Disclaimer: Everything familiar belongs to JE.

Warning: Adult Situations, adult language, minor smut

Chapter 26: Monday, August 22nd, 1930-2200

Ranger's House

Ranger's POV

Idiot. Morelli is a fucking idiot. I can't believe he dared to go to my office to demand that Stephanie go with him like she's his fucking property. I am proud of Stephanie for standing her ground, for standing up to Morelli, and for calling him out on his lying, cheating ways. Seeing his expression when he saw the photos of himself with Terry Gilman and Connie Rosolli was priceless. It was as if he'd seen a ghost. I mean, did he think that answering his phone while fucking someone would go unnoticed by Stephanie?

We picked up Chinese on our way back. When we arrive home, we sat around the dining room table, eating and joking around. I guess this is what it's like to be with family. It is how it always was around my parent's table at holidays. As I look at my men, my daughter, my sister, who arrived while we were dealing with Joe, and my Babe, I realize that I want this life more than anything else. I want a home. I keep looking at Stephanie, noticing how she is so at ease here, with my men and me. Most women find us intimidating. Hell, even the women who I brought to bed found me intimidating, but their horniness pushed those feelings aside.

As we finish, Stephanie packs up the leftovers and places them in the fridge. Bobby and Lester clear the table as Manny and Woody load the dishwasher. Mariela takes Julie upstairs to help her get ready for bed. Hector checks his phone periodically. I wonder for what reason. Once we finish our chores, we head for the bedroom/command center on the first floor. This room is the only one in the house with a day bed instead of a traditional bed. As much as I love my office and it is perfect for conducting business, I wanted that area to be private, for me. Now, I want nothing more than to share it with Stephanie. This room was always a bedroom/command center in my mind. There is a folding table in the middle of the room with folding chairs placed around it. The television is hooked up to a computer so we can share what we've learned. It's amazing how quickly we adjusted the room to fit our needs.

Once we are all seated around the table, it's time to get down to business. "Report."

"Okay, so here's what the BAU discovered. Terry Gilman has been making frequent trips to Miami in the last year. She visits with several prominent members of Miami's high society, socializing and partying as an heiress would. She has stayed with Fernando Quiles, a local businessman who is extremely involved in Miami's political circle. He owns several antique shops and an art studio. My gut and Agent Rossi agrees that those businesses are fronts for smuggling stolen goods before fencing them. The time when Julie remembers her seeing Ron, she also met with two of the other victims. We are trying to track down the rest of her movements during that trip." Lester reports.

"As for the Goodwins, it appears that the parents were very hands off. They had a full-time au pair to take care of the children. The kids spent most of their summer in sleep-away camp and their parents enrolled them in boarding school. They dismissed the au pair last week, as the kids were leaving for school on the twenty-fourth. From talking with some friends, it appears that the Goodwins used the kids to elevate their outward appearance, you know, the successful American family with two children. Mr. Goodwin had political aspirations." Woody tells the room.

Manny picks up, "Hector and I looked into how the systems were bypassed, trying to determine why it took twenty minutes for the alarm to sound at the Goodwin's home only to discover that someone inside Rangeman silenced the alarm. However, they didn't know that what they did was only temporary. Once Rangeman mobilized, they realized their mistake, because they tried to get back in to silence it, making it seem like a false alarm, but the program Lester and Hector wrote prevented that from happening."

Now it was Stephanie's turn. "I started my searches of the Miami Rangeman, with the newest employee working back. But considering what you are saying, my gut is telling me that whoever is the inside man has been working for Rangeman for a while. I'm going to run additional searches starting with those hired within the last three years. The searches that I've completed so far clear ten men."

"How are we coming along with the suspect list?" I ask.

Hector responds, in broken English, "Garcia, Dr. Reid and I narrowed the list down to thirty individuals or companies. We are working on narrowing it down further by looking for connections to Jersey."

"Thank you, men. Good start. Tomorrow afternoon and evening are the wakes for the Martines. I will be offline most of the day, along with Stephanie. She will set up her searches to run in the background. Hector, can you get her another computer so she could run a few more simultaneously?"

"Si, jefe." (yes, boss).

"Wednesday is the funeral. Once the funerals are over, Stephanie and I will be available to have a more active role in the investigation once again. I want to stress that no one in the room is to discuss this case in headquarters. I had Hector reroute the internal surveillance here over to Trenton. If an alarm goes off, Trenton will alert Miami. Until we discover the mole, consider everyone, and I mean everyone, a suspect.

"Hector, Julie said she hit the record button on her panic alarm. Is there a way for you to find the video and audio? I asked her if she was sure she hit it, and she told me that Rocco had her doing drills so that it would be natural for her to hit both if she ever were in danger. If we have that tape, we could end this investigation sooner rather than later."

"I'll find it," Hector responds.

"By the way, who are you tracking?" I ask Hector.

"The cop. Morelli is at his hotel."

"Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Get some rest. Resume your assignments at 0800. Please remember that my daughter and sister are in the house and dress appropriately if you leave your room."

I know my men sleep in their skivvies or the nude. Most live alone or in apartments at Rangemen. When they leave their room, they have no reason to cover up. I don't need my daughter or Stephanie for that matter, getting to know my men that intimately.

Steph and I walk into my bedroom. I know she's a little apprehensive about sharing my bed, but I don't understand why. We've shared a bed many times before without making love. She should know by now that I can control myself. I let her use the bathroom first. When she emerges, wearing only my t-shirt and panties, it takes all my legendary control not to throw her on the bed and have my way with her. Instead, I get ready for bed, emerging with my black silk boxers on, only to find her curled on the edge of her side of the bed. No matter how hard she tries, she always ends up in my arms sometime during the night. I climb under the covers after shutting off the light.

"Babe, come over here," I tell her as a pull her towards me. She's next to me, on her back as I'm on my side, looking at her. Her eyes are dark, lust evident. Dios, I need this woman. "Night, Babe. I love you."

She looks at me quizzically before responding, "I know, Carlos, in your way. Good night." The moment I hear her throw my words against me, I put my mouth is on hers. I need to show her that I love her with my whole being, with my entire heart. She allows my tongue entrance and our tongues battle for control. My hand starts to wander down her side, hitting the bottom edge of the t-shirt. I allow my hand to roam underneath, gliding over her abdomen on its way up to her breast. I pinch her nipple, feeling it pebble at my touch. I move, so I'm over her, with my weight supported on my other arm. Her hands are roaming up and down my back, her nails lightly scratching, turning me on even more. I start to move my mouth down her neck, to that point behind her ear that drives her insane. She's moaning, writhing beneath me, caressing my throbbing cock as she moves, making me even harder. I continue my explorations of her body until we hear a blood-curdling scream. Julie.

I'm off Steph with my shirt pulled on and a gun in hand running out of the room. Steph is behind me, grabbing my robe and tying it on as she grabs her gun. We arrive outside of Julie's room as Bobby, Lester, Manny, and Woody are coming into our wing. I open the door, hearing her crying and seeing her thrashing about in her bed. Stephanie pushes ahead of me and sits on the side of Julie's bed, turning on the light. Mariela comes in from the bathroom, clearly just getting out of the shower when she heard Julie's scream.

"Julie, sweetheart, it's okay, you're safe. It's me, Stephanie. Wake up, Julie." Stephanie keeps repeating. My daughter finally opens her eyes, letting out a huge sigh of relief when she sees Stephanie and me. With a nod, I silently dismiss and thank my men, before going to Julie's side.

"Princesa, are you okay?"

"Oh, Papi, I was dreaming that they were touching me again, that they were in this room hurting me. It felt real. I knew I was dreaming, but I couldn't wake up. Fear paralyzed me."

She climbs into my lap as I hold her, murmuring to her in Spanish. After about ten minutes, she calms down. Mariela is with us, but unsure of how to proceed.

"Mari, Steph and I have Julie. You can go to sleep. Thank you, hermana."

"Julie, sweetie, you know I'm next door, right."

"Yes, Aunt Mariela. Thank you." Mariela proceeds back to her room.

"Stephanie, will you stay with me, at least until I fall asleep?"

"Of course, honey. Move over." I watch as Stephanie climbs into bed next to Julie. As much as I rather Stephanie be in my bed, if she provides Julie with comfort, she can stay here tonight. I tuck my two girls in, kissing them both on their foreheads before saying goodnight.

Lester and Bobby are waiting for me in the hallway. "How is she? Do you want me to give her something?" Bobby asks, in full medic mode.

"No. Stephanie is going to stay with her. Hopefully, she'll be fine. Thank you."

"You know we'd do anything for Julie, for both of them," Lester responds.

"Yeah, I know. Get some rest." I tell them before returning to my room. I look at the bed and think back to what I was doing before Julie woke. Not a good idea, as I was getting aroused yet again. I swear I don't know how much more control I will have. I head into the bathroom, taking a cold shower before lying in bed, smelling Stephanie's unique scent of strawberries mixed with Bulgari.

I fall into a restless sleep, dreaming about the future I hope to have with Stephanie by my side.