AN: Thank you to Marie, a colleague and fellow Babe for the new plot twist!

Chapter Twenty Two

I tried to concentrate on the computer, but it wasn't working. I called Ranger.

"Yo, Babe. Are you all right?" He sounded a little tense.

"Yeah, my head's fine. Listen, Ric, it's not Vito. At least, not like you think. It doesn't make any sense. He trusted Joe to take care of Terry's funeral arrangements. He can't be the one who set him up." My words were rushed as I didn't want Ranger to go after Vito.

"I know, Babe. I talked to Vito already."

I swallowed. "You did?"

"I did. This morning, as a matter of fact. I busted into a meeting and asked him if he hired a goon to push you around. He appeared not to know what in the world I was talking about. I believed him."

That's a lot from Ranger. He neither believed people often nor gave us detail when talking to me.

"So that leaves us back where we started," I sighed with irritation.

"Don't worry, Babe. We'll figure it out."

"How long will you be tonight?"

Now it was his turn to sigh. "Late. I'm sending Anna over to keep you company. The two of you stay on the seventh floor."

"Okay." It was either agree or be tailed all night by Tank or one of the other guys. I was too tired to play that game.

Ella must have been informed that Anna was joining me and that Ranger was not. She had prepared a feast that both of us would enjoy. It was everything decedent that I normally didn't have when health nut Ranger was around. Anna showed up right on time.

"Hi," she offered. "I hope you don't mind that Ranger wanted me to hang out here tonight."

I smiled at her. "No, it's not a problem. I didn't have anything planned and we really should get to know each other better."

We settled down to the table and started in on the wonderful food.

"I heard that you stayed with Joe last night," I sneaked in between bites. The room was very quiet, no music, no television. Basically, there was nothing to distract Anna from dealing with my questions.

"It's not like you think," she began. "We talked, that's all."

I smiled up at her. "I didn't 'think' anything."

I considered her for a moment. She was very pretty, with the auburn hair to her shoulders and those wonderful green eyes. I think of Ireland every time I see her.

"Anna," I began again, "Joe is a great guy. You can't believe all this stuff about Terry and Vito."

She grimaced. "It's not that, Stephanie. I believe that he's innocent. The truth is that I really am attracted to him. I didn't come here just because of the baby. I came because I wanted to see Joe again. Don't get me wrong; I didn't plan for this to happen. I've been on the Force in Richmond for a while now. I was accepted as a member of the team. I had no plans to change that. Not that I didn't have propositions, mind you."

Anna was fascinating to watch as she talked. Her face was so expressive. I was beginning to understand how Ric could read me so well. If I was anything like Anna, it was all there in my face, my heart and soul revealed.

"Don't tell me that you'll go through what I went through with Ranger and Joe. God, do yourself a favor. Pick one man now."

She laughed out loud. "It's not like that. Oh, Brian likes me well enough, but I never gave him any reason to think that we could be a couple. We dated a couple of times and simply didn't click. He was strange toward me when he realized I was pregnant. I was almost relieved to leave Richmond."

Anna continued to talk about her life as a police officer and life in Virginia. My mind wondered to the other man in her life. Exactly how upset was he that she dismissed him so easily when Joe showed up. It seemed unlikely that he was involved in this mess in New Jersey, but I figured I would mention it to Ric when he got home.

Anna andI continued to talk about mundane things and even ventured into baby names before I heard the elevator. My heart leapt at the thought that Ranger was home.

"Ladies," he said as he leaned in to kiss me. He moved over to Anna and kissed her forehead.

"How did dinner go?"

I smiled at him, as did Anna, "Just fine. Missed you, but it was really nice to get to know Anna better."

Anna smiled too. "I think that's my cue to leave."

"You don't have to run out," I stammered, silently hoping she would anyway.

"Actually, I really am tired. This pregnancy thing does wear you out. Just wait, Steph, your turn is coming." With that she winked at Ranger and took the elevator to the fourth floor apartment she was sharing with Lester.

Ric walked over and gathered me into his arms. "Anything you want to tell me, Babe?"

"Very funny. You know damn well I'm not pregnant."

"Wanna be?" He didn't wait for an answer, but picked me up and carried me to the bedroom.

I whispered in his ear, "Well, you always say that we need to be prepared and practice does make perfect,"

I could feel his heart beating. We both wanted each other at that moment more than we needed to breathe. I thought that I could never get enough and hoped he felt the same way.

"I feel it too, Babe. I can never be close enough to you. I want more always. That's not something that will ever change. We complete each other."

And with that, we did.