Disclaimer: See chapter 1

AN: HUGE TISSUE WARNING ON THIS ONE. HIGH ANGST! I cried writing it so I expect you guys will have some tears based on the prior 2 chapters. I promise it gets better after this one.

Thank you so much for the reviews and comments. It means a lot when people say that felt the emotion enough to have a reaction. Love it or hate it. So on we go to our last stop on Diesel's tour.

Our next stop was Joe's office at the TPD. I saw a picture of a little girl with Stephanie's blue eyes and Joe's Mediterranean skin tone and hair. She was cute, looked about a year old. Stephanie was standing behind her. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. Next to it was their wedding picture; I noticed Stephanie had the same smile in both pictures. I was such a fool. Joe was doing paperwork when Diesel spoke.

"Cute kid, too bad she died a month after that picture was taken. She had brain cancer. She woke up one night screaming from the pain. They rushed her to the hospital but it was too late. She spent the last couple of days of her life in a medically induced coma due to the pain. The tumor was causing too much pressure. Stephanie fell apart, she wasn't the same after you died but this devastated her. She felt like everything she touched was tainted. She's withdrawn into herself. Bobby talked her into counseling, she sees a therapist twice a week after her suicide attempt. It was a good thing Joe came home that night. Half the time he goes to Terri Gilman's place. Stephanie knew about it, but never cared enough to try and stop it. She put all her love into that little girl. She named her Carla Rose Morelli. Joe wasn't thrilled but he was undercover on a case with Terri when she was born. Nothing he could do about the name."

Holy hell, she named her kid after me and my grandmother. I swallowed hard and said, "She's lost so much. I really thought he'd be better for her. Why did all this happen to her? She's the kindest, most loving and giving person I ever met?"

Diesel shook his head, "Who knows why fate deals so much to one person. You know there's a saying, 'God doesn't give you more than you can handle' but for Stephanie that isn't true. She's struggling but doing her best. Her family hasn't been supportive. Her grandmother died a month after you. Stephanie gave her the biggest, most elaborate funeral the Burg ever saw. Valerie is constantly calling her for a loan because she married that Albert Kloughn. Not much of a lawyer but treats her well. They had triplets to add to the two from her first marriage. All girls, Alberta, Helena and Edna, born six months after your death. She can't afford groceries so Stephanie just gave her an allowance of $5000 per month to help support the family. She set up a trust fund for each of the girls. The money from Carla's was taken and divided among the five of them."

"What about her parents?" I asked.

Diesel grimaced, "Frank hasn't been the same since he served in 'Nam. He's been suffering from PTSD. Eventually he committed suicide after Carla died. Couldn't take it anymore, after the funeral he went into the garage and shot himself in the head. Helen drank herself into a stupor every day. Valerie went over to do her laundry one day after her washer died and found Helen dead on the kitchen floor in a pool of Wild Turkey. The autopsy report indicated alcohol poisoning. She drank herself to death, she blamed herself for pushing Stephanie to marry a Morelli."

"Surly her in-laws supported her," I desperately continued.

Diesel bitterly laughed, "Are you serious? They never liked her, Bella cursed her after Carla died. Angie Morelli has done nothing but tell everyone how worthless Stephanie is and how good a man her son is to tolerate her. Any other man would've divorced her. She has no problem telling everyone how useless Stephanie is - she can't cook or clean. The thing is Stephanie is a pretty good cook, loves to use her crock pot."

"What about friends?" I couldn't believe everyone abandoned her.

Diesel was shaking his head. "Mary Lou eventually stopped trying. Stephanie was severely depressed after you died and just laid there until Joe got her pregnant. Then after the suicide attempt she spent three months in a mental hospital. Mary Lou was turned away every time she tried to visit. She did what she could to help Steph with cooking and cleaning but she had her own family to care for and her own reputation to keep clean. After your death she wasn't allowed to keep in touch with Connie or Lula. They were her only true friends outside of Mary Lou. The Morelli's and her mother didn't approve of Connie because of her association with the Bonds Office and organized crime. It reflected badly on Joe. You have to understand that Lula wasn't from the Burg and a former hooker, which was never an acceptable friendship. She wanted Stephanie to stand up in her wedding but Joe wouldn't allow it."

"You said Bobby talked her into counseling. My men didn't abandon her, did they?"

He watched Diesel blow out a sigh, "Some did, and they blamed her for your death. They watched her become more withdrawn and spend less time with them and her friends. They felt she had betrayed them for the Burg. She spent some time at Rangeman but not a lot. She felt the anger directed at her, sometimes she'd sneak up to the penthouse and stay the night holding that ring from your safe and the dog tags. She was really only there for board meetings and voted the way Tank did. They hired a disabled vet to run the office. It was a smart move. He's good and helped the business grow. The company is even more successful."

I nodded as I watched Joe answer his phone. I watched his eyes harden as he gritted out, "You can't be serious." A few seconds later he slammed the phone down. He ran out to his POS Crown Vic yelling to get all available patrols over to his house because Stephanie was in danger. We sat in the back seat as Joe drove home; the car came to screeching halt. We watched in horror as shots were being fired by someone in a black Escalade. It was as if it happened in slow motion. We saw Stephanie walking across the lawn, totally unaware of her surroundings. We watched in silence as her body jerked when every shot hit her. I heard myself screaming "No" as we ran behind Joe and heard the sirens. Her gorgeous blue eyes open, unseeing as I heard her whisper, "I'm coming to you now Carlos. We can finally be together."

We heard the Escalade's tires screeching down the street, shots being fired between the occupants and the police chasing them. We watched as the police questioned a grieving Morelli. He explained he received a call from an informant who stated the Killer Cuts were going after her to stop his investigation. We watched as they covered her body with a sheet, the paramedics could do nothing to help. Terri showed up to comfort Joe. The Morelli's came over and could only say 'good riddance' when Joe complained her dying words were of me.

I watched Tank, Bobby and Lester arrive, the grief clear in their features as well as shock. Valerie showed up, her only family. She began to scream and sob over her sister's dead body. It seemed her sister and my best friends were the only ones who cared that an angel was taken today.

It was humbling to hear her dying words were of me. I knew I couldn't let this come to pass. Diesel took my hand and we landed back in her apartment where he said, "Now you know what happens if you say those words. What do you plan to do Batman?"