I heard the sound of metal crunching and I was pressed against the side of the building with Ranger's and Lester's big bodies blocking me from the blast. I was sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't believe that Mitch was gone. He had to be gone.

Lester pulled away from us and started running.

Mike crashed out the front door of the restaurant with the chefs behind him. "What the fuck?"

"Car bomb," Ranger said hoarsely.

"Did someone call 911," Tree asked.

"Lester did," Ranger nodded.

"I need some help here," Lester yelled.

The chefs all ran to assist him in whatever he was doing and Ranger turned his head and gasped. "Babe…it wasn't the SUV. It wasn't our SUV that blew up. It was another car."

I raised my head and met his eyes with my own terrified and drowning blue ones "are you sure?"

"I'm sure," he hugged me to him. "They're pulling Mitch out now."

"Oh God," I sighed and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"He's standing up," he said with a deep sigh. "He's okay."

"This can't go on," I whispered. "We have to figure this thing out."

"I know."

"It's not Mike," I whispered. "I can feel that it's not Mike."

"Okay," he said quietly, "we'll talk about it later."

I nodded.

The police and the ambulance and the fire trucks all seemed to arrive at the same time. Tree and Bull walked Mitch over the ambulance so the EMT could look him over. Lester went to talk to the cops. Everyone else sort of backed out of the way.

"He's okay Stephanie," Smith said when he got back to where we were. "They may take him in and take some pictures, but he's good."

I nodded, "thank you."

"You're welcome. Who did you guys piss off? This wasn't aimed at Mike, was it?"

Ranger sighed, "I don't see how it could have been."

"Then it was one of you," he said seriously. "I'd start looking into that."

"We're going to," Ranger said grimly.

"I think we're out," I reminded Ranger, "we got all the skeletons…well, I got all the skeletons out of my closet. We don't know where any of your closets are."

He rolled his eyes, "Steph…"

"Yea…whatever," I shook my head. I straightened, "I think I'll go back inside and let you boys sort this out. I have a feeling I'll have time to ice the lemon cake."

He nodded.

Smith met Ranger's eyes and nodded and followed me inside.

I shook my head once we got back inside, "you're just going to blindly let him tell you to babysit me?"

He grinned, "He's a Major I take orders from officers, especially officers as well respected as your husband."

"You were a good soldier?"

"I was a damn good soldier," he nodded.

"All right soldier," I smiled. "Did the cakes come out of the ovens before the bomb blew?"

"We just took them out," he nodded.

"Okay, then they will be ready to ice shortly. Why don't we make the lemon butter now?"

"Lemon butter," he frowned.

"See…that's why your cake hasn't tasted like my mothers," I laughed. "You'll see, it will make all the difference."

"Let's do this thing," he nodded and pushed the door to the kitchen open.

As we worked I thought it was a good time to ask some questions. "So…did all of you guys work at the other restaurant?"

"Yea," he nodded. "Tree, Hawk and I were scheduled to come here and we were going to hire some fresh talent to fill in the blanks. For now, we're going to continue on here until Mike decides what to do about rebuilding the other place. I think he should franchise this place, especially in military towns. If he has all six of us trained, that gives him six guys who know the food and that means he's got a head start."

"I think that's a great idea," I beamed at him. "So you all met in the hospital when you got out of Afghanistan. None of you ever went back or worked for the government again?"

He laughed, "You're trying to figure out if the target could be one of us?"

"I'm just examining all the options," I sighed. "I don't actually think it's any of you, but I want to be sure that you're all eliminated before I go to what I think my most likely victim is."

He nodded, "someone you care about?"

I laughed, "See, the thing about me is that I care about people fast. All I need is a couple of more days of your company and you'll be on my Christmas card list. I just like people. This is what I do. So…yea, it's going to end up being someone that I care about either way. I just want to figure out who it is and try to stop it before it's too late."

"Well, I do specialize in recon," he said with a smile.

"Isn't that jungle recon or desert recon or something that could be useful to me here," I asked with wide eyes.

"Its recon," he shrugged. "I just have a way of getting information from people."

"Without hurting them," I blinked.

"Usually," he said and took the melted butter off the stove.

I shook my head with a smile. "We have to let it cool just a little bit, and then we're going to add some lemon extract and just a little lemon zest."

"What do we do with that," he frowned.

"We pour it over the cakes," I smiled.

"Oh," he blinked.

"It makes it moister and gives it an even stronger lemon taste."

"That makes sense," he said. "Do you think we could refrigerate it to cool like we'd do the cakes?"

"Probably," I frowned thoughtfully. "But you need to pour it onto the cakes while they're still warm."

"Okay," he nodded.

I hummed around the kitchen checking on the pot roast they were testing and looking at the cheesecakes they had made. I turned the heat down on the pot roast. "Too high," I said with a smile. "Truthfully, I think it's better if you cook everything but the potatoes and carrots the day before. Then in the morning, add them to the stock and you'll have a richer and thicker broth."

"Oh…I'll try it," he said making a note on a clip board by the stove.

"You know carrots turn to mush if you cook them too long, I think the potatoes get a little rubbery."

"Got it," he nodded.

We were just beginning to ice the cakes when Joe Morelli came into the kitchen with Tree on his tail.

"Stephanie," he nodded. "How are you?"

"I'm good," I said turning my attention back to the cake.

"I hear congratulations are in order," he said a little tightly.

"Yep, you heard right," I smiled and again focused on the cake.

"So, your husband says you didn't see anything. Did you see anything?"

"I didn't see shit," I admitted. "I heard the explosion and then I was against the wall with Ranger and Lester acting as human shields. The first time I saw anything else was when they were taking Mitch to the ambulance."

He nodded, "all right then. I'll get back to the crime scene."

Smith and Tree watched him go with suspicious looks on their faces.

"Go ahead and say it," I smiled.

"He's got a thing for you," Tree growled.

I laughed, "Don't worry. We have a history. We were together off and on for a couple of years beginning when I was five and ending last summer."

"That's a long history," Smith said studying my down bent head.

"Yes it is," I agreed. "But it's history. I'm not interested in more."

"He is," he said quietly.

"He has a wife and child. He needs to be interested in them," I shrugged. "He's getting better."

Ranger and Mitch walked into the kitchen as we finished icing the last cake. I walked straight to Mitch and put my arms around him. He picked me up in his hug. "I'm so glad you're okay," I whispered.

"Me too," he said softly and put me to my feet.

I swallowed and put my arms around Ranger's waist. "We need to figure this out before someone dies."

"I know Babe," he sighed.

Yea, he just threw Babe out every now and then. I think sometimes he was testing the waters and other times he just forgot. But I wasn't going to call him on it unless he started abusing it before I got the words. Besides, he knew what the problem was. There was no point in beating a dead horse.

"But before we do that," he said with a smile, "how about cake?"

"I never thought I'd live to see the day," Mike shook his head in shock.

"I'm telling you…it's his Achilles' heel," I grinned.

"I'll remember this for future reference," he laughed.

We all moved out to the dining room with cake and coffee and sat around testing the cakes. They all tasted the same. They were perfect.

"That's it," Tree groaned.

"It's the step we left out," Smith winced. "The melted butter with lemon extract and zest, it turns out that's a really important step."

"I won't leave it out again," Tree sighed. "It's perfect."

I grinned, "My mother will be so pleased that you like it. You know, if you want more recipes, you should pick her brain. She's got a bunch of good ones."

"Most of them have gravy on them," Ranger said dryly.

"And she'll bring your grandmother with her," Lester said with a grin.

"What's wrong with her grandmother," Hawk asked.

"Well, she's an old pervert," Lester howled with laughter. "Every time I go anywhere near her she's grabbing at my ass and my junk. The woman is a hundred and seventy if she's a day and she's the horniest thing I've ever met in my life. I tell you what, if I'd met her at some time when we were both this age I am now, I'd probably be in traction."

"You're exaggerating," Bull gaped.

"Sadly, he's not," Ranger sighed.

"As bad as Lester has it or as anyone employed by him has had it, Ranger's had it much worse," I grinned. "Grandma refers to Ranger as 'the package'."

The men burst into laughter.

"Yep," I nodded, "and she's just waiting for the perfect moment to cop a good feel."

Mitch laughed, "I saw her get close a couple of times on the ship…on the dance floor."

"Yea, well I hope she doesn't succeed," I said wryly. "Ranger says he'll shoot her if she touches his dick."

"That was before we were married," he said shaking his head.

"So now its okay," I raised a brow.

He sighed," no…I just mean that I can't shoot my wife's grandmother. I think it was in our vows somewhere."

"Right," I shook my head.

"Okay…enough of this," Mike sat back with his coffee. "As entertaining as it is, we have a bigger issue."

"Yea," I sighed.

"I think and TPD may not agree with me, but I think I'm not the target."

"Stephanie doesn't think you're the target either," Ranger sighed.

"Who do you think it is," Mitch eyed me.

"I think it's one of you three," I waved my hand between Ranger, Mitch and Lester with a sigh. "I think we eliminated everyone on my side of the fence before our reception, don't you agree gentlemen?"

"Oh yea," Mitch nodded.

"That means…it's one of you," I sighed. "I don't like it, but it's my gut feeling."

"Do you have any gut feeling that narrows it down," Ranger asked.

"Not yet," I said shaking my head.

He sighed, "For those of you who don't know Stephanie, she's got the instincts of a first class hunter. She can smell guilt. I mean it. She can smell a target on someone after a small amount of time. She…she's pretty gifted."

"I don't know why I couldn't just be able to paint or something normal like that," I sighed.

"You know why," Mitch said wiping the table with his napkin. "So, it's one of us. We were all three there at all the occurrences. That does make it suspicious."

"Well, Lester wasn't in the vehicle with us when we were shot at," I reminded him.

"Then it's probably me or Mitch," Ranger nodded.

"I suspect so," I nodded.

"No gut more than that," he frowned.

"Sorry," I sighed.

"What's our next step then," Mitch asked. "Cause I got to tell you, I've done some extreme shit and…I'm pretty sure that there are people out there who'd be interested in erasing me."

"Yea," Ranger nodded.

"From an outsider's perspective," Smith said softly, "it could be either of you. You've both got tremendous reputations. You're both known for getting the job done both when in the military and afterwards. I don't know who's after you, but I'd be willing to bet it was from that time."

"From Afghanistan," Mitch frowned.

"Or sometime since that you've been in government work," he nodded.

"Great," Mitch sighed and leaned back with a wince, "then it's about a decade plus of history to dig through."

Ranger grimaced, "that's going to take some serious research. Not all of my files are open. A lot of what I've done is…eyes only. I mean it's as though it didn't exist."

"Mine too," Mitch frowned.

"Then we're going to have to pick your brains," I said pushing back from the table. "We have no other choice. I want this solved before one of you is dead." I gathered the plates and forks and headed for the kitchen.

I heard Smith say, "I think she means it."

"She does," Ranger nodded.

"You've got your hands full man," he laughed.

"Tell me something I don't know," Ranger said in amusement.

I let them chat a little longer and then walked to them. "Do we have a ride? Our last one is crunch metal."

"It will be here in two minutes," Ranger nodded.

"Along with our escorts," I raised a brow.

"Yep," he agreed.

"Good," I nodded. "I have my first appointment with my new OBGYN tomorrow and I'd like a little sleep if possible."

"We'll be home in thirty minutes," he promised.

"Okay…I'll just go freshen up," I said heading for the bathroom.

Lester got up to follow me.

"You let me go to the kitchen by myself."

"There's a guard on that door."

"But not on the ladies room door," I raised a brow.

"Not till I get there," he grinned.

When I exited the restroom they were waiting for me by the door. They formed a man wall and walked us to the car. Then the all of us tooled out toward the house.

When we got home I went straight upstairs and took a long shower. I cried while I was in there. I didn't want either of them dead, but I sure as hell didn't want my husband dead.

I left the bathroom and climbed into bed in my pajamas and just lay there with my hand on my belly. "Don't worry bean, your daddy is going to be fine. He's very resilient and he's very clever."

"Thank you," Ranger said dropping to the bed beside me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I sighed.

"Good," he laid his head on my belly and kissed it. "How about you bean?"

"Bean is good," I smiled.

"Are you sure you're both fine?"

"I'll be more okay when I know that you're not in danger anymore," I said running my fingers through his hair.

"I know," he said softly.

"I don't want to lose you," I whispered.

He rose up and kissed me softly and tugged me into his arms. "You're not going to. I promise you. We are in it for the long haul."

I sighed. I wanted to believe him. I really did. But he didn't have a bat cave until we bought this house. I wasn't sure he was a super hero any more.