Ranger

Ricardo Carlos "Ranger" Manoso is Stephanie's fellow bounty hunter and tutor and sometimes known as "Batman" because of his mysterious ways. Ranger is Cuban-American, and drives a rotation of very expensive black cars—including a black Porsche 911 Turbo (Stephanie has lingering questions about the origin of Ranger's car-supply, but he will only say 'Don't ask'). He is the C.E.O. of RangeMan, LLC, a security company (among other things). In High Five, we learn he has a daughter named Julie Manoso. Julie's mother is named Rachel and her stepfather is named Ron; Ranger got Rachel pregnant one night when he was in the military and on leave. Ranger married her and gave the baby his name and financial support. The two were divorced when the baby was born, but he visits when invited.

Stephanie's relationship with Ranger, somewhere between boyfriend/girlfriend and teacher/pupil, provides much of her day-to-day stress, along with the almost constant threat of car bombing. Ranger says he loves Stephanie "in his own way" but is not the marrying type. Even if she is on with Morelli, it does not stop Ranger from kissing or flirting with her, nor does she do much to discourage his advances. Regardless of his rivalry with Morelli, he has said that "Morelli is a good man" and is the marrying type Stephanie wants. Ranger does high-dollar or high-risk recovery for Vinnie, and sometimes lends Stephanie a hand with some of the more dangerous or slippery FTAs. He often assigns employees to guard or track her when she is in serious danger. Ranger "bleeds money" every time Stephanie requires protection, which is frequently; she minds, but he does not so much—she actually appears as a line item in his budget (where she is listed under "entertainment"). In some of the later novels, Stephanie moonlights for RangeMan during safety or financial dilemmas. As a result of him often coming to her aid or rescue, she has built up quite a tab with him and he has said that one day, he will collect. Later on in the series (after their one night as lovers) Ranger amends his statement; saying there was no tab for what they give each other.

She also has a key to his seventh-floor apartment and sometimes goes there when she feels threatened. To him and his Merry Men, Stephanie is considered his "personal property" and he often tag-teams with Morelli for her protection. By Twelve Sharp, after being kidnapped with Julie by a Ranger copycat, Stephanie realizes that she loves both Morelli and Ranger. More than once, she has acknowledged that she cannot ever have the full family life she wants with Ranger (he has made it clear more than once that he will not settle down), but continues to associate with him anyway—much to Morelli's dismay.