I made it back home to where the internet lives (oh, how I've missed thee). Finally I could look a few details up so that I could finish this chapter, at least after I cleaned my inbox out. Hopefully I've got everything back on track.

I still want to thank everyone for the reviews and encouragement! My email wasn't completely filled with just Spam because of you!

Any Characters you recognize belong to JE. I blame the mistakes on coffee flavored tequila. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

STILL JOE POV

I really wanted to sleep in on Thursday morning, but Bob had other plans for me. Since he woke me up and I couldn't get the physical out of the back of my mind, I took him for a run. When we got home, I showered and called Terri. We decided that I would pick her up in an hour and we would go to Great Adventure. A day of roller coasters and water rides sounded like just the break I needed. If I had to spend the day rolling in food or being grabbed by Edna again, I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't lose it.

We had a good day. The park was crowded, but everyone was there to have fun. We were on our way home after a long day when Terri got a text message. When she read it, her mood sank. "It seems that your information was good. There was a rat problem in the building. It's been taken care of. If you happen to see whoever it was that gave you the info, tell him it is appreciated."

I don't know how they took care of their problem, and I don't want to know. The thought that I might have had a hand in whatever happened left a bitter taste in my mouth. I pushed my feelings aside and tried to lighten the mood. "Hey, today is supposed to be about having fun. We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves."

Terri laid her head against my arm. "I know something we can do to enjoy ourselves." I broke several speed laws getting us back to my place.

RANGER POV

Friday morning I was talking to Tank when I got the message on my computer that someone was looking around files that they shouldn't be. I opened the program that mirrored the computer being used. I wasn't surprised to see that it was Morelli. I turned my screen so that Tank and I could watch what he was doing. Tank snorted. "Abruzzi? Does he really think it would be that easy to find something on you?"

I laughed. "He has to start someplace. It's not like you can just do a search on our system for 'Secret Government Shit' and get a match. Besides, if anyone left a file on the public drive that would get them arrested, they deserve to go to jail."

We watched Morelli shift through page after page of reports on Abruzzi. When he got to the end, all he would find were my own personal notes. I could recite them from memory. "Searched for subject to discuss Plum situation. Subject not located. Found next day after suicide." Suicide my ass. When I found him, he was ranting that he would kill that meddling bitch if it was the last thing he did. He never got the chance. Even though we weren't together yet, she was mine. In the end he begged me for mercy that I didn't have and would never give.

I opened my laptop and looked at Tank. "Is it too early to start messing with him?"

Tank raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"Sending him to the Boneyard."

"Man, that's cruel."

"It'll give him something to do and keep him out of my hair for a while. Besides, when was the last time he gave us an update on the status of his operation? We should be kept in the loop." I opened a chat screen on my laptop. It was logged on so that the user name wouldn't show. I sent a message to Morelli. "You'll never find it there."

There was a pause, then Morelli wrote back. "Who is this?"

Tank smirked. "Does that ever work?"

I told Tank, "There's always a first time." I typed back to Morelli. "Someone who knows."

Morelli typed, "What should I be looking for?"

I answered, "Nothing here."

I could imagine Morelli getting excited in his cubicle. I should bring up the camera to see if he's rubbing his hands in anticipation of getting some insider information, but I decide against it. Tank interrupted my musings. "When's the last time the boneyard was cleaned?"

"Junior did it two months ago when he started light duty." Tank nodded as the latest message came in from Morelli. "That's not exactly helpful."

It was my turn to smirk. I opened the camera so that I could see his cubicle. Turning to Tank, I said, "Time for a status update?" He laughed and walked out of the office.

I only got as far as typing, "You need to get access to the," when I heard Tank's voice announce, "Report." I watched Morelli jump about a foot out of his chair and quickly close the chat window.

JOE POV

I think I had a heart attack when Tank's voice boomed across the floor. I quickly closed the chat screen on my computer. I had almost gotten some information that I might have been able to use. I was a little concerned that it was too easy, but I guess I'm not the only one here at Rangeman that isn't thrilled to be working with that overbearing prick.

The men on the floor started giving Tank status reports on whatever they were working on. When he got to me and Binkie, I told him that we were doing research on Roger Banker, wanted for possession. It looked like he was holed up with his girlfriend Lowanda Jones, a phone sex operator that lived in the projects. We would be leaving shortly to try to apprehend at her apartment. Tank nodded at my assessment and moved on to the next report.

I sat back down and ran my hand through my hair. That was too fucking close. I reopened the search program on my computer and input Lowanda Jones known information. She looked good to be the one Banker was holed up with. She only left the apartment to go shopping for the usual staples of food and booze. The report said that she had a bunch of dogs. I wonder how many dogs constitute a bunch. I guess we're going to find out.

BINKIE POV

Morelli can really put a cramp in my ass sometimes, other times, he's not a total asshole. Still, I can't wait for Junior to get off light duty so that things can go back to normal. We left Rangeman and headed to Lowanda Jones' apartment. When we got there, Morelli didn't just hop out of the SUV and tell me he'd be right back. I guess he's starting to get the hang of having a partner.

Since it's summer, there were a bunch of kids just hanging around. I really hope this goes smoothly, I hate when things go to hell with children around. We were halfway to the apartment when the front door opened. Seven dogs ranging in size from Chihuahua to Bulldog ran out of the apartment and headed straight for us. My first instinct is to take out my gun and start shooting, but one of the kids yelled, "Look out, it's the humpers!" I look at Morelli. We both know that we can't shoot. With a nod of agreement, we both turn and ran for the SUV.

I got to the car and opened my door. When I got in, I saw that Morelli wasn't with me. Shit. I ran back over to try to pry the dogs away from him. That's when I saw what the kid meant. The dogs weren't attacking him, they were trying to hump him as he was lying on the ground trying to get them off.

I pulled a terrier looking dog off his head. As soon as that dog was off, another one took its place. I tossed the terrier aside, but it just ran right back and hopped back onto the pile. These dogs were fucking crazy. The kids were now gathered around yelling, "Hump! Hump! Hump!" I think one of them was making book on which one would finish first.

Morelli was clearly not happy being on the receiving end of their affections. He kept trying to push them away yelling, "Get them off me!"

I was at a complete loss for what to do. Finally Lowanda's door opened again and she shook a bag of dog food. The dogs all hopped off him and ran for the apartment. Lowanda yelled, "You're too late, he's gone now." She slammed the door shut behind her.

Morelli got up off the ground and tried to get some of the dirt off the front of his uniform. I didn't even want to think about what was on his back. He stormed back to the SUV and jumped in the passenger side, slamming the door behind himself. The kids all went back to doing whatever it was they were doing before since the show was obviously over.

I got into the SUV and drove back to Haywood without saying a word. Joe was sitting next to me, fuming. When we got to the building, Joe slammed his way into the building and up the stairs. He left the stairwell on three, probably heading to the showers in the gym locker room. I continued up to five to write the report. I have no idea what the hell I'm going to say. He's still an asshole, but that whole episode just sucked for him up one side and down the other.

RANGER POV

Babe and I were going over some contracts when Morelli stuck his head in my office. He looked pissed. "You have a minute?" I nodded and he came in, slamming the door behind him. "I know Juniak said to make it look good, but are you paying people to humiliate me?" I was glad my office is soundproof, because he was yelling and waving his arms. He had about a minute to cool his jets or we were going to have a problem.

"Is there a problem, Joe?"

There was a vein sticking out on his forehead. "You know damn well that I'm talking about all these lunatics you've obviously hired for me to take down. Are you paying people to throw shit at me?"

I'd had about enough. I stood and stared him down. It didn't take long for him to put his arms down and shut up. "Sit."

He looked like he was ready to throw a punch. "I'm not your fucking dog, Ranger."

He was really testing my limits. "You can either sit and we'll do this here, or we can go to the gym and we'll do this in the infirmary later. The choice is yours." I stared at him until he wisely chose to sit. Throughout the exchange, Stephanie sat quietly and watched, which surprised me a little. Once he was settled, I sat back down and asked, "Would you care to explain?"

"I've been here two weeks. I've been covered in Crisco, had food thrown at me, and today I was violated by a pack of dogs."

Steph spoke up at that. "You were at Lowanda's apartment?"

Joe looked at her. "Why am I not surprised that she's a friend of yours?"

Steph glared at him. "She's not a friend of mine, Joe. I was there looking for Roger Banker who was FTA." That seemed to shut him up quickly. I know from this morning's escapade that he was the same skip Morelli was looking for. By the look on her face, she knew it too. "Did you even bother to read his file, Joe?"

"I know what the hell I'm doing. It's not my fault these crackpots are gunning for me."

Now it was Steph's turn to be pissed. "So let me get this straight. When I got covered in dog, it was because I was incompetent. When you got covered in dog, it was because they're gunning for you?"

I could see where this was heading, and it wasn't good. Normally I'd let Joe continue to stick his own foot further and further into his mouth, but if she kills him in here, it's going to be hard to hide the body. "Joe. All of the skips you've picked up are legit. I don't waste resources. I think we should pull you off of apprehensions for a while. I'm going to have you do searches for a couple of days and we'll see where we go from there. How is the case progressing?"

He ran his hand through his hair, debating how much to say. He should never play poker. He has way too many tells. "It's starting to move. I've been contacted by the family."

He wasn't going to say anything more than that, even if I did just save his ass. "Keep us in the loop. I'll have Rodriguez set you up with some searches." Joe left. Before Steph could say a thing, I walked around the desk and pulled her from the chair into a bone melting kiss. When we came up for air, her eyes were the deep midnight blue that I love to see. "Nobody does it like you, Babe." She giggled and I leaned in for another kiss.

I was still smiling half an hour later when Bobby came into my office. "Physicals are next Friday. The General asked if you are going to put in an appearance."

The base commander for Fort Dix allows us to use their obstacle course for our training exercises. In exchange, we allow them to bring troops who are considering Special Forces to come and watch. I asked Bobby, "Who's up?"

"Cal and Morelli."

Not much of a competition for Cal, and I know that Joe had hurt Steph with his earlier comments. "I'll be there. Ask Tank if he wants in. Tell them to wear ACU's." Bobby nodded and left. I made a note to invite Stephanie to come and watch the show. Women love a man in uniform, and I have plans for Babe.

A/N - So do you think Joe's had enough of the bounty hunting? I'm also thinking about having Joe's sister Cathy pop in for Cal's little slice of the fun (in my own little corner of the JE universe, she & Cal are together, so it's been rolling around in my head). Let me know what you think!