AN: Thank you, sonomom, for the title suggestion and several other ideas for this story.

Chapter 1

Ranger slipped out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. After flushing the toilet, he grimaced when it kept running. Stephanie insisted it only needed a little jiggling of the handle, but he made a mental note to get the building super to fix it, permanently. He ran the hot water in the sink in preparation for shaving, but had to wait an inordinately long time before the water was hot enough.

Not for the first time, he exhaled in mild exasperation that Stephanie wanted to "go slow." He wanted her to move into his penthouse apartment where hot water was instantaneous and handle jiggling wasn't needed. But Stephanie was afraid of ruining their blossoming relationship by getting too close too soon. So Ranger spent several nights a week in Stephanie's outdated apartment.

As he shaved, he thought back on the last several weeks and the changes they had had brought. It had all started months ago when Steph's latest POS car burned up.

Steph had been upset because she had no idea why it had burned. She had no current FTAs or known stalkers. She kept saying it wasn't her fault. And it wasn't. This time.

Turns out it was Lula's fault. Lula had decided to be not only a bounty hunter wannabe but also a detective and had purchased a fingerprint kit, a magnifying glass and other crime detecting equipment. It was a hot summer day, and Lula had left the magnifying glass in the car when they went in to Cluck-in-a-Bucket to eat lunch. The glass ignited the comics section of the newspaper Lula had left on the passenger seat, and the car was engulfed in flames before anyone noticed.

Two fire engines, a paramedic's van and three Trenton police cars responded. One of the police cars was driven by Joe Morelli. Ranger hadn't shown up until later, but the Burg had been abuzz with the knock-down-drag-out fight that ensued between the cop and Stephanie. It was rumored that Stephanie had stomped on the cop's foot and told him she never wanted to see him again.

Ranger waited for Steph to return to Morelli, but she didn't. And she seemed happy about it, happier than he'd ever seen her. Like she'd made a decision and it set well with her. Morelli, on the other hand, didn't seem pleased at all and showed up at various places in the Burg when Steph was there, but Steph remained firm and pushed the cop away.

A few weeks after that, Ranger asked her to dinner and she accepted. They had an enjoyable time and he politely walked her to her door, not so politely kissed her and after making sure she was safely ensconced in her apartment, left. He wanted to show Stephanie that he was serious, and it was more than just about sex.

They repeated that scenario several times before Stephanie couldn't stand it anymore and literally attacked him when he dropped her off from their date. The sex was phenomenal. Ranger was inordinately pleased with her initiating sex. He'd been angry at himself for how he'd approached their first time together, making that ridiculous "deal" with her for bringing in Eddie DeChooch. He wanted to be sure that Stephanie wanted an actual relationship with him. He asked her to move in with him, but she told him she wanted to go slow, and not jump into anything. So they were going slow.

...

Ranger swung the Porsche into the only vacant parking spot at Giovichinni's Market and Deli, which just happened to be right near the front door. He didn't think anything of it, but he knew Stephanie would roll her eyes at his consistently good luck with parking spaces.

The Burg's Italian meat market and deli was always busy, but Fridays were the busiest as families stocked up for the weekend. Ranger found himself holding the door for several minutes as a large family tried to corral all their children into the store. As he played doorman, he studied the outside of the building.

Earlier that week, Mr. Giovichinni had asked Ranger for advice on installing a do-it-yourself security system after his deli had endured a rash of shoplifting incidents. Today was the first day Ranger had a few spare minutes to check it out.

Ranger had met the older gentleman years ago when he'd joined Trenton's local businessmen's association. With RangeMan Enterprises just getting underway, Ranger had wanted to put his best foot forward in the community and ease the fears of local businesses that RangeMan Enterprises was a legitimate security company. Mr. Giovichinni had befriended Ranger and introduced him to many of the clients still with RangeMan today.

Being a frugal man, Mr. Giovichinni wanted to purchase and install the cameras himself, but he wanted advice on where to locate them. Ranger felt he needed to do this personally out of respect for the older man.

Mr. Giovichinni was ringing up a customer so Ranger walked through the store scoping out the place for the best locations for cameras to scan the aisles as well as the exit doors. He rounded the far aisle and nearly stepped on a little old lady dressed all in black. Her eyes widened as she recognized him and she gave him a nasty look.

Ranger gave her a polite nod and tried to move around her, but she held out her hand and he stopped.

"You! You stole my Joseph's girl," she uttered, her strong Sicilian accent and quavering voice making it difficult to understand her.

"I beg your pardon?" Ranger said. It took him a second to realize this was Bella Morelli, Joe Morelli's grandmother.

She rummaged around in her cavernous quilted purse and pulled out a small leather sack. Reaching into the sack with her gnarled bony fingers, she brought out a pinch of gray dust and flung it at Ranger's face. She then took her gritty fingers and pulled down the lower lid on her right eye. Her eye bugged out and she started to chant.

"May you stumble and fumble

and fall on your face.

May you stammer and yammer

and lose all your grace.

With my eye's glare

I lay you bare.

Your badass will pale,

I will prevail."

Bella Morelli's wrinkled face contorted into an evil grin as she uttered, "You stole my grandson's true desire. Your life is now ruled by my ire." The old woman took another pinch of dust from the sack and puffed on it. Ranger pulled his head back, but felt the powder settle on his face. He stepped back a pace. She cackled and shuffled off down the aisle.

Ranger was suddenly aware someone was close to his back, and he spun around to find Mr. Giovichinni crouched behind him. The old man straightened up and gave Ranger a horrified look.

"Oh my! Oh my! This is awful. I am so sorry this happened to you in my store," Mr. Giovichinni exclaimed.

"What just happened?" Ranger asked, flicking the powder off his face.

"That was Bella Morelli," Mr. Giovichinni answered. He glanced around and lowered his voice. "Bella just gave you the malacchio, the evil eye. She cursed you."

"That's ridiculous!" Ranger said.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Mañoso," he apologized, wringing his hands.

Ranger dismissed such talk and insisted on going ahead with the security advice he'd been asked to provide. He walked Mr. Giovichinni through the store, pointing out the locations he thought the cameras should be placed. He saw how shaky the old man was and insisted he send over his men to install the cameras the old man would have to buy. Mr. Giovichinni finally agreed and apologized again for Ranger's bad luck with Bella Morelli.

Again, Ranger dismissed the idea of a curse, and he left the deli. As he strode to his vehicle, he disturbed a small flock of pigeons feasting on a spilled bag of potato chips that lay strewn on the asphalt of the parking lot. The birds flew up and Ranger felt a light touch on his shoulder. He swiveled his head and saw a white blotch staining his jacket shoulder. Before he could react, a second drop splattered across his chest. The pigeons rapidly settled back down to their feeding, milling around Ranger's feet.

Disgusted, Ranger pulled a handkerchief from one of his cargo pants' pockets and wiped the smears off. As he slid into his Porsche, he heard a high-pitched cackle, but saw no one in the parking lot, only the flock of pigeons pecking busily away at the last few remaining chips.