Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Janet Evanovich, I just love to play in her sandbox!

Spoilers: Through 14

A/N: This is going to be a series of shorts which all take place during Just Life. They might be "between the chapter" chapters, or they might be events from another character's POV. They'll be titled by the chapter they follow from Just Life and the POV. You still with me? Make sure to read through the relevant chapters of Just Life before reading these or they won't make much sense.

Since these will mostly be from the POV of Ranger and the Merry men, I'll be including military lingo and some Spanish; the translations will be at the end of the chapters. Enjoy! And don't forget to let me know what you think!

The call came in around 19:30; hit and run on Broad Street. Normally, this wouldn't concern Rangeman; and it didn't this time, not until her name was mentioned. I was monitoring the police scanner, cursing my luck for ending up with the shit job tonight, trying my hardest to keep frosty. As soon as her name came across the waves, I was on the phone calling Ranger.

"Talk."

"Situation with Steph, Boss. Hit and run."

"Casualties?"

"Negative."

"I'm on it."

"Aren't you on a job?"

"Mind yours, Santos." He hung up.

I had to laugh. The man had it bad. He was in the middle of a fucking job and he was going to drive over there himself to see that she was safe. He could have sent one of a dozen men who were probably closer and not busy. That's exactly what he would have done a year, even six months ago. Lately, though he would never admit it, I think he just needed to see her with his own eyes. Ever since that Scrog thing, the man has been seriously overprotective.

I couldn't really blame him, though. Steph was an amazing woman. A man would be nuts to step back from her, even if she was seeing someone else. There was always a chance the other guy would screw up. I just hoped Ranger had the guts to step in if that happened. Lord knows, he's got his head so far up his ass he'd need a map to get it out.

I heard the cop's name come over the scanner and knew that he'd shown up at the scene to yell at Steph. I wasn't sure why she put up with it. Every time I saw him get in her face, it took serious effort not to break him in half. I knew the rumors about the Morelli men, and all of us here at Rangeman had an unspoken agreement that if he followed his heritage, it would only be a matter of time before he went tits up.

My phone buzzed on my belt. The caller ID said Tank.

"Yeah," I answered it.

"Anyone checking on the bomber?"

He'd obviously heard about the accident.

"Boss is on it."

"Thought he was on a job."

"He was."



Tank was silent for a moment.

"Lima Charlie." Then he hung up.

I shook my head. Clearly Tank understood what was up with Ranger, too. Our boy was seriously smitten.

A/N: Military lingo thanks to Wiktionary, watching too much NCIS, an army brat mom, and an ex-national guard father.

19:30- military time 7:30 pm

Frosty- alert, watchful

Tits up (in polite conversation, he would have used the phonetic abbreviation 'tango uniform') – killed, destroyed

Lima Charlie- phonetic abbreviation for 'loud and clear'