Mitch was easy to find. I just called him and told him I was there and he directed me to the fourth floor apartment where he was currently residing.

When I got there, he was unhappy. He'd been on lockdown at the facility since he'd been moved there the night before and he couldn't stand being so helpless. People were dying and he believed he was partially responsible. He wasn't. It was George's problem. But I understood how he felt.

"Do you know anything new," he asked anxiously.

"Some, not much," I sighed. "Cal's going to be okay."

"Thank God," he said running his hand through his hair.

"Ranger doesn't think that Robert is part of this. Brian and his father the judge are on their way from New Zealand. They'll be here sometime tonight. They both have connections that may help us here. I also called Terri Morelli. She's going to check her 'family'" I said inserting air quotes, "connections and find out if he's using local boys or if the talent is imported. If it's local, she can probably put a stop to the hit. If it's imported, there could be some kind of turf war that will still stop the hit and maybe even do more than that. I didn't ask questions."

"More than that," he frowned. "You mean like hit the hitters?"

I sighed, "I don't want to know."

He nodded.

"Ranger's also going to send me some video and he's got my father working on getting George's old military records. If you never worked for him during black ops, maybe the connection is further back."

He nodded grimly, "yea."

"Are you connected to the Rangeman network in here," I pointed to his computer.

"Yea," he nodded.

"Then let's see what he's got me," I said and sat down at his computer and logged in. The top email was from him and it had three connections on it. The first connection was the video of the last meeting. I turned the volume on and Mitch came over with a chair and sat down beside me.

"His face isn't familiar at all," he sighed watching the video. "But the voice is familiar."

"Maybe he's really changed since he was military. He's probably put on a little weight."

"Yea, maybe," he sighed.

"When you were in Afghanistan, did anyone ever see you morph?"

"You mean into the ghost," he asked.

"Right," I nodded.

"No," he shook his head. "Well, if they did they never mentioned it to me."

"Would they? If they did see it, wouldn't they just think they had maybe done one too many missions and probably needed a little time in a rubber room? I'll be honest with you, if I hadn't already seen some shit, it would freak me out."

"That's a good point," he said thoughtfully. "It seems like it would be more likely to be one of ours that saw it if anyone did."

"You never morphed when it wasn't for a mission?"

"You mean for fun or what?"

"Or because you're a guy and there's a girls dressing room near by or something," I raised a brow.

He had the good grace to redden, "I may have. When I was younger I used it much more often than I do now. In the old days I may have used it for lascivious purposes."

"You may have," I raised a brow.

"Okay I did," he sighed.

"All I'm saying is that maybe you were drunk and that's why the memory is hazy."

"That's a good point actually. I have a really good memory for people."

"So…if you were drunk, then maybe you were kind of morphing in and out, you know what I mean?"

He winced, "yea, I know what you mean."

"So maybe you saw something you shouldn't have. Let's get his records and compare them to yours and find out if you were both in some part of the country at the same time when you may have seen something you shouldn't have."

"Good idea," he nodded.

"In the meantime, I have to go and check out the accommodations Ranger is allotting to Brian and his father. I need to make sure they're up to Judge Goodman's high standards."

"Are they going to be here?"

"Sixth floor," I nodded.

"I'll go with," he raised a brow.

"Good," I nodded.

When we arrived on the sixth floor Ella was bustling about making the Judge's bed.

"Hi Ella," I smiled.

"Hello darling girl," she hurried to give me a hug. "How is the bean?"

"The bean is good," I grinned. "How is your new apartment?"

"Decadent," she laughed. "And have you seen my new kitchen? I'll be able to create masterpieces in there."

I smiled, "yea, I'm a little jealous of it."

"Come by anytime and you're welcome to use it."

"Thank you," I smiled. "You've got this place in tip top shape. Ranger and I bought a couple of pieces of art that will complete it. It should be delivered soon."

"They're unloading it now dear," she said with a smile. "They're unloading in the rec room. They didn't want the driver to know too much about our facility."

"Good idea," I nodded.

"Do you know which ones you want? I can get someone to bring them up."

"Yes, but I think it will be easier for me to go and look myself. As soon as they're gone I'll head over there."

"I'll come with you so I can carry them," Mitch said.

"Good," I nodded. "We have to take the tunnel though. I'm not allowed in the sunlight."

"Is there something wrong dear," Ella frowned.

"Yea," I laughed. "My husband is over protective."

"I don't feel over protective," Ranger said from where he was lounging in the doorway.

I laughed, "How do you feel?"

"Like my wife needs a spanking," he raised a brow.

"Promises, promises," I grinned. "We're going over to the rec room to grab some art. What are you doing?"

"File," he raised his hand displaying a brown file.

"That file," I asked.

He nodded.

"Mitch's room is this way," I said pulling him toward the elevator. "I'll see you in a bit Ella."

"Bye sweetheart," she waved.

We took the elevator down and went straight to Mitch's room before opening the file.

"He was a lot thinner back then," I frowned.

"Yea," Ranger agreed. "He was in Afghanistan during both of our tours."

"Great," I sighed.

"Can you tell if you guys were ever on liberty at the same time and at the same place?"

"Hold on," he opened his phone. "Yo…cross check the Afghan liberties and get back to me." He closed the phone.

I shook my head.

"What," he frowned.

"Nothing," I smiled.

"There's something back in the back of my mind, but I can't get my…," Mitch groaned. "This is nuts. I know I know this guy. Why can't I put it together?"

"It wasn't black ops," Ranger said. "He wasn't in till you were out. When he did come in, he didn't rise up from operative to desk jockey. He moved straight to desk jockey position. He's never been a player from what I can tell. He's always been a puppet master."

Now, I know I don't speak 'army' or anything, but even I understood that George had never been in the field. How can someone who's never been in the field secure a desk job running operatives that are so top secret that the President of the United States isn't even aware they exist? There was something not right about that. "Was Robert an operative?"

"Yea," Ranger nodded. "He was running ops when I was green. He was almost killed during a low flying op into Tehran. They took him out of the field because his knee is titanium now. That's traceable."

I nodded, "isn't it rare for someone to skip right to puppet master?"

"It's the only time I'm aware it ever happened. I only let it go because Robert's so good. He knows what he's doing. He knows what my odds are from the moment I step off the plane to the moment I land on home soil. George is sort of the go-between between us and whoever needs us to do the job."

"So he's got the shady contacts," I nodded.

"Well, yea…I guess so."

"How did he get those contacts," I raised a brow.

"I have no idea," he said seriously.

"Do you think that you have those kinds of contacts?"

"Yea," he nodded grimly.

"Then maybe you need to do some digging."

"Maybe so," he nodded and got to his feet. "Mitch…do you have anything?"

"I have a vague memory of being in an alleyway somewhere. I know I'm in Afghanistan and I know I'm on leave. I get the feeling I've been drinking. I'm following someone. I see him in a doorway talking to another man."

"Is he the one in the doorway or the one talking?"

"I don't know," he sighed and put his head down. "I have a gut feeling that this is important though."

"Keep on it," Ranger bent down to kiss me, "ditto."

I laughed, "I love you too." I said watching him walk away.

Mitch raised a brow at me, "ditto."

"He's getting there," I smiled.

"Yea, I guess so," he agreed.

"Keep studying the file."

"Why don't we go and see about that art. I'll toss it around in my head while we're gone."

"Sure," I agreed.

He put the file into a safe in the wall and we headed for the elevator and the tunnel.

"So…Brian's coming? This is Christian's brother Brian? The guy who loves you and wants you Brian," he raised a brow as we descended to the lowest level.

I grinned, "Yea, that's the one."

"The only man who made your husband nervous Brian," he said in disbelief. "That's the guy coming here to work for Ranger?"

"Yep," I nodded and opened the tunnel to the rec center.

"He must be feeling pretty secure." He said following me into the tunnel.

"He should be," I nodded.

"So why are they coming here to help?"

"Fenton Goodman was a judge in Boston. He was a state judge. He had and continues to have a lot of connections. There had been a lot of talk about him running for office other than judge. There was even talk at one time about him being appointed to the Supreme Court. He declined the opportunity or he didn't think he'd pass scrutiny or they didn't think they'd like having an ass on the Court." I blinked at him and shook my head, "he's different now."

"Different how," he frowned and turned me toward the right tunnel.

"He…he saw his wife, son and mistress murdered and he had a heart attack. He survived and he's a changed man. He's rebuilt his relationships with his sons. He's the new and improved Fenton Goodman."

"And how is he helpful to us?"

"He knows a lot of important people who know a lot of important things and he can get information that we can't…probably."

"And what about Brian," he asked.

"Brian was in the FBI and he was very good at his job. He also graduated first in his class at Harvard with a law degree. He knows the channels and how to cut red tape so that when we do take him down, he stays down."

"Smart," he nodded. "Was that your idea?"

"That was Ranger's idea," I said with a smile.

"Wow," he blinked. "He's really secure."

I grinned. "He knows I love him."

"I guess so," he nodded. "You do realize that just a couple of weeks ago you were filing for divorce?"

"It was an annulment."

"Same thing," he rolled his eyes.

"You're obviously not Catholic," I raised a brow at him.

He laughed. "Well, you were definitely ending the relationship permanently, weren't you?"

"Yea," I grinned. "That woke his ass up, didn't it?"

He chuckled, "you're a smart and evil manipulative woman Stephanie Manoso. Remind me not to cross you."

"That is always good advice," I giggled.

We dug through the crates of art till I found several that would work in the apartments set up for the Goodman men. Then we loaded them onto an electrical golf cart that had just been delivered and drove them to the other facility. That was two of the things I asked for. I called Ranger.

"Yo," He said when he answered.

"Yo…I like the golf carts."

"Yours is pink and it's parked at the other end of our tunnel," he said.

"Cool," I laughed. "I love you."

"Ditto," he said and disconnected.

Hell ditto is almost as good as goodbye. In some ways it was even better.

Mitch and I set to work hanging the art in the apartments and then to keep ourselves busy we went back and gathered more of the art and started affixing it to walls all over the facility starting with the main lobby.

We stopped when Ella called us to the 'executive' dining room for dinner. The executive dining room was in the main building on the third floor. When we got there Ranger was there along with a few other key employees like Lester, Gabe and Bobby.

"Any luck with the memory," Ranger asked as we ate.

"No," Mitch sighed. "It's there. I know it's there. I just can't grab it."

"Maybe you need hypnosis," Bobby suggested.

"Oh…that's a good idea," I frowned. "Can you do that Bobby?"

"No," he shook his head. "For some reason I can't seem to get the hang of it."

"Maybe you should call Dr. Addison," Ranger suggested. "I think he can probably help us there."

"I wonder if he'd make a house call," I said thoughtfully.

"Promise me that you won't make me cluck like a chicken or plant some subliminal message in my head so that every time I get an erection I have to go put on a dress."

"Oh man…you're a sick shit," Lester laughed. "We wouldn't do that to you. As a matter of fact we wouldn't have even thought of it if you hadn't said something."

"You're safe," Ranger said with a slight smile.

"Right," he shook his head. "Don't pay me back for making you come clean to your wife either."

He grinned, "Would I do that?"

"Fuck yea you would do that," Mitch glared at him. "It turned out right, didn't it? And probably a lot sooner than it would have if I hadn't interfered."

"Okay, put it back in your pants gentlemen," I rolled my eyes. "Bobby what's the word on the hospital front?"

"Woody's home with Connie and resting comfortably," he smiled. "Connie's family is not happy that the man she was going to marry was shot at. They've launched an investigation into who might have done such a thing. If they find him first, the doer will be wearing cement overshoes."

Ranger chuckled. "That's the problem with doing unsanctioned hits in the burg. There are repercussions."

"Yep," Bobby nodded. "Tank is going home in the morning as long as he has a good night. Lula is scaring the nurses to death. They think she's going to have sex with him and send him into cardiac arrest."

"Could happen," I said taking a bite of my rice and shaking my head.

Ranger grinned.

"Cal is awake and talking to Natalie about renovating their scary house. They moved him out of CCU. His parents are there. Her parents are there. He's very well cared for."

"Fantastic," I laughed.

"And Mike and the boys from Unit brought lunch and dinner to the hospital and have promised breakfast in the morning. Mike says that as long as Cal is in the hospital they'll be bringing food by. He says Natalie and her and Cal's parents, the Rangeman employees and the medical personal won't have to worry about a thing. Tree said it was good practice for the chefs."

I sighed, "They're such sweet guys."

"Hussy," Ranger muttered.

I grinned and reached for my phone at the buzz. "Brian and Judge Goodman are at JFK, they'll be here in less than two hours."

"Great," Ranger said.

Ella appeared with a rolling cart, "dessert dears."

"You get dessert in the executive dining room," Lester said in shock.

I laughed.

Ranger shook his head, "Stephanie's idea. Dessert will be made available in all the dining rooms."

"Really," Bobby blinked.

"Really," Ella smiled. "Now I have a lovely sugar free berry tart, sugar free apple crumb pie, and some lemon cake made from Stephanie's mother's recipe."

"Lemon cake," Ranger grinned.

I laughed, "The berry tart for me."

"Babe," he blinked at me, "are you feeling all right?"

"I have to watch my sugar. A lot of women who are pregnant in their thirties risk the onset of gestational diabetes."

He blinked at me, "I'm going to die."

I laughed, "Maybe."

"I don't get it," Mitch frowned as the other guys chuckled.

"Stick around long enough and you will," Lester grinned. "But avoid Ranger for a while. He's going to be really tired."

I laughed. "Ella, what else needs to be done for the Goodman's apartments?"

"I think almost everything is done," she said thoughtfully. "I put the flowers up and the pictures you hung on the wall are perfect. I do so very much like that all the apartments are different now. I don't have to try to remember where I am anymore."

"I like that too," Lester admitted. "If Tank was still here it would keep him out of my place after a night on the town."

I snickered.

"Oh your father did drop by with some books he said you asked for. They're in Ranger's office. It's a couple of boxes full. Are they for the Goodman's rooms?"

"Yes, but don't worry about it," I smiled. "I'll take care of it."

"Okay dear," she smiled and rolled her trolley away.

"I like the executive dining room," Lester sighed.

"Well, you're going to get used to it if you want to. Tank and I will make the announcements at the next staff meeting but we'd like to talk to a few of you about advancement opportunities. We're trying to spread the workload out some. I mean everyone here works, but it's really hard for us to have time with our families the way our operation is currently run. We'd like to make some changes and we'd like to have your input. When Tank comes back to the office, we're going to sit down with some of our key people…including everyone in this room and talk it out."

"Wow," Lester blinked.

"We wouldn't be here if not for you guys. We're all getting older and starting to take on more responsibilities. We want to reward service and performance. Okay?"

"Okay," Bobby nodded happily.

I smiled and pushed my plate back. "Okay, I'm going to go and get those books and make a couple of phone calls. I noticed I still have an office even though I don't come here anymore."

"You'll always have one," Ranger assured me.

"Thank you," I smiled. "So…I'm going to get to work."

"I have a couple of phone calls too," Ranger sighed. "Will one of you guys carry those books for her?"

"I'll do it," Mitch said getting to his feet and dropping his napkin on the table.

"Okay," I got up. "Let's go." I turned to Ranger, "I love you."

"Ditto," he smiled.

"Ditto," Lester blinked at him as we left them. "What kind of shit is that? You can't tell your wife that you love her?" He was quiet for a few moments, "dude," he sighed. "If this is about Melinda or Angela… That wasn't your fault…either time."

"Shut up Santos," Ranger sighed.

"You need therapy," he sighed.

"I'm in therapy you dill hole," Ranger said and I heard his chair scrape back.

"Who are Melinda and Angela," I asked Mitch as we waited for the elevator.

"I don't know about Melinda," he said with a frown. "But Angela was his girl friend when we were in Afghanistan. I remember that name. She was Cuban too. She used to write him these really hot letters."

"Really," I made a face.

"It was a long time ago Steph," he smiled.

"Not long enough apparently," I said stepping off the elevator and heading for Ranger's office.

We put the books in place and then went back to Mitch's room to go through the file one more time. I paused and stopped to gaze at the photo in the jacket for a few moments. I dialed Dr. Addison's number and got the service.

"Dr. Addison's office," the woman said.

"Yes, this is Stephanie Manoso," I said.

"I'll get the doctor right away," she rushed to say.

"No…that's okay," I said but it was too late.

I sighed and hung up. "Let's head over to the offices. Maybe Ranger has heard something back on the cross check."

"What's wrong," Mitch frowned and followed me to the elevator.

"She paged him with a Stephanie Manoso emergency," I sighed.

"What," he laughed.

"At one time I think I must have been quite a handful," I grimaced as my phone rang before I could even punch the call button on the elevator. "Hello."

"Stephanie, this is Dr. Addison. I heard about your friends. Is everyone else all right?"

"Everyone who survived the initial onslaught is improving," I said. "I appreciate you calling me right back, but it's not that kind of emergency."

"Life has gotten really rather boring now that we're only meeting during office hours," he chuckled.

I laughed, "Well, then maybe you will appreciate this call after all. You see the attacks on the office and the other attacks that we've told you about are actually on one person by one person who's hired someone or some people to kill him."

"Oh dear," he frowned.

"Exactly," I agreed. "The thing is that the potential victim's memory is hazy of that particular time of his life. It was twelve years ago and he is pretty sure that he was drunk at the time."

"The time of what," he frowned.

"We suspect he may have seen something that he can't remember."

"Ah," he said thoughtfully. "And you're running out of daylight."

"Two men have died already," I sighed tiredly. "I don't want to lose any more if we can avoid it."

"I understand. I have some free time tomorrow morning at about ten."

"What are the odds you can come to our new facility? A Rangeman employee will pick you up and return you. We're trying to keep Mitch out of the public and hopefully reduce the casualties."

"That sounds like a good plan. Tell them to pick me up at 9:45AM. I shall be ready."

"Thank you Dr. Addison."

"You're welcome Stephanie. It's always an adventure when you're around."

I laughed, "Good night Dr. Addison."

"Good night," he said as he hung up the phone.

"He'll be here tomorrow at about ten to dig into the inner recesses of your brain," I grinned and punched the down button.

"Oh goody," he winced. "You won't let them plant any suggestions will you?"

"No way," I shook my head.

"Thanks Steph, you're a pal," he sighed.

My phone rang again and it was Terri.

"I'm sorry to get back to you so late. Did I wake you?"

"No…don't worry about it. We're still on high alert over here," I said stepping on the elevator.

"I'm sure," she sighed. "It's not a local contractor. The families are pissed. They do not like their territory being invaded by a bunch of high price mercenaries."

"So it's an outside resource," I said thoughtfully as we descended. "When you say outside, are we talking foreign or domestic?"

"Foreign," she said and she sounded really unhappy.

"Do you know the national origin?"

"Afghani," she said with a sigh.

"Holy shit," I groaned as the elevator stopped.

"Is everything okay?"

"It's coming together," I said. "Thank you Terri. I owe you one."

"You don't owe me a thing," she laughed. "I owe you. I'll call you if I get anything else."

"Thanks," I said and closed the phone and stepped off the elevator and right into Brian's arms. "Oh…I'm sorry…oh hi," I grinned up at him.

"Hi," he said hugging me. "You don't look that pregnant."

I laughed, "But I am."

"Stephanie…you look beautiful," Judge Goodman said with a smile. "I'm sorry I wrecked it for you and my boy. I'd have liked to have you as a daughter-in-law."

"Too late for that Judge," Ranger said entering the lobby.

"Ranger," Brian nodded.

"Brian," Ranger nodded back.

I sighed. Men!