Te Amo

by darkroselight

Julie Manoso's all grown up and working at RangeMan. When a new case has our guys stuck, Ranger calls in a translator to help his team. With a spotty record and a questionable past will she be able to fit in with our Marry Men, and what happens when she falls for the boss's daughter? A Julie story with a side of Babe.

1. Chapter 1

Official Summary- So this is a story idea that's been bouncing around in my head for months and my muse has finally gotten started on writing it down. I'm not the fastest updater, but I never leave a project half done. This story will feature an adult version of Julie Manoso and an ooc of my own creation named Shilo. This is a female slash story girl/girl. If you don't like that, please don't read this. You have been warned.

Authors note- This first chapter is very long. I couldn't find a good place to cut it. I've got more of this story going, but I wanted to load this first bit so I could get people's reactions to it. I've never seen a story that was based around Julie before, but I really think she's one of the most interesting characters. I mean she's Ranger's kid, she's going to be a spitfire. Let me know what you think.

* Disclaimer- Clearly I don't own this, since I'm writing on a fan-fiction site. Some of the characters are of my own creation, but the bread and butter belong to JE. I am making no money. I just love to play with her characters. This goes for the whole story, I will not put one of these in every chapter.

** A few people have asked so I'm adding this note. Yes, The title of this story was inspired by the Rhianna song "Te Amo" No, it is not a song-fic. Nor does the song really have anything to do with the story at all. It just gave me the first spark of inspiration and is my go-to song for when I hit writers block while working on it. Most of my work has a inspiration song or revolves around music.

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"Te Amo"

Chapter 1

Pov- Shilo

"Ricardo Carlos Manoso" Known to his friends and Co-workers by his street name, Ranger. The photo next to the name showed a tanned skinned man who had comfortable hit his early forties and lost little of the muscle he'd earned doing years of special force training and other military work. The file was very complete. It gave me details about the security business Ranger ran out of Trenton, New Jersey, called RangeMan. The company also had bases in Miami and Boston, both were run by friends of Ranger's, and came with outstanding reviews.

I had a list of employees who worked for the Trenton branch of RangeMan and all the information a basic background check would find on them. There was no need to dig any farther than that. I would be meeting them all soon anyway. Nearly all of the workers were men, and most of those had military background. The others looked like a random hodgepodge of ex-criminals and gang members with skills and knowledge that made them worth keeping around. They were an interesting group to look at, to say the least. At the most, they looked down right scary.

"Shy?"

I glanced up from the file as the boss of my own security business let himself into my small corner office.

"Hey Mark," I said, letting my attention drop back to the stack of papers in front of me. "This is an impressive team of people."

He nodded. "Yeah, they are. I've done a few missions with the RangeMan team before. There are a few oddballs in there but, they get the job done."

"Do we have any new information?" I asked moving the files away.

He shook his head, his short, sandy hair got in his eyes and he scowled at it, his wife liked him to keep it longer then he was used to after twenty years in the service. "No," He said, looking back at me. "I came in to let you know that the plane will be ready at 1800 hours. Ranger sent in their company jet to get you and one of his men will be onboard to fill you in while you fly. They also have an apartment on site that you'll stay in while you're helping them out. He'll let you know what's going on, but I doubt you'll be doing much until tomorrow morning."

I nodded. "I'm already packed."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Make sure you do a good job while you're down there. I've done plenty of boasting these last few days about you. Ranger knows I'd only send him the best." He said sitting on the arm of the single chair in front of my desk.

"I volunteered." I reminded him.

He nodded. "Yes, but it would have needed to be you anyway. You're going down to help his team and do your tech work like you do for me here, but mostly they need a translator and you're the only one here."

I nodded. I already knew that. Ranger and his team had been having trouble with a high level FTA who only spoke Celtic. Normally not a problem, if all you need to do is grab your man and drag him back to jail. I didn't have all of the details yet, but it sounded to me like a new mob family was stepping on toes in the Trenton area. Ranger's FTA was the son of this new, Celtic based, Mob's leader and had disappeared as soon as he posted bail. Crime was on the rise, and neither side was getting what they wanted.

I was going down to help make communication between the two factions easier. I hadn't been to Ireland since I was a small child, but I'd kept myself fluent in not only Celtic, but Gaelic and Welsh as well. I liked keeping up on my homeland.

"I'll do my best." I promised him.

"I know you will." He stood to leave and left a few parting remarks. "Get back to us as fast as you can and try not to get shot while your down there."

Very helpful advice.

"Oh and Shilo" He added, peeking his head back into my office. "Play nice."

I smirked. "No promises there."

Mark drove me to the airport, after a small farewell diner with the rest of our team and we got there just in time to watch the small company jet land. Two men, both dressed in black, met us on the tar-mat a few moments later. I recognized them both from the file I had on RangeMan.

The first was a tall, well-aged man, with skin like the night. He was easily over 6 feet tall, bald, and built like an NFL linebacker. He shook hands with Mark, like they were old friends, and then Mark started introductions. "Shilo this is Ranger's second in command, Tank. Tank, this is our Miss Lowry, take care of her for me will you?"

I shook Tank's hand. "Just Shilo, please." I said and then I frowned at Mark. I could take care of myself just fine. "I'm looking forward to working with your team."

"A pleasure." He said quickly. Tank nodded to his partner. "This is another of our top men, Lester Santos."

Lester was much friendlier. He moved forward to take my hand, and pressed a quick kiss to my knuckles. "A pleasure indeed, we've heard only good things about you from Mark, hopefully you'll be just the push we need to make some headway on this case."

"Shilo is very skilled." Mark promised. "We were lucky to snag her when we did or her old man would have turned her into a Seal."

"An honorable position." Tank said, giving me another once over, which I took to mean he hadn't done a thorough background check on me. Anyone who knew me wouldn't agree that I was Seal material. Then again, files could be misleading.

"I don't think I'd have made a good Seal." I said honestly. "I'm better with computers."

"More like scary with them." Mark said. "This girl could hack into the pentagon and change the time of the president's lunch meeting if she really wanted too."

"Why would anyone want to do that?" I asked.

A pilot approached and announced that the jet was ready to take off whenever we were. Tank turned back to us and waved me ahead. "We must leave immediately, if you're all set. Your bag's have already been loaded and we'll go over case details on the flight back."

I gave Mark a quick farewell and followed both of Ranger's men onto the Jet. The Jet was comfortable without being plush. Cream and brown fabrics with dark hardwood details. We took our seats and buckled up, sitting in easy silence as the plane took off. Once we hit flying altitude, Tank motioned for me to follow and join him and Lester at a round table behind our chairs.

I took my seat opposite Tank, and waited for one of them to break the silence. Tank spoke first. "I probably should have checked before we took off, but you are fluent in Celtic right?" He asked. "Your file said you were born in Ireland, but you've lived in the states most of your life."

"That's true," I said. "I left Ireland when I was very young, but I still consider it to be my first language."

He nodded. "Good, the second thing I wanted to bring up is not related to our case, but it may be important for us speak about it now."

I nodded that he should continue. "Your father, Col. Lowry."

"He's not my father." I interrupted.

Tank nodded. "We know that, but he is the man who raised you?"

I nodded so he continued.

"Ranger and I, as well as the rest of our core team, have all had the chance to work with Col. Lowry over the years. He was a great field captain and now he trains some of the best teams our military has."

I nodded again. This wasn't news to me. I'd grown up traveling with 'Captain Lowry' and living on military bases surrounded by the men he was training. As soon as I landed on his doorstep, he'd had me training with his boys. I had all of the military training without ever actually joining the military myself. I'd done some undercover work with the special force, but everything was off record.

Tank continued. "You come very highly recommended." He said. "We know about some of your unofficial work and it's very impressive, but we also know of some of your unofficial antics. You've escaped court marshal twice and you have a juvenile record as long as my arm."

"Your point." I asked. I'd been a stupid kid and an impulsive young adult, but I knew my rap sheet wasn't half as long as some of the members of Ranger's team and besides a short trip to juvie I'd never been in jail.

"My point," Tank said. "Is that you don't follow orders, you break rules."

"Sometimes rules have to be broken." I defended. "You've both done Special forces in the past." I said, proving that I'd done my homework as well. "You can't tell me you've never thrown the rule book out the window and flown by the cuff of your sleeve."

Lester broke in. "That's not why he's pointing it out."

"You do comp work for Mark." Tank said, "But, you're clearly trained for field work. Why does he have you locked in an office when you should be on the ground?"

I snapped my mouth shut and had to give credit to Ranger; His men knew what to look for and had found my black spot in under an hour. "I joined Mark's team as a computer specialist." I said refusing to give them more. "I'm a hacker."

"You don't like to work with a team." Tank guessed. "What we gleamed from Mark is that no one in your current office can partner with you. You're a wild card, and a loose cannon."

"Your point?" I asked again.

"That's not how we work at RangeMan." Tank said, the authority in his voice reminded me of Col. Lowry and had me on edge. I'd never taken orders well. "We're going to need you in the field helping us root out these rat's so you can help us interrogate or negotiate with them. We have a close team, built on trust, and we won't risk you being in the field if it means one of our guys might wind up dead."

I nodded, I knew I had trust problems. I didn't always work well with others. I also knew when to set that aside and suck it up. "I am not unfamiliar with working as part of a unit." I explained. "I prefer to work alone, which is why I requested my current computer job. I will work with your team just fine and I will not be a danger to your men."

Tank seemed pleased with my answer, for the time being, and turned to face Lester, who had pulled out another file. He passed a photo across the table to me.

"This is our primary target." He explained.

The photo was of a man in his mid twenties with black hair and bright green eyes. He looked to be about 5'10 and was built wide in the shoulders.

"His name is Michael O'Donnell. He was pulled over a couple of weeks ago and given a DUI. Upon further investigation a large number of narcotics as well as a pair of unregistered weapons were also found in his car, not to mention that he was driving with an out of country license in a car with no registration. O'Donnell posted bail and promptly vanished. He is now also wanted for questioning in two separate murders.

We started looking for him last week and found ourselves in the middle of what feels like Mob business, although an Irish mob has never held ground in Trenton before. When you agreed to join us you mentioned that you had prior knowledge of this man? What did you mean by that?" He asked.

I passed the picture back and leaned back in my seat. "I don't know that man in particular. I said I knew the family. O'Donnell would probably count as the closest thing to a mob family in Ireland. Really they just have a lot of money, power, and old anger. The name O'Donnell has been stained with blood for generations."

It was the name that got me interested in this case, when Mark had mentioned that his friend in Trenton was looking for someone who had both field training as well as the ability to double as a Celtic translator. O'Donnell was a name I'd grown up afraid of and it was the reason I'd been raised in the states by a man who was better off training solders then understanding little girls.

Lester nodded and pulled another photo from his file. "We're not sure just how many member's of the family are in Trenton. For now it appears they are only in the area to do some business with one of our local families. We need to get Michael before they finish and leave the country."

He showed me another picture. This man looked similar to the first, but ten years older. Black hair and blue eyes, the family resemblance was overwhelming. "This is John O'Donnell; we believe he is Michael's youngest Uncle. We know at least three O'Donnell brothers are currently in Trenton along with some of their son's and staff, this is the only one we've identified and he appears to be calling most of the shots."

I kept quiet and listened as they told me about their first few encounters with O'Donnell's group. They'd all been short meetings and had ended with guns drawn. One of Ranger's men had been shot, but he was recovering. They'd come to a stalemate. More crimes were being reported, but no one was able to get at the O'Donnell's to question them and even if they had, so far no one had reported hearing them speak in any language but Celt.

All in all they had very little and just a week to bring Michael in before his bond was forfeit. It was after midnight when we finished speaking and I turned down the offer at a game of cards with Lester in favor of trying to get some sleep before we landed. Sleep didn't come easily. I found myself transported back to my childhood and the stories I'd heard from my mother and grandmother of the O'Donnell family clan. How they had sought for generation to wipe my family name out of existence along with others.

Part of me thought the idea was silly. Some of the oldest Irish names still held onto grudges that were hundreds of years old. I didn't even know why or when they had started to hunt us down. All I did know was that I was the very last of my family name. The massacre in my childhood home had seen to that. I'd only been nine years old. I didn't really care about why the O'Donnell's had left Ireland. I was however, hoping that by getting involved in this case I might find some of the answers I'd been searching for, and perhaps I'd also get some of the revenge I'd been plotting since the night I'd watched my home burn.

"Shilo?" … "Shilo, wake up."

I opened my eyes and sat up as Lester tugged on my sleeve. "We just landed." He said. "A couple of car's are waiting for us with a few more members of our team. Don't worry about your bag's."

I got up and grabbed my one carry-on bag. I never let my laptop leave my side. Tank and Lester led the way down the planes stair case and into the cool night air. A light breeze tugged at my hair, and the strands that had worked their way out of my braid brushed against my neck.

It was dark on the runway and I almost missed the small gathering of people waiting for us off to the side. Black must be a RangeMan thing. All three of the large SUV's waiting for us were black and, like Tank and Lester, everyone standing near them was also wearing black clothes.

I felt like a walking rainbow as we made our way other to them. My pants were black but I'd worn a lime green blouse with matching lime green heels. The color didn't match my dark red hair, but it brought out the green in my eyes, plus it had always been my favorite.

A man stepped forward as we reached the small welcome party and, as he dissolved out of the shadows, I recognized Carlos Manoso from his photo. He shook my hand and welcomed me to Trenton.

"Thank you for coming at such sudden notice." He continued. "We can't afford to waste any more time on this case."

I shook my head. "It was no problem." I assured him. "I hope I am able to help your team. Col. Lowry sends you his best and hopes you and your family are doing well."

Ranger nodded. "I'll send him my best regards." He said. "Your father's a strong man." I didn't bother to correct him, that Col. Lowry wasn't actually my father. I was more then positive he already knew that.

Ranger waved me over to the small fleet of black car's and introduced the people with them. Two were members of his team, both large muscled men, I only recognized one from my list of employees as another ex-military man called, Cal. The second was a younger man Ranger introduced as Razor.

When he motioned to the last car a woman stepped forward, melting out of the shadow's the same way Ranger had. Her skin was two shades lighter then her father's and her black hair was tied back in a ponytail that nearly reached her lower back. Like the men she was dressed in all black, straight down to black, spike heeled boots and I didn't miss the gun on her hip either.

I knew before he introduced her that she would be Ranger's daughter, Julie. She'd been in the file as a new member of the RangeMan staff, still in training, but there had been no picture. She was beautiful.

Pov Julie-

The gym was already abuzz with activity when I walked in at 6'oclock in the morning. Treadmills were spinning and a few of the guys were taking turns on the mats. Razor smiled at me on his way to the changing room, still dressed in his fencing gear.

"Morning," I greeted as I stretched and climbed on my own treadmill. I started off at a light jog, trying to clear my mind. Running was my favorite time to think, and lately we'd had a lot going on at RangeMan to keep the whole team running double shifts.

I'd only been helping out at RangeMan for a few months now, after convincing my dad this was what I really wanted to do, and this was easily the biggest case they'd taken on in that time. This new 'Mob' faction that was causing trouble, was escalating and we hadn't even been able to figure out what had brought them here.

I kicked up the speed on my treadmill and peeled off my t-shirt. My Uncle Lester snapped at one of the younger guys on his team for staring at me. Poor kid was lucky Ranger was already on 5. Causing distraction for his men was one of the excuses he'd use for not wanting me to join RangeMan in the first place. Really, he just didn't want anyone to shoot at me. Sooner or later he'd see just how much we had in common. I'd wanted to join RangeMan since I was 10 years old and Dad had saved me from a stalker who'd kidnapped me in an attempts to take over his life. That was probably the same memory that kept him from putting me out in the field.

I finished my run and stepped off the treadmill just as Lester challenged our second in command, Tank, to a match on the mats. I stuck around to watch, loving the back and forth that eventually ended with Tank winning and Lester grumbling his defeat. I cheered along with the rest of the spectators which only ticked my poor uncle off more.

"Oh come on Niña." He said pouting at me, trying to butter me up with the pet-name my dad and his core team called me. "You're supposed to be on my side. I'm family after all."

I passed him his water bottle when he stood up. "Tank's been coming to family gatherings since before I was born." I reminded him. "He's family too."

Tank laid a kiss on the top of my head. "Thanks Doll," He said. "Won't be long before you can wipe the floor with your uncle too, he's getting slow."

I laughed with him at my uncle's expense before kissing his cheek. "Love you Uncle Lester." I left the gym then, going back to my apartment on four to shower since the gym only had one changing room, and the boy's used it. I bumped into my only fellow woman on the RangeMan team, Stephanie, in the elevator.

"Morning Julie." She said stepping onto the elevator with me, smirking when she caught my sweaty, winded state. "Your father's rubbing off on you if you're getting up at the butt crack of dawn to go work out."

I chuckled. "Gotta prove I can hang with the boy's." I said. "It's the only way I'll get taken seriously around here."

Her smile faltered then and I saw recognition flash in her sharp eyes. It was easy to see why Dad had fallen for her, she was the only woman I knew who could keep up with him. "Do you want me to talk to him?" She asked seriously.

I shook my head. "No thanks Steph. Sooner or later he'll realize that I'm not going to give up on this."

She kissed the top of my head. "You really are your father's daughter." She said. "He's going to have a hard time when the boy's get older." I chuckled with her on that one. My younger, half brothers were already the spitting image of our father and got into just as much trouble as he had at their age. "Your Dad wants you in on the meeting this morning." She added when the elevator stopped on four. "0800 on five."

"I'll be down as soon as I clean up." I promised stepping onto the fourth floor and making my way down to the last apartment on the right. I bumped into the building's housekeeper Ella, as she came out of the apartment across the hall from mine and she smiled brightly at me.

"Morning Sweetheart." She said.

"Good Morning Ella." I said. "What are you doing?"

Ella was the woman who singlehandedly took the job of cleaning up after my father's men and kept their break room full of healthy things for them to eat and coffee when they pulled late nights. She was wonder woman. "I'm getting the room ready." She said. "Your father's got someone coming in tonight to help with the new case and she's going to be staying here during her trip."

"She?" I asked. "Who is she?"

"I'm not sure dear, he didn't say."

I said goodbye then and showered quickly, changing into my stander issue, all black RangeMan gear. Black t-shirt with RangeMan embroidered in back on the chest, black cargo's, black boots, black belt and gun holster. I even had RangeMan stitched in black on my black underwear. I brushed out my hair and pinned it up into a bun. A few of the guys had recommended I cut it so it wouldn't get in my way if I got into a fight, but I saw no reason to hack it off until I was guaranteed some regular field action.

I toped the whole look off with a few swipes of mascara and red eye shadow to add some color. I made it to the meeting right on time and walked in with the others as we all piled in around the conference table. Dad took the head seat with Stephanie at his side. Steph's RangeMan partner, Hector, was to her left, followed by the rest of the core team: Tank, Lester and our medic Bobby. Two more RangeMen joined us a moment later. The first was, Razor, one of our newer guy's, the other was one of my personal favorites, a big tough guy everyone called, Cal. Cal was big and scary with a flaming skull tattoo on the back of his baldhead, but inside he was a softie. I loved messing with Cal.

Ranger started the meeting once everyone was seated and started passing some things around the table.

"You all know that we've been looking to bring in a translator to help us with this latest case." He said. "Meet Miss Shilo Lowry." He continued nodding to the photo he was passing around. "She works with a security team in New York called, Liberty Security. The operation's fairly similar to our own. Her boss is a man I've worked with before named, Mark. He called last night to say that Miss Lowry has taken an interest in our case and is willing to provide her survives for us. She is fluent in Celt as well as having a background in Special force. He says she's one of his best people."

Bobby nodded to the sheet he was holding. "There's no list of a military background." He said.

"There wouldn't be." Ranger said. "She's not military; the missions she helped with were high class and off the record. She does have a military level training though and the unofficial rank of Second Lieutenant."

Tank let out a low whistle as he looked over the sheet he was holding. "She's Col. Lowry's daughter?" He asked. "I wasn't aware the Col. had any daughters."

"He doesn't." Ranger said. "Just his five boy's. Col. Lowry adopted Shilo when she was a child from Ireland. She's grown up here in the states with his family."

I took one of the sheets when it came around and found myself captivated by the story it painted of this woman. She'd been adopted after an accident had killed her family when she was only nine years old, but no details were included in the file. Her birth name was Connalay. The picture included showed a strikingly attractive woman with dark red hair and bright green eyes. She was twenty-four and had taken a computer job just over a year ago in New York after declining the option of joining Special Forces permanently.

"She's got a record." Lester pointed out. "A couple of court marshals that didn't stick."

I glanced down at my sheet again. The report mentioned several charges pressed against Shilo, as well as some she had pressed against others, but again no details were included. No doubt, Ranger had a copy of her full file in his office.

Ranger nodded. "She's got a juvenile record too, nothing serious. Most of it looked like standard vandalism, a couple of minor arson charges. She set fire to an old shed on Col. Lowry's property when she was fifteen, the record stated she was found roasting marshmallows over it."

Stephanie laughed. "I like her." She said. "She's got spunk."

"She's disobedient." Cal disagreed. "Are we sure she'll listen in the field?"

Ranger nodded. "Her records are no worse then half of the men currently employed here. I've spoken to some of her past commanding officers and, while they agree that she's a force of her own, they also praised her strength of will. I'm not too worried about it, but I may bring it up to make sure she's know's we wont stand for any of that here."

Ranger moved on then. "Tank and Lester are going to fly out in a few hours to go get her, they'll land tonight. Razor, Cal, I want you to come with us to pick her up. Steph and Hector are on watch duty tonight so Julie I'd like you to come as well. I think Miss Lowry might be more comfortable with another woman around."

I smiled and nodded along, glad for the chance to help outside of the office work I'd been doing. "No problem Boss,"

"I'll let you all know when they're getting ready to land so we can head out. Plan to be ready around 2100 hours."

The meeting turned away from Shilo then as Ranger and his guys bounced around idea's to catch our current FTA. I found myself distracted by the report I'd kept in front of me while I listened. It was exciting that Ranger was bringing in another girl for the team, but I was more interested in all of the things the report left out. What sort of accident would have forced a child across the country? And what hadn't Ranger wanted us all to see in the charges Shilo had against her. He usually brought in full reports on people coming into the company, but he also believed in respecting the privacy of his employees. He hadn't wanted us to see something specific.

The meeting ended and I followed the other's back out onto the work floor and let myself into my cubical. I had another stack of searches to run and rolled my eye's at the work I could have done in my sleep.

"You ok Tiger?"

I glanced up to find Bobby leaning against the doorway to my tiny cubby. "Yeah, I'm good." I promised, typing in the first name on my search list into the computer so it could start the work.

"You looked a little distracted in the meeting." He pressed, nodding to the copy of Shilo's file I still had on my desk. "She's hot."

I blushed, Steph, my dad, and the core team were the only ones who knew about my preference for women, and they only knew because I'd ousted myself at a family gathering last year by brining a girlfriend home, and I intended to keep it that way. No way the other guys here would take me seriously if they knew. "Aren't you married?" I asked shooting him a look I hoped he would understand meant 'drop it, shut up, and move on.'

He smirked at me, but played along. "She's too young for me anyway." He said. "I was just pointing it out."

He left then and I tucked my copy of Shilo's file away in one of my drawers, returning my attention to the screen, looking over the information that the computer pulled up. RangeMan had an impressive set of programs and I sometimes felt like I was prying at the personal information that popped up.

Four hours later I was halfway though my stack of searches and starving. I wondered into the staff room and found Steph there, giving the collection of fruit and whole-grain sandwiches a distasteful look.

"Hey Steph." I said, moving to her side to look over the selection for myself. "Don't see anything you like?" I asked.

"I was looking for sugar." She said.

I laughed. "You know Ranger doesn't let sugar anywhere near this room. You'd have better luck if you went straight to Ella's room. She usually keeps something fatty around."

She smiled. "Or we could go to the bakery. Want to come with me?"

"Sure," I jumped at the chance to get out of the office. "I'm almost done with my searches anyway."

Steph and I took the elevator down to the garage and she started walking towards my dad's personal collection of car's. She noticed the look I tossed the black RangeMan SUV that had been assigned to me and waved me to follow her.

"Not a chance Sweetie." She said. "Boston Cream calls for a special ride."

She beeped open the door's on my dad's newest porches and patted the seat next to her. "Come on."

I slid into the car and let the buttery soft, leather seat envelop me. "This is such a nice car." I said with approval.

"That's why I stole the keys from your father." Steph said with a smile. "I love this car."

"You stole them?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Not like he couldn't have stopped me if he'd wanted to." She said. "I took them straight off his belt." Then she grinned. "However he does tend to lose his focus when I kiss him."

I stuck my tongue out. "Didn't need to know that."

She laughed at me. "Why would that embarrass you?" She said. "I love your father very much. Where do you think your brothers came from?" She asked. "You don't still believe in the Stork do you?"

"Of course not." I said laughing with her as we pulled into the parking lot of Steph's favorite bakery, the Tasty Pastry. "I just don't like to think about it."

I got out of the car and followed Steph inside, where she fell into her 'thinking zone' going over the cases of doughnuts she had memorized. I let my mind wonder while she worked, wondering how a man who considered sugar to be one of the greatest sins on earth had fallen in love with the queen of pastry's herself.

Stephanie and my dad had hooked up about six months after my kidnapping when I was little. I still liked to joke that it was that incident, and more importantly, my part in the kidnapping, that was instrumental in getting them together.

I'd take credit for that every day of the week. They were prefect for each other, and it was also that time when I started to see more of Ranger as a child. The kidnapping publicly ousted my relationship to Ranger and if he wasn't able to hide it he figured spending more time with me would help protect me. I loved my mom and my stepdad Ron, but I'd always felt close to Ranger.

With everything going on between my mom and Ron right now I was glad I'd moved to Trenton and gotten away before the drama started. It was only a matter of time before their marriage ended; I'd seen it coming years ago. They'd been drifting apart and as I got closer to Ranger and threw myself into his line of work the relationship I had with my mom was also strained. She probably thought I'd moved to Trenton to punish her.

Stephanie placed her order and when the lady behind the desk passed her seven bakery boxes, at a dozen doughnuts each, I thought she'd lost her mind.

"Are you pregnant again?" I asked, remembering the constant supply of doughnuts Steph had demanded while she'd been pregnant with the boy's. In her mind being pregnant with twins had meant she was entitled to twice the number of doughnuts.

She grinned. "No, no more baby's for me. I'm bringing these back as a gift for the team. Everyone's been working so hard with this case, I know it's driving your father crazy."

"Dad's not going to eat one of those." I said.

She shook her head. "No, but I bet you Uncle Lester will eat five by himself."

"Probably." I agreed, taking half of the boxes and helping her load them into the car. "Too bad he and Tank already left." We each ate a doughnut on our way back to the building and we stopped to drop a box off at the Bond office that Steph and RangeMan still did skip work for.

When we got back to the office we snuck in with our pastry boxes and almost got mauled when the elevator doors opened on five. Clearly whoever was on monitors had announced that the sugar fairy was about to strike.

I helped past out pastries to everyone and laughed along with the guy's when Ranger came out to see why no one was working. Steph batted her eyes at him and defused his anger for a moment before he ordered everyone back to work.

Once the excitement of the doughnuts was over I went back to my cubby and finished working on my searches. It was all standard stuff. A few were people we thought might be connected to our O'Donnell case. A few were skips we were doing for Vinnie's Bond Office. One was background on a new office building who wanted us to do security for them. blah blah blah.

I turned in the reports and told Hal I was done for the day. It was only six and I had time to burn so I dug up diner in the staff room and headed back down to the gym. I found Steph and Hector on their way out for the night surveillance shift. We were keeping tabs on a few different locations trying to spot our FTA if he went out.

I wished them luck and Hector reminded me to work on my lock picking. I promised him I would. In the gym I went back to my treadmill, letting my mind wonder while the clock ticked on the wall. After an hour of running I went upstairs and treated myself to a long hot shower before wrapping myself in a towel and heading into my closest to try and decide what to wear. Since I would be representing RangeMan it would have to be black.

Finally I settled on a pair of black dress slacks and a black RangeMan shirt. I added a black belt and my gun along with a killer pair of black stiletto boots. Back in the bathroom, I brushed out my hair and redid my make-up, adding a few extra swipes of makeup for confidence, a trick I'd learned from Stephanie. Remembering how beautiful Shilo's hair had been I decided to leave mine down. After berating myself that this was not a woman I was allowed to flirt with I tied it back into a pony tail.

I headed back down to five and found the other guys already waiting. We lounged in one of the conference room's waiting for Ranger. We didn't have to wait too long. Ranger came to collect us and we piled into three separate vehicles and headed to the airport. Cal and Razor each took their own car while I sat in the SUV Ranger was driving.

It was dark outside and we rode in comfortable silence while Dad entered his driving zone. I liked to think on the treadmill, dad liked to sort his thoughts while he drove. Personally, I thought my place was safer, but whatever floated his boat.

We pulled into the dark airport and were allowed to drive our cars around back to the landing strip where the company jet would be landing. When we stopped, I got out to stretch my legs and we'd only be waiting a moment when a man came over to tell us our plane was coming in.

I watched with the other's as it landed and the impressive sleek, black jet came to a stop on the runway. The passenger door opened and the stairs descended. It was easy to tell the three passengers apart by their silhouettes. Tank came first, followed by Lester, and lastly the much smaller outline of our guest Shilo.

They stepped into the light above us and I felt my breath momentarily catch in my throat. Her picture hadn't done her justice. Her skin was pale and unblemished except for a sprinkle of freckles across her cheekbones. Her dark red hair was tied behind her head in a braid, but a few of the strands had worked themselves free on the plane ride and they brushed against her neck in the wind.

Ranger stepped forward when they neared our group and introduced himself. I stayed back against the car to watch for a moment longer while he spoke with her, enjoying my moment to stare at her unseen. When she spoke I had to remind myself that I had to keep a professional relationship with her. Her voice was like the sweetest music.

She passed a message along for her stepfather and I noticed the small frown on her face when Ranger called Col. Lowry her father. A few years ago I'd started correction people the same way when they called Ron my father. Ron had been very nice to me growing up and I knew that he loved me, but he wasn't my father.

Ranger introduced her to Cal and Razor and when he motioned back towards me I knew my chance to observe secretly was over and I stepped into the light. "This is Julie." Ranger said and I raised my hand to greet her trying to keep my face professional and friendly.

Pov Shilo-

She held out her hand and I worked to keep my face blank. I didn't have a good poker face, like the guys I worked with back in New York. I'd never mastered the standard issue military 'blank look.'

"It's nice to meet you." She said as we shook hands. Her skin was soft and left little tingles behind on my own skin when she let go. She smiled at me and I cleared my throat when I realized I hadn't responded to her greeting.

"Hi," I started lamely, before remembering that we had an audience. "I'm glad to be here." I continued turning back to face the small group of people. "I'll do my best to help anyway that I can."

We were just turning to the car's when Ranger's phone rang. He picked it up quickly and said, "Report."

He listened for a moment before flipping it shut and turning to the rest of us. "No time to get settled in." He said. "One of our teams has eyes on Michael O'Donnell. We'll attempt to pick him up right now."

I was ushered into one of the SUV's with Tank and Razor and we followed the others out of the lot. Tank had a headset on and was talking to Ranger as we drove.

"Shilo,"

I glanced to my side and Razor was handing me a bulletproof vest. "Strap up." He said. "Are you armed? I know you didn't have time to get to your bags."

I shook my head. "No guns, but I always carry a few blades on me." I pointed out first the knife in my boot and then one I was wearing on a harness under my shirt. The fabric of my blouse was loose and concealed the harness.

He smiled at me. "You're a knife girl?" He pulled up his own pants leg and showed me the massive knife in his boot. "Me too."

I unzipped my laptop bag and pulled out a smaller black bag I always kept with me too. It contained a small portion of my knife collection and Razor whistled in approval when I pulled out the belt of throwing knives.

He took one from its sheath and balanced it in his hand. "These are Shanghai throwing knives right?" He asked.

I nodded. I had six of the small blades all made of black steel with black grips. The ring on the end gave me deadly accuracy when throwing them and they were a personal favorite. I took the blade back and slipped it into the belt before clipping it on around my waist. "They were a Christmas present last year."

He laughed. "I need to meet your friends."

"Won't do you any good." I said. "I bought them for myself."

"Then we should exchange gifts this year." He said, looking me over. "If you're a fan of Japanese blades I bet you'd like a nice Tai Pan serpent knife."

I held out my hand, caught off guard by how easily we'd started talking. He took my hand and I shook it once. "Deal."

We pulled into a dark lot across the street from a bar called Wild Horse and met up with the others. Like Razor and myself everyone had donned bullet proof vests and some were checking over their weapons.

"Hal and Blaze are inside, they have eyes on O'Donnell, but he's got two men with him and the bar's crowded. We need to get him outside." Ranger said.

"I can do it." Julie stepped forward. "I'll go and order a drink, get him to talk to me. Maybe I can get him to try and take me home; then we can get him in the parking lot. Like Steph does."

Ranger shook his head. "No, you're still in training."

Julie looked like she was going to fight back, but Tank spoke up first. "Besides Tiger," He said flashing her a small smile. "Your dressed head to toe in RangeMan gear. Everyone in Trenton knows you, you look just like the Boss."

This was the first time I'd noticed that all of their black clothes were monogrammed with the word RangeMan in black thread.

"She's underage, they wont serve her." Ranger said, clearly stating that using Julie was out of the question. "You're not supposed to be drinking." He added, just to Julie.

Julie rolled her eyes. "I'll be twenty-one next month; you can't honestly tell me you never drank while you were underage."

"What if we just send in two guys and they ask to speak with them outside. Then we jump in and take them all." Cal suggested.

"To messy," Ranger said. "These guys are fast to pull the trigger if they sense a trap. We'll wait in the lot, try to grab him when they leave."

We took positions around the bar, hiding in shadow's and behind car's. I was covering the back entrance with Razor and Julie. We took up position behind a pair of large blue dumpsters and did our best to watch the door for any sign of movement while holding our breath.

"This thing reeks." Julie commented after twenty minutes of silence.

Razor chuckled. "I've hid behind worse."

"I should go inside." Julie suggested again. "I've done distractions before, I could get him outside."

"No." Came Ranger's quick reply through the earpieces we were all wearing.

"Doesn't change the fact that you're too recognizable." Razor reminded her.

Then I had an idea. "What about me?" I asked no one in particular, knowing they would all hear me through the earpiece anyway. "I'm not in RangeMan black."

Razor and Julie both turned to look at me. Razor was looking over my outfit, Julie was looking at me. I held her dark brown eyes for a moment before she nodded. "It's a good idea." She agreed.

"It could work." Razor said nodding along, "Without all of the knives she'd look like everyone else in there."

"No one would know her either." Julie added. "She's only been in the state for an hour and a half."

"Have you ever done something like this before?" Ranger asked over the earpiece.

I shook my head, before remembering that he couldn't see me. "I've never been the bait before." I said. "It can't be that hard."

"You're not a member of my team." Ranger said after a moment of silence. "I won't order you to go in there."

"I said I was here to help." I reminded him. "Even if I can't get him to talk to me, maybe I can get close enough to overhear something at the bar, something your boy's inside won't understand. I can't translate if I can't hear them talking."

"Come back to the truck." Ranger said. "We'll get you wired."

"I'll come too." Razor offered. "I can cover her inside. She won't be able to wear a vest under that blouse."

All three of us made our way back to the trucks and Ranger meet us there. I striped off my vest and belt knife while he spoke. "Tank showed you the picture of our target, yes?"

I nodded.

"He's at the bar, far left side. The two men with him are armed, they're his bodyguards, you're going to need to get past them if you want to make direct contact."

I nodded again. "I've got an idea." I looked at Razor. "I'm going to need your help though." Razor nodded and moved his vest under his shirt so it wouldn't be seen before adding his coat to hide the RangeMan logo. I adjusted my pants so my boot knife was hidden.

"Here" Ranger came over with a wire and I tried not to flinch when he grabbed my shirt. Clearly I didn't hide it well, because he stopped and raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't go in without a wire." He said flatly, making it clear he would not negotiate on this point.

I nodded, trying to brush off the instinct to move farther away from him. I didn't like people in my space, especially people I didn't know. "I'm fine." I assured him. "Just do it."

"I'll do it." Julie stepped up to my side and took the wire from her father. "Is that ok Shilo?" She asked me.

I nodded and hoped that the shadows from the SUV would hide my blush as her hands moved under my shirt. I shivered as she lined the mic up between my boobs and taped it in place, laying the wire around my side and clipping the rest of the mic to the back of my bra. She pulled her hands away from me as soon as it was in place and moved a few steps back. "I'll go back and cover the rear entrance." She said before moving off quickly.

Ranger nodded in my direction. "Speak; we need to check the microphone."

"Can everyone hear me?" I asked.

Ranger nodded and I got confirmations from both Tank and Cal, who were still watching the building.

"Don't take any unnecessary risks." Ranger said as I grabbed my coat and slipped it over my shoulders. "Mark will chew my ear off, if I loose you on the first night. If you're not positive you can get to him, don't blow your cover."

"I'll be fine." I assured him, handing him the earpiece I wouldn't be able to wear inside.

"What do you need me for?" Razor asked. "What's your plan?"

I smirked and looped my arm through his, pulling him in the direction of the bar. "You are going to be my date."

Razor opened the door for me and when we got inside, we stood in the doorway until our eyes adjusted to the dime lights and the smoky haze. The bar was lined with stools and tables of patrons were posted around the walls leaving the center of the room open for couples to dance.

Razor took my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor, he lead us across the room and then pulled me close enough so he could speak in my ear without us being overheard. "Over my shoulder, the two men in the corner are our guys from RangeMan."

I glanced over his shoulder and locked eyes with the two men sitting there. They were both white males, the first was nearly as big as Tank, with buzzed brown hair. The other was leaner, shorter and thinner with shaggy blond hair. Both were dressed in black, not very conspicuous, although no one seemed to be paying them any attention.

Razor spun us around. "Now at the bar, the three men to your far left are our targets." Again, I peeked over his shoulder and scanned along the bar. Michael O'Donnell was easy to spot. He looked just like his photo. The men on either side of him were your standard dumb mussel types. Both men were big with dark hair and wearing large jackets to hide their guns.

"Let's move closer." I said.

Razor spun us around and we worked our way to the edge of the dance floor. I pulled him with me towards the bar and sat down at one of the bar stools. I moved Razor close to my side, using him to block Michael's view of us.

A waitress came over and Razor order two drinks, while I leaned against the bar trying to hear what O'Donnell and his men were saying. Like Ranger had said they spoke only in Gaelic and it was hard to catch whole phrases in the crowded bar. A waitress approached them and the goon on O'Donnell's left ordered their drinks in English before turning back to Michael.

"Ceann amháin níos mó ansin dúinn a fhágáil."

I pulled Razor closer to me and translated. "They're not saying anything important. One of the bodyguards has just declared this the last round. He wants to leave."

Razor waited while someone spoke to him through his earpiece and leaned down to my ear to give me the word. "Ranger doesn't want you to blow your cover. We might have a chance at another distraction. Keep listening and see what you can get before they leave."

I nodded and turned around so I was leaning against the bar and one of my ears was lined up better for overhearing. Razor stayed close, blocking their view of me and keeping other people away from us. Michael and his men discussed the music playing and their distaste for it and Michael poked fun at one of his bodyguards for eyeing one of the waitresses.

I glanced around Razor's side and looked them over again. They seemed like average people, although they were a little over dressed. Michael's slacks were pressed and his watch probably cost more than the rent on my apartment.

The only thing that caught my eye were the matching set of bands worn by both of the bodyguards. Neither man wore any jewelry except for a thick band of silver on their right wrists. Pressed into the silver were identical family crests. I couldn't see the details from this distance.

A couple of minutes later Michael stood up and he and his bodyguards got ready to leave. That's when all hell broke loose. Three men came in the front doors all dressed up and toting guns. The first spotted Michael at the bar and called his name before firing his weapon into the room.

The everyday patrons of the bar started screaming and a few of them pulled guns of their own. Razor knocked me to the ground, pinning us against the bar and started speaking very quickly into his mic while he drew his own gun. I glanced around his side to see Michael and his men making a break for the back door.

I pushed past Razor and tore after them shouting at my cleavage so Ranger and his guys would hear me over all of the noise. "He's heading for the back door. I'm going after him."

I ran as fast as I could in the crowded room, leaping over other people who were lying on the ground and sliding across a table. I hit the back hallway at a dead sprint just in time to watch Michael's backside slip out the door. I pushed the back door open and raced into the ally. Julie was there, fighting with one of Michael's bodyguards. The other one was already down.

I raced towards them to help when Michael pulled a gun and aimed towards Julie. "Julie, gun!" I shouted, "Get down."

I tackled her, knocking us both back towards the dumpsters as Michael opened fire on us and his own man.

We hit the ground hard in a pile of trash bags and beer bottles, the wind knocked from my lungs as Julie's knee's came up into my gut. "Move," Julie pushed against my shoulder, to roll me off her as she grabbed for her gun, peeking around the dumpster to return fire.

There was the sound of car doors slamming and then the squeal of tires peeling out of the lot and I didn't need the curse from Julie's mouth to guess that Michael had just gotten away. I pushed myself to my knees, doubled over, trying to catch my breath.

"You ok?" I asked breathlessly, choking on the stench from the dumpsters.

Julie nodded. "Yeah, thanks for that." She turned to look at me and her eyes drifted back down the alley towards the building. "Dios" She said, her eye's going wide in fear as she locked onto something I couldn't see, leaping to her feet she called out. "Razor!"

I knew from the look in her eye that he'd followed me into the alley and pushed myself to my feet. I followed her, as my lungs shouted for me to stop, until we reached him and Julie dropped to her knees at his side. There was a lot of blood.

"Razor." She grabbed him. "Razor!"

"Check for a pulse." I said.

She put her fingers to his neck and he groaned at her touch, string slightly. I felt the relief from us both and moved to her side trying to asses were all the blood was coming from. I wasn't a medic, but I knew some of the basics. Julie was speaking with the rest of the team and I only caught half of it as she spoke partly in English and part in Spanish.

"He's been hit in the shoulder." I told her. "It's bleeding really bad; and there are a couple of slugs in his vest."

I pulled my shirt off and pressed it to the wound on Razor's shoulder, putting pressure on it while we waited for help. We didn't have to wait long. Ranger and Tank came flying around the corner a few moments later as Hal, Cal and Blaze came pouring out of the back door of the bar. They all had their weapons drawn.

"Cal, Blaze, secure the area. Tank, get the girls." Ranger's orders were followed immediately.

Ranger took my place at Razor's side and Tank pulled me to my feet and moved us both towards Julie. "Are you both ok?" He asked.

Julie's nodded and I flinched when Tank started checking my arm's for injury. "Where are you hit?" He asked.

I shook my head and moved back a step folding my arms over my bra. "It's not my blood." I told him, realizing for the first time that I was covered in dirt, garbage, and Razor's blood. I looked like something out of a chainsaw movie. "Razor's the one who got hit."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "You're both a mess."

"Shilo pushed me into the trash." Julie said. "She saved us. She knocked us out of the way, we're alright."

The next twenty minutes were a blur. Julie and I agreed that we didn't want to go to the hospital so Ranger made arrangements for us to be taken back to RangeMan headquarters and been seen by their teams leading medic, a man named Bobby. Ranger and Hal were going to go with Razor to the hospital and would keep us informed on his progress.

Tank gave me a spare black RangeMan shirt from one of their SUV's and then stood over Julie and I while we spoke with local police. We gave preliminary reports before Tank interrupted. Apparently RangeMan had friends in Trenton PD and they agreed to let us come in tomorrow to finish. Tank wanted us to see the medic right away and I was starting to shiver in the cold. Razor's blood was drying in my hair and making my skin itch.

Tank loaded us into one of the SUV's. "Bobby's waiting for you." He said. "I'm going to stay with Cal and see what we can get from inside. Welcome to Trenton Miss. Lowry."

Blaze got behind the wheel and we road in comfortable silence into the heart of Trenton. The RangeMan building was seven and a half stories high and as far as I could see there were no sign's identifying it as RangeMan.

Blaze parked the car in an underground lot filled with black RangeMan vehicles. "What's with all of the black?" I asked.

Julie chuckled. "Don't ask, Dad only ever dresses in black so when he started the company he made it the uniform. Everyone matches, looks professional and it lets us all dress in the dark without having to worry about finding matching clothes."

Blaze just shrugged as we entered the elevator and he hit the button for the third floor. "Never really thought about it before." He said.

In the light of the elevator I was able to get my first good look at Blaze. He was a fairly attractive man, probably mid twenties, with a sandy blond mop of hair. He had light brown eyes and I could see the top of an old burn scar on the side of his neck, disappearing down below the neck line of his shirt.

Ranger's medic Bobby was waiting for us in a small clinic type room. He ranted how we should have been brought back to him immediately and kicked me straight into a small bathroom to shower.

"Strip off those clothes and use the anit-bacterial soap in there. Scrub well." He said, shutting the door behind me. "We don't want any of Razor's blood to get in your wounds."

I striped and stepped under the warm water glad for the chance to wash the dried blood off. My arms were scraped up from hitting the pavement and I had a dark bruise forming on my hip where I'd landed on Julie's gun.

I remembered the moment of fear I'd felt as Michael raised his gun. He hadn't even cared that his own bodyguard was between him and Julie. If I hadn't reached her in time we all would have wound up in the hospital. I lost myself in my thoughts and was only brought out of them when the water turned cold and I started to shiver. I turned the water off and wrapped myself in a towel realizing my only options were either to put on my old bloody clothes or walk around in the towel that barely covered my butt.

As if hearing my thoughts, there was a soft tap on the door. "Shlio?"

It was Julie. "Yeah?"

"I brought you some clothes." She said. "Your bag's are in Ranger's car, but my clothes should fit you alright for now."

I cracked open the door and blushed when her eyes briefly fell to the top of my towel. She passed me a pair of black sweets and a black RangeMan shirt. "Thanks."

She nodded. "No problem."

I pulled my panties back on and was glad to see that the sweat pants fit. I was a few inches taller than Julie so they hung low, but at least I wouldn't have to walk around in the towel. The shirt was a different story. It would have been short on me to begin with, leaving an inch of my pale skin visible along the wait line of the sweats, but I was also a bust size larger so it left nothing to the imagination. My only choice was to put my gross bra back on or let everyone see my nipples stand out. Gross bra won.

When I finally reentered the room Bobby was working on Julie's side. She has a nasty patch of road burn where she'd hit the ground. Her left arm and side were the worst and she hissed when he rubbed on the marks with salve.

"You must have hit the ground pretty hard Tiger." Bobby commented. "What happened?"

I sat down on a stool near them. "My fault," I said. "I pushed her down."

"You did this?" He asked.

"No," Julie interrupted. "She pushed me out of the way when Michael opened fire on us. We'd both be in worse shape than Razor if she hadn't reacted so quickly. I'll take road burn over gun holes any day."

"Is Razor alright?" I asked, curious to know if Ranger had called while I showered.

Bobby nodded. "He'll live. He's got a couple of cracked ribs from the shells he took to the vest and he'll have to wear a sling for a while. He won't be happy to be out of the felid, but he'll live."

"Doc's keeping him overnight, since it's so late." Julie added. "My dad and the others should be back soon."

Bobby mumbled to himself while he worked and I sat off to the side waiting for my turn. Julie had pulled her hair up into a bun and the strands by her face were wet. Bobby must have ordered a shower for her too. We sat in silence for a while before I started to get antsy. I was about to say something when Julie beat me to it.

"Thanks again Shlio." She said softly, looking up at me from under her lashes. "Michael would have gunned me down if you hadn't been there watching my back."

"I don't really think he was aiming for anyone in particular." I said, tearing my gaze away. "I think he was just trying to distract everyone while his get-a-way car pulled up."

She shrugged and Bobby told her to stop moving while he worked on wrapping her arm. "It was stupid of me to try and stop them without back up." She continued. "Three on one, I didn't stand a chance."

"You already had one down, when I got to the alley." I said, remembering the fallen bodyguard, who'd been at her feet.

"I got him before they knew I was out there, caught him in the arm with a stun gun. The second man was faster them me. He disarmed me and kept me from getting at Michael."

"If you stunned one, we might finally have someone in custody that we can get answers from." Bobby said, trying to cheer her up.

Silence fell over the group again and I was looking for a way to change the subject. "Why do all of the men call you Tiger?" I asked Julie. "I noticed that most of you guys go by nick-names."

"It's because she's fierce." Bobby said. "Once your trainings done, you're going to be unstoppable." He added, a note of pride in his voice as he smiled down at Julie.

Julie rolled her eyes. "No it's because my dad didn't like them calling me Hotrod."

Bobby chuckled. "Give your old man some time." He said in a way that made me think they'd had this conversation before. "You're his only daughter." Bobby continued. "It's going to take him some time to get comfortable with the idea of people shooting at you."

Julie looked over at me and smiled when I meet her eye. "Really," She said. "It's because of my tattoo."

She grabbed the hem of her shirt and winced when she pulled on her raw arm. "Remind me to show it to you sometime ok?" She said, letting go of the shirt. "Later, when I can raise my arms."

I nodded and Bobby had us switch seats. I didn't have nearly as many cut's as Julie, but Bobby wanted to make sure they were all clean so there was no risk of infection after my contact with Razor's blood. He reasured me that Razor didn't have any blood transmitted illnesses, but he'd send off a sample of my blood for testing just in case.

Bobby was dotting my cuts with salve when the door to the clinic flew open and a woman with brown curls and bright blue eyes came storming into the room. She was fuming mad and the smaller man who followed her in looked mad too. She moved over to Julie's side and then tossed Bobby a glare.

"Why didn't anyone call to tell me she'd been hurt?" She demanded. "We just got back from our watch and the guys in the lobby said Razor's been shot too. What happened?"

Bobby nodded. "They ran into some trouble on the way back from the airport."

"Cal and Blaze had eye's on Michael." Julie explained farther. "We tried to tag him at Wild Horse." She went on to cover everything that happened from the time they picked me up, to my volunteering to go in the bar, and the shoot out followed by our fight in the alley. When she mentioned me pushing her out of the way both the woman who'd come in and the man with her turned to look at me.

"Your Shilo?" She asked.

I nodded and jumped when Bobby started tugging on the edge of my shirt. "Lay back." He said. "You've got a nasty bump on your side."

I laid back and flinched when he ran his fingers over the bruise which had already started to swell. "Did someone kick you?" He asked.

"No," I tried to sit back up but he pushed me back down.

"Stop moving." He said. "I want to make sure you haven't damaged your hip."

"I'm fine." I said. "I landed on Julie's gun when I pushed her down."

Bobby chuckled. "It's a mark of honor then." He said.

"What I want to know." The woman with the brown hair said. "Is what you were doing on your own. Why didn't Ranger have someone partnered with you? We work in pairs for a reason."

"Razor and Shilo were with me." Julie said. "Then they went inside, I was just watching the back door. Things got out of hand. You know how fast this stuff can hit the fan."

She nodded, still looking like she wanted to shout at someone. I was getting ready to ask who she was when the man at her side, moved forward and offered me his hand. It was odd trying to shake his hand while I was still laying down, but the odd angle let me get a look at his face before I let the shock of what I saw get through.

His skin was darker then mine, though not as dark as Rangers and his brown hair was cropped short. He was about the same height as me, but the thing that stuck out the mostt were the two teardrop tattoo's below his eye. Old gang marks. There were other tattoo's on his arms and one along the side of his neck, but I didn't stare long enough to see what they were.

"Mi nombre es Hector." He said.

I didn't speak Spanish, but I knew enough to get his name. "I'm Shilo." I said. "Nice to meet you, Hector."

The woman approached me then and shook my hand as well. "My names Stephanie." She said. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Ranger's wife." She continued. "Hector here is my partner. Thank you for protecting Julie tonight. We really appreciate you coming down here to help us with this case."

I smiled at her warmth and then dropped my eyes. "I'm sorry about Razor." I said. "I should have known he'd follow me into the alley." I guess I was a little out of practice at working with a partner.

She brushed it off. "He'll recover."

Bobby interrupted her then, giving me the all clear. "Your both going to be stiff tomorrow, Shilo if that swelling get's any worse you call me right away. There's a phone in your room with all of our numbers in it for you to use while you're working with us. Now I want you both in bed. Shilo, don't sleep on that hip."

The mention of bed made me realize just how exhausted I was. It was almost 4 in the morning and my adrenalin was wearing off fast. Julie wanted to stay up until Ranger got back but a glare from Bobby had her promising to wait until morning.

When we left the clinic room. I suddenly realized I didn't know where I was staying. Julie stopped by my side and read my mind. "I'll show you your room." She offered. "It's right across the hall from mine."

We rode the elevator to the fourth floor and she took the key off the hook to the last room on the left. "This one's yours." She said unlocking the door before handing me the key. "Dad will bring your things up when they get back. I'll have to give you a tour of the building."

I followed her inside and she showed me the small kitchenette and the beautiful bathroom. She told me about a woman named Ella who would come get my sizes tomorrow and fit me for a set of my own RangeMan uniforms.

She leaned against the counter and I watched her eye's droop. "You look beat." I said. "Let's both get some sleep and you can show me around tomorrow."

She tossed me a small smile and I felt my pulse jump a bit, she really was beautiful. "Alright." She said sleepily. "If I don't get out of here soon I'm going to crash on your floor."

I walked her to the door and her finger's brushed mine as she left. "Goodnight Shilo." She said, "Welcome to Trenton."

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Darkrose

This is my first story for the Stephanie Plum series. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a rearview and let me know if you're interested in seeing more.

Word count without the authors notes- 12,772