BPOV

Our second date wasn't quite the event our first one was, but I still enjoyed it immensely. It was the extraordinary company, I was sure of it. We decided to stay and eat at the restaurant. Steph wanted the buffet and I always indulged her.

We arrived home shortly before eight and it had just gotten dark out. I unlocked the front door to let us in, then turned the alarm off. I watched as Steph staggered over to the sofa and flopped down, resting her hand on her stomach, then she groaned.

"I am so full it's making me miserable. You shouldn't have let me eat so much."

"Not my fault if you stuffed yourself like a Thanksgiving turkey. You just enjoy food sweetheart. Nothing wrong with that." I chuckled.

"Right. I'm not moving from this spot for at least an hour, so pick a movie. We may as well watch something while this ton of food I consumed has a chance to digest some." She suggested with the smallest hint of a whimper in her voice.

"Okay, so what are you in the mood for? Action, comedy, or shall I call Les and borrow something from his 'special stash'." I remarked with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

"So not funny mister! If I'm watching anything like that, it would be starring you. Preferably live." She teased right back.

"That can be arranged my dear. All you have to do is say the word and I'll even dig out my old camcorder if you so desire." I told her as I made my way to the entertainment center. The only response I heard from her was a sharp intake of breath and was that a low moan?

I dug around through my DVD collection and came up with a movie I thought she would agree to watch, an older military style action flick called "The Hurt Locker". I held it up as I asked her, "This okay with you?"

"I don't remember ever seeing that one. What's it about?"

"It's about a group of military bomb specialists. It's pretty good, a little sad at the end though." I informed her.

"I don't know if I feel like something sad, even if it's only a little sad. What else you got?" She inquired.

"Let me see." I said as I once again began to dig through my collection. "I mostly have action and some drama, but I do have a few comedies." I grinned as my hand hit a particular one. I turned the cover to face her and asked again. "This is pretty funny, what about it?"

I was holding up my copy of "National Lampoon's 'Senior Trip'." I would never admit it to just anyone, but I was a huge fan of the National Lampoon movies, they were always so funny. They may have been campy funny, but still funny. She agreed to it so I started it up.

As the end credits started to scroll up the screen, she startled me by speaking.

"I can't believe you're actually a fan of these corny movies." I was surprised she hadn't dozed off during the film.

"I like goofy comedy, so sue me." I laughed.

She giggled back at me then stretched like a cat waking from a long nap. I supposed her muscles were a bit stiff after sitting still in the same position for just over two hours. "You need me to massage your muscles some, get the kinks out?" I offered.

"No. What I need is some ice cream. My dinner has moved on and made room in my stomach for dessert. What flavors of Ben & Jerry's we got laying around in the freezer?"

"I'm not sure. Let me go look." I told her as I did my own version of the cat stretch when I rose from the sofa. I walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge freezer. 'Crap,' I thought as I gazed into the small space. There were plenty of frozen vegetables packed inside, but no ice cream in sight. I dreaded having to inform her of the situation, but I took a deep breath, turned around, and started ambling back to the living room.

"Looks like you ate all of it last night Tiger, not a single carton left." I gulped as I waited for her reply.

"Damn," she grumbled. "I really, really want some ice cream. B & J's 'Chocolate Fudge Brownie' is calling my name."

I couldn't take it, her sad face always did me in. I gave her a hug and told her, "Okay, okay, I'll go to the store and get you some. Is that the only flavor you want? You know what, never mind. I'll just get you my special 'Plum variety pack assortment'." I smiled at my own joke.

"You must love me. Why else would you indulge me or put up with me for so long?" She smiled timidly, like she was afraid I would make her leave.

I kissed her on the forehead then turned to grab my truck keys. I muttered quietly to myself, 'Yes I do. If you only knew how much.'

I added over my shoulder as I opened the front door, "I'll be back as soon as I can. Stay here and lock up behind me." I heard her answer, "Yes sir." I could imagine her rolling her eyes as she gave me a sloppy salute. I threw one last "smart ass" back to her before I closed the door behind me and climbed into my truck. I was a man on an ice cream mission.

SPOV

I stood by the front window and watched Bobby's gorgeous tush swagger out the door and to his truck. My mind was suddenly filled with a mass of jumbled thoughts. Is he getting tired of jumping to my every whim? Should I be trying harder to find my own place and getting out of his hair? But he's been acting so kind towards me. Did I just push him away with that stupid comment and using the "L" word? Oh God! I'm not ready to be out on my own yet. I am slowly improving, but I am no where near ready to strike out alone.

I was so deep in thought that I almost didn't hear the loud crash of breaking glass from the rear of the house. I instantly went into panic mode, which led me remember the panic buttons hidden all over the house. Where was the nearest one? I couldn't use the closest one, that would be the alarm keypad by the front door; the lights flashing there would give that one away. Nor could I use the one by the entertainment center, that would lead me in the direction of the intruder. Now where?

I quickly made my way to the kitchen, in the opposite direction. I would have to use one of the two located there. I walked over to the refrigerator and opened the cabinet hanging right beside it. I reached up to the small piece of wood trim inside the cabinet and pressed the panic button hidden on the back of it.

Then to mask my movements I picked up a box of cocoa so it would look like I was going to make myself a drink.

I turned around and a scream got caught in my throat and came out as a shocked squeak as I looked into the menacing eyes of Joe Morelli. I took a deep breath preparing to let that previous scream come out, but before I had the chance to do so Joe clapped his hand over my mouth and squeezed. The next thing I knew was total blackness after I felt the unmistakable sizzle.

JPOV

I stood rooted to the spot for almost four hours before I finally saw the thug leave the house alone in his truck. Now was my chance.

I crept out of my dark corner and slunk against the wall along the back of the house. I tried to lift a couple of the windows but they all seemed to be locked up tight. Shit! This called for more drastic and noisy measures. I hated to have to do it this way, but I had no other option. I needed a way in. I was going to take my wife back by whatever means necessary.

I removed my jean jacket and wrapped it around my fist. I used the knowledge that my naval boxing career had given me to throw a quick jab through the glass of what appeared to be a bedroom window, right below the locking mechanism. I reached my other hand through the hole and easily unlocked and raised the window.

I climbed through and stood up to look around the dark room. It was a bedroom and I didn't see anyone. I crept over to the door and scanned the hallway, also empty. It appeared to me that this end of the house was deserted. The kitchen however was not.

I saw my wife standing with her back to me looking up into some cabinet. She reached up and brought down a box of what looked like hot chocolate mix. I had to make my move before she sensed someone was near.

Too late! She turned and spotted me. When she opened her mouth to scream I clamped my hand down over it, tightly so she couldn't make a sound. With my other hand I pulled a stun gun out of my pants pocket and gave her a dose of her own medicine. She had used these things on plenty of skips when she worked for her pervert of a cousin, so I thought, Karma bitch, what comes around goes around and your time has come!

I slung her over my shoulder and rushed to the back door. I closed it behind me after locking it back. I raced across the back yard to the next street over and to my hidden vehicle. I had no idea when the hooligan would be returning, so time was of the essence.

I tossed her into the back seat of my truck and rushed to the driver's seat to start my get-away. It would take less than a half hour to get to my hidden property. No one knew I had it and no one would even suspect I would own anything there. It was full of freaks and normal people were too scared to set foot in the place. I settled back as I drove, secure that we would never be found.

Soon I was pulling up to a run down shack in the woods. I hadn't heard a sound come from Steph for the whole trip, but I wasn't taking any chances on her waking up and fighting me; so I gave her another shot of the stun gun after I opened the rear door to take her out. I picked her up in my arms and carried her inside. Slinging her over my shoulder would not be a wise move if someone happened to be watching.

There was an old metal trailer about two or three hundred yards away from my shack. I could have sworn I saw the raggedy old sheer curtains move when I slammed the door to my truck closed with my foot. I would visit my neighbor later tonight and explain how my wife had fallen asleep on the way here. I hoped that would take care of my nosy neighbor.

I went over to the bedroom and deposited her on the bed. I then left her alone while I went back to the truck to get the supplies. Of course I shut and locked the bedroom door behind me. The bars I had installed on all of the windows would keep her in check for the time being.

I lugged in several sacks of groceries and a couple of bags of clothes for each of us. I was too tired to move after putting everything away, so I sat down on the holey couch to rest for a few minutes. I still hadn't heard a peep from the bedroom, so Cupcake must still be out cold. I decided to take a short nap. Any noise she made would surely wake me up.

I jolted awake a short time later. I glanced down at my watch to see it had been just over an hour and a half. I had a bad feeling in my gut about what had awakened me.

I jumped up off of the couch and ran to the bedroom. I jerked the door open and growled low in my throat at the sight before my eyes. She was gone!

BPOV

I had just finished paying for nearly a dozen different flavors of ice cream and was on my way back to my truck when my cell phone went off. I tossed the bags into the passenger seat and took my phone from the holder on my hip. I recognized the number right away, it was the Rangeman control room.

"Brown," I snapped after clicking the 'accept' button.

"Bobby, it's Woody. A panic button alarm just went off at your house. Is everything alright? Aren't you and Bomber there?"

"I'm on my way back. I was making an ice cream run for Steph. She's there by herself. Tell me someone is on the way." I tried to keep the panic out of my voice, but I wasn't sure if I was succeeding.

"Yea man," Woody soothed. "Ranger, Tank, and Les were already on their way to your place to visit with y'all. They should be less than two minutes out."

"Good. I'm on my way too. I'm like five minutes away though."

"Cool. Keep us updated man." He begged.

"Ten-four," I replied then hung up.

My heart was racing. This was one of the few times I would ignore traffic laws as I sped home. 'Please let her be okay.' I pled with whatever deity was keeping watch over her at the moment.

I screeched to a halt behind the Rangeman SUV parked in my drive way. I left the door to my truck open as I jumped out and ran up to and through the front door, which was wide open.

"Steph!" I screamed numerous times as I bolted around the house. I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard Ranger's commanding voice in my ear.

"Brown, stand down!"

"Let me go man! I have to find her!" I yelled back.

"Stop it!" He shouted. "She's not here." He calmly added.

"What?! What the fuck do you mean 'she's not here'?!" I screeched.

"Calm down before I have Tank knock you out with your own shit. Listen to me. Tank, Les and I have already looked for her. She's been taken. There's a broken window in the back. I've already called Hal and the forensic team in to gather any evidence. But we all know what has happened here. Think about it. You know who has her." Ranger explained in a firm but calming voice.

"Morelli," I growled. "I'll fucking kill him when I get my hands on him."

"Dude, we all want a piece of that action." Les stated. Tank and Ranger grunted their agreement.

I snapped my head to the right when I heard thundering boots. Hal and several of the guys had shown up. Hal spoke for the group. "What's going on? What's happened?"

"Bomber's been taken. We need a thorough work up on the entire house. Anything you find comes immediately to me or Ranger." Tank's booming voice answered.

Hal, Ram and Manny took off for separate parts of the house. They were not wasting any time. Every single man at Rangeman cared about Steph. She was like a little sister to most of them, the rest were secretly in love with her; just like me. It was time to tell her exactly how I felt. I just hoped telling her wasn't going to be a huge mistake.

For the next two hours the forensic crew scoured every inch of my house looking for something, anything that would help us find her. The whole time I paced a groove in the floor between the kitchen and the living room.

Ranger walked up to me, I was guessing he was going to ream me a new one. He surprised me when he didn't attempt to yell at me, but only wanted to talk.

"So far the only thing we found is the broken bedroom window. There's no trace evidence yet except a few blue fibers mixed in with the broken glass on the floor. It's not much I'm afraid."

"It's a start. Damn I wish I had talked to her about carrying a tracker. I know better than to try to force her, but maybe if I chose my words carefully I could have talked her into it. I know she's still scared of Morelli coming for her."

"With good reason by the looks of it," Ranger sighed as he rubbed his head.

"Headache?" I asked him.

"Yea, it's weird. It just came on all of a sudden. There is usually only one reason this would happen, and I sincerely hope that is not true." He said cryptically.

Then it hit me. There was only one person who could bring on an instant headache in Ranger. We both groaned when we heard the distinct popping sound that announced his arrival. Diesel.

The groans were replaced with sounds of relief when we noticed he was holding Steph in his arms. She appeared to be unharmed, just asleep. Diesel spoke softly as if not to wake her.

"She's fine, just knocked out and judging by the marks on her neck, it was a stun gun. Where ya want me to put her?"

"The bedroom down the hall. Follow me." I told him.

We quietly made our way to the master bedroom where he softly placed Steph on the bed, then we turned to leave.

Once we arrived back in the living room, all eyes were on Diesel. Every man's face was full of unasked questions. It was Ranger, ever acting as the commanding officer, who demanded information.

"Tell me everything. Do not leave out one single detail."

"Chill out Manoso! Give me time to take a breath." Diesel was known for having a large set of balls for speaking his mind around Ranger, most men would be scared shit-less to speak to him in that tone. Ranger, of course, was not amused. He just turned the glare he was sending Diesel up a few notches, willing him to comply or the consequences would be dire. I figured it was up to me to bring the testosterone levels down, so I brought out my soothing medic voice as I tried my hand at getting some information out of him.

"Diesel please, how did you find her? Where was she?"

"Pine Barrens, I found her through the Unmentionable network," he told us.

"Barrens? That place is full of weirdos." Tank chimed in.

Diesel snorted. "Yea, but they look out for each other like any other family."

"Just let him finish his story. My ass is starting to hurt along with my head," Ranger complained while Diesel just smirked.

The room filled with smiles and a few manly laughs with that. I once again took over the interrogation.

"So which one of them contacted you?"

"Elmer, the fire farter," Diesel chortled. "He called me after noticing someone new to the area carrying what he thought was an unconscious woman into the shack near his trailer. He recognized the woman as Steph because he had seen her there before and helped her when she was looking for Martin Munch when he was helping my crazy cousin that time. I popped in to visit Elmer and investigate. I looked into the barred windows of the shack and saw Steph in the dirty bedroom. After I made sure Morelli was out, I popped in and took her, then popped back here. I knew she had been staying here with you Bobby. Now can I get some water or something. My throat is sore from talking so much."

Hal passed him a bottle of water he was holding. I let him drink some of it before I posed the question going through all of our heads.

"So it was Morelli that took her?" Diesel just nodded and took another long drink of water, so I continued. "That's it. I'm killing that bastard!"

Diesel shrugged, lifting his palms in the air as he said, "I didn't hear that." Just then his phone beeped with a new text message. He looked down at the readout, grunted and spoke again, "Duty calls." With that he popped out just as fast as he arrived.

"That man gives me a cramp in my ass." Ranger grouched. #############