Disclaimer: Anything recognizable is owned by JE. I'm just borrowing them for a little while, but do I have to give back Ranger?

A/N: Any mistakes are mine and this is has not been beta'd. I couldn't remember the names of Mary Lou's kids, so I made some. I do this strictly for fun. I'm not familiar Adams County, Pennsylvania area. I just used Google to find farm land in Pennsylvania.

Chapter 1

Since I became a bounty hunter, I've had more than my fair share of uncomfortable situations. Take today for example, Darrell Foster, decided not to show up for his court date. My cousin, Vinnie, assigned me to return him to the system. On paper it looked like an easy capture. I mean, he probably got busy and forgot, right? Wrong. Darrell is a 350 pound bald man that has a passion for stealing ladies underwear from department stores. The sales girl at Victoria's Secret caught him stuffing panties down his pants. Apparently, this is a long standing tradition for Darrell and he has collected quite a collection of thongs and G-strings. His living room had piles of underwear that towered over me. On the bright side, they cushioned my landing when he threw me across the room. Luckily, I was able to stun him. Unluckily, he was too heavy for me to carry out to my car, so I cuffed him and waited for him to come around. After about a half hour of negotiations, I agreed to buy him two lacy thongs and a pair of bikini briefs in exchange for him walking out to my car and riding to the station. I figured I could afford the cost of the undergarments since my capture fee for Darrell would be five hundred dollars. All in all, it wouldn't have been so bad if, my ex-boyfriend, Joe Morelli, hadn't walked up to me at the station and pulled a mint green thong out of my cleavage. In my hurry to get to the police station, I hadn't noticed it was stuck there.

"Cupcake, that's not wear these things are supposed to be worn." Joe laughed.

"Very funny." I deadpanned, praying that my face didn't show the embarrassment that I was currently feeling.

Joe Morelli and I broke up three months ago and neither of us have any intentions of getting back together. We finally realized that our history together was more of a bad habit that an actual relationship. We make better friends than lovers. He recently began dating Tina Freeman, my niece Mary Alice's elementary school teacher. His mother loves her, but Grandma Bella hates her because she's not Italian.

I left the police station after promising to mail the undergarments to Darrell later this week. I decided to that I would run by Wal-Mart later this week and buy the cheapest underwear I could find. It's not like I promised to buy him expensive panties. Why should I spend my hard on money buying him expensive panties? Right now all I wanted to do was grab the pint of Ben and Jerry's Cotton Candy Ice Cream from my freezer and sit on my couch and watch Ghostbusters for the millionth time. I've watch that movie so much that I can say quote every line from the movie. You would think that I would be tired of it by now, but I find it comforting.

So that's how I planned to spend my Saturday night. Instead of going out with my single friends, like most people my age, I was staring into my pint of ice cream saying Bill Murray's lines with him, contemplating my life. Over the last few years I have had more than my fair share of bad situations. I've been kidnapped, tortured, shot at, and don't get me started on the number of times that my car and apartment has been bombed. But despite of everything, I love my job, and I do what I do because I feel like I'm doing a little part to help make the world a better place. I have no plans to quit bounty hunting anytime soon, but I should eventually start looking into a career where I wouldn't end up cover in garbage almost every day. Maybe I should call Ranger and see if he would let me come back to Rangeman and run searches part-time. It would be nice to have a least a little steady income and the insurance package with come in handy with all my disasters.

Ranger, (Sigh) is actually Ricardo Carlos Manoso. My friend, Connie introduced us when I black mailed Vinnie for a job as a bounty hunter. He is a former Army Ranger and currently the Cuban Sex God that stars in my fantasies on an almost nightly basis. Ranger gives new meaning to the phrase 'bad-ass'. He's had the most delicious mocha-latte skin. It's hard to resist the urge to lick him when he's near. Women, and probably some men, want to take a bite out of him. I don't like to kiss and tell, but I've sampled the goods and there are no words to describe just how great he is in bed. I don't admit this to anyone, but I'm in love with him. Unfortunately for me, I am a relationship type of girl and he's told me on more than one occasion that he doesn't do relationships. He's told me that he loves me 'in his own way'. Ranger is the master of applying pressure, mixed signals, and sexual frustration.

I am drawn from my musings by the sound of the locks on my apartment door tumbling. Most women would be terrified at the realization someone breaking into her apartment. Not me, I should replace my door with a revolving one. Apparently, I'm the only person in Trenton that cannot break into my apartment. Lord knows the criminally insane have no problem breaking in.

"Hey, Ranger." I say as I shove a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth. I knew it was him because of the tingles on the back of my neck. If I hadn't felt those tingles, I would have been hiding behind my couch by now.

"Babe…..Stephanie….." Ranger said as he ran his hand through his recently short hair.

Oh My God! I thought as I sat up straight on the couch. First of all, Ranger only uses my first name if it's something really, really bad. Second, Ranger never has nervous gestures like running his hands through his hair. Whatever this is, it has to be bad. Whatever mission that he's about to go on must be extremely dangerous.

"When do you have to leave and when are you coming back?" I asked, trying to mask the fear in my voice.

"It's not a mission. Tank and I were down at the down at the police station returning Travis Barroni to the system, when a call came in. I told Morelli that I would come by and pick you up." Ranger explained.

"Ranger, what's going on? Why did you tell Morelli that you would pick me up?" I asked as every possible bad thought runs through my head. "I don't have another stalker, do I? I haven't brought in anyone dangerous in months." I stand up and began pacing. "Oh my God! Did Scrogg escape from prison? That's it, isn't it? He's coming back after us, isn't he? I'm not going to a safe house. I won't let you lock me away." I rambled.

"No, Babe, it's not Scrogg. There's no need for you to go to a safe house." Ranger stated, as he walked over to my couch, sat down, and pulled me into his lap. "Stephanie, I need you to calm down, so we can talk."

For the record, in the history of the world, no good conversations have ever started with 'we need to talk'.

"Just tell me." I pleaded afraid of what I might hear.

"Babe, while Tank and I were at the station a call came in from the Adams County Sheriff's office in Pennsylvania." Ranger explained.

Adams County? Why does that sound familiar? Oh, that's right. That's where my best friend Mary Lou's husband, Lenny, takes their kids every year. Lenny has a cousin that has a small farm there. He and the kids take a trip to visit his aunt and uncle for a week every year in the summer. It's a tradition that Lenny's father started when he was a child. He likes the father/son bonding time and it gives Mary Lou a chance to unwind without the kids. This year the kids had obligations so Lenny chose to go by himself, promising Mary Lou that she I could take a small vacation away from the kids later on in the year. The oldest, Mikey, just turned twelve and has junior high football practice all week. Tommy, the ten year old, is the Burg's paper boy and takes his job very seriously, not trusting any of his friends to fill in for him for a whole week. Lenny and Mary Lou's youngest, Danny started Tae Kwon Do this summer and he didn't want to miss his class that meets twice a week.

I was lost in thought when I realized that Ranger was still talking. "I'm sorry, Ranger. Could you repeat that?"

"The Adams County Sheriff's Department called the Trenton P.D. There was a farm accident on Lenny's uncle's farm. Lenny was working on a piece of farm equipment that was used for cutting hay. The heavy piece of equipment fell on him." Ranger explained.

"Is…is he going to be okay?" I stammered.

"Babe, when Lenny didn't return to the house for dinner, his aunt went to the barn to look for him. His aunt thought that Lenny might have lost track of time working and didn't realize that it was time for dinner. When she got to the barn, it was already too late. The Adams County coroner said that by his estimation Lenny had probably been dead over an hour. Morelli requested that he be the one that informs Mary Lou. He thought that it might help hearing it from a friend. We thought that it would be a good idea if you were there when Morelli told her, for moral support. Tank is going to call Morellli when we head over there. That way we can all arrive at the same time

By this point I was crying so hard, that Ranger was nothing more than a blur. My heart was breaking for Mary Lou. She and Lenny began dating when she was fourteen and he was sixteen, but we had both known him our entire lives. And now Lenny was gone.

"Babe, I know this is hard, but you need to be strong for Mary Lou. I called Ella on the way over here and asked her to pack an overnight bag for each of us. Mary Lou will probably need you tonight and if she doesn't have a problem with it, I can stay on her couch. You be strong for Mary Lou and let me be strong for you." Ranger offered.

I quietly nodded, as I stood up. Ranger stood up beside me and wrapped his arm around my waist, and guided me out of the apartment. After locking my door, he led me to the elevator where he wrapped both arms around me on the ride down. Just outside of my building, Tank was parked in the SUV, which was idling. Ranger rode in the back seat with me, with his arms around me in a gentle embrace. By the time we arrived at Mary Lou's I was able to collect myself. There was another Rangeman SUV parked on the street waiting and Joe pulled up right behind us.

"Why is there another Rangeman SUV here?" I asked.

"I called Bobby while you and Ranger were in your apartment. I thought it might be good to have a medic on standby." Tank explained. "Lester is here, too. Ranger will call us if you, Mary Lou, or the kids need us."

Joe opened the back door to let me out. "Cupcake, I know that Mary Lou is going to appreciate you being here for her." Joe said as he gave me a quick hug.

Ranger, Joe, and I walked up to Mary Lou's front porch. As Joe rang the doorbell, all I could think about was that in the next few minutes Mary Lou and the boys lives were about to change, drastically.

A/N: I've had this story in my head for a while now, but had trouble making myself want to write it since this is sort of based on my family. My father died the exact same way 14 years ago. Only instead of my aunt, it was my grandmother that found him. I've learned that coping with death is something that you get through, but not necessarily over. Even fourteen years later, I can't watch the movie that I was watching when I got the phone call that my father had died on our family farm. I'm not sure how often I will update this story. My goal is one chapter a week, unless I find time to write more, but I will finish this story. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I really get into a story and then it gets abandoned, but I also understand that life gets in the way and sometimes it can't be helped.