Chapter 2 – Greetings!

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Greetings! You wouldn't believe the stuff I've been up to. It's great!

I've spent the last couple of weeks in a job where I run around to shops finding bargains! A friend introduced me to it.

All I have to do is get my checklist and go to as many shops as I can and check prices and write them down then decide where the best place to shop is! And the lists aren't all that big either. I get maybe five items to find in a day, which means I can do pretty much anything. Of course I'm moving again soon, but I've got quite a bit of money saved and I can get a job almost any where now. My résumé is massive! And even though most time the job is crap; the pay is usually good, especially when you're willing to work all hours.

How are things at home? I hope the little shenanigans aren't driving you too crazy. Matt will be starting school soon won't he? Or is that next year? Maybe I'll stop by sometime. Next year that is. When I'm 18 and dad won't treat me so much like a little kid anymore, hopefully. Give Joe and the kids my love. Tell them I promise I'll bring them all something when I come back. You too mum.

Love D.

Stephanie read the letter through twice. Then again, and again. She couldn't find any hints that would giveaway where her eldest daughter had been living. It had no return address, though that wasn't a surprise, Darcy was always careful when she wrote. It tore Steph inside, her emotions were so conflicted. She desperately wanted her daughter back. The thought that D was out there all alone made her want to cry. Her daughter should be safe at home dammit! And it hurt so bad, that D had felt running away was necessary.

But then there was another part of her. The part that made Steph become a bounty-hunter, despite the hardships, all those years ago. This part understood why D took off. She didn't back Darcy's actions by any length, but she understood. It was that part of Steph that worried that D would accidentally let something slip and lead Ranger directly to her. That part of her that was angry, so angry, at herself for not be able to protect her baby. And it was that part of her that would go after D herself. Without Rangers help, if she ever received a hint of her whereabouts. She might trust Ranger with her own life and with the lives of her children. She might even still love him, but she would never again trust him to be just when giving punishments. His perception of bad or unacceptable behaviour must be skewed. She knew he'd had a rough childhood. Perhaps it had affected him more than what she'd originally thought? Bad childhood or not, what he'd done was unacceptable. She would never allow it to happen again.

This had happened when Darcy had been little, but Steph hadn't found out until D was older.

Apparently Ranger considered still being afraid of the dark at her age as unacceptable behaviour, even though it was common for other five year-olds. He believed that people should work to get over such fears as soon as possible. He also believed that to do so, you must confront your fear head on. Ranger loved his daughter; he thought he was helping her by teaching her the facts of life so she'd be stronger for it when she grew up. What he didn't count on was her obstinate nature. She was always such a stubborn child. Definitely a Plum trait. And when she refused to cooperate Ranger punished her, forcing her to do as he wanted. Rather than easing her off her nightlight Darcy was locked in a small room, with blackout curtains and shutters and the lights disabled. She was told that until she could sit without fear or tears in the dark room she would stay there. This proceeded several times a day for at least half hour periods. Fortunately Darcy was always quick to learn and soon could sit quietly and still in the room. Even though she was still terrified inside.

Unfortunately there were side effects to her treatment, as there always seems to be when a child is treated thus. The first, she'd learnt to hide her emotions. Steph often wanted to kick herself because of it. She'd assumed, like most others that D was just a very well behaved child. Maybe even a little shy, and of course, that she was just trying to emulate her much "beloved" father. People called it cute and adorable, but Steph always felt she should have known. After all, little children shouldn't share traits with hardened soldiers. It's unhealthy.

The second effect was the addition of being afraid of small enclosed spaces. It was a common enough fear, along with being afraid of the dark. With D opening her curtain at night, letting the light from the street lamp brighten her room, and leaving her bedroom door open so she wasn't enclosed, Steph never realized how bad it was for her daughter. She felt terrible. Awful. She so wanted her daughter to talk to her about her problems. But D never did.

And last, but certainly not least, D learnt to distrust her father. She started to despise him. And Steph believed, she began to look for reasons to spite him. Even as a little girl she'd act out as much as possible when with him. Her acts of rebellion had continued all these years, despite Ranger 'taking care of it'. Fortunately these rebellions had more to do with annoying Ranger and impeding any activity he intended to do rather than the self destructive types of rebellions. Mostly.

The emancipation and the drawn out disappearing act was the crème de le crème of a long string of In your face dad! gestures.

Steph would receive a letter every time D moved on to a new place. It was partly a reminder to Ranger that he had to start all over again in his perpetual search. But it had just as much to do with that as staying in touch with her Mother and to letting them know she was okay.

Steph read it once again, still not finding any hints. Then handed it to Joe, and she watched anxiously as he read it through and smiled to himself. The smile was probably for the "shenanigans" reference.

"What do you reckon?" Steph asked, biting her lip. A nervous habit she'd developed.

"If she's let anything slip I sure as hell can't tell" he stated flatly. Steph gave Joe a wry smile. Both relief and sadness coursed through her. He hadn't acted like a cop, which meant he couldn't discern any slips or hints either.

"I'd love to have her job," Steph stated on a sigh, lightening the mood, "all day shopping, everyday."

"Forget it!" he cried laughingly. "You'd have spent your pay before you even got it!"

Steph gave him a playful punch in the arm and picked up the letter, running her fingers across the near illegible scrawl. She'd give anything to hug her eldest daughter again.

She stood slowly, folding the letter gently. Joe stood as well, wrapping an arm around her waist and giving her a light kiss. They began making their way upstairs to their young children. It might have been well past their sons and daughters bedtime, but they were like vampires when a letter from D arrived. They were all too young to actually remember her, but Steph and Joe made sure that they knew they had a loving big sister. They told them stories about her and always, always read her letters to them.

Joe squeezed Steph tighter. He loved her with all his heart and cared for Darcy as if she were one of his own brood. He understood why Steph worried about Ranger finding D. It had taken all his strength, and Steph gripping his arm firmly, to hold him back from beating the man to a living pulp when they'd found out about the 'fear of the dark' issue. He burned with anger over it. Any respect Joe had had for the man disintegrated then and there. But what stung even more was they had no solid proof it had happened and to know that no matter what, despite everything Ranger would make sure he always had half custody of D.

Joe was snapped out of his dark thoughts upon entering Matt's bedroom. Admittedly it's hard to think when one is greeted with an extremely loud shout of "WHAT DID SHE SAY?"

In a matter of seconds the rest of the brood scurried through the door and joined in the cry. Except for Ellie who, having been in her crib sleeping soundly, was now wailing in the other room. Looking at each other and giving a single understanding nod Joe and Steph split. Steph sat on the edge of the Matt's bed; where the brood all sat eager to hear from D, and Joe left to calm the crying Ellie.

Steph smiled at their eager expressions and her heart swelled, before unfolding the letter to read it aloud.

Ranger had known the instant the letter had arrived. He'd had cameras planted around the outside of Joe's house ever since Darcy had started regularly sending letters there. Usually there was a month between the letters, sometimes it was longer. When Steph had first showed him the letters, he'd thought Joe might've had it edited before showing him. That's why he'd set up the cameras. So he could check it before they'd read it. It didn't take him long to realize that they didn't need to edit them. The content of the letters was basic, always following the same pattern.

Informing them about her last job. Well, the last 'official' job. Ranger suspected she was also getting money illegally. Probably using schemes and conning people.

Stating that she was moving again. Whether it was city hopping or state hopping he didn't know.

Asked a few questions about how their lives were going, despite knowing they can't send a reply,

And in most cases, a snide remark aimed at him.

He knew Darcy held a grudge against him. It had something to do with havinga normal family, though he had never quite understood what she'd meant. He assumed it was a teenage girl thing.

With a mental shake of his head he concentrated back on the screen in front of him. When Darcy had started running away Ranger had converted one of the spare rooms into a Situation/ Surveillance Room. The room itself didn't hold much; a few TV screens, a computer and laptop, a table and a bar fridge.

His eyes focused on the movement inside one of the windows. With a single click he zoomed in and enhanced the image. He could make out Steph's silhouette. Something in his stomach churned with desire. He'd always desired her, despite her uncanny ability to attract danger, and suspected he always would. She was his woman. There would never be anyone else for him. Ever.

Taking note of the silhouette beside her Ranger felt bile rise up at the back of his throat with angry jealousy. Joseph Morelli. Ranger's foe. The man who could freely love Ranger's woman. His hatred for the man was intense. But not as intense as the hatred Ranger held for himself.

It was his fault. He had sent Steph back to Morelli, even though she was pregnant with his child. He knew he could never be the man Steph needed. Wanted? Yes. Needed? No. Perhaps Morelli could. What Ranger hadn't expected was that they would thrive as a married couple. He never wanted them to thrive as a married couple. He hoped that the relationship would continue the way it had before they'd wed. A constant seesaw; one with Joe on one end and Ranger on the other. A situation where Steph would come running into his arms whenever Morelli stuffed up. He could deal with that. Cause then Morelli would only have her part time. Things hadn't worked out like that. Once they were wed, they were wed. He really should have known that Steph wouldn't cheat on Morelli, not after the disaster of her first marriage.

Then Ranger had assumed that by not letting Joe adopt his little Darcy that the connection between him and Steph would stay strong. But it hadn't, she became more wary of being alone with him. He hoped it was because she still loved him, but soon that hope faded. With each time she gave birth to a Morelli child, she became less and less something of Rangers and fell more and more in love with Joe. She didn't care for Ranger anymore, only for D and Joe and their family together.

It'd hurt more than anything he'd ever felt before. He reminded himself, at the time of this realization that he still had Darcy. He loved her. He cared for his Darcy, perhaps more so than he did his other daughter Kate. He knew this and accepted this as fact. Being a family man had never been part of his life's plan. Raised as one of six rowdy boys with an overstressed mother and absentee father had an adverse effect on him. It was one of the reasons he never did relationships, not even with Steph. He had had no part in raising Kate, and could find little likeness between them. But with Darcy, he had spent lots of time raising her, teaching her and he could see himself in her. In the way she acted, the way she spoke, the way she spite him. They were too alike for her not to know what would make him tic. To make him feel stupid, inattentive and foolish. That's why she had gotten emancipated. There would be no cops to follow her, flashing her picture about. No cops searching for clues. No legal leads he could follow. And the letters were also a reminder to him, that she could be anywhere and he would have to start searching over again. He wanted her to make a mistake, despite the odd glow of pride that she hadn't yet, to slip up and do something unwise, write something by mistake in a letter that would lead him to her, so he could bring her back and feel the fulfillment of finishing a mission.

She was his daughter after all, the greatest thing his life and he wouldn't give her up lightly.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE:]As Travellinggift noted I've called Ranger's other daughter (the one actually from the books) Kate when her name in the books is actually Julie. It wasn't deliberate, when I first wrote this story years ago the book that revealed Ranger's daughter's name had not yet been released (that or I hadn't read it yet…). So in my story her name is Kate. Also, as you've probably noticed D isn't in this chapter at all, so I would like to warn you now that I do quite often jump around between characters and I'll try to indicate at the top of the chapter or section whether it's D's POV or whether its set elsewhere (as I had complaints last time when I didn't indicate).

I DARE YOU TO REVIEW! If you don't like it FLAME ME. I don't take offense easily, so don't be shy!