Four to Score (stephanie Plum, #4)

Janet Evanovich's novel follows Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter in Trenton, New Jersey, as she pursues a bail-jumping waitress whose case proves far more dangerous than it first appears.

Stephanie storms into her cousin Vinnie's bail bonds office, furious that he has hired Joyce Barnhardt, her lifelong nemesis, as a skip tracer, a person who tracks down people who have skipped bail. Lula, a former sex worker who helps with filing and sometimes rides along on apprehensions, and Connie Rosolli, the office manager, back Stephanie up. Vinnie deflects by assigning Stephanie a new case: Maxine Nowicki, a diner waitress charged with stealing her ex-boyfriend's car, who has skipped her court date. Stephanie interviews the ex-boyfriend, Eddie Kuntz, a vain bodybuilder who rents half of a duplex from his Aunt Betty and Uncle Leo Glick. Kuntz claims Maxine took his car after a fight and provides a list of her contacts. Stephanie's early inquiries yield worrying signs: Maxine quit her diner job, her apartment has been ransacked with valuables left untouched, and her mother, Mrs. Nowicki, refuses to cooperate.

Events escalate when a brick crashes through Kuntz's window with a coded note attached. The message says Maxine has Kuntz's "property," and if he wants it back, he must follow a treasure hunt. Kuntz claims the property is embarrassing love letters. Unable to crack the code, Stephanie seeks help from Sally Sweet, a neighbor's nephew and cross-dressing musician who plays lead guitar for a drag queen band called the Lovelies. Sally, who spent his childhood inventing codes inspired by the character Spock from Star Trek, deciphers the note easily: It points to a Dumpster at a fast-food restaurant. Each decoded clue leads to another encoded message at a new location.

A thread of violence emerges around people connected to Maxine. Margie, Maxine's close friend from the diner, has a heavily bandaged hand and claims she lost a finger in a kitchen accident. Joe Morelli, a plainclothes Vice cop with whom Stephanie has a long, complicated romantic history, informs her that Mrs. Nowicki was scalped by two masked attackers demanding information about Maxine. Then Helen Badijian, a 7-Eleven night manager with information about Maxine, is found dead in an alley, struck on the head, with a finger chopped off. Stephanie suspects the case involves something far more significant than love letters.

Maxine herself confronts Stephanie, arriving disguised as a flower delivery person, pulling a gun, and handcuffing Stephanie to her own refrigerator. Maxine reveals that Kuntz physically abused her, broke her nose, took her paychecks, and lied about marriage. When Stephanie mentions love letters, Maxine laughs, implying Kuntz's real motive is something else entirely. She claims to have more money "than God has apples" and says she is sticking around only to torment Kuntz before disappearing for good.

Stephanie's personal life is upended when an anonymous stalker soaks her Honda CRX with gasoline and leaves threatening notes. Mrs. Nowicki visits and accidentally flicks a cigarette under the gas-soaked car, which ignites and also destroys Lula's Firebird parked nearby. While Stephanie is in Atlantic City chasing a lead on Maxine with Sally, Lula, and Grandma Mazur, Stephanie's unconventional grandmother, someone firebombs her apartment, destroying nearly everything she owns. Her hamster, Rex, is saved by a neighbor.

Homeless and frightened, Stephanie takes refuge at Morelli's row house. Over the following days their relationship deepens, and they finally sleep together. Morelli's family and neighbors fuel rumors that Stephanie and Morelli are expecting a child.

The identity of the firebomber is revealed as Sally's roommate, Sugar (Gregory Stern), who sings with the Lovelies. Sugar has become obsessively jealous of Stephanie's time with Sally and confesses to destroying Stephanie's apartment and attacking Morelli's house. Sally flees to Stephanie's parents' home, and Morelli devises a plan to draw Sugar out. With help from Ranger, Vinnie's top bounty hunter and a Cuban-American former Special Forces operative, Stephanie and Sally canvas Sugar's regular haunts. At the Liberty Ballroom, Sugar corners Stephanie with a gun, insisting that eliminating her is the only way to win Sally back. He fires at her but misses every shot. Out of bullets, Sugar pulls a knife, and Stephanie fights him off until police arrive and arrest him.

A counterfeiting subplot converges with Stephanie's case when she discovers Mrs. Nowicki has been passing counterfeit twenties. Morelli reveals he has been working with federal agents investigating bogus bills circulating in Trenton for years. However, Mrs. Nowicki and Margie both flee before surveillance can be established.

Stephanie and Lula track Margie to a rented bungalow in Point Pleasant where Mrs. Nowicki and Maxine are also staying. They briefly get Maxine in cuffs, but Joyce Barnhardt crashes through the doors with armed accomplices, causing chaos, and Maxine escapes. Mrs. Nowicki picks up a gun and holds Joyce at bay, saying only, "It's about money."

The case breaks open when Stephanie enters the Glicks' side of the duplex. In the basement, she finds the body of Nathan Russo, Leo's counterfeiting partner, and a printing press hidden under a tarp. Leo and Betty return and catch her at gunpoint. Leo reveals his past as a former enforcer for the Angio crime family in Detroit who learned counterfeiting in prison. He confesses to killing Helen Badijian, chopping off Margie's finger, and scalping Mrs. Nowicki, all while trying to recover stolen counterfeiting plates and an account book that Maxine took. Before Leo can act, Lula, stationed outside as lookout, shoots through the kitchen window, triggering a firefight that lasts until police arrive and arrest both Glicks.

Eddie Kuntz, who has gone missing, reappears naked, jumping out of a car. He has been held captive by Maxine and is tattooed head to toe with humiliating messages. He reveals that Maxine, her mother, and Margie are heading to the airport. Stephanie and Lula race to intercept and find that Joyce has already pulled the women over using an illegal flashing light. Lula stuns Joyce with her stun gun, and Stephanie uncuffs Mrs. Nowicki and Margie, telling them to turn themselves in to Treasury. She takes Maxine into custody and books her.

Morelli later explains the full picture: Kuntz had bragged to Maxine about his connection to the counterfeiting operation. After their breakup, Maxine goaded him into showing her Leo's plates, then stole the plates, an account book, and a bag of counterfeit twenties while Kuntz was in the shower. What began as revenge escalated when Leo's violent interrogations of Maxine's mother and friend outraged Maxine into demanding one million dollars from Leo for the return of his plates. The million has disappeared, likely moved out of the country, and without proof of extortion, the only charges likely to stick against Maxine are the original auto theft and failure to appear. Kuntz declines to press kidnapping charges, unwilling to publicize his tattoos.

With the danger passed, Stephanie moves out of Morelli's house and back to her parents', acknowledging that staying would imply a relationship neither is ready to define. Morelli arrives that evening on his red Ducati motorcycle, and the two spar over who gets to drive, echoing a lifelong dynamic in which Morelli has always controlled the terms of their encounters. Stephanie insists, and Morelli relents. She takes the handlebars as they ride off together into the night.