Disclaimer: Still don't own anything except Jamie and the shirt on my back.

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days...I've had writers block and I just got spacers so my teeth hurt and crap like that. So here's chapter seven...

Again, another jaw drop. "huh?"

Joe sighed. "You better get here fast. And before you freak out, Rex is just fine."

Well thank God for that because I was about to freak out. Jamie was looking at me curiously as I stood up. "What's up?" she asked.

"Bomb…fire…apartment…my"

"Hmm…a little out of order, but I get the picture. Someone firebombed your apartment?"

I just nodded. This was the second time this had happened. What do people have against my apartment! I know the bathroom is a little ugly, but is that any reason to firebomb it? When I came back into reality I was in my Mini Cooper, strapped into the passenger seat. Jamie was driving like she was on the Autobahn.

"Uh…do you want to slow down?" I asked.

Jamie didn't answer. Dammit she was reminding me of Ranger again.

We saw the firetrucks, blue and whites, and ambulances when we arrived in my lot. Morelli was standing, fists on hips, watching as Jamie swerved to halt. She grinned briefly. "I've always wanted to do that…like on the 'Italian Job'."

We got out of the car and ambled over to Joe. I was staring at my blackened apartment, jaw open. Morelli placed a finger on my chin and pushed my mouth closed.

"You want to tell me something?" He asked. I looked at him. He had his cop face on and his voice was tight. I opened my mouth to answer but Jamie cut me off.

"This is my fault. There's this guy trying to kill me and he knows I'm living with Stephanie…so yeah."

"What are you going to do about it?" Morelli asked her.

"I'm staying at Ranger's building. And I'll probably buy some plane tickets somewhere to make it look like I left. That'll throw him off for a while. He isn't that smart."

Morelli nodded and looked at me, his eyes hard, "Are you staying with Ranger too?"

"No. I don't know where I'm staying. Is my apartment okay?"

"The bedroom and living room are completely charred," said Morelli, his eyes softening, "you can stay with me, you know."

Mmmm…good idea. "Ok…but if my bedroom is charred then I don't have any clothes. Or jammies."

Morelli sent me a wolf grin, "You won't need any, Cupcake."

Mmmm...

Since I no longer had clothes, Jamie and I hit the mall. We went to Macy's and Nordstrom and Meier and Frank and Victoria's Secret. I grilled Jamie about her travels around the world, particularly fishing for Ranger stories. I was hoping that if I kept the questions vague she would let something slip about their relationship.

"…so anyway, we were in this jungle somewhere, looking for these criminals who had escaped some prison, and it was like pitch black so we couldn't see our friggin' hands in front of our faces, and all of a sudden all this gunfire breaks out. I mean it seriously sounded like freaking world war three. Like someone was unloading an Uzi or something. It was friggin' scary. So we start running, right? And like dodging bullets and stuff. I got hit in the arm and Ranger got hit I forget where and Tank and Woody are yelling at us to move and we're running into trees and vines and it's so dark and then we run straight into this little creek. The gunfire finally stops and we rest there for a bit before we start moving again. And that was it. The next morning we found the escaped felons and it was so weird 'cause they didn't have any guns on them. Like we were attacked by ghosts or something." Jamie told me, digging through a clearance sale box.

"Jeez. Was everyone okay?"

She extracted a red and yellow beanie and tried it on, "Tank lost a lot of blood 'cause he got hit in the side but other than that, yeah."

"Did you ever think you were going to die?" I had asked Ranger this once and he said yes.

"Lots of times. But I knew I wasn't going to. All of those times were with Ranger and I knew he wasn't going to let me die. And even if he hadn't been there, I would've been okay. Like I just tell myself 'fuck no you're not going to die. There are so many places you haven't been and great deserts you haven't eaten.' And that usually pulls me through."

The thing that stuck with me was 'Ranger wasn't going to let me die'. This indicated a certain level of…what? Caring? Maybe it was the kind of thing as it was with me. I know Ranger would never let me die.

Jamie looked at me thoughtfully, "We owe each other our lives, you know."

"What?"

"He's saved my life, and I've saved his. So I guess we're even."

"When did he save your life?" this was getting interesting.

"Hmmm…it was a couple of years ago…Jack kidnapped me. I forget where we were. I was in this basement or something handcuffed to a table. Jack had already beaten the shit out of me so I was pretty out of it. I hadn't seen Ranger in like months so I wasn't exactly expecting him to show up. So anyway Jack came down into the basement and was about to blow my brains out but Ranger magically showed up and stun gunned him. It was pretty cool."

"He's done the same thing for. He probably told you about the whole Ramos thing, right?"

"Yeah he told me about that. That sounded like fun. I wanted to meet Alexander Ramos."

My sister has a strange sense of fun. "There was one time where I think he killed someone for me. Has he ever done that for you?"

Jamie looked up at me. "He really wants to kill Jack, but I won't let him."

And that's stopping him? "Why won't you let him?"

"Are you kidding me? I love this cat-and-mouse game. It's a thrill. I always have to keep watching my back. It keeps me aware of everything. Plus it's fun as hell, because even if Jack does get a hold of me, he can't hold on for long. I live for this."

I just stared at her. What the freak? Jamie laughed at my expression and went back to digging through the clearance sale box.

I was starting to get antsy. I wanted to know what went on between Ranger and Jamie. I wanted to know why he acted so different to her, and I wanted to know more about him. Jamie obviously knew a bunch of stuff I didn't. Jamie stared at me and did the ESP thing, "I know what you're thinking," she said slowly, "But the truth is I don't know much about him either. I mean, I know he has an ex-wife and a kid, and that he's been Special Forces and stuff, but other than that I don't know much about his past. I have met his daughter though, and she was one cool kid. One time I asked him about it and he just stared at me for almost three minutes straight. It was pretty scary."

"Jeez. The last time I asked him about his 'deep dark secret' he just said to drop it." I said.

Jamie grinned evilly at me, "That's 'cuz he likes you."

Ugh. "What's his daughter like?"

"Ah she is so cool. She's got Ranger's eyes and hair and tan skin and 200 watt smile, and she's on her way to being gorgeous. She's only eleven but you can tell she's gonna be a knockout. And she's the one who gave me all the prank ideas. She is like the coolest kid I've ever met. Really smart and clever and funny."

Wow. "What's her name?"

"Jasmine. But she hates that name so she makes everyone call her Jazz. Which makes her even cooler."

Time for the big question, "What's his ex like?"

Jamie scowled. "She is a bitch. That's all I have to say. Don't tell Ranger I told you this, and don't even hint you know. She cheated on him. That's why they got divorced. There was a big nasty battle for custody but the stupid bitch won. She is seriously a whore. She's had about three husbands since Ranger and all of them have been rich and every time she divorced one, she used Jazz to get lots of money for childcare or something. I hate her guts and so does Jazz."

Well this was interesting. Ranger's wife cheated on him? Harsh. And I had a feeling I knew why Jamie would hate her guts too.