"Babe," Ranger said. "There's something we need to talk about before we get where we're going. You know that Joyce is Joe's wife now?"

I nodded my head.

"Good. She's gonna be at the compound. I know you two don't get along but we need her here to help lure Scrog to us."

I gritted my teeth Joyce Barnhardt, well Morelli, was my least favorite person. She was irritating as sand in your shoe, no she was sand in your panties, irritating. Deep breaths I coached myself, you can deal with her you have grown as a human being you can walk away from her no need to let her have the upper hand. I sighed; I had more work to do in convincing myself.

"Thank you for the warning. I will try really hard to be good." I said before I turned my head and looked out the window at the desert that surrounded us. A few hours ago we had turned off I-40 at Winslow and we'd been travelling on a little two lane highway that was in desperate need of repaving.

Ranger patted my knee, "Proud of you Babe."

I smiled at him and then returned my focus to outside of the vehicle.

The desert outside my window seemed to go on forever. Sand and hard packed clay mingled with scrub brush and juniper. It was desolate, and yet it had a beauty I can't describe. The high flat topped mountains that stretched for miles were like silent sentinels, their only duty to protect and oversee the valleys below.

I must have allowed the passing scenery to hypnotize me, because the sun was quite a bit lower in the sky when Ranger slowed the car and took a right turn onto a barely discernable track. Glancing around I tried to pick up any distinguishable land marks but could find none. The realization that Ranger must really know this area was sudden but all encompassing. How else would he have found the wagon wheel like dirt track we were now following?

Something though was bugging me, and it had been since I spotted Scrog in the bed Ranger and I had shared. How on earth did he know we were there? Something was going on and I definitely wanted answers. As soon as the thought crossed my mind my body was in action swinging quickly toward Ranger.

My sudden movement must have startled Ranger because his hands jerked on the wheel and I heard Tank mutter something under his breath.

"You told me that Scrog knew I was in Vegas. How did he know I had moved from Jersey to Vegas? Better yet, how did he know I was in Virginia?" I asked, well okay I demanded.

Ranger blinked once, twice before settling his face into his very familiar and completely unwelcome blankness. "We will discuss this later." His voice was firm and when I opened my mouth to push the issue he barked out. "Not now Stephanie!"

I continued to look at him for a moment before I bit my lip and looked away, hurt. In the deepest, darkest recesses of my brain doubt reared its ugly head again. See it said you're really not important to him. If you were anything more than just a pain in the ass duty he would share information with you. But no, you are not important so you don't need to know anything. I could feel my eyes start to fill with tears, so I closed them completely. Hunching my shoulders and turning my body in the seat until my back faced him. I wished at that moment, desperately for a girl friend to talk to.

I ground my teeth together I hated that I had let my guard down and that he had been able to slip past my defenses and kick me again. Okay so maybe I was taking it too far to heart, but I needed this little reminder that to Joe, Ranger, and all these men; I used to be and probably still was an incompetent pain in the ass. Maybe instead of pouting I should be grateful for the reminder of my status. Yes, I was a pain in their collective asses, and right now they wanted or needed to keep me safe but my reality was still the same as when I ran from Jersey to begin with. This time I swore to myself I would pay more attention and keep a tighter guard on my heart. After all when this ended with Scrog in a body bag if I and I suspected many others had their way; I would be returning to Las Vegas the land of the baking sun.

Tank leaned forward and put his face in the space between my head rest and the door. "Steph," he said in a whisper. "He will tell you later. Ranger doesn't want to scare Julie, he's angry that none of us caught it." Then he sat back again and left me to my thoughts.

Hmm, so maybe I still had a small, okay big problem with insecurity but in all honesty you can't expect something like that to just disappear. I heard Ranger sigh, and loosened my shoulders; I know that he and Tank were reading my body language which even I knew screamed upset. Taking a deep breath I worked on relaxing my muscles and adjusting my thought focus. Slowly I shifted in my seat until I was sitting with my back against the seat even though I continued to look out the window.

Ranger's hand rested briefly on my knee and gave a squeeze before returning to the steering wheel. I chose to interpret the gesture to mean he understood I was upset and we'd discuss it later.

As we came over a small hill I caught a glimpse of a house not very obvious unless you got this close. Ranger took a curve and suddenly there it was, built into the side of hill its true size well masked. The stucco walls were painted almost the same color as the dirt of the landscape perhaps just a shade lighter. Even the terracotta roof tiles seemed to have been deliberately chosen to blend in with the surroundings.

A garage door I hadn't noticed before opened and Ranger pulled in and parked. No one moved to get out until the garage door closed behind us. I looked around noticing three other dusty SUVs parked in the garage. I really hoped that this house was larger than it looked and had a basement otherwise we would all be tripping over each other.

I blinked and suddenly Lester was at my door opening it and offering me a hand to help me down. He pulled me in for a quick hug before letting go. "It'll be alright." He whispered in my ear.

Apparently my vulnerable feelings were on display for everyone to see.