Standard Disclaimer: Not mine, not making money, yadda yaddacakes. I didn't put this in part one, but spoilers up through LMT.

Overheard Part 13

Waffle House, Springfield Missouri

Connie was sitting at a table, filling the ketchup bottles during a lull in the crowd. When the door opened, she looked up and promptly dropped the bottle. Luckily for her, it was mostly empty and made of plastic. Ranger walked over to her. "I am looking for someone. She is about five foot seven with curly brown hair and blue eyes. She would have likely moaned over her food."

Connie shook herself out of her stupor. "You must be Stephanie's young man. She was here about two hours ago. She told me that you have found someone else but I am guessing that there is some misunderstanding going on? And how did you know she would moan over her food?"

Ranger smiled. "Yes, I am her man and there was a misunderstanding. I am trying to catch up to her so I can clear things up. Do you know where she was going?"

"She said she was heading back to Trenton to face things. Said she needed to stop living in denial and grow up."

"Thanks Connie." With a wry grin he added "She moans over good food all the time. It can make eating with her uncomfortable at times."

Connie laughed. "I bet. Our bus boy kept staring over at her every time she moaned."

Ranger reached out and shook Connie's hand. "Thanks again for your help." He pivoted and left the restaurant. Reaching the SUV, he got in and started the car. "Hey Rangeman, did you get some good Intel?" Ranger nodded and replied. "Yes. Apparently Stephanie is headed back to Trenton. I can't decide if we should try following since we are only about two hours behind or just fly back to Trenton."

Tank thought for a moment. "Why don't we head back? We can keep track of her by her credit card usage and if it looks like she is headed in another direction, we can go after her again."

"Tank, normally I would agree with you. It would give her more of a feeling of being in control of things. The problem is I can't shake the feeling that something else is wrong." With that, he put the car into drive and headed towards the Interstate.

Inside the restaurant, Connie stared after the SUV. Wow, that is one fine man. Stephanie is a very lucky girl. Looking down, she noticed a folded up piece of paper in her hand. Surmising the man had put it there she unfolded it. Gaping in astonishment she realized it was a hundred dollar bill. More than she ever made in one day in tips. Stephanie sure has found herself a nice man.

The cook came out from the kitchen. "Hey Connie, do you know where that worthless Jed is? He said he was going outside for a break over two hours ago and he hasn't come back."

"I haven't seen him since that nice lady from New Jersey left. You know the one that loved your cooking so much." With a start she said "I wonder if his leaving had anything to do with that lady. He was watching her constantly but I didn't say anything since she never noticed and he never approached her. Maybe he just got sick and went home."

"I don't care what his reason was; I am going to fire his ass the next time he shows up. This is the last straw. First there was the waitress he groped and then that college girl he hit on. Plus he has broken more dishes in three months than anyone else in a year combined."

Earlier that day, on Interstate 44

Stephanie had just gotten on the road when she noticed a billboard advertising Graceland. Quickly reading the large print she decided that even though she needed to get back to Trenton, she wasn't quite ready to get there in a hurry. She noticed that the exit to take her there was coming up in a mile. She flicked on her blinker and moved over into the right lane. "Hey Rex, we are taking a short detour and going to see the King. Well at least where he used to live since Elvis is dead and we won't be seeing him. Although some people do think he is still alive." Rex twitched his whiskers as if to say Mom, who is this King and is his name really Elvis? It sounds weird. Stephanie patted the top of his cage and said "Don't worry baby I'll leave you at the hotel so you can sleep." Rex turned and wiggled into his soup can to nap. He hated riding in the car. It was too hard to run on his wheel when the car was moving. To much of a chance to get knocked off when Mom hit a bump.

Stephanie pulled of route 65 to find a place to buy an atlas so she could map out the drive herself. Pulling into the first gas station she found, she got out of the car and looked around. It was Wednesday and things seemed somewhat quiet. Turning to enter the station, she never noticed the brown rust bucket that pulled into the lot and moved off to the side.

When Stephanie walked into the store, she was immediately assaulted with the smells of slightly overdone hot dogs, the pungent odor of sauerkraut that was past it's prime and other odors to numerous to catalog. She looked around and saw the rack of maps right by the register. Seeing the shabby appearance of the store, Stephanie was dubious that she could find what she needed. She was pleasantly surprised at seeing a Rand McNally Atlas in the rack. Granted it was a couple of years old but should suffice. She grabbed it and went to pay for it when the thought occurred to her that she should grab some beverages and snacks for the road. Turning around, she perused her snack choices. The lack of Tastycakes was the first thing she noticed. They did have Little Debbie though and she grabbed a couple of Swiss Rolls and Banana Twins. Deciding she needed something healthy to drink, she grabbed a couple of bottles of water. Placing her goodies next to the atlas, she smiled at the clerk.

As he was ringing up her purchases, the clerk remarked "Heading somewhere? Do you need directions?"

Stephanie looked up from searching through her purse to find her wallet. "I was heading back to Trenton when I saw the sign for Graceland. I thought since I was headed east I would take a short detour. I don't know if I will ever get out this way again. I figured I should buy a map so I wouldn't get lost. If you know who to get there, I would appreciate directions."

When the clerk smiled, Stephanie noticed that he had yellowing teeth like he was a heavy smoker but that it was a genuine and friendly smile none the less. "Well, I can't say as I can give you directions because I have never been there. But if you go on Route 60 until you hit 55, there should be enough signs to get you the rest of the way. You have a safe trip and enjoy yourself."

"Thanks, I will. You have a nice day." Stephanie gathered up her purchases and with a smile, left the store. She was still unaware of her surroundings since she didn't notice that brown rust bucket pulling out after her.

Back in Trenton

Vince was half asleep at his monitor. He had set an alert so that whenever Stephanie used one of her credit cards, it would notify him. He had spent the better part of the last 24 hours looking for Stephanie and setting this up so he was understandably tired. When the computer beeped at him, he was so startled he almost fell out of his chair. Looking up, he saw that Stephanie had used her credit card at a gas station. Pulling up a directory, he found that it was in Rogersville Missouri. He pulled up MapQuest and found a map of the area.

He switched on his headset and pushed number one on his desk phone. "Boss man, Stephanie just purchased about $20 worth of stuff in Rogersville Missouri. It is a small town right off Route 60. If she stays on 60, it will take her towards Kentucky. However, she might turn onto Route 63 which will take her into Arkansas. I will stay on the credit card trail and update you the next time she uses it." He listened for a minute and said "Right Sir, will do." Turning his headset off and tossing it on his desk he stood up and stretched. He decided to head to the break room and grab a bit to eat since it was unlikely Stephanie would use a credit card for a little while.

Walking into the break room, he noticed that Ella must have just dropped off lunch since the plates were relatively full. Normally when it was lunch time, the plates looked like they had been descended upon like a herd of locusts were in the building. Since most of the guys were out on various jobs today, he was the first person here. He smiled since it meant he got his choice of the really good stuff. And since Ranger was on the road, there was an extra plate of chocolate chips cookies. He loaded his plate and grabbed a bottle of water. Sitting at one of tables, he happily dug in.

When Woody and Zero entered the room, they looked relieved to see Vince there. Zero looked seriously at Vince and asked "Vince, can you get a hold of Ranger. We heard something down at the police station he needs to know ASAP."

"What is it? He doesn't need to deal with petty shit right now; he is trying to track down Bomber."

Woody interjected "He needs to deal with this. Apparently some chick came into the station and accused Ranger of beating her up. Big Dog said she was pretty bruised up. There were a couple of neighbors that heard shouts and screams coming from her apartment the other day. One of them reported seeing Ranger entering the building some time before the screaming started."

"Woody you know the boss wouldn't beat on a woman unless it was extremely necessary. And if he did, she wouldn't be around to tell the tale."

Woody nodded. "But the cops have to take her seriously. At first, I don't think any of them believed it. When some of the neighbors were interviewed, they had to start looking at it. I think some of them do believe he did it. Morelli doesn't yet or at least that is what he said. At any rate, Ranger needs to know so he can get back here to clear this up. You know because of who he is, a Federal case will be made out of this if it doesn't get cleared up."

Vince nodded. "I know. Let me go call Ranger and alert him. In the meantime, you two get over to the suspect's apartment building and start canvassing the neighbors. Maybe the police didn't talk to them all and someone there can clear this up without Ranger having to come back to clear it up himself."

Woody and Zero both spoke up at the same time. "Yes sir." Pivoting sharply, they left the break room. As they were walking down the hall Vince heard Zero say to Woody "Damn, he reminded me of Ranger just then." Vince didn't hear the rest of the conversation because he was astonished that anyone would compare him to Ranger. Shaking his head, he gathered up the rest of his lunch and headed back to his desk. It was a call he dreaded but knew had to be made.