

Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated. I have a few people who regularly review for me, and I'd like to thank you for that. Your reviews have given me the confidence to write another story. I appreciate all reviews and try to respond to each and every one. Please note that I cannot respond to reviews that have been posted by guests.

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoy it!

~ Sarah ~

Chapter One

The technician adjusted the wand as she pressed down on my belly. "Do you want to know the sex of the baby?" she said.

I looked at Ranger and smiled, and he grabbed hold of my hand as he looked down at me and smiled back, then stared in fascination at the image on the screen. "Yes", he said, "we'd like to know."

My name was Stephanie Plum, and I was twenty weeks pregnant. My soon-to-be husband, Ricardo Carlos Manoso, also known as Ranger, was the father, and although I was excited about the baby, I think that Ranger was even more so. We had never wanted to have a baby, but sometimes life had a way of surprising you. Despite using birth control diligently, we became pregnant anyway. I told Ranger that he had supersperm, and that made sense because he was the closest thing to a superhero that I had ever met.

Ranger figured out that I was pregnant when I was five weeks along. I didn't have a clue until that point, and I hardly believed it when he suggested it to me. But Ranger bought me some tests and I tried them all, and found out that the different tests agreed – I was pregnant. We decided not to tell anyone at first, which was a good thing. I almost lost the baby a few times, and I would have been devastated to have to deal with my own emotions at the same time as having to deal with the concerned comments from those around me. People knew now, but that made sense. I was showing and wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret even if I had wanted to.

Ranger and I were due to be married in another week. That was another thing that we were keeping quiet. While we both wanted to shout it out to the world, Ranger had made some enemies in his past and he was afraid that I could be hurt in revenge for things that he had done. As he said, I was his Achilles' heel and he would do anything to ensure my safety. Now that we were having a baby, that feeling of wanting to protect me had just gotten stronger. Because of this, we were getting married but not signing the register or making it official with the government. We were having what was known as a commitment ceremony. It had the same wording and same rituals associated with a recognized marriage. However, with our marriage it would just be recognized by God without the paperwork signed. It made sense to me. I didn't care about the paperwork but I did want the words said in front of God and the rings blessed by the officiant.

Ranger is the owner of Rangeman, an elite security firm that does all things security-wise. You name it, and Rangeman had probably done it once. Our client list ranged from the military to the CIA, FBI, DEA, Secret Service and so on down to the local police departments, and from international corporations down to Mom and Pop businesses who wanted to hire the best in security services.

I worked for Ranger, and was responsible for the research department. A year ago, the research that was done only addressed our own internal needs and the research work could be completed by one person. Since then, we have grown the department astronomically, and had brought a boatload of business to Rangeman with our research abilities. Now, with all the additional work we have brought to the company, we were constantly overworked. Up until a month ago, there were just two staff and myself working the research desk and every day we were falling more and more behind. We were each working fifteen-hour days, and we couldn't keep up. Ranger told me that we would hire more people and, since I calculated that I would need six people to do the work, Ranger encouraged me to hire four and a half people so that there would be six and a half to keep up while I was on mat leave in another four-and-a-bit months. With having the seven and a half people currently and a whole lot more overtime, we were starting to get caught up on our backlog. I dreamed of the day we were caught up completely.

All research was done using an in-house designed search engine called In-Spect. It was incredibly invasive and could find out things about you that you weren't even aware of. I know. I had run my name through the search engines once and had learned all sorts of things about myself. In fact, I had checked some of the data with my mother and she didn't know either. A lot of the information found out by In-Spect was superfluous. After all, who cared about the date you received your first vaccination? However, some of the information was valuable and told a lot about the person. For example, someone who received often-repeated speeding tickets might be reckless in their lives, and someone who was arrested for driving under the influence might be irresponsible, and someone who received a parking ticket near the scene of a murder at the time the murder occurred may just have been the person who did the murder. Add in their financial history, their medical history, their academic history and their employment history on top of their previous convictions, and you had a pretty good idea of what the person was like. When that information had all been accumulated, In-Spect then looked at the social history – what their personalities were like, the things that they liked to do and who was talked about on their social media. Between all the different avenues that were explored, In-Spect could create a comprehensive dossier on anyone.

So Ranger had made enemies in his job as a security specialist, but those enemies weren't the ones that Ranger was worried about. Ranger, in a previous life, had been a Ranger in the US Army, and when he was there he had been part of the team that had transported the deceased Osama bin Laden to the US ship for burial at sea. The al-Qaeda didn't like this fact, and had targeted all members of the SEAL team who killed bin Laden as well as the Ranger team that transported him, and after they had killed some of his team members the government had erased all association of those involved with the mission. Ranger had asked them to go a step farther and create an alternate identity for him. When I ran Ranger's name through the In-Spect program, it came up with someone who didn't exist. This alternate identity said that he was a college graduate who had started his own business. It didn't recognize his army experience, nor did it talk of his security experience. Ranger had changed everything, from his work history to his Social Security number. Since his alternate identity had been created, Ranger had tried to live completely off the grid. He was recognized as a business owner, but everything was done through the business. We lived in the office building. His credit cards were all company cards. His phone was registered to the company. Even his cars were all company cars. He was an almost-impossible person to track.

It wasn't only Ranger's association with the bin Laden mission that had him concerned about his personal security. He was also part owner and a former employee of PMC – Private Military Contractors – a company of mercenaries that worked a lot with the military, the CIA, the DEA, and their equivalents from a variety of countries. They were known as being the best of the best and did all the jobs deemed impossible by the various governments. Ranger was the preeminent unit commander in the world for leading teams into enemy territory, and for doing things like reconnaissance, extractions of assets and elimination of targets. With his Hispanic looks and fluency in Spanish, he was a natural to work in the War on Drugs and had shut down many drug lords' operations. So, in addition to the al-Qaeda targeting him, he had several drug lords gunning for him as well.

Ranger felt very strongly that he was in danger but, more importantly, he felt that I was in danger just by my association with him. In fact, he was so worried about it that he almost didn't get together with me. He eventually decided that I would be safe with a few security measures in place. For one, he got me a watch with a tracking device and a panic button on it. The watch was monitored 24/7 by the control room at Rangeman, and I could press the panic button at any time and a Rangeman team would come running. Unfortunately, I'd had to use that feature a few times in the eight months since I'd had the watch. Secondly, Ranger leased me a car to drive. It was a popular model and colour and was relatively indistinguishable from many other cars on the road. That car was also tracked. It let me blend in with all the other drivers out there. The only way that I could be more safe would be for Ranger to microchip me, but luckily that was a little too Hollywood even for Ranger.

The use of a vehicle that let me blend in was important. Blending in, Ranger thought, was essential. For this reason, he was glad that I didn't have any tattoos or that I didn't dye my hair weird and wild colors. He was glad I conducted myself in a way that didn't stand out, and he encouraged me to always do so.

To help with my own personal security, Ranger had taught me a lot. He taught me how to be vigilant and always sit with my back to the wall, and he taught me how to shoot and how to protect myself. They were all important lessons, but they were more important than just in protecting myself from Ranger's enemies. I had made a few of my own as well. My job with Ranger was not my only job. I was also a bounty hunter, someone that went out and captured all those people who skipped going to court. When someone was arrested, they were put in jail until their court date. However, jails were full of prisoners and so judges often gave them the choice to pay a cash bond to the courts to ensure that they would show up on their hearing date. This money would be returned to the felon when they showed up to court.

Most accused, however, didn't have the cash to pay their bond but, since jails weren't nice places were you had to poop in front of everyone when you had to use the toilet, felons generally didn't want to wait in jail for their court date. That's where a bondsman came in. The bondsman, for the price of fifteen percent of the bond and the donation of some collateral, would pony up the money to let the accused roam free. When the accused returned to court for their hearing, the money was returned to the bondsman and the collateral was returned to the accused. The fifteen percent was retained by the bondsman.

Sometimes, however, the accused either forgot their court date or purposely decided not to go. This made the bondsman unhappy, as without that money returned from the courts he could not lend it to another client and therefore earn another fifteen percent. That's where I came in. I was sent out to capture the felon and bring them back to the system. For this I was paid ten percent of the price of the bond, and the bondsman kept the remaining five percent as an administration fee. When the accused was returned to the system, the money was returned to the bondsman and the whole process started again – but this time the bail was set at a higher amount. Some people went through the system many times before they couldn't afford to do anything other than attend their hearing.

However, many felons were unhappy about being brought in and often took it out on me. I had been punched, bitten, stabbed, shot, kidnapped and firebombed all in the line of duty, and because of this, Ranger and I had decided that it would be better for me and our unborn baby to just focus on my job as a researcher. Instead, I created the capture plans and had some of the Rangeman patrol guys pick up the skips. It was a good system that was working well for us. While I missed being out and about and capturing skips, the patrol guys were so happy about their new duties that Hal had to make sure that no one team was given more of a chance to pick up skips than another when he was setting the schedules.

We had a number of departments in Rangeman. In addition to my research department, we had cybersecurity, investigative services, personal security – otherwise known as bodyguards – onsite security – otherwise known as security guards – system designers and system installers. Our biggest department, however, were the Emergency Response Teams. Hal was the head of the teams and, when the teams weren't on call, they acted as patrol and monitoring staff. All formerly special operations staff in the military, they had the ability to do everything from hostage negotiation to munitions to extractions to attacks. There were two teams currently, and each team had a team lead, a sniper, a communications person, a medic and a bomb expert, amongst other skills. They were highly trained operatives and were the best trained staff outside the military. We were planning on increasing the number of teams to four in another year.

The only reason we didn't have four teams now was because of a lack of space. Ranger required each member to have a ten-minute response time from call-out to mobilization and to ensure that was possible both after hours as well as during the day, Ranger provided small efficiency apartments for each ERT member. There were only two floors of apartments, or twenty apartments divided into two floors, and each floor of ten apartments represented one Emergency Response Team.

However, with Ranger's plans to increase the number of ERTs to four, he planned on building a new residence to house the influx of staff. This new building would contain four floors of six hundred and fifty-square foot apartments for each of the ERTs; a two-story six hundred and fifty-square foot apartment for Hal, head of the ERTs; as well as a three thousand-square foot apartment for Ella and Luis, our housekeeper and her custodian husband; another three thousand-square foot apartment for Tank, our Vice-President of Operations; and a seven thousand-square foot penthouse apartment for Ranger and me. It was double the size of our current apartment. It would be massive and the largest home that I had ever seen.

On the main floor of the building would be a large gym in addition to the lobby and below the gym were to be change rooms and a five-lane twenty-five yard pool. The gym would have all the regular equipment, a three-story climbing wall, and a couple of rooms for lessons. There was to be a hot tub beside the pool for those who wanted to soak sore muscles. Three parking levels were to be built below the gym and pool facilities.

Our current office building was a mixture of both residences and office space and, when the residences all moved to the new tower, our current building would just house offices. The first floor would hold conference rooms, the administrative and support services would expand from one floor to two. Operations would also expand from one floor to two. Ella's and Luis's apartment would become a staff lounge and cafeteria and Ranger's and my current apartment, in the penthouse, would become a guest suite for dignitaries and other security-conscious visitors.

Our current apartment was a luxurious three-plus-one bedroom apartment. It was the nicest home that I had ever seen. Our new apartment was going to be better.

The building wasn't the only thing growing in the company. The business itself was growing astronomically. We had become the premier security company for high-end security services. We had designed the system used by MoMA in New York, the CURE Stadium here in Trenton, and the revamped system used by the White House, among others. Our services were in demand by more than just people in Trenton. We had people clamoring to use our services from all over the eastern seaboard and, because of that, Ranger had decided to buy another security company and expand our operations. Our existing company offered services in Miami and Trenton. The company we were buying out had offices in Atlanta, Boston, Raleigh, Nashville and Little Rock, and was just as profitable a company as our own. Ranger's company was doing well and regularly netted in the tens of millions of dollars each year. When we added Wes's company, Rangeman would be netting almost a hundred and fifty million a year. Ranger was turning a lot of that profit back into the company and growing the company's investment portfolio. Through wise management, exceptional service, a great product and talented staff, Ranger's company had grown from just himself and one other person a few years ago to over four hundred staff today. When we added Wes's company, we'd have about fourteen hundred staff members.

Ranger was signing the papers to buy out Wes's company in another week. Ranger and I were going to Atlanta personally to purchase the company. It was actually going to be our honeymoon. In another five days we were getting married. After the ceremony, we were planning on going down to the Miami office to spend a couple of days with the staff there, and from Miami fly to Atlanta to purchase Pearl Security and to spend some time with Ranger's friend, before flying home again.

Together, Ranger and I felt like we had the world by its tail. Everything was falling into place for the two of us. It was an exciting time in our lives, and we were glad that we were together on this ride.

I smiled at the technician. "Yes", I said. "We want to know the sex."

The technician smiled. "She is being particularly cooperative and showing us that she's a little girl. Can you see her sucking her thumb?" Ranger and I watched, entranced, as she kicked and moved. "Have you picked out names yet?"

"Yes", I said. "Her name will be Tia Rose."

"That's beautiful", said the technician with a smile. "I can tell already that she'll be a beautiful little girl. The two of you will make wonderful parents." She let us watch a few minutes more as the doctor came in and checked the baby's development and looked at the measurements, then removed the wand and handed Ranger a tissue so that he could wipe off my tummy. She smiled. "Congratulations, Mom and Dad. In another twenty weeks you'll be the parents of a healthy baby girl."

"You can't see any problems with the baby?" said Ranger. He was concerned. About two months ago I had been shot – twice. Luckily I had been wearing a bulletproof jacket both times, but I'd had two broken ribs and several bone bruises which were just now feeling like they had healed. Ranger had been concerned that the shots had affected the baby more than had been shown on the ultrasounds that we'd had done at that time.

"Not at all", said the doctor. "From everything that I can see, she looks perfectly healthy."

Ranger and I both breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll get these results off to your obstetrician", said the doctor. "When is your next appointment with him?" She handed us a CD of the imaging results.

"On Friday", I said.

"That's two days away", said the doctor. "He'll definitely have the results by then."

I smiled as Ranger helped me sit up, and as he steadied me as I stood again. We shook the doctor's and the technician's hands and left the room. As I did up my coat and walked with Ranger out into the cold, he captured my hand in his. He lifted it to kiss my knuckles. "We're having a baby girl", he said. His voice was full of awe.

I smiled. "We are."

"In five months, we'll be having a beautiful little girl."

I grinned. The baby seemed real to me since I could feel her kicking and moving. However, Ranger hadn't felt her yet – we had tried several times – and the only indication for him that there was a live person in there was with the images on the ultrasound. I was entranced by the pictures on the screen, but I think Ranger was even more so.

"Let's go baby clothes shopping", said Ranger.

"Do you have time? I know how busy you are."

Ranger laughed. "Do you think that I'd be able to concentrate on work, when all I want to do is get ready for the baby?"

I grinned. I felt exactly the same way.