Luck Number One

Lucky Number One

I’ve known Ranger since we were kids. We lived across the street from each other most of our lives, had play dates when we were little, and real dates as we got older. I suppose you could say that Ranger was my first love. Unfortunately once you have experienced Ranger, you never really forget him anyway. I was heartbroken when he married my younger sister Carrie, and they had a little girl named Ariel (who I loved to bits and pieces. She is gorgeous, and she will probably grow up to be just like her father one day –kicking ass with the best of them). Of course, I had to play the faithful-loving-sister act, and suck it up.

I suppose you could also say that I was somewhat responsible for their messy divorce. If it wasn’t me, it was Ranger’s sundry of jobs, and his mysteriousness. Hell, his driver’s license doesn’t even have his home address on it! That always bothered Carrie. I had told her the first time she suspected he was cheating on her (which he wasn’t…at least not at the time), that if she could not handle Ranger, she better let him go free.

I’ll give Ranger one thing though –his fucking protective of those he lives. He’s got all kinds of people checking up on all of us, me included. It’s almost like him his special project or something. Now that Carrie and Ariel have move to Florida, and I’m with him in Trenton, New Jersey (mostly so that I can keep a better on him then anything else), he’s a bit more lenient with our protection. You gotta love the guy.

On this particular afternoon, I was just finishing a shift as a chauffer for Ranger’s company when a big black 4x4 pulled up beside the town car I drove. I don’t know were Ranger gets his cars, and chances are I don’t WANT to know where Ranger gets his cars.

“Get in, there are some people I’d like you meet.”

“Aw, c’mon Ranger… I’ve been driving that little pipsqueak sultan around all day. I want to go to bed.” I kicked my boots off and shoved my feet into a pair of scuffed sneakers which clashed quite badly with my chauffeuring uniform (which consisted of a pair of black slacks, a white dress shirt, and a smart black jacket, and of course my knee-hi boots which I’d just stuffed under the passenger seat). “This gonna take long?”

“You’re never going to make friends in this town if you don’t get out there, Amarantha.”

“Ugh! Don’t call me that!” I wretched.

“Ah, yes.” He said, taking my hand and yanking me up into the cab. “What are you going by this week, babe?” He gunned the engine and we were off.

“I was thinking about Karma.”

“How about we stick with Aman?”

“That sound so Arabic.”

“What’s wrong with Arabians?”

“Nothing…”

“We don’t we call you by your middle name then, huh? Virginia?”

“Ugh. You’re a horrible person.” I shook my head. “So, where are you taking me?”

“First we’re stopping by one of my many places of work, and then I’m taking you out to dinner.”

“Which place of work?” I asked, knowing he had several.

“Bonds office.”

“Oh, the big bad bounty hunder in to collect some cash, huh?”

“You’re such a child, Aman.”

“Ginny. I like Ginny right now.”

Ranger slid a glance at me, “I haven’t called you Ginny since junior high.”

“You remember exactly the last time you called me Ginny.”

“You bet your sweet ass I do.” Ranger slowed for a stop sign. “You know, I could always pick up my check tomorrow.” He gave me a slow kiss before the truck rumbled on.

“You are such a tease Ricardo.”

“Ugh, now you’ve got me feeling disgusting.”

“Payback is a bitch.”


Ranger parked in front of the Plum Bonds Agent Offices and I followed him inside. He gave a nod to the three women huddled around the desk, and I could sense their hearts stopping, and the sweat beginning to dribble around their foreheads.

“Yo.” He said to them, and handed a slip of paper to the one behind the desk. “Anything knew come in, Connie?”

“Just some chump-change. Nothing you’re interested in, Ranger. Stephanie’s got them under control.” Connie handed him a check. “You gonna introduce us to your friend? She’s pretty.”

“This is Ginny.” He becked towards me, and I have a smirky-sort of smile and a wave. Not a bitchy sort of smirk…but a ‘hurry-up-I-really-wanna-go-out” sort of smirk.

“Ginny got a last name?” The large black woman asked, withdrawing a .45 from her purse. “She ain’t a stalker or nuthin’ is she? “cause I could take care of her for you, Ranger. I suppose you could do just fine on your own –but maybe you got something against killin’ women, huh?”

Ranger took the gun out of the woman’s hand, and poured the bullets into his palm. “I have no qualms about killing women, Lula.” He handed the gun back to her. “Keep that in mind the next time you want to threaten my family.”

I wrinkled my nose. Family, huh? I’d show him Family –maybe not tonight anymore, but sometime.

Ranger put an arm around my waist and lead me out of the office, the bullets from Lula’s gun still in his palm. Before the door closed, I could still hear Lula, “I never thought of Ranger as a guy for incest… She doesn’t look like his sister or nuthin’… maybe a cousin? You think Ranger’s boinkin’ his cousin?”

“Would you like to go out, or do you want to go back to my place?” Ranger asked as we rolled away from the curb. “We could go out for pizza.”

“Actually, I think I want to go home. I’m beat.” I lay my head against the cold glass window. Ranger was quiet for a second, before he spoke. “Is it something I said?”

“Of course not.”

“Was it Lula?”

“No, it wasn’t Lula.” I kissed Ranger as he parked in front of my building in what I wanted to be a sisterly sort of way –of course, when one kisses Ranger, you don’t really care about being sisterly. “I’ll see you tomorrow though, okay?”

“I’ll send Tank over to take you to work.”

“Alright.” I kissed him again, this time not even attempting at sisterly and got out of out of the truck. Ranger idled in the lot until he was sure I was in the building, and as I was opening my door, I heard his truck roar away.

I stripped out of my clothes all the way down the hall into my bathroom calling for my cat, a fat orange tabby that Ranger had given me for my twentieth birthday.

“Griffin!” I made kissy noises and found him curled up in the sink. I patted his head and turned the water on in the shower. Griffin looked at me expectantly so I turned the faucet on to a slow drip and plugged the sink up as well. Greedily, he lapped at the water as though I had never fed him in the eight years I had owned him.

After my shower, and I got dressed in a t-shirt and biking shorts, I pulled Griffin into bed next to me where he nosed his way under the blankets and curled next to my knee. So much for cuddling…


I woke up the next morning at seven, got dressed, and was just putting on some finishing touches when Tank knocked on my door.

“You almost Ready?” He asked, surveying my apartment like he did every time he walked a room.

“Just let me get some food set out for Griffin.”

“You’ve STILL got that cat?” Tank had gone to high school with Ranger and our posse. He’d probably even gone to the shelter with Ranger to pick the cat out. “Geez, he’s one fat little fucker.” Griffin purred and rubbed against Tank’s ankles.

I rubbed Griffin behind the ears and dumped out some cat-treats for him. “I know, isn’t he gorgeous?”

“If that’s what you call fat and lazy…”

I stuck my tongue out at him and lead him out of my apartment, locking up behind us.


Ranger was waiting for me when I parked the car at noon for my lunch break. Today he was driving a black Mercedes.

“Hey.” I leaned next to his window. “What’s going on?

“I just wondered if you wanted to go out to lunch with me?”

“My choice, or did you have something in mind?”

“Pizza?”

“Sounds fabulous.” I walked around the car and got into the passenger seat.

“What are you doing tonight?” Ranger asked, pulling out of the compound, and rounding the corner towards the nearest pizza parlor.

“I have some late night pick ups, and then I’m curling up with Griffin on the couch to watch late night TV. …Why do you ask?”

“I need a favor.”

“Is this a sexual favor?” I asked.

Ranger grinned, “Not unless you’re offering one, babe.”

“What do you need?” I asked.

“Joe Morelli is leaving town for a week and needs someone to watch his dog. Stephanie would do it, but she doesn’t like taking him on the job with her. I was wondering if you’d like to earn a few extra bucks.”

“I take it the dog doesn’t care to be left alone, huh?”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Ranger parked in the parking lot. “Can you pick him up tonight around eight?”

“Sure.” I nodded. “Where do I pick him up?”

Ranger took an index card out of the glove compartment from underneath a spare gun and handed it to me. “This is the address, and if you have an problems, you can call him.” He watched me pocket the card and then we went inside for lunch.