Halfof chapter 16---------------------------------------------------------------------

I was sitting next to Tank, watching the monitors, bored out of my mind, when my cell phone chirped.

"Yo," I answered.

"The nurse just called and told me that Jamie left," Stephanie said.

I sighed. That kid drove me crazy. "When?"

"Apparently sometime last night. Is she with you?"

"No. I know where she is. I'll go get her." I stood up and took the stairs to the parking garage. I knew Jamie would be at the airport, probably with a one way ticket to some third world country. I slid into my Mercedes and cranked the engine over. She wasn't getting away this easy.

Jamie's POV

I sighed and slouched lower in the seat. The hospital would have called Steph by now, meaning she would have called Ranger. I looked at my watch. My plane was arriving in half an hour. I took a deep breath and cracked my knuckles. I really didn't want him catching me. I just wanted to get out of here. Why couldn't he just let me go? I looked up and idly watched people walking by. That's when I saw him. Dammit. Why did he have to show up now?

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

I glared at him. "Yeah. And I'd appreciate it if you'd let me go."

He shook his head.

I didn't move, so he grabbed me by my upper arms and hauled me off the chair. I winced and hissed in pain when he grabbed my right arm but he didn't seem to notice. He guided me out of the airport and to his car. I was wondering how he got through security.

"You're an ass," I said after he shoved me into his Mercedes.

"You're probably right. Where were you going?"

"Switzerland."

He smiled. "Nice place."

The drive was silent. I was silently glaring out the window and Ranger was silently thinking his mysterious thoughts. I was relieved when he pulled up tothe curb of Morelli's house. I opened the door and stepped out into the cold morning air before the car even stopped moving. Before I could escape Ranger grabbed me by the back of my jacket.

"You're going to stay," he said.

"Sure." Yeah right.

"Don't make me chain you to my toilet again." I grimaced. The last time he did that was because I wanted to come with him on some secret mission and he had to stop me from following him.

"Fuck you," I said, jerking out of his grip. I walked up the front steps without looking back. When I heard the Mercedes drive off I started pounding on Morelli's door. He would probably be at work by now but Steph would still be asleep.

STEPH'S POV

I pressed my head into my pillow, trying to block out the incessant pounding on the front door.

"STEPH open UP!" I heard a muffled yell. It sounded like Jamie. I stood up and shuffled down the stairs

"Do you have any beer?" she asked, sliding past me into the kitchen.

"Uh…yeah there's some in the 'fridge. Why'd you leave the hospital? Where did you go?"

Jamie grabbed a beer and chugged it. "I left 'cause I needed to get out of there. And I went to the airport."

"Did Ranger find you?"

She scowled. "Yes."

Hmm…that was some scowl. "Why were you going to leave?"

She shrugged. "Just for giggles. Can I use your shower?"

"Yeah…what are you going to do today?"

"Drive until I hit the Pacific. Just don't tell Ranger." She grinned and winked and disappeared up the stairs. I padded back into the bedroom and pulled on some jeans. It was seven o' clock but I didn't want to go back to sleep. Pulled on my Doc Martens, dropped a grape into Rex's cage, and left the house.

----------------------------------------------------------

Sorry about the short chapter...I've had writers block and I don't have any ideas...so I squeezed my brain as hard as I could and this is what dripped out. Hopefully I'll have a brainstorm soon and I promise the next chapter will be ALOT longer.

Bowlingforshrimp