Chapter 23

I was glad of the darkness that seemed to surround us as we reached the bottom of the steps and I stayed as close to Ranger as he would allow, his arm around me feeling like a layer of protection. Of course, there were black SUVs waiting for us and I was sure that I recognized Woody and Binkie driving them, but I didn't make eye contact. That Ranger got into the back with me had me breathing out a sigh of relief and enabled me to turn and bury myself into his chest. I didn't want to see where we were, I didn't want any memories coming back to me.

Feeling the car drop down a ramp told me that we'd arrived in the Rangeman garage and the panic that I'd been trying so hard to keep at bay took control. Even as Ranger moved to get out of the car, I was closing my eyes and taking in deep breaths. Could I cope with the looks and words that would come from the men here? I didn't think that I was strong enough for that.

"Babe, all the men here wanted you back. They haven't taken notice of any of the rumors, because they know you"

If they knew me then they'd know that I had put people in danger before. Hell, Tank got shot in the chest when I first worked with him, and hadn't Ranger been shot at least twice because of me? Every time a man had worked with me, they'd been given hazard pay because of the unpredictability of what I brought.

"Never on purpose. You would never intentionally put someone in danger. Shit just happens around you because of someone else, not you"

I felt his hands on my cheeks as he said that and as he slowly pushed my hood away from my head. It seemed that Ranger wasn't going to allow me to hide.

"Little Girl. I am so happy to see you. Let me hug you just for me to be sure that you're real"

I was literally lifted out of the car and was being held in a bear hug, my feet nowhere near the ground. For all that Tank was a big powerful man his hold around me was gentle but firm and along with what he'd said I felt the tears come to my eyes.

"Shit, did I hurt you?"

Were Tank's next words as he placed me on the ground. I shook my head and looked down at the ground embarrassed that I felt so emotional.

"Cameras are off Ranger"

Came to me as I felt Ranger stood next to me. I had no idea where we would go next. I imagined that I'd end up in an apartment on four so was surprised when he pushed the button for seven in the elevator. I suppose that I'd stayed there before when I needed somewhere safe so wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or not at the familiarity as I stepped into Ranger's apartment. I'd hardly got to the end of the hallway when there was a blur of movement from my side and once again, I was being hugged. This time when I stepped back there were tears in both our eyes.

"I'm so happy that he found you, that you're safe"

I was looking into the smiling face of Ella as she kept her hands on my shoulders.

"Anything you need or want then talk to me"

I'd always felt an intense draw to Ella and how she seemed to look out for me. To be honest I just wanted her to adopt me because she had always shown me more affection and concern than my own mother ever had.

"There's wraps and fillings for you both. I didn't think that after your journey that you'd want anything too heavy"

That sounded just right and after saying a "Thank you" I watched as Ella left the apartment. That was when Ranger stepped up to me and began to unfasten the belt and then the buttons of my jacket. He slid it down my arms but stayed in front of me, just looking at me.

"Don't hide Babe. You are still a beautiful woman, strong and resilient"

I was close to rolling my eyes at hearing him say that but stopped myself when I saw the look on Ranger's face. He was being extremely serious which to be honest confused me and almost had me denying what he'd said. A finger at my lips stopped me from making a comment and I was soon being led to the couch.

I was sure that Ranger was close to sighing when he peeled the gloves off my hands. It was going to be a very hard habit to break not to have that layer of protection on. I watched as he filled up a wrap for me, well it was almost like a pocket, and then held it out to me. I might not have known what everything was inside, but it did taste delicious so I was soon filling another one. I had no doubt that all of the ingredients were healthy because Ranger went on to eat a third.

"I had a good conversation this morning with Greg. I told him everything that we'd discovered"

I had never thought that Gregory would have been involved by Ranger and the idea that Gregory now knew exactly who I was didn't sit well with me. Did that mean that he knew why I'd turned up at Hoquiam, that he was someone else that would be passing judgement on me? Would he tell Jenson all of my secrets? I hated that Jenson would find out like that.

"Does, does he know about me?"

"No, that's your story to tell when you're ready. He still only knows you as the woman who turned up, with no history"

I closed my eyes, so relieved to hear that because I knew that I owed Jenson some answers but as Ranger had said it needed to be when I was ready to tell him.

"I only spoke to him about our concerns of how someone knew where to find you"

I looked over to Ranger because the idea of getting Jenson into trouble when he was totally innocent concerned me.

"He had never delved into Jenson's past because their friendship just developed. Greg sometimes sent business Jenson's way but nothing that would raise any concerns. He's going to discreetly see what he can find out from Jenson. All seems quiet there, Anya is helping at the office and even Robert is lending a hand"

I suppose that her son was a little bit older now and with both parents around it would give Anya some time doing something else.

"Did Robert write his article?"

Thinking about the trouble that he'd found himself in.

"He's just about finished but he's already chasing the next story"

I hoped that by doing that then Robert wouldn't be leaving Anya on her own again. It must have been so worrying for Anya when she had learnt that Robert was missing and could possibly have been in danger. I stood up at seeing Ranger begin to pick up the dishes from the table and helped by carrying some through to the kitchen. As soon as we'd finished tidying away, I returned to the couch wondering what to do next. I was feeling tired but not enough to go to bed to sleep, plus I was feeling a little nervous about the sleeping arrangements. Normally I'd just sleep in Ranger's bed with him, was that what he was expecting as well?

I was brought out of my musings by Ranger sitting down next to me and handing me an envelope.

"There's a new phone with a new number, bank cards and driving license"

I tipped the envelope allowing the items to drop onto my lap and then picked up the bank card because I didn't recognize the name of the bank. It had the name Annie Pardo printed on it which surprised me. I'd heard of the name Pardo before because that was a name the Ranger had used when we'd been looking for Scrogg all those years ago.

"I don't have any money"

"Yes you do. Greg transferred what he owed you for those two jobs that you did for him"

I looked at Ranger then remembering what jobs they'd been. Surely, he hadn't paid me for helping to find Robert had he? Okay I suppose that I'd found the leads for finding Charlie.

"Did Ben ever find out who was master minding the trafficking?"

That was the only other work that I'd done but I had never found out whether or not my hunches had been right.

"Yes. You were spot on with what you suggested to Ben. The woman, Renata Leonor, a woman whose identity is still being questioned and a business man were arrested. She was so confident that no one would ever suspect her that records were found at her home"

I always suspected that she was the type of woman to have done that and felt elated that I'd been a part of stopping her trafficking people.

"The number for your phone is only known to me, Hector, Xander and Les. Hector put our numbers in for you and set up the phone so that it wouldn't reveal a number if you called someone"

Like I was about to call someone. The only person that I would want to talk to would be Lula and at the moment I didn't want anyone to know that I was back in Trenton so talking to Lula might not be such a good idea. Lula was terrible at keeping a secret.

I placed the items back into the envelope because I wasn't seeing me using them anytime soon. The problem was what would I do next? I'd already done a lot of research on the Peralta family but just couldn't get a feel for how they were involved. Samuel Chiconi was my last person of interest.

"Babe, would you look through the research that we have on Crocker? You see things from a different perspective to us so you may be able to find out how Morelli involved him"

I agreed to do that for several reasons. No way was I going to be leaving the safety of Rangeman, so I needed to keep myself occupied. I wasn't sure that looking at Chiconi would turn up anything but Joe involving Crocker did puzzle me. I was sure that Ranger had been right in his assessment of Crocker, that he wasn't a violent man, so how had Joe convinced Crocker into throwing a firebomb at my car?

Soon after that I was yawning and in serious danger of falling asleep. I knew that I was tired but was still unsure of where I would sleep, or if Ranger would be with me. The decision was made for me when Ranger gently picked me up and deposited me on his bed.

"You're tired. Get ready for bed while I shower"

Okay to me that meant that we would be sharing his bed. To be honest I was relieved because I knew that Ranger could pull me out from my nightmares and while I admitted to myself that my feelings for Ranger had reemerged, I had no desire for anything physical to happen between us. Removing the dress that I'd worn for the day and finding one of Ranger's T-shirts in the closet I soon sank down into the bed. The sheets were as I remembered so half asleep with the smell of Bulgari enshrouding my senses I soon fell into a deep sleep.

Waking up was strange. It had been so long since I hadn't woken myself up screaming that I had to make sure that I was even awake. I felt incredibly warm and totally unable to move. That panicked me slightly until I looked down my body to find out why. An arm was under my neck and wrapped across my front while another arm was holding me around my hips. A weight over my legs had me assuming that a leg was resting over them. The sight of the mocha latte skin against the white of mine suddenly made sense making me relax and enjoy the protective feel around me.

"Morning Babe"

Came the whisper at my shoulder, the feel of Ranger's breath sending goosebumps down my spine.

"Did I wake you?"

Thinking that maybe that was why I was bundled up tightly in his arms.

"No. You were restless when I came to bed, so I decided to hold you, to hopefully keep the nightmares away"

Huh, well that certainly seemed to work. I felt Ranger's hold slacken around me so turned until I was laid on my back with Ranger on his side next to me.

"No dreams?"

"No. Thank you for taking care of me"

Which was what he'd done, just like he had done in the past. I stayed laid down as Ranger got up, wearing just his silk shorts, and disappeared into the bathroom. A few minutes later he appeared dressed in his Rangeman uniform.

"Ella just brought breakfast in"

Was shouted as he walked out. I'd never really given it much thought before as to what Ella thought of me being here. I'd always taken her bringing up breakfast for granted, but now I was actually worried what she thought about me being here. I suppose how Ranger and I interacted would be strange to anyone, but it seemed to work as long as I kept my emotions in check. Maybe I should make sure that nothing physical developed because I didn't think that I'd survive having casual sex with him. No, that would definitely put a strain on the friendship that we had or was I worried about him pushing me away from him?

I found a pair of black cargos and a pale blue sweater in the closet, surprised at the range of underwear that I had a choice of. I wasn't too sure where Ranger would expect me to work but hoped that for today it was here in his apartment. I wasn't ready to go down to five and have to face all the men yet.

Ranger was sat at the breakfast bar with what looked like granola and fruit. I would have been happy with that as well but the smell coming from under a dome tempted me to lift up the lid. The sight of pancakes greeted me, and I knew that Ella had made them especially for me.

"You aren't eating as you used to, are you?"

Was Ranger reading my mind? I didn't respond because he was right but no way was I going to upset Ella. I used a spatula to remove two of them and then added some fruit from the bowl in front of Ranger.

"I know that you avoided eating any of those doughnuts yesterday, so just let Ella know what you'd prefer to eat"

I'd expected some snide comment on how he was pleased that I'd decided to change my eating habits so was surprised at his suggestion. I hadn't made an active decision to change, or had I? I knew that I'd hardly eaten anything between the fire and Jenson finding me. I just couldn't stomach eating much of anything. Helping Jenson prepare our meals had helped and everything was fresh, yeah lots of fruit and vegetables, so over time I'd started to regain my appetite and enjoy that kind of food. Maybe though in the back of my mind was an overriding need to rid myself of everything Stephanie Plum, including her bad eating habits.

"Jenson had me making meals with him, I think it was his way of making sure that I ate. I started to enjoy my meals and apart from an odd treat I haven't touched the things that I used to like"

I hoped that my explanation gave Ranger an answer, but I'd take his suggestion and speak to Ella.

"Where do want you want to work today, here or down on five?"

"Here"

Was my immediate response which only had Ranger taking my hand and leading me through to his office. There were files there already, so I looked at him wondering why he'd asked me where I wanted to work.

"Why ask when everything is here?"

"To give you the choice Babe"

Was all that he said as he turned and walked away. I thought about that as he disappeared. Was giving me choices important? To me it probably was, and I realized that a lot of the conflict that I'd come across in my life was when people tried to tell what to do. Choices I suppose gave me some control of what was happening in my life. Man, Ranger sure had me figured out if he understood me that well. So why was he doing that? Normally he'd just tell me what he thought that I should do, so why was he giving me choices now? I shrugged those thoughts off as him probably treating me with kid gloves, you know, just in case I lost it again.