A/N: I'm having a bit of writers block, so please forgive me. also I'm sick :( Like, majorly.

Chapter 13

Joseph's POV

I had only been in the Rangeman "fortress" a few times up to this point, and it never ceased to amaze me just how inconspicuous it was. A plain brick building , several stories, no distinguishing marks on it. If you went by the face you would think it was just a regular office building. But inside was a different story. It had sophisticated security, no one allowed in past the lobby that didn't have specific clearance. There was the garage, filled with Rangeman vehicles (The ones Steph hadn't blown up). When we drove in I saw Rangers favorite wasn't there, the Porsche 911, so I figured he probably was driving it back from N.Y… Cal, my driver , hadn't filled me in completely yet so I had to wait to hear the full story of why they had been there. I knew there were apartments inside for their employees, Steph moved in to one after her apartment blew up this last time. She told me there was also a gym and shooting range somewhere as well as offices. And then Rangers personal apartment on 7.

I was brought up to their conference room on 5. I glanced around at the other men that were waiting, and read their faces. They were all worried beyond belief for Cupcake… Stephanie. I saw Lester Santos, Ranger's cousin , and Tank, the one that called me, huddled talking. A few minutes later Ranger and the medic Bobby walked in. Their faces were different. There was anger mixed in with their fear, although it appeared they were angry with each other as much as the situation. The tension was as thick in the air when they walked in and sat on opposite sides of the table.

Everyone took their spots as I waited for the first person to speak but no one did. It was like they were all off in their own worlds, so I cleared my throat . "I don't need the full story right now, but I would appreciate some sort of update. You think Bowman has her right? Any trackers on her?"

Rangers eyes cut to me, and I could tell for a minute he was confused as to why I was there. He then looked at Tank before speaking . "Yes, we believe Bowman had a plant at the hotel where Steph and Bobby were staying." Huh, that was interesting, no wonder the doc looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders . "We can't find him or Bowman at this time, but Hector is working on it. I had the hotel send over the video footage."

He skipped my tracker question. That surprised me, Manoso always had a tracker on Steph. In her car, her phone, her shoes hell he probably has them sewed into her underwear. "No tracker?" He shook his head.

"She left her phone with me this weekend, she had gotten a disturbing call and wanted me to track the caller if they attempted again while she was out of town."

"What do we know about this accomplice?" I asked and again was met with silence. It was getting annoying . "Guys listen, I'm not here to steal her away from you. Steph and I are friends. I love her , I always will, but she is way happier working here with you guys than being stuck at home like the typical 'Burg housewife her mom expects her to be. You won't get any pushback from me, I'm strictly here to help."

That seemed to put their minds at ease, and the conversation started to progress. The bell hops name was John, and the hotel tracked down a last known address on him in Chestnut Park, so Ranger had a team head that way. They also ran down Ron Bowman's last known which was a mansion in Robbinsville. It actually belonged to his Daddy, Robert Bowman, who was the one that bailed him out of jail all the previous times, so it seemed like a decent starting spot. I called Eddie Gazarra to give him the heads up. He and Steph were close, pretty sure I could add him to the list of guys that were in love with her, not to mention related by marriage so I figured he had the right to know. He said he would work on a warrant , but I could tell that Rangers team wasn't going to wait on paperwork, and to be honest they didn't have to.

"Thank you Morelli. You're more than welcome to join us, Steph would want you there. Besides , the fucker shot you, you deserve to have a little revenge. " Ranger advised me, shaking my good hand as we all stood to disperse.

"Wild horses couldn't keep me away from this bastard. He still has my piece." I responded with a growl. I caught a glimpse of the medic out of the corner of my eye and nudged Ranger. "What's up with him?"

Rangers face turned blank. "They were on a date." He said shortly and walked away.

Date? Out of town and for the weekend ? No wonder he looked sick, Steph was taken on his watch. And no wonder Ranger was pissy, he barely let her out of sight when they were together . Interesting… I knew one guy that would fill me in, he gossiped almost as much the housewives in the 'Burg. I jogged over to catch up to him.

"Hey Santos, got a sec?"

Stephanie's POV

"Why the hell am I here?" I glared at the man sitting across from me. "What do you want?"

"Ms. Plum, its so nice to see you again." Ron Bowman sat behind the desk, fingers drumming. "I wanted to have a chat. "

"Bullshit. Why am I here?" I asked again, and I felt a hand grab the back of my neck and squeeze, causing me to yelp.

"Your temper Ms. Plum , is something we could do without. Now, I don't want to hurt you..." This didn't sound promising… I felt a missing "yet" at the end of his sentence. "But you caused me a great deal of stress, and I need that stress relieved."

I squirmed in the chair, and the hand gripped tighter. "I'm sorry, how can I help? Did you want me to talk to Detective Morelli? I bet he'll drop the charges against you." Fat fucking chance on that happening.

"No no, the detective doesn't matter to me. YOU on the other hand, you and that group of thugs you were with the other night, that's what matters. That's what caused me the stress. I just went out to have a good time, and you ruined it. " His face was twisting with every word. I didn't like the sound of this, at all. "So you can make it up to me."

I closed my eyes and took a breath before opening them again and answering . "And how do I do that?"

"By dying." He replied, eyes black.

Well fuck.

Lester's POV

Shit. Double shit. Beautiful was taken and Ranger is having a "whose dick is bigger" contest with Bobby over the whole thing. Thankfully Bobby is ignoring him for the most part, but I can tell this whole thing is weighing on him. We have to get beautiful back or things will go from bad to exponentially worse around here. She was… IS … our glue that holds us all together . I shoot a glance at Bobby as we sit around the conference table and am heart broken at the look on his face. As we were done giving the cop the rundown and are leaving Morelli caught up to me and asked what was going on.

Now I've never liked Morelli. I didn't think he was good enough for Steph, especially when we found out about his cheating . Steph kicked him to the curb after she and Ranger got closer, but for some unknown reason they remained friends . Don't ask me why, but beautiful is a softie at heart. Personally I wanted to kick his ass, especially after we heard his exclamation of love at the hospital (TOO LATE DUDE!). But… I refrained.

"Hey Santos, got a sec?"

I knew this was coming. I could tell by the look on Morellis face, he wanted the 411 on why Steph was in N.Y. I've been known to be the office gossip, so I thought I would indulge him.

"Hey Morelli, how's the shoulder?"

He shrugged with his good arm. "Hurts like a bitch, but it'll heal… so…" I knew it. "What's the deal between Brown and Ranger? They look pissed at each other. "

The dilemma. Do I tell him? Will it affect the outcome of getting Steph? I was already tired of the animosity between them. "Bobby took Steph to N.Y for the weekend… on a date." I checked the look on his face but he didn't seem jealous, thank God.

"Good for her…and him. She deserves to be happy. Ranger lost his chance, he should have manned up a long time ago." Morelli smirked as we walked out the door.

Bobby's POV

The few minutes from the garage up to the conference room on 5 trapped in the elevator with Ranger was hell. I was already kicking myself for not paying attention in N.Y to our surroundings, I had given Steph enough hell about it over the years I should have known better. But we were in a bubble and having too much fun. I made my way to Hectors lab to see if he had found out anything , and found him staring at the monitors in front of him.

"Hector?"

He raised his head but didn't say anything, so I got closer and tried again.

"You see anything?"

He had the same blank look we all try and throw on to prove nothing can get to us. I'll fill you in on a secret, it's an act. I may be in love with Steph, but so are probably 99% of the guys here. I just made the first move… so I knew that everyone was having an extremely rough go of it right now. Since Hector wasn't responding when I asked in English, I figured I would try Spanish. " Hector, ¿ves algo en el video? ¿Puedes encontrar a Stephanie?" (Hector, do you see anything on the monitors? Can you find Stephanie?)

A slow smile appeared on his otherwise grim looking face. " Sí, sé dónde está ella." (Yes, I know where she is.)

I just glared at him. "Well??" I practically shouted at him, and he just calmly stared at me. Take a step back Bobby, he's not the enemy. "Hector, I love her. Please, I need to know where she is."

He pointed to a video feed he had running on the monitor in front of him. I could see Bowman, a man that looked like he could have been one of our guys, and Stephanie on the screen. My heart leapt into my throat, the big guy was standing behind her, hand on her neck. "Where is this Hector? Where's Stephanie?"