Ranger's POV

"Urgg" I can't help but groan and curse the person that is calling right now. I only got home half an hour ago and I am dead on my feet. 78 hours without sleep, tracking some asshole all the way to Detroit, where we were finally able to put the cuffs on him. Blindly I reach for my phone on the nightstand, swipe across the screen to answer the phone and put it to my ear. "Someone better be dead."

There is a small silence, before the female on the other end answers in almost a whisper "Not dead per-se."

My eyes fly open, instantly alert by her tone, I swing my legs over the edge of the bed on relax and within seconds I am across the room at the chair where I dropped my clothes when I got in. "Talk to me!"

"I shouldn't have called you…" Her voice is full of regret.

"No! You should have. If you are in trouble, I rather you wake me than me finding out over my morning coffee."

"Don't you mean grass juice?" She teases.

"Babe" Is the only answer I give her, knowing it will be enough to bring her back to the subject at hand while I get dressed.

"Ok...okay I...well you see, I was tracking Ramirez...again..and he sort of…"

"He sort of what?" I ask, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in attention and a stone plummets to the bottom of my stomach. This cannot be good!

"Well he sort of died."

I freeze, while pulling yesterday's pants up my legs. Don't judge me, I have had worse during my time in the army. "Come again?"

"He died...he jumped the fence, or at least he tried to and sort of rolled over... I even started laughing when I saw his fat ass stumble, but then he landed awkwardly and well...now he is dead." I have no response to that. Only Steph manages to render me speechless. Some would say that isn't hard to do, since I don't talk much on my best days, I am a man of actions not words, but she just manage to make me lost for words. "Ranger?"

I shake my head and pull my pants up all the way. "Text me the address. We will be there shortly." With that I hang up on her and dial Tank.

"Someone better be dead" My best friend and second in command growls.

"That is what I said" I muse. "And someone is actually dead. Pick you up in a few." Tank doesn't actually live on site. He owns a house two blocks over. Some might say it isn't far, but for him it makes all the difference to separate work from his down time.

"Kay, I will wake the others" He responds, just when the text from Steph makes my phone vibrate. I hang up on Tank without uttering another word and finish getting dressed. On my way down to the garage, I read Babe's text and barely suppress a sigh. Newark.

Thankfully Lester, Bobby and Hector are already waiting in the SUV, when I join them, and within seconds we are peeling out of the garage towards Tank's place. When I divulge the address, everyone is cursing Vinnie three ways to Sunday. That guy has a way of bailing everyone out, consequences be damned. That is why we spend three days searching for our Skip in fucking Detroit.

Thankfully it is in the middle of the night, so we make good time and 35 minutes later, we pull into the lot of the Old Hydro Pruf Factory which is located off the New Jersey Turnpike. The building was abandoned long time ago and during the day you can actually see trees growing out of the top. Steph's car is sitting in front of the building and I pull up the signal of the tracker I had Hec put into her phone, which she doesn't know about... yet. "On the other side of the building"

Few minutes later, we find her hunched down next to the lifeless body of her skip. Even though we have our flashlights on and make quite a bit of noise, thanks to the rumble on the ground, Steph doesn't notice us. The others stay back, while I approach Steph like a frightened animal. "Babe?" I say softly and she doesn't acknowledge me until I am only two feet away from her.

"I know I sounded amused on the phone, which was terrible of me... I mean the man is dead and I couldn't do anything about it. He died because I was chasing him, I even taunted him a bit and laughed when he got over that fence." Babe pointes behind her with her thumb without taking her gaze of the dead man. "He had a kid...or is it 'has a kid'? Who knows, there is now a child without a father."

"This is not your fault" I assure her and step closer. "Are you okay? I mean physically?" I spot a bit of blood on her almost bare legs. She is wearing an oversized black jumper with jean shorts and CAT boots. Her hair is pulled into a messy bun and is hidden under a black baseball cap, with the Rangemen Logo on it. She must have taken it from my office and part of me is happy she is spotting my company's swag.

"I am fine. Just cut myself when I jumped over the fence... so nothing bad."

"Bobby will look at it regardless." And with that the man in question appears out of nowhere beside us.

"Let's have a look Bomber." He smiles at her and reaches for her leg at the same time.

"Let's call the cops" Mentally I prepare for another long night ahead.

"Thank you" I nod at the Detective in charge, hand him my card and get into Babe's car. After it was determined that she was indeed fine, Bobby, Hector and Tank left, leaving Les and me to deal with the cops and making Steph see that this wasn't her fault. Something that will take at least a dozen doughnuts, a hot shower and sleep.

The sun is high in the sky when we finally make it back to Haywood. "I am sorry I woke you. I shouldn't have called you, but I panicked."

"Don't even worry about it" I tell her and mean it. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for her, well expect to admit my real feelings for her. That is a can of worms neither of us is willing to open.