Author's Note: Sorry Y'all! It has been a crazy busy and very tiring week. However... I have some bad news... this will not be a babe. My muse informed me recently that she didn't want Ranger for this story. So... I know I'm going to lose some of ya and I'm sorry.

OH just to let ya know... the guy in the bar was NOT Ranger. Lol. I hope y'all are enjoying this as much as I am.

These characters are NOT mine but they are so fun to play with.

These chapter didn't go as I had planned. Oh my gosh, my muse hates me.. Enjoy

Chapter Five
San Diego... We have a problem

It had been a month since that first night at the Barn Yard and we've been every Friday night since. I haven't stopped thinking about that tall, dark and handsome man since that first night. I always hoped he would be there again, arresting someone else but so far he hasn't been back and the blond hasn't either. But I haven't given up hope.

"You look beautiful, Stephanie. Are you ready for today?" Mary entered the room with an air of confidence that I wish I had. I get a little more confident every day, but I want that complete self assurance that Mary seems to radiant.

I nodded in reply. "I am. I'm nervous though. What if they say no? Then I'm back at square one." I chewed my lower lip in worry. Mary just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"Then they say no right now. You then come at it from a different angle."

I chewed some more. "And are you sure you don't mind?"

Mary laughed and I smiled at the sound. She reminded me of someone, but I could never remember who. I knew this person was confident like Mary and a complete badass too. Maybe this person also had purple hair. But every time I looked into Mary's bright blue eyes, something seemed so familiar.

"Stephanie, I love having you around and this way, I'll just have you around a lot longer." She patted my cheek as she left the kitchen. I went back to drinking my coffee and thinking about the meeting I had in just a few hours.

The following Monday, after the first night at the Barn Yard I went into work just like normal. It had been storming most of Sunday and all through the night and continued on into Monday. I didn't mind, I liked the rain and the sound of thunder. However, on the elevator ride up to the hospital, a lady I was riding with, who just happened to be pregnant and in labor during that elevator ride, really went into labor.

See, she had a one night stand and got pregnant so she was alone. She drove herself to the hospital while in labor. Parked in the underground garage and walked to the elevator, all while in active labor. I mean I had never been pregnant that I'm aware of and I really hoped I didn't have a kid out there somewhere. Anyway, all that seemed like a lot of work for being in labor and a lot painful. But she, Lauren just shrugged her shoulders and laughed it off. She was used to being alone and having this baby and raising this child, well she would do that by herself as well. I saluted her. She was a lot braver than me.

Anyway, that elevator ride got a lot more interesting when it stopped. The power had went out apparently and even though the generators kicked on almost immediately, our elevator didn't move. The emergency light was on, giving us barely any light, but we made it work. So with a doctor on the phone, I delivered a healthy 8 pound baby girl named Renee. I have then since seen that little girl and her kind mother several times and have been named Godmother. That made me cry. I had been truly touched by this. But it also made me decide that I wanted to go to school and become a nurse. That feeling that came over me as I held a newborn screaming baby in my arms was everything and I wanted it again and again.

I was told by several of my friends from the hospital including Kelly and Melissa that I should be a doctor but I told them that I wanted to start small and becoming a nurse is the first step. Maybe not a small step, but right now it felt right.

Today, I have a meeting with the dean from Jacksonville University. I was hoping that I would be able to attend college there with the temporary social that I had been given. I wanted to get started on my future.

The doorbell tears me from my thoughts and I got up to answer the door. Only to find...

"Officer Weasley." I hadn't seen much of him this past month so maybe this visit was going to be newsworthy.

He shook his head. "I thought I told you to call me George."

I shrugged. "I opt not to."

He laughed. My rudeness didn't seem to faze him. "I have news. Can I come in?"

I stepped aside and allowed the Officer to enter Mary's home. "Can I get you a cup of coffee, Officer?"

He sat down at the kitchen table, but he shook his head. I returned to my seat with my now cold cup of coffee. "What's this news?"

He sighed. "I need to ask again. Do you remember anything about Bodhi?"

I shook my head, frowning. "I don't remember anything, Officer."

He nodded his head and took a deep breath. "Bodhi is actually Lucas Markson. We put Bodhi's fingerprints into the system and we finally got a hit."

My mouth dropped and I let out a small gasp. "He... I..." I didn't know what to say.

"He's actually from San Diego, California. He's been swimming under their radar since he was young. He's not 19 as his Florida ID stated but 25. He's been in and out for drug possession, intent to sell, distribution and assault with a deadly weapon."

"A-assault with a deadly weapon."

Officer Weasley nodded. "It was a gang member he assaulted, but that gang member still pressed charges. According to the file that the San Diego Police Department sent us he was well known in his neighborhood and well liked. Besides the drug charges, he was a good guy. Took care of his elderly grandmother, donated to charity, and spent thousands on Toys for Tots every year."

I was shook by this. "Why was he in Florida? And is California where I'm from?"

Officer Weasley smiled gently. "To answer your first question, no one is really sure. He just up and disappeared from San Diego."

"Was he wanted?"

He shook his head. "No, he wasn't a wanted man. He just had a record. And we sent the San Diego PD your photo and your prints and they don't have anything on you."

I dropped my head in despair. Where did I belong?

"Steph?"

I looked up into Officer Weasley's hazel eyes. "I have an idea and I want to run it by you."

I nodded and motioned for him to continue. He smiled. "We ran your prints locally, here in Florida and in Tennessee where your key chain had came from and you already know we didn't receive any hits."

"Yes." I knew this.

"We're going to expand our search and do a nationwide search through AFIS."

I cocked my head in confusion. "I thought that was automatic?"

He shook his head. "No. The results would take forever and we were hoping you were local. Or maybe you would remember something. But I'm starting to wonder if the reason you haven't remembered anything is because you don't want to."

"What?" My voice raised an octave and I curled my hands around my mug tigher, my knuckles turning white. "Of course I want to remember. That's..."

Officer Weasley held up a hand. "Maybe that came out wrong. What I meant, is maybe you're running from something..." He took a breath. "Or someone."

He met my eyes and gave me this look and I inhaled sharply. "Oh." He meant maybe I was in trouble with someone. Scared of someone. And I honestly didn't know.

He nodded. "Exactly. And that's another reason why we only did those two states. We had to be careful. We still have to be careful, Steph. I want to run this nation wide search, but I want to warn you."

"Warn me?"

"I won't have results immediately. We just recently got the results from Bodhi, excuse me Lucas. So it will take just as long for yours. If they hit on anything."

"I'm okay with that. Its been 8 months and I haven't remember anything. I'm willing to try anything."

Officer Weasley smiled. "Good. There's one more thing."

I motioned for him to continue. "Please..."

"Once I leave your house, I'm going to the police station and I'm running your prints so from this moment on if anything feels wrong or weird, I need you to tell me."

"I don't understand."

He took a deep breath. "If you feel like anyone is watching you or anything weird happens that doesn't quite make sense, I need you to tell me." He enunciated each word.

"I promise. I won't hesitate to call you."

He touched my hand and let out a breath of relief. "Good. Now tell me all about this elevator delivery that I've been hearing about."

My eyes widened. "How did you know about that?"

He rolled his eyes. "Sister-in-law." He said it so I was pretty sure a 'duh' should have been tacked on at the end. I laughed.

"Of course." He grinned and I launched into my tale of labor and delivery.

Miami RangeMan

"Diego!"

I jerked my head up and looked towards the entry to my office. Jaxon and Hudson, the twins and playboys of the office were standing there.

"What?" I snapped.

They both cocked their head in unison and frowned. They were identical twins and they used that to their advantage but it worked to mine as well so I didn't have a problem with it. Until now.

"You've been acting awfully weird these past couple of weeks, Boss. You sure you're okay?" They may have been my employees but they were my right hand men. I counted on them for everything. About a month ago, I took Hudson with me to Jacksonville, Florida on a hunch. I had been daydreaming a lot since that day.

I nodded. "I'm fine. What's up?"

They looked at each other and then at me. They knew I was lying but they didn't call me on it. For now.

"We found Lucas Markson." They announced as one and I immediately snapped to attention.

"Where?"

"Jacksonville, Florida."

My jaw went slack and my thoughts instantly went to the curly haired brunette with the ocean blue eyes. I hadn't stopped thinking about her since I saw her in Jacksonville. We went there on a hunch that Markson would be there. Instead, we found Flint Ackerson. He was wanted for murder charges in more than one state and he had been there to kill Markson. We didn't find Markson. But I found someone that I wanted to know more about. I was still hating myself for not going back and getting her name. Her number. Her story and why she looked so familiar and reminded me of someone. I knew I would eventually put a face to a name, but we had been busy lately and I haven't had a chance. Speaking of busy...

I stood up. "Let's go back to Jacksonville." Hell, I wanted to run all the way there. I hoped I saw her again.

Hudson shook his head. "He's dead."

I inhaled sharply and sat back down. "What?"

Hudson went into an exclamation about a motorcycle accident and all I could think about was his grandmother. Markson disappeared from his San Diego life several years ago and his grandmother, Eleanor Markson had spent a lot of money trying to find her beloved grandson. She finally decided to hire us to find him. She found reviews on Yelp that we were able to find anyone and although we were clear across the US, she didn't give a shit. We've been searching for Markson for a little over a year. We had gotten a lead that he was seen in Florida so we headed that way.

There we discovered that he had a contract on his head. A gang member from San Diego wanted him dead for something Markson had seen when he was younger. Markson was young and smart and was headed places. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He got mixed up with the wrong crowd when he just entered puberty and started selling drugs. A young life snuffed out too soon. He should have had a better chance. He really was a smart kid, according to his grandmother and all the school shit she showed me.

"Fuck."

RangeMan - 9 Months After Steph disappeared

"Ranger?"

I looked up from my mountain of paperwork. "Yes."

"There's someone here to see you."

I cocked an eyebrow in question. "Who?"

Lester raised both eyebrows. "Mary Lou."

I dropped my pen and stood up. "Send her in, immediately."

I rounded my desk and waited as Mary Lou was shown my office. I stopped actively searching for Steph months ago. I burned out every lead I had, used every favor I could and I came up empty at every turn. No one had heard from her or seen her in 9 months. Mary Lou had informed me just a month after Steph had left that even if she did know, she wouldn't tell me. So this, her showing up here couldn't be good.

Mary Lou hesitated at my office door and I waved her in. "How can I help you, Mary Lou."

She was chewing on her bottom lip and wringing her jacket between her fingers. She was nervous. Or scared. "Mary Lou." My voice went an octave lower and her eyes snapped up to meet mine.

"Have you heard from Steph?" I questioned, hoping like hell she had.

She shook her head and tears filled her eyes. "No. I'm scared something has happened to her."

I took a slow breath. "When was the last time you heard from her?"

"A month after she left."

I held back my anger. It had been nine months since Steph left Trenton and I knew that Mary Lou was in contact with her but I hadn't realized...

"Why are you just coming to me now?" I had to speak slowly because I needed to stay in control.

Mary Lou swallowed. "I was just hoping..." She shrugged and tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'm sorry."

I grabbed a box of Kleenex and pushed her down into the nearby chair as I gave her the Kleenex. I then leaned against the edge of my desk. "Tell me everything you know." I ordered.

And she did.