Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers. Any other character is a figment of my imagination and any similarities to real persons is merely a coincidence. If the dialogue seems familiar it is probably either a summary or possibly even word for word from one of J.E.'s books 1-8. Any mistakes in citing the spot in the book or not citing are mine. The Beginning has a lot of content from books 1-8, if the dialogue looks like hers then it is probably hers.

Spoilers: For now books 1 through 8 and 12. The first two chapters have a lot from J.E. books included, either in summary form or actual word for word.

Note: The secret is out. This is a Babe HEA

"I called and talked to the editor of the Trenton Times. I told him I wanted information on the author of that article."

At this point I'd had enough of his drawing this shit out, "Out with it man! Just give it to us so we can deal with what you found out."

He glared at me but I stood my ground. Hell, this was Beautiful we were talking about. If there was another crazy after her I wanted to know so I could find the son of a bitch and neutralize him.

What Tank told us next had us all freezing in our tracks. Damn! Damn, Damn, Damn!

Chapter 7: The Stalker

Stephanie's POV:

I settled into the sofa as Ranger worked at his desk. I couldn't help but worry about the person who wrote that article in the paper. I bit my bottom lip and wondered if Tank had a chance to find anything out yet. Maybe I could make an excuse and go out and check with him. I looked over at Ranger and sighed. Busted! Don't ask me how he knew, but I knew the minute I looked in his eyes he did in fact know. I smiled weakly and he just shook his head and said, "Babe."

"I thought I might go and grab a bottle of water. You want one?"

"Have Tank come back with you Babe."

"Tank? You want to talk to Tank?"

"Is there some reason I shouldn't talk to Tank Babe?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

Suddenly he was standing in front of me and lifting my chin so our eyes met. I sighed, "How'd you know?"

"Know what Babe?"

I glared at him and he had the nerve to laugh. "It's written all over your face Babe."

I groaned. "I was trying to protect you. You're still recovering from this and I didn't think you should be worried I might have picked up another stalker."

He wrapped his good arm around me and covered my mouth with his. When he released my mouth he spoke softly, barely above a whisper, "I've already talked to Bobby, Lester, Hector and Ram. They were directed to speak with Tank."

I nodded. "That's why I wanted to talk to Tank earlier."

Ranger laughed. "Why am I not surprised. Okay Babe. They've had plenty of time to get some answers. Go get the waters and I'll call them in."

I reached up and kissed him before heading to the break room. When I got back the guys were already in there sitting around. Lester grinned and patted the arm of the sofa beside him. Ranger gave him a heated look and Lester paled before raising his hands in the air in surrender. I walked over to Ranger and carefully sat on his lap. He wrapped his good arm around my waist and nodded to Tank.

"I know Babe asked you to check out the articles in the paper. What did you find out?"

"I called the editor and asked him about the author. He told me he doesn't know who wrote the stories. No one knows. Seems when they came in this morning, the papers were already printed and distributed. The police were in and dusted for prints, but with so many people working at the paper it's slow going. I called the Chief and told him our concerns. He's agreed to keep us in the loop."

Something about the picture of my mom and grandma fighting with Angie and Bella was nagging at me. I picked up the paper that was still on Ranger's desk and took another look. I couldn't be sure because it was so small, but I thought I caught a glimpse of something. I raised my head and saw the guys watching me very closely. My eyes widened and I asked, "What?"

Tank shook his head, "We've come to respect your instinct Steph. What do you see little girl?"

"I'm not sure. The picture is so small. Is there a way to blow it up yet still keep the same quality?"

Hector nodded. Lester had been running the conversation in Spanish for him. At his nod, Ranger asked him to do what he could to increase the size. Hector took the paper and left the room. It would take Hector some time to blow up the photos and so the guys left to get on with their work.

Hector's POV:

I wondered what Chica saw in the photo. I made my way to my lab and picked up the magnifying glass. I held it over the picture to see if I could pick up on anything. I shook my head. There was something here that caught her attention but I couldn't see it. I got to work and carefully blew up the picture so it was larger, yet still kept the quality. I had just put the final one in to finish and cleaned up the lab. When the timer dinged I took out the photo and looked. Holy Hell! I raced with the photo in my hand to Ranger's office.

Stephanie's POV:

Ranger was finishing up for the day. It had only been a few hours since we came down here, but I got him to agree to taking it easy today. We were getting ready to head back up to the apartment when there was a rapid knock on the door. Ranger called, "Enter."

Hector came in with the photo in his hand and bypassed me and handed Ranger the photo. Ranger took one look at the photo and the expression on his face said it all. I'd hate to meet this Ranger in a dark alley. He looked at me and motioned me over. I walked over and stood beside him. He held the photo so I could get a good look at it. I gasped. This was totally unexpected. I looked up and met Ranger's gaze, "Do you know who this is?"

Ranger nodded. I shook my head, "Why would he be behind this?"

"I don't know Babe. But we need to find out."

I nodded. "Do you want me to go talk to him?"

"Not until we have an idea of what he's after Babe."

"Okay, so how do you want to handle this?"

"I'm going to put a shadow on him and see what he does. How would you like to do some delving?"

"You want me running the programs on him?"

He nodded. "I think that's what we need to do right now."

"Okay. Can I use the laptop in your office on 7?"

"It's all yours."

We made our way up to the penthouse and Ranger went into the kitchen to see what Ella had left and I went into Ranger's office and picked up the laptop. I carried it through to the den and sat down on the floor, setting the laptop on the coffee table. I had the first program up and running when Ranger joined me. He was carrying a platter of sandwiches and a couple of bottle waters. He set the sandwiches so they were in reach for both of us and handed me one of the waters.

Ranger indicated some papers lying on the coffee table. "What's this Babe?"

"Those are all the names I could remember. I figured I'd run them threw the search programs too and see what shows up."

Ranger put his hand on the back of my neck, "Proud of you Babe. You caught the bit in the photo and you've got good instincts here as well."

I looked up at him and he placed his hand on my cheek and ran his fingers back and forth. "I just hope this turns out well for us. I don't want you to get hurt protecting me."

"We'll find the answers Babe."

I nodded. After awhile Ranger put his legs up on the sofa and lay back. His eyes closed and I continued working while he slept. His hand was rested on the back of my neck. I was nearly at the end of the list on the first search when I found something. I froze for a minute not believing what I was seeing. But then I looked again and there it was. Damn! How could I have missed this all those years ago? As if he was in tuned to my thought wave I felt Ranger's hand move on my neck.

"What's up Babe?"

"I found something."

Ranger sat up gingerly and leaned forward to see what I had found. "Damn Babe. That's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"I was motivated."
Ranger chuckled. He pulled out his phone and a moment later I heard him say, "We need you on 7. Same group from my office."

A few seconds later we heard the ding from the elevator and Tank, Bobby, Lester, Hector and Ram walked off the elevator and into the penthouse. They joined us in the den and Ranger motioned for them to be seated. Ranger waited till they were all situated and then he said, "Babe found something. I called you all up here so you could see what she's found."

I turned the laptop around so they could see for themselves the information I'd come across. Their responses although varied, conveyed the same message. Lester said it best. "Hot damn Beautiful! You cut right to the fucking elephant in the room."

I took that to mean I found the boogie man who was probably my newest stalker. Ranger put Hector and Ram on the target. Ram looked through my notes and copied several of them to take with him.

Stalker's POV:

I smile as I look over my handiwork. I'm pleased with the outcome. The response was outstanding. I couldn't believe my stroke of luck when mom Plum and Grandma Mazur took Angie and Bella Morelli out to the parking lot at the hospital. I'd been planning this for years. Ever since that day...I smiled. I needed to focus and play nice for now. Soon I could start the turn. By the time I got done with that bitch she was going to regret ruining my life. I'd make sure she regretted it all. I had all those aspirations and she ruined my fucking career with her vindictive actions.

Ram's POV:

Hector and I made contact with the target. Now our task was simple. Follow him and make sure we didn't loose track of him. If we failed, there wouldn't be a rock big enough to hide us from Ranger. Where Stephanie was concerned, failure was not an option.

Hector's POV:

I had placed my trackers. Although I was confident, I didn't plan to get careless. I owed Ranger my life. I would not fail to protect Chica. She was important to Ranger so she was important to me. In this I had to admit that she would be important to me even if Ranger hadn't ordered us to protect her always. She was a light in my dark world. I'd come to love and respect that light, and I wasn't willing to let it go from my world. I had visual on my target. I would not rest until this new danger was dealt with.

Stephanie's POV:

Ranger and I ate the dinner Ella brought us and Ranger indulged me by watching a Rangers game. After the game we headed for the bedroom. I made sure Ranger settled first and then I scooted in on his uninjured side. I lay my head on his chest and within minutes my eyes were closed. With everything that went on today, there were many thoughts racing through my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about my newest stalker and wondering what he hoped to gain by his actions. Right now he seemed to be firmly in my corner. I knew that wouldn't last. The one thing I knew for sure was that he was an ass. Talk about a lying face. I'd watched him practice his looks enough to know he had quiet a few. He might not be as bad as Morelli, but he was definitely no choir boy.

(This is a very short chapter. I will try to post more within the next couple days. I thought you all might like some clues to help you with who her stalker is. I have given you some clues and lets see if anyone can figure it out before I post the answer.)