Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns the rights to the following characters. This story is only intended as artistic exercise. I am in no way profiting financially from it.

Warning: This story is intended for adult readers only; contains graphic violent content, mature themes and adult language.

This is a Babe story, and will have and eventual Babe HEA.

Breaking of Souls

Chapter 3: The Burning of Embers

Stephanie woke to the acrid smell of smoke wrapping around her, the scent conjuring images of social clubs and distraction jobs in her mind. She opened her eyes slowly, the sting of smoke biting at her drowsy eyes; a thick cloud of haze billowing softly around the poorly ventilated room.

She gasped as she noticed a figure looming in the dark recesses of the room, the glowing red spark of a cigarette ember casting a bloody glow across his face; the smoke writhing and curling like snakes into the air around him.

Stephanie's body trembled violently, her wide blue eyes resembling those of a frightened child.

He walked forward slowly, savoring a long drag from his cigarette; her eyes focusing in on his massive hands, thick and calloused from hard labor.

Stephanie studied his face as the light washed over his features; the strong line of his jaw, the wheat color of his hair, the deep cleft canyoning his chin; his face itself overshadowed by his lifeless amber eyes. She flinched at the evil radiating from them, yet she couldn't bring herself to look away; their depths, devoid of human emotion, sending tendrils of ice slithering through her core; shivering at the dark malevolent energy emitting from his body.

He stopped at the edge of the bed, his thighs pressed firmly against the mattress, his colossal frame towering over her, "This isn't exactly the homecoming I had envisioned for us, Stephanie… though you have only yourself to blame for that," he growled, his gravelly voice vibrating through her body.

Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth in her dehydrated state, "Wh… Who are you?" She rasped, leaning as far away from him as her restraints would allow.

He cocked his head to the side, a slow, manic smile spreading across his face, "Oh… I think you know who I am. Search within yourself, I'm a part of your very being. We were made for each other, ordained to be together... In time you will see the truth behind my words."

He raised his hand to her face, the smoke from his cigarette swirling around her head, stroking his thumb across her cheek; "I have something very special planned for you… though it will have to wait." He sighed in frustration, "First, you must be punished for your betrayal."

"How could I betray you…? I've never even met you?" Stephanie pleaded bewilderedly, "I've done nothing wrong!"

"Don't lie to me, Stephanie!" He thundered, "I listened to the whole fucking thing, and I've replayed it over and OVER again in my mind," He tapped the side of his head roughly, his eyes wide and crazed.

He took a drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out the side of his mouth. He lowered his hand to her, snuffing the cigarette in the tender flesh of her inner arm. Her body arching from the bed, a guttural scream tearing from her lips, her skin sizzling as the smell of burning flesh crept into her nostrils.

He pulled his hand away, leaning over to whisper in her ear, "I'll forgive you this once… but if it happens again… I will crush the soul from your body." She flinched as he leaned in to kiss the weeping burn on her arm, before standing and walking out of the room.

Morelli sat staring at Ranger balefully, the muscle in his jaw ticking; his irritation growing at the sight of Ranger's stony expression, his only movement coming from the barely perceptible rise and fall of his chest with his breathing.

Morelli stood, his chair scraping against the floor; raking his hands through his hair as he began pacing the small conference room; smirking as he passed Tank's imposing form, "I don't think your boss will be in need of a body guard today."

Tank chuckled humorlessly, "Trust me Morelli, he's not the one who needs protecting. I'm here to make sure that you don't end up drinking through a straw for the rest of your life... or worse. "

The door swung open, a tall, thin man walked briskly into the conference room, a black leather binder tucked under one arm; a cup of coffee balancing in his opposite hand, "Thank you for meeting me here, gentlemen. My name is Agent Nielson of the FBI, I am the criminal profiler assigned to Miss Plum's case." He placed his binder and coffee on the desk, motioning for Morelli to take a seat.

"I am hoping that your close personal relationships with the victim will help to bridge the gaps in the respective time frames," Agent Nielson sat behind the metal desk, one hand idly stirring the coffee in front of him, his analytical gaze dissecting each of the two men seated before him.

"We estimate that Miss Plum was abducted between two and two-thirty on Sunday morning. I would like to discuss the forty eight hour time period prior to the abduction; any contact that you had with the victim, any variances from her typical routine, as well as your current relationship status with Miss Plum. Detective Morelli…" Agent Nielson's eyes fell upon Joe, silently requesting him to begin.

Morelli shifted in his chair, "Steph and I have a long history together, we've dated on and off for the past two years. Recently we've been taking a break while she deals with some "work" related issues," Joe paused, his eyes hardening. "I spoke with her on Friday afternoon; nothing seemed to be out of the norm. I invited her over to my place for pizza, but she had to work another sleazy distraction job… which is probably where she picked her latest stalker," Morelli turned his incriminating glare on Ranger.

Agent Nielson shook his head in disagreement, "I highly doubt that Detective. Given the dust buildup found on the recording device, as well as the excessive amount of fingerprint traffic left in her apartment, I'd say that this has been going on for months… if not longer. The DNA results on the cigarette stubs all matched a single male profile, some of them only days old while others were in the advanced stages of decomposition… this would take several months, at the very least ."

"Christ," Joe muttered, dropping his head into his hands; fear washing over him.

"Mr. Manoso," Agent Nielson began. "Miss Plum is employed part time with your company, is she not?" Ranger simply nodded his head in affirmation, "And, your personal relationship with Miss Plum?"

Ranger eyes narrowed dangerously, "My personal relationship with Stephanie is just that, PERSONAL," he grit through his teeth.

Agent Nielson sat back in his chair, sipping his coffee, "I understand your desire for privacy Mr. Manoso, and I am in no way trying to invade yours. However, I am alarmed that our perpetrator acted outside of his typical pattern of behavior. Prior to the abduction, his pursuits were impeccably planned. Until Sunday there was not a single eye witness in all of the months that he has been stalking Miss Plum. During the abduction he was flamboyant with his actions; making a bold statement of his claim to her. Something triggered this drastic change in his behavior and I am merely trying to discover what that something is. The more I can learn about his motives for the abduction the more accurately I can speculate on his intentions towards her now."

Ranger sighed, "Stephanie worked a distraction job for my company on Friday night; the takedown itself went down routinely. I drove her home afterwards," he responded, averting the question.

"Did you simply drop Miss Plum off at the apartment complex or did you escort her upstairs?" Agent Nielson prodded.

"I walked her upstairs to her apartment, as is customary," Ranger answered evasively.

"And, after that I presume that you left the complex?"

Morelli peered up from out of his hands, his body tensing as he waited for Ranger's reply.

"No," Ranger said, squaring his shoulders.

Agent Nielson nodded unaffectedly, "Did you then spend the night with Miss Plum at her residence?" Ranger hesitated, leaning his head towards his shoulders, popping his neck before giving a curt nod.

"And, during that night were the two of you intimate with one another?"

"What the fuck does that have to do with anything?" Ranger growled furiously, appalled by the question.

"Mr. Manoso, I do not have time for chivalry. Your cooperation is detrimental in the recovery of Miss Plum. So, I ask you again, were you or were you not intimate that night with Miss Plum?"

Ranger sat grinding his teeth, eyeing Agent Nielson furtively, "Yes."

Morelli stood quickly, his chair toppling over onto the ground, "Fuck." He snarled, clenching and unclenching his fists, "I need some air." He threw a murderous glare at Ranger before slamming the door behind him.

Agent Nielson rubbed his chin warily, "Mr. Manoso, I make a good living studying the behaviors of others and I can see how much you love this girl. Given the circumstances, I'm going to be quite plain with you… Miss Plum is in grave danger. I believe that her abduction was triggered by the perpetrator's jealousy of your physical relationship with her; the tracking device would have enabled him to "witness" the event. In my professional opinion we are dealing with an Erotomaniac Stalker; this is someone who slowly exchanges reality for an imaginary world. He will most likely believe that Miss Plum is in love with him, that she is destined to be his soul mate. I fear that he will react violently towards her because of his imagined betrayal. He will be a man of above average intelligence who is unable to cope with rejection. I understand that Miss Plum is a strong willed woman who will not submit to any type of controlling behavior; based on these facts, I would estimate that her life expectancy is somewhere between 48 and 72 hours."

Ranger jumped slightly as his phone vibrated in his pocket, "Yo," he chocked, his chest heaving with a mixture of despair and rage.

"Boss, we got the lab results back from the stains found on Bomber's mattress. The results concluded that the substance is a hydrocarbon … unrefined, crude oil; it appears that our man is "roughneck" on an oil rig."

Ranger's eyes snapped open, his mind and body preparing for the hunt ahead; a breakthrough… at last.

TBC…

*Thoughts?

*I know everyone is excited for the big reunion... the next chapter is almost finished and I am trying to muster up the motivation to finish it before the holiday weekend. If not, I will post sometime early next week.

Oh, and don't worry… we're almost out of the very dark and scary woods!