When I woke up the next morning I was alone again in the bed. It was a different bed than I had woken up in the previous day and all the fine details of my honeymoon started coming back to me. It started out with the occurrences in that same bed the previous night, that brought a smile and a hint of bemusement to my face as well as a pulse of need in my nether regions. Then I remembered poor Sandy Rice and the pulsations slowed. They didn't disappear altogether. What? Don't look at me like that. You haven't seen my husband naked. And before you ask…no, you can't.

I went to the bathroom and did my business and washed my face and brushed my teeth and headed for the kitchen to make coffee. Ranger was sitting on the couch in all of his naked glory listening to someone talk on the other end of the cell phone. He winked at me as I went by. I made the coffee and then went to the couch and sat on him straddling him and began to nibble kisses along his neck. His body started reacting almost immediately. He scowled at me when his erection brushed my do-dah on its way up.

I just grinned and started kissing down his body toward that part of him that I had the complete attention of.

"Yes, I understand Hank. We're on it. We'll await your fax," he snapped the phone closed and dug his fingers into my curls. "Jesus Babe, can you wait to do this when I'm not on the phone with a client?"

I lifted my head pausing in my ministrations. "If you wouldn't work naked first thing in the morning, it wouldn't be a problem."

He tugged me up his body and lay me on the couch and bent over to kiss me hungrily. "No matter where we are or what we're doing, my body reacts to you if you give it so much as a slight nod of interest."

"Then get used to being permanently aroused Ric," I grinned up at him, "Because you have much more than a slight nod of interest from me…you can be sure of it."

He growled and lifted me to settle on him, "Let's see if we can work some of this excess energy off of you before the morning meeting."

"Goody," I whispered as his mouth descended again.

I wouldn't say that my excess energy was worn off when we arrived at the morning meeting. I'd say it was just sparked. Ranger had on light green cargoes and a Mickey Mouse shirt. He was freaking adorable and I wanted to eat him up. Or lick him up like a Mickey Bar, either way I wanted him in my mouth and I do mean all of him.

Then Tank walked in wearing Disney cargo shorts and a Goofy tee shirt and my resolve turned to giggles of glee. There is nothing quite like a six foot six man in a goofy shirt. Oh my God. I had tears running down my face.

"Laugh it up," Tank hissed as he kissed me on the forehead, "but the walls between your suite and mine are paper thin and I now understand completely about Lester and Mitch's complaints about 'ohGodRicohGod'," he rolled his eyes. "It meant I had to do double duty this morning with Lula and now, I'm tired."

I laughed, "You'll be okay Big Guy," I patted his arm and hugged his neck. "Besides, you want to be a daddy, don't you?"

His expression softened, "yea, I do."

"All right then…this is how it's done."

"Right," he nodded, "it usually is."

I sensed some unease in his answer, but before I could dig further Cal came in.

As amusing as Tank was to view, Cal took the cake. Cal's character of choice was Donald Duck. His tattooed head and the Donald Duck tee shirt were about all I could take. I almost fell on the floor laughing. Even Ranger's lips first twitched then full on grinned.

"Whatever," Cal said taking his seat, "I'm digging the duck."

I wiped my eyes and sat up. The entire group came strolling in wearing Disney tee shirts of some kind. It was funny. I suppose I've gotten used to the black.

"If Stephanie can pull herself together we'll get this meeting under way," Ranger said seriously from the front of the room.

"Sorry," I said wiping my eyes and straightening my face with effort. "Go right ahead honey."

He shook his head and rolled his eyes, "the official cause of death for Sandy Rice is asphyxiation."

"Strangled," Kate nodded. "Were there any other signs of trauma?"

"No," he shook his head and reddened slightly.

"She'd had sex recently," I said with a smirk.

"Er…yea," he said and straightened.

"How do you know it was murder and not an accidental death due to Erotic Asphyxia," Jenna said calmly.

I giggled. I couldn't help it.

"We don't," Ranger glared at me. "We've been given a DNA sample to run through CODIS. We need to find out from her friends and family who, if anyone, she was dating. The coroner says he can find no sign of sexual trauma, but that doesn't necessarily mean she wasn't raped. A lot of rape victims these days don't fight their attacker. They know they have a better chance of survival.

"Jenna, why don't you and Mitch go meet with Jack Margolis at Cinderella's Castle," he nodded. "He's expecting you in about two hours. He's going to have a list of suspects and a list of Sandy's known associates. He's going to take you to their offices and show you how to access their personnel systems. Then you can come back here," he pointed to the corner where a couple of new computers had been set up, "and work your magic on the list."

She nodded.

"Manuel is going to have his hands full running the evidence. Is there anyone here who feels comfortable doing that with him other than Kate? Kate, I really need you to go and meet the coroner and get the details. He's also going to let you have a look at the body and his findings before Sandy's body is shipped to Trenton."

She nodded.

Connie put her hand up, "I can help him. I'm used to blood," she shrugged.

I winced. It was hard to imagine that Connie's FAMILY connections would ever come in handy at Disney World. Will wonders never cease?

"Thank you Connie." He turned to Brian. "Brian, you're to head to the front of the Contemporary at the check-in desk. Karen is meeting you there and she's going to take you to their attorney's offices so you can get our paperwork in order. I also want you to find out whether we're breaking any state laws here. I mean they say they police themselves, but what is it really?"

Brian nodded, "I'm on it."

"We have quite a few rental cars in the underground parking garage. The keys are on the peg board," he waved his arm. "The sign out sheet is below. Please only take a car when you're leaving the property or you're going somewhere the Disney provided transportation doesn't go. We're laying low here people. Remember if you're in the park, act like a tourist." He turned to Natalie, Lula and Padma, "I need you to do some more retail."

"You're a god," Natalie sighed.

He laughed, "We don't have enough clothes yet. Take one of the bigger cars and head back to downtown. Get everyone's sizes before you go. Natalie use your room key card. We're laying in for a siege. If we don't need it, we'll take it with us. But we have to look like we're here on vacation. We need swim suits. The ladies need a couple of sundresses. Deck everyone out."

"We'll do it," Lula grinned.

"Woody and Gabe, head to her apartment," he tossed keys toward Woody. "Check the place out thoroughly. Treat it like a crime scene. See if you can find any connection there to anybody."

"Stephanie is going to call her parents so they'll be present when the Rice's are notified. Bobby and Lester are going there today to do that. After the Rice's calm down, Stephanie will speak with them tomorrow to get any information that Bobby and Lester or Frank didn't get." He paused, "Tank, Cal and I are going to work on the organization of our job here. Let's do it."

We all dispersed to our assigned locals after stopping by to give Natalie our sizes. I went to the elevator and punched the button for the ninth floor and waited for the elevator to go up. When I got to the top I went to the balcony and dialed my mother's number.

"Hey Mom," I said when she answered.

"Hello dear, how is Disney World?"

"Warm and sunny," I said with a sigh.

"What's wrong," she frowned. "Are you and Ricardo fighting?"

"No Mom," I rushed to assure her, "we're great. He's great. I love and adore him. It's not us."

"Oh dear," she said and I heard the sound of the kitchen chair scraping the floor. "Someone is dead, aren't they?"

I sighed, "Is Daddy there?"

"Yes," she said. She pulled the phone away from her mouth, although I'd say it wasn't far enough and yelled, "Frank…Stephanie wants to talk to you. She's in Disney World. Somebody's dead."

I heard my father's voice returning her yell in the background. "Someone's dead? For God's sake Ellen, it's not Ricardo is it?"

"No, she says he's fine," she responded with another yell.

"Pumpkin," my father said seconds later taking the phone, "who died?"

"Sandy Rice," I winced.

"Sandy Rice," he said thoughtfully.

"Oh dear God! Jesus Mary and Joseph," my mother said.

"She's praying," I winced.

"Who is Sandy Rice," he sighed heavily.

"Lucille's daughter," I said softly.

"She doesn't know yet?"

"No," I bit my lip. "Do you suppose that you and Mom could go over to Lucille's with Bobby and Lester when they notify her?"

"Of course Pumpkin," he assured me. "And get any information we can?"

"Please Daddy. I'll need to speak with them later, but it might be easier now if you asked some questions. Although I've seen Lucille checking Lester out a couple of times and I have a feeling she'll give him any information she has if Dan's not around."

"I think Dan is on a long haul," my father said thoughtfully. Dan Rice was a truck driver and was on the road a lot. "We'll probably get more information out of Lucille without him there anyway."

"Thank you Daddy."

"What's the cause of death?"

"She was strangled."

"Er…was she into the kinky stuff," he said uncomfortably.

I swallowed back the bile. "We don't know yet. There is evidence of intercourse, but we're not sure yet how long between the sex and her death at this point. We're working on it."

"Okay Pumpkin, I'll call you back as soon as I know something. I'm sorry about your honeymoon."

"It's the way life goes Daddy…my life anyway."

"I know Pumpkin. I know."

I hung up the phone and sighed. There was no telling how long it would be before they got back to me. I had plenty of time to study my guide books and go over the information that Jack Margolis gave us. I drank a couple of bottles of water and ate a couple of chocolate croissants and watched a little Dr. Phil. It couldn't hurt. Mitch may need some more pointers.

I answered my phone really fast when it rang some time later, "hello."

"Hello Pumpkin," he said. "Lucille actually took it very well."

"She did," I blinked.

"Yes," he said in surprise. His voice lowered, "They thought she was a lesbian."

"Er…she might be I suppose."

"Well, you said she'd had sex," he said thoughtfully.

"True, but we're not sure yet Daddy if…you know…"

"Well, we'll let her think she wasn't one of those," he said softly.

I sighed, "Okay. Can you tell me anything else?"

"She's had a couple of girlfriends since she's been down there, a couple of girls who worked in the entertainment side of things. One of them was Ariel and the other one was Aurora."

"Those are their stage names Daddy," I bit back a smile. "What are their real names?"

"Oh…er…Amanda Donnelley and Joanna White," he said after a moment.

"All right," I nodded. "You did good Daddy. Let me know if you hear anything else."

"I will honey. We love you. Give Ricardo our love too."

"We love you too Daddy," I said and hung up. I went back down to the conference room and sank down.

"You've heard something," Ranger asked just as his phone rang.

"Go ahead," I nodded. "It's either Lester or Bobby."

He nodded, "report." He listened for a long time. "Keep me informed." He hung up and turned to me, "they thought she was a lesbian?"

"Yea," I nodded, "but there's something hinky about that. It just doesn't feel right."

He laughed.

"Shut up," I shook my head with a grin. "I mean there's something wrong with them thinking she was a lesbian. I remember hearing that she was a bit of a slut in high school. She's about six years younger than me, but I'm pretty sure even Morelli dipped his wick in that one."

"Who didn't he dip it into," he shook his head.

I winced.

"Sorry Babe," he sighed.

"It's all right. Oh and Mom and Daddy send their love."

He smiled.

"Do we know anything new?"

He tilted his head toward Jenna and Mitch in the corner. "They're running names. It's a decent list. We'll be doing leg work this afternoon talking to her co-workers and friends if we get enough Intel. Gabe and Woody are on their way back. They have some stuff for Manuel as well as her date book and her Cell Phone…a blackberry."

"It was at her apartment," I frowned as my tingle started.

"Yea," he studied my face.

"It doesn't make sense."

"No, but people forget their cell phones sometimes."

"I know," I sighed. "Do we know if there's anything in company policy that forbids them having their personal cell phones on the premises?"

"No, but Brian's on his way back," he said. "We can dig through their employee handbook when it gets here."

"Okay," I nodded. "What about lunch?"

He grinned. "Ali and Cal are bringing it."

"Thank God," I sighed. "Where are they bringing it from?"

"Somewhere at Downtown Disney called the Earl of Sandwich," he said with a frown. "They had to run down there to speak to one of her friends. As it happens it was one of the friends Lester just told me about."

"Aurora or Ariel," I raised a brow.

"Neither," he frowned in confusion, "Amanda Donnelley."

I grinned, "Aurora and Ariel are their character's names. They are Sleeping Beauty and the Little Mermaid."

"Huh," he blinked.

Jenna rolled her eyes, "you don't get out much do you Boss? Ariel is the name of the Little Mermaid and Aurora is the name of Sleeping Beauty."

"Oh," he nodded.

"Once the bean is born, she'll learn all about Disney Princesses," I said with a smile.

"Oh you're having a girl," she grinned at me.

I said yes at the same time Ranger said no.

"Well, we don't know for sure," I smiled. "But Karma suggests it'll be a girl."

Mitch snorted.

Ranger turned to glare at him. "We don't know and we don't want to know."

"All I'm saying," Mitch said, "is that you should trust Steph's instincts."

"I do," he sighed.

"Then you know it's a girl. Start getting used to pink frilly things and Disney Princesses," Mitch laughed.

"I'm going to kill you someday," he said softly with a glare.

"You'd have to catch me first," Mitch laughed.

Jenna shook her head and turned back to her computer.

"He has a point," I said with a smile.

"He still needs his ass beat."

"I guess you need to work on your Superman powers then honey," I said and walked over to put my arms around his waist and kissed him.

"Hey…we're working here," Mitch growled.

"We're on our honeymoon," I said leaning around Ranger, "get over it."

He seethed and turned back to his computer. I heard Jenna giggle though.

Ranger grinned at me. "I love you."

"I love you Ric," I beamed up at him.

"A girl wouldn't be so bad," he said softly.

"Just remember she'll have Hungarian and Cuban hormones," I teased.

"Just remember she won't leave the house till she's forty," he said seriously.

I laughed.

"Hey, break it up," Call grinned as he and Ali came in with food on a cart. "We've got lunch."

"Thank God," I groaned. "I'm starving."

We ate and talked and compared notes about things.

"Why don't you already work for me," Ranger asked Ali.

She laughed, "Well, I thought it would make Aunt Ellen have a nervous breakdown. When I got back all I ever heard was how she was so worried about Stephanie and her job and her associates. She was so worried that Stephanie is going to die a grisly death. I was concerned if I came to Rangeman and applied she'd go right over the top."

He laughed, "Things are a little different now."

"So I have learned. Uncle Frank is the one who told me to call your offices and see if there would be a problem with me applying."

"So you have a job?"

She laughed, "Hal hired me on Monday before we came down here. I'd been by to see him on Friday afternoon. He wanted to check my references and then check with Stephanie, but this particular job needed my expert talents," she rolled her eyes, "so here I am."

"Expert talents," he frowned.

"She's a girl," I grinned.

"Oh right," he nodded. "I forgot about our cover."

"That's because yours is built in," Ali said kindly. "And…you're kind of the boss."

"Yes I am. Actually, I understand everyone but Kate."

"What don't you understand about me," Kate said when she entered the conference room. "Oh thank God, I'm starving."

Brian came in right behind her, "me too."

"I understand now how everyone else was chosen for this particular job. How did you get roped in?"

"Oh easy," she grinned. "Bobby and I are friends. He said he needed to stay around there, but he'd really wanted someone else with a medical license to be here on site. He wanted to know how I felt about a free vacation."

I laughed, "How's that vacation working out for you?"

"I got some nifty new tee shirts," she beamed at the Castle tee shirt she was wearing that matched Brian's.

"Hey…you guys are dressed alike," I grinned.

"Yea, we're blending in by being one of those disgusting couples who dress alike. It was my idea."

Brian shook his head, "I'm afraid she's going to try and get me to die my hair next."

"No way Carter…it looks sexy as it is," she laughed.

"It's Brian," he said pointedly.

"Is it," she batted her eyes at him innocently before turning to me. She grinned. "I like to bust his chops."

We were gradually joined by every member of our long distance staff. We sat around the tables eating and avoiding the topic at hand. Finally everyone was finished. The last cookie was eaten. The trash was dealt with.

Ranger got to his feet, "okay, let's see what everyone found out. Let's start with Kate."

Kate nodded and got to her feet. "Sandra Millicent Rice was a healthy 26 year old woman."

"Millicent," I snorted and Ali grinned at me.

Kate shook her head and smiled, "Her organs were in good health, her last meal was lunch. She didn't eat at the park, instead she ate Mexican food. We're pretty sure it was a Taco Bell meal number one."

"Burrito and taco supreme," Woody mumbled.

Ranger just shook his head.

Kate grinned, "She was sexually active and had apparently had at least two miscarriages or abortions or one of each. She was currently on birth control. She was using the three month shot. Ovulation appeared to have been stopped. There was more trauma than first appeared on the body that appeared in post mortem. We're delaying sending the body to New Jersey for a few more days since we're certain that more bruising will appear. Whoever did this knew enough about forensics to know that if the body went through a coroner with no experience, he'd never spot it. At this point, I'd almost say the sex was consensual. I could be wrong, but it certain appears that way. I would eliminate erotic asphyxia, but it was fun to watch the coroners face turn red when I suggested it as a possibility."

Natalie and I giggled and earned another frown from Ranger. It was his straighten up or I'll be talking to you later frown. I didn't mind. I liked it when he scolded me…a little bit.

Kate continued, "We…Manuel and I are going over to the coroner's office this afternoon to see if we can raise any prints off the body with superglue. The coroner had not washed her yet and I asked him to delay until we could run the check. At the very least, I suspect we'll get a print even though it may not be defined, it will give us a size of hand to go on." She took her seat with a nod to Ranger.

Ranger straightened from where he was leaning, "Brian…do you want to go next?"

"Sure," he got to his feet. "Walt Disney World does have its own police force. When they opened the park it was one of the things they asked for from Seminole and Orange Counties and got. They supply their own water, electricity, sewage, fire and police services. They are pretty much a city unto themselves. They're not really using the local resources, so it was even easier for the surrounding counties to acquiesce to their requests. They have their own laws adapted from the local municipalities and they govern themselves. Jack Margolis is effectively the chief of police and the sheriff. He is the top dog in law enforcement around here."

"So we are safe in getting the okay from them to investigate? We won't be in any kind of trouble?"

"No," Brian pulled a contract out of his leather notebook and handed it to Ranger. "I've already faxed copies of this to Tank and to the Miami office to be on the safe side. I have other copies as well. I'd like to overnight this one to Trenton for safe-keeping. It's not that I don't trust them, but I'd rather cover our asses completely."

"Do that then," Ranger nodded. "Go on."

"They have their own medical staff including a coroner who attends seminars and helps the local government when needed. He actually has very little experience. We, Rangeman, are not required to report these crimes or any other outside of federal crimes, to any other law enforcement agency. They gave us autonomy in solving the crime. The decision to report the crime to any other agency is ours. The mayor of Disney World, not Mickey Mouse," he shot a grin at me, "David Greene signed those papers in front of me. I drafted it myself and their attorneys looked on and agreed that it was fine. Because I haven't taken the bar yet in New Jersey or in Florida I thought we should go that route. I also had our attorney's in our Miami area office double check it."

Ranger nodded in admiration. "You've thought of everything."

"I did it this way to protect us," Brian said seriously as he sat. "Some small law enforcement agencies have the habit of protecting their own. It occurs to me that it could be a member of the security staff. That would give them further reason to protect themselves."

"Good point," Ranger nodded. "Gabe and Woody…what did you find?"

"It's been cleaned," Woody said with a sigh. I'd like Manuel to get over there and do his thing, but if there's evidence I didn't see it. She had no appointment book. No computer, no nothing…just this," he pushed the Blackberry across the table to Ranger. "And we might not have found it but it was behind the entertainment center. We're thorough."

"That's why the cleaner missed it," Gabe said with a nod. "We checked all the hard to get to places and moved the furniture. We found some condoms…used that we turned over to Manuel already. Hopefully it will match what was found on our vic. That will give us a better indication that she was in a relationship. The cell phone is locked."

Woody looked up, "it looked like a professional cleaning job."

"The phone is password protected," Gabe sighed. "I tried, but I can't get into it. It's going to take some work. If she's anything like me," he held up his phone, "everything is on that thing."

Ali held her hand out, "I'll do it. Now I'm here for my special skills."

Ranger grinned and slid it to her, "thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Jenna and Mitch have been checking and cross checking. I think they've got a little more work to do before we have a defined list to check out. So…Kate and Manuel need to head back to the coroner's office. Manuel do you feel comfortable leaving Connie in the bus?"

"Yea," he nodded enthusiastically. "She's a quick study."

"Good," he nodded. "Connie will return to what she was doing. Everyone else, help the ladies distribute all their goods."

"It's a lot," Natalie muttered to Ranger as they headed for the elevator.

"I would think so," he agreed.

"Can we keep Steph," Mitch asked Ranger. "We could use help organizing our findings and she's a whiz."

"Of course," he nodded.

I smiled, "what do you want me to do?"

He shoved a pile of paper at me, "how about a spread sheet?"

"I can do it."

Hours later, I was sorry I volunteered.

After this story was originally published I learned a few more things about Disney's security. They do have their own security on site, but are policed by the counties they are in. I am uncertain about their utilities, I know they have their own water and sewage processing as well as electrical supplies, but they may or may not be completely independent.