Updated!

Had to change some of the times as I realized that they were false. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Ranger POV

"A situation? What do you mean?" I asked him, maybe a bit too loudly. I rushed to the living room and found what I had been looking for, her phone in her purse she had left on the couch. I picked babe's phone and called Ella as I listened to Tank, searched the apartment for my gun and finally found it. Ric was still asleep in the bedroom and I paused at the door way to look at him. I envied him, he looked so peaceful while I was a nervous wreck, thinking about the "situation" and what it could mean. It could mean that she or somebody else was dead, or injured. Or that they can't find her. There might be a hostage situation. I envied the little angel sleeping in his bed, totally unaware of what was happening.

"We didn't get to the door after she had gone in. There was some massive gunfire and it took almost an hour to get inside. We kicked in the door and searched the apartment and what we found is quite extraordinary." Tank said to me and I asked if Ella could watch Ric when I was away. I hung up on her and returned my attention to Tank.

"What?" I was beginning to feel annoiyed. Why couldn't he just say it? The sound of something burning remained in the background.

"Morelli. He's dead, laying on the living room carpet. Somebody shot him straight between his eyes, execution style. No sign of Stephanie but we found a purse somebody recognized as Connies. No other sign of her either."

"What's that noise?" I asked Tank as I paced in the living room waiting for Ella. "What's burning?"

"The house. We're working on putting it out right now. We don't know what happened as it was already burning as we got there."

"Somebody tried to cover up their tracks. Right, send me the address and I'll be over." I said as Ella stepped out of the elevator. I hung up on Tank and gave the instructions to Ella. She looked worried as I rushed to the garage.

"Be careful!" she yelled after me and I could feel that she meant it. I counted myself as lucky to have her working for me, being like a second mother to me and now to my whole family. She was so pleased to watch Ric as we were away. I knew that he would be in good hands; nothing would happen to him while she was with him. Now I could turn my attention to babe.

As I jumped into the Porsche I realized how long the drive was going to be. I drove in autopilot, not really knowing where I was, how I got there and where I was going. My thoughts were concentrated in finding my babe, the love of my life and the mother of my son. She was my everything and I couldn't stand losing her. This was totally my fault, I send her there and wasn't even there myself. I punched the steering wheel and hit the gas pedal. I was going to save my babe and I didn't care who or how many I would have to hurt to do that. I was going to bring my babe back home to be with me and Ric. We were going to be a happy family

Stephanie POV

I looked like hell. My clothes were torn and my cheeks were colored black with the mascara. My cheast hurt, the running wasn't doing any good to the broken ribs or any other part of me that was broken. Still I didn't have another chance but to run. They were following us. Connie was running beside me, in only underwear. Huge black marks were already visible on her abdomen, legs and arms but the marks were the rope had cut her neck were the most horrible. Her hair was burnt, blisters on her naked feet and arms, not to mention her face. Her right eye was swollen shut and her lip was torn. She must be in terrible agony but continued to run beside me, now and then glancing behind us to make sure we weren't followed.

I looked back and terror rose in my throat. They were following us. My eyes as wide as they could be, I dragged Connie with me as I ran away from the road and into the dense forest. Sticks and stones cut our feet, the bushes shreading our remaining clothes. I was in survival mode, not stopping at anything to keep us safe. The trees became higher and the temperature sunk. We didn't have anything with us with the exception of the gun I had in my bloody hands. I jumped over a fallen tree and fell. Connie stopped to look at me and I rose quickly back up. My knees and palms were bloody now too, the uneven surface cutting them as I fell. I could feel that something wasn't right with my left ankle but didn't have time to check what it was. I limped forward, looking desperately for a place to hide in. A cave maybe? Not so near, though, they were too close.

They would get Connie over my dead body; I thought and glanced back, not seeing anybody. That didn't mean anything. I continued to run and held the gun closer to my blood soaked shirt. Over my dead body, I chanted over and over again. These words gave me the fuel to keep on running through the woods with Connie. Nobody was going to get us. Nobody.