Disclaimer: Everything familiar belongs to JE and the creators of Criminal Minds.

Warning: Adult Situations

Chapter 36: Friday, August 26th, 1200-1500

Ranger's Home/Command Center

Lester's POV

I can't believe that he would betray us. He has been with us at Rangeman since our offices opened. He helped us to open the Miami office, then the Boston office, and finally, Trenton. He trained Stephanie. He was always one of our best workers, one of our most trusted workers. I don't understand how or why he would find the need or reason to betray us like this. Not to mention, he loved Julie. He was one of the few men in Miami who knew about Julie before Scrog. Ranger is livid, as I am. Once we get a hold of Silvio, he will have a lot to answer for concerning his role in Julie's rape.

"Wait, you have a name for the person who is your mole?" JJ asks.

"Yes, we know who it is, and we are not happy about it," I respond.

"Babe, how far did you get in the background searches on the Miami staff?" Ranger asks.

"I finished all the men hired within the last year. I also finished those who Rangeman hired since Scrog. I started on the long-term employees this morning. So far, nothing is standing out. Everyone appears clean. There are no strange accounts open, no one living beyond their means; by buying anything new or outrageous based on their salary. Part of me is thinking that it will be a dead end." Steph replies.

"Run Silvio," Ranger responds.

"What? You got to be kidding me. There is no way that Silvio would betray you. He trained me. He knows that I'm good and I would find anything he tried to hide. You don't seriously think he had anything to do with what happened to Julie, do you?"

"Steph, he knows the weaknesses in our systems. He helped to design them. He would know how to reroute things and how to adjust them so that the alarm would go off on a delay. He could easily switch the operation of the system without the client knowing, leading them to believe that they are safe when they are not. I don't want it to be Silvio, but all evidence is pointing to him." Bobby adds.

I watch as Beautiful sighs before typing his name into our search engine. I watch as she adds different parameters, then she tweaks those parameters some more. Garcia walks over to her and tells her to do a few more things. Between Garcia and Stephanie, they find out things about Silvio that I don't even think he knows about himself. I mean, who would know the size of their head? Or that they have two extra teeth in their mouth.

Finally, I watch as Stephanie pulls up financial data on Silvio, and I see her face fall into anger, fear, sadness and hurt. Ranger sees the change in her body language as I do, and he walks away from Alvez and Rossi to comfort Stephanie.

"Babe, let's go for a walk." He tells her before leading her out on to the beach. I watch as Rocco and Tommy, Julie's guards, follow discreetly, giving them space to have a private conversation, but also making sure to cover Ranger's back.

"Is that normal, for her to become so upset?" Simmons asks.

"Beautiful tries to see only the best in people. It's one of the reasons why she has been in a relationship with Detective Morelli for so long. It is also why she accepts us Rangemen so readily. She is fiercely loyal to her friends, will defend them to the end of the Earth, but when she discovers that one of them has betrayed her or hurt her deliberately, it hurts her greatly. Steph has suffered from mental abuse by her mother, her ex-husband, and Detective Morelli to some extent her entire life. She doesn't recognize it, though, because it is her normal. Her mother is always putting her down, telling Steph that she is a disgrace, a disappointment. Mrs. Plum keeps pushing Stephanie to marry a Burg man and become a Burg Stepford wife. Morelli constantly demeans her, calling her a disaster and an embarrassment, you saw how he was at the hospital. Steph caught her ex-husband playing hide the salami with her archenemy, Joyce Barnhardt on her dining room table only months after their wedding. She has said numerous times that her marriage certificate arrived a few days after the incident.

"Silvio was one of the first Merry Men that Steph met who taught her something that she could do easily. She met a bunch of us in the field before then, and frankly, some of what we did that night scared her. Ranger first introduced her to us during a redecorating job. A landlord hired us to clear drug dealers and users out of his building. Tank threw a man out a window onto a fire escape. She sat on night watch with Tank a few nights later, and someone shot him in front of her. Ranger got shot trying to help her with a skip; she stunned another guy with his stun gun to get away when we were protecting her from a stalker. Steph has caused several of us to become injured, but we don't care. We all love her, either as a sister or best friend, some wishing for more, but she belongs to Ranger. Us hurting her or telling her something other than praise damages her psyche more than her mother or Morelli because we always support her."

I watch as the BAU nods their heads in understanding. Finally, Agent Lewis speaks, "Lester; I can tell that you care deeply for Stephanie. You need to talk to her or Ranger. I believe that she needs to see a therapist to deal with some of the things she experienced in her life. She was brutally raped, mentally abused as you said, and her self-confidence is low for someone as bright and talented as Stephanie. My friend Dr. Karen Purpura can help both Stephanie and Julie."

"I'll bring it up to Ranger, but I don't know if Steph will talk to her. She can be extremely stubborn."

A moment later the door opens, with Stephanie and Ranger rejoining us. Stephanie looks as though she's been crying but does seem better now. Ranger sits, pulling her onto her lap as she gets ready to share what she discovered.

"Okay, here's the dirt on Jamie Silvio that Penelope and I dug up. Silvio's daughter, Ashley, has been trying to have a baby for the last five years. She has been on every different type of fertility treatment available and has seen three different fertility doctors. Unfortunately, none of the treatments worked. She has Type 1 diabetes and an extreme case, as in Shelby from Steel Magnolias. She and her husband, Victor Cruz, tried to adopt a child through legal channels, but because of Ashley's medical history, three different adoption agencies denied them.

"Somehow Victor found out about an underground adoption ring. They decided to go that route to get a baby. Ashley asked her father to investigate the players, and when he did, he found out a lot of information that he didn't like. We can see from e-mail records that Ashley and Victor tried to pull out, but it was too late, they couldn't. They either must accept the baby procured for them, or they would lose the money they paid. Ashely decided to lose the money, and since then, have found a surrogate to have her child. Silvio though tried to get the money back. However, he discovered that his daughter and Victor owed these people over twenty thousand dollars. He had to pay the money to them, or they would take Ashely's baby upon birth. It was then that he brokered a deal with the adoption agency.

"For forgiveness of the money owed, Silvio had to tell them how to bypass the Rangeman security systems. For each place they were able to infiltrate, they would remove $2000 from the balance. He owes four thousand dollars still, so there will most likely be another two break-ins at a minimum." Stephanie finishes.

"Okay, that's interesting, but how does that tie into everything else?" Matt asks.

"I'm not sure. That is where Penelope and I stopped. We're stuck, and not sure how to proceed at this point."

I hear the door open, and Javier comes into the Command Center. He looks flustered and confused.

"Hermano, what's wrong?" Ranger asks.

"It's Tommy's birth certificate. It's not real. It's a false document. A damn good one, but still a fake. It has an incorrect watermark. The state stopped using that watermark two weeks before the issue of Tommy's birth certificate. The clerk is looking through their records trying to find out if there is other documentation, but so far, there's nothing."

"So, what does that mean for Tommy?" Stephanie asks.

"It means that his custody is in limbo. Right now, Tommy doesn't have parents, either biological or adoptive. Unless we can find some evidence that the Goodwins legally adopted Tommy or that Amelia Goodwin gave birth to Thomas Goodwin, the state of Florida will take custody of Thomas." Javier replies.

I watch as Garcia starts to put information into her computers. She motions to Hector to come over. He looks at her screen and starts to make adjustments. I'm about to ask what they are doing when Hector states in Spanish, "We are hacking into the Goodwin's computers looking for any information on their children's births. We'll let you know if we find anything."

"Babe, search through Winston and Amelia Goodwin's financial information for the last ten years. See if anything pops out that doesn't appear right to you." Ranger tells Stephanie. Then he turns to Javier, "What can we do to ensure that Stephanie and I gain custody of Thomas?"

"Carlos, aside from finding out who his birth parents are, I don't think there is anything we can do," Javier replies.

"Ranger, I can make a few phone calls to my superiors. That boy's life is in danger. I know that he will be safest in your custody. Give me a few hours to make the phone calls. If my contacts don't work, I'm sure my mother will have some favors she can call into some of her friends." Prentiss states before leaving the room.

"Her mother?" I ask.

"Her mother was a US Ambassador. She has not had a post in recent years, but still knows many people in Washington." Rossi answers.

"Hector, make sure our connection is still secure," Ranger tells Hector in Spanish.

Hector replies in the affirmative and starts his security check.

An hour later, we start to have some answers. "Okay, from what we discovered, Amelia Goodwin has never been pregnant. On all their social media pages and press releases, all information points to Amelia giving birth to their two children. What I did find was that Amelia had a full hysterectomy at twenty-two, after she received a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Somehow, she had that information buried deep." Garcia informs us.

"I have found two series of payments of over seventy-five thousand dollars to an adoption firm that coincides with the birth of the two Goodwin children, Emma and Thomas. Three months ago, new withdrawals for five thousand dollars apiece had been made to the same account, once a month. I wonder if someone was blackmailing the Goodwins. I know that Winston was considering a Senate run. His opponent would have been the cousin of Fernando Quilles, Rick Quintana." Stephanie adds.

"We have enough to deliver the profile." Rossi states.