AN: Hi everyone! How's your week starting out? Good I hope! Everyone who reviewed the last chapter, thank you so much! Your reviews were absolutely wonderful! I loved them all :-) I am not sure what any of you will think of this chapter, but I enjoy the way it ended, lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just play with them!

Rediscovery

Chapter 37

Ranger threw his phone across the office in anger. He hadn't been able to get ahold of Stephanie for the last six hours. Cal and Ram had been the two Rangemen closest to the beach house so he'd sent them to get Stephanie and Penelope. Five minutes ago, Ram had called and told him that neither woman was there, but Penelope's vehicle was, along with their purses and cell phones.

And now they were gone and they had no way to track the two of them and find them. Fuck, he thought angrily. With the Feds case dealing with the Kazarras and now his woman was missing…he couldn't help the nagging thought that there must be a connection. It would make sense, he realized. The Kazarras had been trying to get Penelope to cooperate with them, but she'd refused. The only thing he could rationalize was they had gone after Penelope but Stephanie had been with her so she had been taken as well…but what about Sheila and Mary Lou?

He let out a dangerous growl and ran his hands over his face. This whole thing was fucked up. Jace and Lenny were doing the best they could. Lenny had gone to get his boys from school and leave them with his mother. The weekend was coming and he'd convinced her that it was for the best, without revealing information that Mary Lou was missing. The Burg Gossipers would have a field day. Ranger knew they would start whispering that Mary Lou had suddenly run off on her family.

They would have to get the Trenton PD involved if the women were gone for more than twenty four hours. And Ranger suspected they would damn well be gone longer than that. The anger that coursed through him made his blood boil. He was getting twitchy with a need to do something.

A glance on his computer monitor showed the camera in the gym. Jace was down there beating the shit out of one of the punching bags. Jace had the right idea, Ranger decided. Leaving his office he went down to the gym and called the first person he saw to the mats.

Hal looked nervously at Ranger as he slowly made his way over to the mats. Having been updated on the situation, he knew his boss was going to be a forced to be reckoned with right now.

"I'll do it." Lester said passing him. He was in the same mood his cousin was, so he knew they could both use the outlet.

He moved onto the mat, stripped off his shirt and shoes. Lester and Ranger began circling each other. Then attacked.

Those who were in gym, Jace included, stopped their own workout and watched the cousins wrestle. This was different from all the times they had seen Ranger wipe the floor with Lester. This was two men who were at a loss of what to do to find the women they loved. There was an aggression in their movements that was normally not there. No one would think of stepping in to disrupt them right now. They would all sit back and allow the two men to work things out.

So it went for an hour, watching the two of them go round and round each other. Sweat was dripping off them, but neither of them stopped. They continued moving, unyielding.

And then Tank stepped into the gym. Normally he would let things continue until Ranger and Lester wore themselves out or Ranger got tired and just finished the sparring match. But right now he couldn't let that keep going.

"Boss." His voice boomed so loud everyone, including Ranger and Lester, jumped at the sound of it. Ranger shot him a blank look. "Morelli is here. Wants to see you now."

"Is that right?"

Ranger's voice sounded deadly. Tank almost changed his mind about letting Ranger out of here, but changed his mind. Ranger was out for blood and while he wasn't having much luck with his cousin, he was betting he'd rip Morelli a new one, and he was not going to stop him.

"Put him in the conference room until I'm ready." Ranger ordered, walking off to the locker room.

"Tank, are you sure this is a good idea?" Jace asked walking up to him.

"No, I think it's a bad idea," Tank shrugged, "But I think Morelli is also overdue for a reality check."

Jace nodded. "You have a spare office I can use? I'm going to call my superiors. They need to know what else is going on in this case. I want to make sure we have jurisdiction so Trenton PD doesn't cause problems."

"Think they might?" Lester asked as he caught up to them. Together the three of them walked out.

"I think they'll cause problems if Morelli is involved." Jace said. "Based off his and Steph's history, I wouldn't put it past him to try something stupid."

"Just give Ranger a few minutes alone with him." Tank said. "Then we'll see what's going to happen."

/\/\/\/\/\

Morelli stalked around the conference room like a caged tiger. He hated the fact that he'd been waiting on Manoso for nearly an hour. Whatever the bastard was up to he was sure it had something to do with Stephanie. The idea of them being up on the seventh floor made him growl with anger. Son of a bitch had never had a right to get involved with her. She was always his, no matter what she said on that DVD.

When Ranger finally walked into the conference room, he coolly assessed Morelli. The beast inside him was lurking close to the surface, ready to strike out at anyone that provoked him. Unlucky for Morelli, his specialty was always provoking Ranger.

"I need to speak to Stephanie in regards to her friend's murder." Morelli wasted no time getting to business. "And it needs to be done in private."

Like hell it would, Ranger thought. "Stephanie isn't here right now."

"You're a fucking liar." Morelli said. "I could have you arrested for interfering with a police investigation."

Ranger's eyes turned deadly. "Please do. Then you'll find yourself sitting on charges of fraud."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Morelli said, though a trickle of sweat slid down his back.

"I think you do, Morelli." Ranger's voice turned exceptionally soft. "I have to admit, I never thought you a stupid man. Being a detective you'd have to be smart, but you certainly weren't smart when you tricked Stephanie into marrying you."

"I told you Manoso, we are legally married—"

Ranger moved so quickly that Tank and Lester burst into the conference room, ready to yank him off Morelli if they had to. Ranger had him dangling off the floor against a wall, "You made her believe she was marrying me. If anything all you did was prove where her true feelings lie. Even drunk she wouldn't marry you. You had to make her believe she was marrying the man she wanted. Even in a drunken state, you didn't stand a chance with her." He gave a small, unfriendly grin, "In fact I'd say you've seen a certain DVD that showed even nine years ago you didn't have a chance with her."

He dropped Morelli and took a few steps back. "Get out of my building Morelli, and focus on your job. Stephanie isn't here. And if I were you, I'd be very wary of my surroundings."

"Are you threatening me?" Morelli demanded.

"Why would I do that?" Ranger raised an eyebrow. "You're an officer of the law. Knowing your surroundings is pretty vital to your wellbeing isn't it?"

The two men glared at each other before Morelli turned and left the conference room. The moment the door shut, Lester turned and looked at Ranger, "What do you plan to do to him, Ranger?"

"Right now, let him sweat." Ranger replied. "I've got more important things to do." Like find Stephanie, he thought. "Any news?"

"Actually." Tank cleared his throat. "Ram and Cal did some more investigating out there, and they're bringing back some pretty interesting information that we might need to take a look at. From what they can tell, this is going to become one deadly little game."

/\/\/\/\/\

Stephanie and Penelope glared at the back of their captors heads as they were lead out of the van and into a dank basement. Micah was walking in front of them. Their wrists were bound in front of them. They walked down the steps and looked around. There were at least a dozen cells in the basement.

Stephanie looked around confused. This was an odd basement. At the far end of the large room was a cell with two women in it already. She gasped. "Mary Lou! Sheila!"

"Good." One of them grunted as he shoved Stephanie forward. "Someone to keep you two busy for a few days til we get you gone."

Penelope glared over her shoulder at him. "Get us gone where?"

"Shut up and walk." The other man ordered.

Stephanie shot a look at Micah. She couldn't resist it any longer. "Kaylee would be so disappointed in you, Micah. You used to be a good man, and look at what you've become. You're barely better than dirt."

They reached the cell and Micah grabbed one of her arms yanking her close to him. "You haven't got a clue what you're talking about."

"I know Kaylee loved you and if she saw you acting like this her heart would break." She snapped. He growled and yanked off the binds on her wrist before shoving her into the cell with Mary Lou and Sheila.

Penelope came stumbling in after. The cell door slammed shut and the men walked out of the basement, shutting them into a dim lighting.

"Are you two okay?" Mary Lou stood and came to them.

"Yeah." Penelope sighed.

"Where did they find you?" Sheila asked.

"Beach house." Stephanie answered. "They must have followed us." She shook her head in disappointment to herself and tried looking for a way out of the cell. There really wasn't any way out. Not without one of Ranger's really bad ass lock picking kits. There was no window they could get to. It was beside the door, and let in little light, which told them that it was late evening.

With a frustrated kick at one of the bars of the cell, she turned and sat down against a wall. Fuck, this was not how the day was supposed to end, she thought. They were going to go back to Trenton in triumph, show Ranger what they'd found and work out a way to bring the Kazarra's down.

Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the cold chill in the basement. Something poked her uncomfortably in her side. She shifted, but the poking became more insistent.

Hang on.

Stephanie's eyes flew open.

The wire.

Ranger had forgotten to take the wire off her after the takedown. She had turned it off once they'd gotten their skip, but had been in such a rush for her and Penelope to get going, she hadn't thought to take it off either.

If luck was on her side, she could get it on and maybe the guys would figure out where they were.

She shifted one of her hands under her shirt, feeling for the switch. Finding it she flicked it on with a small note of triumph.

/\/\/\/\/\

Hal looked around the control room as an unfamiliar noise filled the air. Then he heard, "Stephanie, what are you doing?"

Complete shock hit him when he heard Stephanie's voice, "Sending an SOS hopefully."

Acting fast, Hal hit the call button on his phone for Ranger. "Boss, get to the control room. NOW!"

Ranger, Tank and Lester both came into room at the same moment. "Report!" Ranger barked, in no mood to deal with anything that took him from finding Stephanie.

Hal held up a finger to his lips. Before Ranger could growl, Sheila's voice came overhead, "Penelope are you alright? You're looking queasy."

"Yeah, I just haven't been feeling well the last few days."

"Stephanie, why are you just sitting there? Didn't Ranger teach you how to pick a lock?" Mary Lou demanded.

"Yes…but the kit is in my purse, which is at the beach house. Oh, you'll never guess what we found this morning," Stephanie said, "I think Kaylee was murdered by the Kazarras."

Everyone in the control room and in the cell let out some form of gasp. Sheila's voice came up, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Penelope sounded tired over the wire, "She locked it all away in a chest and buried it."

"Like treasure." Stephanie let out a frustrated sigh, "That girl. When I die, I'm going to find her and shake her."

"Do you think that's why we're here?" Mary Lou asked quietly. "Did they figure out you were close to solving Kaylee's murder?"

"How would they know Steph was looking into it?" Sheila asked.

"Micah." Stephanie said softly, "I'm betting Micah had something to do with it, but I just don't get why. He wanted me to find out who did it. Why would he rat us out to the Kazarras?"

"Maybe he didn't know it was the Kazarras?"

"I didn't exactly keep him apprised of anything."

Sheila started talking, "I have a hard time believing it was Micah—"

"You saw him lead us down here!"

"I know, but Steph, you weren't there when he was told Kaylee had been killed. I've never seen a man so broken."

"A broken man can be led to do anything." Penelope said, her voice sounding a little strained.

Stephanie let out a deep sigh. "Damn, I should've listened to Carlos this morning."

"Why?"

"Because he wanted to stay in bed and practice sleeping in," She replied momentarily forgetting she was wired and that it was playing for everyone in the control room to hear, "And I told him we had to do the takedown this morning."

"Wait…you were the voice of reason?" Mary Lou sounded surprised.

"Apparently."

"Shit, Steph, next time he suggests staying in bed all morning, take him up on it." Sheila sounded exasperated.

"Don't worry; I'll leave the voice of reason all to him, once we get out of this—Pen? Are you sure you're okay? You don't look so hot."

"Yeah, yeah." Penelope sounded more strained, "My stomach…just…"

The control room was filled with the sound of retching. All the men swallowed uncomfortably. When the noise subsided, Sheila asked, "What are your symptoms?"

"Wait!" Stephanie ordered, "Wait five minutes."

"What? Plum, are you insane?"

"No. Just wait five minutes."

"Brown!" Ranger ordered Tank. "Get Brown in here immediately!" Tank, realizing what Stephanie had done, whipped out his phone and heard Ranger murmur, "Proud of you, Babe."

"Brown." Bobby answered.

"Control room, now." Tank replied.

Moments later, Bobby was in the control room. "What's going on?"

"It seems that Steph forgot to take off her wire this morning, which has worked in our favor." Lester said with a grin, "But Pen isn't feeling so good. Steph got her to wait a moment before giving her symptoms. This way, you'll know what to take with us when we go get them."

Bobby nodded. "Way to go, Steph!"

They all waited in silence for a few more moments. Then Stephanie said softly, "Okay, Pen, what're your symptoms?"

"Plum, you're absolutely insane, did you know that?"

"Well, no one could ever accuse me of being sane," Stephanie said cheekily, "What are your symptoms? Do you have the flu?"

"I have never had the flu."

"First time for everything."

A noise, sounding suspiciously like a growl, came from Penelope, "Fine. It's just been an upset stomach. Usually mornings, but it's gone by the middle of the day. Then I'm fine for the most part."

"Wait," Mary Lou interrupted, "Aren't you usually with Lester? How has he not noticed you being sick and hauled your ass to the doctor?"

"He's usually gone by the time I start getting sick. I was planning on going to the doctor in a couple days."

"More symptoms." Stephanie ordered.

"You're bossy." Penelope retorted, "Um... weirdly… I've been craving a lot of sex. Not that Lester's complaining of course."

"How do you crave more sex than normal?" Sheila sounded bemused.

"Usually I can contain myself," Penelope said, "Okay, the other day, Lester was on stakeout...and I just couldn't handle the need for sex and I called him."

"You had phone sex with Lester while he was on a stakeout?"

"Um. Sort of. Rather, he left early because I left him with one very large problem and he said he had to teach me a lesson—which by the way, was a great lesson."

Ranger looked at Lester, "Mats for a month."

"It was worth it." Lester grinned.

Tank and Bobby coughed to cover their laughs. They were all startled by a shriek of surprise.

"Fuck, Mary Lou! What did you do that for?"

"Your breasts are more sensitive than usual."

"So you had to grab them?"

Mary Lou took a deep breath, "Honey, you're not sick."

Bobby said at the same time, "I don't think she's sick."

"Well, what the hell am I then?"

"Pregnant." Bobby and Mary Lou both said.

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