Better than the Batcave

by Emma15

Rating due to Language "It never came up."

6. Chapter 6

Disclamer: See first Chapter.

Author's Note: Hi! Thanks for all the reviews! You're all so wonderful.

I forgot to mention before that "Nica" is pronounced: Nee-ka. Anyway, this chapter is pretty long I hope you all enjoy.

Please Review!!

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I was sitting on a bed that wasn't mine, in a room full of clothes that weren't mine, in a house full of Ranger's family, in an unknown town in Upstate New York.

How did I get myself into these things?

I'd dug through the closet and found that there was an entire wardrobe in there… in my size. A very warm wardrobe, complete with snow boots, scarfs, gloves, hats, long-johns, and very thick socks.

I'd also found a warm pajama set, that had big shining stars on it.

I'd put them on of course, and now I was getting ready to do some serious thinking. I had to sort out what had happened.

Ranger said I'd been here for five days…

The day he'd asked for my help had been a Friday… so counting from that day forward it should be…

Wednesday?

It depended on how long I'd been with the kidnappers though.

I lay back… so it'd be easier to think.

The kidnappers.

A blonde guy… I'd puked on.

A dark guy… with a blade.

And a chair.

I couldn't for the life of me remember how long I'd been there. I tried recalling the conversation but could only get bits and pieces.

It didn't matter though, my eyelids were suddenly heavy and I decided that I could think about it tomorrow.

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Sometimes sleeping for six hours during the day is not the best idea.

Why?

Because it causes you to wake up unnaturally early the next morning.

It was 5:12 in the morning.

Yes, in the morning!

I, Stephanie Plum, am up before sunrise… by own free will.

Not only up, but I'd already brushed my teeth and showered.

I'd donned the star pajamas on again though, and crawled back into bed… hoping that maybe I could get a just a little more shut-eye.

Hasn't happened.

What has happened is smidgens of pictures and words attacking my brain from the kidnapping; and it's really annoying since none of the info is useful.

5:22

Maybe I should explore a little.

Chances were everyone was still asleep, especially if they'd had that meeting at eleven; and it would be good to get a sense of where the hell I am.

I walked to the door quickly before I changed my mind, pressing my ear against it to see if I heard anything…

Nope, quiet.

Just in case though, I opened the door slowly, and peaked out. The room was empty and dim.

Okay, good.

I walked out, pausing to let my eyes adjust to the light. It was a gorgeous room. Floor to ceiling windows lined the far wall – they were pulled shut at the moment—but when open they'd flood this room with sunlight.

I noticed again how comfy everything looked, despite its size and absolutely exquisite architecture, this room was lived in – by a family.

I headed towards the kitchen, remembering that there'd been a hallway of sorts before you got to it.

I opened the first door, and found a bathroom… the kind you found in a resort… big, really clean, with a Jacuzzi.

Next door.

I stood there staring for a second, wondering if I'd wandered into an issue of Home and Gardens.

It was dining room.

That looked like it'd been copied from Beauty and the Beast.

I walked in and could actually hear "Be my Guest" song in my head.

The table itself was just… awesome. Long and gleaming with a fresh flower centerpiece in the middle and two candle stands on either side, it really did belong in a movie.

I stood there in awe a moment before I took in the rest of the room, which was equally gorgeous.

The dark wood was the theme of the room, from the floors to the border that touched the ceiling. The high-back chairs were standing attention around the table, were also dark wood; and at one end of the room a counter ran the length of the wall – there weren't any stools near this though.

The entire room screamed sophistication and I very carefully closed the door, just in case… after things did tend to blow up when I was around.

I went to the kitchen again, just to get another look. I hadn't noticed yesterday, 'cause I didn't know, but the dark wood theme in the dining room was carried over to the kitchen too.

In the cabinets, all dark wood that looked like mahogany or something, and really shiny, just like the table.

I walked around, running my hand over the counter tops and the island. Ending up at the largest refrigerator I'd ever seen in my life. If I ever worked in a restaurant I don't think I'd find a refrigerator this big in it.

I looked around before opening it, just to make sure no one was here. I hadn't heard anyone, but than again this was Ranger's family.

Whoa.

Wherever it was that Ranger picked up his eating habits it definitely wasn't here. From go-gurt to jell-o pudding, from chocolate milk to pseudo-chicken nuggets this 'fridge was a dream come true.

I looked behind me again.

No one would mind if I took a go-gurt, right?

Oooooh the berry blend, my favorite.

Maybe getting up this early wasn't so bad.

I left the kitchen sucking on the yummy tube.

I turned left when I exited the hallway. There were three options now.

I could go down a hallway, open a regular door, or slide open these double doors. I chose the regular door first. I opened it and discovered that they revealed a staircase, which was going down.

Slurping up some more 'gurt I peered down there and could see nothing but darkness.

Nope, I had no desire to venture into dark, unknown places.

Slowly, but firmly I shut that door.

Stepping away looked towards the next two options. The hallway opened up a few feet away from the room I was staying in, while the double doors were almost up on a pedestal.

You had walk up… seven steps to get to those.

I stood there, slurping and looking back and forth between the two options.

The hallway looked safer.

I started walking and found that it curved and that at the end of it was a staircase, huge and rounded that led up to a second floor.

What had my mouth hanging open though was the fact that the end of this hallway was glass.

It was arched and glass all the way up, the staircase curved with the hallway way and I tilted my head to look up.

I wasn't going up there.

There was a very good probability that there were people up there.

Turning back around I head towards the last option.

The double doors.

I went up the steps and stood outside it for a moment. They looked kinda intimidating.

I pressed my ear against them too, to make sure there was no one in there.

I heard nothing.

I opened them slowly and then just swung them open when I peeked in.

I gasped, this house was the coolest!

I walked in almost in a daze, the empty go-gurt tube falling from my hands.

The humid air hit me full on, but I barely noticed it. It was a pool… room.

A room with a pool.

I was standing at a railing still on the platform; the railing had stairs leading off of it on both sides.

The room was immense and I could only assume it was the majority of the ground floor.

It had to be.

The pool was at the center, it's greeny-looking water calm and serene. Beyond the pool on the far, really far, end of the room was an… arcade.

There was no other word for it.

Air hockey, foosball, video game machines, even one of those simulated dance thingy's, where you followed the screen and stepped on the buttons, filled the room. To the side of all that, much less amusing, was an assortment of exercise machines.

Ranger's heaven.

I walked down the left stairs.

And found in a corner, corner in proportion to this house, a small kitchen-like area; with a regular sized refrigerator.

I almost ran over to the games and almost drooled when I realized that there was a snack machine and a soda machine too.

I stood there, looking around, with what I knew to be a dumbfounded expression on my face.

And I'd wondered how all those people could disappear.

Duh.

Smiling, I reached out and pushed a button; the machine vended me a pack of Twinkies.

Twinkies were really good. A few more steps and another button and I had a coke to go with it.

I really liked this house.

I set my breakfast down next to the pool-side and proceeded to remove my socks and roll up the pants. I sat on the edge of the pool and reached for my snack.

The water was a little cold when I stuck my feet in, but hey, I couldn't exactly be in a pool room and not get in the pool, right?

Satisfied with my morning I tore open the Twinkie package and swirled water around with feet.

I sipped my coke and savored the creamy center, I was feeling very contended when suddenly I felt harsh shove from behind and suddenly the creamy center was usurped by cold, chlorine infested water.

The Twinkie itself was stuck in my throat and I saw the bubbles leave my mouth and float to the top as I was completely submerged.

I flailed around a little managing to close my eyes against the water, before I hit the top. I gasped for breath, but couldn't – the Twinkie was going to kill me.

I was going to die and my last meal would have been a lard-filled piece of fluff and a coke.

I fell under again, without even getting the chance to open my eyes.

I started gagging, and my flailing wasn't doing anything… somewhere in my mind I knew I was supposed to start swimming, but the inability to breath and the material stuck in my throat wasn't letting those thoughts dominate.

My thoughts started getting fuzzy, my lungs were screaming for air and I was getting desperate when I felt strong hands grab me under the arms and heft me upwards.

I coughed and coughed and coughed, spitting out water and gooey, white substance, as I lay on the side of the pool dripping. Someone was alternating between hitting my back hard and smoothing my hair gently.

A big, warm towel was wrapped around me and I realized I was really cold… shaking actually.

"Look at me Babe," Ranger's voice rumbled.

I did, even though, I didn't want to.

"Drink this," he said, handing me a cup of something.

The last thing I wanted was to drink something. I started shaking my head, he interrupted, "Drink it Babe," he said. I tried holding it myself but my hand was trembling.

I'm not sure what it was, but it actually did help with the not gagging.

"Take slow breaths," he was saying.

I nodded, surprised it was working. I could breath.

As my breathing regulated itself, I looked at him again.

He was wet.

"You're wet."

"So are you. Did you hit anything on the way down? The shoulder?"

I shook my head, "What happened?" I asked, trying to stand. He helped me; and when I was standing he didn't let me go.

He kept his arm wrapped around my waist. I was feeling a lot warmer, suddenly and decided that leaning into him wouldn't be a bad idea. I was kinda wobbly.

"… that's why…"

"huh?"

He stopped, peering down at me, "You weren't listening?"

I shook my head, "Sorry."

"The kids wake up early on Saturday's to watch cartoons. Lacey gets up too, to watch them. When she's ready to play she sits by the pool, like you were doing. They come up behind her and push her in. She swims to the other side and they jump in after her. It's tradition. She hasn't come to the pool in a month so when they saw…"

"They thought I was her."

He nodded grim face, "We tried to get here before they pushed you in."

"How did you-"

He started maneuvering me towards the door.

I glared, "How did you know I was here."

He stopped and looked down at me, a smile spread across his face. A nice, friendly smile that was more relaxed than I'd ever seen him, "Babe, the whole house is monitored. That door you opened but didn't go into, leads to a security room. We were down there."

I narrowed my eyes, "You were watching me."

He said nothing, but pointed me in the direction of the stairs. It was then I noticed that that Marcus was here too and that he didn't look happy – especially with the three dark-haired boys that were standing in front of him.

I frowned, "He doesn't have to yell at them, it was an accident."

Ranger's smile faded, "If he doesn't I will; and I'd rather not since it'd ruin my image as the cool uncle."

"You're the cool uncle?"

He smiled, "Come on, you need warm clothes."

We were headed towards the platform when I noticed that the boys seemed on the verge of crying. Jeez, it wasn't that big a deal.

Ranger stopped, silent communication passed between him and his brother, before the boys moved forwards as one.

"We want to apologize, Ms. Plum," the oldest said, he was about nine, maybe ten.

"We're real sorry about what happened." the middle one, about seven.

"We should have checked and made sure it was my mom." The oldest again.

"It's okay," I stuttered out; I was cold.

"We're real, real sorry, lady, real sorry." The youngest, about four.

I looked down at him, and I swear I felt myself melt.

It was a mini-Ranger.

And he was looking at me with big, wet, dark eyes; his bottom lip quivering.

"You're not mad are ya??"

I swallowed hard, my eyes were burning, my throat was raw, my head was staring to pound, my shoulder throbbed, and I couldn't stop shaking; but it was mini-Ranger, "No."

He whirled around, "See Uncle Marc, she's not mad."

Marcus looked at the boy, "Why don't you go find you're mother…. all of you go find his mother, please." He added looking at them all.

The boys walked away all looking like small puppies with their tails in between their legs.

I scowled him, "Jeez, it was an accident. It's not like they bashed me over the head with a tire iron. What's wrong with you!?"

And then I sneezed.

He and Ranger exchanged looks, "We've been trying to work on discipline." Marcus.

"All the boys are seriously undisciplined." Ranger.

"How many are there?" I asked them, suddenly very curious.

"Marcus owns the middle one of the three, along with another one that wasn't in on the fun. The little one is Lane's and Tony owns oldest one you just met."

I took this in as we left the pool room. My shivering got stronger suddenly and I realized the humid air in the room had kept me warmer.

"The lit-little o-one lo-looks like yo-you." I stammered, "A lo-lot."

He grinned, "Yeah."

He opened the door to "my" room, walked in, pushed me onto the bed, went to the closet and pulled out clothes.

Then he went to the bathroom and I heard him turn the shower on.

"Take a warm shower, get dressed, and come down for breakfast."

I frowned, "Ranger-" I started.

He was at the door already and turned to face me, a grin on his face, "Rick, Babe, you gotta call me Rick here. Ranger's not allowed in this house."

Then he left.

I stared at the door before realizing that the shaking would only stop when I got warm.

Soon I was outside, dressed in warm clothes and absolutely starving.

The television was on in the living room and when I stepped out of the room, four heads popped up from the sofa.

"Is that her?" one boy asked.

"Yeah."

"You're such an idiot; she doesn't even look like Aunt Lace."

"Shut up!"

The youngest scowled at them; he hopped off the sofa and barreled towards me.

"Hi! I'm Richie."

"Hi I'm Stephanie."

He grinned, "You wanna watch cartoons with me?"

"No, dummy, she's a grown up."

This was the other little boy, the one I hadn't seen.

"She might, Mom watches sometimes…"

"Only if you start to cry like a baby," the oldest one said.

The little one turned to glare at him, "I'm not a baby, and I'm not the one who thought the guest was his mom and pushed her into da pool!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

I had the intuition that as the adult I was supposed to stop this, yelling both of you shut up probably wasn't the best way though.

I was starting to panic as their high-pitched little voices hit another octave.

"There better be really good explanation for this behavior," a crisp voice said.

It was Lacey she was coming from the kitchen. The boys stopped instantly; all turning to face her.

She was frowning, "It's not enough that you tossed her into the deep of the pool while she was eating, you have to give her a head ache too?"

The boys looked down, "Aw, Mom it's not like we meant to…" the oldest stated in something close to a whine.

She didn't respond to that, "Breakfast is ready, go."

And they did. Quickly.

She transferred her gaze to me, "I'm sorry 'bout this morning," she offered, as I walked towards her, "The kids can be tough to handle and last night was a late one for all the adults. We kinda got lax with the kids for a second."

I nodded, "It wasn't that bad, no permanent damage done."

She smiled, "Glad to hear it. Rick would lynch us if we broke you on the first day."

I said nothing to that, making a mental note that Ranger was "Rick" and following her into the kitchen.

All conversation ceased when we entered.

It was like being on display at the Macy's Christmas window. Everyone who walks by has to stare… it's like instinct or something.

"Is this goin to happen every time I come in here?"

They all looked at each other and grinned, "It's the sheer impact of your presence." One of the men said, Marcus?

No, Marcus was the oldest…. The other one… Tony…

I stared at him, "Does my impacting presence get me food?"

He grinned, his eyes shooting to Ranger.

"Have a seat,"

I did, everyone I'd met last night was here along with the kids and… Ranger's daughter. I let my eyes rest on her a moment, she looked up, feeling my gaze. "Hi," I said.

She smiled slightly, before saying softly, "I'm glad you're alright."

I nodded, "Thanks."

"What do you want for breakfast?" Ranger asked me.

I smiled at him, "I can have whatever I want?"

He narrowed his eyes, "Fruit, toast and orange juice."

"Pancakes with syrup."

"A muffin and apple juice."

"French toast with syrup."

"Scrambled egg with green peppers and coffee."

"Waffles with syrup."

He glared, I glared back.

"Frosted flakes." I offered it was my last concession; one could only bend so far.

"Throw in some banana slices."

Okay maybe I could bend a little further, "Deal."

He nodded, satisfied, I looked across from me and found his sister grinning. I'd forgotten we weren't alone, the family had remained absolutely silent during our exchange even the kids.

"Have you met the kids, Steph?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"Boys!" she called and four dark-haired boys lined up before me -- like little soldiers.

"We're working on discipline," she said before beginning the introduction.

"Alex is the oldest at nine, then Paul at eight, then Clark at six, and then Richie at four. Paul and Clark belong to Marcus. Alex belongs to Tony and Lacey. Richie belongs to me."

I looked the boys over, smiling at each one; but it was Richie that made me stare. He was… mini-Ranger.

"You wanna watch cartoons now?" he asked again, not deterred by his older cousins' teasing, "On Saturday's we allowed to eat breakfast watchin TV."

"Yeah you could come." This came from Clark.

"That's sounds like a lot of fun, just let me get my cereal." I turned to ask where the bowls and stuff were and was presented with a big bowl of frosted flakes with banana's and milk.

"How di-"

"I made it for you honey," Celine said kindly.

My eyes widened, "I didn't see you. You didn't have to do that. I could've…"

She grinned, "But I did. Now go on and watch cartoon with the kids. They like it when an adult watches with them on Saturdays, unfortunately they only get their wish when Rick's around. He's the only one who obliges them."

My eyes widened, Ranger watching cartoons??

Jeez, more thought adjustment.

My eyes swung over to him, he was grinning – probably reading my thoughts again. "Come one Babe, Recess is about to start."

He said, walking past me, the boys followed. I started to follow but stopped, "Aren't you coming?" I asked Veronica.

She smiled slightly, "You don't have to be nice to me, you know." She said softly, "I'd understand if you wanted to stay far away from me."

Everyone in the kitchen froze.

The confusion must have shown on my face because she whirled on her Uncles, "She doesn't know?"

Marcus was the one who answered his voice almost cold, "We haven't briefed her yet."

"Well what are you waiting for!" she exclaimed.

"Watch your tone, Veronica," Lane.

The girl rolled her eyes and stormed off.

I stood there, silently.

"Go on to the living room, Stephanie, Rick and the boys are waiting." Celine suggested softly.

I nodded, still staring at the spot where Veronica had been sitting.

I went to join the guys in the living and found Ranger lying on the floor, his chin in his hands and the boys all lined up in the exact same position next to him.

It was a row of dark-haired men watching cartoons.

"Sit by me, Ms. Plum."

The second oldest called… already I'd forgot his name.

I did and we watched and occasionally I commented and I smiled when the kids spoke to me, but I didn't really hear anything. My mind was still on Veronica's words, on the expression on her face.

What didn't I know?

What did I have to be briefed on?

And why was it okay if I wanted to stay away from her?

My head was starting to hurt and the cereal had gotten kinda soggy and I didn't like it soggy.

I was staring down at the bowl, wondering why I couldn't remember the details of my kidnapping, when I heard a chuckle.

I looked up.

The TV was off, the kids were gone and Ranger was sitting Indian style staring at me.

"Find the secrets of life in that bowl?" Ranger asked.

"Why would your daughter tell me it's okay if I didn't want to be around her?"

He looked shocked, then he looked blank.

He stood in one swift motion, "Come."

I scowled at his back, I wasn't a puppy. Still I got up and followed. He opened that door that I hadn't gone through earlier and hit a light switch. It revealed a stair case that went straight down.

We went down silently. I'd expected a huge room, I'd already accounted in my head that this room was probably the size of the entire floor plan of the house. What I hadn't expected was the sheer amount of technology in this room.

Monitors lined the walls, along with desks and leather chairs and a hundred other doo-dads and gizmo's. There was a large round table at the center, that looked like it could have belonged to King Arthur. Stoic, muscled men patrolled the room, all armed to the teeth.

His siblings were already in the room.

I wanted to say hi, but my eyes were glued to the screens, "When you said the house is monitored… I thought… I didn't think… this is just… creepy." I was talking to Ranger even though I knew his siblings were all watching me, as I walked around. There was a door on the far side of the room; my guess is that it led outside. The outside was on the screens too, and I could see dogs walking around… Dobermans.

Like I said… creepy… it really was, there truly wasn't an aspect of this house that wasn't monitored. Well… not the bedrooms… but it didn't matter since the hallways that led to the bedroom and windows of the bedrooms and heck, even the closets of the bedrooms were all supervised.

Lane giggled, "Yeah I guess if you're not used to it, it kinda weird."

"Security is important." Marcus said, his voice always startled me, mostly because he hardly ever spoke in my presence and he seemed to always be studying me.

"Yeah, but this is… like Security on OCD."

There was no answer to this. Tony moved over to one of the desks and pulled out a chair, "Take a seat, Steph, I can call you Steph can't I?"

I nodded as I sat down. Ranger sat next to me, Lane across from me, and Tony on my other side. Marcus was standing at one of the other desks.

He walked over to me. "These are the two men responsible for your abduction." He said as he placed two photographs in front of me.

"The blonde one was a hired gun, the dark-haired was the first cousin of a man named Victor De Ruiz. De Ruiz has-"

"That's not him," I interrupted.

Marcus's eyes shot up to mine and I felt a nervous suddenly. I looked to Ranger; he too looked suddenly very grim.

"What do you mean that's not him."

I studied the picture more closely, "That's not the dark-haired guy that kidnapped me." I looked up and met Lane's narrowed eyes.

"What did he look like?" she asked me.

I shrugged, "He did look kinda like this… but… older I think. He had darker eyes."

I looked around at them.

"What's wrong?"

"Babe," Ranger began, "… these are the two people we picked up where we found you. If this guy isn't the one you saw that means there was a third we didn't know about."

Marcus turned away and returned a few moments later, "Tell me if you recognize anyone from these photos."

His tone was crisp and I didn't like it. I glared at him, ready to tell him what he could do with his pictures.

"Please Babe."

Damn him and his sudden sweetness.

I looked down at the pictures, rifling through them.

"Nope, none of these are him. He was older, like early fifties or late forties. All these guys are in their thirties at most."

They all looked at each other.

"Couldn't be." Lane.

"He'd get himself involved personally?" Tony.

"It's not like him." Lane.

"He must be desperate." Marcus.

Ranger stood suddenly; when he came back he had one photo in his hand. He placed it on the table.

"That's him."

They were all silent.

"You saw him in your apartment." Marcus asked me, still as if I'd been the one who did something wrong.

"No, I only saw the blonde guy in my apartment. I saw him… when I woke up."

Again they were all silent.

"Okay, who is this guy? What did he want with me? Did you kill the other two? And why is it Saturday when it should be Wednesday?"

Still more silence, now accompanied by rather surprised expressions. Hey, I'd been pretty quiet up until now; but I had a right to ask stuff too.

"This is Victor De Ruiz and his involvement means that things have progressed a little too quickly for comfort." Tony.

"We've go to upgrade security." Marcus.

My eyes widened, "How could you possibly upgrade security?" I asked, my eyes taking in the bulky security guards, "This place is like Fort Knox already."

"Lock Down." He said seriously.

"Lock down?! As in no one comes in and no one goes out???"

He nodded, once.

"You've got to be kidding??"

He wasn't, "Security is not to be taken lightly."

I turned to Ranger, "Why?"

"Victor De Ruiz wants my daughter."

Carlito and Lisa's daughter

The words came to me suddenly, like out of a dream, "No, he wants Carlito's and Lisa's daughter."

Again the silence.

"My middle name is Carlos, when we were all kids we'd spend time with an uncle. He was very old school and in keeping with Latin tradition called us all by our middle names. Lisa was my wife."

I took that in. "De Ruiz is you're Uncle?"

"No, he's – was a friend of our Uncle's. Until I married his daughter."

"I need more here, Ran- Rick." Jeez, that was hard to remember; not Ranger… Rick.

"Lisa got pregnant when I was eighteen. I wanted to be part of my child's life; I was told marriage was the only way. So I did. We got married, my daughter was born, and within four years we were both beyond miserable, so I got out; I wanted joint-custody of Nica though. De Ruiz informed me that wasn't possible. I argued, we went to court, they won. I went into the service. I've never made it any secret that I can't stand him or that I resent her. Recently she was murdered and a judge decided that since I was willing, and had a stable business I could be awarded custody. De Ruiz isn't happy and wants her back."

I stared at him. That was a lot to take in, but there was just something… off, about it. "He thinks you murdered his daughter?"

"Not personally, but yeah."

"Why now? If you've wanted custody since she was four why wait nine years to kill her mother? It doesn't make sense."

I didn't get a response, "I don't understand. A judge in Florida awarded you, a man with a really dangerous job, custody of a child; over the grandfather she'd been raised with?"

"The judge may not have been appraised of my active participation in RangeMan and she hadn't been raised with her grandfather."

"But you said that he wanted her back…"

"Back in Florida."

"But that still doesn't explain-"

"You've received all the information you're going to receive Ms. Plum." Marcus, of course.

This time I couldn't stop myself, "Like hell I have!" I stood suddenly, "This is ridiculous! How can you expect me to give you useful information if you won't tell me what's going on."

"We have told you what's going on." Ranger said this, very softly.

I looked down at him, "Not everything."

"Everything that concerns you." Marcus.

I glared at him, before whirling on Ranger again, "I want to know what's going on?" I demanded.

"I just told you what's going on."

"No, what else is going on? What kind of grandfather has thugs kidnap a woman who spent one night, not even a full night, with his granddaughter? Why can't you do this in the courts? Why are you hiding here? Why does your daughter think its okay for me to avoid her?"

"You sure do ask a lot of questions." Tony.

I didn't bother looking at him.

"Nica feels it was her fault you were kidnapped, so she would understand if you didn't want to be around her." He fell silent after this.

"I asked a whole bunch of other stuff."

"I'm not answering any of that. You know everything you need to know."

"Fine then! I'm leaving!" This said I turned and headed for the stairs.

He grabbed me, I was expecting it, "If you don't want to tell me what's really going on then I don't want to stay here. I'm going home."

So what if I didn't know where I was and sincerely doubted I could get past the dogs. It was the point of the matter.

"You're staying here until its safe and this has nothing to do with me wanting or not wanting to tell you anything. It's all about your safety."

"Oh please!" A good old fashioned eye rolled accompanied the words, "If you wanted to you'd tell me. You just don't want to, and I refuse to stay here if I don't know what's going on… what really going on!!"

"That is what's really going on."

Okay so he said that really firmly and I had a seconds doubt, but then I squashed it. My instincts were telling me there was more and so far they'd been pretty good.

"It's not everything that's going on, is it?"

He stayed silent. I'd known he would. Somewhere along the line I'd learned that Ranger wouldn't lie to me. He'd say nothing, or very little and let me go from there.

"Let me go." I hissed.

He did and I stormed up the stairs, tears blurring my vision a little. Why wouldn't he tell me? What was the big deal?

Maybe he just doesn't trust me.

The thought, made the tears hotter, I was storming in the direction of "my" room, when I felt a hand on my arm.

I looked and found Mama-Bat. Her eyes were full of concern. "What is it? Why do you cry?"

I shook my head, "I… I'm leaving… I want to leave."

She was silent a moment, before removing her hand, I noticed absentmindedly that her eyes seemed colder suddenly, "What has he told you?" She asked.

I glared, not at her, but more at the memory, "NOTHING!" it was a shriek, I knew it, but oh well, "He's told me nothing, but what I need to know!! He's such a jerk! He brings me here and I don't even know where here is, Upstate New York is huge, you know!! And he introduces me to all these people and then tells me its home and I have to be briefed and it's not the guy I saw and he tells me it's none of my business and it's all FOR MY SAFETY!!"

I'd turned away from Mama-Bat, and had started pacing back and forth, waving my hands in the air – giving tribute to my Italian blood.

"MY SAFETY! Can you believe that!! I should make him tell me!! I should do something to make him!! He hasn't told me anything at all! Here I am in the middle of who knows where, just 'cause he felt like bringing me and he won't tell me anything!! I haven't even called my mother! Rex is probably starving to death! It's like he's kidnapped me!! And he says 'you know all you need to know!!!'"

The tears were streaming now, and I was running out of steam, "He didn't tell me anything… he never tells me anything…" okay that was more like a sob.

I was facing Mama-Bat again and she was looking at me with this unreadable expression.

"Do you trust him?" she asked me, and I almost sighed, knowing what was coming. She was going to tell me to trust him.

I refused to answer. I didn't need this speech.

"Answer me, Stephanie, do you trust him?'

I sighed, like a four year old, "Yeah."

"How much?" she asked.

I'd been wiping at my tears, but froze at her tone.

"With your life?" she prompted.

I nodded, she said nothing.

"With the lives of the people I love." I whispered to her, sharing the truth with her even as the knowledge entered me.

She nodded, walking forward, she held me by the arms again. "My family is complicated, Stephanie. It is not easy for my boys, for any of them. For Marcus and Rick it's the hardest. They're so much like they're father. So protective of the ones they love. And they've already been burned."

I didn't know why she was telling me this, couldn't see the connection…. Of the ones they love… how did that affect me?

"He doesn't lo-"

"No girl has ever been here before, Stephanie. The only other woman I've met is Veronica's mother, and that was at the custody hearing when Veronica was four."

Whoa.

"You can make him tell you. He will because he loves you. But please, honey, if you're not gonna stick around then don't. Don't, because once you know, once you've been told. You can never go back."

I stared at her, dumbstruck.

She smiled slightly; gently she kissed me on the forehead. "Go on to your room and rest a little while. If you insist on going home, Ricky will get you there."

She said that as if it were given that he'd give me anything I wanted.

I don't know how long I stared out at nothing, before I realized she was gone. I felt like I was in a dream and my head was pounding.

I made my way to the room, walked in, and laid on the bed fully dressed. It was time to think this through.

I'd gotten to apartment. It was dark. I turned the light on and that guy had been standing there. I'd pulled my gun…

… a chair…

… my head…

… the questions…

… Veronica Manaso… Yeah, they'd… no… the blonde guy had asked that.

… I'd thrown up…

The dark haired guy… Victor. He'd said I'll ask you now. With emphasis on that "I". Ranger and the guys hadn't found Victor there, they'd found another dark-haired guy. Where had Victor gone? Where had that dark-haried guy been? Why hadn't I seen him? Why hadn't he spoken?

Ranger hadn't answered any of my questions. Not really. There was so much mystery, so much secrecy everywhere.

No one wanted to tell me, and now Mama-Bat was telling me I didn't want to know.

My eyelids were getting heavy again, I was really tired; probably almost drowning does that to a person.

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