Perfect Sense, a janet evanovich fanfic

June was one of Stephanie's favorite months. The unpredictable storms of spring were over and the sun warmed the earth. Temperatures climbed, but the humidity hadn't kicked in yet so each day was perfect.

Point Pleasant would probably be crowded, but Stephanie was still tempted to go out there anyway. A walk along the edge of the water would be just the thing to help her forget just how much she was missing Ranger.

It was nearly two months ago that he left. She remembers the crazy rainstorm that seemed to go on for hours after he took off. Seemed the whole world was as sad as she was to have him gone. She still remembers how it felt to have to say goodbye, again.

"It will be only a few months this time," Ranger said as he packed his duffel bag and headed upstairs to the helicopter that had been sent for him. "Don't go crazy Babe," he said as he kissed her one last time.

"Don't get shot," she answered. As always she tried to hide the tears that threatened to spill out. Tears were for after he left, she didn't want him to see them.

Left alone in the apartment, she stood by the window, staring ahead, but not seeing anything. She wrapped her arms around herself. They already felt too empty. 'Just a couple of months' stretched out ahead of her like an eternity.

Every day seemed harder than the last, she just wanted him back home with her.

Her cell phone chirped, and brought Stephanie out of her memory. Lula was gently reminding her not to forget the donuts. Real subtle girls, she thought when she hung up. Oh, well, it was time to get going, she told herself. She took a deep breath. It was going to be fun to hang out with Lula and Connie. Even if she was just going to stop by the office and visit for a little while. Stephanie grabbed her purse and headed to the Tasty Pastry.

The day was perfect. Point Pleasant was definitely calling her name. Blue skies promised a beautiful backdrop to the ocean. She was almost ninety percent decided that today was the day that she would go. The bag she had packed nearly a week ago was still sitting on the back seat, waiting for her. It had everything that she would need. Her towel, sunscreen, a hat, a pair of flip flops, her big pair of sunglasses, and camera. She had even packed a sweater for the possibility that she would be there late enough in the evening to need a little bit of a cover. She sighed, she should just do it, she told herself.

By this time, in her conversation with herself, she had pulled up to the Tasty Pastry. There was a crowd in front of the building this morning. That's unusual she thought. She hoped that she wasn't too late to get enough of her Boston Crèmes.

As she approached the bakery, she saw what the commotion was all about. There was a man handing out free samples. He was wearing a white apron and a flat chefs hat. He looked like someone's favorite uncle, his face was soft and kind looking. Of course he drew a crowd, who wouldn't want a free donut. By the time she walked up to him, he had just one donut left. And as luck would have it, it was a Boston Crème donut. Yum! Stephanie thought. The man saw her coming and he held out his tray in a dramatic gesture. He was almost bowing, he stooped low with his arm extending the tray to her.

"This one is just for you," he said with a smile. He handed her a napkin, and she picked up the donut placing it on the napkin.

"Thank you," she told him. He nodded with a smile. She turned and pushed the door open with her shoulder and entered the bakery. After establishing her place in line, Stephanie took a bite of her free donut. As usual, the first rush of sugar felt like a shot of adrenaline. Actually, she thought, it must have been a long time since she had eaten a donut, because the rush she felt now was making her heart race. The power of sugar should never be underestimated she decided.

Stephanie paid for her order of donuts and walked back out through the door. She had a big enough variety to make Lula and Connie drool. She was wiping her fingers on the napkin for the tenth time, as she walked to her car. That free donut had been extra sticky. She licked each finger, one at a time to moisten them. Taking the napkin she wiped them off again.

As she took her key out of her pocket, she felt lightheaded. She pressed the button on the key fob, the car beeped and she reached for the door handle. The blue sky seemed to swirl around her. Clouds appeared out of nowhere and gathered all around her. The clouds turned heavy and started to smother her. Stephanie blinked her eyes. She had just enough time to register that something was seriously wrong. Then she lost consciousness and dropped to the ground.

Within a minute, Stephanie was gathered up in a pair strong arms. She was lifted into the back of the car waiting behind hers. The car drove off quickly without anyone noticing a thing. The box of donuts was spilled on the pavement next to her car. The key fob and her purse lay beside them. It would be an hour before Lula and Connie had Tank track Stephanie's car to the Bakery parking lot. No clues had been left behind. Stephanie was gone and no one knew where she could be.

Haro Rocer was smiling to himself. He was quite pleased at the ease with which he was able to steal Stephanie Plum away. His brother would be proud of him. Rocer had used his skills in Pharmaceuticals to sedate his prey. The donut had given him the perfect delivery system. She'd never suspect an innocent donut. In fact, she had accepted it readily. This had simplified her abduction tremendously.

"Piece of cake." Rocer said out loud to no one.

If Stephanie had been conscious, she would have seen that they were driving through one of the nicer neighborhoods in the Burg. All of these houses showed pride of ownership. Yards were mowed and trimmed. Flower beds were tended and you could tell that they had been planted with care. Windows sparkled in the freshly painted homes. Even the cars that were parked in driveways gleamed as if they had just visited the local car wash. Stephanie had never come to this area searching for FTA's. It is doubtful that anyone here even knew what the term 'skip' meant to a bounty hunter.

It was the perfect place to hide her in plain sight. Rocer was proud of himself for coming up with such a flawless scheme. His brother Yugo would finally be avenged. Stephanie Plum would suffer for tracking him down like a dog. And for dragging him back to the jail that had left his mind tormented.

"Yugo, you will be proud of me today." Again Rocer spoke to no one. He was alone in the house with Stephanie. Yugo was still in jail. Still unhappy. Haro would make his brother happy by making his captor unhappy. Haro would torment her for what his brother had suffered.

The clever mix of drugs would cause her pain unknown to even Haro. He had formulated it to include just the right mixture of hallucinogens and sedatives. Stephanie would be unconscious. This was the genius of his plan. She would experience her greatest fears without giving him any trouble at all.

Rocer looked over at her. Even now she lay on the bed as if in a sweet slumber. His only regret was that there was no way for him to see her fears coming to life. No, that show was for her eyes only. Stephanie was entering the terrifying world by herself.

Whir, Plink, Plink, Plink. Thunk – zzzzdddtt

Stephanie heard the noise, it was muted at first. Gradually it grew louder and louder. Until it felt like she was standing right next to it. She could not only hear it, she could feel it. It vibrated through her body, making her teeth itch. Somebody has got to turn off the noise she thought.

"Stop that noise now!" she yelled.

But no one could hear her over that annoying sound. Stephanie tried to open her eyes. Maybe she could figure out how to make it stop. She slowly opened her eyes. She felt groggy , as if she had been taking a long nap. Her eyes must not be adjusting properly. She closed them again. Then opening them she looked around. It looked like a factory instead of her bedroom.

She scrubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. This was just not right.

"Heads up Plum!" she heard someone behind her say.

Before turning to face the voice, she opened her eyes one more time. Yep, it was still a factory. She turned to see a man in a white lab coat pushing a cart. He had a white cap on his head. White booties on his feet. His lab coat came down below his knees. And he had cotton gloves on his hands. He finished his ensemble with a blue filter mask over his mouth and nose.

He was pushing a cart with a large bin of buttons. Buttons! It was full of black buttons. All one size, all one shape. The cart was pushed toward her and it kept rolling, so she reached out to stop it before in ran into her. Her outstretched hand had a white glove on it. Stephanie held up her other hand. Another glove.

She looked down and she saw that she is wearing a lab coat and she had some booties on over her shoes. She reached up to her face. Okay, she had on a cap and a mask. Stephanie realized that she was working in the Button Factory.

The edges of her mind still felt fuzzy. And Stephanie can't think clearly. But she knows that this is just wrong. She shouldn't be here. There is no way she would ever have gotten a job in the Button factory. Think, Stephanie, Think. Why would you be in a button factory?

Maybe I'm here on some kind of undercover assignment, she says to herself. Yeah, that makes sense. She continues her internal conversation. Sure. But why can't I remember anything about this operation? She asks herself. And what am I supposed to find here?

The day loomed in front of her. She knew that she needed to do the button job. While trying to figure out what she was supposed to figure out. She turned back to her machine and watches the process. The buttons are being lined up to have wire punched through the holes attaching them to the card underneath.

Her job was to feed the buttons into the chute at the end of the machine. And she assumed that she was to make sure that they don't get jammed anywhere. She learned this by watching the other operators at the neighboring machines. They all had big wide wooden paddles. The buttons were swept into a single layer before they reached the cards. The paddle was wide enough that all she had to do was make a single movement and the whole tray was smoothed out.

Finally the day was over. It had been frustrating. The job had actually been really boring. Yeah, imagine that! She thought. She was frustrated because she was no closer to finding out why she was here.

So she followed everyone to the locker room. She watched at first as they all remove their caps, and booties and masks, and coats, and gloves. They each have a narrow locker to leave their 'uniforms' in. Okay, simple enough, Stephanie thinks. Find the empty locker and put your stuff away.

Another day started. There was no recollection at all about finding her locker, or leaving. Stephanie was standing back at her machine, wooden paddle in hand. Determined to be alert, she watched everyone around her very closely. She looked over at Dave the shift manager. He was running around checking this, checking that. Writing things down on the papers held in place on his clipboard. She really had no idea what it was that he was doing. He was always busy, but it didn't look like he was doing anything suspicious.

Systematically Stephanie identified the people who worked on the floor. There were 16 people. 4 did the job she was assigned to. 10 were along the conveyer belts. And 2 worked as floor managers, moving between all of the stations. They were delivering bins of buttons, stacks of cardboard, spools of wire, etc.

Most of the workers on this floor were college age. They had protective headphones covering their ears, and she guessed that they were probably listening to their Ipods under the headphones to make the day go faster. Everything that everyone did here was so straight forward. Boring, but straight forward, no variation, no surprises.

Another day of work went by and Stephanie had not seen anything to indicate that there was a mystery to be solved. Damn her lost memory, she thought. Stephanie turned her attention back to her machine. Something sounded off. She listened closely.

Whir, Plink, Thunk, Thunk, Thunk – zzzzzddttttttt

That was not sounding right. Stephanie called Dave over. She told him that the machine sounded wrong. Dave looked at her funny. As if to say how would you know.

"It's supposed to Plink before it Thunks," she explained. "But you can hear it…. it is Thunking too many times." Yeah, she thought, those were the 'technical' terms for the machine!

As Dave listened, the Thunks got louder. Swiftly he turned off the machine and grabbed his handheld walkie talkie.

"Get someone from maintenance up here," he said.

Two hours later the problem had been found and was being fixed. Dave came to Stephanie and patted her shoulder.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "If we had had to replace the machine, it would have cost the company about Six Hundred Thousand dollars." "Not to mention the weeks of production that would have been lost. It takes a while to ship and install these big things."

Stephanie was congratulated by lots of upper management people who came to check out the problem. She was told several times that she had saved the company over a million dollars when it was all said and done. It was nice to hear. She kept thinking that she hadn't really done anything special. She had been doing what she does best. Following her instincts and paying attention to details.

Since her machine was not ready yet, Stephanie went to sit in the break room until it was time to come back. When she walked in she noticed a laptop computer set up on the table. It was logged on to the internet. She looked all around for whoever owned it, but there was no one around. Stephanie decided to take just a quick minute to send a message to Ranger. She knew that if she was undercover it would be to help him out with something. She logged into her Gmail account and sent the message to his personal e-mail:

It is not working.

Something is wrong.

I've lost my memory.

Need to get out of here now.

The minute she hit the send button, the world around her went black.

Rocer walked into the house after having been gone for several hours. He checked on Stephanie. She was still on the bed. Still asleep. Still lost in her nightmares, he chuckled to himself.

He glanced over at the kitchen table. His laptop was open, and it was logged on to the internet. That's funny he thought as he logged off. He didn't remember leaving it this way. But he must have, he concluded in his mind. Because he was the only one here that could use it. He was a little bit upset about his carelessness, but he shook it off. What did it matter anyway.

Ranger would not see that e-mail for another two days. He had no way of retrieving his messages until he made it to the next check point.

She is suddenly aware of music. Elevator music is playing somewhere in the background. It smells nice, Stephanie realizes. Like expensive perfume. But if someone is wearing perfume. They have way too much on. It should never be that strong.

She opens her eyes to see who the offending woman is. The first thing she can see is the mirror backed shelving holding cosmetics behind the Clinique counter. There are uniform rows of green boxes of products. And several displays of the make up that is currently on sale.

Stephanie looks down. She is in her white lab coat again, but she notices her shoes. She is no longer wearing the protective booties. No, she is wearing some really cute kitten heel shoes with pointed toes. Wow, great shoes, she thinks. She takes a moment to rotate her foot so that she can get a good look at them. Hey, these are really cute shoes!

Stephanie looks up to see a Tammy Faye Bakker look alike coming toward her. She is also in a white coat and she is carrying a clip board.

"Here is the schedule for today," she says in a sing song kind of way. She seemed to be too happy for her own good. "Looks like you have a mostly solid schedule, all day long," she tells Stephanie as she hands her the copy of the names of clients coming in today.

Stephanie glances over the page. Yep, it is filled. Her brain is working over time now. She is trying desperately to figure out what she could possibly be doing here. Undercover at the Macy's makeup counter just doesn't make any sense.

The first client on the list shows up for her makeover. Makeover! Damn, Stephanie thinks as she realizes that she has a full day ahead of her to do makeovers. What are they thinking? She asks herself.

Well, there is no time like the present to make a fool out of yourself, she thought. Fortunately there were two chairs set up for the makeovers today. A girl that looks like she just graduated from High School, is set up next to Stephanie. Her name tag says Christi. And as luck would have it, the first client sits in Christi's chair. Watching carefully, she memorized what Christi did.

Start with the facial cleanser. Check!

Use moisturizer. Check!

Apply foundation. Check!

Blush, eye shadow, eyeliner,

Mascara – here we go!

Her first 'client' sits in her chair and Stephanie gets busy. She talks with the lady, asking all kinds of questions. What would she be doing today? Who would she be with? How does she feel about it? The lady seems to be enjoying the conversation as much as the makeup. The amount of mascara that Stephanie applies was in direct relationship to the answers she was given.

By the end of the day she had played 'dress up' with 20 women. And Stephanie was, overall, satisfied with how they all looked when they left.

Apparently they felt even better than they looked. Stephanie had made a lot of women happy with themselves. She had given them a big ole confidence boost, and they were appreciative for it. More importantly they wanted to be able to duplicate it, so they bought every item that Stephanie had used for them. Especially the mascara!

The Tammy Faye lady came back before it was time for Stephanie to leave. She brought the schedule for tomorrow.

"Your day is filled with ladies specifically requesting you to do their makeovers," she said. She seemed to be very pleased and she informed Stephanie that she was getting a bonus for the high volume of sales that she had by her 'clients'. Stephanie had to smile when she was told that sales for Clinique products had doubled today.

Just like before, when Stephanie clocked out, things were just blank. She seemed to show up again to work, with out any memory of having gone home. For two more days Stephanie worked the makeover counter, and her sales set new records every day.

But she wasn't any closer to understanding why she was working here. Undercover didn't seem necessary. She hadn't been approached by anyone with secrets they wanted to share with her. Nothing made sense. She continued to puzzle it out in her mind.

Stephanie was waiting for Christi to come back from her break. She saw her walking toward her, finishing up a phone call. She was ending the call as she reached Stephanie. Christi was about to turn the phone off. Stephanie realized that she could call Ranger. The e-mail didn't seem to work, maybe a phone call would do the trick.

"Christi, do you mind if I use your phone to make a call?" Stephanie asked her.

Christi handed the phone to her "No problem," she said with a smile.

Stephanie dialed Rangers cell phone. It went straight to the message prompt. She left a message for him:

Ranger – can't figure out what I'm doing here.

What did you need me to do at the Macy's makeup counter?

Things are too weird. Something still feels very wrong.

I'm still suffering from the memory loss.

Might be a good idea to get me out of here, soon.

She touched the 'end call' button and everything went black.

Today Rocer had had several errands to do. He had been gone most of the day. As he walked back into the house he was still mumbling to himself. He was angry at himself for forgetting his phone. He was frustrated to see it sitting there on the table. He had spent at least an hour tracing his steps. He wasted all the time trying to find the stupid phone, only to have it waiting for him right here. He should have been relieved to know that it was not lost. But Rocer was still annoyed. He was not accustomed to making those kinds of little mistakes.

The phone message, along with the e-mail message, was waiting for Ranger when he made it to the check point. Ranger listened to it several times. He read and re-read the e-mail. None of it made any sense. He contacted Tank, maybe he could explain. But what Tank had to tell him didn't make him happy. Stephanie had been missing for nearly a week. They still had no clues, no way to find her. Not that they weren't trying. The guys had been out searching every day.

Well, Ranger had some clues now. He had the people on his end try to trace the messages. He hoped that they could narrow down where the messages had originated from. Several hours later that is exactly what he had. The information was still pretty broad. But it did identify the general area in Trenton where the call was made. It was in an area of town that no one had even thought to look in.

This time when she woke up it was to the delicious smells of breakfast. Wow, she thought, someone is making French Toast for breakfast. With Canadian Bacon. And Coffee! The tantalizing smells were overwhelming.

She must be at her parents house she thought. Except that it seemed strangely quiet. There were no sounds of arguing over the bathroom between her father and Grandma Mazur. No phone ringing with gossip from the Burg. No complaining by her mother that the French toast was going to get soggy and the bacon would be cold if they didn't get down here to eat now.

So she opened one eye. Stephanie stood in what looked suspiciously like Morelli's kitchen. She was wearing a blue fuzzy bathrobe, with matching slippers! And she was the one cooking breakfast.

She closed her eyes again. Not believing what she had seen. But it was still there when she opened them again. She was in Morelli's house and she was cooking breakfast. It had been quiet. But all of a sudden the noises started. She could hear water running, someone was in the shower.

Heavy thumping noises announced the arrival of Bob the dog. He was being pursued by a 6 year old boy. The boy had dark brown hair and big blue eyes. Bob ran in a big circle around the kitchen, the boy still following him. Another circle and he took off down the hall again, the boy in hot pursuit. All the while Bob was barking and the boy was yelling. They were loud enough to wake the dead.

A few minutes later, another little boy walked in. He looked like he could be about 4 years old. He was wearing one-piece footsie pajamas. He came shuffling in wiping his nose along the entire length of his sleeve. Stephanie pulled the griddle off of the heat and turned off the stove. She grabbed a tissue and wiped his nose. This curly haired child had a cold.

She looked around and found the medicine bottle, it was sitting on top of the prescription slip on the counter. After reading the instructions, she gave the boy a dosage of the medicine and a drink of juice. He reached his arms up to her and she picked him up. He coughed into her shoulder, and she patted his back. Poor little kid, she thought. His coughing subsided and he snuggled his head into her neck.

Balancing the boy on her hip, it left her with one arm free to continue working in the kitchen. Stephanie checked on the coffee. She set the table. Together they opened the front door and grabbed the morning paper that had been thrown onto the porch. She cut a piece of French toast into strips and gave one to the little boy. He wiggled to get down now, running off to find his brother who was sitting on top of Bob watching cartoons.

Crying, she heard crying now. It was a baby. Stephanie started to feel something very close to panic. She had no idea what could possibly be the purpose for her to be here. This could not be another undercover assignment. What could she be expected to learn here?

Stephanie reached the crying baby. Another little boy. She picked him up and knew exactly what his problem was. Holding her breath, she changed the messy diaper. A wave of relief washing over her when she saw the diaper disappear into the Diaper Genie disposal system.

Once he was clean the baby settled down. She lifted him up off of the changing table. He laid his head on her shoulder, tucked right up into her neck. She could feel his hair on her cheek. It was so soft. His hair was a dark brown that matched his eyes. She wrapped an arm tighter around him and headed back downstairs. She heard noises behind the other bedroom door, as she passed by, but she didn't think much about it.

Stephanie knew that the baby would be hungry soon. So she went back to the kitchen and prepared the formula for his bottle. She was looking down at the baby cradled in her arms. He was hungry and he made loud slurping noises as he drank. It was adorable and she found herself watching him, almost mesmerized.

Suddenly she felt a warm breath against the back of her neck. Someone was wrapping his arms around her. A large hand smoothed the hair on the baby's head. Gently, lovingly. His other hand wrapped around her stomach and pulled her closer to him

She was shocked. This kind of thing felt way too intimate for a covert operation. Maybe she was being tested on how she would react if she were on an undercover assignment. The confusion she felt had crazy things running through her mind. This man felt familiar. He felt like. He smelled like. Morelli.

He had moved around her to grab a piece of bacon, and she could see him now. It was Joe Morelli. Stephanie was way beyond confused by now. She forced herself to be calm. There were children in the house after all. The baby seemed to have fallen asleep. So she put the bottle down and lifted him gently onto her shoulder to burp him. She was doing a bouncing dance, patting his back while serving a plate of food and a cup of coffee to Morelli who was now seated at the table reading the newspaper.

Suddenly the burp erupted. It was louder than she thought possible. Morelli looked up and smiled with pride.

"That's my boy," he said

Stephanie put the baby down in the bouncy hammock looking thing on the table. She gazed down at him. He looked so peaceful and content. Babies could be so cute when they were asleep, she thought.

She turned her attention to Morelli. But before she could form the words to ask him why he was a willing participant in some screwed up training exercise, his pager buzzed. Immediately he was on the phone. He nodded a couple of times and hung up.

He gave her a peck on the cheek and was out the door. So much for that, she thought.

She fed the kids and cleaned them up with a bath afterward. Stephanie had noticed the school calendar on the fridge, so she knew that she needed to get the 6 year old to kindergarten by 12:35. Right after lunch.

She cleaned the kitchen. She washed the dirty laundry. She picked up toys around the house and vacuumed the floors. Stephanie sat down to watch the 'Backyardigans' with the two older boys while the baby ate again.

All the while she was feeling more and more uneasy about what could possibly be going

on here. Something was not right and she needed to end it now.

So she got creative. With the baby down for another little nap, she found some paper and a black marker. She sat down at the kitchen table and wrote three letters on the papers. One letter per page. She wrote each letter big enough to cover the whole sheet of paper. She grabbed some tape and walked to the front door. She opened it and taped the papers side by side near the top of the door. She closed the door and turned to face the work that she still needed to get done.

Vince was the one to spot the message on the door. He and Sal had been scouring this neighborhood for some indication that they were on the right track with Rangers intel.

This definitely looked like the sign they were looking for. He called Tank.

"We've got an S.O.S marked on the house at 1234 Skyline drive," he said. Waiting for further instructions.

"We'll be right there, " Tank said. "See if you can look inside the house."

Vince and Sal got into their Ninja mode and snuck around the house. What they saw made no sense at all. Stephanie was standing on a stool. She looked like she was spraying something on the mirror above the fireplace, but she had nothing in her hands. Then she made wiping motions, as if she were cleaning the mirror. They guys looked at each other. Weird was the thought that they both shared without having to say a word.

There were no other people visible in the house. So they retreated and waited for Tank to arrive.

Tank grabbed Bobby. "They found something, let's get going," he told him as they ran to the garage. They headed to the address as quickly as they could. They were almost there when Ranger called. His plane would be arriving in an hour. Tank arranged for Lester to go out and pick him up.

By the time all four men entered the house, Stephanie had gone back to the bed and was lying very still. Bobby was alarmed. Her blood pressure was extremely low. She looked dehydrated and she had lost some weight. She was not injured, and it was safe to move her, so they got her to the hospital as quickly as they could.

Vince and Sal stayed at the house. They did a thorough search and found the workroom filled with chemicals and drugs. A paper sat in the middle of the vials and bottles. Rocer had painstakingly documented exactly what he had used and the precise amounts of each ingredient.

They were also surprised to find a dosage schedule tacked up on the fridge. The guy may be a nut case, but he was precise and accurate. The information was conveyed to Bobby. Bobby was then able to make sure that Stephanie's doctor would take the appropriate measures to flush the drugs from her system.

Vince and Sal lay in waiting. They were ready to grab the man who had done this to Stephanie. They did not have to wait long. Less than an hour after Stephanie had been taken to the hospital, Rocer returned home. He walked into the bedroom and saw that Stephanie was gone. He spun around to go look for her when he ran into a black wall. Vince grabbed him, and twisted his arm behind his back. He slapped the handcuffs on Rocer's wrist. Bringing the other hand back he cuffed it too.

Rocer wasn't reacting. He wasn't fighting. His brain had shut down. It was over, and he knew it. His brother would be so angry with him. Maybe he wouldn't know, he thought. Maybe he could disappear and Yugo would never find him. This internal dialog was taking place and Haro had no idea what was taking place outside of his mind.

He had been led to the living room. Rocer was sitting on the couch, staring off into space. Vince stood by ready to react if anything were to happen. He and Sal waited for the cops to come and pick up Rocer. They would be on hand to answer questions that they were sure the cops would have about Stephanie and the drugged state she was in.

They would do what needed to be done here, but they both were anxious to get to the hospital to find out if Stephanie was going to make it. They had both seen the look on Bobby's face. And they knew that she was in a bad way.

Vince found himself wishing that Rocer would have fought back. It would have made him feel better to be able to pound his face in, for what he did to Stephanie. One glance at Sal, and Vince knew that he felt the same way.

There was a constant vigil at the hospital. Stephanie's family and friends watched as the men dressed in black rotated in and out of the waiting room, all waiting to know if Stephanie was going to be alright.

Ranger arrived at the hospital within an hour of Stephanie. Bobby told him of the procedure that they would have to use to flush the drugs from Stephanie's system. The sedative would wear off first. The hallucinogens would take longer. Right now, he explained, Stephanie was trapped inside her own head. This particular drug was known to induce terror in victims. Causing them to use their own fears as the basis for the horrors they experienced.

Ranger sat by her bed, holding Stephanie's hand in his own. Thoughts were running through his head. She had contacted him during this ordeal, twice. Neither of the messages had made any sense. But somehow she had reached outside her own head to let him know there was something wrong. He only hoped that they had found her in time.

"Come back to me Babe," he whispered in her ear.

Suddenly, Stephanie gripped his hand. Tight. Her hand was trembling for the force that she was using to squeeze his, tighter and tighter. Her eyes were closed, she looked like she was sleeping. He could not even imagine what she was seeing in her head.

Her eyes flew open, and she opened her mouth to speak. But she did not say anything. She looked terrified, but there was also a look of determination blazing in those blue eyes. Her hand still gripped Ranger. The force was almost getting painful, even for him.

At once, it was over. Whatever that was about, it was over and she relaxed. She released his hand and sank back into the pillows. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. Her eyes closed. And she was asleep again.

Stephanie continued to sleep fitfully. Ranger never left her side. He held her hand and said soothing words to comfort her. He was frustrated. For all his strength, or power or influence, there was nothing he could do. He could not remove the effects of the drugs in her system. Neither could he speed up the process of purging them from her body.

He would like to say that Haro Rocher would pay dearly for what he had done to Stephanie. But Ranger had already gotten word that Rocer was dead. The whole situation had been odd. Rocer had requested that his one phone call be a call that he received. From his brother Yugo, in prison. After a day of red tape, Yugo called his brother. The guard said that Haro only listened, he did not say one word to his brother. After the call was ended, Haro returned to his cell and lay laid himself down on the cot. He was found there two hours later. Dead.

His heart had stopped. Just stopped pumping and he died. All anyone knew about Haro Rocer was that he was the brother of Yugo Rocer and that he was a chemistry major in college. He had never had a job. He had never married. Haro may have been mentally challenged. There were no medical records to go by. And the only source of information was his brother Yugo. Yugo refused to talk.

It was speculated that Haro Rocer was lost without his brother to take care of him. He could have become obsessed with making Stephanie pay for taking Yugo away from him. Resulting in the scheme he pulled off and the damage that was done to Stephanie. Whether or not he had the ability to design a drug to cause his own death was not known. What it looked like was Haro Rocer wanted to die, so he did.

Stephanie woke up again. Before she opened her eyes she could tell that she was in another factory. Loud machine noises filled the space. Rustling of paper was heard, but it was the clanking of metal against metal that finally made her open her eyes to see where she was this time.

She was in the tampon factory. But everything about this scenario was different. She was not dressed in protective clothing. She was wearing her own jeans and a tight t-shirt. There were lots of young kids working in this factory too. But they seemed even younger than she thought was allowed. Young teenagers were at every station around the floor. And this factory seemed dangerous somehow. Stephanie couldn't figure out why she thought that but she couldn't shake the feeling.

The clanking became louder and Stephanie ran over toward the sound. This was wrong. Everything was wrong. Finally she saw the problem. A wheel looking part of a huge machine of some sort had become loose. And it caused a weight bearing beam to shift. There were several of these young kids standing under the part of the machine that was in danger of collapsing.

Stephanie knew that she has only moments to figure out what to do to get the kids out of there safely. She grabbed a metal rod and jammed it next the wheel to stop the progression. The force of the moving beam however almost yanked the rod from her hands. She yelled at the kids to get out of there. Now! She gripped the rod tighter to keep it in place. It seemed to be working, and the kids scrambled out. Once the last one was safe, Stephanie let go of the rod. In only seconds, the beam bowed and broke and the whole thing came crashing down.

This time Stephanie didn't wonder what she was doing at the factory. It was obvious that she had had a purpose. She saved the kids. When she turned around to see them, everything went black.

From the edges of her mind came a light. It filled the darkness and became more and more brilliant. Its warmth filled her, soothed her. Stephanie closed her eyes allowing the light to bathe her in its' peaceful calm.

Images started appearing in front of her. Very much like a slide show. Still photo's that illustrated the world that she knew. Her world. One by one she saw the pictures showing moments in time that she knew so well;

Young Stephanie with a broken arm. Playing with Mary Lou. Teasing Eddie. Marching with the Majorette team.

An older Stephanie studying with a roommate in college. Hanging out at Point Pleasant. At the beauty parlor with Grandma Mazur.

And more recently. Watching a Rangers game with Joe morelli. Laughing with Connie. Eating Chicken with Lula. Sitting on the couch with Mooner. Talking to Evelyn Sodor and her daughter. Singing with Sally Sweet. At RangeMan with her Merry Men. In the arms of Ranger.

And then pictures from the past few days showed themselves, just as if they were part of her real world. She saw the relieved look of Dave's face. Smiling faces of the ladies she shared her mascara secret with. The kids at the tampon factory. And the 3 little boys at Morelli's house.

The light came back with a glow that faded out all of the colors of the photos. It grew in radiance until she had to close her eyes from the intensity.

"Stephanie." A far off voice said.

"Babe." She knew that voice. She wanted to be with him. Where was he? Where was she? How could she get to him. It became her only thought.

There was a bright light. It hurt her eyes when she tried to open them.

"That's it Babe, come back to me," Ranger said.

He is here, Ranger is here Stephanie thought. She had to open her eyes, afraid if she didn't see him soon that he would be gone again. She struggled against eye lids that felt so heavy. The lights were still too bright, but she slowly forced her eyes to finally open.

Ranger had one of her hands in his. He was looking down at their joined hands, so she reached out with her other hand. She touched his hand and he looked up at her.

"Good to have you back Steph," he said with a smile.

She reached her arms out to him. He gathered her into his arms and hugged her close. In her heart she felt the calm, soothing feeling that she had felt with the light. She remembered how quickly she turned to Ranger when she needed help. She no longer worried about her fears.

She had just lived through what her mind had always held as her greatest fears. But now she knew that there was never anything that she could not handle. In these dreams she had seen her strengths, instead of her weaknesses. She knew what was right about her world now. And it made perfect sense.