I tried to stretch out the ache in my back as I yawned. I was exhausted, and I had never wished for coffee as much as I did right then. I had researched all ten of the funeral home employees and on the last one, I hit pay dirt. The last employee was Jennifer Harris, the girlfriend of Curtis Brown. The last name rang some bells for me, and when I looked into it I found out that he was Otis Brown's cousin and Joss Brown's brother. He died three weeks after Joss had been arrested, which I had already knew, but what I didn't know is that he died from a bath salts overdose. I wondered if the funeral home had been the source of the drugs.

I knew I had found something important and, as I wrote up my findings in the summary report, Morelli called. "Hey, cupcake. Your grandmother has just been released and your mother is taking her home. She's tired but fine, and your mother has reminded me that you're having dinner with Val and Albert tomorrow. She said that it's still happening and you can't get out of it that easily."

"Okay. It's our celebration dinner."

"You sound exhausted."

"I am, but I found your link." I told him about Jennifer Harris.

I could hear him brighten up. "That's fabulous", he said. "I would never have found that link."

I laughed. "You probably would have, but thank you for your encouragement."

Morelli chuckled. "How much do you want to bet that there is a link between Curtis' overdose and the fact that the funeral home was dealing drugs?"

"That's what I figured as well."

"I'll look into it. I appreciate everything you did. Make sure you bill the TPD for your hours."

"I will. I'm going to go. I'm going to call Ranger and have him carry me to bed. I'm too tired to walk."

"Sleep in tomorrow, cupcake."

"I will. Make a tight case against them, Morelli. I want to see them go down."

"I will, cupcake."

I said goodbye to him and stretched my back again. Then, thinking that I really was too tired to walk up the stairs – or even to take the elevator – I called Ranger.

"Babe?" he said as he answered the phone.

"I'm too tired to walk down to see you. Can you carry me up to the apartment?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I'm exhausted, my back is killing me, and I just want to go to sleep."

"I'll be down in a minute or two. Just let me shut my computer down."

I shut my own computer down, and then put my head down on my desk. By the time Ranger got to my desk a couple minutes later, I was sound asleep.

"Babe", said Ranger as he shook me awake.

"Don't wanna wake up."

Ranger sounded amused. "Babe, put your arm around your neck. Let's get you to bed."

"Morelli just called and said my grandmother was being released. He said she was fine but tired, and it didn't get us out of our dinner tomorrow."

"That would be today, babe." I snugged my face into his shoulder as he lifted me. "It's almost one."

"My dad must have wondered where his dinner was."

"I'm sure he coped."

"I'm tired, Ranger."

"I know, babe. I want you to sleep in tomorrow."

"Okay." My eyes closed. I was asleep again before we made it to the elevator.

I woke up as Ranger put me on the bed. "Let's get your pants off you so that you're more comfortable." He took my shoes off, put them on the floor, took my socks off, and pulled my pants off. "Uh, babe?"

I cuddled into the blankets. "What?"

"You're bleeding."

"Where?"

"From your vagina."

My eyes popped open and I sat up.

Ranger went into the dressing room and riffled through my clothes until he found a pair of yoga pants. He brought them out to me with a fresh pair of panties. He got me a sanitary napkin from the bathroom and, as I sat there slightly stunned, he affixed the pad to my clean panties, stripped off my bloody panties, put on the new panties, and pulled on the clean pants. "Come on, babe. It's time to go to the hospital."

Tears came to my eyes. "I'm not losing the baby, am I?"

"I don't know", said Ranger. He looked worried, though, and that scared me almost more than anything else. Ranger put my shoes on and, as I stood, he scooped me up into his arms again. "I think it would be a better idea for you to stay off your feet, babe."

The tears spilled over, and I snugged my face into his shoulder and sniffed the comforting scent of Bulgari Green. I felt my heart rate settle, and the sick feeling in my stomach eased slightly. Ranger was with me, and I knew he would make things right.

Things happened fast from that point on. Ranger carried me down and put me in his Cayenne, and quickly drove me to the hospital. It was a ten-minute drive that he made in five. He parked in short-term parking in front of the Emergency Room and carried me into triage. He explained the problem, and a few minutes later I was streamed into a cubicle. There mustn't have been too many knifings or shootings clogging up the ER.

Ranger lay me down on the bed, spread a blanket over me, and sat on the guest chair to the side. I moved onto my side and curled into a fetal position. "I'm scared, Ranger", I said.

"I know. I am too."

"Is this because I didn't want the baby?"

"This has nothing to do with your concerns about the baby. You haven't done anything wrong."

"I feel like this is my fault."

"It's not your fault, babe. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine for encouraging you to work as long as you did."

"It wasn't your fault. You wanted the baby."

"Yes, I did. It took me by surprise, but I wasn't unhappy at first and it didn't take long until before I was out and out thrilled about the baby."

"I was scared."

"I know."

"How do you know that I'd be a good mother?"

"Because this? This worry about the baby and your worry that it was your fault? That shows that you'll be a good mother."

"You know, I didn't think I wanted a baby. I had all sorts of reasons why I didn't want to have a baby, and you slowly worked through most of them. But now that I know I might lose the baby? I'm scared."

Ranger clasped my hand and lifted it to his lips. He kissed my fingers, turned my hand over, and kissed my palm. And then we waited, with terrified tears slowly falling down my face, for the doctor to come.