The Last Day

Sunlight spilled across the silk sheets as I rolled onto my back. Ranger was framed in the window, dressed all in black. As I watched, he clipped his gun into its sling, and turned to me. "Hector and Tank found her in a warehouse. They've been there for an hour," he said, looking at me. I nodded. "Don't leave this house. I'll be back in two hours." Again, I nodded. Ranger walked over and bent down to brush his lips with mine. "I love you," he whispered, and the words rang through my body, touching the tips of my toes.

Without another word he was gone, leaving me to my own devices. I lay in bed a bit longer, and slowly came to grips with the fact that this week had changed my life completely. I would never again know the feeling of not being loved. This whole world was upside down and backwards.

I leaned over the edge of the bed and picked up my cell phone. Mary Lou had two children, she should be up by now. I had just gotten her answering machine when I heard the door open and close downstairs. It wasn't the front door, but the kitchen door. Someone was in the house. I dropped the phone to the floor and grabbed my gun out of my purse.

I flipped the gun open and checked the ammo. Five rounds in five slots. It was loaded. I rolled off the bed and took one of those squatted cop stances as I ducked out the bedroom door. Whoever it was, they hadn't left the kitchen yet, I could see the shadow moving around. It wasn't Ranger, or Tank, or even Hector. It was Jeanne Ellen.

Even I wasn't stupid enough to go down there and try to fight her out. I moved back toward the bedroom slowly. I'd call Ranger, and I'd hide until he came. As I backed into the bedroom, I heard her footsteps on the stairs. Jesus, I was dead.

I bumped into the bed, and shoved the gun under the bed sheets. The door slammed open, and Jeanne Ellen Burrows was standing there, gun drawn. I gasped. "Hello, Stephanie," she said, smiling at me. "Imagine meeting you here."

Keep her talking, I thought. Give Ranger time to get here. "Listen, Jeanne Ellen," I began.

"It really is beautiful here, isn't it," she asked, looking around, her gun still trained on me. "I would've liked to be invited to this house, but Ranger never wanted to share it with me." Her cold blue eyes turned to me, and glimmered with hatred. "From the moment he met you, he wanted to share it with you. God, I hated that! How dare he? How dare he!" I stared at her. The moment he met me? Holy shit.

"Look," I said, my hand crawling along under the sheet. I had to get the gun and surprise her. "I had no idea Ranger felt that way, Jeanne Ellen. I always thought that you and he were, you know…"

"Well, we weren't!" Jeanne Ellen snapped, her eyes flashing almost as much as her gun. I inhaled. Jeanne Ellen had gone crazy. I was sure of it. "He built all of this!" she screamed, her hands shaking. "He built all of this because he knew there was someone out there he could love more then life itself. For a long time, I thought it would be me." She glared at me. "But it was you."

"I didn't have control over whether or not Ranger fell in love with me," I stuttered, my heart racing against my chest.

"Bullshit!" Jeanne Ellen screamed. "You made him fall for you, and you know it!"

"How could I make him fall for me!" I screamed back, bolting forward before I could think about it. Jeanne leveled the gun, just as I pulled mine from beneath the sheets.

Both of us fired at the same time, I ducked against the bed, sobbing. Only after a few seconds did I look to Jeanne Ellen, where she was sitting against the wall. She bled profusely from a wound in her gun arm, and I had managed to dodge the bullet. I was sobbing when I heard footsteps on the stairs and Ranger, Tank and Hector charged in. Tank kicked the gun from Jeanne Ellen's grasp, and applied pressure to her wounds.

Ranger checked me over for wounds, then, once he was satisfied, swept me into his arms and held me tight. He picked up his phone, and dialed a number. "Morelli," he said, his voice deep. He proceeded to give directions to the Bat Cave, and then hung up.

I stared up at him. "Your privacy is ruined," I whispered, my eyes heavy.

Ranger brushed hair from my face as he leaned down to kiss me. "My privacy means nothing to me anymore," he whispered. "You've seen it. That's all I wanted." I felt myself smile as sleep claimed me.

When I awoke, it was dark outside, and the only light in the room was coming from the hallway. I sat up and glanced around the empty room. I still heard voices downstairs, lots of voices. Rising, I threw a robe around myself, and shuffled out of the room. Coming to the landing, I looked down and saw half of Ranger's troops, and half of the Trenton police squad standing in the foyer, and around the house.

Almost as if on cue, Ranger glanced up at me, and I saw his eyes darken. In mere seconds he was beside me. "Hey," he said, wrapping his arms around me. "You've been sleeping all day." I smiled up at him. "Are you all right?"

I nodded. "What are all these people doing here?" I whispered, glancing down at them. I caught a glimpse of Morelli, leaning against a wall, talking with Carl and Eddie.

"Making sure I'm treating you all right," he replied. I grinned. "Are we keeping you awake?" I shook my head. "Liar."

He turned and walked me back into the darkened bedroom. Pulling back the covers, he lifted me up and tucked me in. "Good night, Babe," he said, kissing my forehead. "I'll get rid of our guests, and come to bed." I nodded against his lips.

After a few minutes of waiting, I heard the door open. I recognized Ranger's form slip in. He stripped off his clothes and crawled into bed, curling up next to me. I felt his arms come around me, and pull me close.

"What kind of life do you want, Babe?" he asked me, his voice soft.

Excuse me? I thought about it for a moment, then cuddled close and responded. "When you grow up on the Burg, you come to expect certain things from life." Ranger nodded. "You expect to grow up, get married and have children, continuing the legacy." Ranger nodded again, silent. "But I'm not what most would call a Burger. I'm not sure what I want."

Ranger rolled me onto my back, and whispered, "Babe. I want to ask you something, and you have every right to say no." My heart sped up. Ranger smiled like he could feel it. "Marry me."

Holy Mary, Mother of God! I gasped and jolted awake like the hand of god had punched me in the gut. What the hell kind of dream was that?