A/N: Thank you all for your incredible support. Writing has been going slowly as of late, but your kind words and encouragement keep the process moving. I love to hear your thoughts and suggestions, so please keep them coming.

Anything recognizable belongs to JE.

Chapter 26

We settled into a routine as the days went by. When he wasn't working Ranger would bring dinner, usually courtesy of Ella, and stay the night. The first time he had to work, Les showed up with meatball subs from Pino's and we watched The Transporter. Another night, Les and Bobby brought pizza from Shorty's and we played poker. I didn't have any poker chips so we used hamster crunchies instead. We tried using potato chips at first, but Les kept eating mine.

After the first week home I was going stir crazy. Pain from my broken ribs made it impossible to sort and pack. Plus, my mother and grandmother had gone through and cleaned my entire apartment the first day I was home, so there was really nothing for me to do. Ranger suggested that, when I felt up to it, I could go back to work running computer checks at Rangeman. This had some appeal, as I could work as I felt up to it and then use his apartment to rest or take a nap if I got tired. Not to mention, there was always food available thanks to Ella.

Two days after Ranger made the offer of returning to work, I decided I was ready to give it a try. Lester volunteered to come pick me up since I wasn't comfortable driving yet. It took most of the morning and several rest breaks, but when Les showed up to take me to Rangeman I was ready. I moved slowly, but was able to make it down to his car and into the Rangeman building under my own power. As I walked from the elevator to my cube, several of the Merry Men called out to say hi and let me know it was good to have me back. It was nice to see everyone, but I was surprised to feel how drained I felt just from getting ready and moving around a bit.

Not wanting Lester to see just how spent I was, I did my best not to collapse into the chair at my desk. Either I wasn't as successful as I had hoped or his ESP was working, because he asked, "You okay, Steph?"

"Yeah, I'm okay Les. Just a little surprised at how much that little bit of effort took out of me. I just need a minute to catch my breath and then I'll be fine. Sitting at my desk running searches doesn't take any more effort than sitting on my couch watching TV." I told him.

"Do you want me to get you something from the break room? A bottle of water or a snack?" he offered.

"That would be great," I replied. "If you wouldn't mind, would you grab me a sandwich or something. Getting ready took longer than I thought it would and I didn't take time to eat."

Lester was back in short order with a cup of hearty chicken noodles soup, half a lean roast beef sandwich with lettuce, tomato and red onion, and a bottle of water. With a grin, he reached in the side pocket of his cargo pants and pulled out a snack pack of Oreo cookies. "Sorry, I didn't have any Tastykakes in my contraband stash." I laughed and ate the cookies first. No point in taking the risk of having the contraband discovered and confiscated.

I worked for a couple of hours before I felt I had reached my limit for the first day. I didn't want to overdo it or risk a setback for pushing myself too hard, too fast, so I shut down my computer and walked the short distance to Ranger's office. I knocked on the door frame of the open door and walked in.

"Babe," he said by way of greeting. I loved the way the corners of his mouth turned up and his eyes softened when he looked up at me from his desk.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to let you know I'm done for the day. It was a short day but I don't want to overdo it on my first day back," I explained.

He pushed back from his desk and came around to where I was standing. He gently took my face in his hands and brought his mouth down to mine. The kiss was tender, but I could feel the underlying passion that is always just below the surface of a Ranger kiss.

The kiss ended and he pulled back slightly but continued to cup my face in his hands. "You weren't interrupting. Would you like to stay here with me tonight? You could go up to seven now and take a nap. I'll be up when I'm done and we can have dinner and relax."

This sounded like a great plan to me. I had stopped by with the intent to ask Ranger if there was someone who could take me home, but this way I didn't have to be a bother. As an added bonus, I got to enjoy a relaxing evening with Ranger and sleep in his amazing bed. The only thing that would make it better would be if I could spend the evening with naked Ranger, but my injuries still limited our physical activities. I was looking forward to the day we could move beyond gentle kisses and soft caresses.

I took the elevator up to 7 and headed for the bedroom. I was exhausted and barely had the energy to shuck my shoes, socks and pants before flopping down in my thinking position. Before I could even form one thought, I was out like a light. The next thing I knew Ranger was sitting beside me on the bed and telling me Ella had just brought dinner. I must have convinced him I was awake because he gave me a quick kiss and told me he'd be waiting for me in the kitchen.

I made my way into the bathroom and took care of business, threw some water on my face and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. No need to make the poor man eat dinner with the Bride of Frankenstein. Ella had prepared a scrumptious looking pasta dish with lots of vegetables and grilled chicken in what looked like some kind of lemon butter sauce. I must have looked surprised at the pasta because Ranger said, "The pasta is whole wheat penne and the sauce is made with olive oil, not butter."

Ranger pulled a bottle of white wine from the wine fridge under the counter and poured us each a glass. We took our plates and wine to the small but tasteful dining area beside the kitchen. The pasta dish was a much healthier version than anything I would normally eat, but the first bite had my taste buds dancing for joy. After dinner, Ranger loaded our dishes in the dishwasher and we settled in on the sofa in his den to watch a movie. He sat in the corner with his legs out in front of him on the couch. This way I would be comfortable as I leaned back against him. We had tried several different ways of sitting so Ranger could hold me, but with the broken ribs it was hard to find one that was comfortable. Not for the first time, I wondered at all the time Ranger spent with me in the evenings. I knew enough about him to know that if Ranger didn't want to be here he wouldn't be, so I decided just to accept the fact that this is where he wanted to be.

Over the next week or so my convalescence continued and became easier to deal with once I was able to feel productive again. I wouldn't be able to go back to work for Vinnie for several more weeks, but Ranger had offered to have Rangeman cover for me while I healed. I did the desk work and the Merry Men would make the capture. Vinnie was thrilled with the arrangement and hadn't mentioned bringing in Joyce Barnhardt once. This thrilled Lula and Connie.

By the end of the third week, I was starting to get my energy back and was finally making some progress on getting my apartment packed up. The closing date on my new townhouse was rapidly approaching and, despite all the times my apartment had been firebombed, I was discovering I had a lot more stuff than I realized.

I had spent the morning going through my closet and sorting my clothes and shoes. No point in moving things I didn't need to, so I was pulling out anything that no longer fit or I didn't wear. By mid-afternoon I felt like I had made a lot of progress and decided to take a break and go see Lula and Connie at the bonds office.

I parked in front of the bonds office and grabbed the box of donuts I had picked up on my way over. As I opened the door, I heard a file drawer slam and Lula muttering angrily under her breath. I looked at Connie and she gave a small shake of her head.

"A friend of Lula's was killed on Stark Street last night," Connie said quietly. "She was found strangled in an alley."

Lula slapped the file she was holding on top of the filing cabinet. "She wasn't my friend. If she were my friend, she would have told me she needed some help. Dericia had a baby girl she was trying to take care of. She had gotten off the streets and she was clean. She was going to beauty school during the day, but she needed to support her daughter, so she went back to hooking. She couldn't find a job because she had a record. That's why she was going to beauty school. Figured she'd open her own shop. And she planned to hire other working girls who wanted to change their lives. Now that's all gone and that baby don't have a mama anymore."

"Lula, I'm sorry about your friend. But why would she go back to hooking if she had gotten out?" I asked.

Lula shook her head. "It's not easy to break out of a life like you find on Stark Street. Seems like everything is set up to keep the folks FROM a place like Stark Street IN a place like Stark Street. Now me, for example, I've had a lot of help most people don't get. I got lucky to find a job working for the little weasel in there," she said, nodding toward Vinnie's office. "I found a place to help me earn my GED and now I'm taking classes at the community college."

"Most places won't hire a high school drop-out or someone with a criminal record. Most 'hos have been picked up at least for 'hoing, and a lot of them have possession charges. It's not the drugs they're doin', it's the drugs their business manager makes them keep some on hand to offer their customers as a 'value added' service. Anything to make a buck," she explained. "It don't matter that those women don't have a choice, a working girl gets picked up with product and the judge is going to throw her ass in jail. Once she's a felon, there's no job, no way to support herself or her kids."

I hung out with Lula and Connie for a while, eating donuts, catching up on 'Burg gossip and trying to lift Lula's spirits. Before I realized it, it was after 5 o'clock, so we tossed the empty donut box and locked up the office. My mother and grandmother were out of town attending the funeral of my Grandpa Mazur's last remaining sister and I had promised my mom I would pick up a pizza and have dinner with my dad. As I drove to Pino's I thought about what Lula had said. I was beginning to appreciate what it took for Lula to be able to leave that world behind.

As I stood by the counter waiting for my order, I glanced around the family dining area and saw Joe seated at one of the booths. He was using his finger to caress the arm of the blonde sitting across from him and, even from across the room, I could see he was turning on the charm. I hadn't seen him since the night Chagall had attacked him, but I heard he had taken a lot of heat for leaving the stake-out early. Rumor had it there was now a notice of disciplinary action in his file and there had been some speculation that internal affairs was investigating several recent drug busts he had been involved with. As angry as I was for what he did to Ranger, I would never have wished this on him.

I could tell by the body language that Joe was really turning it on. He flashed his super sexy grin at his dinner companion before glancing around for their waitress. As his eyes scanned the room, I knew the moment he spotted me at the counter. The finger stilled and the smile faded. He said something to the blonde and she looked around the corner of the booth in my direction. I half expected to see Terry Gilman and was surprised to see it was her little sister Tammy.

Tammy always lived in the shadow of her big sister Terry. While Terry was captain of the cheer squad in high school, Tammy played clarinet in the pep band. After Terry graduated high school with honors she went off to cheer for the NY Giants. Tammy graduated in the middle of her class and was accepted to a nice state college. With a failed marriage behind her, Terry returned to Trenton and was believed to be one of her Uncle Vito's enforcers. Tammy graduated from college and returned home single. Her role in the Family is unknown.

And while Terry had overshadowed her little sister their entire lives, she was also fiercely protective of her baby sister. Anyone messing with Tammy would answer to Terry. I wondered how Terry felt about Tammy dating Joe Morelli.

The waitress appeared at their table with the check and Joe tossed some money on the table. He had his hand on the small of her back as he and Tammy walked towards me. I smiled at Tammy and said hello.

"How are you doing, Steph? Looks like you're getting around alright," Joe said by way of greeting.

"I'm getting stronger every day," I replied. There was an awkward pause where 'Burg etiquette dictated I should inquire about him, but I really didn't care. Then I remembered Lula's friend. "Do the police have anything on the hooker that was found strangled?"

"Which one?" Joe asked.

"What do you mean, 'which one'? How many have there been?" I guess I had been more cut off from things than I realized. I was surprised Connie or Lula hadn't said anything.

"There have been three in the last two weeks. We've been working to determine if the three are related. Was one of them FTA?"

I shook my head. "No, the one strangled last night was a friend of Lula's. I was just hoping the police had a lead or something."

Joe didn't reply, which led me to believe the police did have something. Unfortunately, whatever it was, it didn't appear Joe was interested in sharing it. Not that Joe had been forthcoming with information on an investigation in the past, not even when we were together or it involved me.

The kid behind the counter indicated my order was ready so I took my leave of Joe and Tammy. I grabbed the pizza and headed to my parent's house. Dad and I ate in the living room on TV trays while we watched the game. The great thing about hanging with my dad is there doesn't need to be a lot of conversation for us to enjoy spending time together. We bond through our mutual frustration at bad calls and game officials who are obviously in need of glasses. This game was no exception. Despite the lousy officiating, our team had won and I was smiling as I wished my father a goodnight and headed back to my apartment.

When I pulled into the parking lot, Joe's SUV was parked in my usual spot by the dumpster. I glanced up at my apartment, but the windows were dark. Looking back at the SUV, I realized there was someone in the driver's seat. I parked but left my car running and made no move to get out. The driver's door of the SUV opened and Joe got out. He walked towards my car and I powered down the window.

"What are you doing here, Joe?"

"I wanted to talk to you in private," he replied. "Can we go upstairs?"

"We can talk here." I didn't want to encourage Joe in any way, and with my broken ribs I knew I wouldn't be able to fend off any aggressive behavior. Joe had become unpredictable and I had no idea what he had come to talk about.

"Why do you have to be like that, Cupcake? You know I would never hurt you."

I ignored the annoying 'Cupcake' and asked again, "What are you doing here, Joe?"

He rested both hands on the door frame and looked down at his feet. He drew in a deep breath and blew it out loudly before lifting his head to look at me. "I need your help. I need your help to prove I didn't kill those hookers."