Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the bad guy and Stephanie and Ranger's unborn child.

Thanks everyone for the great reviews :) And Mufassa, I can't think of any way to describe my novel without it sounding moronic. And personally, I don't feel that it's moronic (at least, I hope not). Anyway, I'll just attempt it, but if the description sounds horrible, I'm sorry. It's about this person who is an agent in this secret government agency thing and she gets partnered with an FBI agent for a case. And then stuff happens…as I've said many times, I suck at summaries.

Chapter 3

I stared at Diesel, a huge smile spreading across my face. "What are you doing here? It's not Christmas, last time I checked."

He smiled back. "Just checking on my favorite bounty hunter, Sunshine. And I can do more things than just get people Christmas trees. I'm a multi-talented man." He looked to Ranger and his expression lost some of the happiness. "As I asked, is there a problem?"

I moved so I could see both of them easily and then looked at Ranger. He was looking at Diesel with a mixture of annoyance and wariness. Plus a little bit of that expression only produced by testosterone: masculine challenge. When I looked at Diesel, I saw the exact same thing reflected, except that there was a bit of protectiveness in the mix as well.

They did the 'silent male staredown' thing for a bit, then Ranger spoke. "I'm just talking to Stephanie. Who are you?"

Diesel crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. "Seeing as how you're the one threatening Stephanie, shouldn't you answer that first?"

I barely had time to ponder that logic before Ranger spoke, with true anger in his voice. "I'm not threatening her. I wouldn't do that."

I knew it was true. Sort of. Ranger wouldn't hurt me, but there were all kinds of threats. Not letting me leave until I talked to him was a threat, I suppose. I noticed that Diesel and Ranger were both looking at me. "What?" As I noticed both of their expectant expressions, I figured it out. "Oh. No, Ranger wouldn't hurt me, or threaten to do so."

(A/N: btw, I don't actually remember if Stephanie ever mentioned Ranger, but I'm going to assume that she didn't, because I don't remember any mention of him to Diesel. I also don't remember who met Diesel. So if people get introduced to him who would already know him or people already know him who shouldn't, sorry.) Ranger turned to Diesel. "There you go. Now, who are you?"

Diesel smiled. "Since I have no intention of being your friend, I don't see any reason to exchange personal information. Are you going to move away from the door now, or will I have to move you?"

Ranger raised an eyebrow, looking Diesel up and down. Clearly, he didn't think Diesel could make him do anything. I, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. Diesel, after all, was some kind of alien/spirit of Christmas, thing. Who knows what he's capable of?

Diesel laughed and Ranger looked at me like I was insane. Apparently, I'd said that out loud. I don't know what made him move, definitely not the threat from Diesel, but Ranger stepped away from my door.

As I reached out and grabbed the handle, he put a hand on my arm. "We'll continue this later, Babe. I want to know what's going on."

I rolled my eyes and got in. To my surprise, Diesel slid into the backseat. Lula looked at Diesel. "Who's he?"

"Lula, this is Diesel. Diesel, this is Lula."

Lula looked at Diesel as she started the car, but then turned her attention back to me. "So what was that with Batman?"

I could see Diesel smile in the rearview mirror, but I ignored it. "He wanted to know the source of everyone's bad mood."

"Did you tell him?"

I looked over at her. "Based on the fact that he calmly left, what do you think?"

"Hunh." Lula returned her attention to driving. That seemed to be her reaction of the day.

She parked in front of the office and we all got out. Because I wanted to talk to Diesel and find out why he was here, I went to my car. As expected, he followed. We got in and I drove towards my apartment, talking to him as I drove.

"So, why are you really here? Is it really just to check up on me?"

Diesel shrugged. "Pretty much. Plus, I know about the baby."

I looked over at him. "So? You're going to help me raise it, or what?"

He looked horrified by the prospect. "No!" I'm pretty sure he actually shuddered. "I'm going to keep you safe until you figure out what to do about it. What's up with you and that cop?"

"We broke up."

"So the baby isn't his?" I shook my head and he continued. "You're sure? How long between when you slept with him and when you slept with the baby's father?"

"About a month. We were in the off-again stage for about three weeks before we called it quits for real." I looked over at him as he started to ask another question. "And I'm really not comfortable talking about all this with you."

"Who's the dad?"

I glared at him. So much for my not-so-subtle hint to drop the subject. "Ranger."

He looked surprised. Then his eyes narrowed. "The guy who was threatening you? That's whose kid you're having?" When he next spoke, his voice was heavy with sarcasm. "Excellent judge of character, Sunshine."

I glared at him. "I already told you, Ranger didn't threaten me." I parked the car in a spot near my apartment building. "And he is an excellent man." In more ways than one. One of those ways, however, I was definitely not talking to Diesel about. We walked into the building and got on the elevator. I wasn't sure why I was defending Ranger to Diesel. Clearly, there was no love lost between the two. Maybe I was defending myself, and my choice in men. "He doesn't always stick to the law, but he has a strong moral code and he doesn't break that. And he's always there for me when I need him." The elevator dinged and we stepped out into the hallway. I walked ahead of Diesel by a few steps, putting my key into the lock and going into my apartment. "Plus, this whole thing all started because we had sex. And, although you may not have noticed, Ranger is very, very sexy. So it's not even like I made a bad choice in that department."

Diesel cut into my monologue at this point. "The fact that you're in love with him doesn't hurt, either."

Automatically, I started to deny it. "I don't love—" I stopped. Holy crap! Diesel was right! I was in love with Ranger. I looked at Diesel, who was looking at me with a 'you were saying?' expression. "Ok, so I do love him. But it doesn't matter, because he just wants sex." I realized what I was saying. Why was I telling all this to Diesel? I didn't even know him all that well. And I'd only told my close friends all the complexities of the me-Ranger relationship (or lack thereof) today. So why was I spilling it all to someone I'd only really seen once before? I decided to blame the pregnancy hormones.

Diesel grinned. "Blame whatever you want. What are you going to do about it?"

I shrugged. "Nothing I can do, really." I went into the kitchen and started to open the fridge, then stopped as I remembered that I'd thrown out anything that tasted remotely like real food. To be truthful, I'd kept a carton of ice cream. Ok, so I wasn't perfect. Sue me. I opened the freezer to get out the ice cream.

Then I let out a little yelping sound and slammed the freezer shut. Diesel was there instantly. He opened the freezer and grimaced. There was a severed head and, propped against it, a note that said, "I took away the ice cream. You shouldn't eat junk food. It isn't good for the baby."

I hadn't read the note, because I'd seen the severed head and slammed the door shut before I could register the note. Diesel, however, took the note out of the freezer before closing the freezer door and gave it to me.

As I read it, my hand went automatically to my stomach. It was partly due to my sudden urge to throw up, and partially that instinctive mom-thing that pregnant women do to shield their babies from the world.

I crumpled the paper and put it in the trash, then looked at Diesel. "What should I do?"

Diesel looked at me like I was stupid. "Calling the police would be a good idea."

I shook my head. "Then Morelli will come. I don't really want to talk to him. Not now that I know I'm pregnant with Ranger's baby. Plus, then Ranger will find out about my stalker. And I don't want to talk to him either."

Diesel was still looking at me with the 'she's an idiot' expression, though now it had some 'she's crazy' mixed in as well. "So you plan on just leaving a severed head in your freezer? And what's this about a stalker? There have been more notes?"

I shook my head. "Just one other note." I looked towards my freezer. "I guess I do need to call the police."

After I said it, I did it, then I waited for a few minutes until the police got to my apartment. As I'd expected, Morelli walked in with the other cops. Once I'd pointed them towards the head, Morelli spoke to me.

"There wasn't a note?"

I glanced away, trying to figure out a good evasive answer that would get me off the hook. "There's one under the bed." At his completely bewildered expression, I explained. "Earlier today, there was one on my pillow, but I crumpled it up and put it under the bed."

Morelli shook his head, then went and told one of the other cops something. Presumably that there was a note under the bed. A minute or so later, said cop came back, holding an evidence bag with the note in it. He looked at me. "You really need to clean under that bed."

I just smiled, then focused on Morelli as he spoke. "So there wasn't a note with the head?"

Diesel jumped in at this point, saving me. "So if you guys broke up, why are you even here?" Ok…so he sort of saved me. Morelli shot me a glance, then looked at Diesel, trying to place him.

I saw when he remembered him. "You're that guy from Christmas. Why are you here?"

Diesel shrugged. "Just checking on Stephanie. You didn't answer my question."

Morelli smiled and shrugged. "Just checking on Stephanie." He said it in exactly the same tone as Diesel.

Diesel laughed, then looked over at me, shaking his head. "Horrible judgment of character." This was clearly a reference to my choice of Ranger over Joe. I just glared at him, but otherwise ignored him.

Morelli looked between us. "What? Did I miss something?"

"Nothing." I pointed to the door, through which everyone was leaving, bringing the head with them. "Everyone's leaving. Shouldn't you?"

Morelli raised an eyebrow, but he could take a hint. "Fine. Bye, Cupcake." He kissed me on the forehead, and then he was gone.

Diesel and I spent the rest of the day watching random TV, as well as a few movies.

Finally, I got up, exhausted. "I'm going to bed. You can sleep on the couch if you're planning on staying here." Diesel nodded, and I went into my bedroom.

I got ready for bed and then lay down and was asleep almost immediately.

I was awakened a few hours later by the sound of a loud, and clearly angry, voice, which I recognized as Ranger's. "What the hell are you doing here?"