Chapter 10

11 months since Ranger left.

I woke up with someone pressed against my back, holding me. My first thought was that he was finally home. That everyone had been wrong and I was right to wait. My heart started to beat against my chest, but something wasn't right. There was no tingle in my spine or flutter in the pit of my stomach which usually told me he was in the room, let alone pressed up to me in bed. Then I remember the incident with Lester and I stamp down any hope and try to keep the panic from building.

"I didn't know you missed me that much, cupcake."

Fuck, Morelli.

I rolled onto my back and slid away from him across the bed, looking at the ceiling the whole time. I turned on my side and put Ranger's pillow back in my arms between me and Morelli before I glared at him. Quite a feat having just woken up at 5am.

"Get out of Ranger's bed." I said, my heart rate climbing for different reasons now.

"I've asked you that before and it never worked." Joe said with a smile.

"I didn't ask. Get out of Ranger's bed. Get out of his apartment, my apartment till he comes home. You have no right to be here. Get out or I'll call the station and get someone here to make you leave."

"No one at the station would come and make me leave. Would you calm down and talk to me for a minute?"

"How did you get in here?"

"I told the guy watching the monitors on 5 that I had a search warrant for a suspected kidnapping. Your mother made me do it."

"Bullshit. You never listen to your own mother, let alone mine."

"You stopped taking her calls and she's worried."

"Bullshit, again. She's pissed at me and wants me to go back to my own apartment and away from Ranger."

"Steph, there is no Ranger to move away from. He's gone and you need to do something to accept that."

"You don't know that. No one has given me any kind of proof. The last thing I got from him was a letter saying he'd be back and that's what I believe. He's never lied to me. Which, absent or not, is more than I can say about most of the people in my life."

"I never lied to you about important stuff," Morelli said with a pained look on his face.

"Get out. I don't want to or need to talk to you. If I'm looking for a dishonest cop, I know where to find you."

"I am not a dishonest cop. I'm not dirty. I'm a good cop."

"Fine just a dishonest human being then. Get out."

"You need to get out of this haze that you're trying to live in. It's not healthy and more than just your mom is worried about you. I don't want to see you hurt or in pain but Ranger is not coming back. He died on his mission and there was no one to send word back. It's been almost a year since anyone has even heard from him."

"I got my letter six months ago."

"Fine, but he still hasn't gone this long without contacting you or Tank before now. He's gone and you need to move on."

"Even if that were true, moving out would not be my first move and I sure as hell would not be moving back towards you. We're through and have been for a long time. Now I want you out of here and if I can't make you leave myself, I'll call Tank and then Eddie and hopefully at least get you cited by the department for falsifying a search warrant." Truth is I know I could make him leave but I would rather not have to touch him or mess with it. He doesn't know me anymore and I would kind of like to keep it that way.

"I'll go when I'm ready. I didn't falsify any warrant; you're man downstairs is just too stupid to ask for it."

"He's new and still learning. That doesn't make him stupid. I promise it'll never happen again." I rolled over and pushed the com button for Tank's office. No answer. I got up and walked around to Morelli's side of the bed, (No, the side of the bed Morelli was on) to grab my cell phone, but it wasn't there.

"Nice outfit." Joe said through gritted teeth. I was wearing Ranger's shirt and silk boxers. It was my nightly uniform of sorts. Ella bought me extra boxers since Ranger only ever had one pair.

"Stop checking out my ass and get out."

"Cupcake, you need to calm down. I am not asking you to take off or marry me, just go shopping with your friends or have dinner with your family or something. You need to have people around you who care about you and this isolation is unhealthy."

"I have people and family around me. Every time I see them I'm told that I'm crazy and need to get over myself. Last time I had dinner with my 'family' my mother tried to have me committed or something. She invited a shrink to dinner. The people who believe me are all around me and I am choosing to spend my time with those who don't want to try and convince me of something that they don't even know is true."

I walked out to the kitchen and pushed the call button for 5 on the other phone. Morelli was walking out after me shaking his head. Bobby picked up.

"What's up Steph?"

"I need Tank. Now."

"Are you ok? I can be up in a minute."

"I'm fine. I just need Tank. Is he here?"

"Yea, he's in the gym. I'll have him up there in a few."

"Thanks Bobby. I'll see you later." And I hung up. I crossed my arms over my chest and stood with my back to the counter. "This is your last chance to leave on your own. I don't care what Tank does to you after he gets here."

"I'm just trying to talk to you."

"No, talking involves listening which you refuse to do. I'm not going to give up on him when there is no reason for me to believe that he's gone. There is no body and no letter telling me he died. Absence does not mean death. The government would have contacted me."

"I care about you cupcake. I don't want you locked up in some building with a bunch of ex-army guys you barely know."

"I know them better than my own family. They look out for me and they give a shit about what I think and say. They don't ignore me or try to tell me how to live my life. We're a family."

Just then, Tank walked into the apartment. He had Ranger's set of keys.

"We look out for our own Morelli. You might want to wait for an invitation before you come barging into this building again. Max knows who you are now and won't be fooled by you again. Now, you need to leave."

"Tank, I just came here to talk. I'll leave when we're done." Morelli's eyes were tight and his arms were crossed over his chest.

I looked at Morelli again and thought about all the things that I could do to hurt him. He had no idea what I'd learned from the guys while I was living here.

I heard Tank laugh despite his best efforts and looked over at him. He was trying very hard to keep a straight face while watching me. It made me smile. ESP again.

"Morelli, if you don't leave I think Steph is going to end up in jail for assault or worse."

I stopped smiling and looked at Tank again. "Please, just get him out of here. I don't want him in my apartment."

"Cupcake, this isn't your apartment."

"But I thought you said that Ranger was dead, Joe? That means its mine right?"

"No, I think that just makes you a squatter."

"In case you wanted to know, Ranger left it to me should anything happen to him. I was given permission to use it until he comes home and the rights to it should he die. So I'm here no matter what you or any other Burg gossip-whore has to say. Good-bye Joe."

"Let's go Morelli." Tank said with all the humor now gone from his voice.

"You weren't married. You weren't even together!" Morelli shouted as Tank grabbed him by the shoulders, effectively pinning his arms down.

"Why do you care, Joe?" I asked and then walked away back towards the bedroom to change into my workout clothes.

"You know these guys already consider him dead, right? They're ex-army and know what it means when there is no communication for nearly a year."

I turned around and looked at him with Tank towering over him from behind. Tank's eyes were sad but he would never admit that out loud with Joe here. "That may be true, but they at least respect my choice to wait. They also know Ranger better than anyone and understand that when it comes to him, anything is possible. Tank?"

"See you downstairs Bombshell." Tank said as he picked Joe up by his shoulders and walked out of the apartment.